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This special issue focuses on the concept of the 'ideal' higher education student. It explores how this concept is played out in different national contexts and the implications it has for particular groups of students and their experiences within higher education. In this editorial introduction, we introduce the seven papers that make up the special issue, and then discuss some of the cross-cutting themes – showing how the papers help to advance our knowledge in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on how social group work is integral to teaching and learning about critical reflection on practice (CRoP), on three different levels. The paper provides an overview of the theory and practice of CRoP, followed by a description of group work in two MSW CRoP course sections at a school of social work in Ontario, Canada. The paper describes the process of integrating CRoP into practicum integration seminar groups to sustain skills in critical reflection, as well as our own group process in our small faculty research and teaching group. By integrating group work and critical reflection literature and by focusing on the development of critical acceptance and mutual aid, this paper will outline benefits, challenges, and opportunities related to the use of groups in facilitating the CRoP process, along with next steps and further discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is scholarly consensus among theologians and their disciplinary partners that religion closely links with identity formation, unmatched by identification with any other social group. However, detachment from organised religion in Western cultures among young people is increasingly evident. This paper presents research findings for theological reflection derived from an empirical sequential mixed-method, ethnographic Gadamerian doctoral study exploring Ireland's rapidly changing religious landscape. Survey findings (n = 178) and follow-up interviews (N = 22) of a random sample of 18–39 year olds suggest that while Irish Catholicism remains culturally important there is increasing disconnection from the institutional Church. It appears that privatised, self-referential forms of spirituality related to a wellness culture are growing. However, this paper suggests that a positive benefit may also accrue from these trends, specifically that sectarianism as a historically pernicious form of racism may diminish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tins paper is intended as an effort at taking-stock of the reference group concept after nearly three decades of use, the latter two of which have been marked by its more than ample employment. Its popularity indeed has so frequently led to its serving as an all-purpose post hoc explanation of behavior that it has led to the wry definition, "Your reference group is a group that you behave like and you behave like them because they're your reference group" (Cohen, 1962: 104). The inconsistencies, lack of clarity, but also areas of agreement which have marked the varied formulations of the concept, will be apparent from the following review and commentary. The Final discussion indicates some of the matters still to be considered in the use of thin important but perhaps overworked concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discriminatory attitudes towards Muslim refugees are common in liberal democracies, and Muslim citizens of these countries experience high rates of discrimination and social exclusion. Uniting these two facts is the well-known phenomenon of Islamophobia. But the implications of overlapping discrimination against citizens and non-citizens have not been given sustained attention in the ethics of immigration literature. In this paper, I argue that liberal societies have not only duties to discontinue refugee policies that discriminate against social groups like Muslims, but remedial duties to citizens who are in these social groups to adopt a more welcoming stance towards the groups that they are in. Further, I argue that a fitting way of adopting this more welcoming stance is to give refugees in these groups preferential treatment in asylum and resettlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the links between socioeconomic concerns and one of the most significant conflicts in the world, the Boko Haram-led insurgency in Northeastern Nigeria. In doing so it centers group dynamics for analysis of how women and youth constituencies intersect with vulnerability to violent extremism. It offers sophisticated quantitative analysis of new and original gender- and age-disaggregated survey data, with over 80% female respondents. The paper finds that while poverty can influence vulnerability to violent extremism, women and youth constituencies interact in particular ways with structural factors and certain youth constituencies exhibit lower propensities to violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disabled populations are disproportionally affected by the current climate and environmental crises. However, they are hardly included and their knowledge is neglected in processes addressing these challenges. To achieve the UN Agenda 2030, societies should actively engage with the values, experiences and knowledge held by people with disabilities in science and policy contexts. In this paper, we suggest that addressing 'deep' leverage points by 1) recognising diverse valuations of and connections to nature by different social groups (i.e. re-connecting to nature), 2) including disabled populations in decision-making and knowledge creation (i.e. re-structuring institutions), and 3) promoting inclusive education and knowledge generation (i.e. re-thinking knowledge production) can facilitate the development of inclusive transformation pathways and foster sustainable human-nature relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the dynamics between different social groups within Kuwait’s society, specifically focusing on the majority Arab population and the minority Ajam group originating from Iran. The Ajam community is distinct from the Arabs in terms of ethnicity and religious beliefs, with the majority of them identifying as Shiʿi Muslims while the majority of Kuwaitis are Sunni Muslims. Although the Ajam community has integrated into Kuwaiti society, speaking Arabic and sharing similar daily lives, their acceptance was not always the case. In the past, they were considered outsiders and faced hostility from Arab nationalists, the dominant political groups in Kuwait during the previous century. This paper conducts an analysis of the discourse employed by Arab nationalists towards the Ajam community in the 1960s, utilizing the Arab nationalist weekly newspaper, al-Taliʿa, as a case study. This analysis involves contextualizing the discourse and linking it to Kuwait’s state formation and the Ajam community’s status within the country. Through an examination of over 250 issues of the newspaper published between 1962 and 1968, the study demonstrates that Kuwaiti Ajam were framed as ‘Others’, targeted based on their country of origin and ethnicity and viewed as potential threats to the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractiWiW was one of the first Hungarian online social networks (OSNs) and the largest ever. The site was launched in 2002, and at its peak in 2010 it had 4.5 million members, more than two-thirds of all internet users in the country. The site was shut down in 2014 by its then-owner, Hungarian Telekom. As the first socio-historical account of the site, based on oral history interviews, this paper aims to shed light on a lesser-known chapter of local digital media history by providing insights into the development of iWiW. This examination includes a focus on the social meanings and values that underpinned the OSN’s development strategies, which were contested by a changing set of relevant social groups. The paper shows how the debates of the five main relevant social groups (entertainers, early enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, mass users, and corporate entrepreneurs) shaped the development of the site during the OSNs three main eras. In each era, the site had different goals, technological features, business and development strategies, favoured and represented by the most influential relevant social groups at the time. In this sense, the "offline part" of the network has always played a decisive role in the history of iWiW, from the beginning to the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central objective of this paper is to demonstrate that the validity of the Hughes and Coakley (H&C) model of deviance in sport is context specific and depends on the time, place, social groups involved, and the relative power of the audience and deviant(s). H&C argued that performance enhancing substance (PES) use constituted a single type of deviant behavior among athletes (i.e. positive deviance). The Heckert and Heckert (H&H) deviance framework made it possible to theorize performance-enhancing substances and methods (PESM) use as four ideal types of deviant behavior among athletes and in sports collectives. Given the variability in the historical and social contexts where PESM use has occurred in sport, a comprehensive explanatory framework is needed to understand a full range of PESM behaviors. This paper demonstrates that the H&H framework has a clear explanatory advantage over the H&C model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer people (LGBQ; a sexual minority social group) access counseling and psychotherapy more frequently than heterosexual people, often working with heterosexual therapists (a sexual majority social group). Heterosexual therapists working with LGBQ clients is under-researched which means limited dialogue exists describing a significant yet sensitive area of sexuality difference where therapist and client hold diverging social experiences. To facilitate awareness development in person-centered therapy and beyond, the paper seeks to challenge such limited dialogue, stimulating discussion through considering how four heterosexual person-centered therapists experience working with LGBQ clients. This qualitative research project was designed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as its methodology to explore the experiences of four heterosexual person-centered therapists who work with LGBQ clients. Findings centered upon four themes: shaping and forming, ways of seeing, witnessing clients and relationships with person-centered theory. The discussion considered the data in dialogue with person-centered theory, explored phenomenological therapy practice, intersectionality, power, and witnessing client experiences of social discrimination, and evaluated the non-pathologizing therapeutic potential that person-centered phenomenological practice holds for working with LGBQ clients. For theory development, the paper calls for further person-centered discourse exploring LGBQ experiencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports findings and observations on using the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) framework in a questionnaire study of literary translators' self-imaging strategies and attitudes towards technology. The study took advantage of SCOT's methodological flexibility to prioritise literary translators as a social group, hence compensating for the lack of opportunities to voice their interpretations of technology and become an active part in the framework's development and implementation. Ultimately, the use (and adaptation) of SCOT proved useful for the identification, analysis, and discussion of recurrent themes in respondents' narratives about technology and their position in society. In particular, SCOT helped to uncover the gap between how literary translators choose to (re)present themselves in society and how they see technology, and what other social groups might be pivotal for a more comprehensive, socially-relevant analysis. Finally, the paper presents suggestions for the use of SCOT in future research projects concerning the technologisation of the literary translation profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the Discourses of Marriage Research Group (DoM) founded by Dr. Lucy Jones (University of Nottingham) in 2012, we have been thinking, talking, and writing about the language of marriage for some time; to date the group has published four papers, focusing particularly on same-sex marriage debates in the UK. When in 2016 the British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL) put out a call for events in a series in conjunction with Cambridge University Press (CUP), the idea of an interdisciplinary seminar dedicated to discourses of marriage seemed a good one. Beginning this issue, Ursula Kania's paper on same-sex marriage legislation in Germany adds to a growing body of literature on media representations of same-sex/equal marriage debates in different national contexts. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines Erik Jörgen Hansen's paper concerning Danish educational equalization. He starts by discussing a certain specified goal, social equality in the field of education. He then deals with a number of obstacles which according to him prevent the realization of the desired goal in existing school systems. Finally he proposes certain measures to clear away the obstacles or minimize their importance. The goals discussed by Hansen is social equality in the field of education. What this means to him he discusses at some length and comes out with a number of definitions. One of these, consistent equality, he then tries to operationalize. This means in its general version that equality is reached when the educational system is so constructed, that it for all leads to a result that does not make it possible to find any useful criterion according to which individuals can be singled out in relation to the education obtained. In a more limited way this goal can be said to have been reached if the individuals in various categories, examples are social groups, geographical area, sex and others, on the average, regardless of category, reach a completely identical educational result.

Critical discourse studies do not often consider lateral power struggles between social groups with competing and intersecting interests, ideas and identities. As such, there is often little to no consideration of potentially detrimental outcomes or unintended consequences when proposing radical and transformative change. This paper therefore argues for critical relativism in CDS, considering intersecting power structures and struggles between potentially competing social groups. In illustration, this paper takes the case of ongoing antagonism over the socio-legal recognition of transgender identities in the West. Transgender identities are arguably more hotly debated at present than any other in relation to their socio-legal recognition and its perceived implications on other social groups. This paper therefore discusses how the interests of transgender socio-legal gender recognition intersect and compete with the interests of other social groups, whether in reality or only in perception. In so doing, this paper contends that the transformative impetus of CDS must account for the mechanisms and outcomes of lateral struggle. In a world of ever-increasing awareness of the interconnected systems of dominance and resistance, embedding critical relativism in CDS is imperative if it is to evolve and maintain relevance as an approach to meaningfully analysing discourse and championing social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of town-hall-like meetings called the community dialogues' were conducted in 2009 by the Daily Dispatch newspaper in East London, under the banner of public/civic journalism, a global journalistic reform movement begun in the United States in the late 1980s. The editorial leadership of the newspaper imagined a number of core journalistic and civic purposes for the dialogues and succeeded in achieving some of these. However, the newspaper's claim that the dialogues could help to build horizontal bridges' between diverse communities in East London is critically examined through the example of two community dialogues which took place in neighbouring locations - the predominantly white, middle-class suburb of Beacon Bay, and the informal African settlement of Nompumelelo - on consecutive days in 2009. This article argues that social inequalities, particularly acute in the South African context, may preclude the emergence of a shared vision of the common good, and that joint deliberation between diverse social groups in the pursuit of consensus may not be realistic or even an appropriate goal, especially if it means ratifying an unjust status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a social network analysis (SNA) of the community of the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), which is based on co-authorship patterns. Firstly, ECIS contributions are classified into research papers and panels to develop social networks. After that, these networks are analyzed with the help of a range of global network level and individual ego measures. It is found that the research community exhibits a few properties of 'small world' and represents an agglomeration of co-authorships. In the conclusion, the usefulness of SNA is considered to be useful in supporting IS research.

This paper discusses the status of Fuṣḥā (i.e. Modern Standard Arabic) and Darija (i.e. colloquial Arabic) in Morocco. The major argument it advances is that these two varieties are only vaguely defined in terms of their linguistic features. Their boundaries are also fuzzy, a fact which leads to different perceptions of them as well as to different construals of utterances as instances of either one or the other variety. In order to test this hypothesis, a set of five sentences were constructed in such a way that they combine standard and colloquial features. These were read by a single voice and recorded on the WhatsApp application and presented to a sample of 155 native speakers belonging to different genders, age groups and with different education levels. The results indicate that there are indeed significant differences between these groups in the way they classify the prompts, but the most interesting difference was found between participants with a higher education level and those with a primary school level or no education at all. These findings indicate that perceptions of the two varieties are partly determined by the social variables investigated. They also suggest that the two varieties are ideological constructs in the sense that different social groups develop their own view of what Fuṣḥā or Darija is either by way of defending their position in the social fabric if they are privileged, or by alienation if they are underprivileged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One hundred fifty-nine male African adults from the Belgian Congo were given a paper-and-pencil perceptual task devised by A. Rey and consisting of drawing lines between randomly arranged black dots so as to isolate simple geometrical figures. A practice task, where the perceptual difficulty was reduced by printing in different colors the dots corresponding to the different figures, was always given first. Both tasks were given without time-limit. Scores were number of correct patterns on the black test, and time taken to complete each of the two tasks. Both time scores were combined by Hotelling's principal components method. Two independent variables were obtained, one of which (J) expresses the general tendency to be slow on both tasks and the other the tendency to be slower on the (difficult) black patterns than on the (easier) color ones. The relationship of these components to accuracy on the black patterns was determined. Africans were compared on both time components with Belgian Ss at the same accuracy level. (It was necessary to use children because European adults are too accurate en this test.) It appears that, for the same degree of accuracy, Africans are always slower on J, but no difference is apparent on B. It is concluded that, as far as these tasks are considered, the slowness of the Africans--defined by comparison with Europeans of the same level of accuracy--is not related to task difficulty. This finding is more easily explained by a general lack of interest in speed performance than by a slower operation of mental functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 20 years, social entrepreneurship has attracted the attention of researchers from a wide variety of disciplines which has generated a great range of definitions of the term social entrepreneurship. This paper maps the existing definitions, using a citation map and cluster analysis methods. Studying 307 documents in total, the analysis reveals that – contrary to what has been commonly believed – there does, in fact, exist widespread consensus within the academic community on the definition and meaning of the term social entrepreneurship and it is primarily centred on the combination of social and financial goals, community ideals and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An editorial is presented on providing a forum for studies of class, education, and parenting hailing from a range of cultural contexts and social groups. Topics include entrenchment of neoliberalism, increasing competition, and expansion of educational choices; and considering class, education, and parenting in the era of globalization showing both the physical movement of families; and internationalization expanding the field of parenting and class reproduction.

The last two decades have witnessed a growing commitment to European public space projects seeking to promote social cohesion. These projects are built on the premise that social cohesion is under threat from the increasing cultural and economic differences in contemporary cities, and that it should be promoted through public spaces. This paper examines the key commonalities and differences among these new public space projects, in terms of their social, economic and planning policy contexts, social goals, design aims, processes and outcomes, and their diverse representational and use needs. The paper characterizes three distinct open space design approaches – Symbolic, Programmatic and Minimalist – that governments and designers that have put forward as best practices to enhance social cohesion, which have all been applied in similar socio-cultural and urban contexts: multicultural, low-income neighbourhoods that are experiencing gentrification. By combining theories and methods from urban design and social sciences, this paper offers an assessment and comparison of the three case studies and their relative merits and limitations in terms of how they used public space design to support the divergent functional and representational needs of diverse social groups, and the common aim of enhancing cohesion among these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an appendix note on a statistical question raised in the preceding paper.

Power is an all-pervasive, and fundamental force in human relationships and plays a valuable role in social, political, and economic interactions. Power differences are important in social groups in enhancing group functioning. Most people want to have power and there are many benefits to having power. However, power is a corrupting force and this has been a topic of interest for centuries to scholars from Plato to Lord Acton. Even with increased knowledge of power's corrupting effect and safeguards put in place to counteract such tendencies, power abuse remains rampant in society suggesting that the full extent of this effect is not well understood. In this paper, an effort is made to improve understanding of power's corrupting effects on human behavior through an integrated and comprehensive synthesis of the neurological, sociological, physiological, and psychological literature on power. The structural limits of justice systems' capability to hold powerful people accountable are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African-Canadians continue to bear the brunt of marginality and stereotyping in Canada even when various mitigating studies and programs have been initiated by the government at federal, state, and municipal levels. These stereotypes continue to affect them in informal settings and state institutions when seeking employment, housing or when in the streets, malls, schools, etc. While social justice advocates, social workers, and policy-makers focus on "Black-White" dynamics because other "racialized minorities" are also marginalized (though not equally) in Canada, it is important to note that "non-White" Canadians also contribute to the spread of historical stereotypes of African-Canadians within Canadian multiculturalism as noted in the emphasis of the city of Toronto's mitigating strategies for "anti-Black racism." Using social group position theory (SGPT) and asset-based model (ABCD), this paper argues that interrogating social group biases beyond "Black-White" binarism to encourage inter-group dialogs is important in making sure that different multicultural communities understand one another through favorable, activities-mediated, inter-group relations as opposed to having multicultural relations mediated by third parties, or not mediated at all. We also argue that African-Canadians should focus on internal strengths and only use external help to augment community initiatives to change the extant negative image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debt bondage is one of the most widespread forms of unfree labour today. The majority of the existing studies focuses on bonded labourers as a homogenous group rather than examining group dynamics within the population of bonded labourers. This paper tries to overcome these limitations and examines experiences of women bonded labourers from the Sahariya tribe in India. It argues that gendered norms intersect with other patterns of structural violence creating a situation where women are doubly exploited but also opening new (limited) agentic spaces for these women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adequate response to the environmental and sustainability issues we now face cannot be limited to single perspectives, disciplines, or ways of knowing, and instead requires an interdisciplinary approach. Despite the connections between the fields of citizenship-, character- and sustainability education, they have thus far run parallel to each other, without any substantial convergence. This paper focuses on the conceptual and historical reasons for this lack of integration, exploring the tensions among them perceived by many scholars and practitioners, such as an individual vs. a social vs. a global focus, a deliberative vs. fact based pedagogic approach, and an individual vs. socio-political educational context. The paper ends by exploring different ways in which these three fields of education might be integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes inequalities in using information and communication technologies (ICTs) for educational activities outside school by social origin, immigrant background, and gender. It examines whether these inequalities just work additively or whether certain combinations of these groups are associated with specific advantages or disadvantages and which factors drive these differences. Data from the EU sample of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 are used for the empirical analyses. The results show that male students with immigrant background and highly educated parents have the highest frequency of educational ICT use, while native female students with less educated parents show the lowest frequency. However, the group categories also interact: An academic family background is more advantageous for students with immigrant background and for boys than for native students and girls. The male advantage can be attributed to a general higher frequency of boys using ICTs in their free time, while the advantage of an academic family background is mainly due to a better endowment with educational resources at home. Implications for research and practice are discussed. IMPACT SUMMARY a. Prior State of Knowledge: Inequalities in students' (offline) educational activities according to their social origin, immigrant background, and gender are well known. Differences in students' ICT usage have been documented as well. However, the two literatures have hardly been combined so far. b. Novel Contributions: The paper examines whether inequalities in adolescents' ICT use for educational purposes outside school exist according to social origin, immigrant background, and gender. It also analyzes how far these inequalities interact and which factors drive these inequalities. c. Practical Implications: As some social groups were shown to be less familiar with educational ICT use at home, all students should be supported in acquiring familiarity in using ICTs for educational purposes, e.g., by strengthening the inclusion of ICTs at school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper's departure point is Hannah Arendt's assertion that the 'human condition' is defined by our 'plurality'. It contends that without having read Arendt two contemporary Islamists – Sheikhs Muhammad Abu Zahra and Wahbah al-Zuhaili – arrive at similar conclusions regarding the human condition. While Arendt draws on European thought, Abu Zahra and Zuhaili anchor their views in the Islamic tradition. The literature has tended to treat these two mega-traditions – the largely secular and liberal western tradition and the Islamic tradition – as being at odds. The contribution of this paper lies in demonstrating that scholars who belong to these two traditions can often make similar assertions regarding the centrality of diversity to the human condition. The paper demonstrates how the two scholar-sheiks draw on the Islamic tradition to argue that the grouping of humanity into separate nations and religions is natural and divinely ordained. Abu Zahra and Zuhaili maintain that peace is the norm in the relationship between Muslim and non-Muslim states, since religious differences do not constitute valid grounds for fighting. While they anchor this assertion in the Islamic tradition,it also reflects their embrace of Arendt's liberal notion that as humans we are defined by our diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to undertake an in-depth exploration of how structural characteristics of on-farm demonstration events impact the effectiveness of the demonstration as perceived by participants. An explanatory mixed-methods approach was used based on the responses to 356 post-demonstration questionnaires filled out by the attendees of 31 demonstration events held in 12 EU countries in 2018, together with the qualitative data from an observation tool, interviews and case study reports relating to the same 31 events. Factor analysis was employed to predict general effectiveness, complemented with a qualitative analysis of participants' responses to improve the understanding of the quantitative results. Results indicate that peer-to-peer learning activities and good facilitation increase participants' perception of the effectiveness of a demonstration event. Furthermore, characteristics such as the structure of the day, the suitability of the host farm, a trustworthy demonstrator, and group size add much to the effectiveness of a demo event. Group dynamics – including group connectedness and composition – have the potential to impact perceived effectiveness. The paper contains clear messages for practitioners when designing a demonstration event. Our results connect with theories on motivation and adult learning in the context of farmer learning during on-farm demonstration. The paper is based on a rich empirical dataset. It reveals that group size and learning methods are crucial to achieve effective learning outcomes during demonstration events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the impact of White supremacy, ableism, and U.S. policing on both the history and current state of psychology and sheds light on ways that psychologists can acknowledge and divest from carceral White supremacist practices in mental healthcare. Because of how oppression and intersectionality function within a White supremacist society, not all Black lives have been equally valued by non-Black Americans. Similarly, White supremacy and ableism have had lasting impacts on the public perception of disabled people. Connecting the historical origins of the U.S. policing system to the current practices of the U.S. police system, this paper argues that the police have always been about controlling "disorder." Similarly, psychology and the larger mental health field have a troubled history of controlling Black, Brown, and disabled bodies. Recommendations for ways therapists can unlearn therapy practices stemming from White supremacy cultural practices (e.g., carceral therapeutic practices and biased mental health care) are provided along with action items for mental health practitioners to maintain a commitment to undoing the harm from these historic and systemic issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents Hanseatic Youth Association (HJB) in Hamburg as case study in the history of social group work in Germany. During the Nazi era, youth groups of the Wandervogel movement of the 1920s were assimilated by the Hitler Youth, and democratic traditions were replaced by authoritarian approaches to group work that persisted for decades after the war. In 1947, Elisabeth Sülau revived participatory social group work in Hamburg when she founded the Hanseatic Youth Association (HJB), which grew from an initial group of seven girls to social clubs and friendship groups that served up to 400 children and young adults per year. Social group work in the HJB was based on democratic principles and situational equality for all members. Following the closure of the HJB in 1967, social group work was subsumed by a clinial professional model that distinguished between social education and therapeutic group work. Implications are drawn for social group work today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementation of climate-smart livelihood strategies in communities is central to reducing impacts of climate shocks. Although the communities are vulnerable to climate variability, the magnitude of vulnerability depends on the choice of livelihood strategies being implemented. This paper applied a realist synthesis method to evaluate peer-reviewed literature on climate-smart livelihood strategies pursued in southern Africa in general and eastern Zimbabwe in particular. A holistic analysis of all climate variables was applied to adequately assess rural and urban communities' adaptive strategies at micro-level. Accordingly, this review gave a nuanced analysis of vulnerability that frames the context in which communities' livelihoods are affected by the increasing climate variability and extreme events. The review highlighted agriculture that involves forestry, crop and livestock farming as the predominant livelihoods in rural communities while crop farming and petty business dominates the informal economy as the core livelihoods in urban communities. Literature established the transformation of agriculture to climate smart practices that increase productivity and enhance the resilience of livelihoods. However, climate smart agriculture practices are not entirely new concepts. Most communities have always engaged in a variety of unorthodox farming methods to combat the impacts of climate variability and induced food insecurity. Given the right financial, technical and policy support, the communities are capable of constructing climate-smart livelihood strategies that are context specific. Fundamentally, the paper recommends that public and private institutions should develop capabilities to assess the impacts of climate related scenarios on vulnerable social groups to empower them to formulate bankable livelihood projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractExergames are becoming increasingly popular and have shown potential for motivating physical activity. Past research suggests that social (multiplayer) exergames offer players an engaging experience and good aerobic exercises. Our systematic review summarizes existing work and identifies gaps, trends, and patterns on social exergame research in the domain of health and wellness. A search was conducted in the ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, and PubMed. After screening 2272 records, we identified 73 studies from 2013 to 2023 that meet the inclusion criteria. Our results reveal that step tracking is the most commonly implemented measure of physical activity in social exergames, and that competition, rewards, and cooperation are the most common features used for designing the games. Our results also show that the effectiveness of social exergames is intricately linked to a combination of factors, including group size, player matching, and game features. The main contribution of this paper is (1) an analysis of features and group dynamics employed for designing social exergames, and (2) how game features affect the games’ outcome (both positive and negative) uncovering challenges and opportunities to advance future research in this area. Our findings in the current review provides insights for the design and implementation of social exergaming helping users to experience more socially satisfying game experiences thereby increasing the motivation for exercise, as well as gaining social benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Couple formation and assortative mating significantly influence societal structures, as marriages between individuals from diverse geographical or social backgrounds promote intra-family diversity. Understanding these patterns is crucial for grasping the demographic processes that shape contemporary societies. However, the scarcity of comprehensive data has impeded progress in this area. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating assortative mating trends in the United States among birth cohorts from 1700 to 1910, utilizing data from FamiLinx, an online crowdsourced genealogical database. We focus on two primary dimensions: migration background (including natives, first and second-generation migrants) and age at marriage. Our analysis yields three major findings. First, we document significant changes in assortative mating trends over time, reflecting the dynamic nature of mate selection and its responsiveness to societal shifts. Second, we uncover substantial heterogeneity in assortative mating patterns across different social groups, indicating varying social dynamics and preferences. Third, we illustrate how these trends can be differently interpreted depending on whether the perspective is individual or familial. Additionally, we explore the advantages and limitations of using online genealogical data for historical studies of assortative mating, highlighting its potential for offering new insights while acknowledging the challenges posed by data quality and representativeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of transnational and transcity education consumption suggests the increasingly important role of the capability to move in order to access quality schooling. Studies have examined the multidimensional inequalities underlying translocal education consumption. However, the role of mobility itself is not sufficiently understood. Two questions are rarely asked: (1) How is the capability to move acquired and practised to bring about translocal schooling consumption? and (2) How does the disparity in the capability to move restructure the established intergenerational capital transmission mechanism conceptualized by Bourdieu? This paper answers by theorizing a mobility-mediated, education-based intergenerational capital transmission mechanism. This framework is built upon a theoretical engagement among John Urry, Pierre Bourdieu, and Neil Smith. We substantiate this framework by examining a student migration regime in Sichuan, China. Attention is paid to the inclusion/exclusion of hypermobility-based schooling consumption regime. Empirical analysis is performed by the comparison of two social groups: (a) the middle-class households who employ mobility to chase after the footloose prime schooling resources and thus materialize their class reproduction strategy and (b) the immobile remainder who are stuck in a location deprived of quality schooling resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of social network sites and online communities has offered new possibilities for older adults to stay socially connected and older adults comprise a growing user group of social media. This paper examines the relationship between older adults' online social engagement and social capital based on a national survey of adults aged 60 and over. Findings show that older adults who engage more often in specific online social activities (i.e., asking questions on social media, looking at photos of family members/others) enjoy greater bridging social capital (both in offline and online contexts) than those who do so less often. Furthermore, Internet skills moderate the relationship between online social engagement and social capital. Specifically, older adults with greater Internet skills benefit relatively more from engaging in specific online social activities more often with respect to online bridging. The paper discusses the implications for digital inequality scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study that examined how more inclusive classroom communities might be achieved. Its particular concerns were to explore the contribution children's perspective might make to this work and to generate findings that would be meaningful for practitioners. The study was underpinned conceptually by the Framework of Participation, an established research tool in the field of inclusion. Data were collected through group discussions, involving 56 children (aged 4–11), across seven primary schools in England. The discussions focused on two related areas, belonging and learner diversity, and how these might matter to the children's learning. Four key themes were identified: feeling comfortable and being safe; learning as the main activity; being friends and getting on together; sharing values and behaviours. The paper argues that listening to children's views is valuable not only for research purposes but also as an integral aspect of strengthening their sense of community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically humans have used their territorial resources to meet their reproductive needs. In doing so, they have developed informal institutions through their systems of beliefs and values that have determined the sustainability of the resources they use from their environment. In this sense, this article evaluates the artisanship of the Hñähñu indigenous group as a case study that potentially help us to re-conceptualise sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to solve a fundamental critique of the research project of the performativity of economics. The critique by philosopher Uskali Mäki strikes the concept of performativity in a weak spot – its utilization of the notion of constitution, drawn from John Austin's philosophy of language. Accepting Mäki's critique implies a deterioration of performativity to a marginal field in economics studies, the opposite of the substantial stance it enjoys today. Using Brian Epstein's unique account of constitution's role in the ontology of social groups, this paper suggests an original solution to the critique that restores the legitimacy and importance of using constitution as part of performativity research. Furthermore, it offers a novel ontologically nuanced definition of performativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary literature reflects a newly emerging paradigm of the Arab Muslim refugee's identity. The current conflict in the Middle East created a surge of migrants to European nations. The resulting social phenomenon enforces a series of interpersonal and international struggles for both the refugees and their hosts. In this paper, I carry out a comparative interpretation of Kamila Shamsie's Home Fire and Mohsin Hamid's Exit West in order to demonstrate the Arab Muslim refugee's identity reinvention and metamorphosis in Britain, particularly in London. As I demonstrate in this paper, the many protagonists in both literary works allude to specific phases of the naturalization process, as social group's prejudiced and stereotypical conceptualization of the 'other' is identified. Paradoxical accounts of empathy and apathy are recorded and conflicting social roles are highlighted. The literary works suggest the genesis of new multi-national Arab Muslim identities as potential (re)solution to the interpersonal struggles of integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stereotypes are tools of social perception that attribute a superficial uniformity to individuals within a social group, providing an instrument to assess individuals and groups. The stereotype content model (SCM) provides a framework for understanding these dynamics. SCM explores how groups are stereotyped on competence and warmth. This research utilizes the SCM to study India, a heterogenous society with diverse social groups. The purpose of this paper is to study caste stereotypes using SCM within India while also comparing two distinct regions of the country – the north and the south. This study is unique because (a) earlier studies have not explored stereotyping while recognizing the regional variations "within" India and (b) it applies SCM to caste. We also include how caste perceptions are further defined for groups that fall under the affirmative action program. Using Amazon's Mechanical Turk, we recruited subjects who responded to questions that assessed stereotypes of different social groups. The results indicate the presence of more ambivalent stereotypes and higher belief in karmic ideology in the four southern states compared to the northern states. Possible explanations discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes how cultivator caste Kolis, who are the largest electoral bloc in Gujarat, India's flagship state of Hindu chauvinism, navigate, circumvent, and are constituted by the intensification of Hindu chauvinism in the state's borderland districts dominated by subordinated social groups. Once the centerpiece of a secular political coalition in Gujarat, the personhood of Kolis at the intersection of the Aravali hills and Malwa plateau, a window onto rural central- and western India, has been constructed in complex ways since 2014. Mass-mediated media narratives potentiate Brahminical hegemony, the temple-industrial complex produces affective potentialities with caste Hinduism, and the politics of cow protection promotes new relationalities with bovines. However, this identity formation is fraught with slippages and reveals the always open possibilities of oppositional subjectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rima Basu and I have offered separate accounts of wokeness as an anti-racist ethical concept. Our accounts endorse controversial doctrines in epistemology: doxastic wronging, doxastic voluntarism, and moral encroachment. Many philosophers deny these three views, favoring instead some ordinary standards for epistemic justification. I call this denial the standard view. In this paper, I offer an account of wokeness that is consistent with the standard view. I argue that wokeness is best understood as 'group epistemic partiality'. The woke person does extra epistemic work before forming a negative belief about a member of an oppressed social group. Just as we do extra epistemic work when forming belief about our friends, so the woke person does for members of oppressed social groups. I first outline the account. I then raise questions about the scope of wokeness and belief formation. After this, I demonstrate that the group partiality view is consistent with the standard view in epistemology. The partiality view, therefore, should appeal to epistemologists who have adopted the standard view because it is consistent with ordinary standards of justification. I conclude that wokeness as a concept in epistemology should not be controversial for those who endorse the standard view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the use of Purpose in social group work practice. It identifies and discusses six common mistakes that practitioners often make in regard to this central concept. A group example is used to illustrate the paper's content. The paper's intent is to enhance workers' understanding of and ability to use Purpose skillfully in their work with groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly assumed that historical materialism was first developed by Karl Marx, whose philosophy is often equated with this idea. The following paper challenges this opinion by showing that historical materialism, understood as a general position within the philosophy of history, can be traced back to two generally unheralded Chinese thinkers: Liu Zongyuan (773–819) and Li Gou (1009–1059). Historical materialism is here understood as a standpoint built on three tenets: (1) a belief in the dependence of culture on the material fundaments of social life; (2) the interpretation of human history through the prism of structural transformations; and (3) understanding political and economic relationships in terms of antagonism between social groups. After elaborating upon the presence of these tenets in the thought of Liu and Li, the paper analyzes the influence of their ideas and, finally, points out the main differences between the premodern and modern forms of historical materialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]