The social representation of economic crisis in different social groups

This research is part of a wider International study realized starting from 2009 in different European countries (France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy and Romania) among the activities of the “Mediterranean Center for the study of Social Representaions (CeMeRS)” of Naples. The aim of this study, placed in the Structural approach, is to investigate the social representations of the economic crisis among different social groups. The objectives of the research are: a) verify if there are differences between social representations constructed by different social groups; b) explore if and how the social representation of economic crisis has been transformed from 2009 to 2012; c) identify the differences between social representations of economic crisis (SRsEc) in different cultural contexts. It has been used a mixed method approach, useful to investigate both the SRsEc structure and content, in both a synchronic and diachronic perspective. In particular the Hierarchized Evocation method, integrated with a questionnaire of characterization (in 2012), was made to reach the structure, while a semi-structured interview (in 2009) and a structured interview (in 2012) was realized to explore the content. Data were collected in two periods, 2009 and 2012, on the same group of subjects, interviewed at the same time in each country. The participants were 120 subjects for each country involved (30 for each group, balanced on gender), equally distributed in four social categories: university students (second/third year; Faculty of Economics); bank clerks of medium level; shopkeepers; laypeople. Obtained data were treated with the Analysis of Hierarchized Evocations and Similitude Analysis (Evoc/Simi2005); categorial-frequencial content analysis (Atlas.ti); mono and multivariate analysis (SPSS). Results showed that, unless a diffuse salience of Job loss and Uncertainty, fear of future, the different Italian groups of participants had a different social representation of crisis, especially in the case of shopkeepers. This difference was traced also between the three “expert” categories and laypeople as regards the evolutive phase of their representation. A difference was found also between Italian and Greek social representations of crisis, with reference to the meaning of the salient elements and their organization

The social representation of economic crisis in different social groups

This research is part of a wider International study realized starting from 2009 in different European countries (France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy and Romania) among the activities of the “Mediterranean Center for the study of Social Representaions (CeMeRS)” of Naples. The aim of this study, placed in the Structural approach, is to investigate the social representations of the economic crisis among different social groups. The objectives of the research are: a) verify if there are differences between social representations constructed by different social groups; b) explore if and how the social representation of economic crisis has been transformed from 2009 to 2012; c) identify the differences between social representations of economic crisis (SRsEc) in different cultural contexts. It has been used a mixed method approach, useful to investigate both the SRsEc structure and content, in both a synchronic and diachronic perspective. In particular the Hierarchized Evocation method, integrated with a questionnaire of characterization (in 2012), was made to reach the structure, while a semi-structured interview (in 2009) and a structured interview (in 2012) was realized to explore the content. Data were collected in two periods, 2009 and 2012, on the same group of subjects, interviewed at the same time in each country. The participants were 120 subjects for each country involved (30 for each group, balanced on gender), equally distributed in four social categories: university students (second/third year; Faculty of Economics); bank clerks of medium level; shopkeepers; laypeople. Obtained data were treated with the Analysis of Hierarchized Evocations and Similitude Analysis (Evoc/Simi2005); categorial-frequencial content analysis (Atlas.ti); mono and multivariate analysis (SPSS). Results showed that, unless a diffuse salience of Job loss and Uncertainty, fear of future, the different Italian groups of participants had a different social representation of crisis, especially in the case of shopkeepers. This difference was traced also between the three “expert” categories and laypeople as regards the evolutive phase of their representation. A difference was found also between Italian and Greek social representations of crisis, with reference to the meaning of the salient elements and their organization

A Similarity Graph-based Approach to Study Social Representations of the Economic Crisis: A Comparison between Italian and Greek Social Groups

In order to analyse the common sense theories about the economic thinking and acting, this research has been conducted with the theoretical framework of the Social Representation Theory. By interviewing Italian and Greek participants belonging to different social groups, we examined how expert and lay people face this phenomenon. Inspired by the Structural Approach, which considers SRs as constituted of two parts (a structure and a content), data were collected through specific strategies and were created ad hoc: hierarchized evocations, characterization and multiple choice questionnaires. Four groups of participants (N=120 for each country; n=30 for each group; gender balanced) were employed: university students (second/third year; Faculty of economics), mid-level bank clerks, shopkeepers, and laypeople. Obtained data were treated with rang/frequency and similarity/ network analysis, as well as mono and bivariate statistical analysis. The main findings demonstrate culture and group membership differences in the ways participants define and foresee strategies to face the crisis. In particular, in both Italian and Greek samples, differences between expert and lay groups are clear. Methodological implications associated with combining qualitative and quantitative methods, in SRT’s Structural Approach, are presented and discussed

Sul meccanismo di co-respondent previsto nel progetto di accordo per l’adesione dell’Unione Europea alla Convenzione europea dei diritti umani

The article first analyzes the case-law of the European Court of Human rights in relation to the European Union, and then goes on to explore one of the most controversial points of the draft agreement of the UE accession to the European Convention on Human Rights of 5 April 2013, i.e. the “co-respondent-mechanism”, which, under certain circumstances, might allow the extension of the proceedings against a Member State to the European Union, and vice versa. After considering one of the greatest advantages of such a mechanism, i.e. the possibility/power to involve – and eventually allow the condemnation of – the subject who is able to remedy the violation effectively, the author analyzes in particular some cases – submitted in the past to the Court of Strasbourg or which might be submitted in the future – to which the “co-respondent mechanism” might be applied, in order to ascertain whether it really could make the protection of individuals more effective (without - as envisaged by some authors – simply leading to procedural delays)

Extraordinary Renditions nella giurisprudenza della Corte europea dei diritti umani: il caso Abu Omar

Abstract. — By a judgment rendered on 23 February 2016, the European Court\ud of Human Rights found that Italy was in breach of its obligations under the European\ud Convention for its role in the abduction of Abu Omar, who was transferred to Egypt\ud where he was then secretly detained and tortured. He was the victim of an extraordinary\ud rendition within a program set by the United States after 11 September 2001 with\ud the complicity of several States. Following the abduction of Abu Omar, various\ud criminal proceedings were opened in Italy against twenty-six Central Intelligence\ud Agency (CIA) members and some Italian secret service agents involved in the abduction.\ud The CIA agents were sentenced to imprisonment, but the Italian Government did\ud not request their extradition. Because of the privilege of “State secret” invoked by the\ud Italian Government, no Italian secret agent was sentenced.\ud The judgment of the European Court raises several interesting questions. The\ud present paper focuses on two issues: first, the basis of Italy’s responsibility because of\ud its cooperation in the extraordinary rendition of Abu Omar; second, the compatibility\ud of the resort to “State secrets” with the protection of human rights under the European\ud Convention. The paper maintains that responsibility has not to be linked with the\ud complicity in a wrongful act of another State, but in the breach of a positive obligation\ud of protection under the Convention

Occurrence of Legionella spp. in thermal environments: Virulence factors and biofilm formation in isolates from a spa☆ , ☆☆

Abstract The aim of the study was to evaluate the occurrence of Legionella spp. in the water system of a spa in the city of Naples by analyzing water, air and surface samples. On the whole, 312 samples were collected and analyzed in the course of 10 months. Legionella CYE Agar Base and Legionella Latex Test (Oxoid©) were used to identify and serotype presumptive Legionella pneumophila strains. A further identification was carried out by rDNA16S and ITS region amplification followed by a sequence analysis by DNA Sequencing Analysis software (Applied Biosystems). Similarity search was performed using BLAST algorithm against the GenBank database (NCBI GenBank). Specific in-vitro tests aimed to evaluate the production of esoenzymes (hemolysins, collagenases, mucinases, lipases, proteinases, DNAses, elastases) on GC-FC Agar were also carried out. Finally, a crystal violet staining method (absorbance at 570 nm) was used to evaluate the ability of the strains to produce biofilm in a 96-multiwell polyethylene plate. All samples were negative for L. pneumophila. Six different Legionella strains were isolated from water samples and identified as Legionella londiniensis and Legionella spp. A significant (from 1000 to 10,000 CFU/L) and a low to moderate (from 100 to 1000 CFU/L) contamination were detected respectively in the 5% and 4% of samples; 91% of water samples showed a Legionella spp. amount less than 100 CFU/L. Two Legionella londiniensis isolates showed collagenases, caseinases, proteinases and gelatinases activities, being classified as potentially pathogenic bacteria. None of the isolates were classified as strong biofilm producer but they showed a moderate to weak ability to form biofilm on polyethylene. This result is significant because large part of the spa pipelines is plastic-coated. The highest frequency of isolation of Legionella spp. was detected in the unit for Thermal Mud Therapy, which showed a relative risk value equal to 1.69 (CI 95% 0.60–4.70). Although our results proved a moderate contamination in different water samples, the presence of potentially pathogenic environmental strains of Legionella spp. should not be underestimated because most part of costumers attending the spa are old and sick people, and Legionella strains can represent a real risk

Men, Women, and Economic Changes: Social Representations of the Economic Crisis

The current economic crisis has been a new and unexpected phenomenon; it is part of the capitalist banking and economic system that has been known until 2008. The crisis has led to banks, states, international institutions, as well as common people, changing profoundly their representations about the economy. In this scenario, some questions arise: how do men and women of different social status face the complex and unknown phenomenon of the economic crisis? Do gender and social status justify the different meanings attributed to the crisis, to its causes and its consequences? When confronted with an external threat like the economic crisis, people draw on social representations to provide meaning to that unfamiliar situation. Through media and interpersonal communication, social groups produce naive theories that improve familiarity with an unexpected and distressing phenomenon. In order to analyze these lay theories elaborated though daily economic thinking and acting, this research has been conducted using Social Representation Theory and its methodological approaches. This theory, in fact, contributes to our understanding of the societal process of sense making when an unexperienced external shock affects society. It offers a way to understand economic phenomena’s impact on social groups. Social representations (SRs) serve the purpose of making the unfamiliar become familiar, and the unusual become usual, as well as to provide orientation in times of change. In this sense, in this article, social representations theory is used to examine the role of gender and educational status in the production of representations of the crisis. Presented findings came from a survey carried out in Southern Italy (N = 120) revealing status and gender differences in the ways people define the crisis and cope with it. Participants were asked to order the first most important five statements and the first least important statements, among a list of 15 (according to the rule of a multiple of 3) to code every item with a score of 1 (less characteristic), 3 (more characteristic), or 2 (not chosen). Every Questionnaire of Characterization was created starting from social descriptions and explanations of the crisis, identified in a previous study. They covered every sub-dimension of the content (complementary to the structure) of the social representation of the crisis, such as: cognitive-evaluative aspects about the representation’s structure (central and peripheral elements); descriptive-defining aspects of the representation; informative sources and interaction networks; level of involvement/implication with the object; relationship between representation and social practices; perceptions, attributions and categorizations (causes, responsibilities, duration/evolution, solutions, positive implications, the EU’s role). In this paper, we will only consider the answers related to the following dimensions: crisis definitions, strategies to tackle the crisis and social practices related to the crisis. The analysis of the data was carried out primarily using Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA). In this analysis, in order to uncover the objectification and anchoring processes, we considered the interaction of status and gender as an illustrative variable. These findings were further substantiated with the use of Discriminant analysis. The social anchoring of social representations of the economic crisis is influenced by gender and social status. Nevertheless, the difference in status modifies the stereotypical dimensions, also coherently with predictions derived from gender role theory about the reduction of the impact of gender stereotypes when men and women occupy similar social positions. On the one hand, high-status participants defined the crisis in more abstract terms than low-status participants. On the other hand, high-status men hold a more proactive style of coping with the crisis than other participants, especially women. The discussion focuses on the role of social representations theory in understanding the relationships between gender, status and economic behavior, providing insights into how gender equality might be improved