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Purpose – This chapter explores how discourses of obesity as addiction are taken up by weight loss surgery patients and medical and scientific professionals.

Methodology/approach – Based on 14 semistructured interviews, I discuss the ways in which bariatric patients partially account for their presurgical bodies and contemporary struggles with weight loss and regain by referencing food addiction. This work is part of a larger project involving 35 interviews and participant-observation work and therefore these results should thus be considered preliminary.

Findings – I argue that bariatric patients and bariatric professionals portray weight loss surgery as an extraordinary tool that allows the “out of control” to become controllable. However, bariatric patients also emphasize the hard work that is entailed in both losing weight and maintaining a weight loss even after surgery.

Social implications – I suggest that this portrayal, in addition to being an accurate assessment of the potential for regain following weight loss surgery, is a technology of stigma management.

Originality/value – This work contributes to the sociology of the body and medical sociology literatures by illustrating that, within a neoliberal and anti-fat social context, highlighting the hard work involved in weight loss and weight maintenance allows bariatric patients to demonstrate proper subjectivity and thereby reclaim “proper selves” as they work toward a “proper bodies.”

This qualitative study researches the concept of entrepreneurship in an indigenous population by assessing the external and internal challenges entrepreneurs face, discusses the various types of support offered, and compiles recommendations for partners to understand the Diné entrepreneur. This research interviewed nine enrolled members of the Navajo Nation tribe who have either created businesses on the reservations, managed non-profits aimed at supporting entrepreneurs, or possessed a wealth of entrepreneurial experiences working both on or off the Navajo Nation Reservation. This text builds upon the themes of economic development, cultural-match, and indigenous sovereignty by analyzing the concept, action, and future of Diné entrepreneurship.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the transfer of learning among older adults and the importance of physical activity (PA) related to aging in place.

A mixed-methods approach examined 10 older adults aged 65–88, who were receiving occupational therapy and contemplating aging in place. Semistructured interviews determined participants' perceptions of aging in place and PA. Accelerometers assessed levels of PA over 14 days.

Interviews revealed that most participants were aware of the importance of PA but did not specify PA as being a primary contributor to continued independence with aging. Accelerometer data revealed that, on average, 96.7% of the day is spent in sedentary behavior.

Health-care professionals may ask the question, “What will my patient do with the information he or she has learned?” This study was useful to increase understanding of older adults’ learning, lifestyles and effects on aging independently.

As older adults have true expectations of requirements for successful aging in place, realistic levels of PA and transfer of learning could improve the intended outcome of aging independently.

PA is often an overlooked factor for occupational engagement and aging in place and is novel to investigate in combination with interviews.

The purpose of this paper is to examine peer influence in the context of purchasing collectively consumed products. The particular focus of the paper is on strategies used by university students for persuasion and resistance when attending events and festivals.

Five females and three males studying for a degree in the UK were interviewed. Independent analysis of the interview transcripts was undertaken to identify persuasion and resistance strategies, as well as the factors influencing a strategy’s success.

A number of persuasion and resistance strategies are used and certain strategies use specific language techniques. Some of these strategies are only applicable to reference groups who have a history of consuming products together, as they resort to past experiences as a means of producing a persuasion or resistance argument. The extent to which the influence is successful is also discussed as being very subjective and dependent on the particular context of the persuasion exercise.

This is the first paper to exclusively examine peer influence in the context of collectively consumed products, notably influence and resistance strategies and the conditions which can make these effective. The paper illustrates the types of strategies peers use when attending events, in particular those used by people who live in a fairly close social system (university study) and where there is no formal hierarchy (in contrast with parent–children influence). The context can influence the types of strategies used, for example, the nature of the relationship between students, which is based on high levels of trust, makes it inappropriate to use certain strategies.

As the world struggled to come to grips with the Covid-19 pandemic, over twenty scholars, practitioners, and global leaders wrote brief essays for this curated chapter on the role of global leadership in this extreme example of a global crisis. Their thoughts span helpful theoretical breakthroughs to essential, pragmatic adaptations by companies.

This study aims to investigate the influence of social camouflaging on victimisation and offending in relation to autism and pathological demand avoidance (PDA) traits. Camouflaging aims to overcome or conceal difficulties in social and communication skills. Autistic individuals report camouflaging in response to threat and being verbally and physically assaulted when they have not camouflaged. Thus, camouflaging could be associated with victimisation. Camouflaging could also impact on specialist support available to an individual, potentially increasing the risk of victimisation or offending.

Cross-sectional study was conducted using 220 participants from the general population who completed online questionnaires measuring victimisation and offending, autism and PDA traits, camouflaging and symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Correlational analysis found positive associations between camouflaging and victimisation, and camouflaging and lifetime offending. Greater camouflaging and PDA traits predicted greater offending, whereas greater autism traits predicted fewer offending behaviours. While correlated, camouflaging was not significantly predictive of victimisation. Victimisation was predicted by symptoms of depression and PDA traits.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to consider camouflaging as an influencing factor on offending and victimisation in autistic and PDA individuals.

The purpose of this paper is to use data from the Longitudinal Study of Violent Criminal Behavior in the USA to examine case configurations of violent behavior using a biopsychosocial framework. Specifically, the theory posits that arguably all behavior is the result of specific combinations of biopsychological (individual) and sociocultural (environmental) characteristics that are interacting within the individual. With regard to criminal and violent behavior, the theoretical assumption is that this maladaptive behavior is the result of a negative interaction between the biopsychological and sociocultural factors.

The study design consists of secondary data analysis. A conjunctive analysis of case configurations was performed using data from the Longitudinal Survey of Violent Criminal Behavior to formally explore the tenets of Cortés and Gatti’s (1972) biopsychosocial theory.

The results suggest that there are main effects for ego strength, family problems, family incohesiveness and underachievement as they relate to offending. A possible six-way interaction was also identified within the case configurations that provides empirical support for Cortés and Gatti’s (1972) biopsychosocial theory of deviance.

The present study contributes to the existing biopsychosocial literature by providing insight on the contextual variability in pathways to violent offending. Specifically, the evidence provided indicates that Cortés and Gatti’s (1972) biopsychosocial theory of deviance can be extended to comparing violent and non-violent offenders. Implications for policy and practice are also discussed.

This paper aims to broaden the conversation regarding STEAM by investigating the new form of education. The novelty of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) instruction in K-12 classrooms means few cases of STEAM teaching are documented in depth.

As part of a larger multi-year study researching STEAM teaching practices in 14 middle school classrooms in the southeastern USA, the article first summarizes prior research findings and then presents ideas for higher education and K-12 researchers to consider when incorporating STEAM teaching in pre-service education, professional development and in classrooms. Then, the authors use a second-order narrative approach to describe three cases of teachers enacting STEAM practices in classrooms.

Drawing on the notion of “remixing” education in the context of STEAM, the authors show how each teacher alters existing practices, instead of offering entirely new instruction, as they implement STEAM teaching.

With few cases of STEAM teaching detailed in the depth, this paper advances the understanding of STEAM teaching practices in K-12 classrooms.

Colleges and universities increasingly have the mandate and motivation to integrate sustainability into their curricula. The purpose of this paper is to share the strategy used at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and provide an evaluation of its success and guidance to others creating similar programs.

This article summarizes Penn’s Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum (ISAC) program. ISAC pairs Penn undergraduate research assistants with instructors in a collaborative effort to incorporate sustainability into courses.

In concert with other Penn initiatives (a course inventory, faculty discussion groups and a research network), ISAC increases Penn’s sustainability-related courses and creates dialogue regarding how various disciplines contribute to sustainability.

The program described in this article is replicable at other institutions. The authors demonstrate that the logistics of recruiting students and establishing the program are straightforward. Undergraduate students are on campus; their pay requirements are modest; and they are desirous of such research experiences.

The ISAC program inculcates a cultural and behavioral shift as students and faculty approach sustainability issues collaboratively, and it facilitates the development of a shared language of environmental sustainability. Such social implications are difficult to quantify, but are nonetheless valuable outcomes.

The faculty–student partnership used to facilitate the integration of sustainability into courses at Penn is original. The ISAC program provides a framework for engaging students and faculty in curriculum development around sustainability in a manner that benefits the student research assistants, the participating faculty and future students.