Critical issues in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with gender and sexual minorities (GSMs)

In a cisheteronormative culture, gender and sexual minorities (GSMs) may experience additional challenges that get in the way of a meaningful life. It is crucial that clinicians are mindful of these challenges and cognizant about the specificities of clinical work with GSMs. This article points out how societal structure interferes with mental health, and clarifies what clinicians must take into account when using affirmative cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) interventions. Knowledge of up-to-date terminology and use of affirmative language are the first steps that contribute to clients’ experience of respect, which is paramount for the development of a good therapeutic relationship. Considering a conceptual framework of minority stress to understand vulnerability in GSM, specificities in formulation and key psychological processes are discussed. Moreover, guidelines and practical tools for intervention are presented within a CBT approach. Some reflections on therapists’ own personal biases are encouraged, in order to increase the efficacy of interventions. Key learning aims After reading this article you will be able to: (1) Recognize the uniqueness of gender and sexual minorities (GSM) stressors in broad and specific contexts, and their impact on mental health. (2) Identify the underlying key processes and specificities in therapeutic work with GSMs, from a CBT perspective. (3) Recognize the importance of a culturally sensitive approach in affirmative CBT interventions.

Upcycling Wild Pigeon's Field in a post-hydrocarbon Brunei - An Exploration of Architecture Reacting to Social Changes Through Narratives

<p>The hydrocarbon industry has immensely influenced and moulded the societal structure of the inhabitants of modern day Brunei. Nonetheless, the dependency on this commodity will eventually cease, shifting the future social structure and leaving questions on plausible resolutions towards treatments on the existing sites, ‘non-buildings’ and infrastructures of the industry. Infrastructures and ‘non-buildings’ are typically subjected to the process of dismantling, removal, deep sea dumping and abandonment. It has been observed that in recent times, alternate methods are offered within the architectural profession. Through the application of adaptive reuse architecture, warehouses, factories and even ‘non-building’ are repurposed, where its industrial heritage and cultural value are highly recognised and considered necessary to retain. Focusing on specified onshore oilfields in Brunei, this thesis seeks an exploration into a methodology of regenerating a site and offering spaces that evoke a ‘sense of belonging’ or cultural identity. Through architectural discourse on memory and semiotics, local narratives are put forward and explored as an extension to cultural identity. This methodology is further explored through the application of John Hejduk’s concept of languages and masques. It proposes an imaginative practise into visual experiments for an exploration on the effect of reusing hydrocarbon infrastructure as architectural spaces. As Brunei shifts towards a new epoch, studies on current socioeconomic structure are critical to recognise where the structure is leaning towards to as it cannot simply change overnight.</p>

Upcycling Wild Pigeon's Field in a post-hydrocarbon Brunei - An Exploration of Architecture Reacting to Social Changes Through Narratives

<p>The hydrocarbon industry has immensely influenced and moulded the societal structure of the inhabitants of modern day Brunei. Nonetheless, the dependency on this commodity will eventually cease, shifting the future social structure and leaving questions on plausible resolutions towards treatments on the existing sites, ‘non-buildings’ and infrastructures of the industry. Infrastructures and ‘non-buildings’ are typically subjected to the process of dismantling, removal, deep sea dumping and abandonment. It has been observed that in recent times, alternate methods are offered within the architectural profession. Through the application of adaptive reuse architecture, warehouses, factories and even ‘non-building’ are repurposed, where its industrial heritage and cultural value are highly recognised and considered necessary to retain. Focusing on specified onshore oilfields in Brunei, this thesis seeks an exploration into a methodology of regenerating a site and offering spaces that evoke a ‘sense of belonging’ or cultural identity. Through architectural discourse on memory and semiotics, local narratives are put forward and explored as an extension to cultural identity. This methodology is further explored through the application of John Hejduk’s concept of languages and masques. It proposes an imaginative practise into visual experiments for an exploration on the effect of reusing hydrocarbon infrastructure as architectural spaces. As Brunei shifts towards a new epoch, studies on current socioeconomic structure are critical to recognise where the structure is leaning towards to as it cannot simply change overnight.</p>

PERCEPTIONS OF INITIATION INSTRUCTORS AND PARENTS ON THE ROLE OF INITIATION IN CHARACTER BUILDING OF ADOLESCENTS: A CASE OF MOCHUDI VILLAGE, KGATLENG DISTRICT IN BOTSWANA

Purpose: This study was aimed at describing the perceptions of initiation instructors and parents on the role of initiation in character building of adolescents. Methodology: The study used a phenomenological approach. A sample of constituting 20 participants; 5 male initiation instructors, 5 female initiation instructors and 10 parents who have had their children going for initiation, all residing in Mochudi Village in Botswana. Purposive sampling, as well as snowball sampling were used to select participants. In-depth face to face interviews and a focus group discussion were conducted with the participants. The descriptive approach method (phenomenology) was used to interpret data. Results: Findings revealed that initiation transforms an individual’s thinking, feeling and acting, regulating his or her perceptions of reality to conform to that of society, thus initiation can be used to as a societal structure to transform and build the characters of adolescents.

The Struggle Of Women Against Oppression – A Study Of Nadia Hashimi’s The Pearl That Broke Its Shell

Feminism is a liberation ideology for women since it is premised on the idea that women are treated unfairly because of their sexual identity. Feminism examines the factors that contribute to female oppression. Women’s oppression in Afghanistan is described in this report. The system of masculine oppression of women is termed as patriarchy. Patriarchy is the oppressive structure, according to this understanding. Patriarchy is a phrase that refers to a societal structure and practises in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women. As a political framework, patriarchy tries to dominate and oppress women, limiting their ability to make decisions about their sexuality, childrearing, mothering, loving, and labouring. This research examines the subjugation of women in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. Through this study, we can sense the struggle of women in facing the society and to live the day today life.

Part V The Scope of Refugee Protection, Ch.45 Conflict Refugees

Armed conflicts have always been and still are major causes of refugee movements. They invariably cause human suffering, destroying State and societal structure and affecting the lives of civilian populations. While it is difficult to contest that people should not be returned to conflict, different thinking and practices are discernable in relation to the applicable legal framework for providing refugee protection to people displaced across borders by conflict. These discrepancies arise in part from the way in which conflicts are understood; the way in which the definition of a refugee in the Refugee Convention has been interpreted and applied; and in part from limitations in the definition itself. Recognizing ‘conflict refugees’ as refugees within the international legal framework requires an understanding of the dynamics of conflicts and a dynamic interpretation of the refugee definitions at global and regional levels.

The Menace of Insecurity by Herdsmen Attack and its Implication on Tourism in Southwest Nigeria

The objective of this research is to assess the effects of herdsmen menace on tourism. Secondary data about insecurity caused by herdsmen attack were collected from news media using Google search and were subjected to descriptive statistics. The classical theory of structural functionalism and Marxian theory of historical materialism were used to explain and predict the implications of herdsmen attack on tourism. Findings of the study identified farmland destruction, attack on villages, murder of victims, kidnap and clash with farmers, injuries, rape, stealing of farm produce, robbery, and terrorism as menaces perpetrated by the herdsmen. The dysfunctional part of Nigerian societal structure which the theories used in this study identified that the contradiction between Nigerian economy and social control which was unstable leads to insurgency, and could affect the participation of Nigerian citizens and foreigners in tourism. Safety and security concerns for international and local travelers occasioned by terrorist attacks on highways in southwest Nigeria could make tourism destinations and businesses suffer from low patronage. Due to issues of insecurities along highways in southwest Nigeria, the future of family tourism, agri-tourism and rural tourism could be affected in capturing heterogeneity and mobility of the family market.

Conceptualizing knowledge transfer as transformation and attunement

This article articulates a new theory on the ontology of knowledge transfer. This involves the work of 1) showing that the question “what happens to knowledge in transfer across divergent contexts?” can be made sense of within a situative approach, 2) providing a new conceptualization of situated knowledge, 3) articulating transfer in terms of knowledge transformation and attunement, and 4) putting the issue of learning to transfer knowledge across divergent contexts (back) on the research agenda. The article builds on a view of knowledge as a unity of know-that, know-how, and know-of; which unity forms a practical embodied perspective with which the agent meets the world in interaction. It is argued that knowledge is situatedly realized in attunement to the requirements, possibilities, and restrictions of the concrete situation, as they dynamically unfold. A framework of context levels for analyzing requirements, possibilities, and restrictions (termed “situational characteristics”) is presented. The levels reflect that an activity will always engage with a domain, in a life-setting, taking place within a societal structure, making use of encompassing cultural practices. It is shown how differences in unities of situational characteristics necessitate the transformation of the knowledge perspective in attunement to the situational characteristics of the new context. Towards the end, it is pointed out how this conceptualization of knowledge transfer opens for research into designing and teaching for learning to transfer. Three recent projects are referenced as an illustration of the approach.