This article is concerned with the relationship between adult attachment styles and generalized negativistic social beliefs. Two general dimensions of attachment styles, avoidance and anxiety, are considered to be manifestations of an individual’s image of other people and of the self, respectively. We suggest that both dimensions may be a substantial basis for formulating negative beliefs about the social world. Firstly, we believe that a high level of negativistic social beliefs can be positively predicted by the growth of (...) avoidance and anxiety. Secondly, we formulate an expected interaction effect. Although the nature of such an interaction is ambiguous, it may be argued as having a synergistic as well as antagonistic pattern. These hypotheses were tested and supported on a representative sample of adult Poles. (shrink)

The aim of the study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Social Justice Scale, composed by Representation, Recognition, and Redistribution dimensions. Likewise, the contribution of social dominance and the belief in a just world in each dimension were analyzed. A total of 471 young adults residing in Madrid participated in the online preliminary study, with an age range of 18–42 years with different genders (74.1% defined themselves as female). The main results indicated adequate psychometric properties for Social (...) Justice Scale through its three dimensions. In addition, we observed that both social dominance and belief in a just world might be psychosocial variables that modulate the levels of social justice. The main findings of the research and need for replication in future studies are discussed. (shrink)

Secondary lymphoid organs form in utero through an inherited and well‐established developmental program. However, maternal non‐heritable features can have a major impact on the gene expression of the embryo, hence influencing the future health of the offspring. Recently, maternal retinoids were shown to regulate the formation of immune structures, shedding light on the role of maternal nutrition in the genetic signature of emergent immune cells. Here we highlight evidence showing how the maternal diet influences the establishment of the immune system, (...) and we also discuss how unbalanced maternal diets may set the response to infection and vaccination in the progeny. (shrink)

Since the late 1980s, the fetal origins of adult disease, from 2003 developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), has stimulated significant interest in and an efflorescence of research on the long-term effects of the intrauterine environment. From the start, this field has been interdisciplinary, using experimental animal, clinical and epidemiological tools. As the influence of DOHaD on public health and policy expanded, it has drawn criticism for reducing the complex social and physical world of early life to (...) women’s reproductive bodies as drivers of intergenerational ills. This paper explains this narrowing of focus in terms of a formative and consequential exchange between David Barker, the British epidemiologist whose work is credited with establishing the field, and the discipline of fetal physiology. We suggest that fetal physiologists were a crucial constituency of support for Barker’s hypothesis about early life origins of disease. Their collaborations with Barker helped secure and sustain the theory amid considerable controversy. The trajectory of DOHaD and its focus on the maternal body can be understood, we argue, as a consequence of this alliance, which brought together two distinct conceptualizations of the intrauterine environment, one from epidemiology and the other from fetal physiology. Along the way, we trace the histories of these conceptualizations, both of which were products of mid-to-late twentieth century British science, and show how Barker’s early emphasis on social and economic conditions was superseded by a narrower focus on physiological mechanisms acting upon the autonomous fetus. (shrink)

There has been a radical turn towards ideals of patient autonomy and person-centred care, and away from historically entrenched forms of medical paternalism, in the last 50 years of nursing practice. However, along the way, some shades of grey between the areas of ideal patient participation and of outright patient non-participation have been missed. The current article constitutes an exploratory proof-of-concept study of the real-world traction of a distinction-straddling concept of ‘constrained participation’ and its two sub-concepts of ‘fought-for participation’ (...) and ‘forced-to participation’. In order to concretise these additions to the conceptual terrain of person-centred participation and its anti-theses, we apply them to themes in the care of vulnerable older adults. In the final section, we close by eliciting some characterological, educational and clinical implications of adding these new tools also to the conceptual repertoire of nursing practice and education. (shrink)

Taika Waititi's recent film ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ (2016) portrays the coming‐of‐age of a young boy, Ricky, in a world with few recognisably responsible adults. While the film does not engage explicitly with formal education, it raises several questions central for understanding education as formation, highlighting the generational aspects of educational relations and pointing to the importance of an adult world taking responsibility for the formation and upbringing of the younger generation. Departing from a discussion on the (...) role of formation and intergenerational relations in Rousseau and Arendt, we will draw on the film's portrayal of an adult world in crisis in order to discuss some of its possible consequences for understanding education in terms of intergenerational relations and formation. This involves raising questions about the educational consequences of the absence of recognisably responsible adults and it involves investigating how this absence might impact our understanding of education as the formation and upbringing of educated human beings. (shrink)

Age has been shown to influence language comprehension, with delays, for instance, in older adults' expectations about upcoming information. We examined to what extent expectations about upcoming event information change across the lifespan and as a function of different world-language relations. In a visual-world paradigm, participants in all three age groups inspected a speaker whose facial expression was either smiling or sad. Next they inspected two clipart agents depicted as acting upon a patient. Control scenes featured the same (...) three characters without the action depictions. While inspecting the depictions, comprehenders listened to a German sentence [e.g., Den Marienkäfer kitzelt vergnügt der Kater; literally: “The ladybug tickles happily the cat ”]. Referential verb-action relations could, in principle, cue the cat-agent and so could non-referential relations via links from the speaker's smile to “happily” and the cat's smile. We examined variation in participants' visual anticipation of the agent before it was mentioned depending on participant age and whether the referentially mediated action depiction or the non-referentially associated speaker smile cued the agent. The action depictions rapidly boosted participants' visual anticipation of the agent, facilitating thematic role assignment in all age groups. By contrast, effects of the non-referentially cued speaker smile emerged in the younger adults only. We outline implications of these findings for processing accounts of the temporally coordinated interplay between listeners' age-dependent language comprehension, their interrogation of the visual context, and visual context influences. (shrink)

This study examines the socio-cultural significance of dolls as Roman girls' toys. It focuses on a sample of ivory, bone, and cloth dolls, many of which have ornate hairstyles, molded breasts and, in some cases, delineated genitalia. As the only explicitly gendered toys from the Roman world, these constitute unique bodies of evidence for exploring questions of socialization and identity formation, and assessing ancient ideals. Often treated as relatively straightforward objects that prepared girls for futures as wives and mothers, (...) this study argues instead that they were more complex and conveyed mixed messages to their young owners. By isolating three specific features of the dolls , situating these in their historical and ideological milieux, and linking them with expectations for girls known from literary sources, the dolls' multivalence as artifacts of gender and status is revealed. (shrink)

In this article, we draw on the thinking about incompleteness and conviviality grounded in Afro‐communitarianism ethics from the Global South to argue that adults aged 65 years and above have a prima facie responsibility to vaccinate against influenza. Notably, adults aged 65 years and above have a duty of conviviality to act in ways that limit harm to them and others. This article is intrinsically valuable to promote epistemic justice, thereby contributing towards the decolonisation of the global healthcare system. Moreover, (...) this project has social significance in contributing to mitigation efforts against future public health challenges associated with population ageing in resource‐limited developing African nations, wherein the impact of population transition will be felt most. (shrink)

Background Health ministries in Europe are investing increasingly in innovative digital technologies. Older adults, who have not grown up with digital innovation, are expected to keep up with technological shifts as much as other age groups. This is ethically challenging, as it may threaten a sense of dignity and well-being in older adults. Research objective To clarify the phenomenon of sense of dignity experienced in older adults, concerning how their expectations and needs are met within the context of digitally led (...) healthcare in Norway. Research design A Reflective Lifeworld Research design was chosen, and purposive, in-depth interviews were conducted. Participants and research context The participants were 13 adults 75 years and older from Northern Norway, living at home and not receiving consistent assistance. Ethical considerations Followed the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. This study was approved by the Social Science Data Services in Norway (project number 916119). Interviews were conducted carefully within a safe environment chosen by the participants. Findings Older adults experience that using new digital systems in healthcare makes them become dependent with experiences of helplessness. They feel an increased sense of dependency on other people, and that recognition can assail their experience of personal dignity. Older adults not only expect digitally led healthcare to give them a feeling of safety but also experience feeling insecure concerning privacy and loss of possibilities for dialogue with healthcare providers. They are met by demands from society, which they often struggle to achieve. Conclusion The phenomenon of sense of dignity experienced in older adults, concerning how their expectations and needs are met within digitally led healthcare, indicates a sense of feeling lost in the digital world. Further, innovative healthcare lacks focus on ethical performance. This impacts their perception of dignity, as loss of dignity is noticed especially in its rupture. (shrink)

The variety of languages in the world is considered a curse by some, who view the phenomenon as a Tower of Babel. Others consider it the most characteristic quality of human language as opposed to animal languages, which are supposedly species specific. The variety is viewed as a symptom of human caprice, arbitrariness, or dependence on mere historical accident by some; and as a symptom of human freedom and of the creative aspect of language by others. And, of course, (...) the human limitation caused by the variety of languages and the peculiarities of traditions within languages, as instanced by Sir Winston Churchill's The History of the English Speaking People, are again viewed by different thinkers from different philosophical viewpoints. (shrink)

Illiteracy is a concrete and real problem, which involves nearly one thousand million people in the world. And, according to UNESCO statistics, this number, far from decreasing, keeps increasing in undeveloped countries as well as in the industrialized ones.

This paper invites us to reimagine parents as history makers and parenthood as a political space where parents and adult educators collaborate in reading and acting on the world that is, with a view to achieving a world that is not. The pandemic provides a backdrop to a fundamental understanding that while the virus may claim to be entirely democratic, the pandemic has failed the equity test. The asymmetrical world that is calls for a reinvention of (...) adult education as a space in which the excesses of neoliberalism are resisted in preparation for a shift in consciousness that might promote collective action against today’s far-from-equitable reality. Parents as ‘Subjects’ is a cris de coeur for a liberatory parent-focused education that rehumanizes parents in a world that will be. (shrink)

Critical adult education is inspired by Paulo Freire’s educational writings. For him, the aim of the pedagogy of the oppressed is to emancipate people from social and economic repression. Critical adult education is intellectual work that aims to make the world more just. One might ask what exactly justice and injustice mean here, however. Is the work against social injustice mainly concerned with the redistribution of material goods or recognition and respect? This is the issue debated by (...) Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth. Honneth claims that in the context of social justice, recognition is a fundamental, overarching moral category and redistribution is derivative. Fraser denies that distribution could be subsumed under recognition and introduces a “perspectival dualist” analysis of social justice that considers the two categories as equally fundamental, mutually irreducible dimensions of justice. In this essay, Rauno Huttunen reflects on the relation between maldistribution and misrecognition, in order to think through critical adult education’s task in fighting against social injustice. (shrink)

We live in a world in which one of every five persons does not get enough to eat. Each day more than ten thousand people die of starvation; thousands more, both adults and children, suffer brain damage and other functional abnormalities because of malnutrition. Often there is simply not enough drinking water or not enough food available. Some people must do without. A drought has come and some are allowed to die. Or, less food has been grown because less (...) fertilizer was imported and hundreds or thousands die. (shrink)

It is impossible to ignore the enduring and sweeping popularity of young adult novels written with a dystopian, or even apocalyptic, outlook. Series such as Th e Hunger Games, Th e Maze Runner, and Divergent present dark and boding worlds of amplifi ed terror and societal collapse, and their vulnerable protagonists must answer constant environmental, social, and political challenges, or risk starvation, injury, and various formsof pain and suff ering. More frequently than not, the tensions of the dystopian YA (...) universe turn to the natural world, one of sustenance and renewal, for resolution. The continued popularity of dystopian fi ction written expressly for young adult readers requires critical examination, as teachers must prepare themselves to deal with the questions raised by these texts. Th e trend toward the dystopian seems like rather a bleak expression of political and social hopelessness, but it does off er certain insights into what young readers want from the world around them. Much of the appeal of the dystopian comes from imagining not just problems, but how to solve them. The ingenuity and resourcefulness displayed in dystopian YA novels is not only appealing, but becomes a bold and ultimately optimistic statement on the need for environmental and social sustainability. The optimal incorporation of dystopian YA into the English as a foreign language curriculum relies on the preparation of instruction as understood by Wolfgang Klafki in a mode and format that feels fresh and encourages student-led engagement, genuine multimodality, and an organic progression from the closed circle of the classroom to the open arena of adult civilization. (shrink)

Cet article saisit la question des fondements philosophiques de la formation des adultes en faisant fond sur les thèses du penseur critique de la modernité tardive Zygmunt Bauman (1925-2017). Le texte s’ouvre par un regard englobant et synthétique sur l’oeuvre intellectuelle de Bauman (1). Il isole ensuite plus spécifiquement ce qui en son sein nous aide à prendre la mesure de la centralité de l’éducation tout au long de la vie comme défi majeur de ce que l’auteur appelle une vie (...) liquide (3). La focale est ensuite encore resserrée sur ce qui, dans la pensée baumanienne, permet de faire signe vers un type polymorphe de formation des adultes à même de permettre aux individus contemporains tout à la fois d’apprendre à naviguer et d’apprendre en naviguant dans un monde problématique (3). Une ouverture conclusive permet enfin de récapituler les apports les plus décisifs de Bauman dans le cadre problématique qui est celui du présent numéro et de dégager les linéaments ou les têtes de pont de ce qu’une discussion de fond du diagnostic baumanien sur le monde hypermoderne et la philosophie de l’éducation qu’il requiert pourrait être (4). (shrink)

Depression experienced by older adults is proving an increasing global health burden, with rates generally 7% and as high as 27% in the USA. This is likely to significantly increase in coming years as the number and proportion of older adults in the population rises all around the world. Therefore, it is imperative that the effectiveness of approaches to the prevention and treatment of depression are understood. Creative arts interventions, including art, dance movement, drama and music modalities, are utilised (...) internationally to target depression and depressive symptoms in older adults. This includes interventions led by trained arts therapists as well as other health and arts professionals. However, to date there has not been a systematic review that reports effects and examines the processes (why) and mechanisms (how) of creative arts interventions are used to address depression in this older age group. This systematic review of studies on creative arts interventions for older adults experiencing depression examined: outcomes of four creative arts modalities (art, dance movement, drama, and music); with particular attention paid to processes documented as contributing to change in each modality; and mechanisms considered to result from these processes. Our analysis of 75 articles (17 art, 13 dance, 4 drama and 41 music) indicates mostly significant quantitative or positive qualitative findings, particularly for interventions led by creative arts therapists. Mechanisms of change gleaned from the studies that were common across modalities include physical (e.g. increased muscle strength; neurochemical effects, such as endorphin release), intra-personal (e.g. enhanced self-concept, strengthened agency and mastery; processing and communication of emotions), cultural (e.g. creative expression, aesthetic pleasure), cognitive (e.g. stimulation of memory) and social (e.g. increased social skills and connection), that were all considered to contribute to reduced depression and symptoms. Recommendations for future research include a stronger focus on testing of processes and mechanisms. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Parenting Adults with ASD: Lessons for Researchers and CliniciansCassandra R. Newsom, Amy S. Weitlauf, Cora M. Taylor, and Zachary E. WarrenRecent reviews of treatments for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) reveal how little we still know about how to help adolescents with ASD and their families successfully transition into adulthood (Shattuck et al., 2012b; Taylor et al., 2012a). Shattuck and colleagues found that services in the United States (...) for adults with ASD were marked by high unemployment rates, a reliance on families to provide care across the lifespan, high turnover rates in front-line service providers, insufficient transition planning for high school students, and generally insufficient services to meet current needs. In a recent Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Comparative Effectiveness Review, the authors similarly found that there is very little evidence available to pinpoint specific intervention approaches for adolescents and young adults with ASD due to a lack of good quality studies. This was especially true for evidence-based approaches to support the transition of youth with ASD to adulthood (Taylor et al., 2012a).For the last decade, with dramatic increases in both ASD awareness and estimates of ASD prevalence, our field has understandably focused intensely on improving early detection and treatment of ASD. Our diagnostic tools and understanding of ASD presentation in very young children has improved tremendously. Different from many of the young adults in these stories, who were often diagnosed in their early teens, we now aim to identify children well before their third birthdays. Research has consistently shown that early and intense ASD-specific intervention can dramatically enhance outcomes for children with ASD. As such, there has been heavy investment in attempting to take full advantage of this early window of neuro-plasticity. However, as these stories illustrate, these children grow up. Their needs change, and our systems are often poorly equipped to help them live fulfilling lives, capitalize on their talents, and obtain independence and equal access, while still providing a safe, supportive environment. Without readily accessible and understandable coordinated systems of care, parents are forced to adopt the multiple roles of case manager, teacher, therapist, community educator, advocate, job coach, housing specialist, financial planner, and often, lifelong caregiver. These stories eloquently illustrate those struggles and successes.Grief and Joy: Opposite Sides of the Same Parenting CoinThe idea of grieving a diagnosis is controversial. Many of the writers seemed to feel conflicted about their grief responses and the validity of their feelings. Research shows that many families view the diagnostic process as extremely stressful (Siklos & [End Page 199] Kerns, 2005; Heiman, 2002). Feelings of sadness, anxiety, and depression are common at the point of diagnosis and may reemerge as milestones pass unmet. Families must modify the futures they imagined for their children and begin to envision new goals and dreams. Anonymous Three described this process when she wrote:Most children grow up, go to school, get jobs, move out of their parents’ home, etc. My husband and I have had to seriously consider how much of these are even possible for a young man with autism, even one who has a good number of functional life skills.Tasks of adolescence and adulthood such as starting high school, driving a car, and moving out of the house may be delayed and hard won if met. Raising a child with ASD appears to have particular challenges. Throughout this process, families begin to redefine what “success” means. Rather than ascribing to societal standards, they find joy in personal milestones. McDonald described the triumph of teaching his nephew to shake women’s hands instead of touching their hair, an important safety goal that took three months to accomplish. Each family thereby creates its own path.People outside of the family often do not understand the complicated interplay of love and obligation as well as the frustration and fulfillment that families experience. Just like any family, the parents of children with ASD describe many joys in addition to their struggles. They see their children’s strengths in a world that too often focuses on their weaknesses. Gifted with the everyday experience of their child’s development, they see past the necessity of a... (shrink)

This paper explores the adult mindfulness landscape, secular and Buddhist, in order to inform an approach to the teaching of mindfulness in secondary schools. The Introduction explains the background to the project and the significant overlap between secular and Buddhist practices. I explain what mindfulness is and highlight a number of important practical differences between the teaching of mindfulness in the adult world and in schools. ‘Balancing Calm and Insight’ looks at mindfulness through a lens infrequently explored (...) in the therapeutic literature, and suggests that a slight shift in the centre of gravity towards Calm might be appropriate. ‘Defining Objectives’ considers how difficult it is to clearly articulate the objective of mindfulness in schools given a new context in which it functions as neither clinical application nor spiritual practice. A range of alternatives is considered. ‘Building a Scaffolding’ explains the importance of context in both Buddhist and secular practice. To succeed, mindfulness should be nested within a broader framework of understanding, or what Kabat-Zinn calls a ‘scaffolding’. I suggest that perhaps the best ‘scaffolding’ for mindfulness in schools is its sense of possibility. ‘Ethics and Community’ describes how ethics are more important in secular mindfulness than they at first appear. The shape ethics might take in a school context is considered, then an assessment of the role of the teacher and what equivalent there might be for what Buddhists call sa?gha, or Community. (shrink)

Population aging has brought great challenges to many regions throughout the world. Enhancing the sense of participation, access, and well-being of older adults is the goal of China’s aging development. This study, taking urban–rural difference as the entry point, examined the difference in subjective well-being between urban and rural older learners. A total of 2,007 older adults learners aged over 50 years were recruited in Zhejiang, Anhui, and Shandong Provinces in China, including 773 rural older adults and 1,234 urban (...) older adults. This study found that there was a significant positive correlation between senior learning and the subjective well-being of urban and rural older adult learners. Furthermore, there was a significant difference between the subjective well-being of urban and rural older adult learners’ and there was also an urban–rural difference between the effects of older adult learning on the subjective well-being. Based on the above findings, this study reveals the mechanism of the impact of older adult learning on subjective well-being of urban and rural older adults and gives relevant suggestions for improving the subjective well-being of urban and rural older learners. (shrink)

Body, Community, Language, World, here made available in English for the first time is Patocka's presentation of phenomenology as a living tradition - as a philosophical heritage that requires to be rethought and redirected in light of possibilities that it has itself uncovered. Jan Patocka lived for most of his adult life in Communist Czechoslovakia where he was at times banned from publishing or teaching. Mentor of Vaclav Havel, Patocka defied the regime as one of the spokespersons for (...) Charta 77, and died in 1977, following two months of police interrogation. (shrink)

The 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan significantly promoted football in the host countries. However, it remains unclear how the event has changed mass football participation. This study applies points of attachment —a well-developed concept in the field of sport management—to the 2002 FIFA World Cup and aims to examine which specific POA promoted football participation frequency immediately after the event and the present frequency of football participation in the host countries. An online questionnaire survey was conducted in South (...) Korea and Japan. The samples included adults aged > 19 as of the hosting date of the 2002 World Cup. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to test all the datasets by employing four POAs as independent variables. Multiple control variables and two dependent variables were included in the model. Correspondingly, those who had a higher attachment to each point during the event showed a higher frequency of football participation immediately after the event. In contrast, only two POAs led to a higher frequency of present football participation. These findings provide the first empirical evidence highlighting the influence of the 2002 FIFA World Cup on mass football participation depending on the POA. (shrink)

Adolescence can be a trying time for adolescents and those with whom they share their journey, directly or indirectly. In a fast-paced world where adolescents want to conform to their youth or popular culture, the adolescent may become inundated and confused with all that is continuously taking place in their social context. This article argues that with the support of adults, adolescents may be guided to explore, experience and live out their spiritual identities through their popular or youth culture (...) in a healthy way. (shrink)

Anti-utopia as a genre of literature has always attracted scientific interest. The result of this interest is a number of definitions of the term ‘anti-utopia‘, none of which is universally accepted, and singling out of peculiar characteristics of such literature. The term ‘young adult anti-utopia‘ and specific features of such novels present a scientific lacuna. Having studied the language means creating the fictional world picture in modern anti-utopian young adult trilogies, the author identifies 15 main features typical (...) of the genre. The results of the research lead to the conclusion that some of the features are universal for the genre of anti-utopia in general: description of a totalitarian state, geographical limitation, vague identification of the past, suffering of the poor, a brave protagonist trying to shatter the existing government, etc. But some other features, mainly, the ones connected with teenage self-identification and alleviation of adolescent stand against the worlds of childhood and adulthood, are typical of young adult anti-utopias: young adult as a protagonist, importance of beauty, ability to sacrifice, a deem hope of a better future preconditioned by evolution of the human race. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Growing Up With Autism: Challenges and Opportunities of Parenting Young Adult Children with Autism Spectrum DisordersKayhan Parsi and Nanette ElsterAs the parent and stepparent of a child with autism, we witness a world that is quite different from parents with only neurotypical children. Tantrums don’t vanish after the age of three. Aggression is a way of life. Simple communication is a constant challenge. And dreams of a (...) child’s future have to be altered and adapted. In the narratives that accompany this commentary, we see that the challenges of raising a child with autism do not necessarily diminish with age; they may, however, change because children with autism become adults with autism and this presents a new set of both challenges and opportunities.The current epidemic of young children with autism is giving rise to yet another epidemic—the rising number of young adults who are autistic. As one of the authors here mentioned, “the system is in for a tsunami of new individuals needing medical care of all types, needing continued supports for housing and vocational training, communication, occupational and physical therapy” (Cornell). According to a recent study published in Pediatrics, “[y]outh with an ASD have poor postsecondary employment and education outcomes, especially in the first 2 years after high school” (Shattuck, 2012). With the rising number of children being diagnosed with autism, this employment disparity is likely to be exacerbated until or unless the workforce adapts to and accommodates the needs and skills of persons with autism.The needs of young adults with autism are only recently beginning to receive more attention from the media. But for these children’s parents, this issue has always been personal. The emotions on display in these narratives are heartfelt—even raw at times—and seem to swell like the wave of a tsunami itself as parents are now confronting what should be the independence of adulthood. With barriers to employment, health care and housing, young adults with autism remain largely dependent upon their parents. While the topic of transition to adulthood for those with autism is a vast one, implicating the need for wide scale policy change, certain themes emerge in these personal narratives that we wish to focus on here, which may well serve as a guide for that change.The Advocate MotherThe Advocate Mother is a common theme in many narratives of autism and the ones presented here are not different. In fact, nearly all of the narratives presented are written by mothers. Mothers in these narratives exemplify sacrifice, dashed hopes, and even heartbreak. Although there is steely determination in many of these narratives, there is also [End Page 207] self–doubt, anxiety and guilt. As Laura Shumaker recounts the story of taking her adult son to Washington, DC, she experiences great anxiety when her son is mocked. She speaks of “the heavy feeling in [her] chest that mothers get when people laugh at their children.”The advocate mother can easily become the overly consumed mother. Take, for example, the powerful narrative of Nancy Coughlin. She confesses that her daughter’s autism took over her life and the life of her family: “my own mental health was disintegrating, as was my marriage, and in our family’s last–ditch effort to ease the burden we bought a second home; a cheap little place just a few blocks down the road from where we lived. We called it our ‘respite house’.”Others confess that raising a child with autism becomes a “full time job.” (Van der Poel). And the demands of this job do not diminish simply because the child reaches adulthood; it may, in fact, become not only a personal job for some parents but their vocation as well. For instance, Anonymous Four states, “I felt so strongly that parents and young adults needed to know about CIP [College Internship Program], that I applied for a part time job there where I could utilize my background in marketing to help parents like me find the services their son or daughter may desperately need.”While the inability to express appropriate emotions is a hallmark feature of autism, it seems that mothers in particular compensate by... (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic context put to test all adaptive skills of human beings around the world. In this disruptive context, a sample of 401 respondents, aged between 19 and 65 years old, were assessed using the Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Emotional Distress Profile and the Autonomy Questionnaire, from Cognitrom Assessment System. The main objectives of the study aimed at identifying the significant differences in emotional distress, coping mechanisms, autonomy and self-acceptance based on gender and (...) age as grouping variables, and the significant relationships between all these variables. Statistics show differences in behavioural and emotional autonomy between male and female, differences related to catastrophizing and blaming others as resilience mechanisms between male and female, differences in self-acceptance and positive assessment between young people and adults, and significant negative correlations between emotional distress and all types of autonomy, significant positive correlation with coping mechanisms like blaming others, catastrophizing, self-blame and acceptance, and significant negative correlation with positive assessment and refocusing on planning. All results are discussed in the context of the disruption caused by the pandemic context and in relationship with the necessity of supporting people to maintain their mental health and well-being, now more than ever, with the new turning back to the previous way of life caused by the lifting of the state of alert by the authorities. (shrink)

Often hearing parents and adults belonging to the Deaf community have very different and opposite views regarding central themes in treatment and education of deaf children: cochlear implantation versus rejection of medicalization of deafness, oral communication versus Sign Language, and mainstreaming in regular schools versus education in deaf schools as the most natural learning environment for deaf children. The striking divergence of hearing and deaf people’s ethical judgments is a consequence of deafness and having normal hearing being “world-generating states,” (...) conditions that not only lead to a different understanding and perception of the world, but also to different courses of life that make the worlds of hearing and deaf people also really different.The views of hearing and deaf people stem from different worlds and different cosmologies, within which they have their own validity. The conflict between these two views is not resolved by arbitration or the choice for a middle course, but by negotiation. The basis for this negotiation may be an ethical analysis based on a Christian personalism that tries to combine full respect for the diversity of the negotiating partners with the effort of bringing their widely divergent worlds in communication with each other. (shrink)

The concept ofgroundingis accepted and common among dance movement therapists and body psychotherapists. It expresses a stable physical and emotional presence – “supported by the ground.” The assumption is that embodied emotional knowledge is expressed through the manner of physical holding and in the emotional experience in the world. However, along with the clinical use of the term, an empirical tool for examining grounding is lacking. The goal of the study was to examine the reliability and validity of an (...) observation tool for assessing the quality of grounding, the Grounding Assessment Tool (GAT), which was created for the present study on the basis of theory, research, and clinical knowledge in the field. Forty three adult participants (age,M= 28.2 years, SD = 8.54) were recruited for an experimental and controlled session, the session included guided movement for approximately 10 min. The movement was recorded on video. The quality of the movement was rated by two raters and was scored using the GAT. The study findings indicated that the GAT is a reliable and valid tool – with good internal consistency (α = 0.850) and high interrater and intrarater reliability (Kendall’s ’range from 0.789 to 0.973 and intraclass correlation coefficient range from 0.967 to 1.00, respectively). The exploratory factor analysis showed that four factors are involved in the assessment of grounding quality: fluid and rhythmic movement, emotional expression in movement, pattern of foot placement, and lack of stability and weightiness. The results of this study expand the theoretical understanding of the concept of grounding. They contribute to the understanding of the benefits of body focus, dance and movement in psychotherapy and to validating body psychotherapy and dance movement therapy (DMT). The existence of a reliable and valid tool is essential for assessment and diagnostic processes, for formulating therapeutic goals focused on the body, and for examining their effectiveness. (shrink)

Dignity is a central value in care for aged adults, and it must be protected and respected. With demographic changes leading to an aging population, health ministries are increasingly investing in digitalization. However, using unfamiliar digital technology can be challenging and thus impact aged adults' dignity and well‐being. The INNOVATEDIGNITY project aims to research new, dignified ways of engaging with aged adults to shape digital developments in care delivery. This qualitative study aimed to explore how innovative digitally‐led healthcare have influenced (...) aged adults' well‐being and dignity through three studies conducted as part of the INNOVATEDIGNITY project: a scoping review, an empirical study and a policy analysis. The three documents were analysed to uncover meanings relevant to the research problem revealing four main themes: the advantages of new technologies in facilitating aged adults' well‐being, the rupture of dignity due to bewilderment in the digital world, aged adults' dignity is affected by their worries about human face of care being replaced by technology and preserving aged adults' dignity in digitally‐led healthcare. Digitalization in healthcare impacts aged adults' well‐being as providing new opportunities for care, but preserving aged adults' dignity when working with unfamiliar digital innovations is challenging. Aged adults need to be informed about the use of technology in their care and supported to develop the necessary digital skills to better adapt to digitally‐led healthcare. The circumstances, conditions and needs of individuals should remain central when implementing new technologies in healthcare settings in a dignified way. (shrink)

The cultural-historical approach provides the deep theoretical grounds for the analysis of children’s play. Vygotsky suggested three critical features of play: switching to an imaginary situation, taking on a play role, and acting according to a set of rules defined by the role. Collaboration, finding ideas and materials for creating an imaginary situation, defining play roles, and planning the plot are complex tasks for children. However, the question is, do children need educator’s support during the play to develop their executive (...) functions, and to what extent? This experimental study was aimed at answering this inquiry. The four modes of sociodramatic play were created which differed in the adult intervention, from non-involvement in the play to its entire organization. The play could be child-led, adult-led, or free ; and there was also a control group where the children heard the same stimulus stories as the other groups but then followed them up with a drawing activity instead of a play activity. The study revealed that, firstly, the ways of educator’s involvement in the play differed in their potential in respect to the development of executive functions, and, secondly, this influence was not equal for different components of executive functions. Free play in the experiment was not a beneficial condition for the development of any of the studied components of executive functions, compared to the conditions involving the participation of an adult in the play. Furthermore, the type of adult intervention stimulated the development of various executive functions. The entire organization of the play by the adult had a positive impact of their general development. In contrast, the adult’s assistance in the organization of the children’s play had a positive effect on the development of inhibitory control. The study results can be helpful when considering educational practices within a cultural-historical approach to engaging the potential of play in children’s learning and development around the world. (shrink)

Short-term residential colleges were key landmarks in Britain’s adult education landscape after the Second World War, but – as Sharon Clancy notes in her fascinating study of one of them – they hav...

With the potential to process the world's agricultural and food waste, provide sustainable fodder for livestock, aquaculture, and pet animals, as well as act as a source of novel biomolecules, the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, has been launched into the leading position within the insects as feed industry. Fulfilment of these goals, however, requires mass‐rearing facilities to have a steady supply of neonate larvae, which in‐turn requires an efficient mating process to yield fertile eggs; yet, little is known (...) about adult reproductive behavior, nor what physiological factors lead to its emergence. Moreover, fertile egg production tends to be highly variable in colony. Therefore, this review brings together what is currently known of the organismal biology of H. illucens, compiling information on adult morphology, physiology, biogeography, genomics, and behavioral ecology. As a holistic synthesis, it highlights several directions of interest for research to follow. (shrink)

During the COVID-19 outbreak, individuals with or without mental disorders may resort to dysfunctional psychological strategies that could trigger or heighten their emotional distress. The current study aims to explore the links between maladaptive daydreaming, psychological symptoms of depression, anxiety, and negative stress, and COVID-19-related variables, such as changes in face-to-face and online relationships, during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 6,277 Italian adults completed an online survey, including socio-demographic variables, COVID-19 related information, the 16-item Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale, (...) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 Items. Based on an empirically derived cut-off score, 1,082 participants were identified as probable maladaptive daydreamers. A binary logistic regression revealed that compared to controls, probable MDers reported that during the COVID-19 lockdown they experienced higher levels of anxiety and depression, decreased online social relationships, and, surprisingly, stable or increased face-to-face social relationships. Given the peculiar characteristics of the pandemic context, these findings suggest that the exposure to the risk of contagion had probably exacerbated the tendency of probable MDers to lock themselves inside their mental fantasy worlds, which in turn may have contributed to further estrangement from online social relationships and support, thus worsening their emotional distress. (shrink)

The concept of selecting for a disability, and deafness in particular, has triggered a controversial and sometimes acrimonious debate between key stakeholders. Previous studies have concentrated on the views of the deaf and hard of hearing, health professionals and ethicists towards reproductive selection for deafness. This study, however, is the first of its kind examining the views of hearing children of deaf adults towards preimplantation genetic diagnosis and prenatal diagnosis to select for or against deafness. Hearing children of deaf adults (...) straddle both the deaf and hearing worlds, and this dual perspective makes them ideally placed to add to the academic discourse concerning the use of genetic selection for or against deafness. The study incorporated two complementary stages, using initial, semistructured interviews with key informants as a means to guide the subsequent development of an electronic survey, completed anonymously by 66 individuals. The participants shared many of the same views as deaf individuals in the D/deaf community. The similarities extended to their opinions regarding deafness not being a disability, their ambivalence towards having hearing or deaf children and their general disapproval of the use of genetic technologies to select either for or against deafness. (shrink)

Physics tells us that the world that we live in is “really” composed of vast numbers of tiny particles, defined and individuated by their mass, charge, velocity and position. That is all there is, the rest being empty space. In contrast the world that we interact with in our every day lives is composed of rooms with windows, people and cats, and plates filled with milk and cornflakes. It is a world of individual objects and stuffs, most (...) of which can be effortlessly identified and labelled as being of a particular kind. Like an illustration in a child’s reader, we could look around our environment and attach labels to all of the objects and kinds of things around us. (shrink)

An unanswered question on the making of Pedagogy of the Oppressed is when, where and how this book was written, edited, and published. The Preface of the original Portuguese handwritten manuscript is dated in Chile by 1967. Some scholars imply that the manuscript was finished sometime in March or April 1969. By then, Freire had left Chile and three of his books had been published by the Institute of Research and Training in Agrarian Reform, ICIRA. Freire himself had already committed (...) the English translation, from the original Portuguese manuscript with Herder & Herder in New York, together with the Spanish translation published by Tierra Nueva in Uruguay. This book explores the ways in which Freire's time and work in Chile proved to be decisive in the making of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, widely considered one of the most important books on critical pedagogy and adult learning and education in the twentieth century. The scope is confined to Paulo Freire's years of political exile in Chile, from late November 1964 to mid-April 1969. It builds upon evidence provided by scholarly research to answer four questions. What did Paulo Freire do during his years of exile in Chile. In which institutional contexts did he develop his pedagogical methods and political ideas? How was his literacy training method and participatory research approach shared throughout Latin America and the rest of the world? To what extent did his exile in Chile influence a paradigm shift in literacy training and adult education? (shrink)

Provocative essays on real-world ethical questions from the world's most influential philosopher Peter Singer is often described as the world's most influential philosopher. He is also one of its most controversial. The author of important books such as Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics, Rethinking Life and Death, and The Life You Can Save, he helped launch the animal rights and effective altruism movements and contributed to the development of bioethics. Now, in Ethics in the Real World, Singer (...) shows that he is also a master at dissecting important current events in a few hundred words. In this book of brief essays, he applies his controversial ways of thinking to issues like climate change, extreme poverty, animals, abortion, euthanasia, human genetic selection, sports doping, the sale of kidneys, the ethics of high-priced art, and ways of increasing happiness. Singer asks whether chimpanzees are people, smoking should be outlawed, or consensual sex between adult siblings should be decriminalized, and he reiterates his case against the idea that all human life is sacred, applying his arguments to some recent cases in the news. In addition, he explores, in an easily accessible form, some of the deepest philosophical questions, such as whether anything really matters and what is the value of the pale blue dot that is our planet. The collection also includes some more personal reflections, like Singer’s thoughts on one of his favorite activities, surfing, and an unusual suggestion for starting a family conversation over a holiday feast. Provocative and original, these essays will challenge—and possibly change—your beliefs about a wide range of real-world ethical questions. (shrink)

Marriage is one of the most important topics in the education field since life in this world is structured by interaction among families and between families and other social institutions. Dissatisfaction and unsustainability of marriage have led the urgency of premarital education in various countries. The problem is that the spread of virtual reality has made marriage itself to become more complex and experience reinterpretation and reconfiguration, moreover with the emergence of new kind of marriage in the digital era, (...) i.e. virtual marriage. Everybody who has observed, known, or even tried, certainly asks the question, “Could (or: should) I accept virtual marriage?” . This study was aimed to investigate the role of tolerance of ambiguity and illusion of intimacy in online dating in predicting the acceptance of virtual marriage. There were 420 adolescents and young adults (212 males, 208 females; Mage=21.10 years old, SDage=1.459 years; 338 students, 82 employees or entrepreneurs) in the Greater Jakarta, Indonesia, participated in this study. It was found that the acceptance was not predicted by the ambiguity tolerance, but by the illusion of intimacy in online dating. The psychometric issues, substantive discussion, and recommendation are presented at the end of this article. The trend of virtual marriage should not be allowed to roll away, by autopilot, without loaded by strategies in designing an online game as one of the pivotal educational technologies that needs to shape appropriate character and attitude for it. (shrink)

Both adults and children have the ability to not only think about reality but also use their imaginations and create fictional worlds. This article describes the process by which world creation happens, drawing from philosophical and psychological treatments of this issue. First, world creators recognize the need to create a fictional world, as when starting a pretend game or opening a novel. Then, creators merge some real-world knowledge with the premises of the fictional world to (...) construct a fuller representation, though there is some controversy about how much of the real world is represented in any given fictional world. After the world is created, events can be set in motion within it. While it is generally accepted that this basic process is used for a wide variety of fictional worlds, including fictional stories, pretend games, and counterfactual scenarios, this process of world creation can vary over the course of development and depending on the use to which it is put. (shrink)

Education as a deliberate activity and purposive process necessarily involves mediation, in the sense that the educator mediates between the child and the world. This can take different forms: the educator may function as a guide who initiates children into particular practices and domains and their modes of thinking and perceiving; or act as a filter, selecting what of the world the child encounters and how; or meet the child as representative of the adult world. I (...) look at these types of mediation at the hand of the work of John Dewey, Martin Buber, Hannah Arendt, and Richard Peters. The purpose of this paper is to explore the bearing that the mediating role of the educator—as interpreted by these authors—has on the role wonder may play in the educational process. I suggest that initiation highlights the familiarizing function of wonder, and is most readily associated with inquisitive wonder; representation draws attention to the defamiliarizing role of wonder, as well as to its world-affirming role; and selection foregrounds the distinction between momentary and dispositional wonder. (shrink)

In this paper, I draw on Heidegger’s phenomenology of “moods” (_Stimmungen_) to interpret loneliness as a diffused and atmospheric feeling-state that often undergirds the lives of older adults, shaping the ways in which they are attuned to and make sense of the world. I focus specifically on residents in long-term care facilities to show how the social isolation and lockdown measures of the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically intensified the mood. The aim is to shed light on how profound and totalizing (...) the experience has been for residents. Making use of Heidegger’s account of the affective “collapse” or “breakdown” (_Zusammenbruch_) of meaning, I argue that when older adults are functionally locked in their rooms for months at a time and cut off from the orienting routines and rhythms of the relational world, the result is a crumbling of the fundamental meaning-structures that constitute subjectivity. The global sense of abandonment and disconnection strips away the possibility for self-understanding, and residents are often left confused and abandoned to an existence that has been drained of meaning and significance. (shrink)

This beautiful introduction to art and language features some of the world's most beloved masterpieces as it entices children to discover art, language, objects, and colors. First pictures, first words--this familiar and time-proven book concept for young children is incorporated brilliantly in this multi-lingual art book. The works of Renoir, Kandinsky, Dürer, Rousseau, Franz Marc, and others are featured in beautiful full-page reproductions. Opposite each image is a word that helps describe the painting--for instance "play," "bunny," "horse," "train." The (...) words are presented in twelve different languages, each with their phonetic pronunciation. Organized thematically, the book touches on a child's everyday experience through simple and comforting images that will invite further investigation: What are the men playing with? What does the bunny's fur feel like? How many teddy bears do you see? Together adults and children can explore great works, planting the seeds for an appreciation of the world's masterpieces and the words to describe them."--Publisher's description. (shrink)

The world’s population is currently aging, and the issue of ageism has become serious worldwide, including in Japan. Negative attitudes toward older adults can have undesirable effects on the mental and physical health of this group. We focused on the effects of contact experience with older adults and germ aversion, or the degree of aversion to infection, on negative attitudes toward older adults. Additionally, we included a moderating variable; youth identity, or the sense of belonging with younger rather than (...) older age groups. An online survey was conducted with Japanese participants. We conducted multiple regression analyses and the results showed that the interaction effect between youth identity and contact experience on negative attitudes toward older adults was significant. The findings suggest that contact experience may help in reducing negative attitudes toward older adults among people with low youth identity. The interaction effect between youth identity and germ aversion, however, was not significant. Academic research on the effects of some psychological interventions should pay particular attention to the role of youth identity. Future directions for empirical studies are also discussed. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Listening to the World:Engagement with Those Who SufferOuyporn KhuankaewBefore talking about listening to the world I would like to review what brought us to the need to listen. Riane Eisler, a thinker and peace activist who authored the book The Power of Partnership, summarizes the main characteristics of dominant culture as authoritarian, men over women, masculinity valued over femininity, hierarchical and centralized power of a few privileged (...) groups, and violence institutionalized and normalized. The culture that we are working toward is partnership, which is about a practice of power sharing, a flat structure for society and institutions that support decentralization, gender equality, justice for all, nonviolence, and love.To work and live in partnership cultures we need to shift, to unlearn, the world-view, skills, and behavior we have internalized from the dominant culture.Dominant culturePartnership culturePreaching or teachingLearning togetherTelling the answerListening with an open heartKnowingHaving a beginner’s mindHelpingWorking togetherFixingBeing a witness, being present with the sufferingOffering solutionsAsking questions: Let people touch their wisdom Click for larger view View full resolutionThe work of International Women’s Partnership for Peace and Justice (IWP) is to train social activists in South and Southeast Asia to deconstruct their worldview, attitude, and behaviors internalized from the dominant culture, to envision and practice skills and behaviors of a partnership culture. The main skill that we practice throughout our five-day to six-week workshops is deep listening with an open heart. Compassionate or mindful listening alone combines all the partnership values, concept, skills, and behavior mentioned above, and even beyond. When we use it with [End Page 59] Buddhists, we recognize deep listening as meditation in action. When we work with Christians, we acknowledge it as a practice of love. And we call deep listening a spiritual practice when we work with people who do not want to identify with religious institutions.Deep listening with an open heart is a way to crack open our numbness, internalized from the dominant culture that trains us to listen with our head. Listening with our head means we listen with a readiness to make comment, to judge, to ask for more information for our curiosity, to give solutions, or to share our stories. We all know this well when our parents, teachers, or persons with authority do this to us. And when we become adults, we automatically do the same thing that we used to oppose.When we listen with our heart open it means we are being present to hear the stories, the emotions, the hope, the joy, and the pains of people who simply only need a witness to their own existence, particularly when working with marginalized people whose power within has been taken away and their voices are not heard in the dominant cultures. Offering deep listening to the suffering of someone or a group of people is the first step to engage with their realities and to create opportunities for people to speak their truths.Often in our ten-day workshop we will have someone who has been living or working with an abusive partner, parents, or boss for many years. Our job as a workshop facilitator is to create a safe environment for such a person to talk about her suffering. We model and encourage other participants to be present without judgment, questions, or suggestions when the person is talking. This is very hard for the first few days because most participants are trained, as a result of the dominant culture, to want to tell the person what to do, or they simply act uncomfortable with the situation by writing a note, going to the toilet, or looking away. This is because they do not know how to be with the suffering of others or do not know how to engaged in the suffering itself. We suggest that participants use the breath and the awareness of their body sitting on a floor to help anchor their mind, which is trying to run away from the unpleasant situation. We share with them that when we can be present without fixing the problem or running... (shrink)

Aging of population has brought great challenges to many regions throughout the world. It has been demonstrated that interpersonal relationship is closely related to the experiences of aging for older adults. However, it still remains unknown how and under what conditions thwarted belongingness links to successful aging. This study examined the relationship between thwarted belongingness and successful aging and tested the mediating role of positive mental health and the moderating role of meaning in life. Community-dwelling older adults aged 60–75 (...) years recruited in Chongqing, China completed self-measures of thwarted belongingness, successful aging, meaning in life, and positive mental health. Correlation analyses showed that successful aging was associated with less thwarted belongingness, better positive mental health, and higher levels of meaning in life. Positive mental health was found to totally mediate the negative effect of thwarted belongingness on successful aging. Moderated mediation analyses further revealed that two components of meaning in life attenuated the indirect effect of thwarted belongingness on successful aging via positive mental health. This study highlights the protective roles of positive mental health and meaning in life and addressed cultural aspects in the process of successful aging among Chinese older adults. (shrink)