Massification of youth religious studies to prevent juvenile delinquency in Bandung

This article suggests that social media and public spaces in contemporary Indonesia play an essential role as a context for Islamic ideologisation by developing social mobilisation methods and transforming its ideology and culture. This socio-phenomenological study highlights the historical and social processes that underlie pious youth’s rise in an Indonesia’s contemporary urban space, for example, Bandung. The Hijrah [Migrating] Youth Community is an Islamic movement based on mosques and social media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to migrate Hijrah to a better life. This study draws on the forms of articulation culture that emerged from the ideals of the revival and reinvention of Islam in the materiality of secular popular culture. The religious activities of Hijrah youth may reduce the disorders of young people, however since the young are rebellious, extreme religious activities may also arise from the community. Thus, different parties, especially parents, the Bandung City government and other social institutions must supervise the development of the youths’ life based on religious parties.Contribution: This study describes the operation of a youth religious movement, which tries to overcome the problem they usually face, namely juvenile delinquency. This study can develop research patterns that can analyse social phenomena and and apply them to policy consideration.

Assessing the impact of polio supplementary immunisation activities on routine immunisation and health systems: a systematic review

IntroductionThe Global Polio Eradication Initiative uses polio supplementary immunisation activities (SIAs) as a strategy to increase vaccine coverage and cease poliovirus transmission. Impact of polio SIAs on immunisation systems is frequently debated. We reviewed the impact of polio SIAs on routine immunisation and health systems during the modern era of polio eradication.MethodsWe searched nine databases for studies reporting on polio SIAs and immunisation coverage, financial investment, workforce and health services delivery. We conducted a narrative synthesis of evidence. Records prior to 1994, animal, modelling or case studies data were excluded.Results20/1637 unique records were included. Data on vaccine coverage were included in 70% (14/20) studies, workforce in 65% (13/20) and health services delivery in 85% (17/20). SIAs positively contributed to vaccination uptake of non-polio vaccines in seven studies, neutral in three and negative in one. Some polio SIAs contributed to workforce strengthening through training and capacity building. Polio SIAs were accompanied with increased social mobilisation and community awareness building confidence in vaccination programmes. Included studies were programmatic in nature and contained variable data, thus could not be justly critically appraised.ConclusionPolio SIAs are successful at increasing polio vaccine coverage, but the resources and infrastructures were not always utilised for delivery of non-polio vaccines and integration into routine service delivery. We found a gap in standardised tools to evaluate SIAs, which can then inform service integration. Our study provides data to inform SIAs evaluations, and provides important considerations for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out to strengthen health systems.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020152195.

Identifying opportunities to engage communities with social mobilisation activities to tackle NCDs in El Salvador in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic

Background Social mobilisation is potentially a key tool in the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in fragile settings. This formative study addressed existing and potential social mobilisation mechanisms seeking behaviour to tackle NCDs in El Salvador, with an emphasis on the implications in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted 19 semi-structured interviews with health workers, government officials, NGO leaders, and community members. Interviews addressed mechanisms for social mobilisation which existed prior to COVID-19, the ways in which these mechanisms tackled NCDs, the impact of COVID-19 on social mobilisation activities and new, emerging mechanisms for social mobilisation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Findings indicate a growing awareness of NCDs within communities, with social mobilisation activities seen as valuable in tackling NCDs. However, major barriers to NCD prevention and treatment provision remain, with COVID-19 constraining many possible social mobilisation activities, leaving NCD patients with less support. Factors linked with effective social mobilisation of communities for NCD prevention included strong engagement of community health teams within community structures and the delivery of NCD prevention and management messages through community meetings with trusted health professionals or community members. There are gender differences in the experience of NCDs and women were generally more engaged with social mobilisation activities than men. In the context of COVID-19, traditional forms of social mobilisation were challenged, and new, virtual forms emerged. However, these new forms of engagement did not benefit all, especially those in hard-to-reach rural areas. In these contexts, specific traditional forms of mobilisation such as through radio (where possible) and trusted community leaders - became increasingly important. Conclusions New mechanisms of fostering social mobilisation include virtual connectors such as mobile phones, which enable mobilisation through platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. However, traditional forms of social mobilisation hold value for those without access to such technology. Therefore, a combination of new and traditional mechanisms for social mobilisation hold potential for the future development of social mobilisation strategies in El Salvador and, as appropriate, in other fragile health contexts.

‘Becoming Black’

Little is known about racial identity claims of African migrants living in Israel who originate from countries where race is not a dominant identity marker. This article examines how Eritrean migrants, coming from a country where race-based social organisation is not prevalent, strategically adopted ‘Black’ as their identity marker in Israel. Online newspaper reports and conversational interviews with four Eritrean migrants were used as sources of data. During various anti-deportation protests, Eritrean migrants held signs with slogans referring to themselves as Black. Some of the slogans include: ‘Do Black lives matter in Israel?’, ‘Black or White I am human’, ‘Deported to death because I am Black’, and ‘Now I am White, will you deport me?’ I argue that for first generation Eritrean migrants in Israel, Black racial identity was adopted strategically as a political identity of social mobilisation and resistance in the face of a racialised and exclusionary migration policy.

Children as innovators: harnessing the creative expertise of children to address practical and psychosocial challenges of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic – COVISION study protocol

Background: We are currently in a period of transition, from the pre-COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) era and the initial reactive lockdowns, to now the ongoing living with and potentially the after COVID-19 period. Each country is at its own individual stage of this transition, but many have gone through a period of feeling adrift; disconnected from normal lives, habits and routines, finding oneself betwixt and between stages, similar to that of liminality. Children and young people have been particularly affected. Aim: To increase the understanding of home and community-based strategies that contribute to children and young people’s capacity to adjust to societal changes, both during and after pandemics. Moreover, to identify ways in which children’s actions contribute to the capacity of others to adjust to the changes arising from the pandemic. The potential for these activities to influence and contribute to broader social mobilisation will be examined and promoted. Research design: To achieve the aim of this study, a participatory health research approach will be taken. The overarching theoretical framework of the COVISION study is that of liminality. The study design includes four work packages: two syntheses of literature (a rapid realist review and scoping review) to gain an overview of the emerging international context of evidence of psychosocial mitigations and community resilience in pandemics, and more specifically COVID-19; qualitative exploration of children and young people’s perspective of COVID-19 via creative outlets and reflections; and participatory learning and action through co-production.

The hero and the shadow: Myths in digital social movements

The general subject of this analysis is the presence of myths on social media, a heritage of the previous century’s mass culture, and in particular, for social movements. Social movements within networked communication are particularly endowed with mythologies, which draw on mass culture and on societies’ archetypal and psychological backgrounds. This fact justifies the hypothesis that the most effective and popular social movements resort to deeper mythological forms. The specific objective is to describe concrete myths in the language of digital social movements and to review the aspects of mythology in the scholarly literature on mythology from four fields. After tracing contents and impact, a qualitative analysis, focused on two examples justified by their digital origin, is performed: the “Anonymous” movement and “Je Suis Charlie” social mobilisation. Results show the persistence of two mythological motives: the profound hero’s monomyth, playing an essential identifying role, channelled through social networks, with hashtags as slogans, and the related myth of the shadow, the dark, “Anonymous” and hybrid identity. Connections and analogies with other recent examples are discussed ?such as the “Me Too” and “Black Lives Matter” cases?. The conclusion is the clear connection between these two myths and the communicative strength of social movements transmitted through social networks. El tema general de este análisis es la presencia de los mitos en las redes sociales, herencia de la cultura de masas del siglo anterior y en particular, en los movimientos sociales. Los movimientos sociales en las redes digitales se dotan de mitologías, sean retomadas del siglo anterior sean formas del fondo arquetípico y psicológico intemporal. Esta presencia justifica la hipótesis sobre si los movimientos más eficaces y populares recurren a formas mitológicas más profundas. El objetivo específico es describir mitos concretos que aparezcan en el lenguaje de los movimientos sociales específicamente digitales. Se revisan los rasgos de los mitos de acuerdo con los autores más prestigiosos de cuatro ámbitos científicos. Se extraen del rastreo de contenido e impacto dos ejemplos de origen digital: el movimiento «Anonymous» y la movilización social «Je Suis Charlie». Aplicando análisis heurístico, los resultados muestran la persistencia de dos motivos mitológicos muy concretos: el profundo monomito del héroe, que cumple un papel crucial identificativo en las canalizaciones mediante redes como Twitter, a partir del uso específico de los hashtags como eslóganes, y el mito asociado de la sombra, la identidad anónima, híbrida y oscura. Se presentan las funciones y analogías en otros movimientos recientes –como «Me Too» y «Black Lives Matter»–. Se concluye la conexión entre estos mitos y la fuerza comunicativa de los movimientos sociales que se transmiten en las redes.

State Violence in Brazil: Execution, Slaughter, and Disappearance in the Post-Authoritarian Era

In this chapter, the authors seek to analyse the manifestations of state violence in Brazil in the post-transition period following the 1964-1985 authoritarian regime. First, some of the possible causes of violence in the country are briefly discussed, highlighting elements of a structural nature and others related to the legacy of the authoritarian period. In a second section, the so-called May Crimes of 2006, are examined, in which execution, slaughter, and disappearance took place. A third section of the chapter examines the process of social mobilisation that occurred as a response to these crimes, particularly the strategy used by the families of victims to appeal to the Inter-American human rights system to seek justice after frustrated efforts for investigation and justice within the country.

Barriers and facilitators to reporting deaths following Ebola surveillance in Sierra Leone: implications for sustainable mortality surveillance based on an exploratory qualitative assessment

ObjectivesTo understand the barriers contributing to the more than threefold decline in the number of deaths (of all causes) reported to a national toll free telephone line (1-1-7) after the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak ended in Sierra Leone and explore opportunities for improving routine death reporting as part of a nationwide mortality surveillance system.DesignAn exploratory qualitative assessment comprising 32 in-depth interviews (16 in Kenema district and 16 in Western Area). All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using qualitative content analysis to identify themes.SettingParticipants were selected from urban and rural communities in two districts that experienced varying levels of Ebola cases during the outbreak. All interviews were conducted in August 2017 in the post-Ebola-outbreak context in Sierra Leone when the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation was continuing to mandate reporting of all deaths.ParticipantsFamily members of deceased persons whose deaths were not reported to the 1-1-7 system.ResultsDeath reporting barriers were driven by the lack of awareness to report all deaths, lack of services linked to reporting, negative experiences from the Ebola outbreak including prohibition of traditional burial rituals, perception that inevitable deaths do not need to be reported and situations where prompt burials may be needed. Facilitators of future willingness to report deaths were largely influenced by the perceived communicability and severity of the disease, unexplained circumstances of the death that need investigation and the potential to leverage existing death notification practices through local leaders.ConclusionsSocial mobilisation and risk communication efforts are needed to help the public understand the importance and benefits of sustained and ongoing death reporting after an Ebola outbreak. Localised practices for informal death notification through community leaders could be integrated into the formal reporting system to capture community-based deaths that may otherwise be missed.