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Tribes have a distinct ethnic identity, which has been threatened by various social, economic, technological, and political forces after 1970s and 1980s. In such scenarios, the legislature has the obligation to provide tribes with certain safeguards to ensure their ability to endure the transformation. However, research suggests that even in situations where the nomadic tribes do not get much support from other groups or institutions, they explore and continue to maintain their identities to a great extent with strategically. Based on this premise, this study explored a similar situation in which the Nat, a peripatetic nomadic tribe in India, has been negotiating its distinctiveness in order to cope with societal pressures. To understand this process, the narratives of 26 Nat, both men and women, were analyzed using the social constructionism model and narrative thematic analysis. The findings of the study establish that Nat is a motivated community for livelihood generation that has adopted strategies across various social domains and diverse socio-economic contexts. These include shifting identities that are ‘dynamic’ in nature. It is through these strategies that the Nat continues to exist as a community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undignified care of women during labor has been associated with increased preventable maternal morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to explore midwives' perspectives on undignified care of women in a midwife's obstetric unit within a rural community healthcare center in South Africa. Using ethnographic methods, seven midwives were recruited to participate in individual interviews and participant observations were conducted in the unit. Three main themes describing undignified care were identified based on an inductive analysis of observations and interview data. These included a lack of respect for women's bodily autonomy during labor, structural challenges in the provision of quality maternity care, and the lack of confidential care for women in labor and delivery. The study findings show that obstetric violence remains a serious crisis in the well-being of women during childbirth. Policy development by stakeholders in maternity care, including operational healthcare practitioners, should prioritize training, monitoring, and peer support on dignified care and curbing disrespect and abuse of women during childbirth, which seemed to be deeply rooted in the routine unorthodox treatment of childbirth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we systematically and critically review the past decade of empirical psychological research (n = 132) on masculinity and violence against women (VAW) to demonstrate an overreliance on individualist and "culturalist" (or culturally essentialist) approaches to theorizing and studying masculinity. Individualist and essentialist approaches assume that masculinity is something men are or possess based on the extent to which they identify with, conform to, or approve of traits or norms (pre)deemed masculine. We argue that these approaches cannot explain why it is men who overwhelmingly practice VAW, or account for the contextual, material, and structural power asymmetries that create conditions for gendered violence. We demonstrate the potentiality of formulations of masculinity (structuralist, poststructuralist, and especially processual) for ending VAW that move beyond individualism and essentialism. While they have helpfully situated masculinity within wider systemic forces, structuralist approaches often overlook how structures operate in constituting masculinities; and they impose false unity by theorizing masculinity through a homogenizing categorical lens. Poststructuralist approaches have accounted for fluidity in the complex construction of masculine subjects, but not for sociomaterial forces, or systemic inequities and modes of structural violence (e.g., neoliberalism, colonialism) that coproduce VAW. We argue that processual approaches, not yet mobilized in the empirical psychological masculinity and VAW literature, offer a particularly productive new way forward in that they map how the individual and social intertwine. We outline implications for theory, research, and praxis. Public Significance Statement: Psychologists tend to conceptualize and study masculinity as something that men are or possess, leaving undertheorized how the individual and sociomaterial intertwine in explaining violence. New approaches that understand and study masculinity as constantly shifting with the social and material world will help us better understand and disrupt the links between masculinity and violence against women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed by a social constructionist approach, this study examines the relationship between religion, institutional religious climate, and students' sense of belonging in a university in South Africa. Data were gathered and analysed from a sample of 2026 students who completed a survey that included an open-ended section. The results revealed that students' perceptions of institutional religious climate are directly associated with their sense of belonging, supportive campus environment, and cross-cultural interaction. Also, while the religious beliefs of students are strengthened by their interaction with colleagues and staff from diverse cultures, they also develop a sense of belonging when they freely practice their religious beliefs in an institution that promotes religious diversity. The study concludes that a positive institutional religious climate could enhance students' religious experiences, encourage religious freedom, and create students' sense of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aboriginal children are overrepresented in Australia's child protection system, and limited tools are available to assist with connecting these children to their culture. The Stitching Our Future Together (SOFT) Program, developed in consultation with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples, services, and other specialists, is used within the Department of Communities' Child Protection and Family Support (CPFS) Division in Western Australia to address big emotions and safe behaviours with Aboriginal children in care. This study used phenomenology and social constructivism to explore CPFS staff's perspectives and experiences of the SOFT Program. Seven semistructured in-depth interviews took place with CPFS staff. Five themes were identified: the SOFT Program and its use, culturally responsive practice, facilitating relationships, communication, and recommendations and implementation challenges. Participants expressed that the SOFT Program fostered an understanding of, and communication about, pertinent issues such as family and domestic violence, drug and alcohol addiction, mental health, and child neglect and abuse. The findings show how staff described the program's capacity to help them navigate complex situations, highlighting the need to incorporate more culturally centred and creative-based work into child protection practice. IMPLICATIONS The SOFT Program positively supports culturally responsive practice and facilitates relationships and communication for child protection workers and children in care. The integration of creative and legislated practices assists with personalising and enhancing the effectiveness of child protection work with children in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nineteenth-century Victorian travellers in Northeast Asia were consistently captivated by the Ainu people indigenous to the Okhotsk region. In an age characterized by popular adventure fiction in which the trope of discovering a 'lost white tribe' figured prominently, it was perhaps not surprising that the Ainu, who were ethnically distinct from the neighbouring Japanese, would be described as 'white,' 'Caucasian' or 'Aryan' in a large body of travel writing and scientific texts. Why, then, did two of the longest English-language accounts of the Ainu published during this period show no interest in Ainu 'whiteness' and virtually none in questions of racial classification? Published the same year (1893) by two very different men, British-American humanitarian doctor Benjamin Douglas Howard and Italian-British provocateur and artist Henry Savage Landor, these books repeat hackneyed tropes of primitiveness, but remain surprisingly uninterested in explicit questions of race. This is particularly striking in that Landor later included a 'lost white tribe' episode in an account of his travels in the Philippines (1904). This article uses these works to reflect on the social constructedness of racial categorizations even in contexts far removed from their authors' home society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on feedback literacy continues to highlight how students deliver, receive and act upon feedback and how performing these actions inform how they learn. Feedback literacy, as a multidimensional concept, is often composed of seeking feedback, understanding feedback, using feedback, providing feedback, and managing emotions around feedback. What remains largely unexplored is how digital platforms, involving cycles of asynchronous feedback, can enhance the development of peer-to-peer feedback literacy for students in higher education. This article draws on preliminary findings from research comprising surveys, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with observation of digital interaction, capturing how students in the caring professions (n = 21) engaged in feedback literacy on a digital platform. The selected case studies encapsulate both the development of feedback literacy as well as some of its different dimensions such as critical thinking, problem-solving skills and the affective aspect of taking onboard feedback. While each participant in each case study experienced a similar cycle, each experienced it differently in terms of the development of their feedback literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore associations between women's health and participation in working life, work ability and sickness absence. Through interviews with nurses and hospital managers, we identified three main occupational barriers connected to biological and physiological sex differences: considerations on women's health, work organization and work environment as conditions for health, and equality and expectations in society. We find that individual experiences, job systems, and societal attitudes affect each other negatively, and that systemic problems tend to be individualized. The lack of recognition of women's health affects work participation, work ability and sickness absence in women, representing a challenge to female occupational health, as well as to gender equality and public health in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Given the increasing occurrence of long-term illnesses, it is imperative to focus on adequately preparing and assisting those who assume the responsibility of caregiving. Our study aims to explore whether caregivers feel prepared to provide informal palliative home care, their experiences, and the usefulness of telehealth in managing daily activities. Methods: Using a descriptive qualitative research design and a purposeful sampling technique, thirteen primary family caregivers who provide informal palliative home care were recruited. Data collection was conducted through face-to-face individual interviews conducted from May 2023 to July 2023. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Caregivers were mainly female (n = 8) with a mean age of 59.5 years (SD = 9.42). Based on our findings, three overarching themes emerged: (1) becoming a caregiver, (2) support-from-home palliative care team, and (3) telehealth in palliative home care. The reasons that influence the preparedness of family caregivers include their own desires, health conditions, their range of responsibilities, and the consequences that arise from the situation's complexity. Telehealth helps fulfill the patient's wishes to be at home in EoL and provides caregivers with access to professional guidance and support. Conclusions: Specialized home-based palliative care teams must be aware of caregivers' self-assurance, knowledge, skills, and aptitudes in carrying out daily responsibilities and in managing emotions to improve preparedness for caregiving, loss, and its aftermath. The provision of professional PC services in the home along with a robust support system for informal caregivers is invaluable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essentialism is an ontological belief that social groups share underlying “essences,” while social constructionism suggests social groups are formed and upheld by cultural understandings. We aim to highlight that essentialist and social constructionist beliefs regarding LGBTIQ+ identities underlie psychological evaluations of whether an LGBTIQ+ identity is real (social recognition of existence). These evaluations have tangible consequences for LGBTIQ+ people such that LGBTIQ+ identities considered real are (de)valued while those considered not real are marginalized. Central to our examination is the concept of “naturalness,” which often affords realness. This is reflected through essentialist thought at the individual level when evaluating the realness of LGBTIQ+ identities. However, while LGBTIQ+ people may embrace essentialist rhetoric to defend their identities as real, many draw instead on social constructionist notions. Lastly, we examine how essentialist and social constructionist rhetoric are evident in structural systems to either deny or legitimize LGBTIQ+ identities as real. By reimagining LGBTIQ+ research, we seek to expand the understanding of these identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the social construction of algorithms on TikTok through the lens of algorithmic experiences in everyday life. The TikTok algorithm is a social construct that exists due to a range of psychosocial, socioeconomic, and sociopolitical experiences that are utilized in narratives about what is perceived by the platform's users as "algorithmic." Through a qualitative analysis of 100 TikTok videos, this article evaluates how variations in TikTok users' levels of "algorithm awareness" affect their understanding of the platform's algorithm. The implications of this analysis extend beyond TikTok and highlight the importance of developing algorithmic literacies and understanding the relationship between algorithm awareness and trust in algorithmic systems. Overall, this study provides critical insights into the complex nature of algorithmic culture, underscoring the need for a greater understanding of algorithmic systems in contemporary society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Femme theory suggests that femmephobia, or anti-feminine attitudes, may be connected to gender essentialist beliefs (e.g. beliefs about gender/sex identity as biologically determined and immutable) and gender-related political ideologies (e.g. endorsement of traditional gender norms, gender-specific system justification). We tested these links in a quantitative online survey (N = 250). We hypothesised that femmephobic attitudes would be (1) significantly positively related to gender-specific system justification, gender essentialism, and traditional gender values and (2) significantly negatively related to social constructionist beliefs about gender. Femmephobic attitudes were evaluated through responses to a vignette, in which participants were asked to imagine that they overheard a femmephobic conversation. We found that higher essentialist beliefs, traditional gender values, and gender-system justification and lower social constructionist beliefs predicted femmephobic attitudes. These findings contribute to our understanding of how femmephobic attitudes are connected to people’s beliefs about the nature of gender and gender-related political ideologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: When managed effectively, oil wealth can drive economic development and improve wellbeing. Conversely, as has been the experience in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta, the presence of the oil industry can lead to environmental degradation and social and economic vulnerabilities with negative impacts on health and wellbeing. Few studies have explored the experiences and perceptions of these impacts among residents of host communities themselves. Methods: This qualitative study explored Ogoni residents' experiences and perceptions of oil-industry related economic exclusion and associated impacts on health and wellbeing. In-depth interviews with 22 participants from four Local Government Areas (LGAs) were analyzed with open (inductive) coding. Guided by constructivist philosophy, interpretation of emerging themes was informed by the concept of social exclusion which recognizes that multi-dimensional processes can deprive individuals or groups of resources, rights, goods, and services, thus limiting broader societal participation. Results: Findings highlight the exclusionary impacts of the oil industry at the intersection of i) damaged livelihoods and family income, that increased economic vulnerability and reduced participants' ability to meet basic needs including ability to pay for healthcare; ii) lack of progress on environmental remediation and non-transparent benefit sharing schemes that exacerbate economic displacement and contribute to ongoing exposures to air and water pollution; and iii) insufficient of investment in economic development and essential health services, limiting employment opportunities and ability to access adequate healthcare. Conclusion: Addressing these issues requires integrated policy interventions focusing on equitable resource distribution, environmental restoration, and inclusive economic development to promote sustainable community resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional Neurological Disorders are characterized by sensory-motor or cognitive symptoms. Recent research has revealed their complex nature involving biological, psychological, and social factors. Care requires a multidisciplinary approach, which, to date, has yet to be considered. A Constructivist Grounded Theory study was conducted to understand the reasons behind this, exploring Functional Neurological Disorders diagnosis, communication, and understanding from multiple perspectives (patients and healthcare professionals). The core category was "negotiating Functional Neurological Disorders meanings and care amid a dissatisfying dichotomy," with sub-categories: i) seeking to "word" the disease, ii) exposing reductionism, and iii) a pluralist vision emerging. Diagnosing and communicating Functional Neurological Disorders is a process of negotiating meanings and care that hinges on participants' diverse ontological perspectives regarding the condition. Results highlight the difficulty in finding common ground and achieving mutual understanding among the various viewpoints, creating a challenge in establishing a unified approach to Functional Neurological Disorders care. In this context, only a few healthcare professionals emphasized the potential benefits of increased integration. A shift is required from a reductionist to an integrated biopsychosocial perspective to develop a more cohesive approach. Defining a medical paradigm through dialogue with teams and patients is essential in addressing Functional Neurological Disorders effectively. Furthermore, the required interdisciplinary approach holds the potential to mitigate the dissatisfaction arising from fragmented and compartmentalized care (the "dissatisfying dichotomy") experienced by our participants. It signifies a comprehensive strategy that could address the concerns of all involved parties and enhance the overall quality of care provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wellness tourism is currently developing and starting to be recognized as an important aspect of tourism. Not only in Bali, Bandung is developing itself into a destination for foreign tourists for wellness tourism. Wellness tourism, which focuses on activities and experiences aimed at enhancing one's health and wellbeing, is intricately linked with sustainable tourism principles. This phenomenon is then studied using constructivist paradigms, qualitative methods, case study approaches, and social construction theory. Data collection techniques were participant observation for a year, interviews with 6 key informants and triangulation of 19 sources, literature study, and document study. The purpose of this study is to determine the development of wellness tourism in Bandung, Indonesia. The results showed that Bandung is an alternative to wellness tourism, because it was visited by patients from Malaysia, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, the Philippines, Pakistan, Timor Leste and Australia. The uniqueness is: 1) Offering holistic health care; 2) Organizing complementary and alternative medicine under the supervision of doctors; 3) Spiritual healing-based care; 4) Teaching patients self-healing methods; 5) Not using chemical drugs; 6) Leaving the paternalistic model; 7) loyal patients are fostered in a community; and 8) using celebrities in promotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seventeen UN SDGs address critical global challenges. Among them, Goal 10—reducing inequality—and Goal 16—promoting peace, justice, and strong institutions—serve as foundational pillars in democracies, enabling the achievement of all other goals. Children, youth, and persons with disabilities are among those who stand to benefit most from these goals. Insights from the naturalistic decision-making practices of intentional communities, often framed as Contenders or Deviants in social construction theory, could be instrumental in advancing these objectives. This study examines the decision-making practices of three intentional communities representing youth, disabled persons, and children, each fostering a different version of equitable, peaceful, and justice-oriented governance to build strong institutions. The communities studied include a self-producing Korean popular music (K-pop) group representing youth Contenders, a mental health-supporting annual English conference for individuals on the autistic spectrum, and a Canadian alternative education, self-directed public senior elementary and secondary school—both considered Deviant societies in social construction theory, one focusing on disabled persons and the other on children. The historical method assesses the effectiveness of these communities' preferred practices in achieving Goals 10 and 16. The results offer actionable insights for enhancing equality, peace, and justice while strengthening institutions to realize the full range of UN SDGs in democratic societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognized as a prominent social phenomenon in the aftermath of homicide and death after police contact (DAPC), the social construction of blame (SCB) underscores how race and class are the primary forces that shape the experience of loss for families, but also designates blame on the victim. In this sense, victimhood is socially constructed, leading to instances where blame is apportioned to victims for their demise, at times, not stemming from their actions but instead rooted in the perceived moral value of the deceased individual. Drawing from this work, the current qualitative study seeks to understand the effect of DAPC has on neighbourhoods and the perspectives of residents who live in and near the communities where DAPC occurs. Using data collected from 41 young adults from various ethnic‐racial backgrounds and numerous parts of Minnesota—including the Minneapolis metropolitan area and adjacent suburbs, participants shared their understanding of the factors contributing to the SCB in the aftermath of George Floyd's death. Findings revealed two factors that contributed to the social construction of blame: (1) Attributions of Cause (e.g., race‐coding) and (2) Designations of Blame as identified by the participants. This research underscores the intricate connection of societal factors, like race and place in shaping the construction of blame and victimhood after tragedies like George Floyd's death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has considerable effects on the quality of life of female patients. Receiving the diagnosis and beginning renal replacement therapy (RRT) has a great personal impact on patients. The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of female patients with CKD at an ambulatory dialysis unit regarding diagnosis, life changes, and initiation of RRT. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted based on a social contructivism framework. Participants were recruited using purposeful sampling. In total, 18 women who received treatment for CKD with RRT were included. The women were attending the Ambulatory Dialysis Unit at a hospital belonging to the public health system of Madrid (Spain). Unstructured and semi-structured in-depth interviews, researchers' field notes, and women's personal letters were used. A systematic text condensation analysis was performed. The criteria used to control trustworthiness were credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Two themes emerged from the data: (a) A turning point in their lives, and (b) The emotional journey of beginning RRT. The diagnosis of CKD and the beginning of treatment implies changing routines and adapting to a new life with CKD. The first dialysis and puncture of the arteriovenous fistula is a major experience. Support from other CKD patients with more experience is perceived as a necessity and a tool to share their experiences and resolve doubts among peers. The diagnosis and initiation of RRT leads to numerous changes in the lives of women with CKD, which may influence the acceptance of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformations are impacting inter-state currency politics in strategically important ways. This article contributes to growing debates over the nature of US-China competition as the Chinese RMB rapidly digitizes in ways said to challenge the hegemony of a slower digitizing greenback. We categorize existing views of currency competition in the digital age into two categories: 'conventional transformation' and 'transformative continuity'. Both these presently dominant perspectives, we argue, are overly techno-deterministic and stand in contrast to a third perspective we propose called 'probabilistic flux'. Emphasizing the unanticipated and error-prone nature of technological change through Social Construction of Technology theory and informed by the IPE of monetary relations, we provide a more nuanced assessment of digital RMB's challenges to dollar dominance stressing the functions, benefits and powers of international currency hegemony. Our conclusions are three-fold. First, wider digital currency alternatives to both the dollar and RMB have enriched the international currency functions of the former over the latter. Second, this broader array of digital currency alternatives combines with Chinese RMB digitization to gradually erode the functional base and benefits of dollar dominance position, as well as diminish the US's international monetary power in both Asia and beyond. Third, what we see as largely friendly digital currency competition focused on domestic imperatives currently remains unpredictable. These findings pose present possibilities for greater international cooperation but equally for less friendly competition and flux particularly as US dollar digitization also unfolds in ways that are difficult to anticipate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is estimated that there are 65 million people globally – 19 million U.S. adults alone – who have long COVID, or persistent symptoms and conditions that continue or develop after an initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Amidst their suffering and the ambiguity surrounding their health, people with long COVID engage processes of reintegrating from disruptions brought upon by their COVID-19 infection and its fallout, as well as the pandemic writ large. This process is communicative resilience (Buzzanell, 2010, 2017, 2019), and the purpose of this study is to document the experiences of people with long COVID as they sensemake, adapt, and transform their lives through communication. We employed longitudinal interviewing during the middle stages of the pandemic (Summer 2021 to Summer 2022), talking to 19 people with long COVID over the course of one year (five interviews each; 89 total interviews). Grounded in the six processes of communicative resilience, findings center the temporal and dialectic nature of resilience, with throughlines of grief, patience, and hope set against a tumultuous sociopolitical backdrop. Findings of this study have implications for how resilience is studied across time; how people learn to live with chronic illnesses; and how to support people living with long COVID and those who provide them care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New school buildings are often designed for flexible innovative learning environments (ILEs) to support learning future skills better than before. However, little is known about the relationship between environment and pedagogy. This article examines the relationship between the environment and pedagogy from the perspective of primary school teachers in the context of teaching mathematics. We interviewed 26 teachers from 10 Finnish ILEs and did a thematic analysis. The relationship between the environment and pedagogy forms a complex network of entangled tensions between teacher's inner space, community's social space and physical space. When the tensions between these spaces were resolved in a positive way, ILEs enabled pedagogy that diversified mathematics education, improved student cohesion and teachers' well‐being at work. However, the ILEs' transformation process often appears to be left unfinished, leading to unsuccessful resolution of tensions. Further, our findings highlight the importance of four‐dimensional environmental competence in exploiting the affordances enabled by ILE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study explores the perceptions of supported accommodation staff and their managers of the support needs of residents ageing with intellectual disabilities, and their experiences of adjusting services for this group in the context of individualised funding. Method: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 staff working in Australian supported accommodation services. Findings: Four themes emerged. The first captured the staff's limited understanding of ageing and the medicalisation of support needs. The second identified staff practices and adjustments to service provision to facilitate residents' healthy ageing. The third described staff commitment to facilitating ageing residents to age in place, and the fourth identified staff challenges and opportunities in supporting ageing residents in the context of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Conclusions: Findings may inform the development of practice guidelines and training for supported accommodation staff, protocols for intersections between disability, aged care and health sectors, and adequate policy responses to support older residents' healthy ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) has highlighted the necessity of K-12 AI education, particularly at the elementary level. However, the lack of a comprehensive and age-appropriate AI curriculum integrated into school subjects, along with the abstract and complex nature of AI concepts, exacerbates student inequalities. Researchers addressed this by developing an AI curriculum using tangible computing tools and assessed its effectiveness in improving students' AI knowledge, perception, and behavioral intention. The study involved 60 elementary students from the US Midwest. The effectiveness of the curriculum and the students' learning experiences were investigated. The results demonstrated the success of the curriculum among all students, with improved AI knowledge, perception, and behavioral intention after using tangible computing tools. Four themes about learning experiences were identified: (1) Augmentation of cognitive learning gains, (2) Augmentation of affective attributes, (3) Advantages of utilizing tangible computing tools for AI education, and (4) Obstacles encountered in the process of learning AI. The practical and theoretical contributions and implications of this study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing debate on the conceptual underpinnings of constructivism and global health partnerships (GHPs) in global health studies has a dimension that deserves closer attention. This paper attempts to draw attention to a few aspects of the debate using Finnemore's constructivist analysis. According to this study, global actors need to rethink their paradoxical notions of pandemic crisis survival in light of the growing demand for mobilizing diverse global health agents and the necessity of constructing complex GHPs to address challenges of international significance. A global response based on solidarity and multilateralism is the only way to effectively combat this pandemic. Against this backdrop, the article analyses this development through an ideational ontological case study of the GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance. This article contributes to the debate by explaining how the GAVI Alliance fostered global collaboration and can serve as a template for future GHPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Appreciative Paradigm, as any paradigm in social sciences, has an original and distinctive way of valuing (Axiology) what is most important in human beings and the social and natural world in which we live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Katherine Verdery is often thought of as a theorist of time and temporality. In "The 'etatization' of time in Ceauşescu's Romania," Verdery looked at how the socialist regime placed time itself in shortage. Yet, it is Verdery's often critical geography and her attention to space—as well as time—that has allowed her to reconsider socialism, postsocialism, and capitalism. Although she often argues that property (her key concept) is not about the relations between people and things but the relations among persons, her foundational innovation, in fact, is to see property as a relation between people and space—or, more accurately, a relationship among persons forged spatially. In this article, I show how the way she has placed the social construction of spatial orders is at the heart of the problem of value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper examines the intrinsic and instrumental value of corals, and coral reefs, from the epistemological perspectives of Western conservation biologists and Pacific coastal fishers. It uses data on local language names ('folk taxonomies') from several language groups to understand the salience, or perceived value, of corals and coral reef fishes for the speakers of those languages. In all of the folk taxonomies examined, there are very few local language names for corals or reef-associated fishes in the most species-rich families (gobies, blennies, damselfishes, and butterflyfishes). This is interesting particularly because one of the primary rationales for Western conservation interest in Indo-Pacific coral reefs is the 'cumulative intrinsic value' of the large number of biological species associated with these ecosystems, irrespective of their other values, including fishery production. The 'weight' of this cumulative intrinsic value underpins a moral mandate for transnational conservation intervention, typically in the form of marine protected areas, most of which impose a short- to medium-term economic cost on people who are already very poor. The related and widely used Western cultural construct of 'iconic' is also investigated. The paper examines various implications of the large differences between Western scientific and Pacific Islander attributions of value to corals and coral reef ecosystems, including in the context of their importance for fishery production and food (or nutrition) security. I also discuss the apparent lack of (a) reflexivity about the social construction of science and (b) curiosity about the environmental knowledge and values of Indo-Pacific coastal fishers, among many in the Western transnational conservation community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our main objective here is to show the methodological usefulness of philosophical ideas. Concretely, drawing on theoretical analyses related to the concept of social structuring processes (Elder-Vass) and becoming differently (Gilles Deleuze), we argue that the social struggles of Afro-Latin American women can be interrogated in their role of transforming normative identities and fostering innovative communitarian dynamics that enable adaptation and transformation. The central thesis is that embracing a social construction perspective characterised by fluidity, adaptability, and solidarity can offer an alternative philosophically grounded methodological framework capable of addressing the complexities of race, gender, and social justice in Latin America. In the context of the recent necessity to rethink mobilisation and social movements, our findings highlight the significance of structuring processes over identity differentiation and the importance of networked activities in facing systemic challenges. Ultimately, this study contributes to the possibility of moving towards more complex accounts of the plurality communitarian arrangements becoming active in the middle of reality changes and mutual efforts to deal with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While there exists an ample body of research in international contexts focused on the characterization and quantification of infertility psychological distress, the level of scholarly scrutiny directed towards this phenomenon within the context of China remains scant. Aims and Objectives: To investigate the formation and developmental processes of psychological distress associated with infertility and infertility treatment among women within the Chinese cultural context and to construct a theoretical framework that elucidates this phenomenon. Design: Qualitative approach with grounded theory methodology. Methods: This study was conducted within the reproductive medicine department of a tertiary‐level hospital located in central China from May to August 2023. Twenty‐seven women who experienced infertility and underwent assisted reproductive treatment (ART) were interviewed. The interview sessions spanned durations ranging from 20 min to 1 h and 35 min. Data analysis included open coding, axial coding and selective coding. The study is reported using the COREQ checklist. Results: The infertility psychological distress experienced by women undergoing ART is a socially constructed phenomenon influenced by a dynamic interplay of forces that construct and conciliate it. The formation and progression of infertility psychological distress are rooted in the process of self‐construction. A Middle‐Ranged Theory titled 'self‐reconstruction under the dome of infertility and infertility treatment' (SUDIT theory) was developed to explain this phenomenon. Within this framework, infertility psychological distress manifests across three distinct phases under the gambling of the constructive force and conciliative force: (1) distress of disrupting the former self; (2) distress linked to the struggling present self; and (3) the renewed‐self harmonized with distress. Conclusions: It is imperative for healthcare professionals and policymakers to acknowledge the socially constructed nature of infertility psychological distress, and proactively implement measures aimed at ameliorating it. Patient or Public Contribution: No patient or public contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study abroad is laden with socially constructed expectations informed by discourses of place, people, and culture presented through social media, pop culture, word-of-mouth, and marketing. These discourses can shape how students approach and interpret their host countries and study abroad experiences. To better inform language and culture curriculum in study abroad programming, this qualitative case study explored how 13 U.S. students in an introductory Italian language and culture summer course perceived their host country and culture before, during, and after a short-term study abroad programme in Italy. Framed by Urry’s notion of the tourist gaze through a social constructionist lens, the study examined multiple data sources including interviews, participant observation, questionnaires, social media, and course artifacts. Findings identified that students curated their own Italian reality by filtering their experiences through existing frames of reference. They conceptualised Italy through a romanticised lens fuelled not only by stereotypes and singular narratives, but also by sheltered exposure to the broader country. Further, students perpetuated the tourist gaze by reproducing the same discourses that they themselves referenced. The implications support curricular intervention strategies to challenge existing frames of reference and to expose students to broader representations of the host country and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study contributes to recent renewed interest in the social construction of folk linguistic knowledge and directs its focus to a multilingual workplace. The article reports on an in-depth sociolinguistic investigation in a European institution in Luxembourg. Data were collected in 2020–2021 with trainees and permanent staff in a terminology and communication unit. The data collection triangulated qualitative techniques of longitudinal interviewing, reflective drawing, writing reflection and observation. Analysis of participants' stances uncovered a varying understanding of what multilingualism means in the workplace, how it changes and to what effect. During reflective participation, the trainees heightened their sociopragmatic awareness of diversity in the meaning-making process. Moreover, they ceased to construct their personal multilingualism as proof of professional competence and started to see it as the basis of their own well-being, personal self-realisation and growth. As such, they re-coupled the social and linguistic aspect of their language use and aligned their stances with the permanent staff. This study aims to inspire more innovative approaches with a potential direct effect in multilingual workplaces, especially in those welcoming workers from monolingual or otherwise homogeneous social environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health physicians (PHPs) are trained in both medicine and public health, yet practice models in each of these fields incompletely describe their work. A model of practice for public health physicians would better enable training and professional development in the specialty. The objective of this study was to develop an empirically grounded method of the practice of public health medicine by public health physicians. This was designed as a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) study. Semistructured interviews with 18 public health physicians in Canada were conducted over the course of 1 year. Transcribed interviews were coded in three stages (line-by-line, focused, and theoretical). Constant comparison, theoretical sampling, reflective and analytic memos, and team discussion on reflexivity were used to ensure rigor and the proper application of CGT methods. The key finding of this study is the population-centered medical method (POP-CMM), an empirically grounded method of PHP practice. In this model, PHPs bring values, knowledge, and stances to their practice of medicine with populations as patients. They work to diagnose and intervene on public health issues, with a focus on prevention and systems. Essential to this work is knowledge sharing and relationship building between physicians and populations. POP-CMM represents a method of practice for PHPs. Further exploration of this method in other countries and systems would bring insight into PHP practice globally. The model has important connections to the practice of medicine and presents the possibility of developing a general model of physician practice for a range of patients, from individuals to populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have suggested the victim/perpetrator paradigm for understanding intimate partner violence (IPV) is limited when considering queer relationships. Instead, some propose a poststructural feminist approach as better suited for understanding the complexities involved. However, in the UK, this approach is rarely adopted. We therefore put a poststructural feminist approach to research into practice. Despite IPV occurring in queer relationships at similar or higher levels compared to heterosexual relationships, queer individuals rarely use mainstream IPV services, owing to real and perceived barriers, and access local therapy services instead. However, outside of queer-specific services in city-centre areas, there is little knowledge of the approaches used or the outcomes achieved by these therapeutic services. Our research contributes to addressing this knowledge gap. We investigate how therapists make sense of IPV in queer relationships, conducting five semistructured interviews with therapists working in small-town/rural settings in Southwest England. Despite claims of inclusivity and liberal humanist values, our Foucauldian discourse analysis highlights the dominance of a heteronormative discourse in the therapists' accounts, and shows how heterosexual privilege is embedded in a range of discourses deployed. In light of these findings, we explore implications for practice and areas for future research in this underresearched area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article illustrates how US Border Patrol agents and Dutch Military and Border Police officers explain racialized border control outcomes, through colourblind ideologies. These ideologies—legalism, criminalization and securitization—function as euphemisms that allow border agents to downplay the importance of immigrants' race/ethnicity in their decision making and behaviour. Yet, underlying these colourblind ideologies are racialized immigration laws and social constructions that continue to produce group-based inequalities in who is questioned, arrested, detained and removed by border guards. We call for cross-national comparisons of how race/ethnicity is both manifested and concealed in border control. We also suggest the existence of supranational racial frames that protect the status quo in western immigration policies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored how people thought and talked about death/dying during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings presented here are based on data collected for a larger study exploring the processes undertaken that allow individuals to actively think and openly talk about death and dying. Ten of the eleven interviews conducted during the pandemic mentioned COVID-19. These were subjected to thematic analysis, which identified two main themes: 'Becoming more thoughtful and open about death' and 'Anxieties around death and COVID-19'. The findings suggest that COVID-19 has prompted some people to think about and become more open to talk about death and dying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article illuminates how understandings of disability is negotiated through use of assistive activity technologies, when people with physical impairment use this kind of technology in their social and physical environment. A qualitative data design was adopted involving interviews with 44 adults with mobility impairments using assistive activity technology. The study was conducted in Mid-Norway. In analysing the findings, this study adopted the stepwise deductive-inductive approach with social constructivism as a theoretical basis. Furthermore, a relational understanding of disability and the cyborg metaphor are used to explain how disability and assistive activity technology are embodied, as well as social and material matters. The article shows how aspects in the social construction of disability are changed when people using assistive activity technology become subjects for new and positive interpretations. The understanding of disability changes meaning according to the use of different technologies, between different people and in different contexts. To understand disability, we need to explore how people ascribe meaning to both the material and the social aspects of disability. The use of assistive activity technology led to new opportunities to participate in valued physical activities, and to negotiate new perceptions of disability. The understanding of disability and assistive activity technology use is an intertwined interpretation of human bodies, technology, and activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Online interaction in blended learning is leveraged through social presence and convergence. However, little systematic work currently exists on how researchers have explored these challenges in higher education institutions and no studies have synthesised these challenges. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to give a novel overview of social presence and convergence to improve online interaction in blended learning in higher education. The findings will be synthesised into blended learning design principles. Method: Two systematic literature reviews, one on each challenge, were carried out through the Web of Science databases and consulting cited sources in review articles. Accordingly, 28 distinct studies were selected through the guidelines of the PRISMA statement, using predefined selection criteria. Results and Conclusions: The results show that social presence in blended learning is mostly evoked through course design, introductory f2f meetings, collaborative activities, prompt online feedback, the teacher's presence, and planned facilitation. To establish convergence, it is recommended to make basic theory available online through video clips, web‐lectures, articles, followed by simple online assignments or self‐study to increase understanding, thereby creating opportunities for deep learning during face‐to‐face through discussions and collaborative activities. Implications: This paper adds to the theory on blended learning and instructional design in higher education, and further offers an elaborate set of design principles for educational practice. Future research on instructional design may investigate in particular how a target group or student factors, are affected by the blended learning environment in order to tailor designs for a specific target group. Lay Description: What is known?: Online interaction is pivotal in blended learningOnline interaction is leveraged through social presence and convergenceSocial presence prevents the online student from feeling lonelyConvergence entails deciding the best‐suited delivery mode: online or face‐to‐face What this paper adds: A novel overview and critical analysis of social presence in blended learningA novel overview and critical analysis of convergence in blended learningA synthesis of the findings on social presence and convergenceExtraction of the findings into blended learning design principles Implications for practitioners: The teacher's presence through design and accessibility fosters students' social presencePlacing concepts online leaves room for deep learning during face‐to‐faceCollaborative activities evoke social presence and facilitate deep learningBlended learning designs should be further tailored for the target group [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: Practice education is a crucial component of occupational therapy education, providing students with hands-on experience in real-world settings. Supervisors play a vital role in shaping students' learning experiences, and the Professional Learning through Useful Support Framework, developed in the United Kingdom, serves as a guide for supervisors. However, its applicability in different cultural contexts remains uncertain. This qualitative study explores the perspectives and experiences of supervisors in Singapore who used the Professional Learning through Useful Support Framework to guide their supervision of students. Method: Nine new and five experienced supervisors participated in semi-structured interviews, during a 7-week practice education period. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using template analysis. Findings: Three themes were developed: The Professional Learning through Useful Support Framework brought awareness to supervisors' supervisory techniques and guided their actions; The Professional Learning through Useful Support Framework gave permission to use a range of supervisory strategies; and The Professional Learning through Useful Support Framework could be used as a catalyst for enhancing support for supervisors. Conclusion: The Professional Learning through Useful Support Framework positively influenced supervisor communication and encouraged a purposeful approach to student supervision. Challenges emerged in implementing the concept of 'safe failure' due to cultural attitudes towards success, necessitating cultural adaptation. The study suggests introducing educational opportunities and ongoing support to use the Framework to enhance supervisor skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the social construction of a Korean Wave using Saussurian linguistic semiology. It presents a thematic analysis of academic commentary, as a literature review, to show how media and marketing represent a Hallyu-based tourism destination image. A cultural narrative like Hallyu seems paradoxical when its wide range of conflicting projects and interests are thus variously described. However, semiotic analysis reveals that the structure of this narrative is formed by an effective articulation of arbitrary language fixed in time, and iconic linguistic signs that are emergent, reflecting sociocultural trends that change over time. Hallyu, in this way, acts as a synecdoche presenting a single true account while accommodating all micro events and their social discourses. In tourism, Hallyu serves as a foundational representation of Korea's destination image because it works as a semiotic narrative inclusive of the cultural tensions and contradictions that naturally exist within a complex globally oriented society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This autoethnography asks newsrooms to consider how the actions and culture of white newsrooms can negatively affect Black female reporters through the usage of autoethnography and critical race theory. I reflect upon my experiences with workplace bullying as a reporter at a Southern newspaper to illustrate how white workspaces can be harmful for Black women and their identity. Critical race theory's social construction of race thesis and the theory's emphasis on storytelling via the voice of color thesis were used to explore bullying and lack of acknowledgement for the bullying that took place in the white newsroom. This paper also drew from communication literature that focuses on workplace bullying, gender, and identity. The analysis of my experiences and literature shed light on the isolation and bullying found within white newsrooms. I offer my newsroom experiences in hopes of creating changes in newsroom culture for Black female journalists and white newsrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Huawei 5G controversy in Europe through the lens of social group dynamics and power shifts. It traces Huawei's European journey from the deregulation of telecommunications in the 1980s to the company's recent challenges following the US ban. Utilizing theories of the social construction of technology, the study investigates four meta-categories of social actors defining the 5G technology disruption in the Huawei situation, showcasing the evolving roles of various social groups and the impact of geopolitical rivalry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Girls are consistently found to have higher literacy levels than their male peers and to consume more social narrative fiction. This study conducted interviews with four autistic girls to better understand how reading fiction can inform the camouflaging behaviours of autistic girls. Participants described how imitating characters embodying desired values, such as kindness, provided them with a practical behavioural template. However, literature is only a simulation of reality, and participants described social "failures" where the tone of the imitated text did not align with their social reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the debates among theorists of the body in feminist and gender studies center on the gendered body and its relation to the sexed body, with the validity of the sex/gender distinction itself a topic of contention. On the one hand, feminist advocates of social constructionism tend to distinguish between sex and gender, in which sex (male or female) is identified with the biological body as a "natural" datum and gender (masculine or feminine) is a second-order sociocultural construction that is superimposed as an ideological superstructure on this "natural" base. On the other hand, feminist advocates of sexual difference such as Judith Butler call into question the sex/gender distinction and insist that the sexed body, like gender, is socially constructed. This article brings these contemporary feminist interlocutors into conversation with sixteenth-century Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava authorities who developed a distinctive discourse of embodiment in which they frame the categories of sex and gender in relation to devotional desire in their ontological theories of bodily identities. The Gauḍīya discourse of embodiment explodes notions of the relationship between embodiment, personhood, materiality, and gender on both the human and divine planes and challenges prevailing body theories by positing bodies beyond matter, personhood beyond matter, and gender beyond sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social construction of legal persons developed in the Western world about one thousand years ago has historically influenced the construction of organizations, including monasteries, guilds, cities, universities, states, associations, and businesses. Yet the notion of legal person was not present in influential, early definitions of organizations; rather organizations were understood as systems of interacting physical persons. This understanding is problematic in several respects, whereas the notion of legal person helps to explain many fundamental characteristics of organizations. Furthermore, a definition of organizations inspired by the notion of legal person makes it easier to distinguish clearly among the three phenomena that constitute the main objects of organization studies: organizations, organizing, and the organized. A clearer distinction among three concepts has the potential to revive old questions and generate new questions for organizational research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for healthcare systems around the world. Healthcare assistants played a vital role in the provision of frontline patient care during this crisis. Despite their important contribution, there exists limited research that specifically examines the healthcare assistant's experiences and perspectives of care provision during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explored healthcare assistants' caring experiences and perspectives on resilience and self-efficacy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. A qualitative descriptive study with semi-structured interviews was conducted with 25 healthcare assistants from public hospitals. Interview recordings were analyzed using thematic analysis. Five main themes emerged from the data: frontline reinforcement: supporting HCAs through resourcing and education amidst the COVID-19 crisis, confronting uncertainty: building personal fortitude in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, fostering collective resilience through shared support, self-efficacy as a catalyst for adaptive growth, and paving the way for transformation. These findings advocate for the resilience and self-efficacy of healthcare assistants; this may potentially strengthen healthcare system preparedness for navigating unpredictable challenges in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement by the Australian Government seeks to reduce men’s suicide rates. Yet men who experience grief face unique challenges, including stigmatisation when they are perceived as failing to adhere loyally to their socialised gendered role. One challenge pertaining to bereaved men concerns their social network and how insiders and outsiders come to understand the subjective nature of their grief, and how best to offer support. The present study adopted a social constructionist approach to explore how participants perceived a fictitious character experiencing grief using a hypothetical vignette. A convenience sample of nine males and seven females who resided in Australia participated in answering seven questions concerning the character’s experience of grief by way of associated social networks. The following analytic themes were identified: either participants work with or against hegemonic masculinity to: (1) help me feel their grief, (2) help men think through their grief, and (3) help men express their grief. The study highlights the importance of developing tools to assist social networks of bereaved men to help them feel, think and express their emotions during times of grief. Scholars may expand upon the findings by adopting in-depth qualitative and Online Photo Voice methodologies to develop enhanced mental health practitioner tools to assist men who are experiencing grief as well as their social networks.