Today, the earth is an interconnected globe humming with electronic transmissions-a chattering planet nestled in the provident silence of space. The ethical question is whether this is contributing to authentic human development and helping individuals and peoples to be true to their transcendent destiny. The new media are powerful tools for education, cultural enrichment, commercial activity, political participation, intercultural dialogue and understanding. They also can serve the cause of religion. Yet the new information technology needs to be informed and guided (...) by solidarity in the service of the common good bridging the digital divide within and among nations. The value-laden message of Western secular culture to people and traditional societies in many cases ill-prepared to evaluate it leads to widespread crisis, for example, in regard to marriage and family life. This technology can be a means for solving human problems, promoting the integral development of persons, creating a world governed by justice, peace, and love. It also can help men and women in their age-old search for self-understanding. Like today's world itself, the world of media, including the Internet, has been brought by Christ, inchoately yet truly, within the boundaries of the kingdom of God and placed in service to the word of salvation. (shrink)

This article aims to make progress towards an account of social cohesion and participation in terms of which we can better understand how groups of people come to constitute stable social orders. It argues for a conceptual distinction between "inclusion" and "integration" and sheds new light on their theoretical relationship. While "integration" refers to group members' willingness to act in accordance with the given norms of a social structure, "inclusion" is linked to their participation opportunities. Although inclusion (...) also plays an essential role in integrating a normative order, levels of inclusiveness necessary for social cohesion may vary across different contexts. (shrink)

Departing from the model suggested by Luyckx, Schwarz, Berzonsky et al., the relationships between identity and educational context, social participation, and identity information processing style were investigated. Participants were 972 students from six vocational schools in Poznań. The students, within these six schools, attended Grades I-III of three types of vocational schools: basic vocational schools, technical upper secondary schools, and specialized upper secondary schools. Three questionnaires were used: The Dimensions of Identity Development Scale, which measures five identity dimensions according (...) to the concept of Luyckx, Schwarz, Berzonsky et al., Social Participation Questionnaire, developed by Brzezińska, Rękosiewicz and Hejmanowski, enabling identification of the type of social participation, and the Polish adaptation of M. Berzonsky’s Identity Style Inventory 4 authored by A. Senejko, to examine identity styles. The results showed that the students from basic vocational schools and technical upper secondary schools were more often characterized by the normative identity style, whereas the students from specialized upper secondary schools manifested a greater tendency to engage themselves in exploration, both adaptive and ruminative. (shrink)

This paper presents the results of empirical research that explores the links between types of social participation and identity. The author availed herself of the neo-eriksonian approach to identity by Luyckx et al. and the concept of social participation types. The study involved 1,665 students from six types of schools: lower secondary school, general upper secondary school, technical upper secondary school, specialized upper secondary school, university, and post-secondary school. The results of the research, conducted with the use of (...) Dimensions of Identity Development Scale and Social Participation Questionnaire, indicate that transitive orientation increases with age and that, consequently, the frequency of assimilation and integration types of social participation tends to be higher in emerging adulthood in comparison with adolescence. The study showed that general upper secondary school students, contrary to their colleagues from technical and specialized upper secondary schools, did not differ in terms of transitive and moratorium orientation levels from lower secondary school students. The hypothesis about the relationship between transitive orientation and commitment scales was confirmed, whereas the hypotheses concerning the links between exploration scales and both dimensions of social participation were not validated. (shrink)

The article presents the results of research on relationships between types of social participation and emotion regulation. In the study, Gratz’ and Roemer’s perspective on emotion regulation and Reinders’ and Butz’s concept of types of social participation were applied. Participants were 1151 students from three types of vocational schools: basic vocational school, technical upper secondary school, and specialized upper secondary school. The results of studies conducted with the use of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and Social Participation (...) Questionnaire indicate that there are small, however, significant, differences in the levels of social participation dimensions and the frequency of particular types of social participation between students from the three investigated types of vocational schools. The level of transitive orientation turned out to be higher among students from the basic vocational schools than among students from the specialized upper secondary schools and the technical upper secondary schools. In each educational group, the level of transitive orientation was significantly higher than the level of moratorium orientation. The hypothesis about the relationship between dimensions of emotion regulation and types of social participation, particularly with respect to the dimension of “lack of emotional awareness”, was confirmed. The most effective style in terms of emotion regulation turned out to be the assimilation type. The highest level of emotion dysregulation proved to be connected with the segregation type. (shrink)

With the fast expansion of urbanization, temporary migrants have become a large demographic in Chinese cities. Therefore, in order to enhance the social integration of the migrant population, scholars and policymakers have an urgency to investigate the influencing factors of the integration progress. Prior studies regarding social integration have neglected to examine this topic from the perspective of social participation. Empirical research is conducted based on the data of 15,997 migrants across eight cities in the 2014 wave (...) of National Migrant Population Dynamic Monitoring Survey in China. Hierarchical linear models were used to test the hypotheses regarding the impacts of formal social participation and informal social participation on social integration. Community type, neighbor composition, hometown pressure, withdrawal guarantee, and constraints of hukou were examined as moderators. FSP and ISP possess different features such as operating with distinct modes, providing different services. Members within the organizations also entail different rights and responsibilities, providing them with different types of social capital and psychological perceptions. Hence, this study strived to identify the effects of social participation behaviors on social integration from a social capital perspective. The results revealed that social participation is positively linked to social integration. We also distinguished between FSP and ISP of migrants to investigate the boundary effects of different types of social participation on social integration. The findings provide both theoretical and practical implications for scholars as well as policymakers on issues regarding the social integration of migrants. (shrink)

The relationship between students and higher education is seen to have become increasingly transactional. We approach the study of the student–HE relationship in a novel way, by focusing on students’ behaviour post-university, rather than on student narratives. Conceptually, the article builds on multidimensional views of student engagement and the differentiation between psychological transactional contracts – where students who achieve better academic results are more likely to donate – and relational contracts – where students donate more following engagement in social (...) experiences. Making use of longitudinal data on donation behaviour from over 50,000 alumni from an English university over two decades, we find that while students who get better degree outcomes are more likely to donate, the association between participation in social experiences and donations is much stronger. This questions prevalent transactional models of HE and underlines the limitations of purely consumerist views of the relation between students and higher education institutions, even in the marketized UK context. (shrink)

The COVID-19 crisis has generated a severe and negative psychological impact worldwide. Despite this, it is also possible to experience post-traumatic growth. This study aimed to longitudinally explore the prevalence of PTG in the Spanish population and test a predictive model for PTG from resilience, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and participation in social activities. Data were collected longitudinally in March, July, and November 2020 via an online survey. About 20% of the sample showed moderate-high levels of PTG, with no significant (...) differences over time. The predictive model explained 19% of the variance in PTG, showing that the inverse relation between resilience and PTG was mediated by PTSS. Additionally, participation in social activities acted as a predictor of PTG. Women, young people, those who had lost their job and people who had experienced COVID-19 symptoms or the loss of a loved one presented higher PTG. Thus, people have experienced positive changes, but these did not protect them from adverse symptomatology. (shrink)

Contrary to the tendency to harmony, consensus and alignment among stakeholders in most of the literature on participation and partnership in corporate social responsibility and responsible innovation practices, in this chapter we ask which concept of participation and partnership is able to account for stakeholder engagement while acknowledging and appreciating their fundamentally different judgements, value frames and viewpoints. To this end, we reflect on a non-reductive and ethical approach to stakeholder engagement, collaboration and partnership, inspired by the philosophy of (...) Emmanuel Levinas. We contrast a cognitive approach with an ethical approach to stakeholder engagement, collaboration and partnership, and explore four characteristics of this ethical approach. Based on the ethical approach to stakeholder engagement, collaboration and partnership, we also provide a three-stage framework for partnership formation in CSR and RI practices. (shrink)

This article examines social participation in water management in the Jaguaribe Valley, state of Ceará, Northeast Brazil. It argues that participatory approaches are heavily influenced by the general ideological and symbolic contexts in which they occur, that is, by how participants understand (or misunderstand) what is taking place, and associate specific meanings to things and events. An analysis of these symbolic factors at work sheds light on the potentialities of and limitations on participatory experiences not accounted for in usual (...) structural analyses. In the particular case of Ceará, this article describes how the idea of modernization, which is so pervasive in the ways economic development is presented in Brazil, provides a frame against which other meanings are constructed. In water management arenas, the presentation of participation as an aspect of the general modernization of the state has reorganized meanings and delegitimized some forms of knowledge and economic activities to the detriment of others. As a result, the promotion of equality through participation lost a great deal of efficacy, and this state of affairs provided some degree of social validation for asymmetries in participatory decision making processes. (shrink)

In this article, an attempt was made to identify the level of community social participation according to age, gender and the structural characteristics of the personal support networks in a population displaced by floods in the Colombian Caribbean. The research was based in a non-experimental methodology with an associative-relational strategy. An intentional non-probabilistic sample of 151 people affected by the winter wave in the south of the Department of Atlántico (Colombia) was selected. In total, the study included 42 males (...) (27.8 %) and 109 females (72.2 %) participants, with an average age of 37.48 (±14, Range 18 - 80) and average relocation time of 21.79 months (± 8.22, Range 5-36). The Arizona Social Support Interview Schedule (ASSIS) and Community Empowerment instruments were responded to with an instrument adapted from the leadership competence factor. The results show lower rates of intermediation in the older population, and the relationship between social participation and gender shows equally cohesive social support networks in men and women. This evidence is discussed to promote psychosocial interventions aimed to increase community engagement and empowerment of people that have experienced non-voluntary mobility processes. (shrink)

This study aims to describe social network and social participation and to assess associations with depressive symptoms in older persons with increased risk for dementia in Germany. We conducted a cross-sectional observational study in primary care patients (aged 60-77) as part of a multicenter cluster-randomized controlled trial (AgeWell.de). We present descriptive and multivariate analyses for social networks (Lubben Social Network Scale and subscales) and social participation (item list of social activities) and analyze associations of (...) these variables with depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale). Of 1030 included patients, 17.2% were at risk for social isolation (Lubben Social Network Scale < 12). Looking at the subscales, a reduced non-family network was found almost twice as often as a reduced family network. Patients with depressive symptoms had significantly smaller social networks than patients without depression (p < 0.001). They rather engaged in social activities of low involvement level or no weekly social activity at all (p < 0.001). The study shows associations of depressive symptoms with a decreased social network and less social participation in elderly participants. Sufficient non-family contacts and weekly social activities seem to play an important role in mental health and should be encouraged in elderly primary care patients. (shrink)

Corporate social responsibility is frequently defined primarily in terms of the social and environmental impact of systemic organisational activity. This misses the point. To be applicable, corporate responsibility should be understood as a process, through which individuals’ moral values and concerns are articulated. Moreover, there are important grounds for asserting that such a process should be participative, involving employees . It seems inconsistent not to respect such groups’ right to an opinion, while at the same time purporting to (...) be ethical and responsible; also, a better alignment of organisational policy and employees’ values holds possibilities for enhanced motivation and work performance. Through such a participative process, matters of social responsibility may be identified in the expectations and moral claims of an organisation’s stakeholders. Such claims constitute prima facie obligations to which those responsible for corporate policy should attend, and where such demands conflict then dialogue is required in order to establish an appropriate course of action. (shrink)

Corporate social responsibility is frequently defined primarily in terms of the social and environmental impact of systemic organisational activity. This misses the point. To be applicable, corporate responsibility should be understood as a process, through which individuals’ moral values and concerns are articulated. Moreover, there are important grounds for asserting that such a process should be participative, involving employees (and perhaps other stakeholders). It seems inconsistent not to respect such groups’ right to an opinion, while at the same (...) time purporting to be ethical and responsible; also, a better alignment of organisational policy and employees’ values holds possibilities for enhanced motivation and work performance. Through such a participative process, matters of social responsibility may be identified in the expectations and moral claims of an organisation’s stakeholders. Such claims constitute prima facie obligations to which those responsible for corporate policy should attend, and where such demands conflict then dialogue is required in order to establish an appropriate course of action. (shrink)

Increasing women’s participation in intrahousehold decision-making has been linked with increased agricultural productivity and economic development. Existing studies focus on identifying the decision-maker and exploring factors affecting women’s participation, yet the context in which households make decisions is generally ignored. This paper narrows this gap by investigating perceptions of women's participation and the roles of social norms in agricultural decision-making. It specifically applies a fine-scale quantitative responses tool and constructs a women’s participation index to measure men’s and women’s perceptions (...) regarding women’s participation in decisions about 21 agricultural activities. The study further examines the correlation between social norms in these perceptions as measured by the WPI for 439 couples in West Java, Indonesia. We find that first, men and women have different perceptions about women's decision-making in agricultural activities, but the same perceptions of the types of activities in which women have the most and the least participation. Second, joint decisions come in various combinations but overall, the women’s role is smaller. Third, social norms influence spouses' perceptions of decision-making participation, which explains most of the variation of the WPI. These results suggest that rigorous consideration of social norms is required to understand intrahousehold decision-making. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The recent report of the Milburn Review into Social Mobility highlights the under-representation of young people from lower socio-economic groups in higher education and encourages universities and others to act to remedy this situation as a contribution to greater social mobility. The paper uses data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England to examine the relationship between social background, attainment and university participation. The results show that differences in school-level attainment associated with social (...) background are by far the most important explanation for social background differences in university attendance. However, there remains a small proportion of the participation gap that is not accounted for by attainment. It is also the case that early intentions for higher education participation are highly predictive of actual participation. The results suggest that although there may be some scope for universities to act to improve participation by people from less advantaged backgrounds, a much more important focus of action is on improving the school-level achievement of these students. (shrink)

Because of the important benefits that biomedical research offers to humans, some have argued that people have a general moral obligation to participate in research. Although the defense of such a putative moral duty has raised controversy, few scholars, on either side of the debate, have attended to the social context in which research takes place and where such an obligation will be discharged. By reflecting on the social context in which a presumed duty to participate in research (...) will obtain, this article shows that decontextualized discussions of this putative moral obligation are problematic. (shrink)

In discussion about basic theoretical approaches in a non-Cartesian psychology several candidates for a key concept were proposed, such as action, activity, relation, dialogue and discourse. None of these concepts, however, sufficiently grounds psychological theories of individual psychology in social practice. To accomplish this we need to conceptualize subjects as participants in structures of ongoing social practice. In this paper I argue why and address issues of subjectivity as encountered by persons in their participation in complex structures of (...) social practice. I introduce the concept of personal conduct of life and life-trajectory as elaborations of my theory. And I discuss this theoretical approach and show what is at stake in developing it by comparing it to similar approaches in the current literature on the person, self, and identity. (shrink)

The study reported in this paper explored the ethical requirements of social research participants, an area where there is still little empirical research, by interviewing people who had participated in one of five recent social research studies. The findings endorse the conceptualization of informed consent as a process rather than a one-off event. Four different dynamics of decision-making were followed by participants in terms of the timing of decisions to participate and the information on which they were based. (...) Multiple information events were important, as was verbal as well as written information. Study participants reacted unfavourably to the idea of written consent. Although prior information was relevant to participant experience of the interview, what emerged more strongly as relevant was the behaviour of interviewers and the interviewing strategy used. The authors suggest that naturalistic, authentic approaches to information-giving are necessary, and that in scrutinizing them research ethics committees need to look not only at written information but also at verbal information giving, and how interviewer information-giving is supported by training and supervision. They suggest that committees also need to concern themselves more broadly with who will carry out interviews and the training, mentoring and monitoring in place to shape their conduct of interviews. In considering research instruments, research ethics committees need to consider not only whether interviewers will capture accurate and appropriate data but also whether they are likely to lead to a satisfactory interaction for participants. Given the impossibility of anticipating each individual participants information needs and their reaction to the interviewing strategy, the authors suggest that interviewers and participants need to be encouraged to negotiate the conduct of interviews jointly, and discuss how such negotiating roles might be supported. (shrink)

An ideal in mental health care is user participation. This implies inclusion and facilitation by clinicians to enable users to participate in decisions about themselves and in the design of suitable treatment. However, much of the work of clinicians consists of handovers and other meetings where patients are not present. It is therefore interesting to study how the patient perspective is handled in such meetings and whether it forms a basis for user participation. We conducted fieldwork in three different inpatient (...) wards in Norwegian District Psychiatric Centres. We used an interactional perspective in our analysis, where speech acts, framing and footing were key concepts. The findings show that the talk in the handovers and meetings contained five main themes and that there was a clear correlation between what was said and how it was said, and whether clinicians related to the content in a decisive, person‐centred or indecisive manner. We discuss potential participation statuses for patients and their limited opportunity to influence the talk and possible decisions about themselves. Our conclusion is that handover meetings primarily function as an aid in organising clinicians' work and could ultimately be seen as counteracting user participation. (shrink)

The objective of the study is to re-examine the Verba, Nie, and Kim 's path-breaking analysis of political participation and political equality, under the inclusion of a social network model in Japan. In particular, the present research investigates how and why we find the extremely low correlations between one's socio-economic resource level and political participation in Japan, the evidence unsatisfactorily explained by the VNK analysis. Building on the social network model and employing the first wave of the Asian (...) Barometer survey conducted in 2003, this research presents a more comprehensive model of political participation. The study finds three major kinds of causes for the weak associations between SERLpsychological involvement linkage. From the viewpoint of the social network model, it is clear that the weak SERL–participation linkage is derived from the equalizing impact of group-based processes, yet uniquely Japanese style of network involvement. (shrink)

The idea that research with human participants should benefit society has become firmly entrenched in various regulations, policies, and guidelines, but there has been little in-depth analysis of this ethical principle in the bioethics literature. In this paper, I distinguish between strong and weak versions and the social benefits principle and examine six arguments for it. I argue that while it is always ethically desirable for research with human subjects to offer important benefits to society, the reasonable expectation of (...) substantial public benefit should be a necessary condition for regarding research as ethical only when it imposes more than minimal risks on non-consenting subjects; or it is supported by public resources. (shrink)

The case describes researchers who are seeking ethics guidance on communicating with participants in a phase-1 COVD-19 vaccine trial about FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines (Wilfond, Duenas, and Johnson 2023). The researchers want help choosing among three options they have identified for encouraging participants to obtain one of the authorized vaccines. We argue that research ethics consultants should consider going beyond this question to address another ethics concern the researchers might have overlooked.

Central Asian researchers are underrepresented in the global research production in social sciences, resulting in a limited Central Asian perspective on many social issues. To stimulate the production of local knowledge, it is important to develop strong research cultures, including knowledge of ethical practices in research with human participants. There is currently scarce evidence about research ethics regulations used by social science researchers working in the Central Asian region. This article reports findings from an online survey conducted (...) in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan ( n = 296) from October 2021 to January 2022. Focusing on three Central Asian countries, this article addresses the following research questions: What are the attitudes and practices of social science researchers based in Central Asia toward research ethics regulations and research ethics committees (RECs)? Is research ethics training associated with improved attitudes and practices in relation to research ethics among social scientists based in Central Asia? Is research experience associated with improved attitudes and practices in relation to research ethics among social scientists based in Central Asia? Regression analyses results demonstrate that locally based social scientists with prior research ethics training implement ethical procedures in their empirical research practice more often compared to researchers without any prior research ethics training. The preliminary findings indicate that research ethics training is positively associated with Central Asia-based social science researchers’ engagement in ethical research, thus potentially increasing the amount and quality of empirical social science research produced in the region. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the potential societal function of Wikipedia beyond serving as an encyclopedia. That is, it assesses both theoretically and empirically whether talk pages – Wikipedia discussion sites that accompany the encyclopedic entries and provide spaces for debates among Wikipedia editors – may function as transnational public spheres. Despite the increasing number of studies on citizen engagement and participation in the age of social media, Wikipedia as an example of the participatory internet has received little research (...) attention in this regard. This study redresses this research gap in two steps. Drawing on Habermas’ concept of the public sphere and Fraser's and Eriksen's modifications thereof, Wikipedia's – specifically the TPs’ – modus operandi is explored to evaluate whether TPs may serve as spaces for transnational political opinion formation. This theoretical exploration is complemented with an empirical assessment of a TP dedicated to the EU. The case study addresses if/to what degree Wikipedia editors have appropriated the TP to function as a transnational public sphere. Findings indicate that Wikipedia TPs can – and do – serve as general transnational public spheres. (shrink)

The different experience of unemployment and of poverty in the two main Western economic systems (roughly, Europe and the US) demonstrates that a simple economic approach to these problems does not exist. In this paper I deal with the question of the impact of technological change on productive activities, employment and income distribution.The main idea is the following: technological progress may lead to an impoverishment of the disadvantaged people in a free-market society, as a consequence of their inability to adjust (...) their skills to the new requirements of the labour market. By contrast, a just society, grounded on moral principles, recognizes that the distributive criterion has to take into account not only individual contributions to production, but also the relative needs of the individuals. In that context, everyone should be better off after a technological change, since it is fair that everyone gains some advantage from a generalized improvement in the productive conditions of society. A policy that adopts this perspective should provide an effective guard against the danger of social exclusion that strikes modern societies. (shrink)

The concept of social justice is making a revival in nursing scholarship, in part in response to widening health inequalities and inequities in high‐income countries. In particular, critical nurse scholars have sought to develop participatory research methods using peer researchers to represent the ‘voice’ of people who are living in marginalized spaces in society. The aim of this paper is to report on the experiences of nurse and peer researchers as part of a project to explore the experiences of (...) people who find themselves destitute following the asylum process in the UK. In seeking to explore social injustice, three challenges are identified: lack of a robust political theory, institutional/professional constraints and an absence of skills to engage with the politics of social (in)justice. Each challenge is presented, opposing voices outlined and some possible solutions are suggested. The work of political theorist Nancy Fraser is used as a conceptual framework, in particular her focus on mis/framing and political representation for social justice. In addition, it is suggested that social justice needs to be further embedded in nursing policy and curriculum. Finally, nurses are encouraged to develop practical political skills to engage with both politics and the media in a neoliberal globalizing world. (shrink)

This article examines the development of and contestation over the standards for certified fair trade, with particular attention to the U.S. context. It charts fair trade's rapid growth in the United States since the 1999 advent of formal certification, explores the controversies generated by the strategy of market mainstreaming in the sector, and focuses on five key issues that have generated particularly heated contention within the U.S. fair trade movement. It offers a theoretical framework based in the literatures on agrifood (...) systems, social movements, and public-choice economics, for understanding the corporate response to alternative markets such as fair trade. The article suggests a typology of responses by social movement actors to this increased corporate participation, and assesses the relevance of the U.S. case for the future prospects of fair trade, both in other national contexts and as an international movement. (shrink)

De nouvelles théories, pragmatistes en particulier, de l’action collective et de l’expérimentation sociale insistent sur le rôle joué par les résistances locales dans les processus d’innovation politique. Toutefois, cette insistance ne se traduit pas nécessairement, dans les réformes de la démocratie, par une réflexion approfondie sur la manière de faire évoluer en conséquence les mécanismes d’apprentissage institutionnel. Or une telle évolution est une condition pour que le rôle joué par les résistances locales puisse dépasser le stade d’alibi ou de faire-valoir (...) de manière à transformer leur propre rapport au pouvoir et à déstabiliser les contre-résistances institutionnelles au changement. (shrink)

Cet article discute la pertinence de plusieurs textes de Dewey, Le public et ses problèmes (1927), Ethics (1932), « Théorie de la valuation » (1939), L’art comme expérience (1934) et Une foi commune (1934), pour l’analyse sociologique du religieux dans un contexte de pluralité et d’inquiétude sur les identités. Ce pragmatisme permet d’aborder le religieux en acte, l’expérience et la construction de soi, en ne négligeant pas les affects. Il fournit un concept d’idéal, faisant part à l’intersubjectivité et au contexte, (...) permettant traiter du dépassement de soi. Enfin, Il éclaire la notion de commun, y compris construit à partir d’identités particulières, et nous fait préférer le concept pratique participation sociale à celui d’intégration. (shrink)

Volume 19, Issue 6, June 2019, Page 66-68.