The Roman Catholic Church’s construction of authority through persuasion

Background  Authority demands obedience, yet it precludes the use of coercion by force and violence, and persuasion by arguments (Arendt, 1958). Obedience is then a voluntary submission to authority. In this sense, the term authority seems incompatible with the social psychological definition of authority that is obeyed through direct orders.  Methods  Using discourse analysis, we examine how the Roman Catholic Church constructs the legitimisation of its authority as a defender of the common good of society against the threat of homosexuality in its official documentation. In particular, we highlight the rhetorical structures used to call upon public opinion in obstructing the introduction of equality laws for homosexual people.  Findings  We suggest that the Roman Catholic Church needs to use persuasive language because it has lost its authority over citizens. Thus, in its documents discourse is rhetorically structured to claim authority. As authority cannot be assumed, it is not an example of obedience, but rather a call for obedience is made through the use of rhetoric.  Discussion In social psychology we assume that obedience to direct orders is an effect of authority. On the contrary, we argue that if a supposed authority, such as the Roman Catholic Church, has to use persuasive language, this is exactly because it is not a recognised authority. Also, being persuaded or following orders are not manifestations of obedience, but they construct the norm of obedience. We suggest, with reference to Arendt’s definitions, that obedience follows a rhetorical pathway, exactly because religion has lost its authority

Libera nos a malo: homosexuality in the Roman Catholic Church discourse

Liberation from the ties of mainstream social discourse is an ongoing challenge for Critical Community Psychology. Together with political and economic constraints, the everyday use of language provides a framework of repertoires that shape our understanding of the social world and its phenomena in a routinized and uncritical way. The phenomena themselves are not objective things “out there”, but they are continuously deconstructed and reconstructed, according to their function and context of use. In this presentation, we aim to explain how the Roman Catholic Church discourse on homosexuality and related topics (civil unions, equality marriage, same-sex parents’ adoptions) is based on stereotypes that portray homosexuals as a social danger. By defining the homosexual as an intrinsically disordered person, the doctrine nourishes negative media discourses around LGBT rights with misleading information based on ‘common sense’ assumptions and stereotypes. We will discuss the preliminary findings from a research project on the official documentation of the Roman Catholic Church; all data analysed are in English and sourced from the public domain. We will examine the rhetorical construction of the arguments underpinning the fear of homosexual unions’ recognition, using a discourse analytic approach to ideologies and a critical community psychology framework. We would like to contribute to the critical knowledge of use of everyday discourse, as it is often shared in our communities’ dialogues, media, and communications. We believe this is a good point for the critical praxis on the long way towards the liberation of the biological exuberance of human nature

Religion: the rhetoric of “not unjust discrimination” towards homosexuals in the Roman Catholic Church

Objectives  This presentation offers an insight on the rationale of “not unjust discrimination” used by the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) to justify the legal discrimination of same-sex partnerships in their official documentation. From a psychological perspective, an analysis of religious discourse on homosexuality is fundamental to detect persisting conditions of social injustice towards LGB people, which impact on their well-being.  Design  The research is innovative in the academic panorama and consists in an extensive discourse analysis applied to 26 documents of public domain released by the Roman Catholic Church between 1975 and 2015. Method The documents were selected according two main criteria: they are available on the official Vatican website, and they explicitly contain the Holy See position towards homosexuals and same-sex partnerships recognition. The documents selected were systematically analysed using discourse analysis to identify the interpretative repertoires (Potter & Wetherell, 1987; Potter 2012) and the ideologies underpinning the heterosexist arguments (van Dijk, 1993; 2011).  Results Three main interpretative repertoires on homosexuality were identified: a serious depravity, a grievous anomaly, and a social threaten. These topoi mutually reinforce and sustain in the RCC discourse against the recognition of same-sex partnerships.  Conclusions  The interpretative repertoires are deployed in an ongoing ideological discourse aimed at sustaining an alleged superiority of heterosexual marriage over any other form of love. In particular, we will discuss the use of sexual orientation as a salient social category, and its implications for the RCC argument that it is “not unjust discrimination” not allowing equal rights to homosexuals

Communities in Transition: two Italian case studies, critical global thinking, and worldwide participation

Transition Towns is an international movement developing a systemic approach to inspire concrete actions, organized by citizens, from a bottom-up ethos. Transition aims to challenge the globalised and exploitative economic model, through revitalizing local production, enhancing human relations and improving the citizens’ quality of life. Despite its growing social size and influence, the movement has until now been largely unresearched using qualitative methods and from a critical community psychology perspective. This presentation will follow a creative format, using visual material and drama dynamics taken from the Theatre of the Oppressed methodology, as Image Theatre technique. The aim is to encourage participants’ engagement with Transition principles and processes, in a critical and experiential way. We will include a presentation comparing the results of two case studies in the Italian context: Monteveglio and San Lazzaro di Savena Transition Towns, both located in Emilia-Romagna region. The two studies, which are the outcomes of a PhD and a Master’s thesis, explored the dynamics of communities in Transition with qualitative methodologies. In particular, data were collected through semi- structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. We will discuss what pathways and developments each Transition Town community followed, and what dynamics were involved. Especially, we will debate the concept of sense of community, with reference to internal cohesion and the possibility of creating trustworthy relationships within and outside the community. In this Innovative Presentation we aim to gather a new insight on our work and to share worldwide perspectives on these highly topical issues

Specific Biomarkers Are Associated with Docetaxeland Gemcitabine-Resistant NSCLC Cell Lines

AbstractFive-year survival rate for lung cancer is limited to 10% to 15%. Therefore, the identification of novel therapeutic prognostic factors is an urgent requirement. The aim of this study is thus to highlight specific biomarkers in chemoresistant non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Therefore, we checked—in the control condition as well as after short-term pharmacological treatment with either docetaxel or gemcitabine—the expression of genes such as tumor suppressor genes (CDKN2A, DAPK, FHIT, GSTP1, MGMT, RARβ2, RASSF1A, and TIMP3), genes associated with drug resistance (BRCA1, COX2, ERCC1, IGFBP3, RRM1, and TUBB3), and stemness-related genes (CD133, OCT4, and SLUG) in two cellular models of squamous carcinoma (CAEP) and adenocarcinoma (RAL) of the lung originally established. Their promoter methylation profile was also evaluated. Drug-related genes were upregulated. Cisplatin resistance matched with high levels of BRCA1 and ERCC1 in both cell lines; docetaxel sensitivity of CAEP cells was associated to levels of TUBB3 lower than RAL cells. Although CAEP cells were more sensitive to gemcitabine, both cell lines showed high levels of RRM1. Stemness-related genes were downregulated in the control condition but became upregulated in docetaxel-resistant cells, indicating the selection of a population with stemness features. We did not find an unequivocal correspondence between gene expression and respective DNA promoter methylation status, suggesting the involvement of additional mechanisms of gene expression regulation. These results highlight specific biomarkers consistent with the different responses of the two cell lines to standard pharmacological treatments and indicate specific molecular traits for their chemoresistance