Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Contributions Of Barad's New Materialism To Well-Being Research, M. Isidora Bilbao-Nieva, Alejandra Meyer

The Qualitative Report

In this article, we discuss the contributions that Karen Barad's theorizations can make to the study of well-being, particularly their ontoepistemological framework, “agential realism,” that emphasizes the inseparability of matter, ethics, and knowledge, as the relational entanglements of agencies. We use these ideas to imagine well-being as differential materializations, entanglements of human, and the non-human agencies that “intra-act” with each other and are inseparable from how we know about them and our responsibilities in their reconfigurations. From this perspective, we see well-being as a phenomenon, underpinning its dynamism and processuality. Analyzing an interview fragment, we exemplify how Barad's theorizations can …

“Imagine Being Homophobic In 2022 In This Economy?!”: Bosniak, Croat, And Serb Perceptions Of Social Justice, Mehmet Yavuz

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

After the three-year war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia finally signed the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA) in 1995, thereby ending one of Europe’s most violent conflicts. Although the DPA provided a significant opportunity for communities to construct a new state based on the rule of law, freedom, democracy, and human rights, it failed to create a united civic identity and a well-functioning state with strong democratic policies and the ability to protect people’s human rights. The new generation of youth face unemployment, exclusion, lack of educational opportunities, and poor economic and political conditions while they are …

Disruption, Transformation, Resilience, And Hope: The Experience Of A Belizean Community During Covid-19 Lockdown, Jean D. Kirshner Dr.

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative research explored the lived experience of teachers, school administrators, parents, and children in Belize, Central America during the COVID-19 lockdown. Through field notes, correspondence, and interviews, a narrative approach was leveraged to convey the impact of two years away from classrooms and from each other. Both the trauma and loss of this disruption on global literacy, along with three forces that nourished the capacity for resilience, were examined.

Lens On Conflict: A Content Analysis Study On The Role Of Hollywood In U.S. – Iran Relations, Farshad Farahat

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this dissertation was to identify whether development of impartial, equitable and resolution based films and television shows covering the U.S. – Iran conflict could have a greater ethical, educational, entertainment and economic value for Hollywood studios and their world audience in comparison to the present contentious and stereotypical narrative portrayals. The qualitative research methodology of content analysis was thus utilized to conduct the research. Upon the step-by-step application of the methodology, the key finding of the dissertation established that diplomatic based narrative Hollywood themes of conflict resolution have a greater social, critical review and box-office value …

Racism And Resilience: Counter-Narratives Of Asian International College Students In The Age Of Covid-19, Katrina Liu, Richard Miller, Sharolyn D. Pollard-Durodola, Lei Ping

The Qualitative Report

Using Asian Critical Race Theory and Resilience Theory, this qualitative study explores how Asian international college students experienced racism before and after the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and how they developed and used resilience to counteract that racism. Eleven Asian participants shared their counter-narratives through semi-structured interviews. Results reveal that, before the pandemic, participants were regularly subjected to racist acts and attitudes grounded in a deficit view of Asians that treated them as inscrutable foreigners, blamed them as individuals for perceived shortcomings in their home countries, dismissed their expertise outside of technical STEM fields, and failed to recognize their …

Lead…For Father’S Sake: An Autoethnography On Leadership Growth In Western And Indigenous Contexts, Dau D. Jok

The Qualitative Report

This autoethnography examines the juxtaposition of Western and Indigenous ideas of leadership through my lens and experiences as a refugee, student-athlete, a patriarch in a sub-Saharan African culture, and Soldier. I utilized existing literature on leadership perspectives from multiple regions (McManus & Perruci, 2015) to contextualize the study, revealing insights into differences in leader-follower relationship, decision-making, and responsibilities. Although the Western context, specifically the United States, is predominantly individualistic, I highlight the versatility and plurality of its leadership—sports and the military provide the most potent examples. Leaders in the Western context are judged on their leadership role, whereas Indigenous leaders …

Responding To Violence From Abroad: The Mexican Diaspora Mobilising From Brussels And Paris Through Art-Based Strategies, Larisa Lara-Guerrero

Peace and Conflict Studies

Over 150,000 people were intentionally killed in Mexico since 2006, after the Mexican government decided to openly combat organized crime. Against the backdrop of the security crisis, members of Mexican society have developed national and transnational strategies to contribute to the respond to the rampant violence in their homeland.

By introducing a transdisciplinary approach and peacebuilding theories, this paper argues that Mexican migrants living in Brussels and Paris have been able to orchestrate transnational art-based strategies to contribute to the violence alleviation in their country of origin. In particular, this empirical paper argues that Mexican migrants living in these two …

Data Collection In The Field: Lessons From Two Case Studies Conducted In Belize, Rico Kongsager

The Qualitative Report

There is a vast load of literature concerning how data collection can be conducted. This literature provides guidelines and recommendations on how data collection might be done, however, only a very limited part of this literature describes in detail how data actually are collected in the field. This paper is intended to be an example, where the methodology is explained in detail to assist and inspire other researchers, on their way to conduct interesting and important research. The data collection and fieldwork described in this paper were conducted to complete two case studies in Belize, Central America. The core of …

“Life Is Splendid Here In The U.S.”: Intercultural Learning In Contemporary Chinese Students’ Academic Adjustment, Karolina Achirri

The Qualitative Report

The increasing numbers of Chinese learners studying at American universities and the high mobility across borders have recently challenged prevailing stereotypes of Asians in education. While studies of Chinese students are abundant, there has been scant research on how intercultural learning unfolds in these students’ adjustment to both academic and social settings. To address this research gap, I center my case study around six of my former students from China and examine their progress at different U.S. institutions. Data from their journals were coded and analyzed qualitatively. In tracing my participants’ first semester trajectory and their strategies to adapt to …

Peace And Conflict Studies Journal Conference, Christopher Appiah-Thompson

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

State Conspiracy And Counterterrorism Engagements In Nigeria: Changing The Peace Agenda Narratives, Victor Chidubem Iwuoha Dr., Jude Tochukwu Omenma, Celestine Uchechukwu Udeogu

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

No abstract provided.

Avoiding The ‘Anthropocene’?: An Assessment Of The Extent And Nature Of Engagement With Environmental Issues In Peace Research, Rhys Kelly Dr

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article critically examines the extent and nature of engagement with environmental issues within the field of peace research, and specifically with the unfolding ecological crisis (‘the Anthropocene’). A representative sample of journals and book series associated with peace research were analysed in order to a. quantify the extent of engagement with climate change and other environmental issues in peace research, and b. assess the range of discursive positions vis-a-vis the environment represented in the sample. The article finds that, in comparison to other ‘thematic niches’, environmental issues have received limited attention. It also finds that the dominant orientation of …

The Meaning Of Javanese Adolescents' Involvement In Youth Gangs During The Discoveries Of Youth Identity: A Phenomenological Study, Enung Hasanah, Supardi Supardi

The Qualitative Report

Yogyakarta is a part of Javanese society. Javanese culture, which always enforces moral values, has a practical implication toward adolescents' views about their self-identity. Yogyakarta adolescents are well known to have positive self-identity, good behavior, and tend to become successful persons in their youth. In the past years, a phenomenon of youth gangs that often conduct irresponsible acts such as brawls, stabbing terror, and even murder has emerged. The question of the research is how adolescent members of a youth gang give meaning to their involvement in a youth gang. To answer the question, we used a phenomenological research method. …

Perceptions Of International Students In Indian Higher Education Campuses, Sanjay Krishnapratap Pawar, Swati Vispute, Hassan Wasswa

The Qualitative Report

The global competition for international students has fuelled the need for education providers to become more consumer oriented in their planning. Our purpose with this study was to understand international student perceptions and discuss corresponding approaches. In this qualitative study we interviewed twenty international students enrolled in two Indian universities to examine: one, their feelings about being an international student in India and two, what attracted them to India as a higher education destination. Our findings suggest that, the people on campus and in the host city are vital to delivering experiences. We identified “quality of education,” “cultural diversity” and …

A Research Tapestry: Stories Woven Into Stories, Laura Colket

The Qualitative Report

This autoethnography highlights the subjective nature of narrative research and illustrates the ways in which both micro and macro forces impact the research process. Through this article, I present a research tapestry in which the experiences, perspectives and stories of the participants weave together with my own experiences, perspectives and stories. I draw from my dissertation research, a narrative inquiry focused on the experiences of Haitian educational leaders working to create systemic change after the 2010 earthquake.

How To Access Elites When Textbook Methods Fail? Challenges Of Purposive Sampling And Advantages Of Using Interviewees As “Fixers”, Esra Bakkalbasioglu

The Qualitative Report

Social science methods literature identifies gaining access as one of the main challenges of conducting elite interview research. However, the existing literature mostly fails to provide access strategies other than the “textbook” methods of sending email, letters, faxes, or making phone calls. Many researchers, especially the ones who conduct purposive sampling-based in elite interview research encounter various obstacles when they try to gain access to the potential interviewees. Especially in challenging research environments, textbook methods either fail the researchers using purposive sampling or considerably increase the time and energy spent to gain access to elite respondents. Drawing on the author’s …

How To Be Unfaithful To Eurocentrism: A Spanglish Decolonial Critique To Knowledge Gentrification, Captivity And Storycide In Qualitative Research, Marcela Polanco, Nathan D. Hanson, Camila Hernandez, Tirzah Le Feber, Sonia Medina, Stephanie Old Bucher, Eva I. Rivera, Ione Rodriguez, Elizabeth Vela, Brandi Velasco, Jackolyn Le Feber

The Qualitative Report

From a position of academic activism, we critique the longstanding dominance del production of knowledge that solely implicates fidelity to Eurocentric methodological technologies en qualitative research. Influenced by an Andean decolonial perspective, en Spanglish we problematize métodos of analysis as the dominant research practice, whereby las stories o relatos result en su appropriation, captivity and gentrification, first by researchers’ authorship and later by the publishing industry copyrights. We highlight the racializing and capitalist colonial/modern Eurocentric agenda del current market of knowledge production that displaces to la periphery all knowledge o relatos that do not subscribe to Euro-US American methodological parameters …

“People Come And Go But We Don’T See Anything”: How Might Social Research Contribute To Social Change?, Nathan Andrews, Sylvia Bawa

The Qualitative Report

In different fields of study, scholars interested in making a positive difference in the lives of their research communities insist on engaging policy makers and activists in their work. Paulo Freire, one of the most widely known public intellectuals, asserts that praxis enables critical thought, awareness and collaborative action for emancipation for oppressed groups. Within this framework, our contribution aims to provoke thinking on the need for accountability to research subjects in development research through an emphasis on producing policy-focused and change-driven, as opposed to purely theoretically oriented, knowledge. The overarching argument is that research should, in fact, be conscious …

Learning Together To Heal: Toward An Integrated Practice Of Transpersonal Psychology, Experiential Learning, And Neuroscience For Collective Healing, Tatsushi Arai, Jean Bosco Niyonzima

Peace and Conflict Studies

This essay brings together complementary insights from transpersonal psychology, experiential learning, and neuroscience to develop an integrated framework of psychosocial healing in societies affected by conflict and trauma. While transpersonal psychology examines the spiritual and transcendental aspects of psychosocial wellbeing, research on experiential learning examines how people learn from direct experience. Recognizing that both are useful for psychosocial healing, the first part of the essay explores how the two sets of activities can complement each other. Of particular interest is the role of transpersonal exercises such as yoga and meditation, as well as the purposeful use of experiential learning techniques …

The Lived Experiences Of Chinese International Students Preparing For The University-To-Work Transition: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study, Ian M. Lertora, Jeffrey Sullivan

The Qualitative Report

Chinese international students have been the largest growing number of international students on U.S. college and university campuses for the last ten years. However, there is minimal research literature that pertains to Chinese international students’ experiences on U.S. campuses and currently no research literature that reflects the entirety of their experience studying in the U.S. The purpose of thisphenomenological qualitative study was to give a voice to Chinese international students who are preparing for the university-to-work transition to better understand their experiences as international students in the United States, specifically the types of transitional stressors they experienced and how they …

“To Gallop Together To War Is Simple-- To Make Peace Is Complex” Indigenous Informal Restorative Conflict Resolution Practices Among Kazakhs: An Ethnographic Case Study, Ronald Brooks Wiley

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Advocates of restorative and transitional justice practice have long drawn from practices of indigenous peoples to form the basis for more sustainable, relational, participatory, community-based approaches to conflict resolution. With the resurgence in Kazakh nationalism since the Republic of Kazakhstan independence, repatriated diasporic Kazakhs, who through cultural survival in diaspora retain more of their ethno-cultural characteristics, influence a revival of Kazakh language and culture. The purpose of this study was to understand the indigenous informal restorative conflict resolution practices of the Kazakh people. The questions that drove this study were: What indigenous informal forms of dispute resolution have been in …

A Motherwork Challenge To Dominant Discourse: A Review Of Immigration, Motherhood, And Parental Involvement: Narratives Of Communal Agency In The Face Of Power Asymmetry, Katie D. Scott

The Qualitative Report

In Lilian Cibils dissertation-turned-book, Immigration, Motherhood and Parental Involvement: Narratives of Communal Agency in the Face of Power Asymmetry (2017), the stories of seven Mexican immigrant mothers provide insight into what motherhood looks like outside the mainstream ideology of parental involvement. Using a critical feminist lens, Cibils employs the concept of motherwork as an alternative to a cultural deficit approach for understanding Mexican immigrant motherhood.

Zionism, Imperialism, And Indigeneity In Israel/Palestine: A Critical Analysis, Ran Ukashi

Peace and Conflict Studies

This article explores the similarities and differences between Zionism and archetypical European modes of settler colonialism to demonstrate the incongruence between the two phenomena. This analysis is contextualized around the recent discourse surrounding the competing claims of indigeneity to historic Israel/Palestine. The claims of both the Jewish and Palestinian Arab communities are explored to demonstrate that both communities can rightfully claim degrees of Indigenous connection to the territory, but that Palestinian Arab claims of being the sole Indigenous inheritors of the land are dubious. The analysis utilizes Burton's unmet human needs theory, and Kriesberg's theories on identity and conflict intractability …

Researching Peers And Disaster Vulnerable Communities: An Insider Perspective, Stern M. Kita

The Qualitative Report

Conducting research among peers and communities that a researcher also serves may be both daunting and rewarding. Researching peers may make the researcher feel uncomfortable raising certain questions that are sensitive or that could be construed to be testing their competencies. This paper is inclined more towards showing that it is advantageous to be an insider, whose position can facilitate collection of information that could not have been accessed, or revealed to an outsider. The paper reports on fieldwork conducted in a low-income country in Sub-Sahara Africa as part of a doctoral study with communities affected by disasters and those …

The Cross-Cultural Experiences Of Saudi Sojourners In The United States: A Study Of Intrapersonal Identity Conflict, Ahmed M. Asfahani Ph.D.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

What are the cross-cultural experiences of Saudi sojourners studying in the United States that lead to intrapersonal identity conflict? Sojourner identity conflict is a foundational issue in culture shock and can promote or limit positive relationships between Saudi and American students. It is important to study Saudi sojourners’ cultural backgrounds and the factors that inhibit or promote assimilation into their host culture to ensure the success of cultural exchange through providing data needed to learn how to best ameliorate the dissonance caused by identity conflict. By employing a phenomenological approach, this research provides findings relating to acculturation strategies of sojourners …

Women Workforce Attrition Dynamics In Indian It/ Ites Sector, Sharda Singh, Shirshendu Ganguli, Rajasekhar David

The Qualitative Report

The objective of the study is to identify various factors responsible for women's workforce attrition in Indian IT/ITES sector. Thematic analysis was used to generate the factors affecting women's workforce attrition. For the purpose of the study, semi-structured in depth interviews were conducted with some of the women employees of different IT companies. Interviews can be broadly classified into four sections. The first section dealt with personal profiles; second part contained a discussion on the benefits provided by organizations; third part elaborates on factors responsible for women's workforce attrition; and the last part dealt with suggestions on reducing attrition rate …

Exploring Perceptions Of Goodness Among The Malaysian And Chinese University Students: A Focus Group Study, Madiha Hashmi, Moniza Waheed, Ezhar Tamam, Steven E. Krauss Dr., Abdul Muati Ahmad

The Qualitative Report

The notion of goodness is implicitly central to the discourse relating to person perception. To date, no empirical research has focused solely upon understanding the notion of goodness and how it’s perceived and discerned in others. Utilizing focus group interviews, this paper explores how people perceive and interpret goodness in collectivist cultures of Malaysia and China. Findings revealed that Malaysian and Chinese participants had somewhat similar notions about goodness. “Concern for others’ welfare” was found to have the most resonance across the two nationalities as a key element in discerning goodness in others. Another category emerging from the findings was …

Return To Nursing: A Meta-Synthesis Of Academic Bridging Programs’ Effect On Internationally Educated Nurses, Edward V. Cruz, Rhea Faye Felicilda-Reynaldo, C. Patricia Mazzotta

The Qualitative Report

This meta-synthesis explored the effect of bridging programs on internationally educated nurses (IENs). Eight papers that met the inclusion criteria were selected for this review. There were 437 participants from eight studies who come from different parts of the globe and who settled in either Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom. Using a grounded theory approach for data analysis, four effects of bridging programs on IENs were identified. These are: (a) the concepts from the regulatory body, the client-centred care; (b) do something better for us, for our future; (c) we have to learn English; and, (d) faculty, …

Rethinking Baloch Secularism: What The Data Say, C. Christine Fair, Ali Hamza

Peace and Conflict Studies

Since 1947, Baloch have resisted inclusion into the Pakistan and have waged several waves of ethno-nationalist insurgency against the state. Scholars and Baloch nationalist leaders alike generally assert that Baloch are more secular than other Pakistanis, more opposed to the political Islamist policies pursued by the state, and less supportive of Islamist militancy in the country. However, these claims lack empirical support. We employ data derived from a large national survey of Pakistanis from 2012 to evaluate these conventional wisdoms. Contrary to claims in the literature, we find that Baloch resemble Pakistanis generally with few important exceptions.

“Bracketing” Foreign Policy From Domestic Affairs: A New Paradigm For International Negotiation And Decision-Making, Scott Gerschwer Ph.D.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

This paper argues that geo-political negotiators must separate domestic issues from their calculations and consider only strategic goals and international concerns when working through issues with other global leaders. The impetus for this paper is a recent poll that shows that 52% of Americans want to bomb Iran, apparently without considering the consequences. I will give some history, present some recent cases and attempt to create a mechanism for separating international and domestic issues to relieve a source of pressure on negotiators.