Online reverse discourses? Claiming a space for trans voices

In recent years, online media have offered to trans people helpful resources to create new political, cultural and personal representations of their biographies. However, the role of these media in the construction of their social and personal identities has seldom been addressed. Drawing on the theoretical standpoint of positioning theory and diatextual discourse analysis, this paper discusses the results of a research project about weblogs created by Italian trans women. In particular, the aim of this study was to describe the ways online resources are used to express different definitions and interpretation of transgenderism, transsexuality and gender transitioning. We identified four main positioning strategies: \u201cTransgender\u201d, \u201cTranssexual before being a woman\u201d, \u201cA woman who was born male\u201d and \u201cJust a normal woman\u201d. We conclude with the political implications of the pluralization of narratives about gender non-conformity. Specifically, we will highlight how aspects of neoliberal discourses have been appropriated and rearticulated in the construction of gendered subjectivities

Conformity, Obedience, Disobedience: The Power of the Situation

none2Conformism can be defined as the change in thinking, feeling or acting following pressure, real or imaginary, exercised by the group. Obedience is instead that modification that is manifested carrying out the instructions issued by figures given authority. The two phenomena are connected (often conformism is a mental direction more easily inclined towards obedience) and both imply the themes of independence and submission. For sure living in a society we develop a sense of dependence on others as regards the way of understanding and acting in social reality. We can sometimes reach an authentic shared consensus, other times no. There are situations in which we cannot freely express our ideas, and this activates our resources in order to affirm ourselves and our values. Instead others can resign themselves and become submissive, even coming to the point of aligning themselves with their oppressor. Analyzing similar situations enables us to distinguish the presence or the forming of binding forces in the social environment, just like the forces that individual people put into action to resist coercion.noneBOCCHIARO P.; ZAMPERINI A.Bocchiaro, P.; Zamperini, Adrian

Pet Loss and Representations of Death, Attachment, Depression, and Euthanasia

T Studies that have examined pet loss hypothesize that attachment, representations of death, and the belief in an afterlife for animals may influence owners\u2019 bereavement and depressive outcomes. The following instruments were administered to 159 Italian participants recruited through snowball sampling: the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS), the Pet Bereavement Questionnaire (PBQ), the Testoni Death Representation Scale (TDRS), and Beck\u2019s Depression Inventory II (BDI-II). Questions concerning pet euthanasia-related issues and the relationship between owners and veterinarians were also submitted to the participants. A path model was conducted, showing that the representation of death and the attachment to a pet had a direct effect on pet grief, which in turn had a direct effect on depression. The results show a positive correlation between the LAPS and PBQ factors, particularly with the PBQ factor Grief. The LAPS factors positively correlated with the TDRS representation of Death as a Passage and negatively correlated with the TDRS representation of Death as Annihilation. The LAPS People Substituting factor positively correlated with the total score and the CognitiveAffective factor of the BDI-II. The PBQ factors positively correlated with the BDI-II, whereas only the TDRS Death as Annihilation factor positively correlated with the BDI-II. Belief in a transcendent dimension was associated with higher scores on the PBQ Guilt factor and the TDRS factors of Death as a Passage and Death as Change, whereas these beliefs were associated with lower scores on the TDRS factor Death as Annihilation. The results indicated that the sensitivity of the veterinarian and a veterinarian who helps owners make conscious and informed decisions for their pet and choose the right time to perform euthanasia are important variables in the management of pet loss. However, these factors are not sufficient and psychological support should be improved to help owners better cope with grief

La gestión del aborto voluntario en los servicios de orientación familiar. Estudio cualitativo sobre el papel de los trabajadores sociales en Italia

Introduction. Elective abortion has always been considered taboo. The event can sometimes be experienced as traumatic, as the woman finds herself struggling against a range of emotions: fear, shame, ambivalence, and a sense of guilt. Multidisciplinary support is therefore fundamental to guide women during this complex phase, and social workers usually play a key role in the process. The present study aimed therefore to explore the experiences and perspectives of social workers who worked with women who decided to have abortions, focusing on the strongest and weakest aspects of their support process. Methodology. The study involved 10 social workers working in family counselling services in Italy. All of them were female, with a mean age of 47 years, and a mean of 16.7 years of experience in the field. The study followed a qualitative approach, based on semi-structured interviews that were studied following the principles of thematic analysis. Results. Three fundamental themes emerged from the data analysis: «Limits of the family counselling procedures and organization»; «The emotional dimension of elective abortion»; and «The issue of conscientious objectors». Discussion. The study highlighted how family counselling services are facing a crisis due to the lack of resources, personnel, and projects allowing for women’s proper sexual education and support. It also showed how the social worker’s role, which is fundamental, has instead been reduced, especially regarding elective abortions. Moreover, there was a lack of social and sanitary contexts integration and professional training that would provide the operators with specific skills and make them feel prepared to address such delicate situations. Conclusions. The need has emerged for a new, multidisciplinary perspective on the issue of voluntary interruption of pregnancy and social workers play a major role. However, the support system still presents many shortcomings for the women in need of assistance. The present study offers innovative and practical suggestions to properly fill these gaps.Introducción. El aborto voluntario siempre ha sido considerado tabú, y es una experiencia que a veces puede resultar traumática para la mujer, que se enfrenta a emociones cargadas de muchos matices: miedo, vergüenza, ambivalencia y un sentido de culpa. Por este motivo, es fundamental que, en este momento complejo, exista un apoyo multidisciplinar para guiar a la mujer, y los trabajadores sociales suelen desempeñar un papel fundamental en él. Por ello, el presente estudio tiene por objeto explorar las experiencias y perspectivas de los trabajadores sociales que trabajaron con mujeres que decidieron someterse a abortos voluntarios, centrándose en los aspectos más fuertes y débiles del proceso de apoyo que ofrecieron a estas mujeres. Metodología. En el estudio participaron 10 trabajadoras sociales que trabajaban en servicios de orientación familiar en Italia. Todos ellos eran mujeres, con una edad media de 47 años y una media de 16,7 años de experiencia en el campo. El estudio se basó en un enfoque cualitativo, a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas que se han analizado siguiendo los principios del análisis temático. Resultados. A partir del análisis de los datos, han identificado tres áreas temáticas fundamentales: «límites de los procedimientos y de la organización del asesoramiento familiar», «dimensión emocional del aborto electivo» y «la cuestión de los objetores de conciencia». Discusión. El estudio destacó el hecho de que los servicios de orientación familiar se enfrentan a una crisis debido a la falta de recursos, personal y proyectos destinados a asegurar una buena educación sexual y a apoyar adecuadamente a las mujeres; que el papel del trabajador social, que es fundamental, se ha vuelto más débil, especialmente con respecto a este procedimiento; y que son insuficientes la integración entre los contextos sociales y sanitarios así como una formación profesional capaz de ofrecer a los operadores unas habilidades específicas, que les ayuden a sentirse preparados en una situación tan delicada y difícil. Conclusiones. Ha surgido la necesidad de una nueva perspectiva multidisciplinaria sobre la cuestión de la interrupción voluntaria del embarazo, y la importancia del papel de los trabajadores sociales. Sin embargo, todavía existen muchas deficiencias en el sistema de apoyo para las mujeres que lo necesitan. La presente investigación ofrece algunas sugerencias prácticas e innovadoras para llenar adecuadamente esas lagunas

Social Representations of Protest and Police after the Genoa G8 Summit: A Qualitative Analysis of Activist Accounts of Events

The Genoa G8 Summit was marred by violence and conflicts between police and activists. Afterwards, these different groups constructed clashing discourses about the events. In turn, these discourses sustained different types of social representations about the nature of the conflict. Earlier analyses of hegemonic social representation examining the Italian press suggested that non-violent activists were subject to processes of delegitimisation and that they were identified with black bloc activists (Cristante, 2003; Juris, 2005; Zamperini & Botticini, 2006). Conversely, in this study we analyze activists\u2019 accounts of the protest and of the violent police repression. We examine a collection of published texts (N= 223) posted on a \u201ccyber-wall\u201d online as part of a collaborative project from three Italian media outlets: Il Manifesto, Radio Popolare, Carta. These texts represent a form of \u201ccounter-narrative\u201d produced by a stigmatized group to contest the dominant discourse, creating a tripartite of relations between non-violent activists, police and the black bloc . The analysis of these texts shows that activists represent the protest as a battle between two groups. Activists describe police as coercive, incompetent, and as the enemy. While the black bloc was perceived to have damaged the protest they were not depicted as the enemy. Cognitive, emotive and behavioral factors associated with these representations are highlighted and discussed, together with the implications for future intergroup relations between activists and the police

Addiction and religiosity in facing suicide: A qualitative study on meaning of life and death among homeless people

This qualitative research explores the relationship between religiosity, suicide thoughts and drug abuse among 55 homeless people, interviewed with interpretative phenomenological analysis. Analyzing the thematic structure of the participants\u2019 narrations, important main themes appeared in order to avoid suicide, among which family, the certainty of finding a solution and the will to live. However, the suicide ideation inheres in about 30% of participants, almost all believers, addicted and/or alcoholics. Results suggest that religiosity and meaning of death neither prevent from substances abuse and alcoholism, nor is a protective factor against suicide ideation. Meanings of life are the most important reasons for living, and when they are definitively considered unworkable, alcohol and drug help to endure life in the street. A specific model is discussed

Courage and representations of death in patients who are waiting for a liver transplantation

Context: In the last decade, a wide literature has highlighted the importance of religiosity as support of severe illnesses, especially the oncological ones, and in the end of life. In the field of the liver transplant there is a lack of similar research. This article aims to bridge this gap and presents an exploratory study on the relationships between fear of death, courage and religiosity among patients who wait for liver transplant. Method: Sixty-two participants awaiting a liver transplant were interviewed with regard to their quality of life, religiosity, ontological representations and fear of death, courage and fear of intervention, donor-related thoughts. The following instruments were utilized: a specific interview; the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36); the Testoni Death Representation Scale (TDRS) and the Courage Measure. Results: Patients reporting higher levels of fear for intervention showed less courage and were more likely to avoid the surgery. They also tended to be non-believers, to have a lower quality of life, and to represent death as an absolute annihilation. Conclusions: The less death was represented as a passage, the stronger the avoidance behaviour and the fear of transplant were. Since it is possible to develop a positive thought about death, the study underlined how the spiritual support could be useful to manage fear of transplantation

Features of intellectual functions inhibition among Ukrainian boxers: A sociocultural study

The effects of boxing's extreme aggressive conditions in training and competitive activity in sportsmen’s mental working capacity still remains under-explored. While the neurophysiological effects caused by micro traumas to the brain have been extensively studied, less attention has been paid to the psychological consequences. This article reports on our study of the features of mental operations efficiency in Ukrainian boxers. The study involved athletes (n = 168, gender: men, average age: 25.5 ± 6.2 years), who were engaged in boxing and kickboxing in the Ukraine’s eastern region. A ‘Classification’ method was used: a set of 70 cards with the images of various objects, plants, and living beings was given with instructions to arrange the items into groups in such a way that the objects in each concrete group possess common properties. Athletes were divided into groups, depending on the level of their sport qualification. Adopting the Vygotskian perspective, this study shows correlations between the productivity of boxers’ thinking processes and the level of their sport skills: highly qualified sportsmen have many more well-marked thinking process defects than the sportsmen of the 2nd and 3rd categories. We observed a decrease in the generalization level, reduction in speed, deterioration of neurodynamic characteristics and criticality processes nearly in all participants. Exhaustibility and decrease in mental working capacity, impulsiveness of thinking, and its unproductive transformation were marked more often among the highly skilled boxers. A discussion on the cultural redefinition of this sport and on the necessary rehabilitative treatments is then presented

Features of intellectual functions inhibition among Ukrainian boxers: A sociocultural study

The effects of boxing’s extreme aggressive conditions in training and competitive activity in sportsmen’s mental working capacity still remains under-explored. While the neurophysiological effects caused by micro traumas to the brain have been extensively studied, less attention has been paid to the psychological consequences. This article reports on our study of the features of mental operations efficiency in Ukrainian boxers. The study involved athletes (n = 168, gender: men, average age: 25.5 ± 6.2 years), who were engaged in boxing and kickboxing in the Ukraine’s eastern region. A ‘Classification’ method was used: a set of 70 cards with the images of various objects, plants, and living beings was given with instructions to arrange the items into groups in such a way that the objects in each concrete group possess common properties. Athletes were divided into groups, depending on the level of their sport qualification. Adopting the Vygotskian perspective, this study shows correlations between the productivity of boxers’ thinking processes and the level of their sport skills: highly qualified sportsmen have many more well-marked thinking process defects than the sportsmen of the 2nd and 3rd categories. We observed a decrease in the generalization level, reduction in speed, deterioration of neurodynamic characteristics and criticality processes nearly in all participants. Exhaustibility and decrease in mental working capacity, impulsiveness of thinking, and its unproductive transformation were marked more often among the highly skilled boxers. A discussion on the cultural redefinition of this sport and on the necessary rehabilitative treatments is then presented