Finding Someone to Blame: The Link Between COVID-19 Conspiracy Beliefs, Prejudice, Support for Violence, and Other Negative Social Outcomes

One of the appeals of conspiracy theories in times of crises is that they provide someone to blame for what has happened. Thereby, they increase distrust, negative feelings, and hostility toward implicated actors, whether those are powerful social outgroups or one’s own government representatives. Two studies reported here examine associations of COVID-19 conspiracy theories with prejudice, support for violence, and other and negative social outcomes. In Study 1 (N = 501), the endorsement of the more specific conspiracy theories about the alleged role of China was associated with more prejudiced views of Chinese and Italian people. In Study 2 (N = 1024), lowered trust in government regulations and increased hostility associated with the COVID-19 and generic conspiracy beliefs were correlated with justification of and willingness to engage in non-compliance with regulations, violent attacks on 5G masts, and anti-government protests. Across both of the studies, higher exposure to news about COVID-19 was associated with lower endorsement of conspiracy theories, but also with increased feelings of anxiety and lack of control, which in turn were correlated with higher COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs endorsement. We highlight the potential social problems which are associated with the wide-spread endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy theories.

Situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

In the presented work, the author examines the situation with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, where they were forced to settle down after 1948. The article examines international and Lebanese documents, which made it possible to understand the status of the Palestinians. The work carried out by scientists in the fi eld is of interest, since they had the opportunity to conduct surveys and interviews. The author relied on a systematic approach in the presented study. The paper examines the social problems Palestinians face while living in refugee camps. The problems of access to basic needs, employment, marriage unions are noted. It also focuses on the issue of security for ordinary Palestinians, since the Lebanese security forces are unable to provide it, and Palestinian groups periodically feud with each other, which sometimes infl icts irreparable blow to the people. From the author's point of view, the problem of Palestinian refugees persists due to the complex confessional balance in Lebanon and is unlikely to be resolved in the foreseeable future, which endangers stability not only in the camps, but also in Lebanon itself.

Un viaje hacia el pasado mexicano: Diego Cañedo, seguidor de H. G. Wells

Palamás, Echevete y yo o el lago asfaltado (Palamás, Echevete and I or the asphalted lake), Mexican Diego Cañedo’s second novel (1945), elaborates the time travel to the Mexican past. The sci-fi theme of the novel sustains a social criticism, and imitates H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine plot. In this essay, the sociocritical part of Cañedo’s work is studied, on one hand, because it seems to respond to the social problems of the period 1934-1946; and, on the other hand, because the relations established with Wells’ novel.

An Evaluation of the Work Social Worker in the Imprisonment With Active Preparation for Post-Penitentiary Care in Slovakia

The aim of social work in social services in the treatment of a prisoner is the mitigation of social problems or the elimination of their possible causes, and the preparation of a prisoner for release from prison. Social work, social services and social counselling are the specialised forms of care for an individual, the enhancement of his individual potentials, the optimisation of behaviour in the specific moments of his life. A relationship between a prisoner and a social worker is an important milestone which affects the quality of the counselling activity. However, the relationship develops step by step, and the social worker gradually gains trust and authority. However, in the development of such a relationship, the social worker in the helping profession must have certain principles to be followed. Social work in serving custody and serving an imprisonment sentence is a professional activity focused on clarifying the social problems of the prisoners which influenced their criminal activity, or whose existence is a risk factor for the resocialisation prognosis, so-called information assistance, support and counselling focused on limiting the negative effects of the prison environment and eliminating or minimising the causes of social problems. Social work in helping professions with prisoners belongs to a science area of social work. According to the place of work, we can divide social work with the punished persons into two subgroups: social work in the prison – i.e. penitentiary social work; and social work following the imprisonment sentence – post-penitentiary social work.

Prevention of conflicts in youth environment

The article is devoted to the problem of conflict prevention in the youth environment, which is one of the most relevant in the context of modern socio-cultural conditions. The article reveals the role of the organizer of work with youth in organizing the prevention of various conflicts in the youth environment, discusses some methods, techniques and techniques for preventing conflicts, as well as techniques for getting out of conflict situations. The content of the article is based on a theoretical analysis of domestic and foreign literature on psychology, sociology and pedagogy in the field of conflict prevention and management in the youth environment, the formation of conflictological competence of young people. The proposed materials can be used in the process of teaching students in the direction of training Organization of work with youth, levels of higher education - bachelor's, master's degree in the process of mastering the relevant disciplines, in particular, the discipline "Social problems of youth", "Prevention of conflicts in the youth environment", " Psychological and pedagogical foundations of work with youth ”

Pengembangan Keterampilan Dasar Bagi Peserta Didik Untuk Mempersiapkan Era Society 5.0

<p><em>An aging society has caused several health and social problems in Japan. Therefore, in order to overcome the current problems and to prevent future problems, Japan has embarked on a human-centered transformation, namely Society 5.0 which is experienced not only domestically but also worldwide. This change requires everyone, especially the younger generation to prepare themselves to survive and even lead it. There is a set of skills that must be mastered by students to achieve these goals, namely communication, leadership, reading comprehension, and curiosity. This paper aims to describe methods for developing these skills in elementary school students. The conclusion states that some of the methods actually complement each other, meaning that they can be applied interchangeably in a school setting.</em></p>

The implications of COVID-19 for concepts and practices of citizenship

Based on a review of citizenship and citizen participation in politics and policy studies, this article reveals diverse concepts of citizens and citizenship and their changing roles within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that the pandemic will result in bringing citizens back into the policy process, given that active participation of citizens in solving wicked social problems has been emphasised. Our results suggest that the pandemic will result in a return of public citizens as their voluntary, active participation and coproduction practices are expected to increase.

Human Leaders and Artificial Intelligent Leaders

The chapter deals with the relationship between human leader and artificial leader. Organizations are encroached by artificial intelligent in almost all the areas of the organization such as retail industry, banking industry, call centers, manufacturing industry. The chapter shows the path how human leader sharing workplace space with the artificial leaders and make them as their workplace spouses for the better functioning of the organizations and the economy. The limitation of the research is implementation of AI in organizations will generate social problems such as unemployment, theft, etc. The future scope of the research is to analyze the working of artificial leaders in the academic industry.

Purpose-Driven Marketing Wars

Purpose is a definitive statement about the difference that a brand is trying to make in the world. It is becoming more and more popular every day, especially because Gen Y and Gen Z are more interested in economic, political, environmental, and social problems in the world. The interest and sensitivity of these issues have also been reflected in marketing and brand communication. In this context, purpose-driven marketing is a marketing perspective and trend that aims to connect brands with their consumers through their brand purpose. The implications of all these in the field of marketing have begun to be seen in Turkey, too. In particular, brands in the dishwashing detergent market have entered a purpose-driven marketing war with each other, so to speak. Finish, Fairy, and Pril have made purpose-driven marketing campaigns in Turkey. So, in this chapter, Water of Tomorrow by Finish, Don't Waste by Fairy, and Together at the Table by Pril campaigns are examined within the scope of purpose-driven marketing as case studies.

Teaching Collective Action: Strategies for Fostering Racial and Social Justice

Universities teach students about social problems but provide few concrete tools for acting to promote social change. Teaching about challenges but not about possible solutions can be potentially disempowering and may reduce civic agency. This chapter discusses the development of a required class on community organizing and civil resistance that provides students with specific strategies for engaging in collective action. The author explores a range of tensions involved in teaching this class: making it experiential without forcing students to work on issues or take steps they might not agree with, providing multiple traditions of social action so they do not get the sense that there is one “right” way, working with students whose perspectives might differ from ones he sees as legitimate, and teaching a class that some outside the institution might see as beyond the purview of a university. Ultimately, he argues that it is incumbent upon universities to provide concrete skills for social action, because failing to do so restricts their capacity to become effective civic actors in our democracy.