Breaking the Silence Surrounding Hepatitis C by Promoting Self-Efficacy: A Study of Hepatitis C Public Service Announcements

Hepatitis C (HCV) is the most common chronic blood borne virus in the United States. Despite this fact, there is a startling lack of awareness about HCV among individuals who may have contracted the virus. This study, grounded in self-efficacy theory, analyzes public service announcements (PSAs) for HCV. Using focus groups to contextualize the responses of individuals living with HCV, the authors conclude that stigma and structural barriers pose the greatest challenges for health communicators trying to reach at-risk populations. The findings suggest that expanded use of celebrity appeals, realistic drug portrayals, more extensive use of social networking in tandem with non-traditional media, and tapping into veterans, while minimizing fear tactics and maximizing self-efficacy messages, offer new hope for successful health communication strategies. With 3.9 million people in the United States infected with HCV, this study offers urgently needed communications strategies to address this silent epidemic

An Exploration of Teacher Perceptions of Mental Health Indicators within the Construct of School Connectedness

Mental health is an area schools have been increasingly asked to address. Protective factors to mitigate concerning mental health outcomes include those of building relationships, helping students feel safe and secure in their schools, and setting high expectations. These are encompassed within the construct of school connectedness, which is a burgeoning area of research and is linked to an increase of positive mental health outcomes in students. This study utilized a survey to determine the strength in relationship between teacher perceptions of ability to construct school connectedness and the importance of doing so. The study also examined variations in current practices of connecting students to school across Preschool through High School teachers. Findings suggest that there is a strong relationship (rs=.427; p = .083) between teachers perceived abilities in constructing connectedness and the importance in doing so. Findings also suggest that teachers are currently implementing activities throughout their daily routines that positively foster student connectedness. Implications for the field and educational leaders are discussed

The Stage and the Dance in Medias Res: An Ethnographic Study of Ideologies Associated with Tradition and Continuity in a French Ballet Academy in the United States

The anthropological study of dance is particularly relevant to scholars who work on theories of embodiment and social practice, as well as those concerned with the production of history and ideologies, for dance concerns the deliberate movement of the body across space and in time, and within a particular socio-cultural context. Based on a year and a half of ethnographic research at a pre-professional ballet school in New York City that specializes in teaching the "classical French" form, this study applies an anthropological understanding of ideologies and processes in education to classical forms of ballet. Its analysis of how the ideological system associated with the aesthetics of ballet is created and recreated, in relation to shifting concepts of tradition, suggests that the process of establishing and maintaining institutional boundaries and "sculpting" the bodies of students in the classroom frames the ways that students are related to, and develop relationships with, the ideologies that they encounter. Both the school, as an institution, and individual students are able to navigate and position themselves within the landscape formulated by these ideologies through the development of social networks, the formulation of individual institutional genealogies, and the development and presentation of choreography in selected venues. These processes illustrate the ways in which ideological systems are articulated, developed, and altered in relation to understandings of the human body

An Exploration Of The Meaning Of The Phenomenon Of Hope, In The Context Of Hopelessness, For Rural Frontline Registered Nurses In South Dakota, North Dakota, And Minnesota During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Background & Purpose: This study’s purpose was to understand what the phenomenon of hope meant to rural critical access hospital RNs in three Midwest states, and what gave them hope during the COVID-19 pandemic. The full scope of the pandemic on the rural nursing workforce is unknown. Prior research has shown that hope can be a positive tool for sustaining psychological well-being, setting and achieving goals, and can facilitate coping (Collins, Bhathal, Field, Larlee, Paje, & Young, 2018; Hacimusalar, Kahve, & Aydin, 2020; Persell, 2016; Snyder, 1995). Methods: Ten participants were interviewed using a semi-structured, interpretive hermeneutic phenomenological approach. van Manen’s hermeneutic analysis method was used to construct components and themes. Results: The meanings of hope and hopelessness were co-created with participants. The phenomenon of hopelessness prominently emerged, and an unexpected finding of the study was that some components/themes sparked agency for the nurses, which helped to foster hope, while some components/themes stifled agency, which contributed to hopelessness. Conclusion: Nurses experienced hopelessness and hope on the frontlines. The role of agency in relation to hope necessitates further inquiry. It is anticipated that the knowledge gained from this study will explain how hope may be fostered (and hopelessness navigated) to support and retain rural frontline nurses in future healthcare crises

Teachers\u27 experiences with teaching for social justice in tracked middle school mathematics classes.

Tracking is a longstanding structure in K-12 mathematics that decades of research has shown to be inequitable. Despites calls to detrack mathematics classes, most U.S. schools retain tracking. Mathematics educators have attempted to implement teaching pedagogies such as Teaching for Social Justice (TSJ) that promote equity in all mathematics classrooms, including tracked classes. This research used the Learning to Teach for Social Justice Belief (LTSJ-B) Scale with middle school mathematics teachers who have taught in tracked classes to measure their levels of commitment to TSJ. This research also employed case study methodology with three teachers and cross-case analysis using TSJ and Critical Race Theory frameworks to describe how teachers who tended to endorse TSJ pedagogy (a) described their enactment of TSJ pedagogy, and (b) their perceptions of how well they could create more equitable learning experiences for students. Data included survey and demographic responses, lesson plans, and interviews. Case study analyses revealed individual teachers’ attempts to enact TSJ pedagogy and their perceptions about equity. Although the teachers described varied ways of enacting TSJ pedagogy, they all felt their classes were equitable. Teachers’ descriptions of their experiences also revealed some inconsistencies between their survey responses and their reported practices. The results suggest that teachers who tended to endorse TSJ iv conceptualized TSJ and equity differently, but collectively, they wanted to empower students. Also, the teachers who described enacting TSJ pedagogy in their everyday practices instead of in isolated lessons enacted TSJ pedagogy more consistently. Findings based on teachers’ perceptions suggest that though TSJ pedagogy might foster equity within classes, TSJ pedagogy did not seem to mitigate the inequities between tracked levels. Teachers in this study described perceived barriers to creating equitable learning experiences for students such as time and required mathematics content coverage. This study has implications for mathematics teacher education and research such as a need to consider how TSJ might be used to create equitable teaching across tracks and that all teachers, including those who endorse TSJ pedagogy, might benefit from additional training on TSJ pedagogy

Haitian Representation in the Media: A Comparative Analysis between an African American Owned Newspaper and a Mainstream Newspaper

Are the portrayals of Haitian immigrants in an African-American owned newspaper, different from their portrayal in a white owned newspaper? In this paper I examine newspaper articles covering Haitian immigrants and refugees. The articles selected were published in 2004 and sampled from the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Defender. Although the journals have distinctive goals and market reach, there were similarities in their portrayal of Haitian immigrants. Both journals referred to Haitian immigrants as victims of Haiti’s failed democracy. However, each journal advertised the reception of this migrant group differently. The African American owned newspaper advertised inclusion, while the white-owned news paper presented Haitian immigrants as a financial threat. I argue that this difference in portrayal suggests not only that immigrants are subject to negative representation from both white and black-owned newspapers, but that the reluctance to help immigrants is more than an anti-immigrant attitude; it may be symptomatic of a racial bias towards immigrants of color

The Effects Within a Church of a Music Program for Special Needs Students

This project investigated the effects that a faith-based music class for special needs students had upon the students, their families, and the participating church body. Two special needs students participated in a four-week faith-based general music class sponsored by their local church. Significant spiritual growth was demonstrated by the families of the special needs students and the church body and was reported in personal interviews and anonymous surveys. The study evaluated the physical, cognitive, and spiritual progress the students demonstrated during the four-week class. Data was collected through researcher observation and journaling, audiovisual recordings, personal interviews of the assistant teacher, parents, and ministerial staff, and anonymous surveys of the church. Class participants concluded the study by presenting their worship program to the congregation through singing, ability-appropriate movement, and the recitation of Bible scripture. The results provided evidence that a music ministry for specially-capable students can have a positive impact on students’ families and the general church ministry. These results led to the creation of a Christian Fine Arts curriculum for special needs students. In addition, the church leadership obtained a more profound understanding of the significance of addressing the spiritual development of the special-need student by providing ability-appropriate music lessons with an emphasis upon the Word of God

Proposed cavity Josephson plasmonics with complex-oxide heterostructures

We discuss how complex-oxide heterostructures that include high-Tc superconducting cuprates can be used to realize an array of sub-millimeter cavities that support Josephson plasmon polaritons. These cavities have several attractive features for new types of light matter interaction studies and we show that they promote "ultrastrong" coupling between THz frequency radiation and Josephson plasmons. Cavity electrodynamics of Josephson plasmons allows to manipulate the superconducting order-parameter phase coherence. As an example, we discuss how it could be used to cool superconducting phase fluctuations with light

Researching the Psychosocial: An Introduction

This special issue explores key issues relevant to psychosocial research and presents innovative qualitative approaches for investigating this emerging field. The term ‘psychosocial’ is increasingly widely used and has become associated with its own ‘turn’ in social theorising and research. Such a turn would be consistent with a now-well established trajectory of academic innovation. It implies a Kuhnian leap and a major re-framing through which deficiencies and absences in current theory and research are recognised then remedied, opening up new directions and problems for investigation, as occurred in psychology with the ‘discursive turn’ of the 1980s and 90s. However, the status of a psychosocial turn is less clear-cut, first because of the very broad reference of the term ‘psychosocial’, second, because of the apparent overlap with the project of social psychology, and third, because of the odd relation of the psychosocial to psychology more generally, including the rejection of its main traditions of qualitative research. This introduction expands on these points and introduces the five central articles in this special issue, each of which contributes a particular resolution to the challenges of the new turn, and the commentaries in which two senior critical and social psychologists, Ian Parker and Margaret Wetherell, reflect on future directions for psychosocial research