A qualitative approach to intergroup relations:exploring the applicability of the Social Identity Approach to 'messy' school contexts

The Social Identity Approach (SIA) is one of the most influential theories of group processes and intergroup relations worldwide. However, we argue that the dominance of (post)positivist research methods in SIA work limits the extent to which it enables an understanding of the complexities of intergroup relations in schools. Drawing on qualitative data from two research studies we highlight important questions and issues that are obscured by traditional psychological approaches to studying intergroup relations. We focus, in particular, on the complex interplay between discourses about popularity within schools, constructions of gender identities, and intergroup relations. In doing so, we demonstrate the benefits that qualitative research may have for social psychological intergroup theories (and their application), and specifically, the SIA. We highlight how qualitative data can add considerable richness to understandings of intergroup relations, and draw attention to inconsistencies and contradictions that otherwise may go unnoticed

Hegemonic Masculinity in Times of Crisis: 15 July Coup Attempt and the Turkish Football

In the evening of 15 July 2016, Turkey was shaken to its pieces by an unexpected yet abortive coup attempt. Just like the previous ones, this recent attempt to stage a coup had a substantial impact on various social and cultural realms including football. By developing a holistic approach to the notion of hegemonic masculinity (a concept coined by R. Connell) and assessing the interplay of hegemonic masculinity in the realm of ideology, state institutions and military on the one hand and that on football pitches on the other hand in their relationality, this chapter argues that the climate culminating around the attempted coup in Turkey witnessed an intense display of the already existing hegemonic masculinity structures, including those which could be seen in Turkish football

Normative cruelties and gender deviants : the performative effects of bully discourses for girls and boys in school

Since the 1990s the educational community has witnessed a proliferation of ‘bullying’ discourses, primarily within the field of educational developmental social psychology. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative interview data of primary and secondary school girls and boys, this article argues that the discourse ‘bullying’ operates to simplify and individualise complex gendered/classed/sexualised/racialised power relations embedded in children’s school‐based cultures. Using a feminist post‐structural approach, this article critically traces the discursive production of how the signifiers ‘bully’ and ‘victim’ are implicated in the ‘normative cruelties’ of performing and policing ‘intelligible’ heteronormative masculinities and femininities. It shows how these everyday gender performances are frequently passed over by staff and pupils as ‘natural’. The analysis also illustrates how bully discourses operate in complex racialised and classed ways that mark children out as either gender deviants, or as not adequately performing normative ideals of masculinity and femininity. In conclusion, it is argued that bully discourses offer few symbolic resources and/or practical tools for addressing and coping with everyday school‐based gender violence, and some new research directions are suggested

Serum homocysteine concentration is related to diabetes mellitus, but not to coronary heart disease, in Saudi Arabians

Introduction: Plasma homocysteine (HCYS) concentration is believed to be an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Methods: HCYS was measured in a cohort of 584 Saudi Arabians participating in a national screening study of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors. A total of 173 subjects (114 men and 59 women) had clinical CHD, of whom 82 (47.4%) had type 2 diabetes mellitus (56 men and 26 women). A further 127 subjects (60 men and 67 women) also had type 2 diabetes mellitus but no CHD. A total of 284 individuals (120 men and 164 women) were recruited as healthy controls, and had no previous history of CHD or diabetes. Serum HCYS was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection. Results: Univariate analysis showed HCYS concentrations were significantly lower in those with diabetes mellitus (DM) than in controls, for both men [8.7 (4.2–18.6) vs. 10.5 (4.5–20.5) mmol/l, median (5th−95th percentiles, p = 0.009] and women [6.3 (3.3–24.0) vs. 8.1 (4.0–17.9) mmol/l, p = 0.049]. Stepwise multivariate regression analysis indicated a relationship between HCYS concentration and age, sex and the presence of DM, but not with CHD. Conclusions: In the Saudi Arabian population, serum HCYS is not a risk factor for CHD, but is lower in patients with DM