SOCIAL DISTANCES IN A MULTI ETHNIC REGION

The paper presents the results of a sociological study conducted in some multiethnic communities situated in the central area of Moldova, Romania. Its main aim was to establish the ethnic identity of Catholic population in the villages of this region and to discover the way in which these communities build their ethnic and cultural identity. We used the scale of social distance, starting from the model developed by Bogardus (1925), which has become the most frequently used method of emphasizing the acceptance or isolation of social groups. We calculated the Social Distance Index (SDI) which highlights the number of social contact opportunities rejected by the respondent, the Social Contact Index (SCI) derived from the number of social contact opportunities accepted by the respondents, and the Qualitative Index of Social Contacts (QISC). The results are focused on ethnic aspects and local features of studied communities and the conclusions reveal the methods of ethnic self-defining for each community and their tendency to conserve local identity by refusing external influences that have an ideological stake.

DATA OF ILLEGAL SUBSTANCE USE IN ROMANIA PROVIDED BY N.A.A. COMPARED WITH THE ANALYSIS OF INDICTMENTS PREPARED BY D.I.I.C.O.T. ORADEA

Drug use and New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) use are a sensitive issue due to the consequences that those who admit having this habit may expect to suffer. Part of the scientific community recommends that quantitative descriptions on this topic be verified or possibly supplemented by data obtained from research activities that use more reliable data and methods. In Romania, the prevalence estimation of drug and NPS use is performed by the National Anti – Drug Agency by conducting two studies, one every three years and another conducted every four years, respectively. In order to analyze the accuracy of the results presented in the reports prepared by the National Anti – Drug Agency, in this article we compared these results with those resulted from the analysis of the indictments issued by the Directorate for Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism – Oradea Territorial Service in 2013 – 2019. As a result of this comparison, it was found that there are certain significant differences between the information contained in the two data.

THE FAMILY BACKGROUND - A THEORETICAL APPROACH TO THE FACTORS OF THE CHILD'S SCHOOL SUCCESS

The objective of the study is to approach from a theoretical point of view the importance of the family in the school-family-student triad. The article will focus on the analysis of the role that the family has in the instructive-educational process of the child, focusing on the specialized literature in the field. School and family are the main factors that complete the education of the individual. Each of them contributes through their specific influences to the formation and social integration of the child. The family environment and the school environment are two dimensions of children's lives that make their mark on the formation of their personality. Systematic school education, however, can prove to be ineffective if the family is not involved in carrying out the instructive-educational tasks in the parent-child relationship. Families have decisive educational potential, especially in the first years of a child's life, and strengthen the educational efforts exercised by the school. Thus, working together in interdependence, through combined actions and giving the student an active role in his development, the premises are created for achieving the school success expected by all educational actors: family, school, and student.

PREVALENCE OF GROUP B STREPTOCOCCUS AND LEVEL OF RELIGIOSITY OF JEWISH MOTHERS IN NORTHERN ISRAEL - IS THERE A CONNECTION?

Group B streptococcus (GBS) during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of preterm delivery and is a leading cause of invasive infections in newborns. Rates of vaginal GBS prevalence in pregnant women vary among ethnic groups and geographical regions, with a range of 0.5-38%. The aim is to assess the prevalence rate of GBS bacteria among Jewish pregnant mothers in northern Israel, according to their level of religiosity. A cross-sectional study was pursued in 303 Jewish mothers at Ziv Medical Center, Safed of whom 89 (29.4%) were secular, 59 (19.5%) traditional, 60 (19.8%) Orthodox and 95 (31.3%) ultra-Orthodox, from December 2019-July 2020. All participants were tested for GBS from pregnancy week 35 as part of the routine medical care at their Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and submitted the GBS test result upon arrival at the hospital delivery room. The overall prevalence of GBS was 33.7%: 16.9% of the secular mothers, 25.4% of the traditional women and 46.5% of the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox group (p<0.001). In a univariate regression model the risk of GBS carriage in Orthodox mothers was 2.5 times higher and 6 times higher in ultra-Orthodox mothers than in secular mothers (p for trend <0.001). The prevalence of GBS was directly and significantly associated with the level of the birthing mother's religiosity. This study shows the need for systematic GBS screening of all pregnant women, particularly of Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox women, prior to their arrival in the delivery room.

ASSESSING THE WAY GENDER NORMS AFFECT TEENAGERS’ BEHAVIOUR IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL MEDIA

The internet, together with its associated smart technologies, has a central, and since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic one might even add, essential position in the fluid functionality of social apparatus. This is apparent on multiple facets, but it has especially impacted the way individuals socialise and present themselves in the online space. Although it has been in use for several decades the way the Internet is perceived has changed significantly as now it has presently become an extension of the social front stage. Through the tools offered by social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, users can carefully construct their own digital versions. These characteristics have proven to be highly attractive to teenagers, as social media platforms offer them the possibility of engaging with their peers, uncover various aspects about the environment outside their familiar space and to create a digital identity. All of these aspects prove to be attractive to them as it caters to their need to seek and to have a sense of empowerment and belonging. Gender plays an important role in the process of developing one’s identity and the type of behaviour an individual chooses to present in a social environment, be it digital or otherwise. Previous studies have also pointed out the fact that gender stereotypes and gender norms affect and influence the way individuals perceive others and the type of behaviour they act out. This paper aims to pinpoint a theoretical examination of the way teenagers’ behaviour and digital identity on social media platforms is affected by the way people around them look at and perceive gender.

INTEGRATION OF PALESTINIAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS LEARNING IN AN ARAB SCHOOL IN ISRAEL

This paper discusses issues of identity associated with Palestinian students’ integration in an Israeli-Arab high school. These students were born to Palestinian families that are considered as ‘traitors’ by Arabs living in the Palestinian Authority and in the State of Israel. Their parents have working relations with the State of Israel and are therefore living in a large city at the north of the country. The students experience some kind of identity conflict between them and the Israeli-Arab students learning in the same school. The students who came with their parents from the Palestinian Authority, have difficulties to define themselves and they constantly try avoiding the question: Where are you from? They usually say they are from Jerusalem and they hold a blue identity card. Moreover, these students deal with language difficulties. School today constitutes an educational framework for a variety of students, characterized by different abilities and needs. This sets a rather complicated challenge to the school management and staff that have to open the school doors and provide a response to the students. This paper is grounded in theories of high school education, self-identity, conflict between identities of minorities and adolescence. It reviews the identity issues associated with the Palestinian children’s national and self-identity, as well as the steps that school and the education system can take in order to promote their integration.

RETURN TO SYMBOLIC CAPITAL: CASE STUDY

In this paper we propose to reconsider the concept of symbolic capital, as presented by Bourdieu and as it is understood today, and to present the results of a study on how social identity is being built, a study conducted on the ground in an ethnic, confessional and cultural community in a period of post-communist transition. The research is a quantitative one. The results highlight the current practical value of the symbolic capital concept, internalized and manifested differently by the different social groups belonging to the same communities. Equally, symbolic capital can be a vector of preserving local identity and the community can rely on it to shape its future.

ETHICAL ASPECTS OF COMMERCIAL SURROGACY

Surrogacy is an initiated process, whereby intended parents wish to have a child by having an embryo carried in another woman’s womb and, after the birth, the baby is given to the intended parents. In Israel, giving birth and motherhood are perceived to great extent as a significant, essential and natural component of female identity and the existence of children is perceived as a vital and central element of couple-hood and family. The Israeli society encourages fertility and family expansion. This is illustrated by the support of surrogacy and fertility treatments pursuant to the Israeli Embryo Carrying Agreement Law (Agreement Authorization and Status of the Newborn Child) legislated in 1996. On the other hand, the government limits the supply of contraceptives that are included in the authorized list of medicines, pursuant to the State Health Insurance Law (Ministry of Health, 1994). Surrogacy constitutes a solution for people who wish to give birth to a child but they are unable to do so. The issue raises ethical dilemmas in the global village in which we are living. This dilemma has become more prominent in the present age, due to the corona virus crisis that entailed cancelling all flights and forcing each country to close its borders to foreign travelers. In this study, the aim is to explore and comprehend the process of surrogacy according to the economic sociological theory, called the agency theory; the relationships between the parties to the agreement; and the ethical issues stemming from this issue.

ETHICS AND NURSING IN A WIRED WORLD

In recent years, healthcare givers and patients have extensively used computerized technologies and digital information. This changed the work environment and skills of nurses who learn to live with innovations, namely working with both “machines” and humans. Nursing is patient-centered, respecting human dignity and acknowledging patients' needs. Nurses are required to promote safe environment and health care, educate, and embrace a health policy for individuals of all ages and communities. Electronic health records are shared through network systems not only by patients but also by physicians, nurses, insurance personnel, government officials and more. This widespread access to health information requires finding ways for observing patients’ confidentiality and privacy by the users. This paper presents four central ethical issues stemming from the use of electronic records: the built-in conflict between nurses' quality care commitment to health system organization and their commitment to maintain patients' respect and privacy; the gap between the one-dimensional reporting of medical and therapeutic information through technological systems; the gap between the advantage of technological systems as being easy to operate and use and the risk of leaking confidential medical information, violating patients' privacy. 4) Conflict between nurses' classic professional identity as people who take care of and satisfy patients' needs and the new concept of nursing that advocates patients’ privacy, autonomy and dignity while learning new technological skills with all the advantages and disadvantages encompassed in it. This paper ends with a writes' point of view about ethical-technological solutions of the ethical issues.

INDIVIDUAL PARENTAL COACHING - A SUPPORT FOR PARENTS

Parents are usually entering the significant role of parenthood without any designated manual or training, apart from the parental modeling they have experienced in their own childhood home. Yet, the responsibility for raising happy and well-adjusted children lays on the parents' shoulders. The parental task becomes even more demanding during the tension saturated years of adolescence, when parents tend to feel lost, bewildered, and lose the easy-going communication they had with their children, especially in the challenging post-modern era. In order to establish 'good enough' parenting, which is based on a coherent and consistent agenda, parents should be given the opportunity to set out on a journey of familiarity with their own 'self,' their values as individuals, their beliefs, strengths and weaknesses, which is offered by using the Individual Parental Coaching (IPC) model. The uniqueness of the model is by placing the parents at the heart of the coaching process, relating to them as whole and complete persons, rather than as a parent designed to bare, raise, love and serve children. The model was examined with qualitative research in 2016 in Israel, and has developed to other fields since then. The results of the initial research and utterances from other parents that participated in the model in various contexts indicate that they clearly witness a significant improvement of their parental abilities, which lead to a better connection and communication with their adolescent's children.