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An introduction to articles published within the issue is presented on topics including the approach of school/educational psychologists to the conduct of research, how research can work with individuals and communities to engage in qualitative research, and the Indigenous philosophy of Botho/Ubuntu as an alternate paradigm to varieties of epistemic injustice.

The cultural turn has yet to fully reconfigure 'class' as a set of fictions, tropes, discourses and enduring culture-structures. Existing Durkheimian approaches have stalled at his middle period morphological reductionism. This paper constructs a more radical understanding in the late-Durkheimian idiom. It shows how class operates as a signifier in a language game of purity and pollution, virtue and vice. Taking a lead from studies of the 'unruly' working class, the paper opens up the more subtle pollution that attends to the mythical 'bourgeoisie' and its associated and imagined 'bourgeois' culture. As a sign system this class location is deemed inauthentic, sybaritic, and as strangely deadening to cultural vitality. Although commonly found in contexts of gentrification and commodification that involve class conflict, this critical discourse is also applied within the bourgeois milieu. Such needless auto-critique suggests a relative autonomy from determination by class struggle. The possibilities for this approach are illustrated at length with reference to a paradigm case: the highly bourgeois milieu of the composer Richard Wagner and his Bayreuth Festival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mainstream television scarcely features Deaf persons. When they do, they are usually cameo, secondary, and rarely multidimensional characters. This paper examines Deaf identity of a main character, Daphne Vasquez, on the popular show Switched at Birth. We analyze moments where Daphne's identity, a constructed Deaf identity, is showcased. We map how her identity is salient across seasons and then examine key moments of identity formation as Daphne negotiates her Deafness. We find a strong display of Deaf identity salience and impactful moments in the show that resulted in more positive, holistic representations of Deafness. In recent years, the media has come under increased scrutiny for limited representations of minority identities; this case study seeks to contribute to that conversation by studying a show explicitly focused on increased representation. This work is important as it not only examines a show which successfully features a character with a traditionally stigmatized identity but simultaneously quantifies how that identity is invoked as a message to viewers. This paper bridges cultural sociology with social psychology to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of identity representation in entertainment media and comments directly on the social impact of Daphne's character on Deaf presence in 21st century media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines key socio-cultural factors that influence Saudi tourists' decisions to travel abroad. The paper utilises qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with males and females, whose views remain under-researched. It explores how Saudi Arabia's deeply embedded religious and tribal value systems and structures shape tourists' destination choices and travel behaviours. The findings show that social norms and cultures of surveillance, alongside social obligations, act as push factors, decreasing the appeal of domestic tourism. Moreover, data suggest that seeking personal space and freedom, and the ability to engage in norm-breaking practices, are pull factors that make international destinations, especially those with fewer co-nationals, appealing. Practically, the study helps to identify marketing strategies that domestic and international destinations can adopt to target and accommodate Saudi tourists more effectively. Theoretically, the findings help to conceptualise a middle ground between what we call 'extensionist' and 'rejectionist' views of cultural influence and to appreciate the cumulative, intersecting impacts of socio-cultural imperatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to diagnose the information culture of the university administration. Although university administrative work is commonly associated with bureaucracy, it is a bureaucracy of people in which employees demonstrate a set of competitive group information behavior focused on knowledge sharing and information use in day-to-day tasks. A group of 345 respondents, representing office staff from three institutions in Poland, answered the survey related to information culture. The research framework included 16 information behaviors, grouped by four levels of information and knowledge management and four types of information culture. The results were examined using statistical packages to perform the Kruskal-Wallis H test, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, and ordinal/linear regression analysis. Professional Bureaucracy culture is the dominant characteristic of the information behavior of university administrations, but its functioning is supported by three parallel information cultures included in the research model. The main limitation of the study is that it covers only lower-level employees' information practices. The applied scale, based on professional stratification within the university administration, is highly sensitive regarding different institutional contexts covered in the information culture diagnosis. To support the development of Professional Bureaucracy, it is necessary to support internal openness of behavior (socialization), internalization of knowledge, and external networking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document introduces a special section on therapeutic cultures in contemporary societies. It discusses the growing prevalence of psychologically and psychotherapeutically informed ideas and practices in everyday life, as well as the commercial success of the 'happiness industry' and the implications of therapeutic discourses in power and governance. The document also examines the assumption that therapeutic cultures are closely linked to neoliberal capitalism and individualization, questioning whether this is still the case in the 2020s. The special section includes four papers that explore therapeutic discourses and practices in various social contexts, emphasizing the need for further research in this area. The papers specifically examine the impact of neoliberal policies and economic crises on mental health and well-being in higher education in Finland and the United Kingdom, highlighting the pathologization of poor academic performance and the neglect of broader social and economic issues. The authors argue that the emphasis on individual responsibility and autonomy contradicts the actual experiences of students. Additionally, the papers investigate the role of self-help books in shaping modern subjectivity in the UK and the contradictions between the neoliberal therapeutic ethos and the construction of a measurable selfhood through digital therapeutic cultures. Overall, the papers demonstrate the pervasive influence of therapeutic discourses in contemporary society and the importance of sociological analysis in understanding this psychologization of society. [Extracted from the article]

This paper explores the relationship between crisis and experience, concentrating on 'excentric positionality' in relation to the shared world, as presented in the work of Helmuth Plessner. A by-product of the 1920s Weimar Germany, Plessner's philosophical anthropology, it is argued, presents us with a forgotten blueprint for transitive and compositional approaches to the social world. Instead of the familiar 'crisis of experience' used to diagnose 'what has gone wrong', it allows us to re-learn how to work with 'the experience of crisis' itself. The latter holds the key to a different type of approach based on 'xeno-communication'. This type of communication utilizes the productive potential of crisis in its uncertainty and hesitation before a decision, showing a way to extend and enlarge experience itself. Cultivation of these 'excentric' dynamics in turn suggests new 'excentric methodologies' based on a more flexible fit between concepts and the worlds they are meant to describe. 'Excentric methodologies' constitute a type of experience-based, analytical response to the shared world. They work with phenomena across spaces and problems, analytically utilizing their joint emergence from the fundamental imbalance and discontinuity characteristic of the human environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the history of the Rodez printing firm in provincial France from 1624 to 1820 (although the firm ran until 1984). In contrast to the world of clandestine printing and bookselling, very little is known about the lives of ordinary sedentary printers in ancien-régime France. The paper is organized in three parts and considers the following issues. How did the firm operate, who worked in it, what training was required, and what was produced? How did this change over time? Secondly, this was a family firm, so we may ask how was it kept in the family, and how did the family fare as it made a living out of printing? Here we have an insight into the history of an artisan family over nearly 200 years, the ascension of an artisanal family to the level of respectable bourgeoisie. The third area considered is the possible contribution to understanding the cultural world of a provincial town. The firm printed and sold books, and account books and order books give us further information, though of a fragmentary nature. From this it is possible to raise questions about recent research on the starkly contrasting world of Enlightenment bestsellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Socio-economic inequalities originate from several channels, one of which is family origins, with clear effects on people's health. This paper aims to evaluate the role played by social mobility in determining health inequalities, relying on Blau and Duncan's status attainment model and focusing specifically on two moments of social reproduction of inequalities: one inter-generational, based on the transmission of resources from the family of origin, the other intra-generational, related to the capitalisation of economic resources to maximise well-being. Methods: Multi-group models of structural equations were used to examine the direct and indirect effects of parental cultural background, education and economic conditions of respondents on self-perceived health in 28 countries, relying on the European Social Survey (N =38,879). Results: Overall, the results confirmed the presence of an inter-generational transmission of social and health status. Different models of transmission of health inequalities emerged among the countries considered. Countries characterised by a social democratic welfare regime showed higher social mobility and fewer health inequalities, although in correspondence with a prominent role of economic factors in determining health conditions. On the other hand, in countries where social mobility is lower, health inequalities are more pronounced, yet driven by factors others than economics, such as socio-cultural origins. Conclusions: The presence of a higher economic-health gradient in social democratic countries – notwithstanding their egalitarian and universal welfare policies – provides support for the existence of a Nordic paradox in relation to health inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Imposter as Social Theory: Thinking with Gatecrashers, Cheats and Charlatans" is a book that explores the concept of imposters and their role in society. The book brings together papers from scholars in various disciplines who examine different aspects of identity deception. The editors define an imposter as someone who pretends to be someone else to deceive others, and argue that imposters can be found in various realms of society, including media, science, politics, and everyday life. The book argues that the concept of imposters can be used as an analytical tool to understand social relations and cultural forms. While the book provides a wide range of interesting studies, it misses an opportunity to explore the micro-sociological perspective on identity deception and does not pay enough attention to the subjective experience of being an imposter. Overall, the book offers a unique and thought-provoking perspective on the topic of imposters. [Extracted from the article]

The article "Advancing understanding of overparenting and child adjustment: Mechanisms, methodology, context, and development" explores the impact of overparenting on child development, emphasizing its prevalence, consequences, and underlying mechanisms. Topics include the various forms of overparenting, its effects on adolescent and emerging adult adjustment, and the need for nuanced research to understand its complexity and cultural context.

Drawing on the literature on person-culture fit, we investigated how culture (assessed as national-level familism), personality (tapped by attachment styles) and their interactions predicted social network characteristics in 21 nations/areas (N = 2977). Multilevel mixed modeling showed that familism predicted smaller network size but greater density, tie strength, and multiplexity. Attachment avoidance predicted smaller network size, and lower density, tie strength, and multiplexity. Attachment anxiety was related to lower density and tie strength. Familism enhanced avoidance's association with network size and reduced its association with density, tie strength, and multiplexity. Familism also enhanced anxiety's association with network size, tie strength, and multiplexity. These findings contribute to theory building on attachment and culture, highlight the significance of culture by personality interaction for the understanding of social networks, and call attention to the importance of sampling multiple countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports two independent meta-analyses on the relationship between (a) classroom climate and academic achievement; and (b) school climate and academic achievement. The analyses were based on extant correlational research studies at the K-12 level that were published between 2000 and 2020. The relationships were analyzed in terms of various moderator variables. The first dataset included 53 research studies focusing on classroom climate and academic achievement, and the second dataset included 37 research studies on school climate and academic achievement. The meta-analyses were carried out with a random effects model. Fisher's effect size was calculated for each study. Publication bias was tested with Egger's linear regression method and Duval and Tweedie's trim and fill method. We used the Q-test for moderation analyses and I 2 test for heterogeneity analyses. The results revealed that the mean effect size for the relationship between classroom climate and academic achievement was small, while it was medium for the relationship between school climate and academic achievement. The effect sizes regarding classroom climate differed significantly only in terms of the academic area moderator variable, and the effect sizes regarding school climate differed in terms of school area, report type, and unit of analysis. This meta-analysis study confirmed that school climate and classroom climate are significant correlates of academic achievement, and the dataset in this study revealed a greater magnitude of relationship in favor of school climate (although a comparison is not meant in this study). This study suggests that policymakers and practitioners should invest their efforts in promoting sound school climates while maintaining an emphasis on classroom climate components, as the two types of climates are intertwined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to meta-analysis the level of internalised stigma experienced by individuals with psychosis worldwide, and the impact of cultural differences, economic status of the studied regions and duration of illness on their levels of internalised stigma. Clinical and individual level factors associated with internalised stigma and stigma resistance were also systematically reviewed. Methods: A systematic search of keywords on two scholarly databases were conducted. The individualism index of the countries or regions where the studies were conducted was retrieved from Hofstede's updated measurement of individualism. Economic status of regions was categorised based on their per capita gross national income. Meta-analysis and meta-regression were conducted using the 'metafor' package in R. Factors associated with internalised stigma and stigma resistance were also systematically consolidated. Results: Seventy-three articles were included in the meta-analysis and the pooled score of both internalised stigma and stigma resistance of individuals with psychosis were within the mild range (2.20 and 2.44, respectively). The meta-regression analysis found high collectivism culture is significantly related to a higher level of internalised stigma. Economic status was not significant. Thirty-five articles were included in the systematic review and clinical, psychological, psychosocial variables, cognition and sociodemographic factors were found to be associated with internalised stigma. Conclusion: Internalised stigma in psychosis is ubiquitous worldwide and high collectivism culture may be related with high internalised stigma. With the presence of multiple individual factors related to internalised stigma, intervention programmes to reduce internalised stigma should consider focussing on both macro- and micro-level factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discipline of psychology is increasingly recognizing the pervasive impact of the ever-changing socio-cultural contexts in which people are embedded. This dynamic nature of the social world is immensely impacted by globalization. As a phenomenon of psychological interest, globalization wields numerous changes across different domains and appears to continuously shape the contours of people's experiences. Keeping this in mind, exploring people's perceptions and understanding of globalization can serve as a good starting point to discover its diverse implications. Thus, this research focused on the experiences of urban, educated, middle-class, young people from the metropolitan context of Delhi-NCR, India. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 participants (M = 14, F = 18) between the ages of 18 to 28 years. Data were subjected to reflexive thematic analysis, using inductive coding. Emergent themes and subthemes, related to participants' notions about globalization and its resultant socio-cultural changes along with their implications are thoroughly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the growing evidence that the modern world is more diverse and so is the nature of relationships that present in therapy, there remains paucity of empirical evidence on how cultural differences impact those in intercultural romantic ties. We conducted this comprehensive scoping review with the aim to outline the size and scope of existing research in the field of intercultural love and romantic relationships. We utilised a five-stage scoping review protocol provided by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) manual for synthesis of evidence for a scoping review to ensure the rigour, transparency, and replicability of our findings. We reviewed peer-reviewed articles across nine electronic databases as well as "snowballing" the literature from the reference lists. A total of 46 studies were included in this review. We found that the majority of studies approached intercultural relationships from the deficit perspective, focusing on the domains of cultural difference that bring challenges to the relationship. These included culture-rooted differences in parenting standards and gender role expectations, among others. Often, cultural differences were found to bring power impedance into the relationship. Open communication and flexibility were found as important coping strategies. Differences in native language posed challenges to emotional communication between partners. These findings demonstrate that intercultural relationships face an additional layer of challenges and complexities that have to be recognised in therapy. We propose four domains of transmodality relational competencies on the basis of our findings to inform culturally sensitive therapeutic practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article calls for a rethinking of critical sociology. Representing classical critical sociology, the Bourdieusian paradigm illustrated domination, but its negative foundation removed actors' power, privileging sociological knowledge as capable of identifying (social) transcendental categories of thought. Latour's constructivism challenged this privilege, giving actors the political power of aggregating collectives around their common concerns at the cost of emphasizing domination and critique. We propose a critical approach that evades a transcendental perspective reliant on pure negation, producing a more positive critical sociology founded on processualist phenomenological and pragmatic perspectives, principally Merleau-Ponty and Dewey. Actors and researchers can collectively ruminate on their perspectives and concerns to challenge power structures and transform their worlds. At the center of this is the social-mien, a creative reimagination of habitus. A brief discussion of the protests and scholarship surrounding the Notre-Dame-des-Landes activists' practice of democracy highlights the utility of the approach and serves as a model for future application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on Stuart Hall's reading of Louis Althusser's main theoretical works. Since the early 1970s, Hall has undertaken a critical confrontation with Althusser's 'structural Marxism', rescuing those useful concepts to think cultural difference and identity, without failing to criticize his 'superstructuralist' interpretation of Marx. However, what Hall will retain as Althusser's most important contribution is, above all, his theory of ideology. In this context, I follow an idea formulated by Hall that could be read as summarizing the theoretical and political scope of Althusser's contribution to Cultural Studies: 'he enabled me to live in and with difference'. By complicating classical interpretations schemes in the Marxist tradition, Hall's Althusser may be read as a 'thinker of difference' who opens up a whole research program to reconsider class conflicts as traversed (or 'overdetermined') by gender, racial or colonial conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article questions the place of the child in the metaphysics and imaginary of Western colonization, racialization, and decolonization. In the last chapter of The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon, children appear not only as victims but also as a problem for which Fanon struggles to account as a theorist of decolonization as much as a psychiatric practitioner. Through a reading of one of the cases, this article interrogates the ways in which colonization attempts to infantilize colonized populations while erasing childhood, and the ways in which decolonization meets colonization by regarding childhood in the end as a misfortune. The work of decolonization, to proceed, thus would demand us to rethink childhood, and in doing so break free of Western metaphysics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article shows that Habermas's modernism and Lyotard's postmodernism are not as antithetical as they are often taken to be. First, we argue that Habermas is not a strong foundationalist concerned with identifying universal rules for language, as postmodern critiques have often interpreted him. Instead, he develops a social pragmatics in which the communicative use of language is the fundamental presupposition of any meaningful interaction. Second, we argue that Lyotard is not a relativist who denies any universal linguistic structure. Instead, he claims that language involves a universal element of dissensus that cannot be subordinated to consensus. Third, we show that neither does Habermas defend a new version of the kind of philosophy of history characteristic of the Enlightenment, nor is Lyotard a historical relativist, but instead they both seek alternatives to these positions. The conclusion calls for more nuance in the interpretation of both perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This manuscript delves into the intricate connection between climate change and Indigenous mental health in Australia, with a focus on the aftermath of the defeat of the 'Voice' referendum. Climate change, recognized for its broad impact on mental health determinants, poses heightened risks to vulnerable communities, including Indigenous populations. The defeat of 'The Voice' referendum adds complexity, highlighting concerns about the lack of meaningful rights for the First Peoples of Australia. The bushfires further underscore ecological consequences, affecting Indigenous ecosystems and intensifying existing environmental challenges. Climate change exacerbates existing health challenges for Indigenous peoples, introducing new issues like ecological sorrow and anxiety. Methodology: The manuscript advocates for prioritized research in Indigenous communities to explore the link between climate change and mental health. It emphasizes interdisciplinary and collaborative research, giving voice to those directly affected by climate change. The lack of trust between Indigenous populations and authorities, along with the implications on self-determination, is crucial research focus. Results: Renewable energy emerges as a potential solution deeply ingrained in Indigenous practices. The manuscript discusses challenges in achieving eco-friendly resettlement, emphasizing collaboration difficulties between the government and remote communities. The indigenous worldview, with its interconnectedness, is crucial for sustainable strategies. Discussion and Future Directions: Indigenous perspectives on planetary health are crucial, emphasizing the importance of Indigenous knowledge in shaping effective climate policies. The manuscript stresses dialogues between policymakers and Indigenous elders for formulating respectful land laws. It calls for global attention to the role of Indigenous peoples as biodiversity caretakers and urges recognition of their knowledge in climate change. Future directions include data collection for ecosystem protection, improving mental health outcomes post-climate events, and supporting impacted communities. Mental health care approaches in remote communities and practitioner training for climate-related issues are emphasized. The manuscript calls for increased funding for interdisciplinary research to understand the long-term impact of climate change on mental health, especially among vulnerable populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minority groups have been disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19's effects. Whereas, social workers have been instrumental in countering those effects, their roles have been understudied, particularly during the 'new normal' that followed the outbreak. This gap is addressed by drawing on interviews with 28 social workers in the Jewish ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) society in Israel, held after the outbreak and during the 'new normal'. Three main roles are identified: first responders, during the outbreak; a voice for community needs, in the 'new normal'; and policy translators – throughout. The findings contribute a temporal aspect to the literature by highlighting social workers' dynamic roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects bullying has on victims' mental, emotional, and physical well-being depend on the coping strategies applied. As coping can be influenced by the environment in which it occurs, scholars have started to explore differences in coping across cultural contexts. However, qualitative research on the role of culture in coping with bullying victimization and social representations of bullies remains scarce. This study compares the coping strategies of US and Thai students with help of 28 in-depth interviews and 60 autobiographical written reflections. Findings revealed several differences in coping across groups. Thai students often tried to stay connected with the bully and felt guilty expressing anger. They assigned less responsibility and intention to the bully. This was only the case among US students if the bully was young. While Thai students laughed along to fit in, US students laughed off bullies to demonstrate that they did not care. Thai students regularly blamed themselves and tried to adapt their appearance and behavior. Whereas US students stressed how bullying helped them to become more resilient, Thai students highlighted increased tolerance. The possible role of culture in coping with bullying victimization, particularly of collectivist and individualistic cultural value orientations, as well as the role of social representations of bullies, is being discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does war affect states' tolerance toward foreign culture? It is well documented by historians that democratic countries, despite their heralded values of liberty and diversity, acquiesce and even promote the practice of cultural intolerance in wartime. The available evidence, however, remains either anecdotal or limited to a specific context, and the extent to which war-induced cultural intolerance persists has so far rarely been examined. In order to investigate the short- and long-term effects of war on the degree of foreign cultural acceptance, this article focuses on patterns of classical music performances before, during, and after the two World Wars, based on a novel dataset assembled from concert program notes of ten renowned symphony orchestras from five countries (Austria, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) between 1900 and 1960, covering 29,135 concerts and 125,530 pieces. Quantitative analysis suggests that the rate of performing pieces originating from belligerent countries in wartime declines markedly for music written in relatively modern times and that the defeat in wars led to a swift recovery of the exclusionary tendency against former enemy music. These findings demonstrate that states' security concerns and relative power, rather than political regime types, dictate international transaction patterns, including cultural flows across sovereign state borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free-listing is a quick, semi-quantitative methodology commonly used by anthropologists to uncover information within a cultural domain. In this method note, we review how anthropologists have used free-listing in a variety of research settings. We then apply the social-ecological framework to describe how free-listing can be used for formative, process, outcome, and impact stages of program evaluation. Each type of evaluation includes a set of example free-list prompts to help researchers begin using this tool. We propose that free-listing is a beneficial data collection method in program evaluation. The free-listing method has identified barriers to treatment within our own work with clients recovering from either substance use disorder or opioid use disorder and has aided in providing flexible, individualized services. We conclude by providing recommendations for collecting free-list data and demonstrating the ease of computing free-list results by providing instructions and an example on how to analyze free-list responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populism's Challenges to Political Reason can be seen as a consequence of social and cultural trends, the so called 'emotional culture', that have been accentuated in recent decades. By considering those trends, this article aims at shedding light on some distinctive marks of contemporary populism in order to argue for a reconfiguration of the public sphere that, without ignoring emotion, recovers argumentation and persuasion based on facts and reason. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sadly, much of the world is no stranger to Psychological Trauma, particularly in poorer areas with poor health infrastructure. Western Aid Organisations frequently deploy to such areas bringing with them a western psychiatric tradition of nosology and therapy which may not be appropriate in other cultures. We argue that imposing a western system of diagnosis and treatment may not only undermine local culture but may also be bad for the patient. We discuss this with reference to the WHO's Mental Health Gap initiative (MHGap). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) is endemic in South Sudan. Approaches to end VAWG are barely making a dent in prevalence figures. Global evidence tells us that ending VAWG in conflict-ridden contexts is challenging on many levels. Our research points to the need for social and gender norm change approaches to be better contextualised within the political economy and through applying a nuanced critique of the role of culture in normalising many forms of VAWG. In addition, greater involvement of young people is critical as a behavioural tipping point is beginning to emerge in this group. At national level, a lack of political commitment emerges as a key challenge in ending VAWG. Drawing on the findings from 20 qualitative interviews with national civil society organisation (CSO) and non-governmental organisation's (NGO) stakeholders, the article argues that current approaches to ending VAWG in South Sudan (and arguably elsewhere) must be reframed along a continuum of change. Activities must be supported at all levels from national through to the grassroots and be founded in a complex picture of the values and beliefs that sustain VAWG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between media practices and social inequality has been studied within a range of sub-disciplines in media and communication studies and cultural sociology. In various, more or less direct, ways these studies point to the fact that habitus – the socially formed class specific relations to the social world – generates certain tastes, lifestyles, practices and preferences. When social groups form relatively distinct media practices, and distance themselves from the practices of other groups, they reproduce their social position, and 'make' their class. By analysing in-depth interviews with members of an emerging cultural middle-class, this study shows how class-making also manifests in the ways in which people expect that others would 'look down' on their media practices. By anticipating stigma from imagined others, the cultural middle-class stays in line with class-specific lifestyles and media practices, thus cementing their distinct character in the social space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the indigenisation of social work gathering momentum, the lens of universalism and relativism can highlight some critical social justice concerns. Sociocultural beliefs around human rights and gender equality, reproductive health and traditional fostering, among others, pose unprecedented dilemmas for social workers in Africa and indigenous societies globally. Furthermore, the blind pursuit of indigenisation can reinforce discriminatory and oppressive beliefs and practices. To rectify this, developing ethical decision-making screens and additional research promoting indigenous cultural competency within the social justice goal of social work is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A plethora of discussion informs decolonising social work. However, how social work can be decolonised from women's perspective is still unexplored. Using the context of Nepal as a case study, this article theoretically explores 'the what', 'the why' and 'the how' of decolonising social work from women's standpoint. It is hoped this analysis will initiate and contribute to the critical debate on women, social work and decolonisation in Nepal and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its association with attraction and liking, similarity fails to reliably predict relationship satisfaction in marriage. This study suggests that individual differences in relationship regulatory focus, i.e., the motivation to prevent negative outcomes or promote positive outcomes in relationships, might address this inconsistency. Specifically, the comforting nature of similarity could potentially enhance marital satisfaction among relationship prevention-focused individuals by fostering a stronger interconnectedness with their partner, compared to relationship promotion-focused individuals. We tested this hypothesis using an online survey with 1,792 participants from Korea and 1,531 participants from the U.S. The results confirmed that relationship prevention-focused individuals experiencing higher self–partner similarity felt a stronger interconnectedness and, consequently, higher marital quality. However, self–partner similarity had a less pronounced effect on relationship promotion-focused individuals. These findings indicate that the perception of similarity plays a more significant role in the marriages of prevention-focused individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]