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The legitimacy of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) as institutions for social and environmental governance in the global economy has received much scholarly attention over the past years. To date, however, research has yet to focus on assessing the legitimacy of MSIs in their interactions with other actors within larger systems of deliberation. Drawing on the deliberative systems perspective developed within deliberative democracy theory, we theorise a normative framework to evaluate the roles of MSIs within the broader systems of governance they co-construct through their interactions with other initiatives, governments, non-governmental organisations, and other external actors. As we demonstrate in our evaluation of the illustrative case of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety as a MSI in the context of the Bangladeshi garment industry, this framework can help researchers assess whether a MSI ultimately serves to enhance or undermine the deliberative legitimacy of the overall system of which it forms a part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few papers have studied the impact of informal institutions on the fulfilment of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2018, this paper investigates the impact of informal institutions, proxied as the Confucian culture, on CSR. The results show that the Confucian culture is beneficial to promoting the fulfilment of CSR, and this positive impact is unchanged after robust tests. Confucian culture will affect CSR through corporate reputation and industry peer effects. Through a series of heterogeneity tests, we found the following results: (1) The promoting effect of Confucian culture mainly exists in non-state-owned enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. (2) In areas with imperfect formal institutions and underdeveloped economies, the informal institutions represented by Confucian culture can play a complementary role to formal institutions, assisting in promoting CSR. (3) The impact of foreign culture will weaken the positive role of Confucian culture in fulfilling CSR. Based on the introduction of Confucian culture, our findings clarify and highlight the role of informal institutions on CSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the need and types of support for children with a parent in prison, the measures in place to know who they are and the consequences of associated policies for their development. These are discussed within a cultural‐historical child development framework and, within that, questions are raised about optimal development and children's rights. The article is grounded in a mixed‐methods study of a support service for children of prisoners in Worcestershire. Parental imprisonment can impact negatively on societal, institutional and personal aspects of children's development. However, when children are supported through family‐centred, relationship‐focused, strengths‐based services, they can engage more fully in the institutions and social situations of their daily lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

\nKEY MESSAGEFamily is a social institution and the most important primary group. It is undergoing significant changes in the twenty-first century. The current study attempts to assess the marital quality of life, life satisfaction, and well-being among married couples in rural and urban populations. The study used descriptive design and multistage sampling technique in which 200 respondents were interviewed from the study population. The socio-demographic schedule, marital quality of life, life satisfaction, and general well-being scales were used to collect the data. The results show that one-third (34%) had an overall excellent marital quality life; about half of them either extremely satisfied or satisfied in life satisfaction, and two-third had good well-being. There was a positive correlation between the marital quality of life and well-being, well-being and life satisfaction, and well-being and education. In a changing society, marital quality of life determines life satisfaction and well-being of the married couple. Hence, there is a need to address the marital quality of life to keep the families intact.The study reports marital quality of life, life satisfaction, and well-being among married couples in rural and urban populations. In a changing society, marital quality of life determines life satisfaction and well-being of the married couple. Hence, there is a need to address the marital quality of life to keep the families intact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While attention has recently been given to the time sensitivity of trust, current research seems to fall short of examining welfare professionals' experiences of the relation between trust and time. Therefore, this article employs an analytical lens of time and temporality to explore how welfare professionals make sense of trust and distrust in encounters with forced migrant service users in a changing neoliberal welfare state. Empirically, the analysis draws on semi-structured individual interviews with welfare professionals in employment and social service institutions in Finland. Theoretically, I apply a dual framework that leans on the interplay between trust and time. Recognising trust as relational yet fragile, contextual and dynamic, and viewing time as increasingly commodified and accelerated, I show how time impacts and shapes trust in institutional encounters. My analyses uncover four ways in which welfare professionals' sensemaking of trust was linked to time. First, I show how the welfare professionals perceived the foundations of the trusting relationship in relation to time. Second, time and trust were interconnected in the efficient institutional tempo of encounters. Third, when the welfare professionals were replaced, trust was shaped negatively through disruptions to service user relationships in the series of institutional encounters. Fourth, I show how flows of institutional encounters shaped trust both positively and negatively. Thus, this article contributes to the literature on the intersections of trust, time and migration research, particularly in the transformation of the neoliberal Nordic welfare state context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, various experiences have been organized aimed at helping future social work education professionals reflect on the power relationships that define institutions and social policies. These experiences, based on the participation of users of social services (now known as experts by experience (EBE) and as part of service user involvement (SUI), aim to create opportunities for shared learning based on mutual knowledge and understanding of the worlds of others. The research described in this article focuses on the impact that SUI experiences had on future social educators who participated in three (so far) 14-week courses in which fifteen students and a group of EBEs learnt together. Undergraduate students were asked to evaluate the course methodology, the skills they acquired and what they learnt, via two focus groups and 45 individual narrative reports. The results showed that students appreciated learning together in a safe environment, collaborating on activities. They felt that participation helped them improve their socio-personal skills and advance their professional development. They valued the importance of learning together as an instrument of social transformation. Our research suggests that SUI or EBE involvement experiences, based on learning together in initial training as an instrument for transforming socio-educational professional practices, are valuable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article suggests that putting the enhancement of capability to aspire and capability for voice centre stage of the design and implementation of social policies would entail a deep-seated transformation of such policies. Based on the receiver-doer-judge framework we explore what conditions are to be fulfilled to implement such a transformation, emphasising how the expansion of objective opportunity and entitlement sets should go hand in hand with an increased subjective sense of opportunity and entitlement. We then turn to examine what such transformed institutions would imply in terms of enhancing individual aspirations and capabilities on the one hand and increasing capacity for collective action and social change on the other one, emphasising the key role of capability for voice in both respects. We show how institutions and policies transformed in such a way would differ from dominant approaches to social policies such as social investment, which endorse a more adaptive approach to social policy. It is also suggested how Freire, Dewey and Khader's ideas could be useful reference points towards the design and implementation of such transformed institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools are chief among the social institutions impacted by migrant flows as key sites of integration and support for migrant children. This article focuses on micro-and meso-level interactions and their importance to experiences of belonging and socio-educational integration for migrant children. It explores outcomes from qualitative research in Ireland conducted as part of a European research project investigating the socio-educational integration of refugee and migrant children in schools. The research uses participatory and co-creation methodologies, including a Children and Young People's Research Advisory Group. Child-friendly and age-appropriate focus groups were conducted with migrant children. The content and focus of these were informed through discussion with and insights of the project's Children and Young People's Advisory Group. Findings of this study highlight a range of factors impacting on the students' experiences of belonging and unbelonging in schools including, host language support, school environment and centrality of children's relationships with teachers as well as concerns among children about experiences of bullying, racism and intolerance. The finding highlights the importance of allowing children to describe their lived experiences using participatory research methods as children can speak to their own realities which may not be as visible to adult observers of children's social worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of our study is to investigate the multifaceted impacts of corruption on society, focusing on how it erodes trust, weakens democratic processes, hampers economic development, and exacerbates social issues. Specifically, we aim to understand the mechanisms through which corruption deteriorates institutional and social trust, undermines governance and electoral fairness, distorts economic markets and public resource allocation, and intensifies social inequalities and environmental degradation. Corruption profoundly undermines society by eroding trust, weakening democracy, hampering economic development, and exacerbating social issues. When corruption is rampant, trust in institutions and social relationships deteriorates, fostering a cynical and suspicious society. Democratic processes suffer as corruption undermines fairness and discredits governance, leading to voter disillusionment. Economically, corruption distorts markets, increases costs, and siphons public resources, hindering growth and development. Socially, corruption exacerbates inequality, entrenches poverty, fuels social divisions, and contributes to environmental degradation by promoting lax regulatory enforcement and policy manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We offer a novel conceptualization of government credibility and a new framework for analysing the institutions that governments constitute to enhance their credibility. While the literature commonly pertains to government credibility institutions as an apolitical instrument of 'good government,' we argue that there are 'varieties of government credibility' and therefore political trade-offs between different credibility-enhancing institutions. To demonstrate this, we introduce 'social credibility' as an additional type of government credibility alongside the widely-discussed 'market credibility.' Through historical cases, we show that social credibility institutions played a crucial role in constructing social security and point at fundamental tensions between market credibility institutions and social credibility institutions. Therefore, instead of focusing on the supposedly apolitical question of how to enhance government credibility, research should concentrate on the very political issue of how prioritizing certain types of credibility affects others and their associated institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Texting is a universal form of communication used by traditional undergraduate students. Its influence on higher education cannot be understated, particularly as it pertains to institutional retention efforts. Communication with an academic advisor has been shown to impact student persistence and retention. Tinto's theory of student departure posits student persistence is the result of a longitudinal process emphasizing student integration within an institution's social and academic settings. Student interactions with academic advisors warrant further research given the advisor's contribution to student integration. Traditional undergraduate students, age 18–24, were surveyed to examine the impact texting with an academic advisor had on a student's intent to persist. Results indicate a significant, positive correlation exists between a student's interaction with an academic advisor via text and their intent to persist. Texting, because of its prevalence, warrants consideration in strategic outreach efforts within the academic advising function to positively impact an institution's retention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that for humanity to deal with the intersecting, existential threats of polycrisis, broad-based narrative changes are needed to make practical and relevant eco-social (or social ecological) imaginaries and related contracts. An imaginary is how people conceive or think about the world around them and their relationship to it. Social contracts are explicit and implicit agreements about how humans structure their social institutions, including rights and obligations, privileges, benefits, and restrictions. Current imaginaries (and related contracts) are almost solely human-centric, while the shift argued for here is towards eco-social imaginaries, in which both humans and nature are granted rights to flourish. Such new imaginaries have the potential to shift ideas about humans as actors in the world towards life-centric eco-social understandings in which human beings are seen as part of and interdependent with nature, and develop economies and societies oriented towards wellbeing for both humans and nature. While historically social imaginaries and their related social contracts have been human-centric, more ecologically centric imaginaries have been emerging for several decades, and in the early 2020s, as this paper documents, have now begun to become explicit. This paper identifies seven recent efforts to define and make explicit the broad parameters of such eco-social imaginaries that might be widely deployed to begin the difficult and long-term process of systemic change needed to achieve flourishing for humans and nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: An increase in informal job advertisements has been attributed to high unemployment. However, less scholarly attention has been placed on the experiences of victims of advertised job scams. Design/methodology/approach: This explorative study investigates the lived experiences of victims of advertised job scams in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, adopting Durkheim's Functionalism and Anomie Theory. Around 35 victims were purposively engaged in in-depth and telephone interviews. Findings: The findings of the study indicated the link between functionalism and anomie, an increasing rate of advertised job scams and a high rate of unemployment and poverty as well as the desperation of victims in getting jobs. The value orientation of an individual is determined by the dynamics of the social institutions. The pattern of job scammers revealed extremists conditioned by the large number of youths seeking employment. The advertised scam jobs are usually unavailable. In addition, employers, through informal job advertisements, subject victims to extortions, exploitation, street begging, kidnapping and rituals as well as sexual harassment and rape. Owing to the high rate of unemployment, many genuine job offers are characterised by bribes, besides trivializing merit. Originality/value: The government should design measures to tackle the rate of corruption and unemployment. This can be achieved by introducing entrepreneurship and skill acquisition programmes in the nation's education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article invites social scientists to treat video games as social institutions. Starting with a brief presentation of sociological perspectives from Parsons to Giddens on institutions, this article highlights multiple features that characterize video games as such: historicity, internalization, conflict and change, legitimating ideology, State intervention, and interdependence. Through brief examples from games such as Assassin's Creed Origins, Second Life, Far Cry 5, and Metin2, I argue that understanding video games as social institutions would considerably improve both the perspectives of digital sociology and social theory in general, through: understanding the ubiquitous elements of gamification of our material life, understanding gamer identity at the confluence of other social institutions, such as gender and sexuality, highlighting ideology and the neoliberal agenda, emphasizing gamic agency as a form of institutional control, and redefining time-oriented interactions to explain adaptation and resistance with which the play element has crossed multiple cultures and historical periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this theoretically oriented article is to promote the educational role and purpose of academic development in higher education by suggesting a holistic framework and theoretical articulation for university pedagogy. By discussing links between university pedagogy, academic development, and broader views of university education, our framework clarifies the concept of university pedagogy in the Nordic countries. The framework encompasses four themes: (1) the relationship between educational theory and pedagogical practice; (2) the interplay between knowledge and the curriculum; (3) the university as an organization and social institution; and (4) the agency in and of academic communities. We argue that university pedagogy operating within this framework has the potential to strengthen the scholarly foundations of the development of university education. The framework can enhance critical public discourse on the purpose of university education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Taking inspiration from Hume, I advance a conception of the part of morality concerned with right and wrong, rooted in the actual moral rules established and followed within our society. Elsewhere, I have argued this approach provides a way of thinking about how we are genuinely “bound in a moral way” to keep our moral obligations that it is both ethically attractive and psychologically realistic. Here, I focus on some implications for our evaluation and criticism of actions, which some may initially find peculiar. Sometimes we should judge of an action that it was (unqualifiedly) right, and the result of flawless reasoning by the agent; and yet, we may also have cause to regard that same action as, in other respects, deeply morally deficient. Using Nomy Arpaly's conception of “responsiveness to right‐making moral reasons” as a foil, I argue that this unorthodox implication leads to more subtle and helpful evaluations of actions—especially actions undertaken in the context of wicked social institutions. The conception also encourages us to take a more conflicted, less confident, attitude toward many of our own righteous and rational actions—and perhaps even toward our capacity for living together by moral rules itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to gain insights about the collaborative efforts of various professionals involved in preventing adolescent suicide within multidisciplinary teams in Slovakia and Kyrgyzstan. Materials and methods: A qualitative research method was employed, involving semi-structured interviews with 10 specialists from Slovakia and Kyrgyzstan. Results: Despite differing levels of development and implementation of multidisciplinary team concepts, findings revealed a generally positive impact of collaborative efforts in both countries (more structured in Slovakia and less developed in Kyrgyzstan). Multidisciplinary teams in educational settings strive to create supportive environments for adolescents, contributing significantly to mitigating various issues during their formative years. Conclusions: Prevention efforts require coordinated action among multiple social institutions with unified strategies. While progress has been made, there remains potential for further development, particularly in improving cooperation among specialists, national recognition of youth suicide as a critical issue, and institutionalizing procedures to elevate the status and education of multidisciplinary teams. Significance: This research provides innovative insights into the effectiveness of multidisciplinary teams in suicide prevention among adolescents. By suggesting comprehensive strategies for team collaboration, it offers valuable contributions to reducing youth suicide rates in both Slovakia and Kyrgyzstan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectivesDesignResultsConclusionPrior research shows that perceived racism was associated with higher risks of suicidal ideation among US Asians. Nevertheless, the relationship between internalized racism and the suicidal risks of US Asians has not been adequately researched. In addition, as an important social institution, religion has been left out of the studies of racism and suicide for US Asians. This study is aimed at filling in these gaps and contributing to a better understanding of internalized racism, religion, and the mental health of US Asians.This study surveyed 970 Asian or Asian American adults living in the United States. Survey participants were recruited using Qualtrics online panel samples between April and June 2024. Quotas were set for key demographic variables, such as sex and ethnicity, following the national census.The main results suggest that even after controlling important mental health measures such as anxiety and loneliness, higher internalized racism was still tied to higher risks of suicidal ideation. The effect of internalized racism was not only robust but also stronger than other mental health measures as well as perceived external racism. Finally, the deleterious internalized racism effect on suicidal ideation was stronger among US Asians, who attend religious services more often.Internalized racism exerts a fairly strong and robust effect on suicidal ideation among US Asians. This deleterious effect is also interactive with the religious characteristics of US Asians. Healthcare providers, community workers, and religious leaders may want to take internalized racism into consideration in their future service to the US Asian community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology-mediated interactions and datafication are increasingly central in contemporary social dynamics and institutions, including teaching and learning processes. In order to fully understand the complex entanglements of human and non-human actants that emerge in postdigital education, it is essential to imagine new methodological approaches that are sensitive to the multidimensional nature of education—as a socially and materially-situated phenomenon that increasingly takes place across distributed contexts. The overall goal of this paper is to propose and operationalise a new methodological approach for the study of technology in education. It draws on the notion of relational topologies to improve our understanding of educational settings and, ultimately, how learning unfolds. The proposed approach relies on a multi-paradigm enquiry strategy, based on the idea of using "topologies of digital data practices" in combination with the three dimensions that articulate design-for-learning processes according to the Activity-Centred Analysis and Design (ACAD) framework: epistemic, social and set designs. While the article focuses on presenting the elements of the approach from a theoretical perspective, we illustrate its application through the data collected in a small case study that will serve as a testbed. The topologies of relations we present in this article show uses of technology—as described by participants in their own learning experience—that involve different spaces, devices, and personal situations. In doing so, we reveal how humans and non-humans are entangled in hybrid, unstable and generative ways. The article concludes with some remarks on the value of the proposed approach for studying technology in education and its potential to explore the state-of-the-actual in this field, with the ultimate goal of helping inform educational research, practice and decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed at identifying some of the manifestations of the human crisis in contemporary societies, and analyzing visions, perspectives, and philosophical ideas and social proposed by Jürgen Habermas, extracting the educational implications in Jürgen Habermas’s thought, and identifying the most important educational applications proposed in light of Habermas’s thought to confront the crisis of contemporary man. To achieve the aims of this research, a philosophical analysis method was used to determine meanings the ideas and the social and philosophical visions in the works and writings of Habermas and analyze it, and to derive its educational implications and employ them to confront the crisis of contemporary humanity, and how to benefit from the application of these ideas in the field of education. The study concluded that Habermas’s insights and philosophical and social ideas provide an important theoretical and Epistemological framework for guiding educational thought and educational practices to confront the human crisis in contemporary societies. Perhaps the most important of these are his ideas about the public sphere, communicative rationality, and the theory of communicative action, human knowledge and interests, the ethics of dialogue and debate, and deliberative democracy. Based on Habermas' ideas, some educational solutions have been presented to help contemporary man confront the crises he suffers from, most notably the crisis of alienation that has made man lose his humanity, objectification, violence, and the death or extinction of man. Habermas' social theory also presents an alternative vision for education based on education for citizenship, political education, education for tolerance, mental education, and media education. The study presented a proposed vision to benefit from Habermas’ thought in the educational reality in Egypt, and The most important recommendations reached by this research are: • Schools ought to be as free as possible from the colonizing forces of the economic and political-administrative social sub-systems, if they are to be effective as social institutions. • Schools should therefore attend to hermeneutical and emancipatory concerns, not only to strategic interests. • Developing general education curricula in light of Habermas’s philosophical persepctives. • Developing teacher preparation and professional development programs in light of Habermas’ ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociology of Religion is a modern science born in the West. Sociology of Religion in Turkey in its early periods developed more along the lines of Emile Durkheim. The names that were effective in this were Ziya Gökalp and his intellectual follower İsmail Hakkı Baltacıoğlu. Baltacıoğlu, an intellectual of the transition period, has an eclectic character. Besides being an educator, he was also interested in sociology. His views on religion shed light on the debates on religion at the time he lived. His work Din ve Hayat (Religion and Life) and his articles on religion published in magazines provide important information about the religiosity of his time. During the founding years of the Republic, he criticized and proposed both the religious policies implemented and the religious perception of the society. He wrote works with the discourse of reform in religion, and especially saw a new translation of the Qur'an as the cornerstone of the reform he envisioned. Like Ziya Gökalp, he was influenced by Emile Durkheim and approached the institution of religion from a functional perspective. He defends the thesis that the institution of religion is indispensable in social life. He accepts that religion is decisive on other social institutions. According to him, religion is a necessary institution for national unity and integrity. He contributed to the development of sociology of religion with his works. In the article, İsmail Hakkı Baltacıoğlu's views on religion are discussed and his works are analyzed with the hermeneutic method. The article makes an important contribution to the field in terms of shedding light on the historical development of sociology of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the era of chattel slavery, the state has used institutionalized abuse and violence as a tool for reproductive control. Today, public institutions and social services have been established by the state to police and surveil the behavior of poor communities and parents to maintain the reproductive violence and oppression that began centuries ago. This paper uses a reproductive justice framework to explore how the history of criminalizing pregnancy, surveilling Black and Indigenous communities, and denying reproductive autonomy are connected to and maintained by the present-day family policing system. In doing so, this paper expands on existing literature to create a stronger link and build solidarity between the movements against family policing and reproductive oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most people don't want their teachers, scientists, or journalists to be too ideological. Calling someone an "ideologue" isn't a compliment. But what is ideology and why exactly is it a threat? I propose that ideology is fruitfully understood in terms of three ingredients: a basic moral claim, a worldview built on top of that claim, and the attempt to politicize this worldview by injecting it into social institutions. I further argue that the central danger of ideology is that activating these three ingredients tends to undermine liberal social institutions. And yet a certain amount of ideology is both unavoidable and desirable, as I show, since it supplies us with important goods like social cohesion and mobilization. This means the best we can do is to try and set boundaries on ideology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of the current interest in the institutions of literature the essay deploys Luc Boltanski's social theory of institutional confirmation and critique for a comparative analysis of two key writers in the emergent field of US literature around 1900: Wiliam Dean Howells and Willa Cather. Visiting Howells in the editor's study at Harper's New Monthly Magazine and Cather in the corporate office at McClure's Magazine the essay traces how each publishing institution not only informs their criticism and correspondence but also seeps into their fiction. Framed by editorial columns and archival materials Howells's story "The Critical Bookstore" (1913) as well as Cather's early short fiction and her debut novel Alexander's Bridge (1912) can be seen to engage what Boltanski calls the "semantic security" of institutions. Building on sociologically inflected readings of these texts the essay considers Boltanski's claim that critique is an inherent effect of institutionalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores relationships between male combatants and women in the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1944, based on the case of the Soviet partisans. It analyzes different forms of wartime marriages, which are considered as heterosexual relationships entailing complex negotiations and exchanges, and as social institutions which were an essential part of the transformation of the social order during the war. It shows how these marriages revealed shifts in hierarchies, status and concepts of authority and power, blending peasant traditions and military culture in response to the shock of war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increases in overt displays of homosocial tactility among men and declines in homophobia and homohysteria are contributing globally to changes in the social dynamics of masculine expressions. Said changes spill over into various social institutions, including that of contact sport. Long regarded as a hypermasculine context, studies show that rugby has become more inclusive. Although research conducted in the US and UK is well-documented, the topic remains under-researched in South Africa. To this end, the article relates findings of a qualitative sociological exploration of seven self-identified gay rugby players and their experiences of homohysteria. The findings showed that the participants mitigate homohysteria through accruing gender and body capital and establishing horizontal homosocial brotherhoods with their gay and heterosexual teammates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic development belongs to the group of the most important categories not only in economic, but also social and political theory. Even though this category has been the subject of research since the beginning of the formation of economics as a science, it seems that to this day it has not been possible to explain exactly why economies, despite similar resources, develop at a significantly varied pace. The quality of institutions becomes a factor of development, enabling the analysis of the economy from a much broader perspective. The question of whether institutions are relevant for economic development seems rhetorical. The group of norms of the greatest importance for development are informal ones. One of the most important of their elements is social trust. This paper aims to identify the relationship between social trust and economic development and to quantify these latent variables in selected European countries in 2017–2020. This article applies partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The PLS-SEM model covered 35 European economies in 2017–2020. The analyses carried out in this paper indicate that social trust has a strong, positive and statistically significant influence on economic development dynamics. Differences in the level of trust seem to be a valid reason for notable developmental disproportions among European countries. Moreover, trust towards other people is more important than confidence in organizations in shaping social trust, and consequently accelerating economic development. Social trust can be categorized as a "deep" determinant of growth, due to its impacts on the growth itself and its other determinants. Therefore, it is crucial to make trust a strategic priority by policy makers. Not only does the article provide a novel method for measuring social trust and development, but also for identifying the relationship between these latent categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rapid expansion of the computer technology industry, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence, has ignited a global concern that warrants our immediate action. As nurses, our professional values frameworks compel us to protect public health and address national and global health issues. When industry activities adversely affect the social wellbeing of civil society and social institutions, it is important to evaluate them against their industry's 'social license to operate,' which is a measure of public trust, credibility, and the legitimacy of their industrial and corporate citizenship status. The central question is, do computer technology companies continue to have a social license to operate in civil society? Nurses are encouraged to evaluate the computer technology industry's recent 'generative artificial intelligence' chatbot activities against its tacit undertaking to be good corporate citizens in return for social acceptance of their operations and behaviour. An evidence-based overview of chatbot impacts on societies, environmental sustainability and human rights provide a basis for evaluation. Basic computer technology terminology and relevant concepts are explained. This article is a direct call to action for clinical nurses and those involved in research, education, management, and policy. We have a duty to critically assess the claims made by chatbot technology vendors in both practice and social contexts. If these vendors integrate chatbot technologies with existing machine learning used in nursing and healthcare technologies it could result in detrimental effects beyond user control. By influencing decisions on technology adoption, we can ensure the implementation of safeguards, protect patient safety and social well-being, and uphold the integrity of nursing values. A closing discussion of impacts of computer industry trust deficits on healthcare and research reflects the author's concerns and conclusions about the central question. Readers may draw other conclusions and perhaps use the issues and evidence presented here to stimulate further investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing prevalence of stock market chat rooms and social media suggests that communication between traders may affect market outcomes. Using data from a series of laboratory experiments, we study the causal effect of trader communication on market efficiency. We show that communication allows markets to convey private information more effectively. This effect is robust to a wide range of information settings. The presence of insiders limits the impact, whereas posted reputation scores in the communication platform magnify it. These findings illustrate the need to consider social interactions when designing market institutions to leverage the social motives that foster information aggregation. This paper was accepted by Axel Ockenfels, behavioral economics & decision analysis. Supplemental Material: The e-companion and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4967. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a novel application of machine learning and apply it to the interview transcripts from the American Voices Project (N = 1,396), using discourse atom topic modeling to explore social class variation in the centrality of family in adults' lives. We take a two-phase approach, first analyzing transcripts at the person level and then at the line level. Our findings suggest that family, as represented by talk, is more central in the lives of those without a college degree than among the college educated. However, the degree of institutional overlap between family and other key institutions--health, work, religion, and criminal justice--does not vary by education. We interpret these findings in the context of debates about the deinstitutionalization of family in the contemporary United States. This demonstrates the value of a new method for analyzing qualitative interview data at scale. We address ways to expand the use of this method to shed light on educational disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the chauras, an ethnic group in Bangladesh who live on shifting sandbars called chars, navigating a landscape marked by environmental instability and social challenges. Topics include the precarious existence of the chauras amidst poverty and lack of infrastructure, their perception as both nuisances and resilient beings, and the insights offered by anthropologist Naveeda Khan on how these dynamics reflect broader themes.

The family is the most important and fundamental social institution, and all humans belong to it until the end of their lives. This research was conducted with the aim of predicting high-risk behaviors in teenagers based on family functioning and cohesion. The research method was descriptive (non-experimental) of the correlation type and used the statistical method of regression analysis. The research sample included 360 male students in schools in Isfahan province, who were selected by a multi-stage cluster method and completed questionnaires on family cohesion, family functioning, and risky behaviors. SPSS tool was used for data analysis. The research findings showed that family functioning and family cohesion can predict high-risk behaviors in adolescents. According to these explanations, the family function variable explained 16.8 of the changes in high-risk behaviors. The family cohesion variable also explained 19.8 of the changes in high-risk behaviors. Because adolescence is a critical period of life, the function and cohesion of the family can be fruitful in the formation of personality and behavioral patterns. Therefore, the family's communication patterns will play a significant role in the emergence of high-risk behaviors among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are currently facing a potential 'polycrisis', a critical inflection point that requires a holistic response aimed at building collective foresight and preparedness for short-, medium-, and long-term risks. The role of higher education institutions and social stakeholders is decisive for sustainability goals. This paper presents a case study where academia, governance, and industry have aligned to challenge, inspire, and encourage universities to enhance student growth and bind macro-scale measures leading to a sustainable future. A teaching innovation project has served as a transforming lever, in combination with the private sector, to create a platform that reaches more than 50,000 undergraduate students and teaching staff. This structure, rooted in the 2031 Strategic Plan of the University of Granada, has also served to channel local and regional initiatives, establish effective partnerships with broad social members, raise awareness, and promote actions to advance in the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals. A comprehensive overview is provided, which details its chronology, materials, results, challenges, impact, and descriptions of the various courses, programs, and actions. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research, policy and cooperation among stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the issue of precarious employment in academic philosophy, specifically focusing on non-tenure track (NTT) faculty. It highlights the challenges faced by NTT faculty, including job insecurity, low wages, heavy workloads, limited benefits, and the impact on their well-being. The article challenges the myths of meritocracy and work as its own reward, emphasizing the biases and inequalities within the discipline. It also discusses the vulnerability of NTT faculty, particularly women, to exploitation and the negative consequences of organizational commitment. The article calls for collective action to improve the conditions for NTT faculty. [Extracted from the article]

The claim of liberal constitutionalism is that a text-like object or a 'diplomatically abstract' set of principles can work a deflection of disagreements within a pluralist polity. But this project assumes both that pluralism remains amenable to reason and that reason is a capacity independent of the profound differences of meaning, value, and forms of life that shape those disagreements. Neither assumption is correct. Differences in norms, values, and forms of life inevitably undergird and structure differences in meaning, perception, and interpretation. Consequently, a constitution (even when written and accompanied by judicial review) will necessarily unfold in an ongoing process of political cooperation and contestation. Legitimacy can arise only from the practice of democracy itself – that is, self-governance under conditions that realistically accord equal recognition and respect to all participants. Law is not some abstract entity or prior fixation, special and above. It is not, as Michelman once said, 'an autonomous force' that provides 'an external untouchable rule of the game'. It is just another social institution or performative practice that does (or does not) reflect our democratic nomos. To be committed, as a strong democrat, to the rule of law is to be committed to the idea that we make the rules by which we govern ourselves. Equal voice, equal power, and equal law are just self-government. They are internal to – that is, constitutive of – the game. They are not untouchable; indeed, they are being manhandled every day. But they nevertheless describe a democratic constitution that fully legitimates itself in its performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document provides a review of two books on human rights education. The first book focuses on better supporting immigrant and refugee students by honoring their history, language, and heritage, and building trusting relationships with them and their communities. The second book highlights the role of teachers in promoting respect for human rights and emphasizes the need for teacher preparation in this area. Both books offer valuable insights and practical guidance for advancing human rights education. Additionally, the book "Emancipatory Human Rights and the University, Promoting Social Justice in Higher Education" explores the role of human rights education in promoting social justice in higher education and calls for the inclusion of new voices and perspectives in the field. [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of this paper was to examine the differences in the attitudes of the Turkish youth regarding political interest, religious commitment, social conformity, autonomy, support for national technologies, and trust in media and public institutions based on demographic factors including age, gender, education, social class, and marital status. The data were collected through a public opinion survey administered to 812 young people in Turkey, aged 15-29 years. A quota-random sampling method was used in the survey. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) resulted in the identification of 7 factors; patriotism, autonomy from family, trust in government/institutions, political interest, religious commitment, social conformity, and trust in the media. The data indicated a strong patriotic attitude among young people regarding domestic/national technologies. However, trust in the government/institutions and media was at a low level. Young people were seen to have a positive attitude towards social conformity and religious commitment, and more than half of the young people supported the pursuit of autonomy from family. The data indicated that young people have an emotional attachment to their country, but wish to move abroad, particularly due to a lack of trust in institutions and the pursuit of a better life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systems engineering's evolutionary trajectory has been far from linear, and its future direction is uncertain. We present an assessment and vision of how SE might evolve to enduringly be impactful and relevant, despite growing complexity and radical technological change. We discuss how SE started out focused on achieving technical objectives, then drifted towards a more process and methodology focus, and is now responding to calls to return to its roots under the banner of "attaining elegant solutions to complex problems." We discuss how SE has always been a transdiscipline, although it was not always so recognized, and how SE is now increasingly recognizing and valuing its transdisciplinary nature. We present our view that the future of SE as an impactful and relevant engineering discipline lies in the strengthening of its transdisciplinarity and an increased focus on attaining elegant solutions to complex problems. We present a framework for understanding the nature of SE and the way in which it evolves in terms of its principles, methods and purposes. We show that SE is informed by, and informs many disciplines and social institutions in a dynamic ecology of discovery, achievement and vision. Lastly, we discuss the value of this framework, and show how it can serve as a basis for developing a common understanding of the value and potential of SE, and support institutions such as INCOSE as they engage in the wider social agenda of building a better and more sustainable world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the situational theory of problem solving to explicate how publics engage in conspiratorial thinking as a form of cognitive problem solving. In doing so, we develop a new typology of conspiracy theories and introduce conceptual definitions and operationalizations of conspiratorial thinking as both dispositional and situational. We conduct two survey studies which provide evidence of the measures' reliability and validity. We also investigate the debiasing effects of relational and informational strategies employed by social institutions. Finally, we present institutional behavioral strategies, grounded in the strategic behavioral theory of communication management, that can reduce conspiratorial thinking. Our new concepts and measurement approaches describe the origins and processes of public conspiracism and provide a foundation for implementing ethical and effective interventions, ultimately contributing to a more informed and educated society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the diversity of social and political assertions in the work of Vladimir M Bekhterev. Its findings reveal that he drew social and political conclusions based on his doctrine of reflexology. Moreover, he propagated the use of statistical investigations by scientific and governmental institutions to estimate the social and healthcare needs of the population. These conclusions accord with Bekhterev's desire for a transformation of society that would bring continued progress to people's social and living conditions. Additionally, the findings of this research work also support the idea that Bekhterev should be regarded as an important protagonist of neuroethics, a relatively recent field of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recognition of low-density urbanisation has been important in documenting how diverse human settlements generated enduring social and economic change. In tropical regions, the key challenges to studying low-density urbanisation have been the difficulty in acquiring past built environment data and integrating the frameworks that illuminate the social behaviours intrinsic to urbanisation. The introduction of lidar mapping and urban science methods has proven revolutionary in our understanding of low-density urbanisation as demonstrated by emerging research on settlements and states in Mesoamerica and Southeast Asia. These studies draw on urban theory to highlight patterns in the built environment associated with profound societal changes including the rise of social institutions, agglomeration effects, and ongoing settlement growth. Here, we present an approach that combines lidar survey and archaeological fieldwork with recent developments in urban science to understand the built environment of Tongatapu; the location of an archaic state whose influence spread across the southwest Pacific Ocean between the thirteenth and nineteenth centuries a.d. Quantitative results show—for the first time—that settlements on a Pacific island were urbanised in a distinct low-density form and that the processes of urbanisation began prior to state development. This study highlights the potential contribution of Pacific landscapes to urban science and the low-density settlement phenomena given the presence of large populations, hierarchical societies, and vast distributions of archaeological built remains on many island groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite interest in preindustrial markets, archaeological discussions have largely been limited to proposing methods to determine the presence or absence of market exchange in ancient societies. While these contributions are important, methodological limitations have prevented theoretical considerations of the emergence and evolution of marketplaces and market exchange in prehistory. We propose that agent-based modeling provides a window to explore physical conditions and agent behaviors that facilitate the emergence of customary exchange locations and how such locations may evolve into socially embedded institutions. The model we designed suggests that simple bartering rules among agents can generate concentrated locations of exchange and that spatial heterogeneity of resources is the most important factor in facilitating the emergence of such locales. Furthermore, partner-search behaviors and exchange of information play a key role in the institutionalization of the marketplace. The results of our simulation suggest that marketplaces can develop, even with the absence of formalized currency or central planning, as a consequence of collective strategies taken up by agents to reduce exchange partner-search costs and make transactions more frequent and predictable. The model also suggests that, once established as a social institution, marketplaces may become highly conservative and resistant to change. As such, it is inferred that bottom-up and/or top-down interventions may have often been required to establish new marketplaces or relocate marketplaces to incorporate new resources, resolve supply–demand imbalances, or minimize rising economic costs that arise as a result of social, political, and economic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to a traditional view, humans are superior to their non‐human terrestrial companions because they alone are "rational animals." Although the traditional view is presupposed by our social and legal institutions, it has been called into question by modern science: Darwin himself claimed that humans differ in degree rather than in kind from animals, and recent discoveries in comparative animal cognition have seemed to confirm Darwin's assertion. Sustaining the traditional view in light of these discoveries calls out for a careful comparison of the human mind with its precursors, the vertebrate mind and the mammalian mind. Psychological capacities shared across the animal kingdom are repurposed in humans, rendering humans uniquely capable of rationality. To be rational is to respond appropriately to value. Humans as such are not rational animals, but have the potential to become rational animals. This potential marks a morally relevant difference in kind between humans and non‐human animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a new format for the Book Review section of the Journal of Applied Christian Leadership. The section will now include a review essay, book reviews, and brief notes, expanding beyond books to cover various leadership resources such as video series, podcasts, and special journal issues. The goal is to provide library patrons with a range of resources to help shape their interaction with others and to share useful resources with Christian leaders. The article encourages readers to contribute their own review essays, book reviews, or brief notes to further enhance the section. [Extracted from the article]

A sexual instinct is a basic biological urge in humans to experience sexual pleasure and beget progeny through sexual relations. However, it is considered a sacred act of procreation in Indian culture and society. For most Indians, a woman is a personification of the mother goddess and her sexuality is a sacramental subject of worship. But the gulf between the ideal imagery and the real-life situation of a woman is a glitch in her sexual expression and choices. Irrespective of the projection of women's inherent sexual energy as being sacred, it is deeply controlled and structured by social institutions. She is not a free sexual being but a situated mother; her sexual choices are located within the institution of marriage maintained exclusively for getting a male heir for the family lineage. This paper expounds and explores the pervasive but ignored women's unseen sexual coercion in the form of maternal choice in Indian society. The dichotomy presented in the symbolic representations of the mother goddess's powerful sexuality--illustrated in mythologies and scriptures, and the social construction of real-life mothers' sexuality influence their choices. It also investigates how her maternal sexual choices are devalued, and viewed as unreal, unethical, and sinful activity. Lastly, it may be said that the divine projection of women as mother Goddesses and the exaltation of their procreative capacity deprive them of their sexual choices. It appears as a free choice but there is a hidden coercion that women fail to understand is the greatest cause of their sexual enslavement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an intercultural modern art form, web-based ink and wash cartoons are significant tools to communicate cultural identities in the Chinese context because of their entertaining form, thought-provoking content, and profound cultural connotation. Against this background, the present study investigates the multimodal appraisal systems of 96 web-based ink and wash cartoons, focusing on attitudinal meanings and explicating how the attitudinal resources contribute to the communication of Chinese cultural identities. The analysis of 96 web-based ink and wash cartoons shows that the cultural identities of the Chinese dream, Confucianism, collectivism, and optimism are communicated through the interplay between visual and verbal semiotic resources. The analytical results reveal a series of generic features of the web-based ink and wash cartoons that contribute to the promotion of cultural identities, including the popular theme, minimalist style, positive attitude prosody, and the use of culture-specific metaphor and ideation. These features underpin the strategies for promoting Chinese cultural identities and the shift in national branding policy. The study hopes to provide clues for government, social institutions, and individuals to promote cultural identities effectively through social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the primary factors driving sustainable performance in financial institutions, focusing on the effect of social and environmental aspects of a balanced scorecard on the performance of financial institutions in Ethiopia. It also examines how management commitment moderates the relationship between these social and environmental dimensions and institutional performance. The research adopts a descriptive and explanatory design, utilizing proportional stratified sampling followed by systematic random sampling. From a population of 4990, a sample of 480 was determined using Daniel Soper's formula for structural equation modeling, accounting for an expected effect size of 0.23, a statistical power level of 0.95, and a probability level of.05. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, covariance‐based structural equation modeling, and the interaction‐term method for moderation. Findings indicate a significant positive relationship between the social and environmental dimensions of the balanced scorecard and the performance of Ethiopian financial institutions. Additionally, management commitment significantly enhances this relationship. The study confirms that incorporating social and environmental metrics into the balanced scorecard positively impacts financial institution performance, emphasizing the importance of sustainability in performance measurement frameworks. This research underscores the practical implications of integrating sustainability metrics and management commitment in enhancing institutional performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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