Foreign Otherness in Japanese Media. Exploring the Japanese self through the images of Latin America

Foreign Otherness in Japanese Media analyzes contemporary Japanese society by examining the ways in which Japanese media portrays Latin America and therefore how Japanese readers construct their idea of it. Offering a detailed methodology and results from field research, and based on concepts such as otherness, cultivation analysis and the theory of the autopoietic social system as a framework, this book considers the impact of mass media on the construction of non-dominant foreign cultural subjectivities in Japan, and explores the dynamics of otherness in the country. As such, it is apt for scholars in Japanese studies, media studies, and anyone interested in the interaction between foreigners or Latin Americans and Japan, or in relations between mainstream society and minority groups.

Attitude of General Public, Family Members, and Health Professionals Towards People With Intellectual Disabilities (PWID)

Attitude defines one's behavior towards the people with intellectual disability (PWID). History on PWID indicates influence of psycho-social, biological, religious, and educational factors for the existence of stereotypical attitudes. But since the early part of the 21st century efforts have been reported across countries in integrating the PWID in the community at large. Families of PWID undergo high levels of stress and emotional reactions which call for intervention. Families often adopt strategies to hide the existence of a disability, which delays the treatment and rehabilitation of PWID. Also, stakeholder attitudes towards them highly influences their rehabilitation and integration in the mainstream society. Hence, this chapter is an attempt to focus on the importance of attitude towards individuals with intellectual disability by general public, family members, teachers, students, employers, and health professionals and its implications and further recommendations for the betterment of their condition.

Exploring the discourse of National Islam and Foreign Islam in the Australian press: A critical discourse analysis

Research conducted in some European countries and in the US has evidenced that there is a considerable difference in the media coverage of the National/Internal and Foreign/External Islam. Wherein, the latter is viewed and portrayed as a ‘greater threat’ to the mainstream society. This research endeavour is an effort to explore the predominant themes associated with the Foreign/External Islam in the editorials of the two selected Australian newspapers during January 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017. The researcher has employed Tuen A. van Dijk’s (1998) ideological square and lexicalization strategies from the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) paradigm to examine the editorials of The Age and The Australian. The research findings are evident that in the coverage of the Foreign Islam both the selected newspapers have associated ‘conflict’, ‘violence’ and ‘collectivism’ with Islam and Muslims, however The Australian highlighted ‘women underrepresentation’ also. While covering the National Islam, The Age highlighted the ‘victimization’ and ‘prejudice’ to Muslims in Australia and stressed on the need of ‘understanding’, ‘harmony’ and ‘cohesion’. However, in The Australian the National Islam also received the same treatment as did the Foreign Islam in terms of themes.

Citizen Art and Human Rights: Collective Theatre Creation as a Way of Combatting Exclusion

In this article, through the lens of critical theory and collective theatre creation, we will look at how a group of homeless individuals in the city of Seville (Spain) has been able to assert their human rights using art. Through the words of the actors themselves, we will reveal the obstacles they face in accessing the city’s public sphere, and their deconstruction. By creating and producing plays, as well as interacting with the audience, the participants became not just actors, but citizens with rights. Collective theatre creation, as adapted by the authors within the context of their research in the field of social work, provides insights into how art has the power to become a strategy for helping those living on the fringes of mainstream society reclaim their place in it politically and culturally. This research has been made possible thanks to the commitment of the members of Teatro de la Inclusión, a theatre group and socio‐artistic project that ran for twelve years and allowed homeless individuals, tired of being passive subjects, dependent on external assistance and subject to endless bureaucracy, to become amateur actors. In doing so, they created for themselves dignified forums in which to express themselves within their city and put their communicative and artistic skills into practice.

A Local Approach Toward Multicultural Counseling in Malaysia

Malaysia is a multicultural and multi-religious country. The importance of multicultural counseling has been widely recognized and discussed. Counselors need to be multiculturally-knowledgeable when dealing with multicultural clients. The effectiveness of counseling may likely be improved by integrating Malaysian approaches that are tailored to this country’s traditions and insights, into the current conventional counseling practices. Most of these counseling and psychotherapy theories are based on, and biased towards, the Euro-American culture. Novice counselors in particular frequently reported a lack of skills in dealing with culturally-diverse clients. Multicultural counseling competency is an evolutionary progress that is meant to achieve an effective treatment, and greater inclusion of minorities in mainstream society. Therefore, this paper highlights multicultural counseling competencies and the evolution of counseling in Malaysia. Using narrative method literature review, this paper presents local approaches toward counseling in Malaysia, based on various religions, which are specifically focused on an Islamic approach. This paper then compares and contrasts the local approaches with those of the conventional Western based counseling methods. Some recommendations that merit further investigation are highlighted for future studies.

Graduated Sovereignty vis-à-vis Aspirations: Education for the Adivasi and Cultural Politics in the Barind Region of Bangladesh

This article is concerned with the meaning of education for Santal and Munda communities, living in the Barind region. The aim of this paper is to document the narratives of Adivasis’ on education. What do they mean by education? What kind of situation did they experience in formal education? How they respond to the existing form of education. The article is written based on ethnographic material drawn from 8/9 months of frequent visit in the field of study. Data was collected by using semi-structured questionnaire, observation and participation. To Adivasis of Santal and Munda communities, education means to fight the mainstream society back, to act confidently, erase the stereotypical images they are labelled by the dominant group, and to get freedom from poverty; aspirations to overcome the conditions of graduated sovereignty and cultural politics. To consider the qualitative matter of social mobility, namely the aspiration in both the individual and community levels, the article proposes to look beyond the existing dominant analytical frame of educational access and exclusion. The analytical tools were developed following Appadurai’s concept of aspiration and Ong’s idea of graduated sovereignty. This article is a critical assessment of the marginal communities’ formal education and development and will contribute to ethnographic intervention in social anthropology and development studies, and contemporary debate on politics of education. Social Science Review, Vol. 37(2), Dec 2020 Page 1-26

Narratives of Incorporation: An Anthropological Analysis of Same-Sex Civil Unions in New Zealand

<p>In this thesis I examine civil unions from the perspective of New Zealand-based same-sex couples who have chosen to formalise their relationship. My approach is qualitative and in-depth and focuses on interpreting participants' own meanings and beliefs while also recognising the need for broader contextual knowledge. Through participants’ narratives, I explore why it was important for couples to have a civil union, how they chose to mark or enact the occasion, and the meanings they attribute to their choices and actions. Rather than treating the civil union as an isolated event, my analysis situates the civil union within four longer processual trajectories: individual biographical narratives, partner interactions, close social relationships, and trajectories of a socio-political nature. I then explore the contours of participants’ civil union ceremonies in terms of scale, style, and symbolic content. Throughout the thesis, I argue that civil unions facilitate incorporation for same-sex couples on a number of levels: incorporation in terms of inclusion in an important ‘meaning-constitutive’ practice; familial incorporation; and incorporation into mainstream society more generally. The incorporating effects of civil unions owe much to the symbolic capacities of law, the meaning inscribed in the socially dominant cultural model of marriage, and the characteristics of ritual. The importance of ritual to the anthropological enterprise is reaffirmed through this study; not only do rituals provide an important lens through which to examine the normative values of society but also the origins of social revitalization.</p>

Narratives of Incorporation: An Anthropological Analysis of Same-Sex Civil Unions in New Zealand

<p>In this thesis I examine civil unions from the perspective of New Zealand-based same-sex couples who have chosen to formalise their relationship. My approach is qualitative and in-depth and focuses on interpreting participants' own meanings and beliefs while also recognising the need for broader contextual knowledge. Through participants’ narratives, I explore why it was important for couples to have a civil union, how they chose to mark or enact the occasion, and the meanings they attribute to their choices and actions. Rather than treating the civil union as an isolated event, my analysis situates the civil union within four longer processual trajectories: individual biographical narratives, partner interactions, close social relationships, and trajectories of a socio-political nature. I then explore the contours of participants’ civil union ceremonies in terms of scale, style, and symbolic content. Throughout the thesis, I argue that civil unions facilitate incorporation for same-sex couples on a number of levels: incorporation in terms of inclusion in an important ‘meaning-constitutive’ practice; familial incorporation; and incorporation into mainstream society more generally. The incorporating effects of civil unions owe much to the symbolic capacities of law, the meaning inscribed in the socially dominant cultural model of marriage, and the characteristics of ritual. The importance of ritual to the anthropological enterprise is reaffirmed through this study; not only do rituals provide an important lens through which to examine the normative values of society but also the origins of social revitalization.</p>

Challenges to Reintegration: A Qualitative Intrinsic Case-Study of Convicted Female Sex Traffickers

Limited research focuses on the nature of the lived experiences of women engaged in sex trafficking. This study employed qualitative methods of in-depth structured interviews with 10 convicted sex traffickers (ages 24–56; 100% identifying as female). Participants’ lived experiences revealed circumstances that led them to trafficking, specific needs, and the stigmatization they faced after exiting economies tied to trafficking. Inductive analysis yielded three key barriers to reintegration success: limited choice; negative labeling; and unmet physical, emotional, and social needs. These findings enhance understanding of the factors influencing the successful reintegration of convicted female sex traffickers into mainstream society.

Impact of COVID-19 on People with Disabilities

Any condition of the body or mind that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities and interact with the world around them is known as a disability. Despite the various efforts being done to ensure their rights and equity of the disabled, they still suffer more during various crises like conflicts, natural disasters and pandemics. The purpose of this narrative review is to access the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on People with disability (PWD). For writing this narrative review, Google, Google Scholar, Pub Med and online news portals were searched by using various combination of the following terminologies; “Disability”, “Differently “Disabled”, “Disable”, “People with Disability”, “PWD” “Impact”, “COVID-19”, “Corona Pandemic”, “Challenges”, “Issues”, “Policies”, “Social”, and “increased risk”. The pandemic has created many challenges for people with disability. They not have greater risk of contracting COVID-19, but also have problems accessing health services. It has also had various social impacts like problems related to education, employment as well as discrimination. The COVID pandemic has exposed gaps in the health system that make the poor, marginalized and disabled population more vulnerable to neglect and mistreatment. Proper implementation and monitoring of policies should be done to ensure that PWD feel included and respected. It is important to continually integrate PWD into the mainstream society while minimizing their risks of contracting COVID-19. The caretakers should use the necessary PPE when attending to their needs.