Emerging Voices: How Transitional Justice Can Transform the Congolese Diaspora into Agents of Change

Congo-Brazzaville is a small West African country with the economic potential for every citizen to live in comfortable wealth, but its current political context reads like a Hobbesian, dystopian novel. The United Nations lists the country at 137 on the Human Development Index. The irony is that the Congolese voice is missing or “disappeared” from most human rights coverage, academic literature and social research. This thesis therefore rests keenly on the logic of qualitative research. The Congolese diaspora seemed a trigger point, a way of contending with this disappearance and awakening the “voices from below”. By working with a small sample of the local diaspora, focusing on their stories and experiences, the work seeks to bring clarity and in- depth understanding to their metaphysical hijack. Surprisingly, what emerged were the false, dominant narratives that keep the Congolese psychologically, politically, and economically suppressed. Namely, 1) Congo is a poor nation, 2) colonialism is dead, 3) ethnic conflict is the cause of war, and 4) Congo has no future. This work shows how and why transitional justice can dismantle and transform these narratives, and offer a moment of reckoning

Conflicting Ambivalence of Haitian Identity-Making in South Florida

Este artículo describe las construcciones de identidad, lugar de origen,y de pertenencia entre la primera y segunda generación de migrantes haitianos que viven en el sur de Florida. Polaridades en conflicto marcan las experiencias vividas de los haitianos entrevistados y, las teorías de la migración como integración tales como la del "crisol de culturas diferentes" o la "ensaladera", se vuelven inútiles para la comprensión de las experiencias de inmigrantes. En otro nivel, se elabora la noción de hibridación social por su resonancia con conceptos ontológicos entre los haitiano-estadounidenses, especialmente en lo que respecta al "estira y afloja" de vivir en los Estados Unidos con un sentimiento hacia Haití. Para muchos de nuestros informantes haitianos, la noción de estratificación de clase definió sus percepciones de individualidad. Así también, nuestros entrevistados haitiano-americanos describieron sus diferencias con respecto a otras experiencias de afro-descendientes como los afro-americanos, además de situar su "haitinidad” como única. Lo que está claro a partir del análisis de estas narrativas de haitiano-americanos, es la mutabilidad de su pertenencia imaginaria y los polivalentes significados asociados con sus identidades ambivalentes. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0903118In diesem Artikel werden die Konstruktionen von Identität, Zuhause und Zugehörigkeit von Haitianischen Einwander/innen der ersten und zweiten Generation, welche in Südflorida leben, diskutiert. Die gelebten Erfahrungen der Haitianischen Interviewpartner/innen zeichnen sich durch konfliktgeladene Polaritäten-Erfahrungen aus. In diesem Sinne werden Migrationstheorien der Integration als "Schmelztiegel" oder "Salatschüssel" als nutzlos für das Verständnis der Einwanderungserfahrungen dargestellt. Zudem wird das Konzept der "sozialen Hybridität" wegen dessen Resonanz mit ontologischen Vorstellungen unter Haitianer/innen ausgearbeitet. Dies findet insbesondere in Bezug auf die Push-Pull-Faktoren des Lebens in den Vereinigten Staaten mit verbleibenden Gefühlen für Haiti statt. Das Konzept der gesellschaftlichen Stratifikation hat für viele unserer Haitianischen Gesprächspartner/innen die Wahrnehmung der eigenen Persönlichkeit definiert. In diesem Sinne haben sie "Haitianisch sein" als einzigartig dargestellt, indem sie die Unterschiede zu anderen Afro-stämmigen Erfahrungen, wie zum Beispiel denen von Afro-Amerikaner/innen, beschrieben. Die Analyse der Narrationen zeigt deutlich die Wandlungsfähigkeit ihrer Imagination der Zugehörigkeit und die polyvalenten Bedeutungen, welche mit ihren ambivalenten Identitäten assoziiert sind. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0903118This article discusses constructions of identity, home, and belonging among first and second-generation Haitian-migrants living in South Florida. Conflicting polarities mark the lived experiences of the Haitian interviewees, and as such, migration theories of integration as the "melting pot" or "salad bowl," are rendered useless for understanding immigrant experiences. To another degree, the notion of social hybridity is elaborated upon for its resonance to ontological concepts among Haitian-Americans, especially in regard to the push and pull of living in the United States with remaining sentiments toward Haiti. For many of our Haitian informants the notion of class stratification defined their perceptions of selfhood. So too, our Haitian-American interviewees described their differences from other Afro-descendant experiences as African-Americans, further situating their Haitian-ness as being unique. What is clear from analyzing narratives of these Haitian-Americans is the mutability of their imagining belonging-ness and the polyvalent meanings associated with their ambivalent identities. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs090311

Associations Between Objective and Subjective Socioeconomic Status, Perception of Family Resources, and Child Psychopathology Symptoms in Preschool Years

The purpose of this study was to analyze the associations between the domains of objective and subjective socioeconomic status, perception of family resources, and psychopathology symptoms in preschool-aged children. The sample consisted of 44 low income multi-ethnic families from the Houston area. These families were recruited from preschools, community centers, and service organizations. Parents self-reported demographic information, subjective socioeconomic status through the ladder scale, and child psychopathology symptoms through the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition. Family resources were determined through their own scale, and child behavior was measured through the Conners Early Childhood-Parent measure. Correlation analysis revealed that income-to-needs ratio, Hollingshead index, parental education level, overall subjective perception, and perception of overall family resources were not significantly associated with any of the child psychopathology symptom variables. Linear regression model revealed that family growth and support subscale scores were significantly associated with defiance/aggressive behaviors in preschool years. Results showed that higher levels of perception of resourcefulness in family growth and support, and family necessities and health, were associated with lower levels of child defiance/aggressiveness. Findings support the need for longitudinal designs with larger power, as well as the need to observe other behaviors such as cognitive adjustment.Psychology, Department ofHonors Colleg

Primary physical education, coaches and continuing professional development

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Sport, Education and Society, 16(4), 485 - 505, 2011, copyright @ Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13573322.2011.589645.Physical education (PE) in primary schools has traditionally been taught by qualified primary teachers. More recently, some teaching of PE in primary schools has been undertaken by coaches (mostly football coaches). These coaches hold national governing body awards but do not hold teaching qualifications. Thus, coaches may not be adequately prepared to teach PE in curriculum time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of a group of community-based football coaches working in primary schools for the impact of a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme on their ability to undertake ‘specified work’ to cover PE in primary schools. The programme focused on four areas identified as important to enable coaches to cover specified work: short- and medium-term planning, pedagogy, knowledge of the curriculum and reflection. Results showed that for the majority of coaches the CPD programme had made them more aware of the importance of these four areas and had helped to develop their knowledge and ability to put this into practice in covering planning, preparation and assessment time. However, further input is still required to develop coaches’ knowledge and understanding in all four areas, but especially their curriculum knowledge, as well as their ability to put these into practice consistently. These findings are discussed in relation to the implications of employing coaches to cover the teaching of PE in primary schools and, if employed, what CPD coaches need to develop the necessary knowledge, skill and understanding for covering specified work in schools

The microstructure of coaching practice:Behaviours and activities of an elite rugby union head coach during preparation and competition

The activities and behaviours of a female head coach of a national rugby union team were recorded in both training and competition, across a whole rugby season, using the newly developed Rugby Coach Activities and Behaviours Instrument (RCABI). The instrument incorporates 24 categories of behaviour, embedded within three forms of activity (training form, playing form and competitive match) and seven sub-activity types. In contrast to traditional drill-based coaching, 58.5% of training time was found to have been spent in playing form activities. Moreover, the proportion of playing form activities increased to a peak average of 83.8% in proximity to the team’s annual international championship. Uniquely, one of the coach’s most prolific behaviours was conferring with associates (23.3%), highlighting the importance of interactions with assistant coaches, medical staff and others in shaping the coaching process. Additionally, the frequencies of key behaviours such as questioning and praise were found to vary between the different activity forms and types, raising questions about previous conceptions of effective coaching practice. The findings are discussed in the light of the Game Sense philosophy and the role of the head coach