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Article
Publication date: 12 April 2019

Juanita Ryan, Pauline B. Thompson Guerin, Fatuma Hussein Elmi and Bernard Guerin

The purpose of this paper is to review all the research on Somali refugee communities’ “explanatory models” of “mental health” or psychological suffering, and also report original…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review all the research on Somali refugee communities’ “explanatory models” of “mental health” or psychological suffering, and also report original research in order to allow for more contexts on their “mental health” terms to emerge.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors talked in a conversational manner with a small number (11) of Somali people (10 females and 1 male), but this was done intensively over time and on multiple occasions. They discussed their community terms for “mental health” issues but in their own contexts and with their own examples.

Findings

The results showed that Somali as a community had three main groupings of symptoms: Jinn or spirit possession; waali or “craziness”; and a group of terms for serious anxieties, rumination, worrying and thinking too much. What was new from their broader descriptions of context was that the community discourses were based on particular contexts of the person and their behavior within their life history, rather than aiming to universal categories like the DSM.

Practical implications

Both research and practice on mental health should focus less on universal diagnoses and more on describing the contexts in which the symptoms emerge and how to change those contexts, especially with refugee and other less well-understood groups.

Originality/value

The review and original results support symptom-based or contextual approaches to mental health; we should treat the “mental health” symptoms in their life contexts rather than as a disease or disorder. We can learn from how Somali describe their “mental health” symptoms rather than treat their descriptions as crude forms of the “correct” western diagnostics.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 March 2019

Zeynep Koçer

Since 2004, Turkish cinema has been witnessing an emergence of horror genre, now flooded with stories of possession by malevolent jinn, as transgressive, volatile figures of…

Abstract

Since 2004, Turkish cinema has been witnessing an emergence of horror genre, now flooded with stories of possession by malevolent jinn, as transgressive, volatile figures of abjection. These female-centred narratives rely both on Islamic cosmology and myths and folktales of pre-Islamic Anatolian oral culture. The chapter will first explore the reasons horror has been neglected in the century-long history of cinema in Turkey and move on to highlight the socio-economic, cultural, and political contexts that were catalysts for the horror genre’s emergence. Then, the chapter will discuss the codes and conventions of the genre and explore the unique place of Alper Mestçi’s 2007 film Haunted (Musallat), among its contemporaries in terms of the ways in which the film challenges these established codes and conventions. In analysing Haunted, the chapter will use the theoretical framework of Barbara Creed, Carol J. Clover and Julia Kristeva to discuss the monstrous-feminine and masculinity as abjection.

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2020

Vicki Stewart Collet and Jennifer Peñaflorida

This study aims to consider how lesson study (LS) supports international graduate assistants (IGAs) teaching in settings that are culturally different from their own prior…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to consider how lesson study (LS) supports international graduate assistants (IGAs) teaching in settings that are culturally different from their own prior experiences as learners.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a single-case design to understand LS, including two IGAs and a domestic GA teaching at a US university. Data sources include audio recordings and field notes from LS sessions and lesson observations, data collected from online interactions, and individual interviews.

Findings

Qualitative analysis indicates IGAs felt their instruction improved as a result of participation, and they incorporated instructional practices aligned with norms in their new context. Through practical work with a narrow focus, IGAs collaborated with one another and with a more-experienced other. This created a context that reduced IGAs' cognitive dissonance, resulting in transformative teacher learning.

Practical implications

The findings suggest LS might provide supports for transformative learning for IGAs and other teachers, especially when they experience cognitive dissonance, such as that caused by culturally different classroom expectations.

Originality/value

This paper speaks to the identified need for supporting IGAs' understanding of values and norms undergirding pedagogy in their new contexts.

Details

International Journal for Lesson & Learning Studies, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 April 2023

Emily Golson

The primary purpose of this study is to determine if the main character is a shapeshifter and, if so, how does the tale contribute to shapeshifting lore.

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Abstract

Purpose

The primary purpose of this study is to determine if the main character is a shapeshifter and, if so, how does the tale contribute to shapeshifting lore.

Design/methodology/approach

The focus of the study is confined to a version of the tale that appears in Jane Yolen's Folktales From Around the World (1986) and on summaries of other versions of shapeshifting tales when needed. Support for the findings is provided by an examination of the observations and rhetorical techniques employed by what appears to be an unreliable narrator and selected knowledge and practices from a variety of academic disciplines.

Findings

The research findings neither confirm nor deny that the main character is or is not a shapeshifter.

Research limitations/implications

Instead, the critical reading confirms the traditional characterization of folktales as coming from diverse folk roots and disappearing or changing as they circulate through geographical space and narrative time.

Practical implications

It also implies that the tale has outgrown its practical and social folk roots and now extends far beyond that of traditional shapeshifting or literary folktales.

Social implications

By bringing to light the racial and gender fears, ignorance and emotional and physical violence that lurk just below the surface of the society from which serpent-woman emerges, the study creates a haunting vision of the embedded biases that lurk just below the surface of many societies.

Originality/value

To this author's knowledge, this is the first study of this tale to appear in publication. The findings need further investigation.

Details

Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Sciences, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2632-279X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 December 2022

Tamanna Tabassum Kabir and Sakin Tanvir

This article examines the misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic in social media and electronic media, as well as whether the existing legal administration and laws in…

Abstract

This article examines the misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic in social media and electronic media, as well as whether the existing legal administration and laws in Bangladesh, Singapore, and Vietnam are adequate to combat the infodemic. People who believe misinformation and fake news about Coronavirus, prevention, and treatment may put their lives in danger. False information about Coronavirus has spread throughout the world, not just in South and Southeast Asian countries, causing widespread concern in the global healthcare community. We employed a qualitative approach as well as the case study analysis method. Case studies were conducted using news reports and news channels. We examined the legal provisions of the People's Republic of Bangladesh's Constitution, as well as factual analyses of Singapore and Vietnam. We discovered the impact of misinformation dissemination through social and electronic media, which is prevalent not only among rural Bangladeshis but also in almost all classes in Singapore and Vietnam, and how such influence can be detrimental to the interests of Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Singapore.

Details

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1819-5091

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2016

Rebekah Pratt, Ayan Fadumo, Mikow Hang, Sirad Osman and Nancy Raymond

Somali immigrants are a strong, vibrant community in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. However, the legacy of resettlement and the challenges of adjustment can lead to complex…

Abstract

Purpose

Somali immigrants are a strong, vibrant community in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. However, the legacy of resettlement and the challenges of adjustment can lead to complex physical and mental health challenges. The Somali community is considered to be underserved, particularly with regard to mental health, but the health system must understand the perception of mental health in the Somali community in order to address current disparities. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative research drew on the Social Ecological Model (SEM) and was conducted with the goal of learning more about how mental illness is perceived in the Somali community living in Minnesota. Four focus groups were held, with a total of 35 participants, 19 female and 16 male.

Findings

Several main themes emerged from the data. The community’s foundations of the perceptions of mental health inform and shape their perspective on mental illness, including the way mental illness is defined. Historical experiences, the impact of trauma, strong religious beliefs, and stigma toward mental illness influenced both the perceived causes of mental illness and views on seeking treatment.

Originality/value

This research suggests there is value in drawing on the SEM to as the perception of mental illness is both layered, and shaped by the Somali community’s historical and social context. Forming community partnerships that address concerns about mental illness are essential next steps toward improving mental health in the Somali community. These partnerships should build on existing community assets, particularly religious leaders.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 August 2024

Alanoud Alrashidi and Sara Alnufaishan

Islamic culture believes the evil eye can cause distress, mental illness, physical illness and even death through envious glances. However, the gap was highlighted about the…

Abstract

Purpose

Islamic culture believes the evil eye can cause distress, mental illness, physical illness and even death through envious glances. However, the gap was highlighted about the influence of college students’ religious beliefs, particularly those of the evil eyes, on their academic failures. Based on this notion, this study aims to explore how evil eye beliefs affect students’ academic experiences with failures in a culturally diverse educational environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This study included 18 female Sunni-Muslim students from Kuwait University by using Heidegger’s phenomenological framework. The study conducted 18 face-to-face interviews over four weeks and analyzed the data using NVivo 14 with thematic analysis and phenomenological assumptions.

Findings

This in-depth study shows how the pervasive belief in the evil eye in academic settings challenges students. The study found how this cultural belief affects students’ mental health, academic performance and social interactions. The study also explored cultural sensitivity’s wider implications, how educational institutions face the psychological stress this belief causes, cultural effects on academic failure and student coping mechanisms.

Research limitations/implications

Because the study was qualitative and exploratory, the findings provide depth rather than breadth of understanding about students’ evil eye perceptions. The study does not consider the possibility that “evil eye” beliefs might be psychological delusions, complicating cultural beliefs and mental health symptoms. This oversight makes it challenging to select participants who have genuinely experienced evil eye effects. Teachers interviewed students who might withhold private information or alter their responses due to power dynamics or a desire to appear positive. This setting might bias data, reducing its authenticity and depth.

Practical implications

The study suggests that academic institutions should address cultural beliefs to support students’ education and academic performance rather than promoting hate, evil eye and oppression.

Originality/value

This study highlights the need for academic environments to address and mitigate the evil eye belief’s unique challenges, creating a more inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

Executive summary
Publication date: 27 December 2017

SYRIA: Golan advance risks Israeli escalation

Details

DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-ES227716

ISSN: 2633-304X

Keywords

Geographic
Topical
Article
Publication date: 1 April 1996

Hong Jon‐Chao, Wu Jinn‐Cherng and Wu Ming‐Hsiung

Automation is one of the ways in which enterprises can lower production costs and improve their quality. Since automation has a major impact on the nature of work and jobs, it…

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Abstract

Automation is one of the ways in which enterprises can lower production costs and improve their quality. Since automation has a major impact on the nature of work and jobs, it demands new skills from supervisors. The major purpose of the study outlined here was to attempt to discover those approaches which are most effective in updating and changing supervisor skill formation. Questionnaires, covering working attitude, professional skills, interpersonal skills, administrative skills and mental skills, were sent to 1,000 members of Taiwan Electrical and Electronics Manufacturing Association. The results suggest that self‐development is most effective in fostering working attitudes, interpersonal skills and mental skills, while off‐job training outperforms self‐development and on‐job training in developing professional skills and administrative skills. Details more specific methods for effective supervisor skill formation, which show that supervisors can be educated to meet the requirements of an automated working environment.

Details

Work Study, vol. 45 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0043-8022

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2007

Wen‐Jinn Chen

In today's industry, a machine breakdown is common for a machine running a long period of time without maintenance. To avoid a sudden breakdown, periodic maintenance is usually…

Abstract

Purpose

In today's industry, a machine breakdown is common for a machine running a long period of time without maintenance. To avoid a sudden breakdown, periodic maintenance is usually performed in the production system. This paper aims to find a set of efficient schedules that considers both jobs and maintenance simultaneously.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper addresses a real‐life scheduling problem in a plastic company. An algorithm based on the variable range technique is developed to solve the problem by providing a small set of efficient schedules.

Findings

Once maintenance is performed, the job being processed must be stopped. This will result in some jobs being late or tardy and a relatively larger flow time is generated. Therefore, how to minimize these two criteria in the production system becomes an important issue in the company. Computational results show that problems with larger maintenance intervals and smaller maintaining time can produce a smaller number of efficient schedules.

Practical implications

It is seen that scheduling maintenance will result in some jobs being tardy and a larger flow time is generated. A decision maker can easily select a preferred schedule from the small set of efficient schedules. The proposed algorithm is appropriate not only for the studied company but also for those companies where periodic maintenance is required.

Originality/value

Presents an algorithm to find a small set of efficient schedules.

Details

Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2511

Keywords

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