Proculturation shaped by social representations of academic migrants from Italy to the United States

IntroductionExisting literature has highlighted the phenomenon of academic migrants leaving Italy for the United States with the hope of finding institutions that offer more opportunities for growth and recognition based on merit, as opposed to corruption, nepotism, and excessive bureaucracy. Likely, these may be the expectations of Italian academic migrants, who seem to be thriving and flourishing in their careers. This paper discusses proculturation of academic migrants from Italy to the United States, in the light of their expectations related to self-concept as well as social representations of North American university instructors from transnational families.MethodsIn this study, 173 participants volunteered to provide information in an online survey that included their demographic profile, family situation, language ability, recalled pre-migration expectations and preparations, satisfaction with life, self-perceived stress, self-rated health, free responses to questions about major successes, challenges, and goals, as well as self-identification.ResultsThe results have shown that participants were indeed thriving in their careers and lives (majority scored high in satisfaction with life, health, realistic expectations and helpful per-migration preparations, while low in stress, also indicating work-related accomplishments and successes), but somewhat struggled with proculturation-related issues, frequently mentioned among major challenges

Objectification of trafficked women and the general public: An ontological humanization?

This paper focuses onhow objectification of women in prostitution in the context of the discussion of human trafficking with the general public can be counteracted by ontological humanization. Human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation is based on dehumanization that stems from objectification. A subtle form of dehumanization may occur during the process of representing a person in prostitution, not only by pimps and clients, but also by the general public. It constitutes a hot topic in the public sphere, as demonstrated by the recent screenings in Rome of “Nefarious: Merchant of Souls”, a full-length documentary that overcomes stereotypical dichotomist views on prostitution in the context of human trafficking. This paper features the possible transformation of social representations that might have taken place among the viewers as a result of watching and discussing the documentary. It proposes the construct of ontological humanization as a semantic-anthropological way to reduce dehumanization

Lo stigma della vita d’argento

Questo volume nasce per sensibilizzare l'opinione pubblica e la società civile sul tema della prevenzione delle malattie neurodegenerative, con particolare riguardo all'Alzheimer, affrontando il tema da un punto di vista multidisciplinare.I curatori di questo libro, Laura Dryjanska e Roberto Giua, fanno parte dell'ACTIO I1311 Intergenerational Family Solidarity across Europe, dell'European Cooperation in Science and Technology. Dr. Dryjanska è una psicologa sociale membro dell'American Psychological Association, European Association of Social Psycholog

Religion and Spirituality Empowering Female Refugee Entrepreneurship

Chapter 3 Female refugees face additional challenges and obstacles on their path to entrepreneurship. This can be explained by intersectionality, taking into account compounded discrimination due to gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and also religion. While conservative religious values and norms tend to be portrayed in a negative light, as hindering female leadership and fostering patriarchal views, this chapter assesses the positive impact that religion and spirituality may have for women refugee entrepreneurs. From the perspective of social psychology, it also considers how a comprehensive and creative training for female entrepreneurs should account for the demand-side, supply-side, soft skills, mental health, and religion and spirituality, preceded by a sound analysis of the context

Slavery of Aging

Questo volume, nella sua 2° edizione aggiornata a dicembre 2017, si propone di sensibilizzare la società civile e gli opinion maker sulla necessità, non più procrastinabile, di un percorso di prevenzione, ad oggi l’unico possibile per malattie neurodegenerative come l’Alzheimer, presentando una panoramica multidisciplinare. Dalle neuroscienze alle cure sanitarie, si deve passare necessariamente per un percorso di empowerment del paziente e di presenza di figure professionali specialistiche in rete con le strutture del territorio e le Associazioni. Laura Dryjanska: Professore di Psicologia Sociale e Human Trafficking a Biola University, California (USA). PhD a Sapienza, Università di Roma (Italia), Docente a La Sapienza, Università della Tuscia e all’University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Varsavia (Polonia). Roberto Giua: writer & editor sin dal 1982, esperto di organizzazione aziendale e PR. Socio del Rotary e coinvolto a vario titolo nel Rotarian Action Group Against Slavery e membro dell’Action IS 1311 Intergenerational Family across Europe, dell’European Cooperation in Science and Technology

Specific groups of population

This knowledge synthesis paper, written by the ROSEnet Working Group on Services Exclusion, focuses on the risk for people in older age to be excluded from the use of key service infrastructure. It involves areas such as health and social care services, general services, new technologies, transport and mobility, but also less investigated fields such as service restructuring, accessibility and affordabilit

Pandora’s box: What fears are behind the stigma of aging?

The stigma of a “silver life.” This chapter examines the issue of stigma related to aging by first defining the process of aging and different typologies of age, such as chronological and functional. Taking into account the Italian context compared with some other countries, it focuses on ageism and stigmatizing with words. To explain these phenomena, the concept of social representations (coined by Serge Moscovici) is used to unveil the common-sense thinking of both those who stigmatize aging and those who are being stigmatized. The stress factor of stigma can be dealt with in a number of ways, including through the diverse coping strategies discussed in this chapter. Among responses to ageism, intergenerational solidarity or social cohesion between generations stands out as a plausible solution based on norms and imagery of care, which both stem from societal values. Turning back to the Italian scenario, the vision of Joachim of Fiore, a twelfth-century abbot and mystic, sheds some light on the solutions to stigma of a “silver life.” His iconographic masterpiece, the Trinitarian Circles, represents multiple meanings, including the transcendent paradigm of the Trinity parallel to human history, divided into three ages. In line with Joachim’s vision of world history, we can consider the famous Table XI as a compelling representation of intergenerational solidarity. Silver universe or old age in this case would correspond to the last circle, interpreting the Trinitarian dynamism not only as a key feature of human history, but also in terms of relations between generations, where grace is more abundant in the old age of fulfillment. This revolutionary vision of aging directly challenges the stigma, not only revealing the falsity and paucity of negative stereotypes, but also giving hope and joy, rather than fear, to every human being faced with the prospect or reality of their “silver life.

Association Between Acculturation Variables and Life Satisfaction Among Israeli Immigrants from Four English-Speaking Countries

This study’s primary purpose was to examine the hypothesis that there would be a positive association between acculturation and life satisfaction for English-speaking diaspora immigrants to Israel regardless of country of origin (after adjusting for demographic characteristics including gender, age, years in the host country, reason for immigration and family support). Informed by Bornstein’s Specificity Principle in Acculturation Science, acculturation was defined by levels of: language acquisition, having realised/met expectations, and self-identification with host country. Using a cross-sectional study design, a convenience sample of English-speaking participants was recruited through a link on a well-known English-language internet site targeting immigrants to Israel. Due to the diversity of respondents, only questionnaires completed by immigrants from the following four countries were included (n = 641): Canada (n = 40), South Africa (n = 66), the United Kingdom (n = 132) and the United States (n = 403). Life satisfaction only was linked to the acculturation variable of having a higher level of realised expectations for life after immigration and reporting good health, but not associated with the other acculturation variables of language acquisition or self-identification with host country. While having realised expectations was related to life satisfaction, the number of years in the host country and language acquisition was not. Having realistic expectations (related to greater life satisfaction) may be increased by providing prospective immigrants information on the new country’s culture while they are still in the host country and planning their immigration