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Since launching health health-promoting settings approach to health by WHO, valuable progress has happened in implementing its holistic concepts in settings such as cities, schools, workplaces, hospitals and healthcare services. However, significant knowledge–intention–success gaps still exist in creating sustainable health-promoting changes in settings. The complexity of the task of bridging this gap has contributed to the call for a complexity-informed paradigm shift to health as well as settings, followed by increasing consultation of relevant complexity theories, frameworks and tools in health research. This paper provides a critical scoping review of the application of complex adaptive system (CAS) theory in settings-based health promotion research. We included 14 papers, mostly qualitative studies, reporting on planning or implementation of change initiatives, less on its evaluation. CAS theory application was often incomplete thereby reducing the potential benefit of using this lens to understand change management. We suggest some recommendations how to comprehensively apply the CAS theory in setting-based health research and to report on all CAS characteristics to enhance the understanding of settings as adaptive health-promoting settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Anatolian Journal of Social Sciences / Uluslararasi Anadolu Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Uluslararasi Anadolu Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aims to detect anomalous changes in social network structure in real time and to offer early warnings by phase II monitoring social networks. First, the exponential random graph model is used to model social networks. Then, a test and online monitoring technique of the exponential random graph model is developed based on the split likelihood-ratio test after determining the model and its parameters for a specific data set. This proposed approach uses pseudo-maximum likelihood estimation and likelihood ratio to construct the test statistics, avoiding the several steps of discovering Monte Carlo Markov Chain maximum likelihood estimation through an iterative method. A bisection algorithm for the control limit is given. Simulations on three data sets Flobusiness, Kapferer and Faux.mesa.high are presented to study the performance of the procedure. Different change points and shift sizes are compared to see how they affect the average run length. A real application example on the MIT reality mining social proximity network is used to illustrate the proposed modelling and online monitoring methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Mobile Social Network (MSN) consists of nodes that are related socially, in addition to their physical connection through wireless links. In terms of mobile devices, social connection reflects the frequency of encounter, so that the users of these devices are socially connected if they communicate with each other frequently. This layer of social connectivity, combined with the physical connectivity of being in the communication range of each other, can help improve the routing performance. However, it also inherits the challenges of mobile adhoc networks. These challenges include the limited energy resource, intermittent connectivity, and the limited storage. To overcome these challenges and improve routing efficiency, social metrics are exploited to carefully choose the candidate relays in MSNs. In this paper, the routing protocols proposed or candidate to be implemented in MSN are reviewed, focusing on the routing metrics used to select the candidate relays. In addition, the authors describe a list of performance measures that are useful in comparing current and future MSN routing protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social structure of an animal population can often influence movement and inform researchers on a species' behavioral tendencies. Animal social networks can be studied through movement data; however, modern sources of data can have identification issues that result in multiply-labeled individuals. Since all available social movement models rely on unique labels, we extend an existing Bayesian hierarchical movement model in a way that makes use of a latent social network and accommodates multiply-labeled movement data (MLMD). We apply our model to drone-measured movement data from Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus) and estimate the effects of sonar exposure on the dolphins' social structure. Our proposed framework can be applied to MLMD for various social movement applications. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acceleration of social change and pace of life in both post-secondary and employment settings has contributed to rising mental health concerns for Canadian youth. Previous research primarily placed the responsibility for such concerns on modernization; however, such an analysis does not account for the continual acceleration of youth mental health concerns, suggesting that modernization does not entirely encompass this social phenomenon. Using Hartmut Rosa's theory of social acceleration, this paper seeks to determine how social policy can be used to mediate the effects of a high-speed society on youth mental health. Contrary to former assumptions, this paper finds that growing youth mental health concerns can be largely attributed to the current high-speed accelerating society rather than modernization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As current evolutions make the social economy increasingly visible and important, the paper examines the role of networking in social economy initiatives in strengthening their innovativeness capacities, and, thus, increasing their potential for societal transformation. Our analytical framework reflects the different clusters of networking relations within and outside social economy initiatives, as well as the roles of cognitive frames, skills and capacities, governance, activities, and funding under each of these networking clusters. This analysis is then applied in a particular social economy initiative, Cretamo, a consumers' cooperative operating a grocery store in Thessaloniki, Greece. The results indicate that Cretamo has developed in the central node of an eco-system of same-minded social enterprises in the agro-food sector, offering an alternative niche to the mainstream economic model. This has changed relations both within the initiative and in its networks, while, at the same time, allows for increased innovativeness capacities. Cretamo has not yet the power to challenge the existing mainstream regime. Yet, it offers a valid alternative niche, which, combined with the socio-economic crisis still experienced in Greece and expected to intensify in the future, creates strong potential for societal transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Policy Analysis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents an extension to the relational event model with change points (REM-CP) to study abrupt changes to social interaction behavior in temporal networks. A change point detection algorithm is proposed for exploring when and which network effects abruptly change, and a confirmatory approach to test the presence of a change point at a given moment. The effectiveness of the methodology was assessed with numerical simulations and NASA's Apollo 13 mission data. The latter revealed dynamic communication behavior and identified time zones where most change points occurred, including around the time of the famous quote "Houston, we've had a problem." • The strengths of some effects and therefore social dynamics, can change at certain points in time. • The REM with Change Points (REM-CP) builds on the relational event modeling framework and the Bayes factor and detects when the change points in social networks occur. • REM-CP can explore when and which network effects abruptly change in a specified period and test the presence of a change point at a given moment. • REM-CP can be a useful tool to analyze how teams work, communicate and how they handle critical situations. • Team resilience has been defined in many ways, but the most fitting with the analysis at hand (REM-CP) is that of "graceful extensibility". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of REGEPE Entrepreneurship & Small Business Journal is the property of Revista de Empreendedorismo e Gestao de Pequenas Empresas (REGEPE) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background Expanding electrification and access to other clean and affordable energy, such as solar energy, is a critical component of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where 70% of people are energy insecure. Intervention trials related to access or less polluting household energy alternatives have typically focused on air quality and biological outcomes rather than on how an intervention affects the end user's lived experiences, a key determinant of uptake and adoption outside of a research setting. We explored perceptions of and experiences with a household solar lighting intervention in rural Uganda. Methods In 2019, we completed a one-year parallel group, randomized wait-list controlled trial of indoor solar lighting systems (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03351504) in rural Uganda where participants are largely relying on kerosene and other fuel-based lighting received household indoor solar lighting systems. In this qualitative sub-study, we conducted one-on-one, in-depth qualitative interviews with all 80 female participants enrolled in the trial. Interviews explored how solar lighting and illumination impacted participants' lives. We applied a theoretical model linking social integration and health to analyse dynamic interactions across aspects of study participants' lived experiences. Sensors were used to measure daily lighting use before and after receipt of the intervention solar lighting system. Results Introduction of the solar lighting system increased daily household lighting use by 6.02 (95% confidence intervals (CI)=4.05-8.00) hours a day. The solar lighting intervention had far-reaching social implications with improved social integration and, consequently, social health. Participants felt that lighting improved their social status, mitigated the stigma of poverty, and increased the duration and frequency of social interactions. Household relationships improved with access to lighting because of reduced conflicts over light rationing. Participants also described a communal benefit of lighting due to improved feelings of safety. At the individual-level, many reported improved self-esteem, sense of well-being, and reduced stress. Conclusion Improved access to lighting and illumination had far reaching implications for participants, including improved social integration. More empirical research, particularly in the light and household energy field, is needed that emphasizes the impacts of interventions on social health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the link between self-perceptions of aging (SPA) and healthy aging is well established, less is known about the association between social factors and SPA. The present study investigated whether higher social network diversity is associated with more positive and less negative SPA and whether this association is moderated by age. We examined cross-sectional data from the German Ageing Survey of 2008 (DEAS; N = 6205, 40–85 years, 49.5% female). Network diversity was assessed as the number of social roles in an individual's network (such as spouse, friend and colleague). Three domains of SPA were measured using the Aging-Related Cognitions Scale (AgeCog): ongoing development (positive SPA), social losses (negative SPA) and physical losses (negative SPA). We conducted multiple linear regression models and tested for a moderator effect of age using an interaction term of age and network diversity. Results showed that at higher ages older adults with higher network diversity reported more positive SPA related to ongoing development and more negative SPA related to social losses than those with less diverse networks, indicating that age has a moderating effect. We found no association between network diversity and negative SPA related to physical losses and no indication that age was relevant to this relationship. The present study adds to evidence on the role of social networks in SPA. Our findings suggest that in certain SPA domains and depending on age, network diversity is related to both more positive and more negative SPA, which emphasizes the importance of considering domain-specific SPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-Black racism and cissexism have been strong motivators for Black trans and gender diverse (TGD) communities to engage in activism. Furthermore, Black TGD people have often been at the forefront of activist movements, yet they rarely receive recognition for their role in disrupting systems of oppression and contributing to liberation movements. Although researchers have documented that young Black and TGD people have played a crucial role in activist movements, they have yet to document the intersectional experiences of young Black TGD people within activism. This study used semistructured interviews to explore the experiences of 15 young Black TGD people within activism movements, including different forms of activism and factors related to involvement and impact. Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in five main themes and 13 subthemes as key aspects of activism: (a) community, (b) education, (c) identity, (d) intersectionality, and (e) prioritizing one's well-being, plus 13 subthemes. We discuss implications for practice, training, and advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines experimentally how reputational uncertainty and the rate of change of the social environment determine cooperation. Reputational uncertainty significantly decreases cooperation, while a fast-changing social environment only causes a second-order qualitative increase in cooperation. At the individual level, reputational uncertainty induces more leniency and forgiveness in imposing network punishment through the link proposal and removal processes, inhibiting the formation of cooperative clusters. However, this effect is significant only in the fast-changing environment and not in the slow-changing environment. A substitution pattern between network punishment and action punishment (retaliatory defection) explains this discrepancy across the two social environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social norms are the glue that holds society together, yet our knowledge of them remains heavily intellectually siloed. This article provides an interdisciplinary review of the emerging field of norm dynamics by integrating research across the social sciences through a cultural-evolutionary lens. After reviewing key distinctions in theory and method, we discuss research on norm psychology—the neural and cognitive underpinnings of social norm learning and acquisition. We then overview how norms emerge and spread through intergenerational transmission, social networks, and group-level ecological and historical factors. Next, we discuss multilevel factors that lead norms to persist, change, or erode over time. We also consider cultural mismatches that can arise when a changing environment leads once-beneficial norms to become maladaptive. Finally, we discuss potential future research directions and the implications of norm dynamics for theory and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the three-wave longitudinal survey data of the Wenchuan disaster area, this study employed Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to explore the recovery trajectory from depression of rural survivors after the Wenchuan earthquake. Across the three waves, 221 respondents (118 male, 103 female) provided complete data. We found that, at the individual level, the survivors' individual social networks had a significant effect on the change in depression scores in the four years following the earthquake, implying that a strong social network could help survivors recover from depression. At the community level, community trust had a significant effect both on the initial depression score at the time of the earthquake and on the survivors' change in depression scores after the earthquake. Survivors with high community trust had significantly lower depression scores, compared with those with low community trust at the time of the earthquake; however, the depression scores of the former increased in the four years following the earthquake and gradually approached the average depression level. At the social level, relief resource allocation also had a significant effect on the change in survivors' post-disaster depression; those who deemed the resource allocation to be very fair had a decrease in depression scores. The results of our study show that rich individual social networks and allocation of relief resources contribute to earthquake survivors' recovery from depression. Therefore, besides providing more adequate relief resources to survivors, we should also emphasize the rebuilding of their social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores household-level social dynamics of change and their causal effects on future agricultural practices and food security. It does this by employing a place-specific qualitative research methodology in two rural settlements in Shamva District, Mashonaland Central Province. It reveals how these changes have impacted negatively on farm households' command of assets, including draft power, labour and social networks. Households that had a long history of agricultural excellence started to experience declines in their agriculture, while new households encountered new vulnerabilities. The article concludes by cautioning against any policy that ignores the household as a production unit in Zimbabwe's agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising use of online media has changed the social customs of the public. Users have become accustomed to sharing daily experiences and publishing personal opinions on social networks. Social data carrying emotion and attitude has provided significant decision support for numerous tasks in sentiment analysis. Conventional methods for sentiment classification only concern textual modality and are vulnerable to the multimodal scenario, while common multimodal approaches only focus on the interactive relationship among modalities without considering unique intra-modal information. A hybrid fusion network is proposed in this paper to capture both inter-modal and intra-modal features. Firstly, in the stage of representation fusion, a multi-head visual attention is proposed to extract accurate semantic and sentimental information from textual contents, with the guidance of visual features. Then, multiple base classifiers are trained to learn independent and diverse discriminative information from different modal representations in the stage of decision fusion. The final decision is determined based on fusing the decision supports from base classifiers via a decision fusion method. To improve the generalization of our hybrid fusion network, a similarity loss is employed to inject decision diversity into the whole model. Empiric results on five multimodal datasets have demonstrated that the proposed model achieves higher accuracy and better generalization capacity for multimodal sentiment analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within social dominance hierarchies, rank has a major impact on health and fitness. Dominance hierarchies are rarely stable as individuals may change rank due to changes in the social environment. Here we describe general group-level social network properties and changes in social ties and behavior during rank transitions in 16 communities of the cichlid Astatotilapia burtoni. Social networks based on chases were dense with dominant males frequently chasing subordinate males and females. This intense territoriality of dominant males was also reflected by a high degree of 'power' inequality. Compared to chase-based networks, display-based networks were characterized by a high degree of reciprocity due to display behaviors mostly occurring bidirectionally among a few highly ranked males. Territory ownership is tightly linked to social dominance and territory loss (i.e., social descent) was, as expected, associated with a sharp reduction in aggression level and an increase in chases received. However, although territory acquisition (i.e., social ascent) was an abrupt process, ascending males displayed elevated aggression prior to ascent, in sharp contrast to previous studies carried out in less complex settings. Together, our results provide novel insights into dynamic changes in behavior in cichlid dominance hierarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Social networks transmit knowledge, influence, and resources. These relationships among patients, professionals, and organizations can shape how innovations are disseminated, adopted, implemented, and sustained. Network alteration interventions—interventions that change or rewire social networks—have the potential to be used as implementation strategies. Yet, the types, mechanisms, and effectiveness of these interventions for implementation are unclear. This scoping review and iterative synthesis identified and described network alteration strategies that could be tested for implementation. Methods: We used forward and backward citation tracking of influential articles on network interventions, bibliometric searches, and hand searches of peer-reviewed social network journals. At least two team members screened article titles/abstracts to identify studies that met inclusion criteria: empirical studies of an intervention, the intervention was designed to alter some element of a social network, and changes in social network metrics were measured at two or more time points. During full-text reviews, information about the network interventions, actors, ties, and main findings was extracted. Reporting was informed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). To develop our typology, we synthesized these results using an iterative team-based and consensus-building process. Results: Fifty-three articles met the inclusion criteria. The interventions described were conducted in healthcare systems or behavioral health systems (34%), communities (26.4%), and schools (22.6%). The majority included records describing interventions designed to alter social support, information-sharing, or friendship networks (65%) among individual actors (84.9%), or to increase ties. Eight strategies emerged. Three strategies targeted the general context: (1) change the environment, (2) create groups, and (3) change the composition. Four strategies targeted individual actors: change (4) motivations, (5) skills for networking, (6) knowledge of one's social network, and (7) prominence/roles. One strategy (8) targeted specific ties within the network (targeting a particular pair-wise relationship or changing the nature of an existing tie). Conclusion: The network alteration strategies in this typology provide further operational specificity for how implementation strategies target relationships. Advancing these strategies will require greater theoretical specification, the development of strategies that target professionals and organizations, and studies that examine the impact on implementation outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dementia is an emerging public health issue. Growing evidence emerged on the association between social integration and the risk of dementia. However, the magnitude of the association between different aspects of social integration and the risk of dementia is unclear. Methods: Five databases were systematically searched. Newcastle–Ottawa scale for assessing the quality of the reporting was used for quality appraisal. Longitudinal cohort studies examining the association between social integration and the risk of dementia were analyzed using random effects model. A series of sensitivity analyses was conducted to enhance the robustness of the findings. Results: Forty publications generated from 32 studies/databases were included. The meta‐analysis showed that strong social engagement (overall RR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.74–0.89, p < 0.001) and frequent social contact (overall RR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.76–0.97, p = 0.018) were positively associated with decreased risk of dementia. The influence of social support (overall RR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.80–1.06, p = 0.238) and close social contact (overall RR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.48–1.13, p = 0.167) was not significant. Loneliness was significantly associated with an increased risk of dementia (overall RR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.26–1.60, p < 0.001), whereas the influence of social isolation (overall RR = 1.58, 95% CI = 0.80–3.12, p = 0.192) was not significant. A larger social network size (RR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.59–0.97, p = 0.028) was a promising influencing factor even though the number of studies was insufficient for a meta‐analysis. However, the heterogeneity among studies was generally high even though sensitivity analysis was conducted. Conclusions: Our findings reveal that high social engagement and frequent social contact are significantly associated with a lower risk of dementia, whereas loneliness is associated with a higher risk. The promising impact of large social network size is also identified. Substantial heterogeneity appeared in most of the analysis, making the inference tentative. Nevertheless, the sensitivity analysis provided valuable implications that enhancing social engagement and reducing loneliness may prevent or delay the onset of dementia among middle‐aged and older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Social anxiety level of Chinese adolescents increased significantly over time. • Macro social indicators predicated the increase of adolescent social anxiety in China. As social anxiety is a key indicator measuring the mental health of adolescents, it is necessary to examine the changes in social anxiety level of Chinese adolescents with time. This research conducted a cross-temporal meta -analysis of 55 papers using the Interaction Anxious Scale (IAS) to investigate the changing trends and the influencing factors of adolescent social anxiety(N = 83893) from 2002 to 2020. The results showed that: (1) In the past 19 years, the score of social anxiety was significantly positively correlated with the year, indicating that social anxiety level of Chinese adolescents increased significantly year by year; (2) Score of social anxiety was significantly associated with four social indicators of economic condition (the residents' consumption level) and social connectedness (the divorce rate, the family size, and the urbanization level), suggesting that social change may account for the rise in Chinese adolescents' social anxiety level. This research explored the changing trend of social anxiety among Chinese adolescents in the past 19 years and served as a valuable reference for the intervention of Chinese adolescents' social anxiety in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social innovation, in the context of public innovation, has gained increased attention in the literature, and is approached relative to the third sector, to social enterprises, or as practices initiated by the public sector. However, the interplay among these actors in enabling social innovation is still underexplored. Therefore, the article investigates the role of social entrepreneurs from outside the public sector in enabling public sector innovation networks. Since social innovation is inherently relational, four cases demonstrating how social entrepreneurs have pushed the boundaries of public sector services, and hence expanded public innovation networks, are analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose dynamic extensions to the framework of Social Epistemic Logic introduced in Logic in the Community (Seligman et al. pp. 178–188, 2011). One of them introduces a notion of a semi-public announcement made by an aware agent and only transmitted to this agent's social connections. Another extension along the epistemic dimension of the framework contains separate 'sending' and 'reading' modalities that allow for a more realistic asynchronous spreading of messages in a social network. Finally, we briefly discuss an extension along the 'social' dimension of the framework, which introduces an operator to break links within an epistemic social network based on information at the agent's disposal. Completeness and decidability results are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a specific topic, the I zongfa i model (agnatic organization of royal and noble clans with a main line and collateral lines) from antiquity has been researched and described as a normative model originating from the Zhou dynasty as well as from representations in the Confucian classical texts (such as the I Liji i ). This blend can be seen as a result of a long process of negotiations when the feudal family-based model was not totally disregarded, but rather - due to its preservation in Confucian ideology - adapted to a bureaucratic state that kept the royal house, but required new elite families that were socially and geographically more mobile than previous nobilities. The Song dynasty saw the development of the mature bureaucratic state and became the model for following dynasties in Late Imperial China. Important elements had been established before: the relevance of education-based learning of the five Confucian classics ( I wujing i ) since the Han dynasty, the examination system as a base for recruiting able officials since the Sui and following Tang dynasties. [Extracted from the article]

Do Protestant missionaries affect community cohesion? This study puts forth two mechanisms that link missionaries to trusting, cooperative community life: pro-social preferences and social networks. On the one hand, Protestant missionaries espouse charity, and they establish regular venues of social interaction. On the other hand, Protestant missionaries propagate an individualist faith, and they provide an identity along which communities may separate. The effect of Protestant missionaries on community cohesion is thus unclear. To make headway on these conflicting theoretical predictions, we study variation in missionary activity in southeastern Peru. We document that villages with Protestant missions show lower levels of community cohesion compared to non-missionized, Catholic villages. We point to weakened networks as the most likely causal channel and show that effect sizes are particularly large among Pentecostal missionaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large-scale rural-to-urban migration in China has resulted in separated families and left-behind family members in the countryside. Various socioeconomic changes took place in rural China's daily life due to migration, which provides unique perspectives to understand the hidden costs of the national discourse on development. This study aims to reveal how rural grandparenting resulted from the uneven economic development between a Chinese city and a village. A dual-site ethnographic study was conducted in one Northern village and one Southern city. Interviews, focus groups, and participant observation were used to form methodological triangulation to understand how socioeconomic features have made grandparenting necessary. Instead of focusing only on grandparents' daily responsibilities of taking care of their grandchildren, we compared grandparents' and parents' views on the changes in grandparents' socioeconomic roles, feelings of loneliness, and economic independence, as well as grandchildren's socialization processes. The study showcases grandparenting as having a social significance larger than being individualized acts of family care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of digital platforms in social movements has given the Internet a central role in analyzing activism over the last decade. However, social networks' potential for social change has to be analyzed critically and take complex economic and political contexts where actors remain unequally powerful into consideration. Through a combined methodology, this article explores the tensions of free culture communities in Spain when using proprietary digital platforms. These communities include 1651 platforms, of which 1162 are proprietary, and 489 are free. They describe a complex ecology in which they use proprietary platforms or free alternatives depending on their ultimate goals. The logic of technological corporations is notably imposed when communities aim to communicate with outsiders as commercial social networks attract a significantly greater number of users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social networks have an important role in today's lifestyle and detecting any changes in their structure could be vital for social systems. Change detection in a social process could be complicated because of stochastic and complex manners of its component's which are humans. In this article, a novel approach is proposed which model and analyze social networks' structure. For this purpose, the proposed method combines the nodal attributes with structural tendencies of ERGMs to find the best fitting model which can properly define humans' characteristics in the observed network. Then, to detect any changes in the proposed model Hotelling T2 and MEWMA control charts are employed. Experimental simulation study and data analysis demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed technique to detect changes and its sensitivity in finding anomalies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social workers are expected to serve and advocate for marginalized communities, including but not limited to transgender and nonbinary communities (TNB). However, the extent to which social workers meet this expectation is unknown. Using data from a 2019–2020 survey of students who were enrolled in U.S. social work programs (N = 725), this study examined the predictors for engaging in TNB activism, including interaction effects between subdomains of the adapted Ally Identity Measure and students' personal endorsement of a Critical Orientation to Social Justice. We found that both students identifying as LGBQ and having more TNB people in one's social network were associated with an increase in engaging with TNB activism. Among our social work educational variables, we found that students who have a mixed micro/macro focus, those who had taken a course on power, privilege, and oppression, and those who had engaged in intergroup dialogue were more likely to engage in TNB activism. Finally, we found that the interaction effects between the Critical Orientation to Social Justice Scale and two of the adapted Ally Identity Measure subdomains were significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developmental studies of sociality in non‐human animals can offer important insights into the evolution, function, and plasticity of social behavior, especially in understudied species. We examined the development of social behavior in gartersnakes. We hypothesized that social interactions change as snakes age, but are relatively stable in the short term. To assess developmental changes in social patterns, we examined the social tendencies of a group of 6 eastern gartersnakes over the first year and a half of their lives. We placed the snakes in an arena for 8 days and recorded the time that they spent in physical proximity to each other. We repeated this 8‐day process 7 times across the snakes' development. We looked at changes in association patterns and individual differences in sociality (i.e., network position), and examined the effect of group size reduction on social behavior. We found that individuals tended to show repeatable network position across time, but there was a behavioral divide between younger snakes and mature snakes. When male snakes reached sexual maturity, they began initiating most social interactions. Additionally, group member attrition caused the networks to tighten, and the population reduction in combination with sexual maturity created stable social networks. This research shows that social context can have important effects on sociability, and that even a species without permanent social groups will be influenced by its social environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Polarization on various issues has increased in many Western democracies over the last decades, leading to divergent beliefs, preferences, and behaviors within societies. We develop a model to investigate the effects of polarization on the likelihood that a society will coordinate on a welfare-improving action in a context in which collective benefits are acquired only if enough individuals take that action. We examine the impacts of different manifestations of polarization: heterogeneity of preferences, segregation of the social network, and the interaction between the two. In this context, heterogeneity captures differential perceived benefits from coordinating, which can lead to different intentions and sensitivity regarding the intentions of others. Segregation of the social network can create a bottleneck in information flows about others’ preferences, as individuals may base their decisions only on their close neighbors. Additionally, heterogeneous preferences can be evenly distributed in the population or clustered in the local network, respectively reflecting or systematically departing from the views of the broader society. The model predicts that heterogeneity of preferences alone is innocuous and it can even be beneficial, while segregation can hamper coordination, mainly when local networks distort the distribution of valuations. We base these results on a multimethod approach including an online group experiment with 750 individuals. We randomize the range of valuations associated with different choice options and the information respondents have about others. The experimental results reinforce the idea that, even in a situation in which all could stand to gain from coordination, polarization can impede social progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives The influx of people with higher socioeconomic status into large Black communities is well documented; less is known regarding smaller, aging Black communities. Older Black adults in Portland, Oregon, among America's fastest gentrifying cities with the smallest metropolitan Black population, discussed barriers to healthy aging. Perspectives centered on the experience of gentrification, displacement, and its impact on social microsystems, place security, and aging in place. Research Design and Methods One-time focus groups engaged 41 Black adults aged at least 45. A demographic survey included residence area/duration. Discussions were thematically coded. Ecological Systems Theory guided interpretation. Results The majority of participants resided within gentrifying historically Black neighborhoods (89.2%), were aged at least 65 (54.6%), and lived in their neighborhood for at least 21 years (24.3%). Emergent discussion themes were rise and fall of Black ownership, displacement, race-related stress, and financial burden. Gentrification contributed to the dismantling of Black property ownership curated over generations, increased financial burden, and threatened place security. Physical displacement strained social networks, diminishing intergenerational neighborhood ties that supported aging in place. Cultural and physical displacement weakened the sense of social cohesion and belonging and induced race-related stressful interactions with new residents within original and relocation neighborhoods. Discussion and Implications Gentrification in the Pacific Northwest echoes national trends, uprooting critical close-proximity social networks and deteriorating motivation to engage in neighborhood-based social activity. Smaller, aging Black communities may be particularly vulnerable to these effects, which critically affect aging in place. Data inform researchers and policymakers to better understand how gentrification affects smaller, aging Black communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burials provide valuable information to study social structures based on the assumption that burials and associated grave goods can represent social roles and relations in a society. To study social relationships, network analysis has been increasingly applied to archaeological data to infer interactions and relationships between entities. Statistical approaches to network analysis, such as exponential random graph models (ERGMs), provide a way to test hypotheses about dynamic processes of network formation. However, computational difficulties and sensitivity to uncertainties limit the application of ERGMs. In this paper, we introduce a Bayesian framework on ERGMs that enables an efficient computational process, effective quantification of uncertainty, and robust model evaluation of network properties. We tested a hypothesis of social change relative to the arrival of Europeans by studying burial data from Kiwulan, an Iron Age site in northeastern Taiwan. The results indicate a transition among the burials from network ties based on ritual objects to wealth objects, and a more centralized structure with increased social differentiation after the European presence was established in the 17th century. Our case study demonstrates the effectiveness of Bayesian network analysis for archaeological data, and expands the use of burials in understanding the impacts of colonial presence on Indigenous groups in a pericolonial context. • We present Bayesian inference on exponential random graph models (ERGMs) to model archaeological networks. • We explore social processes and network structures in archaeological data from two time periods. • Differences in network statistics imply change over time in social structures influenced by foreign presence. • Bayesian ERGMs are efficient and useful for evaluating and interpreting networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergroup contact theory has received much quantitative support. However few efforts have attempted to apply qualitative methodologies to understand the perceptions of individuals who experience these contacts. we conducted 19 interviews to explore the perceptions of stakeholders of a community-based fitness program whose goal was to increase intergroup contact among its stakeholders. Participants reflected on the program reducing their social isolation, increasing opportunities for engagement outside one's own group, and expanded world views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Older adults prefer to age in place. Social network change and health decline challenge ageing in place, as stressors that make age-related advantages disappear. The aim of this study was to explore social network change and health decline and its impact on older adults who are ageing in place.Method: In-depth interviews (n = 16) were conducted with older adults who were ageing in place and who were experiencing health decline and social network change. Procedures for grounded theory building were followed to analyse the interviews with respondents who were discharged from the hospital less than 4 months ago (n = 7). Narrative analysis was conducted to reach a deeper understanding of the expected complexity of experiences of this targeted sample.Results: Results encompass a typology with four types of impact: A. Sneak preview of old age, B. Disruptive transition into old age, C. Drastically ageing, and D. Steadily ageing. Additionally, indications were found that older adults should be able to move along the four types of impact and ideally could end up in quartile D, experiencing little or no impact at all (anymore).Conclusion: The results present an optimistic view on the possibilities of older adults to continue ageing in place despite experiencing unavoidable and uncontrollable stressors in life. Also, the results provide leads for practice, to develop an action perspective for home care nurses and gerontological social workers to determine and reduce the impact of social network change and health decline on older adults who are ageing in place. Suggestions for further research would be to unravel how to detect temporal setbacks in successful ageing in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]