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Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology

Impact factor: 0.763 5-Year impact factor: 1.186 Print ISSN: 1052-9284 Online ISSN: 1099-1298 Publisher: Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)

Subject: Social Psychology

Most recent papers:

  • When cross‐ethnic friendships can be bad for out‐group attitudes: The importance of friendship quality.
    Vasile Cernat.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 03, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract Data collected from Romanian students living in the Transylvanian region of Romania showed that the quality of friendship with Hungarian ethnics moderated the effects of cross‐ethnic friendship quantity on attitudes towards this out‐group. Although high‐quality cross‐ethnic friendships were very beneficial to out‐group attitudes, low‐quality cross‐ethnic friendships were rather harmful. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, EarlyView.
    October 03, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2385   open full text
  • Does stigma always have negative consequences?
    Sunil K. Verma, Pankaj Bharti, Tushar Singh.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 03, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract The aim of this study was to explore and understand the phenomenon of stigmatization and the socio‐cultural processes where a stigmatized group may enjoy the ongoing process of stigmatization against them. Generally, research works on “stigma” show that stigmas have negative effects on the stigmatized group. The stigmatized groups often claim that people are prejudiced against them, and therefore, they face discrimination, alienation, and comparatively reduced well‐being. Besides this, stigmatized groups also face exclusion and marginalization especially with respect to poverty. In the Indian cultural context, stigma is attached to certain notions and beliefs that are used by stigmatized groups to earn their livelihood. These groups affirm such statuses that accredit them as socially and/or economically marginalized groups and use the associated social beliefs for their advantage. It can, therefore, be said that they feel pride in accepting the stigma associated with their identities. To understand these socio‐psychological processes, three stigmatized groups, namely, eunuchs, beggars, and reserved category students were sampled, and data was collected using ethnography. Upon analysing the collected data, results revealed that eunuchs and beggars use social beliefs as a means for earning a livelihood whereas reserved category students freely utilize their caste identity for privileges without hesitation in order to get good jobs, enrol in education, and/or improve their living conditions. Therefore, it can be concluded that stigma does not necessarily always have negative consequences but can also help the stigmatized group in improving their overall quality of life. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, EarlyView.
    October 03, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2382   open full text
  • Adopting a participatory methodology and post‐structural epistemology: Reflections on a research project with young people.
    Lester Watson, Rachael Fox.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. September 20, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract This paper discusses the methodological processes of a qualitative PhD research project with young people aged between 12 and 17 years who are the primary carer for a family member with physical or mental health problems. The field work was conducted over 2 years in rural Australia and involved one‐on‐one discussions with young carers in their family homes. The research was grounded in post‐structural epistemology that questioned existing literature and challenged the assumptions of childhood on which it is based. Consequently, it sought to pursue a different approach to young carer research, one that adopted a participatory methodology that positioned the young people as co‐researchers. Young people were involved in the design and conduct of the research and the analysis process. This paper critiques the research space, reflecting on what was made possible and what was limited or not fully realised. The paper discusses the tensions between post‐structural theory and participatory methodology that reveal limitations to collaboration between adult researchers and young people. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, EarlyView.
    September 20, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2380   open full text
  • Participatory action research in an Amazon protected area: Lessons for community psychology in Northern Brazil.
    Marcelo Gustavo Aguilar Calegare, Maria Inês Gasparetto Higuchi.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. September 06, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract Participatory action research (PAR) in rural Amazon communities in protected areas (PA) should be a requisite element of community psychology (CP) in Northern Brazil, because it allies investigation with action strategies appropriate to the specificities and problems of those rural communities. In this context, this article intends to promote reflection about PAR carried out in the communities of Auati‐Paraná Extractive Reserve, a federal PA of sustainable use in the western Amazon rainforest, and to highlight elements to community psychologists to solve issues faced by those rural Amazon communities. The PAR's aim was to help in the implementation of a sustainable development marquetry project that uses fallen wood resources and to monitor its psycho‐social‐environmental impact. We present and discuss the PAR's trajectory and its critical points for a CP approach in an Amazon PA context: group work, articulations, disagreements, and political negotiations between partners that permeate the PA's management and environmental governance in Amazon, despite the unexpected outcome of the marquetry project. We emphasize the critical engagement, committed praxis, and political role of CP in PA contexts, necessary for CP in Northern Brazil. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, EarlyView.
    September 06, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2379   open full text
  • “It is usually about the triumph of the coloniser”: Exploring young people's conceptualisations of Australian history and the implications for Australian identity.
    Jack P. Farrugia, Peta L. Dzidic, Lynne D. Roberts.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. September 05, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract Australians of European descent reconstruct Australian history to silence the mistreatment of Indigenous Australians and to favour the coloniser perspective. Literature suggests that although this reconstructed history is typically accepted uncritically, in recent times, young people may have become more critical of this historical account. Exploring young people's conceptualisations of Australian history may provide insight into emerging perspectives of Australian history, and ultimately young people's understanding of Australian identity. A qualitative research design with a social constructionist approach was adopted. Twelve young people aged 18 to 25 who self‐identified as having an interest in Australian history were recruited and participated in a semistructured interview. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically. Three major themes emerged: “learning and ‘relearning’ Australian history,” “making sense of what is happening,” and “who is an Australian?” Viewed through a Freirean lens, some young Australians of European descent appear to be undergoing a conceptual shift from holding perspectives associated with the oppressor to adopting a more critical stance of Australian history. Despite this, understandings of oppression were at times paradoxical. Further research is required to understand the phenomena of this proposed shift and to facilitate and encourage this process of siding with the oppressed. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, EarlyView.
    September 05, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2381   open full text
  • Issue Information.

    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. September 03, 2018
    --- - |2 No abstract is available for this article. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Volume 28, Issue 5, Page 291-292, September/October 2018.
    September 03, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2335   open full text
  • Women in the asylum: Understanding the medicalization and kinship in Indian psychiatric care.
    Nidhi Sinha.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. September 03, 2018
    --- - - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Volume 28, Issue 5, Page 378-381, September/October 2018.
    September 03, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2368   open full text
  • An indigenous psychology perspective on psychosocial support in Southern Africa as collective, networking, and pragmatic support.
    Liesel Ebersöhn, Tilda Loots, Ruth Mampane, Funke Omidire, Marlize Malan‐Van Rooyen, Maximus Sefotho, Maitumeleng Nthontho.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. August 15, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract This comparative case study seeks to describe the traditional African psychosocial support practices used in postcolonial Southern Africa. We use an indigenous psychology theory (relationship‐resourced resilience) as a theoretical lens to understand and supplement dominant Western discourses on psychosocial support. Seven Southern African communities with high need and indigenous belief systems were conveniently sampled. Participatory reflection and action methods were used to generate data from a snowball sample of individuals with a dominant African home language and who demonstrated significant vulnerability (n = 430: elders = 240; youth = 190; men = 150; and women = 280). Focus groups were audio‐recorded and their speech transcribed. Observation data were documented in photographs. After in‐case and cross‐case analysis, we found that psychosocial support was collective, pragmatic, and capitalised on networking. The psychosocial support strategies expand insight into the indigenous psychology theory on collective resilience. The intentional description of robust non‐Western psychosocial support practices, continued to be used by elders and young people in rural and urban spaces in Southern Africa, establishes that endemic practices exist in lieu of policy‐level support to provide much‐need services given frequent and intense need. Knowledge of the way in which psychosocial support is commonly provided affords an opportunity to graft development initiatives onto that which has withstood adversity, rather than reimagining interventions. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Volume 28, Issue 5, Page 332-347, September/October 2018.
    August 15, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2371   open full text
  • Social class and models of agency: Independent and interdependent agency as educational (dis)advantage.
    Sarah Jay, Orla T. Muldoon.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. August 15, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract Social class continues to be associated with achievement in school and attendance in university and higher education. This qualitative study explores this phenomenon, and reports three focus group interviews with middle and working class secondary school students, in Ireland. We explore cultural and identity factors in educational settings. Specifically, our analysis orients to the models of agency experienced by these students. Middle class participants express independent agency in education, through norms of choice, control, and freedom from constraints. In contrast, working class students orient towards an interdependent model of agency and express psychological, social, and material barriers to opportunity in education. However, independent neo‐liberal individualising and meritocratic discourses were expressed by both groups, suggesting the models are complicated and nuanced. Nevertheless, it is concluded that cultural fit and identity compatibility in educational settings, broadly, constitute middle class advantages and working class disadvantages. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Volume 28, Issue 5, Page 318-331, September/October 2018.
    August 15, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2370   open full text
  • The discursive “othering” of Jews and Muslims in the Britain First solidarity patrol.
    Shani Burke.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. August 08, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract In this paper, critical discursive psychology is used to analyse the Islamophobic discourse by the far‐right party Britain First in its “solidarity patrol” video. Britain First patrolled in Golders Green, North London, to show support for Jewish communities following the ISIS shooting at the kosher supermarket in Paris on January 9, 2015. The Charlie Hebdo shooting and the shooting at the kosher supermarket (as well as other attacks by members of the Islamic State) have led to Muslims being seen as a threat to Britain and exposed to Islamophobic attacks and racial abuse. This presents far‐right parties in the United Kingdom with the dilemma of appearing moderate and mainstream in their anti‐Islamic stance. The analysis focuses on how Britain First used the shooting at the kosher supermarket in order to construct Jews as under threat from Islam. The analysis also includes visual communication in the solidarity patrol video that was used to provide “evidence” that Britain First supported Jewish communities. Results are discussed in light of how Britain First used aligning with Jews in order to appear as “reasonable” in projecting its anti‐Islamic ideology and how critical discursive psychology can be used to show how conflicting social identities are constructed. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Volume 28, Issue 5, Page 365-377, September/October 2018.
    August 08, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2373   open full text
  • When the going gets tough: Schools in challenging circumstances and the effectiveness of principals' leadership styles.
    Izhak Berkovich.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 26, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract The principal's leadership style is one of the most common ways of conceptualizing school leadership behaviours. We lack understanding, however, of how the effectiveness of school leadership styles varies across degrees of challenging circumstances. Data obtained from a quantitative survey of primary school teachers in Israel (N = 570) and from the Ministry of Education database were used to account for principals' leadership styles and their effectiveness in schools facing more challenging circumstances (N = 15) and in those facing less challenging circumstances (N = 46). Differences were found in the relations between principals' transactional behaviours on one hand and the teaching dimension of school culture and principals' perceived effectiveness on the other, as a function of challenging school circumstances. The study also found a difference in the relations of principals' transformational behaviours and the safety dimension of school culture, by level of challenging school circumstances. The data also revealed that in schools facing less challenging circumstances, principals' passive behaviours were related to students' achievements and principals' perceived effectiveness, but not in schools facing more challenging circumstances. The findings and their implications are discussed. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Volume 28, Issue 5, Page 348-364, September/October 2018.
    July 26, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2372   open full text
  • Sugar daddies and blessers: A contextual study of transactional sexual interactions among young girls and older men.
    Juliane Hoss, Linda M. Eskell Blokland.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 11, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract This mixed method study aimed to gather a contextual understanding of the perspectives of young girls in South Africa with regard to transactional sexual interactions between older men and young girls. Two major narratives of the “sugar daddy” phenomenon have dominated the public discourse on the topic. One emphasises the girls' vulnerability and experience of victimisation, whereas the other highlights their role as social agents with control in such interactions. In this study, the participants acknowledged the heterogeneity among partners in such interactions, which suggests that the phenomenon of “sugar daddies” cannot be explained by a simple narrative. The girls' experiences form a continuum based on the degree of their individual control and the extent of their vulnerability in such an interaction. Contextual factors and social norms influence decisions and experiences in these interactions. The study concludes that these relationships form part of the girls' daily experiences of structural violence as well as gender inequality and can be regarded as a symptom of broader societal structures and norms. Quantitative data investigate the mental health status of the participants, whereas an essentialist/realist thematic analysis of qualitative data explores experiences and perceptions of the girls. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Volume 28, Issue 5, Page 306-317, September/October 2018.
    July 11, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2361   open full text
  • The buffering role of in‐group identification and intergroup contact on the association between perceived discrimination and mental health.
    Sabahat C. Bagci, Abbas Turnuklu, Eyup Bekmezci.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. June 07, 2018
    --- - |2 Abstract Previous research has shown that disadvantaged group members cope with the negative effects of perceived discrimination (PD) on mental health using various mechanisms. We examined the potential protective role of two processes—in‐group identification and intergroup contact—on the association between PD and mental health (anxiety and depression) among physically disabled adults (N = 269, Mage = 39.13, SD = 13.80). Intergroup contact, but not in‐group identification, had a buffering role on the association between PD and both depression and anxiety. However, this effect was further moderated by in‐group identification such that high levels of intergroup contact had a protective role against PD, only when in‐group identification was low. Findings highlight the importance of evaluating various social–psychological processes interactively in creating a resilient outlook among disadvantaged groups. - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, Volume 28, Issue 5, Page 293-305, September/October 2018.
    June 07, 2018   doi: 10.1002/casp.2357   open full text
  • Enacting collective support for the European integration: Participation in pro‐integration action and preference for specific transnational acculturation strategies.
    Ana‐Maria Bliuc, Craig McGarty, Constantina Badea, Mihaela Boza.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. September 28, 2017
    We propose that collective support for European integration is mani‐fested in 2 distinct forms: first, as engagement in socio‐political action by citizens who seek to change their nation and its status in Europe. Second, it is manifested as a transnational acculturation process that impacts on both nations and their citizens. These processes potentially engage social identities at 3 levels: national, European and as supporters of the European integration. Here, we examine these different levels of identification as part of a model predicting collective support for the European integration. To capture the dimension of transnationality, we collected data from 2 Romanian samples, 1 of participants living in their country of origin (N = 203), and 1 of participants living as migrants outside Romania (N = 196). We found that identification as a pro‐integration supporter flows from European and Romanian national identifications and is an excellent predictor of collective support for European integration in both its forms. We conclude by discussing how our findings can be applied to the design of intervention strategies and policies to promote support for the European Union and the integration process in the current socio‐political climate (where the unity and the very existence of European Union are under threat).
    September 28, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2337   open full text
  • Leadership in community mutual support groups for mental health: A qualitative case study from the leaders' perspective.
    Rebecca J. Gammage, Juliet L. Foster.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. August 07, 2017
    This study explores the experience of leadership of member‐led community‐based mental health mutual support groups. Recent research has documented factors that affect these groups, including leader well‐being, but little is known about the experience of leadership at the individual level. We aimed to understand more about the experience of leadership and how leading members conceptualise their roles. Individual semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 14 leaders of a community mental health mutual support group in England and thematically analysed. Three themes were identified through which leading members conceptualised their roles and group dynamics: (a) “It's a family”; (b) professional values; and (c) working as a team. These knowledge frameworks appeared to influence leaders' well‐being and conceptualisations of their role. The potential impact of this on group stability is discussed. Recommendations are made that group and individual‐level processes be considered together in future research in mental health mutual support contexts due to their interconnected nature.
    August 07, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2327   open full text
  • Emergent social identities in a flood: Implications for community psychosocial resilience.
    Evangelos Ntontis, John Drury, Richard Amlôt, G. James Rubin, Richard Williams.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 26, 2017
    Although the mobilization of pre‐existing networks is crucial in psychosocial resilience in disasters, shared identities can also emerge in the absence of such previous bonds, due to survivors sharing a sense of common fate. Common fate seems to operate in sudden‐impact disasters (e.g., bombings), but to our knowledge, no research has explored social identity processes in “rising‐tide” incidents. We interviewed an opportunity sample of 17 residents of York, United Kingdom, who were involved in the 2015–2016 floods. Using thematic and discourse analysis, we investigated residents' experiences of the floods and the strategic function that invocations of community identities perform. We show how shared community identities emerged (e.g., because of shared problems, shared goals, perceptions of vulnerability, and collapse of previous group boundaries) and show how they acted as a basis of social support (both given and expected). The findings serve to further develop the social identity model of collective psychosocial resilience in rising‐tide disasters. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
    July 26, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2329   open full text
  • Fear of crime and community concerns: Mediating effect of risk and pragmatic fear.
    Derek Chadee, Stacia Ali, Ariel Burke, Jason Young.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 17, 2017
    This study investigates the relationship between community concerns (i.e., perceived crime, incivilities, and infrastructure) and fear of crime (FOC) while examining the mediating role of risk of victimisation and pragmatic fear. Gender and ethnic differences were also explored. Data were collected using a proportionate multistage random sample of 3,003 participants from a southern Caribbean island in 2015. The following self‐reported measures were used: risk of victimisation and FOC scales, a general (noncrime) fear scale measuring pragmatic fear, and a community concern scale. Data were analysed using path analysis, Sobel tests, and multiple group analysis. Findings revealed that perceived crime and incivilities significantly predicted FOC, whereas infrastructure was insignificant as a direct predictor. Females had higher FOC, and among ethnic groups, Indo‐Trinidadians had the highest FOC than Afro‐Trinidadians and Mixed participants. Risk of victimisation and pragmatic fear had significant mediating effects on community concerns and FOC. Findings are discussed in the context of the social psychology of social disorganisation and previous research.
    July 17, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2326   open full text
  • Creating inclusive identity narratives through participatory action research.
    Urmitapa Dutta.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 07, 2017
    This paper describes the process and outcomes of Voices, a participatory action research project aimed to disrupt divisive ethnic identity narratives among youth living amidst protracted ethnic conflict. The project took place in the Garo Hills region of Northeast India, a site of protracted ethnic conflict. Moving away from crisis‐based approaches, this paper explores the conflict transformative potential of participatory action research, specifically its effectiveness in facilitating civic engagement across ethnic lines. The findings indicate that young people's involvement in the project afforded them an opportunity to engage with local community concerns outside of polarized ethnic identity narratives. This involvement facilitated three critical outcomes: engagement in social critique, reconfiguration of a more inclusive researcher identity, and adoption of a language of possibility. Based on these findings, it is argued that opportunities for critical community engagement could interrupt divisive ethnic identity narratives and provide turning points for youth to reimagine inclusive social identities.
    July 07, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2328   open full text
  • Turning psychology against militarism.
    Jim Orford.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 06, 2017
    This paper draws on material, mostly from outside psychology, which illustrates the deep rootedness of militarisation in modern culture and the numerous ways in which it permeates civic society. Children, boys especially, learn to value armed conflict. War games are now more realistic, and the distinction between gaming and military training has become blurred. War and deadly weapons are portrayed in unrealistic ways that hide their actual effects. Just war theory, widely subscribed to, justifies armed conflict by proposing that under certain conditions, war can be just with moral rules that apply to the fighting. Many psychologists have worked for the military in one way or another, implicitly or explicitly promoting militarism, and the changing nature of war and armaments is providing further temptations for psychologists to do so. Psychology has been ambivalent about militarism. Peace psychology has not taken an unambiguous position on it, often speaking disparagingly of the absence of war in the absence of social justice, referring to it as “negative peace.” Feminists, often very clear in their opposition to militarism, have sometimes advocated for women to have greater acceptance in the armed forces. The paper concludes by arguing for a more clearly identified Psychology Against Militarism. Community psychology should take a lead in advocating for Psychology Against Militarism because militarism is a good example of how the exercise of power, wreaking widespread harm on us all but especially on those who are already relatively powerless, is collectively legitimised, and hence how we become complicit in supporting it.
    July 06, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2322   open full text
  • How international transracial adoptees and immigrants cope with discrimination? The moderating role of ethnic identity in the relation between perceived discrimination and psychological well‐being.
    Laura Ferrari, Rosa Rosnati, Elena Canzi, Anna Ballerini, Sonia Ranieri.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. June 29, 2017
    Research has consistently shown that discrimination based on ethnic group membership affects the psychological well‐being of ethnic minorities. Recent studies revealed that discrimination is also a relevant experience for international transracial adoptees, who have experienced a unique migration process. Yet, there is still a paucity of studies focused on similarities and differences between how immigrants and international transracial adoptees perceive discrimination and on how perceived discrimination impacts psychological well‐being, also depending on ethnic identity. Our study aimed to fill these gaps by investigating the moderating role of ethnic identity affirmation in the association between perceived discrimination and psychological well‐being, measured in terms of self‐esteem. A comparison between international transracial adoptees and immigrants was carried out in the Italian context. Participants were 119 international transracial adoptees and 90 immigrants, aged between 15 and 24, all categorizing themselves as Latinos. Findings revealed that immigrants perceived more discrimination and showed higher levels of ethnic identity affirmation than did adoptees, but no difference emerged with respect to self‐esteem. Ethnic identity affirmation buffered the detrimental effects of perceived discrimination on self‐esteem among international transracial adoptees but not among immigrants. Results are discussed in relation to practical implications for preventive interventions.
    June 29, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2325   open full text
  • Competence matters! Understanding biculturalism in ethnically diverse adolescents.
    Alison E. F. Benbow, Adam Rutland.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. June 20, 2017
    The importance of bicultural competence in negotiating diversity was explored longitudinally with 227 bicultural British female adolescents. Bicultural competence predicted social‐psychological adaptation and intergroup attitudes. It also mediated the effects of ethnic identity and perceived similarity on acculturation preferences. Implications for research on adolescents growing up with diversity are considered.
    June 20, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2312   open full text
  • Increasing ethnic diversity moderates longitudinal effects of individual differences on friendship homophily.
    Philipp Jugert, Adam Rutland, Rupert Brown, Lindsey Cameron, Dennis Nigbur, Charles Watters, Rosa Hossain, Anick Landau, Dominique Le Touze.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. June 19, 2017
    This study examined direct and interactive effects of social–emotional adjustment, national and ethnic identification, and school ethnic composition on friendship homophily among 214 ethnic minority and 183 ethnic majority English children, aged between 5 and 11 years. The data came from a longitudinal study, which included 3 time points, spanning a 12‐month period. Results of multilevel latent growth curve models showed that among ethnic minority English children (teacher‐rated), peer problems and ethnic identity were associated with more friendship homophily, whereas a bicultural identity was not related to more friendship homophily. Among ethnic majority English children, the effects of peer problems and English identity were moderated by school ethnic composition, such that these factors were not associated with more friendship homophily in more ethnically diverse schools. The findings are discussed on the basis of theories of intergroup contact and intergroup threat.
    June 19, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2319   open full text
  • Intergroup contact and minority group empowerment: The perspective of Roma and non‐Roma adolescents in Macedonia.
    Ermira Kamberi, Borja Martinovic, Maykel Verkuyten.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. June 15, 2017
    This study focused on the endorsement of Roma empowerment in Macedonia among Roma (N = 187) and non‐Roma (Macedonian, Albanian, and Turkish; N = 627) adolescents. Using structural equation modelling, we examined the mediating roles of out‐group feelings, negative Roma stereotypes, and perceived social injustice towards the Roma in the association between out‐group contact and endorsement of Roma empowerment. In line with the prejudice reduction model, we found for the non‐Roma sample that the endorsement of Roma empowerment was higher among adolescents who had more frequent (as well as more positive) contact with Roma, and this was due to more positive feelings towards the Roma, less negative Roma stereotypes, and, in the case of Albanian and Turkish minorities, more perceived social injustice towards the Roma. There was little evidence for the collective action approach in the Roma sample.
    June 15, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2320   open full text
  • Interrogating the ethics of operational psychology.
    Stephen Soldz, Bradley Olson, Jean Maria Arrigo.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. June 13, 2017
    Commissioned amidst allegations of collusion between American Psychological Association officials and Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense officials involved in the enhanced interrogation programme, the July 2015 Hoffman Report documented a decade of collusion between American Psychological Association and Department of Defense officials in unethical national security interrogations. However, interrogation support is but one of numerous areas where psychologists are directly aiding military and intelligence operations, an area known as operational psychology. The ethical issues posed by the larger field of operational psychology have received little public discussion apart from apologia by operational psychologists themselves. To stimulate public review of operational psychology, leaders of the movement to remove psychologists from national security interrogations convened, in September 2015, a group of experts to work towards a consensus set of principles to guide future discussion. Participants included psychologists, physicians, and social scientists; military and intelligence professionals; and attorneys, ethicists, and human rights advocates. The discussion also drew upon years of dialogue between participants and military health and intelligence professionals. The workshop produced “The Brookline Principles on the Ethical Practice of Operational Psychology,” with implications for the profession of psychology and for civil society.
    June 13, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2321   open full text
  • Majority and minority ethnic status adolescents' bystander responses to racism in school.
    Sally B. Palmer, Lindsey Cameron, Adam Rutland, Belinda Blake.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. June 08, 2017
    Twelve to 15‐year‐olds (N = 1,100) from majority and minority ethnic backgrounds, living in an ethnically diverse area in the UK, read a hypothetical scenario about verbal racism in school and indicated their bystander responses (prosocial, aggressive, and passive). Findings showed that age, ethnicity, cross‐group friendships, and ethnic socialisation predicted their bystander responses.
    June 08, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2313   open full text
  • The just world hypothesis as an argumentative resource in debates about unemployment benefits.
    Simon Goodman, Philippa Carr.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 30, 2017
    The concept of the “just world” is established as a key explanation for how people make sense of inequality so that those deemed to score high in belief in a just world are more likely to hold prejudicial beliefs and to blame people in poverty for their situations. However, this is an inadequate explanation for such complicated and controversial issues. To better understand talk about the just world and the controversial issue of the distribution of unemployment benefits (an issue of inequality), a discursive psychological approach to the just world is used. Therefore, a discourse analysis focusses on 2 feature length British televised discussions about benefit claimants called “The Big Benefit Row: Live” (Channel 5 3/2/2014) and “Benefits Britain: the Debate” (Channel 4 17/2/2014). The analysis demonstrates that people draw on both just and unjust world arguments simultaneously and also topicalise what counts as just so as to support their positions on unemployment benefits, rather than in the consistent way that just world theory would predict. It is therefore argued that the just world should be recast as a cultural value that facilitates arguments about benefits, rather than an internally held belief.
    May 30, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2314   open full text
  • Defining ethnic, national, and dual identities: Structure, antecedents, and consequences of multiple social identities of Turkish‐origin high school students in Germany.
    Sarah E. Martiny, Laura Froehlich, Kay Deaux, Sog Yee Mok.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 29, 2017
    The number of immigrants and children born to immigrant parents in Europe has risen steadily. Related to debates as to how best integrate immigrants, research points to the importance of investigating the structure as well as antecedents and consequences of immigrants' multiple identities. Here, we explore the relationship between three different identities endorsed by adolescent Turkish‐origin immigrants in Germany: ethnic identity (i.e., Turkish identity), national identity (i.e., German identity), and dual identity (i.e., German–Turkish identity). In two studies, Turkish‐origin adolescents in Germany (Study 1: N = 91, age: M = 15.18, SD = 0.97; Study 2: N = 95, age: M = 15.26, SD = 0.90) completed measures of multiple identities, contact with native Germans, and feelings of being integrated in Germany. Results show that adolescents' dual identity was positively related to their national identity but negatively related to their ethnic identity. Ethnic and national identities were also negatively related. Further, when Turkish‐origin students had more contact with native Germans, they felt more at home in Germany, mediated by their national and dual identity. Results are discussed in terms of the role that identity construction plays in the integration of immigrants into host societies.
    May 29, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2318   open full text
  • “Hammered down on every side” versus “just being positive”: A critical discursive approach to health inequality.
    Emma Anderson, Stephen Gibson.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 22, 2017
    Socio‐economic and health inequality are strongly linked and are increasingly perpetuated by discourses of individual responsibility. However, little research from a critical discursive perspective has addressed how people affected themselves may account for this relationship. This research examined the ways in which people who are in debt, unemployed, or in insecure, minimum‐wage employment construct health and negotiate identities around it. Data from semistructured interviews with 6 participants were analysed and 3 main interpretative repertoires were identified: a medical repertoire of health as a lack of illness; health as adopting the “right” behaviours and attitudes; and health as being heavily influenced by external factors, such as income and life circumstances. The analysis focuses on how participants managed the tension between these latter 2 repertoires by adopting various subject positions around health: that it is “slipping” away from them; that it requires motivation; and that it is unattainable. Underpinning this is a “common‐sense” idea of health as something that is worked towards through culturally approved actions and attitudes.
    May 22, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2315   open full text
  • From tolerance to understanding: Exploring the development of intercultural competence in multiethnic contexts from early to late adolescence.
    Miriam Schwarzenthal, Linda P. Juang, Maja K. Schachner, Fons J.R. Vijver, Anna Handrick.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 16, 2017
    We investigated intercultural competence among immigrant and non‐immigrant background adolescents in multiethnic schools in relation to intercultural contact, age, and ethnic identity exploration. The sample included 631 adolescents in Germany (49.4% of immigrant background, 48.2% female), aged 11 to 18 years (Mage = 13.69 years, SDage = 1.83). Intercultural competence was measured using a self‐report questionnaire and situational judgment tests capturing the adolescents' interpretation of and reaction to intercultural conflicts. Intercultural contacts and ethnic identity exploration were measured using self‐report questionnaires. Results showed that among immigrant and non‐immigrant background adolescents, intercultural contact and ethnic identity exploration were positively related to different aspects of intercultural competence. As predicted, self‐reported intercultural competence was unrelated to age in both groups, whereas this competence, as measured by the situational judgment tests, increased with age. Thus, learning about others (e.g., by engaging in intercultural contact) and learning about yourself (e.g., by exploring your own ethnic background) are both important for developing pivotal intercultural skills.
    May 16, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2317   open full text
  • Children's reasoning about peer and school segregation in a diverse society.
    Harriet R. Tenenbaum, Patrick Leman, Ana Aznar.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 16, 2017
    This study examined children's reasoning about gender‐ and religion‐based exclusion in the context of single‐gender and single‐faith schools and play contexts. Young people (twenty‐three 8‐ to 10‐year‐olds and fifty‐three 12‐ to 14‐year‐olds) were asked to judge and reason about the acceptability of exclusion based on gender and religion by children and school principals. Participants rated exclusion based on gender as more acceptable than exclusion based on religion. Exclusion from school contexts was rated as more acceptable than exclusion from play contexts. Participants tended to invoke moral reasons to condemn exclusion when reasoning about religion, whereas they tended to invoke social conventional reasons when reasoning about gender. Young people's greater support for religiously inclusive schooling compared to gender inclusive schooling suggests that societal and governmental acceptance of religious diversity has support from future generations.
    May 16, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2311   open full text
  • Stories that move them: Changing children's behaviour toward diverse peers.
    Shelley McKeown, Amanda Williams, Kristin Pauker.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 16, 2017
    Globally, our social worlds are becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse. Despite this, little attention has been given to how children negotiate this diversity. In this study, we examine whether a value‐in‐diversity storybook intervention encourages young children to engage in intergroup contact with racially diverse peers. The lunchroom seating behaviour of 4‐ to 6‐year olds attending 3 racially diverse primary schools was recorded at 3 different points during a 1‐week period. Seating behaviour was coded based on the race of the children, and levels of segregation were calculated. Before hearing the story, we observed racial self‐segregation; the children were more likely to sit with same‐race peers. However, immediately following the story, the children were no longer significantly racially segregated. This effect was not maintained; up to 48 hr later, the children again showed evidence of racial self‐segregation. Our findings suggest that exposure to racially diverse peers alone is not sufficient for promoting intergroup contact. We argue that it is vital to develop sustainable teacher‐led interventions if we are to harness the potential of diverse school settings for bolstering intergroup relations.
    May 16, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2316   open full text
  • “To serve and protect” when expecting to be seen negatively: The relation between police officers' contact with citizens, meta‐stereotyping, and work‐related well‐being.
    Ernestine H. Gordijn, Loreline Vacher, Toon Kuppens.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 04, 2017
    We examined the relationship between contact of police officers with citizens, their (meta‐)stereotypes about citizens, and their work‐related well‐being. Ninety‐three police officers from 4 police stations in low‐ and high‐crime regions in France completed the questionnaire. As expected, negative well‐being of police officers is predicted by negative contact with citizens and their belief that police officers are stereotyped negatively by citizens. Moreover, the relationship between negative contact and negative well‐being was mediated by police officers' beliefs that police officers are perceived negatively by citizens, whereas their perceptions of citizens did not mediate this relationship. Interestingly, level of crime did not influence these relationships. Together, this research shows the important role of beliefs about how one's group is stereotyped when in contact with another group as it may have consequences for people's well‐being.
    May 04, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2310   open full text
  • Parents' and children's understanding of their own and others' national identity: The importance of including the family in the national group.
    Orla T. Muldoon, Aisling T. O'Donnell, Anca Minescu.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. March 31, 2017
    We investigate the role of parents and family in driving children's understanding of their own national identity and their attitudes to other national groups in an increasingly diverse nation. Given the ethical and practical difficulties of sourcing children and their parents, we conducted our study with families visiting the National Museum of Ireland where displays about the Irish state's history facilitated the study of banal issues of Irishness and nationality. Our study included 34 families: 76 children and 46 parents. Parents completed self‐report measures of national identity continuity, national identity strength, and their family's Irishness. Children completed self‐report measures on their family's Irishness, their exploration of national identity, and attitudes to other national groups. National identity continuity and strength drove parents' sense of their family's Irishness. Amongst children, perceiving one's family as Irish, together with higher reported exploration of national identity, impacted on children's attitudes to other national groups. Children with the strongest sense of Irish national identity were most interested in identity exploration and other national practises. We add to the literature findings on the interconnection between parent and child identity and the role of the family in driving interest in national identity and other national groups.
    March 31, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2308   open full text
  • How positive and negative contact relate to attitudes towards Roma: Comparing majority and high‐status minority perspectives.
    Emilio Paolo Visintin, Eva G.T. Green, Adrienne Pereira, Polimira Miteva.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. March 26, 2017
    Intergroup contact scholars have recently called for analyzing the effects of negative intergroup contact. In response to this call, we examined the correlates of positive and negative contact with one of the most stigmatized ethnic minorities, that is, Roma. We conducted a study in Bulgaria considering the point of view of the ethnic Bulgarian majority (n = 516) and of Bulgarian Turks (n = 274), an ethnic minority with higher status compared to Roma. Regression analyses showed that positive contact was associated with reduced prejudice and more support for pro‐Roma policies, while negative contact revealed the opposite pattern. These associations did not differ between ethnic Bulgarians and Bulgarian Turks. Moreover, positive and negative intergroup emotions mediated the relationships between positive and negative contact on the one hand and prejudice and policy support on the other. Our study highlights the importance of emotional processes involved in positive and negative intergroup contact experiences and encourages future research to analyze how absolute versus relative status differences shape the effects of positive and negative contact in complex hierarchical societies.
    March 26, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2309   open full text
  • “This is an EU crisis requiring an EU solution”: Nation and transnational talk in negotiating warrants for further inclusion of refugees.
    Rahul Sambaraju, Chris McVittie, Philip Nolan.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. March 13, 2017
    Discursive social psychological research shows the centrality of treating arrival nations as unitary entities that are incompatible for nonnation others (immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees) in legitimately warranting their exclusion. We extend these findings for the current Special Issue and for broader literature in examining inclusion issues in the European Union (EU) in the ongoing context of the “refugee crisis.” We offer a discursive analysis of transcribed talk in the Dáil Éireaan (Irish Parliament) for the year 2015 when issues of migration and refugees were prominent. Analysis shows that Deputies treat the adequacy of ongoing inclusion efforts as a concern. This was worked up through foregrounding possibilities for Ireland to take up inclusive efforts and managed through avowals of commitment to inclusion juxtaposed to treating the issue and responses to it as EU concerns. Findings show that unique aspects and sovereignty of nations can be downplayed in negotiating warrants for inclusion. Alongside this, in specific contexts and settings transnational collectives, such as the EU, can be treated as stand‐ins for nations and used to negotiate inclusion of nonnation others. These are discussed in relation to implications for inclusion advocacy.
    March 13, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2307   open full text
  • Public narratives on human mobility: Countering technocratic and humanitarian refugee narratives with a “one‐world” solidarity narrative.
    Kesi Mahendran.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. March 13, 2017
    This article articulates a one‐world narrative, which reconfigures human mobility in dialogical response to the ideational borders of the European Union. Fifty‐two semi‐structured interviews, in Scotland and Sweden, bring participants, ranging from people with refugee status to the generationally nonmobile, into dialogue with the integration ideals of the European Union. Within this ideational space, participants employ I‐positional dialogical capacities such as “outsideness” and “multivoicedness” to articulate a postnational “one‐world” solidarity narrative (OWN). OWN is revealed as distinct from a posthuman “one‐earth” sustainability narrative, which was found to “border” and delimit mobility. Three dimensions of OWN, (a) borders as constructed; (b) citizen of the world; and (c) accidental nature of existence, together repoliticise depoliticised technocratic reasoning, culturalism, and the asymmetries of humanitarian narratives on refugees. In conclusion, articulating the public's dialogical capacities is key to moving beyond public opinion towards public dialogue on vexed political questions such as immigration.
    March 13, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2304   open full text
  • Prejudice in interreligious context: The role of metaprejudice and majority–minority status.
    Idhamsyah Eka Putra, Wolfgang Wagner.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. March 01, 2017
    Samples of two hundred forty‐five majority Sunny Muslims, 87 Ahmadiyya Muslims, and 145 Christians were used to investigate the determinants and mediators of prejudice in interreligious context in Indonesia. First, the study extends the idea of in‐group and out‐group metaprejudice; both of which were found to mediate the relationship between perceived quality of intergroup relationship and personal prejudice. Second, we expected that majority members are more likely to reject a minority and that a minority is more likely to more strongly reject another minority than the majority for self‐serving reasons. Additionally, the Sunni majority will prejudice and reject the Ahmadiyya minority more than the Christian minority due to the strained religious relation between the two Muslim groups. The hypotheses were confirmed. The findings are discussed in the context of stereotyping, and prejudice dynamics in other intergroup conflicts and ways of coping with such conflict are suggested.
    March 01, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2305   open full text
  • The evolving (re)categorisations of refugees throughout the “refugee/migrant crisis”.
    Simon Goodman, Ala Sirriyeh, Simon McMahon.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 24, 2017
    The UK media's reporting of events in 2015 contained constantly evolving categorisations of people attempting to reach Europe and the UK, each with different implications for their treatment. A discourse analysis of UK media outputs charts the development of the terminology used to present the crisis and those people involved. First, “Mediterranean migrant crisis” was used to present those involved as “migrants” to be prevented from reaching Europe. Next, it became a “Calais migrant crisis” in which migrants were constructed as a threat to UK security and then the “European migrant crisis” an ongoing threat to Europe. Photographs of a drowned child led to a shift to a “refugee crisis” in which refugees were presented in a humane and sympathetic way. When terrorist attacks were linked with the crisis, refugees reverted to migrants. Findings are discussed regarding the impact of categorisation on debates about the inclusion and exclusion of refugees.
    February 24, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2302   open full text
  • “It's just heart breaking”: Doing inclusive political solidarity or ambivalent paternalism through sympathetic discourse within the “refugee crisis” debate.
    Alastair Nightingale, Michael Quayle, Orla Muldoon.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 15, 2017
    This article explores how people do sympathetic talk in relation to the European “refugee crisis.” The analysis was grounded in critical discursive psychology and also drew on the concept of affective–discursive practice. Data was retrieved from a phone‐in program on Irish national radio over a 6‐month period when the refugee crisis debate was at its height. It is shown that speakers deployed elaborate sympathetic repertoires with ease that described their normative emotional response to the plight of the asylum seekers. But these same speakers found it problematic to present explicit, unambiguous, and unconditional calls of inclusive political solidarity with the asylum seekers, advocating increased asylum provision in Ireland. These findings are discussed in light of the hostile affective–discursive environment towards asylum and the common sense understanding that nation‐states have the moral right to exclude, which appears to constrain the talk to a position of ambivalent paternalism.
    February 15, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2303   open full text
  • The “red door” controversy—Middlesbrough's asylum seekers and the discursive politics of racism.
    David Bates.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 15, 2017
    This article explores some of the ways in which the current refugee “crisis” has played out in the North East of England, with a particular focus on media coverage of asylum in Middlesbrough, the town with the highest proportion of asylum seekers in the country. In January 2016, Middlesbrough made national headlines when it was claimed that the homes of asylum seekers in the town had been made identifiable through the distinctive colour of their houses' front doors, leading to occupants being singled out for violence and abuse. Drawing on critical discourse analysis of national and local newspaper features and online media content, the article examines contrasting constructions of racism, place, and class in the media's coverage of the “red door” controversy. It is argued that even these humanised constructions of asylum seekers draw on discourses that obscure the existence of elite‐driven cultural and institutional racisms that are a defining feature of Britain's asylum process. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    February 15, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2300   open full text
  • I Dig Therefore We Are: Community Archaeology, Place‐based Social Identity, and Intergroup Relations Within Local Communities.
    Sharon Coen, Joanne Meredith, Jenna Condie.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 08, 2017
    Community involvement in archaeological digs aims to reconnect people with the history and heritage of where they live. This paper applies social psychological theories to understand how community archaeological projects create opportunities for place‐based social identity and positive intergroup relations. Focus groups were conducted across five areas of Greater Manchester (UK) with 24 participants who volunteered for Dig Greater Manchester, a community archaeology initiative. The focus groups aimed to understand how experiences of participating in digs and exploring local heritage modified, strengthened or initiated identification with place and community, thus moving from individual levels to social levels of identity. The findings offer insight as to the ways in which people make sense of their own—and others'—place‐based social identities as a result of participating in community archaeological digs. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    February 08, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2299   open full text
  • “Europe” in Greece: Lay constructions of Europe in the context of Greek immigration debates.
    Eleni Andreouli, Lia Figgou, Irini Kadianaki, Antonis Sapountzis, Maria Xenitidou.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 06, 2017
    In this paper, we analyse discourses about Europe in Greek debates about immigration and citizenship and highlight the complexities of “Europeanness” as a symbolic resource for argumentation in these debates. Our data consist of lay discourses from 2 rounds of online public deliberation (2009–2010 and 2015) about a controversial new citizenship law in Greece. Our analysis shows that Europe is an ambivalent category. On the one hand, Europe symbolises progress, but, on the other hand, it is also constructed in terms of decline and “contamination” by multiculturalism. Further, our analysis shows that the category of Europe can be mobilised in contradictory ways, in order to support arguments for and against citizenship rights for migrants. The paper concludes with a discussion of the ways in which constructions of Europe are implicated in processes of othering and inclusion in the context of current immigration debates. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    February 06, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2301   open full text
  • Preventing Intimate Partner Violence: Towards a Framework for Supporting Effective Community Mobilisation.
    Jenevieve Mannell, Anna Dadswell.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. January 12, 2017
    Community mobilisation is a promising new strategy for preventing intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in low‐income settings. However, little is known about the contextual factors (e.g. socio‐economic, cultural, historical and political conditions) that enable the effective mobilisation of communities for IPV prevention. This paper draws from the theoretical work of Campbell and Cornish (2010) on the relationship between context and community action in addressing HIV/AIDS to propose a framework for situating community mobilisation for IPV prevention in its surrounding symbolic, material and relational contexts. The framework is refined using empirical data from a case study of a gender‐based violence (GBV) prevention intervention in Rwanda, including interviews with members of government‐mandated GBV Committees and focus group discussions with members of two village communities (n = 35). A thematic analysis identifies various contextual factors needed to support community mobilisation for IPV prevention, including: broad symbolic understandings of what constitutes IPV; capacity to economically support women who choose to leave violent relationships; mechanisms for addressing the silence that often surrounds IPV; support from policy and government authorities; and opportunities to effectively challenge inequitable policy and legal frameworks. This framework is useful for policy‐makers and programme planners interested in IPV prevention in and by communities. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    January 12, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2297   open full text
  • The Humanisation of Refugees: A Discourse Analysis of UK Parliamentary Debates on the European Refugee ‘Crisis’.
    Steve Kirkwood.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. January 10, 2017
    Previous research has explored the ‘othering’ and dehumanisation of asylum seekers and refugees, yet comparatively little research has explored the opposite process: the humanisation of refugees. This article applies discursive psychological analysis to the transcripts of five UK Parliamentary debates on the European refugee ‘crisis’ from September 2015 to January 2016, examining an explicit form of humanisation: categorising refugees as ‘human beings’. The analysis focuses on the nature and function of such categorisations to explore the social functions of the discourse. It illustrates how politicians draw on the human qualities of both refugees and ‘us’ to make the government and nation morally accountable for protecting refugees. Moreover, it shows how the humanisation or dehumanisation of others implicates or denies the self as morally responsible. This highlights how research on dehumanisation—and the opposite process of humanisation—needs to attend to the rhetorical, relational and dialogical aspects of discourse. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    January 10, 2017   doi: 10.1002/casp.2298   open full text
  • How Diverse Is This Community? Sense of Community, Ethnic Prejudice and Perceived Ethnic Heterogeneity.
    Terri Mannarini, Cosimo Talò, Alessia Rochira.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. December 20, 2016
    In this paper, the relationship between territorial sense of community (SoC), perceived ethnic heterogeneity within the community and ethnic prejudice was analyzed. Specifically, the moderating role of perceived ethnic heterogeneity within the community on the SoC–prejudice relationship was tested in a sample of residents (N = 603) of the Salento region, Italy. Results showed that the relationship between SoC and prejudice was moderated by perceived contextual heterogeneity. For blatant and subtle prejudice, when perceived ethnic heterogeneity was low, SoC was negatively associated with prejudice. In the case of modern prejudice, SoC was positively associated with prejudice when perceived ethnic heterogeneity was high. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    December 20, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2295   open full text
  • Contact, Political Solidarity and Collective Action: An Indian Case Study of Relations between Historically Disadvantaged Communities.
    John Dixon, Huseyin Cakal, Waheeda Khan, Meena Osmany, Sramana Majumdar, Mudassir Hassan.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. December 16, 2016
    Research on the contact hypothesis has highlighted the role of contact in improving intergroup relations. Most of this research has addressed the problem of transforming the prejudices of historically advantaged communities, thereby eroding wider patterns of discrimination and inequality. In the present research, drawing on evidence from a cross‐sectional survey conducted in New Delhi, we explored an alternative process through which contact may promote social change, namely by fostering political solidarity and empowerment amongst the disadvantaged. The results indicated that Muslim students' experiences of contact with other disadvantaged communities were associated with their willingness to participate in joint collective action to reduce shared inequalities. This relationship was mediated by perceptions of collective efficacy and shared historical grievances and moderated by positive experiences of contact with the Hindu majority. Implications for recent debates about the relationship between contact and social change are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    December 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2296   open full text
  • Can Caring Create Prejudice? An Investigation of Positive and Negative Intergenerational Contact in Care Settings and the Generalisation of Blatant and Subtle Age Prejudice to Other Older People.
    Lisbeth Drury, Dominic Abrams, Hannah J. Swift, Ruth A. Lamont, Katarina Gerocova.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. November 29, 2016
    Caring is a positive social act, but can it result in negative attitudes towards those cared for, and towards others from their wider social group? Based on intergroup contact theory, we tested whether care workers' (CWs) positive and negative contact with old‐age care home residents (CHRs) predicts prejudiced attitudes towards that group, and whether this generalises to other older people. Fifty‐six CWs were surveyed about their positive and negative contact with CHRs and their blatant and subtle attitudes (humanness attributions) towards CHRs and older adults. We tested indirect paths from contact with CHRs to attitudes towards older adults via attitudes towards CHRs. Results showed that neither positive nor negative contact generalised blatant ageism. However, the effect of negative, but not positive, contact on the denial of humanness to CHRs generalised to subtle ageism towards older adults. This evidence has practical implications for management of CWs' work experiences and theoretical implications, suggesting that negative contact with a subgroup generalises the attribution of humanness to superordinate groups. Because it is difficult to identify and challenge subtle prejudices such as dehumanisation, it may be especially important to reduce negative contact. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
    November 29, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2294   open full text
  • The Work–Home Interface: Linking Work‐Related Wellbeing and Volunteer Work.
    Rebecca Brauchli, Maria C.W. Peeters, Elianne F. Steenbergen, Theo Wehner, Oliver Hämmig.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. November 16, 2016
    An abundance of research shows the benefits of participation in volunteer work for individuals, employers and the society as a whole. However, relatively little is known about the precursors of volunteer work. In this study, we aim to fill this gap by investigating to what extent work‐related well‐being can function as a driver of volunteer work. Moreover, building on the Conservations of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, , ), we propose that the relationship between work‐related well‐being (burnout and engagement) and volunteer work is mediated by the work–home interface (work–home enrichment and work–home conflict). This hypothesis was tested in a large Swiss sample (N = 1947). Consistent with our expectations, structural equation analyses revealed an indirect relationship between (i) work engagement and volunteer work via work–home enrichment and (ii) between burnout and volunteer work via work–home conflict. In conclusion, it seems that well‐being at work indeed functions as a precursor for volunteer work because of the consequences it has for the work–family interface. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    November 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2293   open full text
  • Improving Intergroup Relations with Extended Contact among Young Children: Mediation by Intergroup Empathy and Moderation by Direct Intergroup Contact.
    Loris Vezzali, Miles Hewstone, Dora Capozza, Elena Trifiletti, Gian Antonio Di Bernardo.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. November 16, 2016
    A correlational study investigated extended contact as a strategy to improve outgroup attitudes and stereotyping and to prepare children for future contact. Additional aims were to investigate when and why the effects of extended contact occur. In particular, intergroup empathy was tested as a mediator and direct contact (i.e. cross‐group friendship) as a moderator of extended contact. Participants were Italian and immigrant elementary school children. Results showed that extended contact was associated with improved intergroup empathy, which, in turn, was associated with more positive outgroup attitudes, stereotypes and behavioural intentions. These effects were significant only among participants with a low or moderate level of direct contact. The theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    November 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2292   open full text
  • From ‘Virgin Births’ to ‘Octomom’: Representations of Single Motherhood via Sperm Donation in the UK News.
    S. Zadeh, J. Foster.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. November 03, 2016
    The use of sperm donation by single women has provoked public, professional and political debate. Newspapers serve as a critical means of both broadcasting this debate and effecting a representation of this user group within the public sphere. This study uses the theory of social representations to examine how single motherhood by sperm donation has been represented in the UK news over time. The study sampled news coverage on this topic in eight British newspapers during three 4‐year periods between the years 1988 and 2012. The dataset of news reports (n = 406) was analysed using a qualitative approach. Findings indicated that UK media reports of single women using donor sperm are underpinned by conventional categories of the ‘personal’, the ‘traditional’ and the ‘natural’ that when paired with their corollaries produce a representation of this user group as the social ‘other’. The amount of coverage on this topic over time was found to vary according to the political orientation of different media sources. Using key concepts from social representations theory, this article discusses the relationship between themata and anchoring in the maintenance of representations of the social ‘other’ in mass mediated communication. Findings are explained in relation to theoretical conceptions of the mass media and its position within the public sphere. It is argued that the use of personal narratives in news reports of single mothers by sperm donation may have significant implications for public understandings of this social group. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
    November 03, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2288   open full text
  • Meet Your Neighbours. Authoritarians Engage in Intergroup Contact When They have the Opportunity.
    Anna Brune, Frank Asbrock, Chris G. Sibley.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 28, 2016
    Research indicates that authoritarians tend to avoid intergroup contact. This study tested the hypothesis that living in a neighbourhood with a higher proportion of Asian peoples increases the likelihood of contact with them for the majority (New Zealand Europeans), and that this effect should increase intergroup contact for authoritarians. Multi‐level Random Coefficient Modelling of data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 3903) indicated that New Zealand Europeans high in authoritarianism in neighbourhoods with a high proportion of Asian peoples have more contact with Asian friends, relative to authoritarians in less ethnically diverse areas. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    October 28, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2289   open full text
  • The Use of Social Psychology in Rural Development? Two Readings of Rural Business Owners' Values.
    Miira Niska, Hannu T. Vesala, Kari Mikko Vesala.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 20, 2016
    Rural development refers to diverse attempts being made to address the problems of rural communities. In Finland, rural development leans heavily on entrepreneurship and small business development. Rural development processes have a strong social psychological component that entails that psychological knowledge is crucial for rural development agents. Nevertheless, psychological knowledge has also been criticised for simplifying highly complex development processes and overstating the role of internal psychological factors. In this paper, we argue that, regarding the relevance and utility of psychological knowledge, the question is not only how extensively different factors are taken into account but also how knowledge about psychological factors is read and interpreted. In this paper, we focus on Finnish rural business owners' values and demonstrate that value survey data can be read from two different social psychological perspectives: those of substantialism and relationalism. Although data and the conducted analyses are kept constant, the two readings produce differing types of knowledge of rural business owners' values; one reveals what business owners ‘truly’ are like and the other informs how to best communicate with business owners. Both readings are potentially useful for rural development work. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    October 20, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2290   open full text
  • Cultural Identity and the Expression of Depression: A Social Identity Perspective.
    Melissa Xue‐Ling Chang, Jolanda Jetten, Tegan Cruwys, Catherine Haslam.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 20, 2016
    The present research interrogates the greater tendency for Chinese people to somaticize depression relative to Westerners. Drawing from a social identity perspective, three studies were conducted examining the role that cultural norms play in symptom expression. In an initial study, we confirmed greater somatization, minimization of distress and suppression of emotional expression among Chinese participants compared with Australians (Study 1). Asian normative expectations of collectivism moderated these effects such that somatization was higher among those who endorsed collectivism norms, but only among Chinese participants. Studies 2a and 2b found that only when Asian participants identified strongly with Asian culture did collectivism norms predict somatic symptoms. These findings have implications for practitioners working with people from Asian cultures, highlighting that it is not culture per se, but the endorsement of normative expectations in the context of strong identification with cultural groups that predicts which symptoms of depression are emphasized. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    October 20, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2291   open full text
  • Solidarity and Reciprocity Between People With and Without Disabilities.
    Femmianne Bredewold, Evelien Tonkens, Margo Trappenburg.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 25, 2016
    Governments of contemporary welfare states call upon citizens to care for people with psychiatric or intellectual disabilities. This is deemed sensible and morally just. However, social–psychological theory suggests that stereotyping may stand in the way of engaging into contact. Sociological theory suggests that the giving of help is based on either balanced or generalized reciprocity. Balanced reciprocity depends on one's ability to ‘pay back’, which people with disabilities may have trouble doing. Generalized reciprocity depends on close social bonds, while people with disabilities often have fewer social bonds than other citizens. The current study aimed to find out whether citizens—despite socio‐psychological and sociological theories expecting otherwise—enter into supporting relationships with people with intellectual or psychiatric disabilities. Although we found socio‐psychological and sociological theory to be largely correct, we also found people to be more creative than theory assumes. A smile can be experienced as a return gift, thus including people with intellectual disabilities in the web of balanced reciprocity. Some people create new social bonds to include people with disabilities: they feel close to them because they had a job in the healthcare sector or because they had a family member with a disability. In disadvantaged neighbourhoods, recognition of each other's problems can create feelings of similarity and concomitant reciprocity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 25, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2279   open full text
  • Is Group Singing Special? Health, Well‐Being and Social Bonds in Community‐Based Adult Education Classes.
    Eiluned Pearce, Jacques Launay, Anna Machin, Robin I. M. Dunbar.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 17, 2016
    Evidence demonstrates that group singing improves health and well‐being, but the precise mechanisms remain unknown. Given that cohesive social networks also positively influence health, we focus on the social aspects of singing, exploring whether improvements in health and well‐being are mediated by stronger social bonds, both to the group as a whole (collective‐bonding) and to individual classmates (relational‐bonding). To do so, seven newly formed community‐based adult education classes (four singing, N = 84, and three comparison classes studying creative writing or crafts, N = 51) were followed over seven months. Self‐report questionnaire data on mental and physical health, well‐being and social bonding were collected at Months 1, 3 and 7. We demonstrate that physical and mental health and satisfaction with life significantly improved over time in both conditions. Path analysis did not show any indirect effects via social bonding of Condition on health and well‐being. However, higher collective‐bonding at timepoint 3 significantly predicted increased flourishing, reduced anxiety and improved physical health independently of baseline levels. In contrast, relational‐bonding showed no such effects, suggesting that it is feeling part of a group that particularly yields health and well‐being benefits. Moreover, these results indicate that singing may not improve health and well‐being more than other types of activities. Nonetheless, these findings encourage further work to refine our understanding of the social aspects of community‐based adult education classes in promoting health, well‐being and community cohesion. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 17, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2278   open full text
  • Activist Theatre: The Effects of Community Performance on System Justification and Willingness to Engage in Activism.
    Autumn M. Vogel, Lydia Eckstein Jackson.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 07, 2016
    System justification is a motivation to legitimize the status quo that disables individuals from changing oppressive social systems. Community performance has long been used as a tool to illuminate and challenge such systems of power. The goal of the present study was to provide an empirical test of the effectiveness of community performance in the context of gender‐based oppression. Specifically, the present study tested whether a community performance could decrease audience members' system justification and increase intentions to engage in collective and virtual action to correct these oppressive systems. The performance consisted of 18 community‐created pieces performed by 11 actresses before an audience of 165 members of the college and local communities across three days. A total of 153 audience members participated in the study. Results indicated that a 50‐min performance reduced system justification while increasing willingness to take collective and virtual‐based action. Limitations and implications are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 07, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2277   open full text
  • Visualized Collective Memories: Social Representations of History in Images Found in Finnish History Textbooks.
    Eemeli Hakoköngäs, Inari Sakki.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 20, 2016
    This study focuses on visual collective memory, a topic that has long been neglected in the social sciences and particularly in social psychological research on social representations of history. It explores the contents and meanings of images in the construction of Finnish national history. Through examination of official history writing, a better understanding is sought of how collective memory is constructed as part of history politics. The data for the present study consist of images (N = 541) included in recent textbooks on Finnish history. Barthes' three‐meaning approach is used in combination with qualitative content analysis to examine a large corpus of images. The visualized collective memory is approached from five perspectives: (i) the years of memory; (ii) the places of memory; (iii) the themes of memory; (iv) the main actors and (v) the silence of memory. The investigation shows that, in official discourse, politics, culture and war are the main contents of Finnish visual collective memory. The key actors in the narrative are politicians, especially the eighth president of Finland, Urho Kekkonen. The most important moments in time are situated in the war years 1918 and 1939, while the geographical focus is the central square in the capital, Helsinki. The result is a national history that is positive, homogeneous and exclusive. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 20, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2276   open full text
  • Protest Against Waste Contamination in the ‘Land of Fires’: Psychological Antecedents for Activists and Non‐activists.
    Francesca Scafuto, Francesco La Barbera.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 06, 2016
    The ‘Land of Fires’ is a district in Italy characterized by illegal waste disposal, waste burning, and citizen protests over contamination. This study investigates the relevance of several psycho‐social factors that predict citizens' intention to protest, taking into account different research traditions. In addition, we hypothesize the effect of protest antecedents to be moderated by past participation behaviour (i.e. the level of activism). Hence, our study is a first attempt to explore the effect of protest antecedents as a function of the individual level of activism through a cross‐sectional survey study (N = 306). The results show significant effects of collective identity, sense of injustice, costs of protest, and perceived risk (cognitive dimension) on intention to protest. The effects of collective efficacy and perceived risk (affective dimension) are moderated by participants' level of activism, and these effects are significant only for non‐activists. The relevance of this new approach is discussed, as well as practical implications and possible further developments. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 06, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2275   open full text
  • Comparing the Social Images of Youth In and Out of Residential Care.
    Margarida Vaz Garrido, Joana Nunes Patrício, Maria Manuela Calheiros, Diniz Lopes.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. April 25, 2016
    The literature indicates that youths in residential care have been associated with negative social images. However, there have been few studies focused on these social images, specifically, comparing them with the images of youths in normative contexts. To address this issue, we conducted two studies comparing the social images people have about youths in residential care to those they hold about youths living out of care. Both studies were conducted in Portugal: Study 1 explores these images through an open‐ended questionnaire; Study 2 examines these images with a quantitative instrument. Overall, the results indicate that the perception about youths in residential care was more negative than the perception about youths out of care. Additionally, the first study probed the effect of socioeconomic status of the youths on the social images held about them and the second examined the role of the respondents' professional contact with youth in care population on these social images. The implications of the social images people have about youth in residential care for the research and intervention towards the wellbeing of this population are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    April 25, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2273   open full text
  • Community Identity Increases Urban Residents' In‐group Emergency Helping Intention.
    Zhixu Yang, Ziqiang Xin.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. April 21, 2016
    The current study examined how time pressure and community identity affected urban residents' in‐group emergency helping intention with a sample of 88 Chinese urban residents from a common community. Firstly, we instructed participants to fill out the Community Identity Scale. Following this, we set a hypothesized scenario, in which they met a fainted person in community when they left the community either in a hurry or not, to measure helping intention. It was found that time pressure had little impact on urban residents' in‐group helping intention, whereas community identity increased in‐group helping intention. Moreover, emotional identity but not functional identity positively predicted in‐group helping intention. These findings and their implications for community psychology were discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    April 21, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2274   open full text
  • Enhancing Well‐being of Homeless Individuals by Building Group Memberships.
    Melissa Johnstone, Jolanda Jetten, Genevieve A. Dingle, Cameron Parsell, Zoe C. Walter.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. April 19, 2016
    There is growing recognition that social isolation and a lack of connectedness with social groups is one of the reasons why the subjective well‐being of homeless individuals is generally worse than the rest of the population. Past research amongst a range of populations suggests that the ability of an individual to take on new group memberships and/or their ability to maintain their memberships in meaningful groups is an important predictor of well‐being. In a mixed method study (N = 119), we examined the extent to which experiences at homeless accommodation form building blocks for the formation of multiple group memberships and to what extent this predicts positive well‐being. Qualitative analysis reveals the importance of feeling connected to the homeless service and supported by homeless accommodation staff. Linking these data to quantitative data from a second wave, we found that these experiences predicted well‐being. These findings provide further support for a strength‐based approach to homelessness, by providing insights into the ways that experiences at homeless accommodation can contribute to the development of multiple group memberships (i.e. social capital), and enhance the well‐being of those experiencing, and exiting, homelessness. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    April 19, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2272   open full text
  • The Role of the Black Church in HIV Prevention: Exploring Barriers and Best Practices.
    Thema Bryant‐Davis, Monica U. Ellis, Nathan Edwards, Tyonna P. Adams, Pamela Counts, Shavon Arline‐Bradley, Keron Sadler.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. April 13, 2016
    Black people have the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the USA, and they are less likely to access quality physical and mental healthcare. To address these disparities as outlined in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, there is a need for culturally congruent, innovative approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention. The first multi‐denominational national study of Black faith leaders was conducted utilizing focus groups that were held in 11 US cities. The 265 participants were faith leaders who reported involvement in such prevention practices as sponsoring HIV/AIDS workshops, integrating HIV/AIDS messaging in the worship service, hosting HIV/AIDS screenings, distributing written materials about HIV/AIDS through the bulletin or flyers, pastoral counselling, advocating for policies that provide quality healthcare to the community and disseminating HIV/AIDS prevention messages through new media such as the Church website. These findings, including attention to barriers to engagement, provide insight into innovative practices that can be integrated into faith‐based HIV/AIDS prevention programming. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    April 13, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2270   open full text
  • Application of Sustainable Habitat: What is the Appropriation and Utilisation of Equipment After Energy‐Saving Renovations in Social Housing?
    Inga Wittenberg, Ghozlane Fleury‐Bahi.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. March 22, 2016
    To reduce energy consumption, technical equipment alone is not sufficient. Adjustment of behaviours so that equipment is used appropriately is also necessary. Numerous studies have shown how difficult it is to change behaviours and how many factors are involved. The aim of this study is to identify the psychosocial factors facilitating or inhibiting energy‐saving behaviours in the appropriation of energy‐saving equipment by residents. Forty‐one semi‐directive interviews were conducted with tenants of terraced houses (12 people) and flats (29 people) located in the same residential area in a French city. The blocks of flats and terraced houses are managed by a proprietor of social housing. The results of a categorical content analysis highlight the importance of the relationship between tenants and proprietor and tenants' low motivation concerning the energy‐saving renovations. Consequently, we argue for the importance of favouring active participation by tenants in order to promote acceptance and appropriation of the new equipment. Furthermore, both the social and physical contexts of residents must be taken into account and energy saving must be integrated into other types of environmental behaviours in the neighbourhood in order to improve coherence and credibility. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    March 22, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2271   open full text
  • Veil as Stigma: Exploring the Role of Representations in Muslim Women's Management of Threatened Social Identity.
    Madeleine Chapman.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. March 11, 2016
    This study extends research on the relations between social representations and social identities through an exploration of how Muslim women manage the stigma of veiling. Based on analysis of individual and group interviews among Muslim women in Denmark and the UK, the study highlights the dialectical nature of social identity as constructed through and against others' representations of social groups and the norms of valuing they impose. It shows how, for the women here, the reinforcement of a shared sense of Muslim identity goes together with re‐evaluation of aspects of that identity, principally in response to representations of the veil that deny Muslim women agency and cast them as oppressed. It shows how norms of gender and agency are in this process variously resisted and affirmed, resulting in the reframing of gendered religious values. Theoretically, the study argues that an account of the role of representations in the construction of identity challenges the inter‐group framework of existing approaches to threatened social identity and sheds light on intersectional dynamics of identity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    March 11, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2269   open full text
  • Mixed‐methods Evaluation of the Good Behaviour Game in English Primary Schools.
    Lindsey Coombes, Gail Chan, Debby Allen, DAVID R. Foxcroft.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 29, 2016
    Inclusivity of all children in education and within educational settings is an important value and goal. Yet, where settings and practices are not oriented for inclusivity and engagement, some children can struggle with academic tasks and are often marginalised and exhibit disruptive behaviours. The study reported here addresses the social nature of school as a community for learning through a mixed‐methods concurrent triangulation evaluation of the implementation of the Good Behaviour Game (GBG) in six primary (elementary) schools with 10 classes and 222 children in Oxfordshire, England. The Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptations ‐ Revised (TOCA‐R) was administered in individual interviews with class teachers. Additionally, individual semi‐structured interviews were conducted with teachers, coaches and head teachers (n = 22). In a pre–post design, improvements in child adaptation were observed on all TOCA‐R subscales. In an integrative analysis that brought together quantitative and qualitative findings, pupil improvement was identified in three major areas: inclusion and social participation, behaviour, and concentration. Interview results also highlighted the substantial practical challenges associated with implementing and using the GBG in schools in the UK. Overall, the results of this study support the idea that social relationships within the school community, between pupils and between pupils and teachers, provide an important context for learning and social development. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    February 29, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2268   open full text
  • Self–Other Relations in Biodiversity Conservation in the Community: Representational Processes and Adjustment to New Actions.
    Carla Mouro, Paula Castro.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 15, 2016
    This research explores the simultaneous role of two Self–Other relations in the elaboration of representations at the micro‐ and ontogenetic levels, assuming that it can result in acceptance and/or resistance to new laws. Drawing on the Theory of Social Representations, it concretely looks at how individuals elaborate new representations relevant for biodiversity conservation in the context of their relations with their local community (an interactional Other) and with the legal/reified sphere (an institutional Other). This is explored in two studies in Portuguese Natura 2000 sites where a conservation project calls residents to protect an at‐risk species. Study 1 shows that (i) agreement with the institutional Other (the laws) and meta‐representations of the interactional Other (the community) as approving of conservation independently help explain (at the ontogenetic level) internalisation of conservation goals and willingness to act; (ii) the same meta‐representations operating at the micro‐genetic level attenuate the negative relation between ambivalence and willingness to act. Study 2 shows that a meta‐representation of the interactional Other as showing no clear position regarding conservation increases ambivalence. Findings demonstrate the necessarily social nature of representational processes and the importance of considering them at more than one level for understanding responses to new policy/legal proposals. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    February 15, 2016   doi: 10.1002/casp.2267   open full text
  • Disablism, Identity and Self: Discrimination as a Traumatic Assault on Subjectivity.
    Brian Watermeyer, Leslie Swartz.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. December 15, 2015
    The international disability movement has favoured a political strategy which relies on historical materialism, eschewing subjective aspects of disability. From this perspective, rehabilitationist and psychological constructions of the subjectivities of disabled people are rejected as victim‐blaming pathologisation. Recently, feminist work has begun to explore psychological aspects of the lives of disabled people, within various paradigms. Drawing loosely on ideas from psychoanalysis, this paper explores the impressions left on subjectivity by symbolic assaults often associated with the disabled identity, thus connecting intra‐psychic and socio‐political arenas. The conceptual ideas employed emerged from psychoanalytically oriented group psychotherapy with severely physically impaired adults performed by the first author. The authors argue that the ongoing nature of socially engendered trauma suffered by disabled persons perpetuates marginality, through internalization of self‐punitive psychological defences, which corrode the entitlement necessary for an assertive political movement. Surviving in a world which continually questions one's belonging, leaves little personal resources for debunking oppressive social phenomena. Material as well as discursive changes are essential if internal narratives are to be reclaimed, overcoming the subjective imprints of ongoing social trauma. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    December 15, 2015   doi: 10.1002/casp.2266   open full text
  • Twenty Years Post‐genocide: The Creation of Mental Health Competence among Rwandan Survivors Through Community‐based Healing Workshops.
    Ines‐Lena Mahr, Catherine Campbell.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. December 15, 2015
    Twenty years after the genocide, many Rwandans still suffer from the psychological wounds of the past. The country's mental health agenda is based on individualised and psychiatric approaches that help some but cannot be provided on a large scale. Further, many reconciliation initiatives have been based on public testimonies, which have been shown to be potentially re‐traumatising, leading to calls for small‐scale community‐based approaches to healing, which constitute a middle way between individualised and public approaches. Drawing on the concept of ‘mental health competence’ (Campbell and Burgess, 2012), this study evaluates one such approach: the Life Wounds Healing workshops offered by the African Institute for Integral Psychology. Twenty‐one semi‐structured interviews were conducted with former workshop participants, staff members and the institute's founder to investigate their views on how these workshops can help genocide survivors. The results suggest that the workshops succeed in creating mental health competence by establishing a safe social space for people to open up, increasing people's critical understandings of the processes of pain — and potential for healing — that informs behaviour change, generating bonding social capital and offering participants' income‐generating possibilities. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    December 15, 2015   doi: 10.1002/casp.2263   open full text
  • Implications of Teacher Life–Work Histories for Conceptualisations of ‘Care’: Narratives from Rural Zimbabwe.
    Clare Coultas, Elena Broaddus, Catherine Campbell, Louise Andersen, Alice Mutsikiwa, Claud Madanhire, Connie Nyamukapa, Simon Gregson.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. December 11, 2015
    Schools are increasingly seen as key sites for support to HIV‐affected and other vulnerable children, and teachers are assigned the critical role of identifying and providing psychosocial support. Drawing on the life–work history narratives of 12 teachers in Zimbabwe, this paper explores the psychosocial processes underpinning teachers' conceptualisations of these caring roles. The influence of prolonged adversity, formative relationships, and broader patterns of social and institutional change in teacher identity formation processes speak to the complex and embodied nature of understandings of ‘care’. In such extreme settings teachers prioritise the material and disciplinary aspects of ‘care’ that they see as essential for supporting children to overcome hardship. This focus not only means that emotional support as envisaged in international policy is commonly overlooked, but also exposes a wider ideological clash about childrearing. This tension together with an overall ambivalence surrounding teacher identities puts further strain on teacher–student relationships. We propose the current trainings on providing emotional support are insufficient and that more active focus needs to be directed at support to teachers in relation with their students. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
    December 11, 2015   doi: 10.1002/casp.2265   open full text
  • Dealing with Relational and Social Challenges After Child Soldiering: Perspectives of Formerly Recruited Youth and Their Communities in Northern Uganda.
    Julie Schiltz, Sofie Vindevogel, Eric Broekaert, Ilse Derluyn.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. November 20, 2015
    The reintegration of formerly recruited youth typically engenders a range of relational and social challenges, affecting both formerly recruited youth and the communities to which they return. Yet, research rarely studies the perspectives of community members, hampering the design of much‐needed community‐based interventions. This study aimed to understand how communities in northern Uganda experience and deal with relational and social challenges during the reintegration of youths who were formerly recruited into the Lord's resistance army (LRA). The study was undertaken in 2012 in Lira district. Participatory Ranking Methodology (PRM) was conducted with 267 participants, of whom 49 were formerly recruited youths. The results show five themes that give insight into how communities experience and handle relational and social challenges in the reintegration of formerly recruited youth: (i) letting go of fear, (ii) getting used to life after captivity, (iii) resentment and forgiveness, (iv) reducing insults and nicknaming and (v) coping with ongoing relational and social challenges. We discuss how formerly recruited youths and other community members frame relational and social challenges differently, and value similar resources for different reasons. The results of this study suggest that multiple experiences of and perspectives on relational and social challenges following child soldiering should be taken into account to develop interventions that are supported and valued by the community. Furthermore, interventions should draw upon the strategies that communities have already developed in response to relational and social challenges. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    November 20, 2015   doi: 10.1002/casp.2264   open full text
  • Re‐building Bridges: Homeless People's Views on the Role of Vocational and Educational Activities in Their Everyday Lives.
    Mandie Iveson, Flora Cornish.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. November 19, 2015
    Homeless people face everyday challenges of marginalisation and stigmatisation. Consequently, they can suffer from low self‐confidence, self‐efficacy and agency. Empirical research in Britain on educational, skill‐building and meaningful activities for homeless people principally emphasises the instrumental value of training and learning as a route to employment rather than the impact of activities on homeless people's everyday lives. Theoretical literature suggests that psychosocial benefits related to the development of self‐efficacy, agency and empowerment can be gained from such activities. Participants' experiences and perceptions of educational and recreational activities were examined through 29 interviews at three homeless day centres in London. Thematic analysis suggests the restorative power of engagement in activities and shows that participants value activities, not only as the foundation for future goals of finding employment and housing, but as an immediate way of restoring a sense of self and finding positive experiences with a focus on the present. The findings underline the importance of viewing these interventions from a ‘bottom‐up’ perspective. The study tentatively concludes that accepting and emphasising the immediate personal benefits as a positive achievement of activities may be a valuable approach to better engage homeless clients. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    November 19, 2015   doi: 10.1002/casp.2262   open full text
  • Ethnic Identity in Emerging Adults in Sub‐Saharan Africa and the USA, and Its Associations with Psychological Well‐Being.
    Byron G. Adams, Amina Abubakar, Fons J. R. Van de Vijver, Gideon P. De Bruin, Josephine Arasa, Emmanuel Fomba, Omri Gillath, Given Hapunda, Joseph Looh La, Lubna Mazrui, Margaret Murugami.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. September 17, 2015
    Ethnic identity as a social dimension of identity is argued to be developmentally important for psychological well‐being. However, the relationships between these constructs are mainly examined in Western contexts, amongst dominant–non‐dominant groups. We investigate ethnic identity across the mainstream group of a prototypical Western society (the USA) and several multi‐ethnic sub‐Saharan African countries (Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia), as well as how it relates to psychological well‐being. A total of 1255 university students (61.8% females, Mage = 20.94 years, SD = 2.97) completed a questionnaire with ethnic identity and psychological well‐being measures. Results indicated that ethnic identity was most salient in two different South African ethnocultural samples and least salient in a mainstream US sample. These results suggest that groups that are more exposed to ethnic strain in multicultural societies tend to have more salient ethnic identities. Furthermore, the underlying structure in the ethnic identity psychological well‐being relationship was similar across groups. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    September 17, 2015   doi: 10.1002/casp.2247   open full text
  • Belongings Beyond Borders: Reflections of Young Refugees on Their Relationships with Location.
    Jessica Muir, Kenneth Gannon.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. September 14, 2015
    Young separated refugees are exiled from familiar places and on seeking asylum encounter new, potentially alienating, places. Yet, there is limited research regarding the effects of location on the psychological experiences of young separated refugees. This study explores the relationships that young adults who arrived in the UK as separated refugees have with the spaces that they inhabit and the consequences of these. It draws on qualitative interviews with young men from Iraq and Afghanistan who are living in London. Four key themes emerged from the analysis. Participants felt frustrated in bureaucratic settings where processes of labelling and physical manipulation prevented their sense of subjectivity from being expressed. Certain community spaces offered a rich range of support. Micro‐spaces of belonging and embodied processes of exploration in the wider community were also reported to be psychologically beneficial. The themes suggest that considerations of young separated refugees' relations to place may provide alternative psychological understandings of their experiences, particularly in relation to concepts such as trauma. Policy implications related to immigration control and the benefits of community projects are highlighted. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    September 14, 2015   doi: 10.1002/casp.2260   open full text
  • Assessing the Impact of a Media‐based Intervention to Prevent Intergroup Violence and Promote Positive Intergroup Relations in Burundi.
    Rezarta Bilali, Johanna Ray Vollhardt, Jason Ray David Rarick.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. August 21, 2015
    The present study (N = 1074) examined the impact of a theory‐driven media intervention aimed at violence prevention and intergroup reconciliation in Burundi. We used a novel methodology utilizing audio‐based surveys to assess attitudes related to intergroup conflict and reconciliation among community members. We conducted a propensity score analysis to estimate the causal effects of the intervention by examining differences between listeners and non‐listeners of the radio dramas. The results indicated a positive effect of the intervention on several social psychological outcomes (tolerance, in‐group superiority, social distance, intergroup trust, responsibility attributions, trauma disclosure and competitive victimhood). However, listeners and non‐listeners did not differ in obedience toward leaders or historical perspective taking; and the results for active bystandership, one of the main foci of the intervention, were mixed. Furthermore, the results show that the impact of the intervention sometimes depends on listeners' personal experiences of victimization. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    August 21, 2015   doi: 10.1002/casp.2246   open full text
  • Predictors of Antisocial and Prosocial Behaviour of Bystanders in Workplace Mobbing.
    Roelie Mulder, Mieneke Pouwelse, Hein Lodewijkx, Arjan E. R. Bos, Karen Dam.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. August 11, 2015
    When will bystanders of workplace mobbing show antisocial or prosocial behaviour toward the victim? Results of a 2 × 2 vignette study (N = 177) suggest that high perceived responsibility of the victim for the onset of the mobbing evokes anger and consequently antisocial bystander behaviour, whereas low perceived responsibility generates sympathy and consequently prosocial bystander behaviour. The results further indicate that bystanders will show more antisocial behaviour and less prosocial behaviour toward the victim when they anticipate stigma by association. The implications of these results for interventions seeking to influence bystanders' behaviour in the context of workplace mobbing and for further research on this bystander behaviour are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    August 11, 2015   doi: 10.1002/casp.2244   open full text
  • Minority Identity Strategies Bound by Prejudice: Restricted Perspectives of People Categorized as Gypsies in Hungary.
    Sára Bigazzi, István Csertő.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 31, 2015
    In this study, we explored the identity strategies of Hungarian Gypsies with different socialization backgrounds, including the degree of majority and minority identifications, the contents of Gypsy identity as well as coping with threatening social situations. Sampling was based on external social categorization: majority members were asked for contacts to Gypsy acquaintances. Questionnaire data were used to assess socialization background, group identification and preferred coping strategies at different levels, while contents of Gypsy identity were explored in an associative network. Results suggest that subjects make an exclusive choice between national and ethnic identities. While all subjects prefer ethnic identity, subjects with different socialization backgrounds follow different identity strategies. In sum, large‐family subjects are emotionally attached to their ethnic group, avoid interaction with the majority and prefer the idea of a multicultural society. Small‐family subjects are emotionally detached from their ethnic group and vote for a homogeneous society. Results are interpreted in terms of integration‐related social policies. While these are aimed at the foundation of a recognized active minority, members of these new generations find the way of recognition in individual assimilation due to the threat of prejudice. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 31, 2015   doi: 10.1002/casp.2241   open full text
  • Friendship Work on Facebook: Young Adults' Understandings and Practices of Friendship.
    Patricia Niland, Antonia C. Lyons, Ian Goodwin, Fiona Hutton.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 29, 2014
    Young adults use social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook to engage as friends, yet there has been little systematic research that has investigated their sense‐making of friendship in relation to their uses of Facebook, as well as how Facebook as a socio‐technical system interacts with their friendship practices. Twelve friendship discussion groups were conducted in urban and non‐urban New Zealand, with 26 women and 25 men aged 18–25 years, in same and mixed‐gender groups. Our social constructionist thematic analysis showed the young adults made sense of friendship through themes of ‘fun times together’, an ‘investment’, ‘protection’ and ‘self‐authenticity’, and these meanings were enacted in particular ways within Facebook. This SNS was used primarily for enjoying friendship and ‘investing in’ friendships, and friendship protection was required to maintain friends' online privacy. Facebook provided a way to demonstrate self‐authenticity within friendship relationships through censored ‘show off’ self‐displays and favoured friendship activities. Facebook supported, disrupted and modified these particular friendship understandings by broadening the audience for friendship actions and intensifying friends' responses through 24/7 accessibility and instantaneous activity notifications. These interactions between friendship understandings and Facebook as a socio‐technical system demonstrate how friendship was reinforced, negotiated and re‐worked through this online context. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 29, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2201   open full text
  • ‘In Some Eyes It's Still Oooh, Gloucester, Yeah Fred West’: Spatial Stigma and the Impact of a High‐profile Crime on Community Identity.
    Amanda Holt, Chloe Wilkins.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 28, 2014
    The question of how crime impacts on others has generated a wealth of research over the past few decades. However, there is surprisingly little knowledge about how ‘high‐profile’ crimes impact on community members who live in a town that has become synonymous with the crime itself. This study involves interviews with community members who lived or worked in the town of Gloucester when the serial killings perpetrated by Fred and Rosemary West were discovered in 1994. An interpretative phenomenological analysis explores the lived experiences and meaning‐making processes engaged in by the participants. Findings highlight their attempts to make sense of a high‐profile case that stigmatised their own community and the practices of identity management that continue to operate some 20 years later. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 28, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2198   open full text
  • Social Contexts and Building Social Capital for Collective Action: Three Case Studies of Volunteers in the Context of HIV and AIDS in South Africa.
    Andrew Gibbs, Catherine Campbell, Olagoke Akintola, Christopher Colvin.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 28, 2014
    Social capital is increasingly conceptualised in academic and policy literature as a panacea for a range of health and development issues, particularly in the context of HIV. In this paper, we conceptualise social capital as an umbrella concept capturing processes including networks, norms, trust and relationships that open up opportunities for participation and collective action that allow communities to address issues of common concern. We specifically outline social capital as comprising three distinct forms: bonding, bridging and linking social capital. Rather than presenting original data, we draw on three well‐documented and previously published case studies of health volunteers in South Africa. We explore how social contexts shape the possibility for the emergence and sustainability of social capital. We identify three cross‐cutting contextual factors that are critical barriers to the emergence of social capital: poverty, stigma and the weakness of external organisations' abilities to support small groups. Our three case studies suggest that the assumption that social capital can be generated from the ground upwards is not reasonable. Rather, there needs to be a greater focus on how those charged with supporting small groups—non‐governmental organisations, bureaucracies and development agencies—can work to enable social capital to emerge. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 28, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2199   open full text
  • The Moderating Effect of Within‐Group Similarity on Change in a Strengths‐Based Programme for Incarcerated Young Men.
    Wendy Elaine Viola, Eric S. Mankowski, Mary Elisabeth Gray.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 22, 2014
    Many youth who are incarcerated within juvenile correctional facilities experience mental health disorders, histories of victimization and suicide ideation. Strengths‐based intervention programmes are intended to enhance participants' resilience against such challenges. However, little is known about how the composition of intervention groups contributes to programmes' efficacy. This study addresses the impact of within‐group similarity on the success of a strengths‐based intervention for incarcerated young men (n = 141). Similarity was assessed in terms of self‐reported demographics and behaviours and belief systems. Youths' masculine ideology, caring and cooperative behaviours, ethnic pride and respect for differences, self‐efficacy regarding education and non‐violence, and attitudes about criminal behaviour were measured before and after intervention. Results indicate that participants' caring and cooperative behaviour increased during the intervention. However, their education‐related self‐efficacy was reduced, and the perceived benefits of criminal activity increased. These changes were moderated by group composition: less similarity between participants and their group members was associated with less negative change. In the context of juvenile corrections facilities, where staying the same may be a relatively positive outcome, perhaps the more relevant question is not which processes and characteristics of others better enable youth to change but which experiences help them retain positive aspects of themselves. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 22, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2196   open full text
  • ‘Should I Circumcise My Daughter?’ Exploring Diversity and Ambivalence in Egyptian Parents' Social Representations of Female Circumcision.
    Amy Abdelshahid, Catherine Campbell.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 02, 2014
    Female circumcision is still practiced in different parts of Egypt, impacting women's health and well‐being. Existing studies often portray parents' representations of the practice as positive and homogeneous, with little attention paid to the true diversity of views within a community. This study draws on social representations theory to highlight such nuances, while identifying the psychosocial factors that shape parents' decisions to circumcise or not circumcise their daughters. In‐depth interviews with 11 mothers and five fathers were conducted in rural communities in the Al Qalyoubeya and Benisweif governorates. Thematic analysis revealed the co‐existence of positive, negative and ambivalent representations of female circumcision amongst parents and within the individuals themselves. Although some parents positively represent female circumcision as ensuring the daughter's chastity, safeguarding her femininity and preserving community identity, they feel distress about its potential harms, such as pain, bleeding and terrifying experience on the daughter. Fathers further acknowledge its negative impact on marital sexual relationships. In some cases, parents challenge the ritual and refuse to circumcise their daughters. In light of a theory of change that emphasises the role of community dialogue in renegotiating health‐damaging social practices, along with evidence of diverse views amongst parents, this study argues that sensitively facilitated ‘community conversations’ might provide parents with opportunities to debate their opposing views and allow for the construction of health‐enabling social representations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 02, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2195   open full text
  • Effect of Romantic Relationship on Implicit Regional Prejudice.
    Zheng Jin, Jeffrey W. Sherman.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. April 25, 2014
    The study measures both the implicit regional prejudice and the explicit simple attitude of 93 students of five universities in China, either involved or not in different stages of a romantic relationship and at varying distances from their partners, by using the Brief Implicit Association Test and Explicit Reports. Results indicate that close relationships can contribute significantly to decreasing implicit regional prejudice. Further studies are needed to provide support for the causal mechanism between interpersonal relationships and changes in social attitudes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    April 25, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2194   open full text
  • Person‐Group Value Congruence and Subjective Well‐Being in Students from Argentina, Bulgaria and Finland: The Role of Interpersonal Relationships.
    Florencia M. Sortheix, Jan‐Erik Lönnqvist.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. March 27, 2014
    The present study examined the relations between personal values, value congruence, interpersonal relationships and subjective well‐being in psychology/education and business students from Argentina (N = 275), Bulgaria (N = 182) and Finland (N = 148). Regression analyses showed, first, that there were no direct relations between higher order value priorities and life satisfaction (LS), positive affect (PA) or negative affect (NA). Second, objective value‐congruence (VC)—the similarity between individual and group values—was positively related to LS and PA, and negatively related to NA. Most importantly, the effects of VC on LS, NA and PA were partially mediated by good interpersonal relationships. Our results show that interpersonal relationships are facilitated by sharing values similar to those of one's fellow students. More generally, personal values per se appear not to be associated with subjective well‐being, more important is how these values fit into the social context. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    March 27, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2193   open full text
  • Perspectives on Systems Change Among Local Change Agents: A Comparative Study.
    Jessica J. Collura, Brian D. Christens.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. March 05, 2014
    Community organizers and activists draw on multiple traditions of community building and collective action in attempts to galvanize change. The diversity of perspectives on social change processes indicates corresponding differences in perspectives on systems and what is required to change them. Twenty‐two in‐depth interviews with community organizers and activists in the Midwestern USA were conducted to identify differences in perspectives on systems change efforts. Four models used by organizers were identified: action/issue‐centric, identity‐centric, relationship‐centric, and organizing‐development. Strategies for recruitment, issue selection, leadership determination, and action were compared across models. Analyses revealed that some models might be better suited to action on certain issues (e.g. identity‐centric models when organizing around homelessness), whereas others may have advantages for use in certain settings (e.g. relationship‐centric models in congregations). These findings suggest that practitioners and scholars should pay close attention to contextual factors and focal issues when determining strategies for creating systems change. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    March 05, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2192   open full text
  • The Religion–Health Connection Among African Americans: What Is the Role of Social Capital?
    Cheryl L. Holt, Eddie M. Clark, Min Qi Wang, Beverly Rosa Williams, Emily Schulz.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 21, 2014
    Researchers have expressed growing interest in factors that may explain the relationship between religious involvement and health‐related outcomes. Faith‐based organizations are a significant institution in African American communities, both serving religious/spiritual needs and providing an important source of social capital. These communities often suffer a disproportionate burden of health conditions as well. The present study examined the role of social capital (social support, interconnectedness, and community participation) in the relationship between religious involvement (beliefs and behaviours) and physical and emotional functioning and depressive symptoms, among a national probability sample of African Americans (N = 803). Participants completed telephone interviews. We used structural equation modelling to test hypotheses based on the theoretical model. Results indicate that interconnectedness played a modest mediational role in the relationship between religious behaviours/participation and depressive symptoms. Interconnectedness was predictive of fewer depressive symptoms and marginally with better emotional functioning. Findings highlight the importance of trust in and commitment to one's community for health and have implications for community‐based health promotion initiatives. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    February 21, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2191   open full text
  • The Fairness of National Decision‐making Procedures: The Views of Adolescents in 18 European Countries.
    Moniek Ellenbroek, Maykel Verkuyten, Jochem Thijs, Edwin Poppe.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 21, 2014
    This study examines adolescents' evaluation of the fairness of three forms of democratic decision‐making procedures (direct democracy, representative democracy and group representation) and one non‐democratic procedure (oligarchy). Social dominance orientation‐Egalitarianism (SDO‐E), religious group identification and the countries' level of democracy are examined as predictors. The 2008 Europroject dataset was used, which contained 4441 native majority adolescents (mean age = 16.1 years) in 18 European countries. Adolescents evaluated direct democracy as most fair, followed by group representation, representative democracy and oligarchy. This rank order was found independent of the issue under consideration (moral or social), and of SDO‐E and religious identification, and across the countries. In addition, adolescents scoring higher on SDO‐E and on religious identification found group representation and non‐democratic oligarchy fairer. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    February 21, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2189   open full text
  • An Examination of Disclosure of Nonsuicidal Self‐injury among University Students.
    Jenna S. Armiento, Chloe A. Hamza, Teena Willoughby.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 20, 2014
    Despite the widespread prevalence of nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) among community‐based samples, little is known about which self‐injurers disclose their NSSI or the factors that promote disclosure among self‐injurers. To address this gap in the literature, we examined whether disclosers could be differentiated from nondisclosers on the basis of NSSI characteristics (e.g. frequency of NSSI and severity of NSSI), NSSI motivations (e.g. interpersonal and intrapersonal motivations) and psychosocial factors (e.g. suicidal ideation and self‐esteem). Participants consisted of a large sample of 268 self‐injuring undergraduate students (Mage = 19.07 years, 70.3% women) at a Canadian university. Results indicated that 57% of self‐injurers had never disclosed their NSSI to anyone. Self‐injurers were most likely to disclose to peers and romantic partners. Logistic regression analyses revealed that pain during NSSI, severity of NSSI, interpersonal motivations for engaging in NSSI, higher suicidal ideation and higher friendship quality were all associated with a greater likelihood of NSSI disclosure. Our findings suggest that individuals with severe NSSI and suicidal ideation may be more likely to disclose. Moreover, our findings underscore the importance of equipping friends and romantic partners with effective responses to NSSI disclosures to promote more formal help‐seeking behaviours among self‐injurers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    February 20, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2190   open full text
  • A Narrative Enquiry of Experienced Family Carers of People with Dementia Volunteering in a Carer Supporter Programme.
    Alice Brooks, Lorna Farquharson, Karen Burnell, Georgina Charlesworth.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 17, 2014
    Whilst positive and negative aspects of general volunteering have been noted in the literature, little is known about the experience of volunteering to provide peer support to carers of people with dementia. The present study explored the impact of participating in a carer supporter programme in the context of previous caring experiences. Eight carer supporters, who had participated in the programme for at least 5 months, took part in semi‐structured interviews to elicit rich, extended narratives of their experiences. Narrative analysis of the interview transcripts covered structural, thematic and wider socio‐cultural components. The results indicated that most carer supporters naturally reflected on the positive impact of having shared experiences with the newer carers. Emotional and practical gains from participating in the programme were highlighted, as well as a greater sense of connection with others, extending to a wider social and organisational network. However, carer supporters also reflected on the negative emotions that could be evoked. The findings of the study indicate that the carer supporter role has potential to facilitate new roles, activities and social identities, but participation needs to be considered in relation to potentially stressful transitional points throughout the caring career. Role definition issues also need further consideration. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    February 17, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2188   open full text
  • Public Responses to Community Compensation: The Importance of Prior Consultations with Local Residents.
    Bart W. Terwel, Florentine A. Koudenburg, Emma Mors.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. January 24, 2014
    A company that wants to implement an industrial project with adverse local impacts can offer the members of the affected community compensation for bearing the burdens associated with the project. In the current study, participants evaluated such a situation from the perspective of observer. Depending on experimental condition, they learned that a company either had or had not consulted members of the affected community prior to deciding on the compensation offer. The compensation offer was either public goods compensation or individual monetary compensation. We hypothesized and found that the decision‐making process was considered fairer and the company was perceived as more concerned with the local public interest when the company had consulted local residents prior to deciding on the compensation offer. Also, the company was believed to be more concerned with the local public interest when it offered public goods compensation instead of individual monetary compensation. Perceived concern and perceived fairness predicted the perceived trustworthiness of the company, and this, in turn, predicted how participants anticipated the members of the affected community to react to the compensation offered by the company. The study thus demonstrates the importance of consultations with local residents in the process of deciding on compensation measures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    January 24, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2186   open full text
  • The Relational Genesis of Community: Self–Other Dialogue.
    Kenneth C. Bessant.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. January 24, 2014
    Of late, there is increasing interest in the dialogical foundations of the self and community. Indeed, dialogical theory points to the embeddedness of community in self–other relations. This article proposes a dialogical approach to community that draws upon four key themes of discourse: the sociality of the self, the realm of interindividual relations, the constructive role of social representations, and the emergent properties of collective action. The ‘between’ constitutes a valuable concept for theorizing fundamental processes of relational existence and responsive meaning‐making, including the co‐constitution of community. In the process of coming into dialogic relation with one another, individuals construct meanings, experiences, and actions that profoundly shape both selfhood and community. Thus conceived, community is founded on dialogic interaction and intersubjective representation, thereby becoming the conscious object of reflection and action. The intention here is to theorize the relational genesis and continued transformation of community through self–other dialogue. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    January 24, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2185   open full text
  • Father Identity, Involvement and Work–Family Balance: An In‐depth Interview Study.
    Katrina McLaughlin, Orla Muldoon.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. January 20, 2014
    Work and family roles have changed considerably in the past number of decades. Fathers are now expected to fulfil the role of ‘new father’ that involves actively caring and sharing in child rearing and, at the same time, maintain commitment to their occupational role. As a consequence, men are subject to the same pressure that women were when they initially entered the workplace decades ago and indeed still are today. This study aims to explore the meanings fathers attach to their life roles, how these meanings influence behaviour within these roles and how they negotiate the demands of these roles. In‐depth interviews were carried out with 15 fathers, and the results were analysed adhering to the principles of grounded theory. The findings show the variability among fathers in both their commitment to fathering and the meanings they attach to that role. A significant tension between new fatherhood ideals and actual fathering practices is also apparent. These findings are discussed drawing upon traditional definitions of masculinity and wider occupational and cultural influences. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    January 20, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2183   open full text
  • Building a Committed Hospice Volunteer Workforce—Do Variables at the Experience Stage Matter?
    Claudia Schusterschitz, Magdalena Flatscher‐Thöni, Andrea M. Leiter‐Scheiring, Willi Geser.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. January 16, 2014
    Volunteers are crucial to the survival of non‐profit organisations, who therefore have a fundamental interest in sustaining voluntary engagement over time. A central variable regarding sustained voluntary engagement is volunteers' organisational commitment, which has so far been a neglected research issue. The study at hand therefore explicitly focuses on hospice volunteers' commitment. Starting from the assumption that variables at the experience stage of volunteerism may be relevant in predicting volunteer commitment, questionnaire data on volunteers' motives, motive fulfilment and role identity were collected in a sample of hospice volunteers (N = 276). Results of multiple regression analyses show positive relationships between altruistic motive fulfilment and a volunteer role identity on the one hand and volunteer commitment on the other. Observed interaction effects imply that altruistic motive fulfilment is of importance both at the initial phase of volunteering and for long‐term volunteers. Moreover, interaction effects provide evidence that the fulfilment of egoistic motives is of particular importance amongst volunteers to whom egoistic motives are central. Thus, the fulfilment of altruistic motives and facilitating the development of a volunteer role identity should be permanent concerns in building a committed workforce. Egoistic motive fulfilment in contrast is of special relevance, when egoistic motives for volunteering are strong. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    January 16, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2182   open full text
  • A Typology of Ideological Attitudes Towards Social Solidarity and Social Control.
    Tiina Likki, Christian Staerklé.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. January 16, 2014
    Research on ideological attitudes has identified two main dimensions that refer to two fundamental features of group organization: social solidarity and social control. In response to prior research that has studied their relationship mainly from a correlational perspective, this paper introduces a social reality model based on psychological functionality of ideological attitudes. Social position variables (education, income and material vulnerability) and insecurity variables (fear of crime and distrust) are used to predict the interplay between ideological attitudes towards social solidarity and social control. Using K‐means cluster analysis, a typology with four patterns of support for solidarity and control (‘socials’, ‘repressives’, ‘minimalists’ and ‘social‐repressives’) was created, on the basis of representative survey data for the UK, France and Germany (N = 7034). Results from logistic regression analyses show that the proposed social reality model explains membership in typology categories, with similar results across the three countries. Overall, the model underscores the social origins of ideological attitudes as functional responses to perceived social reality. The paper illustrates how the social psychological study of ideological attitudes may be enriched by a typological approach that examines patterns of attitudes rather than single dimensions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    January 16, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2181   open full text
  • Stigmatised Identity and Service Usage in Disadvantaged Communities: Residents', Community Workers' and Service Providers' Perspectives.
    Clifford Stevenson, Niamh McNamara, Orla Muldoon.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. January 15, 2014
    The impact of community stigmatisation upon service usage has been largely overlooked from a social identity perspective. Specifically, the social identity‐mediated mechanisms by which stigmatisation hinders service use remain unspecified. The present study examines how service providers, community workers and residents recount their experience of the stigmatisation of local community identity and how this shapes residents' uptake of welfare, education and community support services. Twenty individual and group interviews with 10 residents, 16 community workers and six statutory service providers in economically disadvantaged communities in Limerick, Ireland, were thematically analysed. Analysis indicates that statutory service providers endorsed negative stereotypes of disadvantaged areas as separate and anti‐social. The awareness of this perceived division and the experience of ‘stigma consciousness’ was reported by residents and community workers to undermine trust, leading to under‐utilisation of community and government services. We argue that stigmatisation acts as a ‘social curse’ by undermining shared identity between service users and providers and so turning a potentially cooperative intragroup relationship into a fraught intergroup one. We suggest that tackling stigma in order to foster a sense of shared identity is important in creating positive and cooperative service interactions for both service users and providers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    January 15, 2014   doi: 10.1002/casp.2184   open full text
  • Representations of Poverty in British Newspapers: A Case of ‘Othering’ the Threat?
    Apurv Chauhan, Juliet Foster.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. December 18, 2013
    The meanings of social problems like poverty develop within the public sphere. This paper uses the theory of social representations to examine how poverty is represented in British newspapers. Poverty has been discussed and interpreted in numerous ways, and newspapers not only provide a platform for these elaborations but also contribute to shaping public understanding on the issue. The study sampled news coverage on poverty in four British newspapers during two randomly chosen one‐month periods in the years 2001 and 2011. The data set of news reports (n = 274) was thematically analysed to examine representations of poverty. The study found that in the domestic context, media represents poverty as a problem limited to vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly. With a lack of discussion on the wider socio‐economic causes and contributing factors, poverty within the UK appears as an ‘orphan phenomenon’ with an unknown genesis. In contrast, the representations of poverty outside the UK are vivid and elaborate, and the news reports hold the socio‐political inefficiency of countries responsible for poverty. The study also found that the media uses poverty to make sense of catastrophic events in society: the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the London riots of 2011 were both anchored using poverty. This paper discusses the representational dynamics of these findings and argues that the media representations distance general society from poverty, representing it as a problem of the other. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    December 18, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2179   open full text
  • ‘Some People It's Very Difficult to Trust’: Attributions of Agency and Accountability in Practitioners' Talk About Integration.
    Steve Kirkwood, Andy McKinlay, Chris McVittie.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. December 03, 2013
    The concept of ‘integration’ plays an important role in policy and practice regarding the settlement of migrants, yet the term is used in a variety of ways. This article examines how practitioners who support the integration of refugees in Scotland construct ‘integration’ at the community level to justify or challenge particular policies and sets of social relations. Analysis shows that integration can be worked up in contexts involving (i) descriptions of ‘us’ and ‘them’ in relation to a single community, (ii) social inclusion of those in multiple communities, or (iii) group level intercultural contact. Each version of integration is bound up with different attributions of agency for advancing integration and attributions of blame for current problems. Instead of relying upon a concept that is so open to multiple uses, local organizations might usefully specify outcomes in terms of social actors and interactions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    December 03, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2178   open full text
  • Fundamental Beliefs, Origin Explanations and Perceived Effectiveness of Protection Measures: Exploring Laypersons' Chains of Reasoning About Influenza.
    Véronique Eicher, Alain Clémence, Adrian Bangerter, Audrey Mouton, Eva G. T. Green, Ingrid Gilles.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. November 04, 2013
    Laypersons' chains of reasoning in explaining recent influenza outbreaks are investigated. Drawing on social representations theory, fundamental worldviews, that is, the belief in a dangerous world (BDW), are postulated to anchor explanations of disease origins, which in turn affect perceived effectiveness of protection measures. Our study, based on a longitudinal survey among the general public in Switzerland, showed that the lower people's BDW scores, the more they appeal to natural origins to explain outbreaks and the more they perceive official protection measures as effective. The higher people's BDW scores, the more they explain outbreaks via hygienic origins, which are linked with out‐group discrimination measures, and conspiracy origins, which are linked with lower perceived effectiveness of aid intervention measures. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    November 04, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2170   open full text
  • Prejudice‐reduction in Culturally Mixed Classrooms: The Development and Assessment of a Theory‐driven Intervention Among Majority and Minority Youth in Finland.
    Karmela Liebkind, Tuuli Anna Mähönen, Emilia Solares, Erling Solheim, Inga Jasinskaja‐Lahti.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 25, 2013
    The aim of this field experiment was to develop and assess an intervention promoting positive intergroup relations in culturally diverse schools. The intervention was based on extended contact and social learning and utilized behavioural journalism as its method. Intervention effects were assessed on out‐group attitudes, perceived importance of future contact, perceived peer norms and intergroup anxiety among ethnic majority (N = 583) and minority (N = 214) youth in grades 7–9 in Finnish secondary schools (total Nexperimental = 388; total Ncontrol = 409). As a result of the intervention, both groups showed a tendency to perceive future intergroup contact as more important, and this effect was most notable for younger participants and girls. Prototypicality of in‐group and out‐group peer models contributed positively to intervention effects. However, unexpectedly, the intervention also increased experiences of intergroup anxiety among the oldest participants. The results are discussed taking into account the developmental stage of the youth studied. Besides critically assessing the effectiveness of the intervention, recommendations for improving theory‐driven prejudice‐reduction and for the development of future interventions in culturally diverse contexts are given. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    October 25, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2168   open full text
  • Why Do Members of Disadvantaged Groups Strike Back at Perceived Negativity Towards the In‐group?
    Chuma Owuamalam, Christian Issmer, Hanna Zagefka, Matthias Klaßen, Ulrich Wagner.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. September 24, 2013
    Against the background of riots in communities across London in 2011, this paper examines the implications of negative meta‐stereotypes on stigmatized group members' reactions towards members of privileged out‐groups within their communities. We hypothesized that concerns over negative opinions that the dominant out‐group is expected to hold of the in‐group (i.e. meta‐stereotypes) would be negatively associated with group members' perceptions of societal fairness and that this relationship would be mediated by members' recall of personal experiences with discrimination. We further hypothesized that views about societal fairness that are challenged in this way would lower an inclination to express discontent with the status quo via normative means while at the same time, increase nonnormative expressions. Results from two surveys (study 1, N = 50; study 2, N = 132) provided support for these hypotheses and are discussed in terms of their meaning for community relations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    September 24, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2165   open full text
  • ‘The Good Mother and Her Clinging Child’: Patterns of Anchoring in Social Representations of Dementia Caregiving.
    Nils F. Toepfer, Juliet L. H. Foster, Gabriele Wilz.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. September 05, 2013
    This paper discusses the findings of a study that examined the processes of anchoring in the understanding of dementia caregiving using 29 interviews conducted in Germany with wives and daughters caring for a relative with dementia and 43 newspaper articles pertinent to the research objective. The concept of anchoring from Social Representations Theory was complemented by elements from cognitive linguistics to analyse the social representations (SRs) that served as source domains to determine what the target domain of dementia caregiving means, entails and requires. The analysis revealed three prevalent patterns of anchoring dementia care in SRs of child care and the good mother. The first pattern ascribed the role of the helpless clinging child needing his mother to the dementia patient, the second emphasised that the dementia caregivers' responsibility for caring, just like motherhood, should take precedence over all other interests and the third consisted of dementia caregivers deriving the perception of being the most suitable caregiver from the mother's natural aptitude for caring. The conclusions reached by the different patterns are argued to contribute to dementia caregivers overexerting themselves and not using support services. The clinical implications for targeting such adverse effects of the anchoring will be discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    September 05, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2164   open full text
  • ‘In Earlier Days Everyone Could Discipline Children, Now They Have Rights’: Caregiving Dilemmas of Guidance and Control in Urban Tanzania.
    Sofia Johnson Frankenberg, Rolf Holmqvist, Birgitta Rubenson.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. August 05, 2013
    Caregiving practices in Tanzania are potentially affected by socio‐demographic change such as urbanization and globalization. The aim of this study is to explore adult caregivers' discourses regarding the responsibility of caregiving, related to guidance and control of children in Tanzania. Data was collected in focus group discussions with parents and grandparents in an urban area of Tanzania. The analysis found two interpretative repertoires: guidance and control as a community matter and guidance and control as a family matter. These repertoires are related to responsibility and to an ideological dilemma regarding parental authority and individual's rights. The findings are discussed in relation to the tendency to polarize between ideologically traditional versus modern societies. This illustrates how lived ideology of caregiving responsibility is historically and socially situated, in the local context and how the spread of Children's Rights ideology needs to be understood in this context. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    August 05, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2160   open full text
  • Negotiating Reintegration and Meanings of Space: Formerly Abducted Youth in Uganda.
    Lise Paaskesen.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. August 05, 2013
    The war in Northern Uganda has ended, and youth who were abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army continue to return to communities. Research conducted in the summer of 2010 in two locations in Uganda, Gulu and Masindi, shows that the process of reintegration is an ongoing process in which formerly abducted youth (FAY) negotiate social relations for reintegration in a very interactive way. FAY consciously decide to stay quiet about their past to avoid compromising social reintegration. The experience‐oriented approach has allowed for an in‐depth exploration and understanding of the reintegration process from the perspective of FAY. In Northern Ugandan cosmology, meaning given to FAY personal spaces dominates. With FAY facing social exclusion by community members and the need to overcome boundaries to reintegration, coping mechanisms are adopted to facilitate reintegration and to carve out personal space within the Northern Ugandan cosmology. In the exploration of the process of negotiating reintegration, a conceptual model is adopted and adjusted to represent personal space within Northern Ugandan cosmology. The main findings suggest that FAY negotiate social relations for reintegration in a very interactive way and that they consciously decide to stay quiet about their past so as to not compromise social reintegration. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    August 05, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2158   open full text
  • Care Versus Control: The Identity Dilemmas of UK Homelessness Professionals Working in a Contract Culture.
    Alicia Renedo.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 23, 2013
    UK voluntary and community sector organizations (VCOs) play a key role in caring for homeless people. However, there are widespread concerns about the impact of increasing government contracting on the quality of their services. This paper examines understandings of homelessness and identities as homelessness professionals, as expressed by VCO professionals. By so doing, it considers how ‘partnership working’ enables or undermines their capacities to care. The paper uses 24 in‐depth interviews and four focus groups with London‐based homelessness professionals. Professionals expressed deep tensions in their experience of their role. On one hand, they reported a deep ethical commitment to care and to develop quality supporting relationships to respond to their clients' complex needs. On the other, their capacity to care was undermined by their dependence on statutory resources and the controls this involved over the way VCOs delivered care. Professionals had to adjust to statutory monitoring frameworks and hard performance targets, which detached them from the human and intimate encounter with their clients and constrained their person‐centred caring interventions. The findings highlight the contradictory nature of contemporary systems of ‘joined up’ welfare that neglect the very human and complex nature of the issues that they were originally created to address. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 23, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2162   open full text
  • Contingent Resistances Methodology: Analyzing Resistance in Parents' and Daughters' Choice of an All‐Girl Middle School.
    Nancy J Bell, Kimberly Corson, Emilia Baron.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 23, 2013
    Contemporary perspectives on dominance and resistance as multifaceted and dialogical call for a similarly dialogical methodology, as reflected in Saukko's concept of contingent resistances. Compared to much of the past resistance research, contingent resistances sets forth an expanded vision of dialogicality in research design and in the interpretation of actor's meanings. Our purpose is to illustrate three implications of this methodology: (i) polyvocality—a comparison of perspectives of two groups of actors; (ii) consideration of the full range of meanings relevant to the action with particular attention to reactions from the local context; and (iii) interpretations of resistance that are firmly grounded in narrators' meanings. The analysis is based on interviews with parents and their young adolescent daughters about their decision to attend a new all‐girl college‐preparatory public school located in southwestern USA. Expanding on past studies of girls' school choice, we show how parents and daughters create different meanings of this decision, largely based on interactions with their peers. Although both parents and daughters emphasized academic opportunity as their main reason for the school choice, daughters, unlike parents, were confronted with violating peer femininity/heteronormativity norms. Thus, the decision required resistance on the part of daughters in a way that it did not for parents. We view contingent resistances as a useful methodological framework in a range of areas where questions of resistance are at stake. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 23, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2159   open full text
  • Experiences of Support Staff with Expanding and Strengthening Social Networks of People with Mild Intellectual Disabilities.
    A. E. Asselt‐Goverts, P. J. C. M. Embregts, A. H. C. Hendriks, N. Frielink.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 23, 2013
    A supportive social network is crucial for facilitating social inclusion. The social networks of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are often small and typically include very little contact with friends and acquaintances who do not have ID. Professionals can play an important role in strengthening and expanding the social networks of clients. In this study, experiences with interventions aimed at doing this were examined. Six group interviews were held with a total of 27 professionals. The results showed interventions to strengthen social networks (e.g. attention to the maintenance of contact with network members) and interventions to expand social networks (e.g. participation in leisure time activities and working with volunteers). However, a large number of impeding factors was mentioned, such as the limited size of the social networks, characteristics of the client, different perceptions and clients falling between the cracks when it comes to leisure time. The large number of impeding factors shows the strengthening and expansion of social networks to be complicated in actual practice. Recommendations are thus made to strengthen and expand the social networks of clients in an innovative manner which also takes these impeding factors into account. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 23, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2156   open full text
  • Resisting and Conforming to the ‘Lesbian Look’: The Importance of Appearance Norms for Lesbian and Bisexual Women.
    Caroline Huxley, Victoria Clarke, Emma Halliwell.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 23, 2013
    Appearance is one way in which lesbian and bisexual identities and affiliation to lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) subculture can be demonstrated. ‘Butch’ and ‘androgynous’ styles have been used by lesbian women to communicate a non‐heterosexual identity. However, some LGB appearance researchers have argued that there has been a mainstreaming and diversification of lesbian style in the last couple of decades, which has resulted in less distinction between lesbian and straight looks. This research draws on the Social Identity approach to explore contemporary style in lesbian and bisexual communities. Fifteen lesbian and bisexual women took part in semi‐structured interviews which were analysed using thematic analysis. Although some participants reported a diversification of lesbian style, most used the term ‘butch’ to describe lesbian style, and a ‘boyish’ look was viewed as the most common contemporary lesbian style. By contrast, most participants could not identify distinct bisexual appearance norms. The data provide evidence of conflicting desires (and expectations) to visibly project social identity by conforming to specific lesbian styles, and to be an authentic, unique individual by resisting these subcultural styles. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 23, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2161   open full text
  • The Transformative Effects of Stigma: Coping Strategies as Meaning‐Making Efforts for Immigrants Living in Greece.
    Irini Kadianaki.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 23, 2013
    The present article examines the strategies that immigrants living in Greece use to cope with stigma that arises in their interaction with both Greek society and their communities of origin. Drawing on interviews and focus groups conducted with immigrants from a variety of countries, a dialogical analysis illuminates the ways in which immigrants actively negotiate stigmatizing perspectives and transform themselves. Strategies include the deployment of social categories such as those of ‘human being’ and ‘crazy’ person, and concepts such as those of ‘lawfulness’ and ‘fate’. These were used to construct meanings of equality and inclusion into society, to deny responsibility for stigma and to discredit stigma as absurd. They enabled participants to see themselves as proud, equal, self‐dependent individuals who plan actions for social change. The article suggests that coping with stigma should not only be understood in terms of stress regulation, leading to positive or negative outcomes, as suggested by current literature, but as a meaning‐making effort, through which individuals transform the way they see themselves and act within their world. A meaning‐making approach moves away from individualistic, outcome‐oriented explanations to a socially situated perspective on stigma that studies the processes through which social meanings are subjectively perceived as stigmatizing and are used to challenge stigma. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 23, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2157   open full text
  • Recasting Stigma as a Dialogical Concept: A Case Study of Rural‐to‐Urban Migrants in China.
    Jian Guan, Li Liu.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 02, 2013
    The present study explores stigma against rural‐to‐urban migrants in China, drawing on a dialogical approach. It investigates the processes of stigmatization from two sides: that of the stigmatizer and that of the stigmatized. Open‐ended individual interviews were conducted with 138 participants (60 urban residents and 78 rural‐to‐urban migrants) in Tianjin, China. Findings from this study indicate that migrants were stigmatized by urban residents as having an unattractive physical appearance, potential perils of disease or crime, and discredited places of origin. Such stigma was embedded in China's unique hukou system and generated from a social categorization of superior and inferior groups. Migrants reported a number of coping strategies to counter such stigma: blaming fate, stigma reversal and upward mobility. However, migrants did not view themselves contemptuously and expressed positive feelings about their lives as migrants. They regarded internal migration as a way of pursuing happiness. Overall, urban residents stigmatized migrants legitimated by the hukou system, while migrants were surprisingly resilient against stigma, and did not internalize it, due to their economics‐driven internal migration. This study underscores that stigma in a given society is dialogically interdependent with its socio‐cultural context and that the perspectives of both the stigmatizer and the stigmatized need to be taken into consideration. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 02, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2152   open full text
  • British Citizenship and the ‘Other’: An Analysis of the Earned Citizenship Discourse.
    Eleni Andreouli, Parisa Dashtipour.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 02, 2013
    This paper presents an analysis of interviews conducted with citizenship officers in London, working within the field of British naturalisation. We draw from a rhetorical psychology perspective to study the dilemmatic tensions that exist in the participants' discourse about naturalisation applicants who are constructed as ‘good’ and ‘bad’, as both ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ of British citizenship. In line with a rhetorical approach, we argue that these different constructions of the migrant are strategic and are associated with different constructions of Britain as humanitarian and tolerant, on the one hand, and as being under threat by the influx of immigration, on the other hand. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this ambivalence for processes of inclusion and exclusion. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 02, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2154   open full text
  • Social Networking Sites: Mediating the Self and its Communities.
    Lisa Whittaker, Alex Gillespie.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 02, 2013
    What do social networking sites reveal about the relation between the self and the community? We conceptualise social networking sites as technologies of the self and the community enabling individuals to self‐present and also objectifying the community's evaluation of individuals (through ‘structures of recognition’ such as page views, friends and lovehearts). We analyse the way in which 37 Scottish adolescents used the social networking site Bebo in nonprescribed and creative ways. First, they challenged the single authorship of profiles by co‐creating multi‐authored profiles. Second, they used creative language to obscure meaning from the preying eyes of parents, teachers and potential employers. We conclude by discussing the simplistic assumptions that Bebo makes about the relation between the self and the community. In contrast, newer social networking sites such as Facebook and Google+ are increasingly enabling people to present different facets of themselves to different communities. How people use social networking sites, and how these sites are developing to attract more users, reveals how the multiplicity of human identity is related to the multiple communities that people participate in. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 02, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2148   open full text
  • Characteristics of Personal Networks Associated with Physical and Psychological Quality of Life Among Demobilized Individuals from the Colombian Armed Conflict.
    Amar‐Amar José Juan, Abello‐LLanos Raimundo, Madariaga‐Orozco Camilo, Ávila‐Toscano José.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 02, 2013
    The study identifies relationships between the characteristics of personal networks of demobilized individuals and their quality of life, through the evaluation of a sample of 102 ex‐combatants from a demilitarized zone in Colombia's Caribbean coast. The data was processed using centrality values calculation and statistical analysis through the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results showed moderate levels of nodality, proximity and intermediation degrees regarding small, closed networks with an unsatisfied high demand for support resources. Quality of life showed medium performance levels, with inverse relationships between mental health (p = .009 < .05) and vitality (p = .011 < .05) and intermediation. Positive feedback related significantly to general health (p = .041 < .05), while negative interactions showed inverse relationships to physical functioning (p = .012 < .05), physical role (p = .005), mental health (p = .001 < .05), and emotional role (p = .009 < .05). In conclusion, among the highly cohesive personal networks, there were less observations of social support that fosters increased energy and psychological health, given that access to this support is limited to a small number of members of the personal network. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 02, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2155   open full text
  • Favorable Contact During Volunteer Service: Reducing Prejudice Toward Mexicans in the American Southwest.
    Robert D. Ridge, Jared A. Montoya.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 02, 2013
    We assessed religious volunteers’ intergroup contact, realistic threat perceptions, symbolic threat perceptions, intergroup anxiety, negative stereotypes and prejudice toward Mexicans before and approximately 4–6 months into their volunteer service. Whether assigned to serve Mexicans or European–Americans, all volunteers experienced reduced prejudice toward Mexicans. A multiple mediator model suggests that changes in prejudice resulted from a mediated relationship between quality contact and prejudice. Specifically, intergroup anxiety and negative stereotypes mediated the relationship. The benefits of volunteerism as a means of fostering favorable intergroup contact and reducing threat perceptions and prejudice are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 02, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2144   open full text
  • Talking about Hillsborough: ‘Panic’ as discourse in survivors' accounts of the 1989 football stadium disaster.
    Chris Cocking, John Drury.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 11, 2013
    Popular representations of crowd behaviour in disasters are often characterised by irrationalist discourses, in particular ‘mass panic’ despite their rejection by current scientific research. This paper reports an analysis of four survivors' accounts of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster to investigate if and how they used the term ‘panic’. Reference to ‘panic’ occurred frequently, but more detailed analysis found that their accounts did not match the classic criteria for ‘mass panic’ (e.g. uncontrolled emotion and selfish behaviour). Indeed, participants referred to ‘orderly’ behaviour, and cooperation, even when they said the threat of death was present. ‘Panic’ was therefore being used as a description of events that was not consistent. A discourse analysis of usage suggests that participants used ‘panic’ not only to convey feelings of fear and distress but also to apportion culpability towards the actions of the police who they considered responsible for the tragedy (as indeed recent independent research has confirmed). It is concluded that the term ‘panic’ is so deeply embedded in popular discourse that people may use it even when they have reason to reject its irrationalist implications. Alternative discourses that emphasise collective resilience in disasters are suggested. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2153   open full text
  • Is Fear of Crime Mainly Social and Economic Insecurity in Disguise? A Multilevel Multinational Analysis.
    Alessio Vieno, Michele Roccato, Silvia Russo.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 09, 2013
    Using the 2006 Eurobarometer data (representative sample of the European population, N = 16 306, 27 countries), we performed a multilevel analysis aimed at predicting fear of crime. A significant proportion of the variation in fear of crime was at country level. Of the individual predictors included, being a woman, being poorly educated, being unemployed, and being an urban dweller showed positive relations with fear of crime. Fear was highest among people who considered themselves to be socially marginal, among people with negative expectations regarding themselves and their country's future, and among people who considered their nation's welfare system to be unsatisfactory. Among the ecological predictors we took into consideration, nations' degree of economic inequality and low expenditure on education and on social protection showed a positive association with fear of crime, whereas the crime, immigration, and employment rates did not. Implications and limitations of this research are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 09, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2150   open full text
  • Extending Contact Across Generations: Comparison of Direct and Ancestral Intergroup Contact Effects on Current Attitudes Toward Outgroup Members.
    Katarzyna Stasiuk, Michal Bilewicz.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 09, 2013
    There is a growing body of evidence that intergroup relations are affected not only by direct contact with outgroup members, but also by extended contact: the mere knowledge that an ingroup member has a positive relationship with an outgroup. The present article focuses on the transgenerationally transmitted effects of contact, namely the impact of knowledge about ancestors’ contact with outgroup members on descendants’ attitudes toward the outgroup. A correlational study in the Polish–Ukrainian borderland region (N = 288) shows that ancestral intergroup contact – independently from direct intergroup contact – plays a crucial role in the process of improving intergroup attitudes. The mediating mechanisms of perceived similarity of the outgroup to the self and of perspective taking are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 09, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2147   open full text
  • Coping with Age‐related Threats to Role Identity: Older Couples and the Management of Household Money.
    Dinah Bisdee, Debora Price, Tom Daly.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. May 01, 2013
    As more couples live together into old age, difficult decisions have to be made about money matters, including the financing of late‐life care. This paper analyses in‐depth qualitative data from six older heterosexual couples, part of a wider study concerning money management in later life. Research when these cohorts were younger found that the organisation of money management within households was specialised and highly gendered, leading to substantive imbalances of power and access to financial resources, while also being core to the formation and maintenance of gendered role identities and couple identities. We find in this study that if a partner's ability to fulfil a money management role identity is threatened by later‐life issues such as poor health and cognitive decline, the other partner may try to protect that aspect of the spouse's role identity, using various covert strategies. This might be done to shore up the spouse's self‐esteem in the face of such age‐related threats to role identity, to ‘keep up appearances’ to the outside world or to maintain their identity as a couple at a time of life when there may be multiple difficulties to deal with. These findings have implications for practice and policy in the realm of money and identity management in later life. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    May 01, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2149   open full text
  • Motivational Effects of the Perceived Image of Non‐governmental Organisations.
    Daniel Pinazo, Rosana Peris, Anna Ramos, Javier Brotons.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. February 04, 2013
    The motivational effect of the perceived image of non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) was analysed in two studies. Results from the first study, comprising two samples (N = 314 and N = 220), point to three dimensions of the perceived image of NGOs (solidarity, misleading and instrumentality). These dimensions have different effects on intention to collaborate and to recommend others to collaborate. In the second study, with a sample of N = 485, confirmatory analysis confirmed the three‐factor solution as appropriate. The misleading image emerged as a source of reactance to NGO campaigns. Results suggest the importance of promoting the image of solidarity as a motivational strategy. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    February 04, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2140   open full text
  • The Mutually Constitutive Relationship between Place and Identity: The Role of Place‐Identity in Discourse on Asylum Seekers and Refugees.
    Steve Kirkwood, Andy McKinlay, Chris McVittie.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. January 31, 2013
    Recent discursive research has shown that constructions of place may function to regulate social relations and reinforce particular notions of belonging. However, extant discursive research on place‐identity has so far neglected the mutually constitutive relationships between constructions of place and identity in legitimising people's presence. To address this gap, this study, undertaken in Scotland, applies the notion of place‐identity to the discursive analysis of interviews with asylum seekers and refugees, people who work in organisations that support asylum seekers and refugees and locals who live in areas where asylum seekers and refugees tend to be housed. The analysis suggests that constructions of asylum seekers’ and refugees’ countries of origin as dangerous, and the host society as relatively problem‐free, function to constitute their identities as legitimate and to justify their presence in the host society. Moreover, constructions of place may work to portray refugees and asylum seekers as benefiting the local community and as belonging more than certain other locals. In contrast, constructing the host society as ‘full’ functions to oppose their presence through portraying them as not being able to belong. This demonstrates the mutually constitutive roles of place and identity in legitimising or resisting people's movement and belonging. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    January 31, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2141   open full text
  • Pro‐Diversity Beliefs and Everyday Ethnic Discrimination on Grounds of Foreign Names.
    Mathias Kauff, Christian Issmer, Johannes Nau.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. January 20, 2013
    The paper examined the effect of positive beliefs about the value of ethnic diversity (i.e. diversity beliefs) on discrimination due to foreign sounding names. It was hypothesized that pro‐diversity beliefs reduce discrimination. Results from two studies (N = 29 and N = 104) confirmed this hypothesis. Practical implications of our results are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    January 20, 2013   doi: 10.1002/casp.2143   open full text
  • Rethinking Concepts in Participatory Action Research and Their Potential for Social Transformation: Post‐structuralist Informed Methodological Reflections from LGBT and Trans‐Collective Projects.
    Katherine Johnson, Antar Martínez Guzmán.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. November 28, 2012
    Participatory Action Research (PAR) aims to articulate knowledge production and transformative action. In this paper, we outline the sociopolitical background to our interest in LGBT and trans‐collectives as an important territory where PAR might make some intervention in the social conditions of LGBT lives by transforming dominant forms of representation that have emerged from a history of psychological and medical pathology. We present two projects, from UK and Spain that utilize post‐structuralist informed methods (interviews, photo‐production, discourse analysis, narrative production) within a PAR framework. We examine their potential for problematising representations of sexuality and gender by reflecting on the knowledge produced and the transformative action they provoke. We rethink power relationships inherent in PAR concepts of ‘participation’ and ‘empowerment’ through a post‐structuralist lens and argue that the achievements of PAR projects can be better understood as ‘co‐produced artifacts’. These (e.g. photo‐exhibition) are co‐owned by community members and researchers and their deployment in different settings (e.g. community or university) impacts on the meanings they convey and the action they provoke. Finally, we argue that through the use of post‐structuralist methods PAR can enable effective transformative action, but caution against the practice of reinstating normative representations in the invitation to participate under specific identity categories (e.g. LGBT, Trans, mental health service user). PAR projects can do this by considering naturalized definitions of who is vulnerable or marginalized as the object and field of social transformation, and the starting point for collective and political action. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    November 28, 2012   doi: 10.1002/casp.2134   open full text
  • Lay Meanings of Mental Health in Urban Indian College Youth: Insights For Mental Health Promotion.
    Seema Mehrotra, Ravikesh Tripathi, Jereesh K. Elias.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. November 20, 2012
    There is no abstract available for this paper.
    November 20, 2012   doi: 10.1002/casp.2119   open full text
  • Values, Life Events, and Health: A Study in a Finnish Rural Community.
    Florencia M. Sortheix, Antero Olakivi, Klaus Helkama.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 12, 2012
    The relationships between individual values (Schwartz, 1992), life events, and psychological symptoms were analyzed in a general population sample from a Finnish rural community. The design was a cross‐sectional survey. Data were gathered in 1993 (n = 174) and 2007 (n = 226). We investigated whether personal values would predict the number of life events. Results showed that openness to change values was positively and conservation values, negatively related to life events (those over which the individual had certain degree of control, e.g. getting a new job) in 1993. As expected, an increase in the importance of conservation values from 1993 to 2007 weakened the association between values and life events so that in 2007, only stimulation values were related to events. Although no consistent direct relations were found between single values and symptoms, we found that the higher the value congruence between individual and group values, the fewer the reported symptoms, for both time points. This research provided evidence suggesting that life events are also related to one's personal value priorities. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    October 12, 2012   doi: 10.1002/casp.2125   open full text
  • Meta‐stereotypes, Social Image and Help Seeking: Dependency‐Related Meta‐stereotypes Reduce Help‐Seeking Behaviour.
    Juliet R. H. Wakefield, Nick Hopkins, Ronni Michelle Greenwood.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 12, 2012
    People who need help can be reluctant to seek it. This can be due to social image concerns. Here, we investigate if these concerns may be prompted by a salient negative meta‐stereotype: the belief that one's group is judged negatively by another group. Specifically, we researched group members' help‐seeking behaviour in the context of a dependency‐related meta‐stereotype. In a two‐condition study (N = 45), we manipulated participants' belief that their national group was judged dependent by a significant out‐group. We then examined their subsequent help‐seeking behaviour on a real‐world task. Participants whose social identity as a group member was salient showed greater reluctance to seek help when the meta‐stereotype was made prominent compared with when it was not. This suggests that, in a context where social image and social identity concerns are relevant, group members are willing to sacrifice the possibility of accessing needed help in order to avoid confirming a negative stereotype of their group. The implications of these results for helping transactions and community development are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    October 12, 2012   doi: 10.1002/casp.2126   open full text
  • The Influence of the Internet on the Psychosocial Predictors of Collective Action.
    Augusta Isabella Alberici, Patrizia Milesi.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 12, 2012
    The Internet has emerged as an important communication platform for the support of collective action, but little is known about how it influences the psychosocial motives for participation. Two quantitative studies were conducted within two different mobilizing contexts, in which offline collective actions were launched through computer‐mediated communication. We examined whether and how the frequency with which people participated in online political discussions moderated the effects of the psychosocial predictors of collective action, specifically politicized identity, anger, collective efficacy, and morality. Results showed that collective action intention was predicted by politicized identity only when participants reported a higher versus lower frequency of online discussion. However, anger did not predict collective action when people had the chance to express this emotion through a higher versus lower frequency of online discussion. Moreover, collective efficacy and morality supported collective action intention in participants who reported a higher versus lower frequency of online discussion. We theorize on how computer‐mediated communication, and its specific features, can be studied as a mobilizing context that influences the psychosocial motives to participate in collective action. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    October 12, 2012   doi: 10.1002/casp.2131   open full text
  • ‘Categories We Share’: Mobilising Common In‐groups in Discourse on Contemporary Immigration in Greece.
    Antonis Sapountzis, Lia Figgou, Nikos Bozatzis, Antonis Gardikiotis, Pavlos Pantazis.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 05, 2012
    Prejudice reduction has been an important concern within social psychology both in theory and applied research. According to the premises of Social Identity Theory, redrawing of the category boundaries is often considered a necessary step in order to battle prejudice, because in‐group favouritism when the category boundaries change is diffused to the previously distinct identities. The present paper offers a review of the relevant research, and following a discourse analytic perspective argues that recategorisation can also be viewed as a rhetorical resource that people use in verbal interaction in order to achieve certain rhetorical ends. This point is exemplified using interview data from Greece with Greek participants who mobilise common in‐groups between themselves and the immigrants in Greece. Different common in‐groups were mobilised on the basis of common human nature, common ethnic descent and through the use of the common experience of migration that many Greek people have because Greece has been an emigrant sending country for the biggest part of the 20th century. Occasionally, these category constructions were used to differentiate between immigrants of different ethnic descent claiming that only certain immigrant groups can integrate to Greek society, whereas on other instances, these common in‐groups were used in order to inoculate speakers of accusations of prejudice. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    October 05, 2012   doi: 10.1002/casp.2128   open full text
  • The Complexity of Community Engagement: Developing Staff–Community Relationships in a Participatory Child Education and Women's Rights Intervention in Kolkata Slums.
    Caoimhe Nic a Bháird.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. October 05, 2012
    Dissatisfaction with inflexible top‐down development interventions has led to a demand for more community‐led approaches and the proliferation of terms such as participation, empowerment, and community ownership. However, the practical implications of these terms remain unclear. This study examined how sociocultural factors influenced relationship building between NGO staff and community members, and how this mediated community participation in a child education and women's rights intervention in Kolkata. Twenty interviews and one focus group were conducted with NGO staff, pupils, and members of a women's group. A thematic analysis produced five global themes: Sociocultural Context, Staff–Community Divide, Power Dynamics, Building Relationships, and Unstable Progress. Differences in social status, lifestyle, and priorities marked clear divisions between staff and community members, leading to communication difficulties and resistance ranging from suspicious stares to open hostility. Establishing mutual respect was a slow and unpredictable process often fuelled by unanticipated events such as staff helping with medical emergencies. A campaign against domestic violence prompted some women to physically attack men and vandalise property, provoking violent retaliation and creating divides within the community. Overcoming these challenges required a responsive approach which often deviated from operational and funding plans. The more participatory and community‐led an intervention, the less predictable it becomes. The flexibility needed to gain community acceptance and manage unanticipated events relies on trusting relationships between both communities and staff, and staff and donors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    October 05, 2012   doi: 10.1002/casp.2133   open full text
  • Water as a Commons: An Exploratory Study on the Motives for Collective Action Among Italian Water Movement Activists.
    Davide Mazzoni, Elvira Cicognani.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 13, 2012
    In many communities, supplying water and sanitation is a huge task, and the fact that these essential services can be carried out by the private sector is a debated issue. This article presents an exploratory study aimed to identify the range of motives for collective action shared by activists of the Italian Movement for ‘Public Water’. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 28 activists and were qualitatively analysed. Five main motivational categories emerged: defending the right to water, preserving community ties, opposing to the Government and ‘water sellers’, preserving the environment and money interests. Each motive is based on a specific representation of the issue of water and privatization process. Findings provide further support for the importance of moral convictions and sense of community in collective action development and suggest a critical reconsideration of the role played by collective efficacy. The results are discussed in the framework of the psychosocial literature on collective action and community psychology perspectives on participatory processes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 13, 2012   doi: 10.1002/casp.2123   open full text
  • Growing Up with Child Sexual Abuse in an Experimental Commune: Making Sense of Narrative Variation.
    Kerry Gibson, Mandy Morgan.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 02, 2012
    The legitimacy of adult's accounts of child sexual abuse depends on the consistency of the story they tell about this experience. But there are a variety of influences that conspire to create dynamic variation in retrospective accounts of child sexual abuse. In a study of an experimental New Zealand commune called Centrepoint, participants showed considerable variation in accounting for the child sexual abuse that was known to have occurred there. We used a narrative methodology to show the variation between stories that highlighted abuse and suffering and others that represented an idyllic childhood within which sex between children and adults was normalised. There was also considerable variation within individual participant's accounts. The variation within and between accounts was shaped by features such exposure to contradictory experiences, different social positioning in relation to child sexual abuse, shifts in memory and interpretation over time, differences between insider and outsider perspectives on child sexual activity at the commune and alternative perspectives on victimhood. This research challenges the mythology that accounts of child sexual abuse should be expected to be clear and consistent. Instead, variation should be treated the rule rather than the exception in these accounts. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 02, 2012   doi: 10.1002/casp.2122   open full text
  • Social Capital and Community Group Participation: Examining ‘Bridging’ and ‘Bonding’ in the Context of a Healthy Living Centre in the UK.
    Emma Kirkby‐Geddes, Nigel King, Alison Bravington.
    Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. July 02, 2012
    Social capital has been widely advocated as a way of understanding and building community participation in the interest of health improvement. However, the concept as proposed by Putnam, has been criticised for presenting an overly romanticised account of complex community relations. This paper presents analysis from a qualitative evaluation of a Healthy Living Centre (HLC) in the North of England, to examine the utility of the concept of social capital in this context. We found the concepts of ‘bridging’ and ‘bonding’ social capital were useful – though not without limitations – in helping to make sense of the complexities and contradictions in participants’ experiences of community group participation. 'Bridging' helped provide an understanding of how the decline in shared social spaces such as local shops impacts on social relationships. 'Bonding' highlighted how community group membership can have positive and negative implications for individuals and the wider community. It was found that skilled group leadership was key to strengthening bridging capital. Politically, in the UK, community participation is seen as having an essential role in social change, for example, its centrality to the coalition government's idea of the ‘Big Society’. A micro‐examination of this HLC using the lens of social capital provides a valuable critical insight into community participation. It shows that this kind of initiative can be successful in building social capital, given conditions such as an appropriate setting and effective leadership. However, they cannot substitute for other kinds of investment in the physical infrastructure of a community. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
    July 02, 2012   doi: 10.1002/casp.2118   open full text