Taking empathy online

Despite its long history of investigating sociality, phenomenology has, to date, said little about online sociality. The phenomenological tradition typically claims that empathy is the fundamental way in which we experience others and their experiences. While empathy is discussed almost exclusively in the context of face-to-face interaction, I claim that we can empathetically perceive others and their experiences in certain online situations. Drawing upon the phenomenological distinction between the physical, objective body and the expressive, lived body, I: (i) highlight that empathy involves perceiving the other’s expressive, lived body, (ii) show that the lived body is not tied to the physical body and that empathy can take place outside of face-to-face interactions, and (iii) argue that the lived body can enter online space and is empathetically available to others there. I explore two ways in which the other’s lived body enters online space and can be empathetically perceived: first, in cases where our face-to-face encounter is technologically-mediated over video link and, second, by showing how the other’s texts, as speech, can form part of the other’s lived body. Investigating empathy online not only furthers our understanding of online encounters but also leads to a refined conception of empathy more generally

AI and extremism in social networks

Studien utforsker hvordan midler som kunstig intelligens, AI- drevne chatbots, kan være kilder man kan regne med som moralske aktører på digitale plattformer og som kan være identifiserbare opprørsmodeller til bekjempelse av ekstremistiske og voldsforherligende ytringer på sosiale medieplattformer. Fremveksten av digital nettverkskommunikasjon har lettet prosessen med sosiale bevegelser, noe fenomenet «Den arabiske våren» tydelig demonstrerer. Sosiale medier har vært et verdifullt verktøy når det gjelder å utvikle kollektive identiteter med en felles ideologi for å fremme et bestemt mål eller en sak og gi alternative plattformer for undertrykte samfunn. Imidlertid forblir virkningen og konsekvensene av sosiale medier i samfunn der maktbalansen forrykkes gjennom fundamentale endringer et bekymringsfullt fenomen. Radikaliserte individer og grupper har også hevdet sin tilstedeværelse på sosiale medieplattformer gjennom å fremme fordommer, hat og vold. Ekstremistiske grupper bruker ulike taktikker for å utøve makten sin på disse plattformene. Bekjempelsen av voldelig ekstremisme på sosiale medieplattformer blir som regel ikke koordinert av aktuelle aktører som regjeringer, sosiale medieselskaper, FN eller andre private organisasjoner. I tillegg har fremdeles ikke forsøk på å konstituere AI til bekjempelse av voldelig ekstremisme blitt gjennomført, men lovende resultater har blitt oppnådd gjennom noen initiativer. Prosjektet som en ‘case study’ ser på den nylige reformen i Etiopia som ble gjennomført av Nobels fredsprisvinner 2019 Abiy Ahmed etter at han tiltrådte som statsminister i Etiopia i april 2018. Etter flere tiår med undertrykkelse har den nye maktovertakelsen der det politiske rommet ble åpnet opp og ytringsfrihet ble tillatt, uventet ført til et skred av etniske gruppers polarisering. Nye etno-ekstremister har dukket frem fra alle kriker og kroker av landet og også fra sin tilværelse i diaspora. Studien ser videre på hvilken rolle sosiale medier til tider spiller ved direkte å presse på for å påvirke til og dermed forårsake voldelige handlinger på grasrota.Ved å bruke en kvalitativ forskningsmetode for ustrukturerte intervjuer med etiopiske brukere av sosiale medier, journalister og aktivister, identifiserer studien kjerneaspektene ved konfliktene og foreslår initiativer som kan brukes til å motvirke voldelig etnisk ekstremisme. Ved å bruke relevant litteratur ser prosjektet videre på innarbeidelsen av kunstig intelligens (AI) i «moralske handlinger» på sosiale medier og hvordan den kan utformes slik at den av seg selv kan ta i bruk moralske beslutningsevner i nettverket. I tillegg ser studien på mulighetene videre for bekjempelse av voldelig ekstremisme og skisserer den spesifikke rollen ikke menneskelige aktører som profesjonelle troll og bots på sosiale medier bør spille for å slåss mot radikalisering som kan føre til voldelige handlinger.Mastergradsoppgave i digital kulturMAHF-DIKULDIKULT35

Measuring work disability in the U.S.: conceptual, methodological, and diagnostic considerations

The Work-Disability Functional Assessment Battery (WD-FAB) is a self-reported measure, developed to allow the SSA to collect systematic and comprehensive information about claimants’ functioning. It consists of eight scales: Basic Mobility, Upper Body Function, Fine Motor Function, Community Mobility, Cognition & Communication, Resilience/Sociability, Social Interactions, and Mood & Emotions. Three studies were conducted to evaluate the WD-FAB and apply it as an outcome measure to examine questions relevant to work disability measurement. "Examining Activity Domain Structure of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF)" empirically tests the structure of the WHO’s ICF Activity subdomains by comparing it to the empirical structure of the WD-FAB. The comparison found good alignment between the physical function WD-FAB scales and ICF Mobility; several Activity subdomains converge into Cognition & Communication in the WD-FAB. Mental Functions and certain Interpersonal Interactions converge. A re-organization of the subdomains into distinct, measurable constructs is presented for future ICF revisions. "Who Applies to Social Security Disability Programs? Demographic and Functional Differences among Claimants" examines how Social Security disability claimants compare sociodemographically to the working age US population, assesses differences in claimants’ functional status by demographic characteristics, and showcases a method to detect Differential Item Functioning (DIF), which, once controlled for, minimizes measurement error. 17 items displayed DIF, primarily based upon gender. Claimants were sociodemographically different from the general sample and reported lower functioning. Within claimants, there were very few differences of consequence in function between different sociodemographic groups. "Determining Functional Profiles of Common Conditions explores the relationship between diagnoses and function." Common patterns of diagnoses among claimants were identified: musculoskeletal, cancer, multisystem, neurological & sensory, and mental conditions. Many of the diagnosis groups showed unique functional features. The identification of functional profiles for different condition groups suggests that WD-FAB scores may add value to the disability determination process. There is no single litmus test for work disability, but incorporating self-reported experiences is becoming an increasingly common focus in the field. This work demonstrates how a conceptually grounded self-reported measure of functioning can be used to understand the condition of individuals whose health limits their ability to work

A map of e-Learning

Goal of the paper is to provide a map of e-learning, in order to help understanding the great complexity of situations hidden under this new and trendy term. Education environments are analyzed according to four main directions: learning models, didactic relationships, activities and technology pervasiveness. The analysis reveals that many apparently new ideas do not depend strictly on new media: new technologies act as a catalyst for a critical re-thinking of teaching and learning

Patent Law, Copyright Law, and the Girl Germs Effect

[Excerpt] Inventors pursue patents and authors receive copyrights. No special education is required for either endeavor, and nothing precludes a person from being both an author and an inventor. Inventors working on patentable industrial projects geared toward commercial exploitation tend to be scientists or engineers. Authors, with the exception of those writing computer code, tend to be educated or trained in the creative arts, such as visual art, performance art, music, dance, acting, creative writing, film making, and architectural drawing. There is a well-warranted societal supposition that most of the inventors of patentable inventions are male. Assumptions about the genders of the authors of remunerative commercially exploited copyrights may be less rigid. Women authors are more broadly visible than women inventors across most of the typical categories of copyrightable works. Yet, whether one considers patentable inventions or copyrightable works, the vast majority of the very profitable ones are both originated and controlled by men. This causes a host of negative consequences for women. They start and run businesses at much lower rates than men and rarely reach elite leadership levels in the corporate world or within high-profile artistic or cultural communities. They are perceived as less competent, less dedicated, and less hard working, and suffer from a lack of female mentors and female colleagues. Women are lied to during financial negotiations more than men and earn less than men in equivalent positions. Women control only a tiny portion of the world’s wealth. Though female students outperform male students in almost every context and at almost every level of education, and even seek postdegree job-related training in greater numbers than men, this has not helped women to produce and control patentable inventions or to author and own valuable copyrighted works in numbers comparable to men

The Relationship between Self-Construal and Parenting Practices

Two studies examined the link between participants’ physical and relational self-construal, and their physical and relational parenting practices. We predicted that the type of self-construal would correlate with the corresponding type of parenting practices when participants thought about parenting hypothetically (Study 1) and 5n their own lives (Study 2). Participants completed an online survey that assessed their self-construal and their hypothetical or actual parenting practices. For hypothetical parenting, physical self-construal correlated positively with both physical and relational parenting practices. For actual parenting, relational self-construal and parenting practices were correlated positively. Experience in parenting influenced participants to show greater consistency between their relational self-construal and their relational parenting practices than they showed when thinking about parenting hypothetically

Task Analysis for a Food Processing Facility: A Social Enterprise for Persons from Underemployed Populations

Social enterprises aim to be agents of recovery for consumers of mental health services but lack knowledge of how to accurately identify workplace supports, accommodations, and modifications that are appropriate for their clients. Graduate occupational therapy students were contacted to assist with an activity analysis at a food processing facility that serves persons with mental illnesses. Occupational therapy is well suited to assist with task analysis and consult on work environments for persons with mental illnesses. In three sessions over five months a task-oriented analysis of work tasks at a food processing facility that employed people with mental illnesses was conducted. In the first visit project managers conducted an initial interview of workers and supervisors and observed work tasks. They then presented a report of the findings that included recommendations for modifying tools for safety and ways to improve communication between workers and supervisors. In the second visit, project managers identified the physical aspects of the job tasks that could cause musculoskeletal injuries and collaborated with workers to alter the physical environment to improve task ergonomics. In the final session, workers and supervisors were filmed and photographed performing tasks with and without new modifications of the work environment. The product of the analysis was a report that made recommendations to improve food processing safety and an educational manual that provided resources on best practices for hiring and retaining employees with mental illnesses. Managers of the social enterprise said that they strongly agreed with the statement that they anticipated the manual and report would help them to hire or retain employees in the future

Perceptions of Reasonable Use of Force by Probation Officers and Civilians

There is little academic research that examines whether there are differences between the ways probation officers and community members perceive the use of force on juvenile offenders. Failure to understand the differences in these perceptions negatively affected a probation department in California, which failed to address public concerns regarding the use of force in the juvenile hall, which resulted in a consent decree and a costly financial settlement. Using socialization theory as the foundation, the purpose of this study was to understand if there is a statistically significant difference between probation officers and civilians regarding their perceptions of use of force against juvenile offenders. Data were collected from a nonprobability sample of probation officers (n = 71) and community members (n = 125) in a Northern California community through an online survey that featured 5 scenarios of escalating behavior from a juvenile offender. Respondents were asked to evaluate whether the use of force was appropriate or excessive for each scenario. Data were analyzed using an independent samples t test and chi-square tests of independence. Findings indicated that, overall, there is a statistically significant difference in the perception of use of force between the 2 groups (p \u3c. -4.04). Specifically, community members are more likely to have a lower threshold of tolerance for use of force than probation officers in 3 of the 5 scenarios in the survey. The positive social change implications of this study include recommendations to probation departments in California for enhanced collaboration and training with community members to better understand the expectations of each group related to use of force and the treatment of juvenile offenders