Journal articles on the topic 'Peer-group church work with youth'

The fascinating influence of world religion has given important impact to the existence of indigenous religion such as Aluk To Dolo within the life of the Christian Torajan Youth who live in Yogyakarta. Aluk To Dolo as one of indigenous religions in Indonesia, in fact, is almost in the position of weak as its followers are decreasing in its region of origin, Tanah Toraja of Sulawesi. It is found that only one leader is still remaining in Toraja accompanied by the practice of Rambu Solo which is also still being maintained in the region. This work is based on the view of the youth toward Alok To Dolo as the youth play an important role to determine and negotiate the inheritance of their religion including indigenous religion within their life. This article examines how Christian Torajan Youth perceive Christianity and Aluk To Dolo. Data collection is conducted through depth interview and focused group discussion with a group of Christian Torajan Youth members who stay in Yogyakarta for their studies. They are affiliated to Torajan student organizations and Torajan tribal church in Yogyakarta. This work concludes that Torajan students perceive the Aluk To Dolo as pendamping agama or the companion of religion they practice (Christianity) besides perceiving it as their cultural home base. In other words, they mean the Aluk To Dolo for cultural practices supporting their Christianity practice in their life. It is also found that the decreasing of the practice of Alok To Dolo by the students is more caused by three factors including the distance to the origin land, the influence from the Toraja tribal church, and the literatures having influence in their believe. As student, although the Christian Torajan youth are close and more influenced by literatures in Christianity (church), they also practice the teachings of the local religion to keep their cultural identity.

In many Latin American countries, stringent crime control measures have failed to stem high levels of youth crime and violence. As a consequence, there is burgeoning interest in the notion of youth social capital as a basis for policies and programmes designed to enhance the rights of young people living in circumstances of poverty and risk. Yet there is little knowledge of existing sources of youth social capital in poor urban communities in Latin America. To address this gap, the authors conducted an inquiry into the sources and aspects of youth social capital in one low-income urban neighbourhood in Nicaragua. The study revealed that despite a local context fraught with the effects of poverty, youth experienced varying benefits from family and peer relationships, and from their differentiated associations with school, church, and places of work. In recognition of these existing sources of local support, we argue that youth social capital formation, particularly through family assistance and investments in schooling, has considerable merit as both a means and an end of community development strategies in low-income neighbourhoods. We acknowledge, however, that social capital formation as a basis of youth policies and programmes must be founded on a broad civic and political commitment to children’s rights which, as yet, is far from evident in Nicaragua.

AbstractIn the previous article we asked the question of to what extent a group of 538 Grade 11 students from Anglican and Catholic church-affiliated schools in the Johannesburg/Pretoria region show transformative orientations in the fields of ecology, economics and politics. In this article we deal with the question of what the social location of these transformative orientations is. The more transformatively oriented students are to be found among female, ANCoriented, transethnically directed, postmaterialistic, self-controlling, non-religious, and sometimes Anglican (in each case non-Catholic) students who regard work as something interesting, participate in political communication and consensus building, and see politics and study as a value. Students who favour socio-economic equality more specifically are to be found among the more religiously inspired and motivated students.

AbstrakKelompok sel di gereja terhadap anak, remaja/pemuda, serta orangtua bertujuan untuk mengajar dan memperlengkapi pelayanan gereja sehingga terjadi multiplikasi. Kelompok sel harus diawali dengan melayani Tuhan, berdoa, dan berada dalam sebuah kesatuan. Kelompok sel merupakan kelompok kecil yang tidak lebih dari 12 orang untuk bertemu secara teratur sebagai sarana agar tiap anggota dapat mempelajari firman Tuhan dan membagikan pengalaman hidup dalam suasana persaudaraan yang akrab dan menyenangkan untuk bertumbuh pada pengenalan akan Yesus Kristus. Perlu adanya kegiatan kelompok sel di gereja karena ibadah yang dilaksanakan pada hari minggu, umumnya tidak akan dapat memenuhi kebutuhan tersebut karena ibadah hari minggu hanya komunikasi satu arah. Oleh karena itu, penulis dalam artikel ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan bagaimana prinsip kelompok sel sebagai revitalisasi pendidikan agama Kristen di gereja kepada setiap anggota jemaat. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah kelompok sel dapat menjadi salah satu metode yang ampuh bagi gereja untuk mencapai penyempurnaan orang-orang kudus dalam pekerjaan/pelayanan Tuhan (Ef. 4:13). Kata Kunci: Gereja; Kelompok Sel; Pendidikan Agama Kristen; Revitalisasi AbstractCell groups in the church for children, youth/youth, and parents aim to teach and equip church services so that multiplication occurs. The cell group must begin with serving God, praying, and being in oneness. Cell groups are small groups of no more than 12 people to meet regularly as a means so that each member can study God's word and share life experiences in a close and pleasant brotherly atmosphere to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. There is a need for cell group activities in the church because worship held on Sundays, generally will not be able to meet these needs because Sunday worship is only one-way communication. Therefore, the author in this article aims to explain how the principle of cell groups as a revitalization of Christian religious education in the church to every member of the congregation. The result of this research is that cell groups can be a powerful method for the church to achieve the perfection of the saints in God's work/service (Eph. 4:13). Keywords: Church; Cell Groups; Christian education; Revitalization

AbstractIn the previous article we inquired into the attitudes towards human rights of a group of 538 Grade 11 students in Anglican and Catholic church-affiliated schools in the Johannesburg/Pretoria region. We distinguished between civil, political and judicial rights, socio-economic rights, and environmental rights. In this article we examine the social location of these attitudes. We arrived at the following profile of students who favour human rights: they are female, come from the official indigenous language groups, and have been raised by parents who have a relatively high educational and occupational level, and are not self-employed. They prefer the ANC to other political parties, and are transethnically and post-materialistically oriented. Their attitude towards work is interest-oriented, definitely not money-oriented. They participate in a political culture of communication. With regard to religious characteristics, which are particularly relevant to their attitudes towards socio-economic rights, they are religiously socialised, involved in religious praxis and have open religious communication with their parents; but they are not intensely tied to a particular denomination nor do they regularly attend church services. At the same time, those who display these last two characteristics reject civil rights. With regard to interreligious interactions, the students who favour human rights, display multireligious orientations and reject monoreligious ones.

AbstractIn the previous article we inquired into the attitudes towards human rights of a group of 538 Grade 11 students in Anglican and Catholic church-affiliated schools in the Johannesburg/Pretoricz region. We distinguished between civil, political and judicial rights, socio-economic rights, and environmental rights. In this article we examine the social location of these attitudes. We arrived at the following profile of students who favour human rights: they are female, come from the official indigenous language groups, and have been raised by parents who have a relatively high educational and occupational level, and are not self-employed. They prefer the ANC to other political parties, and are transethnically and post-materialistically oriented. Their attitude towards work is interest-oriented, definitely not money-oriented. They participate in a political culture of communication. With regard to religious characteristics, which are particularly relevant to their attitudes towards socio-economic rights, they are religiously socialised, involved in religious praxis and have open religious communication with their parents; but they are not intensely tied to a particular denomination nor do they regularly attend church services. At the same time, those who display these last two characteristics reject civil rights. With regard to interreligious interactions, the students who favour human rights, display multireligious. orientations and reject monoreligious ones.

The general perception is that teenagers are a group of people who are often a bother to parents. The role of the church is very important to the formation of members of the congregation, including youth, both in worship, fellowship and service. The church environment must be a pleasant environment for adolescents, because if adolescents leave the church for various reasons, it becomes increasingly difficult to conduct spiritual formation to this group. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method by involving adolescents as respondents to find out how adolescents think about the role of the church in their spiritual formation, so that by getting data from adolescents, it can produce data analysis about whether the church has done its work and how the church can continue to conduct adolescent spiritual guidance. well. In conclusion, the church must continue to learn about what it likes, likes, and interests of adolescents, so that it can create an atmosphere and environment that brings, and invites them to love worship. Youth are accepted into fellowship in the church, get good service, so that they become part of the ministry, and can serve with responsibility.AbstrakPersepsi umum berpendapat bahwa remaja adalah kelompok orang-orang yang sering menyusahkan orang tua. Peran gereja sangat penting terhadap pembinaan warga jemaatnya, termasuk remaja, baik dalam ibadah, persekutuan dan pelayanan. Lingkungan gereja haruslah menjadi lingkungan yang menyenangkan untuk remaja, karena apabila remaja meninggalkan gereja oleh berbagai alasan, maka semakin sulit untuk melakukan pembinaan secara rohani kepada kelompok ini. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriftif kualitatif dengan melibatkan remaja sebagai responden untuk mengetahui begaimana pendapat remaja tentang peranan gereja terhadap pembinaan kerohanian mereka, sehingga dengan didapatkannya data dari remaja maka dapat menghasilkan analisa data tentang apakah gereja sudah melakukan tugasnya dan bagaimana gereja dapat terus melakukan pembinaan kerohanian remaja dengan baik. Kesimpulannya, gereja harus terus mempelajari tentang apa yang disukai, digemari, diminati remaja, sehingga dapat menciptakan suasana dan lingkungan yang membawa, serta mengajak mereka mencintai ibadah. Remaja diterima dalam persekutuan di gereja, mendapatkan pelayanan yang baik, sehingga mereka menjadi bagian dalam pelayanan, dan dapat melayani dengan tanggung jawab.

What do Latino immigrant children’s voices say as they are provided a safe community space to be heard and soft clay through which to speak? Through art work, focus groups, gallery exhibitions, and filtering data (Author, 2018) this critical ethnographic research (Madison, 2012; Merriam & Tissdell, 2016; Wolcott, 2008; Thomas, 1993) exposes the complex political nature of linguistic, cultural, and national negotiations in which Latino children and their families in this study engage daily. This work troubles stereotypic mainstream narratives (Dillard, 2012; hooks, 1990, 1994; Janks, 2010) and points out the need for strong community/university collaborations to impact the excavation of deeper understandings of people in our neighborhoods. This ethnographic portrait of families, part of a larger study, involved the community director in an urban Spanish speaking church and faculty from literacy education and visual art at IUPUI. In this study children created clay objects called “hanging journals” during a summer program. These clay artworks acted as semiotic mediators (Kress, 2010; Pahl & Rowsell, 2012) for voices of this group—voices which routinely go unheard, or are devalued. Using theoretical frameworks from the fields of literacy and art, layered with multiplex ethnographic research tools, the volume on these important and complicated voices was turned up to hear buried stories and to interrogate commonly accepted narratives that swirl around Latino immigrants and their families. This study provides a peek into the authentic narratives of children as they share the daily navigation of a transnational existence, and shows the power of the arts to communicate across contested spaces. This study embraces the necessity of authentic university/community collaborations as a two-way street to understand and empower Latino youth, to better prepare future teachers as agents of change, and to expose versions of immigrant ways of being and knowing that are misconstrued.

The aim of the article is to present the issue of retaining the national identity among the youngest Polish exiles living in New Zealand. To present that issue, methods appropriate for the history of education were applied. The basis of the research were the materials stored in the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London. As a result of the archival research, at the invitation of the Prime Minister Peter Fraser, a group of Polish children arrived in the settlement of Pahiatua in New Zealand. They were mainly orphans with their carers. The exiles were provided with good living conditions. School children were prepared to return to free Poland after the war, they attended Polish schools in the settlement and the older ones attended New Zealand schools run mainly by the Catholic Church. The moment Poland found itself under the Soviet influence and the power was taken by the communists, the exiles from Pahiatua did not want to return to the enslaved country. They decided to stay in the friendly New Zealand. In that situation, the issue of retaining their national identity arose, along with the need to provide them with education, profession and work. The concept of resisting the policy of depriving the young generation of their national identity was in the focus of the Polish authority in London. It was also a matter of great concern of the teachers and carers in the settlement of Pahaiatua. Many initiatives were taken which aimed at retaining the Polish identity among children and youth living in New Zealand, who gradually started work in the unknown environment. The conducted activities to retain the Polish identity bore positive results. The Polish identity wasretained not only by the exiles but also by their children and grandchildren, who, not knowing the language of their ancestors, cultivate national traditions and remember their roots. As a result of the presented deliberations, we may draw a conclusion that the conduct of the Polish authority in exile in the analysed issue was appropriate. In such a situation one should act similarly and always consistently.

We assessed young adolescent female soccer players’ perceptions of their peer group experiences. Data were collected via interviews with 34 girls from two youth soccer teams (M age = 13.0 years). Following inductive discovery analysis, data were subjected to an interpretive theoretical analysis guided by a model of peer experiences (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 2006). Five categories of peer experiences were identified across three levels of social complexity. At the interaction level players integrated new members into the team and learned to interact with different types of people. At the relationship level players learned about managing peer conflict. At the group level a structure of leadership emerged and players learned to work together. Findings demonstrated interfaces between peer interactions, relationships, and group processes while also simplifying some apparently complex systems that characterized peer experiences on the teams studied.

Adolescents who are chronically exposed to violence and poverty respond with rage, distrust, and hopelessness. Successful programs for these youth include nine essential elements: street outreach and referral; needs and interest assessments; provisions for supportive, personal relationships with adults; availability of role models; peer group discussions; family interventions; neighborhood projects; education and job preparedness training; and program objectives. Neighborhood youth centers should engage youth in program planning and program operation. Success cannot be achieved without a deeply ingrained faith that our young people can be resourceful and energetic agents of constructive and productive change.

The article highlights the problem of the formation of music education in Slobozhanshchyna in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries in the context of studying the general trends of cultural and educational development of the region. Based on the analysis of the results of previous studies, it has been proved that the development of music education in Ukraine in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries has been revealed in scientific publications. At the same time, it has been established that the problem of highlighting the main milestones and ways of institutionalization of music education in Slobozhanshchyna (Sloboda region) through the creation of special educational institutions of vocational music, as well as substantiation of opportunities to use cultural and educational experience at the turn of the century and raising children in the modern education system, requires further research and practical implementation. The aim of the article is to reveal the experience of formation and development of the system of music education in Slobozhanshchyna in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries in terms of analyzing the activities of music education centers and identifying ways of its modern use. The authors have used a set of research methods: system-structural and historical-genetic methods to assess the cultural situation in the region; general research methods to organize and generalize theoretical views of historical facts, clarify the problem in the dynamics, substantiate the main historical milestones; study of historical literature, archival, statistical, normative documents in order to generalize the practical experience of music education in educational institutions of the region. It has been found that the identity of cultural traditions of ethnic groups of Slobozhanshchyna has determined the specifics of the development of music education in the region, revealed the features of cultural and musical life in the region, the spread of private music education, public associations and creative associations (Kharkiv Society of Choral Singers, Music and Charity Kharkiv Music Group, Church Singing Society), the development of music education, which proved to be an important basis for the development and institutionalization of music education. The activity of music classes, evening classes at music classes, Sunday courses, the work of which was aimed at training church choir singers and music teachers, created under the auspices of public societies, is essential for the institutionalization of music education in Slobozhanshchyna. In the context of research of regional problems and difficulties of music education development, in particular concerning primary stage of work of Kharkiv music school in the studied period, the big role of the known music figure, teacher and the inspirer of process of institutionalization of music education in Slobozhanshchyna I. Slatin has been allocated. Based on the analysis of historical and pedagogical literature we have revealed the main milestones in the process of institutionalization of music education, identified a variety of forms of such education in the region (music classes, private music lessons, music lectures, courses for singers, performers and regents); the experience of creation of the first institution of music education in Slobozhanshchyna – music school has been analyzed, its activity has been characterized, the organizational conditions of activity of music school as the most important center of music education of youth in the region have been analyzed.

Summary The relevance of professional youth work for preventionProfessional youth work is one of the social work professions. Dutch municipalities need insight into the contribution of professional youth work to prevention and reduction of youth care. In this paper we analyze data collected between 2011-2015 on the functioning and results of four classic youth work methods: ‘Group work’, ‘Detached Youth Work’, ‘Information and Advice’ and ‘Counselling Services’. The studies were explorative and have been analyzed with descriptive statistics. We conclude that the contribution of professional youth work can be: (1) to form an alternative for a significant other and/or positive peer groups in the neighborhood; (2) to strengthen the self-awareness and forethought of young people; (3) to strengthen the societal and economic participation of young people; and (4) to target institutions. Effect-research is needed to determine the actual contribution.

ABSTRACT WHO (2008), put Indonesia 4.8% as the country with the third highest number of smokers in the world after China as much as 30% and India as much as 11.2%. Smokers in Indonesia on average start smoking at the age of 15-19 years, which at age is the age of adolescents. One effort to provide information about the dangers of smoking in adolescents is through peers ( peer group). The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of Peer Group Education on smoking behavior in adolescents at SMK TAMAN SISWA Padang in 2018. The research type is pre-experiment with One-Group Pre-Test-Post-Test approach implemented in SMK Taman Siswa Padang in December 2017 until May 2018. The population is class X and class XI total of 60 people where class X there are 25 students and class XI 35 student at SMP Taman Siswa Padang with sample amounted to 24 students. Univariate data analysis with frequency distribution and bivariate analysis with paired sample t-test with a confidence level of 95%. Results showed average knowledge teenager before getting peer group education intervention was 6.21, after getting peer group education intervention was 14.54, average adolescent attitude before getting peer group education intervention is 34.88, after getting peer group education intervention was 52.25, the average teenage action before getting peer group education intervention was 3.33 and after obtaining peer group education intervention was 8.12 . It can be concluded differences in knowledge, attitude and practice about smoking before and after getting peer group education intervention. Suggestion for school parties needs to work with local health agencies to conduct cooperation in the form of health education to students, especially about the dangers of smoking for students.

The agricultural sector is holding a pivotal position to national income but however, the importance of the agricultural sector is not supported by the regeneration of agriculture workers. The number of agricultural workers continuously decreasing during a time, in order to understand these phenomena there is a number of factors that have led to a decline in youth participation in the agriculture sector, yet there is only limited research that is trying to determine the relationship between socialization agent and working preference. This study has several objectives, among others: (1) Identifying youth interactions with peer-group in the agricultural sector. (2) Identifying youth attitudes towards agriculture work (3) Analyzing the correlation between interactions with friends in the agricultural sector with youth attitudes towards agriculture work. This research uses a quantitative method with a descriptive - correlational approach and was taken place in Ciasmara Village, Pamijahan District, Bogor Regency from March 2019 until Juli 2019. A total of 129 youth were selected as research respondents in this study. This study found that parents and peers have important positions in making youth interested in working in the agricultural sector. The two primary socialization agents were able to influence youth with different approaches. Parents through work-involvement as family labor meanwhile, the peer-groups through doing activities together in farmland.

Background:Attitudes of social service providers towards computerized CBT (cCBT) might affect use of cCBT by their clients and may provide important insights that should be considered in dissemination. There is no literature exploring the attitudes of providers of youth work services towards cCBT despite the likelihood of them having close relationships with young people at high risk of mental ill-health.Method:Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a total of 40 providers (21 youth workers and social service staff providing alternative schooling, justice or other intensive youth work programmes to adolescents, 6 youth service managers, 2 trainers, 5 peer leaders and 6 trainees).Results:Participants considered supporting young people who were distressed to be an important part of their role. They were generally interested in cCBT, especially those who were more mental health oriented and those who saw a cCBT programme in action. Their greatest concerns regarding cCBT related to it possibly displacing human contact, while advantages were seen as its appeal to young people and its potential therapeutic power. They would utilize cCBT in a range of ways, with many wishing to offer it in group settings. Training and resources would be required for them to use cCBT.Conclusions:Many providers of youth work services would like to be involved in the use of cCBT; this might extend the reach of cCBT to vulnerable young people. They would wish to utilize cCBT in ways that fit their current approaches. Providers’ opinions need to be considered in the dissemination of cCBT.

AbstractSmoking is a major cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Almost no evidence-based intervention programs are available to help youth quit smoking. We argue that ineffective targeting of peer influence and engagement difficulties are significant barriers to successful youth smoking cessation. To address these barriers, we developed the mobile game intervention HitnRun. A two-armed randomized controlled trial (RCT; n = 144) was conducted and young smokers (Mage = 19.39; SDage = 2.52) were randomly assigned to either play HitnRun or read a psychoeducational brochure. Prior to, directly following the intervention period, and after three-month follow-up, weekly smoking behavior, abstinence rates, intervention dose, and peer- and engagement-related factors were assessed. Results indicated similar reductions in weekly smoking levels and similar abstinence rates for both groups. Yet, we found a dose effect with HitnRun only: The longer participants played HitnRun, the lower their weekly smoking levels were. In the brochure group, a higher dose was related to higher weekly smoking levels at all measurement moments. Exploratory analyses showed the most powerful effects of HitnRun for participants who connected with and were engaged by the intervention. Future work should build on the promising potential of HitnRun by increasing personalization efforts and strengthening peer influence components.

Background:This is the first assessment of the Republic of Slovenia’s efforts to synthesize and report physical activity (PA) standards for children and youth following the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance grading system model.Methods:The Republic of Slovenia Report Card relies on research findings published in peer-reviewed journals, data compiled from national databases, and government initiatives which have been monitoring physical fitness standards in schools for the past 34 years (SLOfit and ACDSi). The Report Card initiative has been jointly coordinated by the University of Primorska and the University of Ljubljana. A Research Work Group consisting of 12 representatives from various aspects of Slovenia’s public, private, and government sectors convened to evaluate evidence and assign grades for each PA indicator.Results:Grades (A, highest, to F, lowest; INC, incomplete) for Slovenia are as follows: Overall Physical Activity (A-), Organized Sport Participation (B-), Active Play (D), Active Transportation (C), Sedentary Behaviors (B+), Family and Peers (INC), Schools (A), Community and the Built Environment (INC), and Government (B+).Conclusions:This inclusive PA report indicates that overall physical activity minutes remain high in Slovenian children and youth; however, more research is needed to determine the effects of family life, peer influences, and the built environment on active play behaviors.

Background Development of highly accessible interventions that are effective in reducing body weight, preventing weight gain, and maintaining weight loss is urgently needed to solve the current obesity epidemic, especially among African-American women. Aims The purpose of this paper is to describe the development, implementation, and participant evaluation processes of a combined text messaging and peer support group programme to enhance weight management skills among African-American women. Methods The programme’s conceptual framework and operational model were developed to enhance the research design and protocol to support the study rationale and to lay a solid theoretical base for programme implementation. The programme curriculum and schedule were established and embedded into the programme protocol. Results The 16-week text messaging and peer support group intervention was implemented from September 2014 to March 2015. In total, 2089 messages were sent using an online text messaging application. Eight support group sessions were held in the participant’s community centre or community church bi-weekly for approximately one hour. Conclusions This paper provides a blueprint of the methodological aspects and insights from participants’ evaluation of a combined weight management intervention that can be used or adapted by public health nurses and other community health professionals in their work to develop weight management skills among African-American women.

Background Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Virtual Patient Network (T1DM-VPN) is a private Facebook group for youths with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in Canada intended to facilitate peer-to-peer support. It was built on the finding that stigma is prevalent among youth with T1DM and impedes self-management. Objective We aim to determine if T1DM-VPN provides support as intended and to ascertain what type of members provide support. Specifically, we will (1) identify text consistent with any one of 5 social support categories, (2) describe the network by visualizing its structure and reporting basic engagement statistics, and (3) determine whether being a designated peer leader is related to a member’s centrality (ie, importance in the network) and how frequently they offer social support. Methods We will manually extract interaction data from the Facebook group (posts, comments, likes/reactions, seen) generated from June 21, 2017 (addition of first member), to March 1, 2020. Two researchers will independently code posts and comments according to an existing framework of 5 social support categories—informational, emotional, esteem, network, and tangible—with an additional framework for nonsocial support categories. We will calculate how frequently each code is used. We will also report basic engagement statistics (eg, number of posts made per person-month) and generate a visualization of the network. We will identify stable time intervals in the history of T1DM-VPN by modeling monthly membership growth as a Poisson process. Within each interval, each member’s centrality will be calculated and standardized to that of the most central member. We will use a centrality formula that considers both breadth and depth of connections (centrality = 0.8 × total No. of connections + 0.2 × total No. of interactions). Finally, we will construct multivariate linear regression models to assess whether peer leader status predicts member centrality and the frequency of offering social support. Other variables considered for inclusion in the models are gender and age at diagnosis. Results T1DM-VPN was launched in June 2017. As of March 1, 2020, it has 196 patient-members. This research protocol received ethics approval from the McGill University Health Centre Research Ethics Board on May 20, 2020. Baseline information about each group member was collected upon addition into the group, and collection of interaction data is ongoing as of May 2020. Conclusions This content analysis and social network analysis study of a virtual patient network applies epidemiological methods to account for dynamic growth and activity. The results will allow for an understanding of the topics of importance to youth with T1DM and how a virtual patient network evolves over time. This work is intended to serve as a foundation for future action to help youth improve their experience of living with diabetes. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/18714

The empirical research investigates the orientation and learning processes of adolescents concerning global issues in different educational settings. How do adolescents create their knowledge about the world? What worldviews and ideas do adolescents have about global perspectives? How do they deal with the complexity of world society? The qualitative-empirical research focuses on the comparative analysis of learning processes in different educational settings, such as school lessons in different subjects, school-based extra-curricular activities and non-formal youth work outside school. The main topic of the paper is a case study of a group of female students who run World Shop as student company. The objective is to describe a specific learning culture at a gymnasium, a German grammar school, and the learning processes which occur within a certain learning arrangement. In this context, the student company is important both as an extra-curricular project and because issues which occur in its work setting are integrated into different school lessons. The integration of Global Education in school culture results from the presence of the student company in everyday life at school and the combination of informal learning processes within the peer milieu and formal systematic instruction in school lessons. The research reveals the great potential for the desired acquisition of competencies and knowledge. This in turn demonstrates the extent that student learning is encouraged by a particular school and learning culture.

Social work in Finland, like in many other countries, has faced various challenges after the large scale of forced migration in 2015. Although working with migrants is not a new area in social work, the exceptionally large amount of asylum seekers in the Finnish society caused a need for improved social work expertise. Our article deals with Finnish social work practitioners’ reflections on multicultural, multilingual and transnational issues with a client group, which is in a vulnerable situation after forced or other forms of migration. The practitioners participating in our study have either attended a specializing education of child, youth and family social work or taken part in peer group discussions in order to develop multicultural expertise. All attendants worked in child and family social work during the study periods in the years 2018–2020. Applying a qualitative methodology by using thematic analysis, we analyze the social workers’ texts and discussions in order to find out the challenges and possibilities as well as needs and tools towards anti-oppressive practice in social work. The identified challenges are connected to differentiated local services, social workers’ uncertainty of their expertise in working with forced migrants, nationally defined welfare services and communication skills in client encounters. Some ways ahead were recognized in structural social work and further education to improve knowledge and skills. Social workers emphasize the need for self-reflection on their prejudices and in developing anti-oppressive practices, which contain human rights aspects and client-oriented practices. Specializing education and reflective group discussion gave a platform to social workers for reflective professional discussions and writings, which seem to have broadened their expertise in multicultural social work.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity of the First Offender Risk Assessment Index (FORAI) in predicting delinquent behavior. The measure comprises seven predictor variables: family's history of criminal involvement, school functioning, substance abuse, peer group associations, parental supervision, age at first court referral, and seriousness of the referring offense. Method: Longitudinal data on rates of recidivism were collected for 181 first offenders who, along with their parents, were previously administered the FORAI. Results: The data analysis indicated that the FORAI correctly classified the recidivism of more than 70% of the study sample and that four of the seven predictor variables in the measure were found statistically significant. Conclusions: The results suggest that the FORAI, as a composite measure, could provide a meaningful approach to the early identification of at-risk youth and is a valid predictor of recidivism among a first-offender population. Implications for social work practice are also discussed.

The youths have consistently been hypothesized to be disproportionately responsible for crime and are more vulnerable to violence than any other age group which is costing the community billions of dollars per year, creates a sense of fear and lowers the quality of life for many people. In the first section of this paper, risk factors of youth offending were studied. This research deals on protective factors of youth offending in East Gojjam Zone which is located in Amhara Regional state of Ethiopia. Led by constructionist approach, this research used qualitative exploratory case study strategy. In-depth interview with youth offenders and non-offenders, key informant interview with officials mainly from police and correctional center were the central data collection technique. In addition, document review was also used to get any supportive data from various offices and researches. Generally sixteen youth offenders and thirteen key informants, a total of twenty eight participants were participated. None probability sampling method of purposive sampling technique was employed to select the research participants. Age, gender, and social setting of rural vs. urban were considered to select research participants and get comprehensive information. The finding of the study shows that economic improvement including employment opportunities, increased level of awareness, affiliation to law-abiding youths, consistent parental supervision, family stability and free familial relationship, proper family socialization, adequate income of the family, youth’s steady enrollment to school, and provision of extra circular activities are protective factors of youth offending. In addition, separated rehabilitation center for adolescent and adult, , economic development of the community, limiting the accessibility of alcohol and guns, strong culture against crime, strengthening traditional conflict resolution mechanism, expansion of youth centers with possible services, well equipped lawyers and police officials, strong organized community policing strategy, and improved rehabilitation service are also another opportunities found that reduce the risk factor of youth offending behavior. The finding shows that those multi-level personal, peer, familial, school, cultural, and community level opportunistic factors are not exclusive rather interdependent. Therefore, in order to reduce youths’ involvement in offending behavior, stockholders could work collaboratively.

Welcome to the first regular issue of LUMAT: Research and Practice in Math, Science and Technology Education. The journal publishes peer-reviewed research and perspective papers as well as popularized general articles on new and innovative practices of math, science and technology education. The journal is published by Finland’s Science Education Centre LUMA in collaboration with National LUMA Network. The aim of all LUMA activities is to promote learning, studying and teaching of natural sciences, mathematics, computer science and technology. This issue includes three peer-reviewed research articles as well as one perspective article and one general article. We would like to thank all the authors who have submitted their work to this journal, and hope that many others will be inspired to submit by the high quality of articles published in the first regular issue of this new journal. The first article, written by Mononen and Aunio, discusses differences in children’s early mathematical skills. The research done on the formative years of mathematical skills, such as the study presented in this issue, is especially important, as math skills obtained during the critical formative years of kindergarten and elementary school set the ground for the future development of more complex mathematic skills. Based on their results, Mononen and Aunio also offer some sound advice for the development of kindergarten and elementary school math teaching. The article by Uitto, Kärnä and Hakonen discusses contribution of teaching methods and learning environments to students’ performance in biology as well as their attitudes towards biology. Their main results suggest that there is a need to use more experimental work and inquiry-based learning in biology education to improve learning and student attitudes towards biology. To improve biology learning in the coming decades, the group currently devising new biology curriculum for the comprehensive school will hopefully take into account the results of this study. The last research article, written by Tolppanen and Aksela, investigates the opinions of the gifted youth participants of the Millenium Youth Camp, a math, science and technology camp arranged by Finland’s Science Education Centre LUMA and Technology Academy Finland. The study summarizes number of things that organizers of similar non-formal education should take into consideration. One of the main findings is that the participants considered the opportunity to hear and learn about each other and experts, on a personal level, especially important. Since the release of the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results in 2002, the reasons for high achievement of Finnish students in reading, mathematics and science has been a hotbed of conversation. The perspective paper by Jari Lavonen contributes to this conversation by presenting some key characteristics of Finnish education policy and its implementation from the point of view of science education. The last article published in this issue is a general paper discussing a novel opening in non-formal learning organized by the Finland’s Science Education Centre LUMA. Vartiainen and Aksela write about Jippo Science Clubs for children from 3 to 6 years of age, based on the inquiry model of learning. And on the final note, we would like to acknowledge one more group of people. Publishing scientific journal such as LUMAT: Research and Practice in Math, Science and Technology Education would not be possible without one particular group of unsung heroes. As peer reviewers work in an anonymous capacity and without remuneration, we would like to offer our sincere gratitude to these people who selflessly give advice to the authors as well as to the editors.

IntroductionThe primary aim of the National Institute of Health Research-funded global health research group, Warwick-India-Canada (WIC), is to reduce the burden of psychotic disorders in India. India has a large pool of undetected and untreated patients with psychosis and a treatment gap exceeding 75%. Evidence-based packages of care have been piloted, but delivery of treatments still remains a challenge. Even when patients access treatment, there is minimal to no continuity of care. The overarching ambition of WIC programme is to improve patient outcomes through (1) developing culturally tailored clinical interventions, (2) early identification and timely treatment of individuals with mental illness and (3) improving access to care by exploiting the potential of digital technologies.Methods and analysisThis multicentre, multicomponent research programme, comprising five work packages and two cross-cutting themes, is being conducted at two sites in India: Schizophrenia Research Foundation, Chennai (South India) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (North India). WIC will (1) develop and evaluate evidence-informed interventions for early and first-episode psychosis; (2) determine pathways of care for early psychosis; (3) investigate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of community care models, including digital and mobile technologies; (4) develop strategies to reduce the burden of mental illnesses among youth; (5) assess the economic burden of psychosis on patients and their carers; and (6) determine the feasibility of an early intervention in psychosis programme in India.Ethics and disseminationThis study was approved by the University of Warwick’s Biomedical and Scientific Research Ethics Committee (reference: REGO-2018-2208), Coventry, UK and research ethics committees of all participating organisations. Research findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed scientific publications, presentations at learnt societies and visual media.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the early findings of research which aims to hear the voice of looked after children about their pathways into offending and subsequent entry into the youth justice system, and the implications that this may have for policy and practice. Design/methodology/approach One-to-one semi-structured interviews have taken place with 19 looked after children, who are also subject to youth justice supervision. The interviews have been analysed to identify emerging themes, using broadly grounded approaches. Findings Three important findings arise from the interviews with the participants. First, children in care are being labelled and removed from the mainstream due to problematic behaviours, rather than searching for the underlying cause of the behaviour. Second, significant anger and frustration is expressed towards residential care staff and the child’s social worker, due to several reasons relating to the institutional environment within residential care, and a lack of trust for those professionals with whom control over the child’s life rests. Finally, the children describe feeling powerless whilst in care, and within this context, the peer group plays a crucial role within the lives of the children interviewed. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on the subjective views of 19 interviewees. The sample is not representative, and has not been compared with other forms of data. Rather, it provides the reader with the perspectives of some of the most challenging and vulnerable children in the youth justice system, and places their voice at centre stage. Practical implications This paper points to several challenges within current youth justice and social work practice which led to the interviewees feeling disempowered and ambivalent about their future. A number of recommendations for policy and practice are made in the concluding sections of the paper which may assist those in policy and practice. Originality/value The voice of the looked after child who is also subject to youth justice has not been given centre stage within research to date. The findings are based on this voice and offer a different perspective about a looked after child’s pathways into offending. A number of potential implications for policy and practice, which could be considered and implemented to deal with this problem, are then discussed.

Previous studies on cybercrime in Nigeria have largely been conducted with the intention of understanding its influence on economy and country's reputation, with little attention devoted to youths' perception and issues promoting cybercrime. This study seeks to address this gap by understanding youths' perception and factors advancing cybercrime with a special focus on Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. A total of 20 respondents were purposively selected from the identified youth population and the semi-structured interview type was employed to elicit qualitative data from the identified respondents. While the NVivo (v.12) qualitative software was used to identify themes from the transcript interview, the content analysis technique was employed to make sense of the themes. The Rational Choice Theory was used as a theoretical leaning to understand the presuppositions raised in the study. Findings show falsification of identity and impersonation, the use of diabolical powers/charms to hypnotize victims, and the belief system that cybercrime is seen as routine work where wage is expected as perception of cybercrime. Similarly, there is an evidence to support the claim that social media tools are robustly employed to perpetrate cybercrime. On the question of factors advancing cybercrime, the study found poor economic performance and youths‘ unemployment, weak law enforcement agencies and the challenge of corruption, and environmental and peer group influence as factors promoting cybercrime. The study recommends a robust investment on youth empowerment programmes, wealth creation and value orientation in addition to responsive and corrupt-free law enforcement agencies as critical to addressing the scourge of cybercrime.

The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP), in cooperation with ParticipACTION and other stakeholders, and with support from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), has developed the new Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines for Children (aged 5–11 years), Youth (aged 12–17 years), Adults (aged 18–64 years), and Older Adults (aged ≥65 years). The new guidelines include a preamble to provide context and specific guidelines for each age group. The entire guideline development process was guided by the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument, which is the international standard for clinical practice guideline development. Thus, the guidelines have gone through a rigorous and transparent developmental process; we based the recommendations herein on evidence from 3 systematic reviews, and the final guidelines benefitted from an extensive online and in-person consultation process with hundreds of stakeholders and key informants, both domestic and international. Since 2006, the products of our efforts resulted in the completion of 21 peer-reviewed journal articles (including 5 systematic reviews) that collectively guided this work. The process that Canadian researchers undertook to update the national physical activity guidelines represents the most current synthesis, interpretation, and application of the scientific evidence to date.

Abstract Although essential for providing optimal adolescent patient support, knowledge of the impact of Marfan syndrome in adolescence is limited. To explore adolescents’ perceived impact of Marfan syndrome on (physical) functioning (activities, participation), disability (limitations, restrictions), contextual factors and support needs, we interviewed 19 adolescents with Marfan syndrome. Audio-recordings were transcribed, coded and analysed using thematic analysis. Identified themes were “difficulties in keeping up with peers” and “being and feeling different from peers”. Furthermore, an adolescent Marfan syndrome-specific International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY) model derived from the data describing the adolescent perceived impact of Marfan syndrome on functioning, disability and its contextual factors. Adolescents perceived problems in keeping up with peers in school, sports, leisure and friendships/relationships, and they could not meet work requirements. Moreover, participants perceived to differ from peers due to their appearance and disability. Contextual factors: coping with Marfan syndrome, self-esteem/image, knowledge about Marfan syndrome, support from family/friends/teachers, ability to express needs and peer-group acceptation acted individually as barrier or facilitator for identified themes. Conclusion: Adolescents with Marfan syndrome perceived limitations and restrictions in (physical) functioning. They perceived problems in keeping up with peers and perceived to differ from peers due to their appearance and disability. This warrants awareness and tailored physical, psychosocial, educational and environmental support programmes to improve (physical) functioning and empowerment of adolescents with Marfan syndrome.What is known:• Marfan syndrome is a hereditary connective tissue disorder.• Marfan syndrome affects multiple systems.What is new:• Adolescents with Marfan syndrome perceive (1) problems in keeping up with peers in school, sports, leisure, friendships/relationships and work (2) to differ from peers due to their appearance and disability.• An adolescent Marfan syndrome-specific International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth model derived from the data describing the adolescent perceived impact of Marfan syndrome on functioning, disability and contextual factors.

AbstractIntroduction:The Working Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support was convened as part of the 2009 Harvard Humanitarian Action Summit. The Working Group chose to focus on ethical issues in mental health and psychosocial research and programming in humanitarian settings. The Working Group built on previous work and recommendations, such as theInter-Agency Standing Committee's Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings.Objectives:The objective of this working group was to address one of the factors contributing to the deficiency of research and the need to develop the evidence base on mental health and psychosocial support interventions during complex emergencies by proposing ethical research guidelines. Outcomes research is vital for effective program development in emergency settings, but to date, no comprehensive ethical guidelines exist for guiding such research efforts.Methods:Working Group members conducted literature reviews which included peer-reviewed publications, agency reports, and relevant guidelines on the following topics: general ethical principles in research, cross-cultural issues, research in resource-poor countries, and specific populations such as trauma and torture survivors, refugees, minorities, children and youth, and the mentally ill. Working Group members also shared key points regarding ethical issues encountered in their own research and fieldwork.Results:The group adapted a broad definition of the term “research”, which encompasses needs assessments and data gathering, as well as monitoring and evaluation. The guidelines are conceptualized as applying to formal and informal processes of assessment and evaluation in which researchers as well as most service providers engage. The group reached consensus that it would be unethical not to conduct research and evaluate outcomes of mental health and psychosocial interventions in emergency settings, given that there currently is very little good evidence base for such interventions. Overarching themes and issues generated by the group for further study and articulation included: purpose and benefits of research, issues of validity, neutrality, risk, subject selection and participation, confidentiality, consent, and dissemination of results.Conclusions:The group outlined several key topics and recommendations that address ethical issues in conducting mental health and psychosocial research in humanitarian settings. The group views this set of recommendations as a living document to be further developed and refined based on input from colleagues representing different regions of the globe with an emphasis on input from colleagues from low-resource countries.

Research on the English genitive (e.g. Rosenbach 2007: 154) reports increasing use of the s-variant. This has been explained as extension to inanimate possessors, a semantic shift (e.g. Hundt 1998; Rosenbach 2002), or due to the pressures of economy in journalism, a register change (Hinrichs & Szmrecsanyi 2007; Szmrecsanyi & Hinrichs 2008). The present work reports on a large-scale sociolinguistic investigation of the genitive in vernacular Canadian English using socially stratified corpora and individuals of all ages. The results show that human, prototypical possessors are 96 per cent s-genitive and non-humans are 95 per cent of-genitive. Within the small envelope where both forms are possible, we discover that variation patterns quite differently depending on animacy. For humans, use of the s-genitive is stable in apparent time and correlates with whether or not the possessor ends in a sibilant. In contrast, non-human collectives/organizations reveal an increasing use of s-genitives in apparent time and a favouring effect of short possessors, persistence (when an s-genitive has occurred recently in the previous discourse) and when the individual has a blue-collar job. Groups comprising humans (collectives and organizations), such as our church's youth group, and places that are possible locations for humans (countries, cities, etc.), as in Toronto's best restaurant, are the prime conduit for this change. These findings from vernacular speech confirm the extension of the s-genitive in inanimates by semantic extension.

Folkelige og sociale bevagelser. Nyere forskningsretninger og kvalitative forstaelser[Popular and Social Movements. Recent Research Approaches and Qualitative Interpretations]By Vagn WahlinHowever fascinating Grundtvig himself is as a central figure in 19th century Denmark, we, the citizens of the Third Millennium, have to ask why and how he is also interesting today and how his word, work and influence spread. Part of the answer to that fundamental question lies in the fact that he was the right man at the right place at the right time, with the right tidings to tell some clergymen and many peasant farmers on their dominant, middle size, family farms that they were the core of the nation. But part of the answer is to be found in the fact that his followers managed to elevate him to the influencing position as an inspirer and prophet of a broad popular movement that lasted for generations after his death. This popular, national and Christian movement of the Grundtvigians interacted in the social and political development of more than a hundred years with the other broad popular and ideological movements of Denmark such as the Labour Movement, the more Evangelical movement of the Home Mission, the Temperance movements, the Suffragists and women’s organizations, the associations of the world of sport, the political and youth organizations, etc. They were all active on the local level and soon also on the national level and, from the 1880s and onwards, established more firm organizations and institutions to deal with practical matters such as schools, boy scouts, community houses, soccer stadiums, magazines, newspapers, political associations, trade unions, as well as organized economic and anticapitalistic activities by co-operative dairies, breweries, slaughterhouses, export companies etc. As long as the agrarian sector of society (until around 1960-1970) dominated the national export to pay for the large import of society, that pattern of popular movements, also in the urban industry, influenced most of Danish history and life - and is still most influential in today’s post-modern society.During absolutism (1660-1848), organized social activities and associations were forbidden or strictly controlled. Yet a growing and organized public debate appeared in Copenhagen in late 18th century, followed by literary and semi-political associations amongst the enlightened, urban bourgeoisie. Around 1840 the liberals had organized themselves into urban associations and through newspapers. They were ready to take over the power of the society and the state, but could only do so through an alliance with the peasant farmers in 1846 followed by the German uprising in 1848 by the liberals in Schleswig-Holstein.In Denmark there existed a rather distinct dividing line - economic, cultural, social and in terms of political power - between two dominant sectors of society: Copenhagen, totally dominant in the urban sector, in contrast to the agrarian world, where 80% of the population lived.In the urban as well as in the agrarian sectors of society, the movements mostly appeared to be a local protest against some modernization or innovative introductions felt as a threat to religious or material interests - except for a few cases, where the state wanted an enlightened debate as in the Royal Agrarian Society of 1769. Whether the said local protesters won or lost, their self organization in the matter could lead to a higher degree of civil activity, which again could lead to the spread of their viewpoints and models of early organization. The introduction of civil liberties by the Constitution of 1849 made it more easy and acceptable for the broad masses of society to organize. However, with the spread of organizations and their institutions in the latter part of the 19th century, an ethical and social understanding arose that the power of the organized citizens should be extended from the special or vested interests of the founding group to the benefit of the whole of society and of all classes.So everybody who contributes positively, little or much, to the upholding and development of Danish society should be benefited and embraced by the popular movements. Around 1925 the Labour Movement as the last and largest in number and very influential had finally accepted that ethical point of view and left the older understanding of the suppressed army of toiling and hungry workers. The people, the ‘folk’, and the country of all classes had then been united into ‘Danmark for folket’ (a Denmark o f by and fo r the people).So while a social movement may be an organization of mere protest or vested interests or a short-lived phenomena, a ‘folkelig bevagelse’ (popular movement) became what it was at first - in the understanding of the majority of the Danes, but not in the eyes of the 19th century bourgeois and landowner elite - a positive label. It is still so today, though it is now questioned by many of the more internationally-minded members of the new elite. The word ‘folk’ in the term ‘folkelig bevagelse’ is so highly valued that nearly all political parties of today have included it in their names. For the majority of people, Danish and popular and movements stand for the organized societal activity of those who accept the language, history, culture including religion, landscapes, national symbols, etc. of Denmark and who incorporate all this as a valid part of their self-understanding just as they actively take part in the mutual responsibility for their fellow countrymen. This general attitude is most clearly demonstrated when it is severely breached by some individual or group.With the addition of the Church and the Christian dimension, we have what is the essence of Grundtvig’s heritage. Without this source of inspiration, the popular movements up to a generation ago would have been different and perhaps of less importance, and without the popular movements, Grundtvig’s influence would have been less important in Denmark of the last hundred years. We may best understand this as a process of mutual dependency and of a mutual societal interaction.

Message from Editor Dear Readers, It is a great honor for us to publish seventh volume, second issue of Global Journal of Psychology Research: New Trends and Issues (GJPR). Global Journal of Psychology Research: New Trends and Issues welcomes original empirical investigations and comprehensive literature review articles focusing on psychological issues and related disciplines. The mission of the journal is to publish articles of professional interest for members of psychology. The scope of the journal includes, but is not limited to; the following major areas of psychology science including clinical psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, experimental psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, traffic psychology, forensic psychology, psychometric psychology, sports psychology, health psychology, educational psychology, media psychology and neuroscience psychology. Articles focusing on doctoral students’ professional identity; psychosocial antecedents of those who work in practice, personal and social predictors of risky sexual behaviours in Iranian youth, the effects of Machiavellianism and person–group dissimilarity on workplace incivility, the communication between a doctor and his patients’ parents as a factor in the availability of medical care for disabled children and adulthood transition of students with special educational needs in Portugal; preliminary results of professionals perception are included in this issue. The topics of the next issue will be different. You can make sure that we will be trying to serve you with our journal with a rich knowledge in which different kinds of topics are discussed in 2018 Volume. A total number of seventeen (17) manuscripts were submitted for this issue and each paper has been subjected to double-blind peer review process by the reviewers specialized in the related field. At the end of the review process, a total number of five (5) high quality research papers were selected and accepted for publication. We present many thanks to all the contributors who helped us to publish this issue. Best regards, Prof. Dr. Tulay Bozkurt Editor – in Chief

The cognitive specificity of social pedagogy is its interest in the issues related to social conditionings of human development and, respectively, the specific social conditionings of the upbringing process. The notion has been developed in various directions since the very beginning of the discipline, yet the most clearly visible area seems to be the functioning of individuals, families and broader environment. Simultaneously, it is possible to observe that the issues have been entangled in certain socio-political conditions, the knowledge of which is substantial for the reconstruction and identification of the research heritage of social pedagogy. All these interrelationships allowed to distinguish particular stages of development of social pedagogy. Contemporarily, it is a discipline with descent scientific achievements which marks out and indicates new perspectives both in the field of educational practice and the theory of social activity. Social pedagogy, similarly to other areas (subdisciplines) of pedagogy, deals with the notion of upbringing in a certain aspect – in a certain problem inclination. It specializes in social and environmental conditionings of the upbringing process. It is the thread of the social context of upbringing what proves to be the crucial, basic and fundamental determinant of upbringing and, thus, decisive factor for human development. This notion was always present in the general pedagogical thought however, its organized and rationalized character surfaced only when the social pedagogy was distinguished as a separate, systematic area of pedagogy. It occurred in Poland only at the beginning of the 19th century. From the very beginning the creators and precursors of this subdiscipline pointed out its relatively wide range. It has been the notion of individual – social conditionings of human development, yet, social pedagogists were interested in human at every stage of their lives i.e. childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. Another area of interest were the issues related to family as the most important “place” of human development and, in this respect, the issues connected with institutions undertaking various activities: help, care, support and animation. Finally, the scope of interest included issues related to the environment as the place where the upbringing process is supposed to realize and realizes. Since the very beginning of social pedagogy these have been the prominent threads for exploration. At the same time it ought to be stated that these threads have always been interwoven with various social-political conditions both with regards to their interpretation as well as possible and planned educational practice. Therefore social pedagogy and its findings must be always “read” in the context of social-political conditions which accompanied the creation of a given thought or realization of some educational practice. As these conditions have constantly been undergoing certain transformations one may clearly distinguish particular stages of development of social pedagogy. The stages reflect various approaches to exploring and describing the above-mentioned areas of this discipline. Following the assumptions regarding the chronology of social pedagogy development and the three distinguished stages of development, it seems worthwhile to study how the issues related to an individual, family and environment were shaped at these stages. The first stage when the social psychology was arising was mainly the time of Helena Radlińska’s activities as well as less popular and already forgotten Polish pedagogists – precursors of this discipline such as: Anna Chmielewska, Irena Jurgielewiczowa, Zofia Gulińska or Maria Korytowska. In that period social pedagogists mainly dealt with individuals, families and the functioning of environments in the context of educational activities aimed at arousing national identity and consciousness. However, their work did no focus on indicating the layers of threats and deficits in functioning of individuals, social groups or families but on the possibilities to stimulate their development and cultural life. Therefore social pedagogy of those times was not as strongly related to social work as it currently is but dealt mainly with educational work. The classic example of such approach in the research carried out in the social pedagogy of that time may be the early works by Helena Radlińska who undertook the narrow field of cultural-educational work targeted to all categories of people. The works described such issues as the organization of libraries, organizing extra-school education (H. Orsza, 1922, H. Orsza-Radlińska, 1925). It ought to be stated that this kind of work was regarded as public and educational work, whereas currently it exists under the name of social work. Frequently quoted works related to the issues of arising social pedagogy were also the works by Eustachy Nowicki e.g. “Extra-school education and its social-educational role in the contemporary Polish life” from 1923 or the works by Stefania Sempołowska, Jerzy Grodecki or Jadwiga Dziubińska. Such an approach and tendencies are clearly visible in a book from 1913 (a book which has been regarded by some pedagogists as the first synthetic presentation of social pedagogy). It is a group work entitled “Educational work – its tasks, methods and organization” (T. Bobrowski, Z. Daszyńska-Golińska, J. Dziubińska, Z. Gargasa, M. Heilperna, Z. Kruszewska, L. Krzywicki, M. Orsetti, H. Orsza, St. Posner, M. Stępkowski, T. Szydłowski, Wł. Weychert-Szymanowska, 1913). The problem of indicated and undertaken research areas and hence, the topics of works realized by the social pedagogists of that times changed immediately after regaining independence and before World War II. It was the time when the area of social pedagogists interests started to include the issues of social inequality, poverty and, subsequently, the possibility of helping (with regards to the practical character of social pedagogy). The research works undertaken by social pedagogists were clearly of diagnostic, practical and praxeological character. They were aimed at seeking the causes of these phenomena with simultaneous identification and exploration of certain environmental factors as their sources. A classic example of such a paper – created before the war – under the editorial management of H. Radlińska was the work entitled “Social causes of school successes and failures” from 1937 (H. Radlińska, 1937). Well known are also the pre-war works written by the students of H. Radlińska which revealed diagnostic character such as: “The harm of a child” by Maria Korytowska (1937) or “A child of Polish countryside” edited by M. Librachowa and published in Warsaw in 1934 (M. Librachowa, 1934). Worthwhile are also the works by Czesław Wroczyński from 1935 entitled “Care of an unmarried mother and struggle against abandoning infants in Warsaw” or the research papers by E. Hryniewicz, J. Ryngmanowa and J. Czarnecka which touched upon the problem of neglected urban and rural families and the situation of an urban and rural child – frequently an orphaned child. As it may be inferred, the issues of poverty, inefficient families, single-parent families remain current and valid also after the World War II. These phenomena where nothing but an outcome of various war events and became the main point of interest for researchers. Example works created in the circle of social pedagogists and dealing with these issues may be two books written in the closest scientific environment of Helena Radlińska – with her immense editorial impact. They are “Orphanage – scope and compensation” (H. Radlińska, J. Wojtyniak, 1964) and “Foster families in Łódź” (A. Majewska, 1948), both published immediately after the war. Following the chronological approach I adopted, the next years mark the beginning of a relative stagnation in the research undertaken in the field of social pedagogy. Especially the 50’s – the years of notably strong political indoctrination and the Marxist ideological offensive which involved building the so called socialist educational society – by definition free from socio-educational problems in public life. The creation and conduction of research in this period was also hindered due to organizational and institutional reasons. The effect of the mentioned policy was also the liquidation of the majority of social sciences including research facilities – institutes, departments and units. An interesting and characteristic description of the situation may be the statement given by Professor J. Auletner who described the period from the perspective of development of social policy and said that: “During the Stalinist years scientific cultivation of social policy was factually forbidden”. During the period of real socialism it becomes truly difficult to explore the science of social policy. The name became mainly the synonym of the current activity of the state and a manifestation of struggles aimed at maintaining the existing status quo. The state authorities clearly wanted to subdue the science of social activities of the state […]. During the real socialism neither the freedom for scientific criticism of the reality nor the freedom of research in the field of social sciences existed. It was impossible (yet deliberated) to carry out a review of poverty and other drastic social issues” (J. Auletner, 2000). The situation changes at the beginning of the 60’s (which marks the second stage of development of social pedagogy) when certain socio-political transformations – on the one hand abandoning the limitation of the Stalinist period (1953 – the death of Stalin and political thaw), on the other – reinforcement of the idea of socialist education in social sciences lead to resuming environmental research. It was simultaneously the period of revival of Polish social pedagogy with regards to its institutional dimension as well as its ideological self-determination (M. Cichosz, 2006, 2014). The issues of individuals, families and environments was at that time explored with regards to the functioning of educational environments and in the context of exploring the environmental conditionings of the upbringing process. Typical examples here may be the research by Helena Izdebska entitled “The functioning of a family and childcare tasks” (H. Izdebska, 1967) and “The causes of conflicts in a family” (H. Izdebska, 1975) or research conducted by Anna Przecławska on adolescents and their participation in culture: “Book, youth and cultural transformations” (A. Przecławska, 1967) or e.g. “Cultural diversity of adolescents against upbringing problems” (A. Przecławska, 1976). A very frequent notion undertaken at that time and remaining within the scope of the indicated areas were the issues connected with organization and use of free time. This may be observed through research by T. Wujek: “Homework and active leisure of a student” (T. Wujek, 1969). Another frequently explored area was the problem of looking after children mainly in the papers by Albin Kelm or Marian Balcerek. It is worthwhile that the research on individuals, families or environments were carried out as part of the current pedagogical concepts of that time like: parallel education, permanent education, lifelong learning or the education of adults, whereas, the places indicated as the areas of human social functioning in which the environmental education took place were: family, school, housing estate, workplace, social associations. It may be inferred that from a certain (ideological) perspective at that time we witnessed a kind of modeling of social reality as, on the one hand particular areas were diagnosed, on the other – a desired (expected) model was built (designed) (with respect to the pragmatic function of practical pedagogy). A group work entitled “Upbringing and environment” edited by B. Passini and T. Pilch (B. Passini, T. Pilch, 1979) published in 1979 was a perfect illustration of these research areas. It ought to be stated that in those years a certain model of social diagnosis proper for undertaken social-pedagogical research was reinforced (M. Deptuła, 2005). Example paper could be the work by I. Lepalczyk and J. Badura entitled: “Elements of pedagogical diagnostics” (I. Lepalczyk, J. Badura, 1987). Finally, the social turning point in the 80’s and 90’s brought new approaches to the research on individuals, families and environments which may be considered as the beginning of the third stage of the development of social pedagogy. Breaking off the idea of socialist education meant abandoning the specific approach to research on the educational environment previously carried out within a holistic system of socio-educational influences (A. Przecławska, w. Theiss, 1995). The issues which dominated in the 90’s and still dominate in social pedagogy with regards to the functioning of individuals, families and local environments have been the issues connected with social welfare and security as well as education of adults. Research papers related to such approach may be the work by Józefa Brągiel: “Upbringing in a single-parent family” from 1990; the work edited by Zofia Brańka “The subjects of care and upbringing” from 2002 or a previous paper written in 1998 by the same author in collaboration with Mirosław Szymański “Aggression and violence in modern world” published in 1999 as well as the work by Danuta Marzec “Childcare at the time of social transformations” from 1999 or numerous works by St. Kawula, A. Janke. Also a growing interest in social welfare and social work is visible in the papers by J. Brągiel and P. Sikora “Social work, multiplicity of perspectives, family – multiculturalism – education” from 2004, E. Kanwicz and A. Olubiński: “Social activity in social welfare at the threshold of 21st century” from 2004 or numerous works on this topic created by the circles gathered around the Social Pedagogy Faculty in Łódź under the management of E. Marynowicz-Hetka. Current researchers also undertake the issues related to childhood (B. Smolińska-Theiss, 2014, B. Matyjas, 2014) and the conditionings of the lives of seniors (A. Baranowska, E. Kościńska, 2013). Ultimately, among the presented, yet not exclusive, research areas related to particular activities undertaken in human life environment (individuals, families) and fulfilled within the field of caregiving, social welfare, adult education, socio-cultural animation or health education one may distinguish the following notions:  the functioning of extra-school education institutions, most frequently caregiving or providing help such as: orphanage, residential home, dormitory, community centre but also facilities aimed at animating culture like youth cultural centres, cultural centres, clubs etc.,  the functioning of school, the realization of its functions (especially educational care), fulfilling and conditioning roles of student/teacher, the functioning of peer groups, collaboration with other institutions,  the functioning (social conditionings) of family including various forms of families e.g. full families, single-parent families, separated families, families at risk (unemployment) and their functioning in the context of other institutions e.g. school,  social pathologies, the issues of violence and aggression, youth subcultures,  participation in culture, leisure time, the role of media,  the functioning of the seniors – animation of activities in this field,  various dimensions of social welfare, support, providing help, the conditionings of functioning of such jobs as the social welfare worker, culture animator, voluntary work. It might be concluded that the issues connected with individuals, families and environment have been the centre of interest of social pedagogy since the very beginning of this discipline. These were the planes on which social pedagogists most often identified and described social life – from the perspective of human participation. On the course of describing the lives of individuals, families and broader educational environments social pedagogists figured out and elaborated on particular methods and ways of diagnosing social life. Is it possible to determine any regularities or tendencies in this respect? Unquestionably, at the initial stage of existence of this discipline, aimed at stimulating national consciousness and subsequent popularization of cultural achievements through certain activities – social and educational work, social pedagogists built certain models of these undertakings which were focused on stimulating particular social activity and conscious participation in social life. The issues concerning social diagnosis, though not as significant as during other stages, served these purposes and hence were, to a certain extent, ideologically engaged. The situation changed significantly before and shortly after the World War II. Facing particular conditions of social life – increase in many unfavourable phenomena, social pedagogists attempted to diagnose and describe them. It seems to have been the period of clear shaping and consolidation of the accepted model of empirical research in this respect. The model was widely accepted as dominating and has been developed in Polish social pedagogy during the second and subsequent stages of developing of this discipline. Practical and praxeological character of social pedagogy became the main direction of this development. Consequently, social diagnosis realized and undertaken with regard to social pedagogy was associated with the idea of a holistic system of education and extra-school educational influences and related educational environments. Therefore, the more and more clearly emphasized goal of environmental research – forecasting, was associated with the idea of building holistic, uniform educational impacts. After the systemic transformation which occurred in Poland in the 90’s, i.e. the third stage of social pedagogy development, abandoning the previous ideological solutions, environmental research including diagnosis was reassociated with social life problems mainly regarding social welfare and security. Individuals, families and environment have been and still seem to be the subject of research in the field of social pedagogy in Poland. These research areas are structurally bound with its acquired paradigm – of a science describing transformations of social life and formulating a directive of practical conduct regarding these transformations. A question arouses about the development of social pedagogy as the one which charts the direction of transformations of practices within the undertaken research areas. If it may be considered as such, then it would be worthwhile to enquire about the directions of the accepted theoretical acknowledgments. On the one hand we may observe a relatively long tradition of specifically elaborated and developed concepts, on the other – there are still new challenges ahead. Observing the previous and current development of Polish social pedagogy it may be inferred that its achievements are not overextensive with regards to the described and acquired theoretical deliberations. Nevertheless, from the very beginning, it has generated certain, specific theoretical solutions attempting to describe and explain particular areas of social reality. Especially noteworthy is the first period of the existence of this discipline, the period of such social pedagogists like i.a. J.W. Dawid, A. Szycówna, I. Moszczeńska or Helena Radlińska. The variety of the reflections with typically philosophical background undertaken in their works (e.g. E. Abramowski) is stunning. Equally involving is the second stage of development of social pedagogy i.e. shortly after the World War II, when Polish social pedagogy did not fully break with the heritage of previous philosophical reflections (A. Kamiński, R. Wroczyński) yet was developed in the Marxist current. A question arouses whether the area of education and the projects of its functioning of that time were also specific with regards to theory (it seems to be the problem of the whole Socialist pedagogy realised in Poland at that time). The following years of development of this discipline, especially at the turn of 80’s and 90’s was the period of various social ideas existing in social pedagogy – the influences of various concepts and theories in this field. The extent to which they were creatively adapted and included in the current of specific interpretations still requires detailed analysis, yet remains clearly visible. Another important area is the field of confronting the theories with the existing and undertaken solutions in the world pedagogy. A. Radziewicz-Winnicki refers to the views of the representatives of European and world social thought: P. Bourdieu, U. Beck, J. Baudrillard, Z. Bauman and M. Foucault, and tries to identify possible connections and relationships between these ideas and social pedagogy: “the ideas undertaken by the mentioned sociologists undoubtedly account for a significant source of inspiration for practical reflection within social pedagogy. Therefore, it is worthwhile to suggest certain propositions of their application in the field of the mentioned subdiscipline of pedagogy” (Radziewicz-Winnicki 2008). The contemporary social pedagogy in Poland constantly faces numerous challenges. W. Theiss analysed the contemporary social pedagogy with regards to its deficiencies but also the challenges imposed by globalisation and wrote: “Modern social pedagogy focuses mainly on the narrow empirical research and narrow practical activity and neglects research in the field of theory functioning separately from the realms of the global (or globalising) world or pays insufficient attention to these problems. It leads to a certain self-marginalisation of our discipline which leaves us beyond the current of main socio-educational problems of modern times. In this respect, it seems worthwhile and necessary to carry out intensive conceptual and research work focused on e.g. the following issues:  metatheory of social pedagogy and its relationship with modern trends in social sciences;  the concepts of human and the world, the concepts of the hierarchy of values;  the theory of upbringing, the theory of socialization, the theory of educational environment;  a conceptual key of the modern reality; new terms and new meanings of classical concepts;  socio-educational activities with direct and indirect macro range e.g. balanced development and its programmes, global school, intercultural education, inclusive education, professional education of emigrants”. Considering the currently undertaken research in this field and the accepted theoretical perspectives it is possible to indicate specific and elaborated concepts. They fluctuate around structural spheres of social pedagogy on the axis: human – environment – environmental transformations. It accounts for an ontological sphere of the acknowledged concepts and theories. Below, I am enumerating the concepts which are most commonly discussed in social pedagogy with regards to the acquired and accepted model. Currently discussed theoretical perspectives (contexts) in social pedagogy and the concepts within. I. The context of social personal relationships  social participation, social presence;  social communication, interaction;  reciprocity. II. The context of social activities (the organization of environment)  institutionalisation;  modernization;  urbanization. III. The context of environment  space;  place;  locality. The socially conditioned process of human development is a process which constantly undergoes transformations. The pedagogical description of this process ought to include these transformations also at the stage of formulating directives of practical activities – the educational practice. It is a big challenge for social pedagogy to simultaneously do not undergo limitations imposed by current social policy and response to real social needs. It has been and remains a very important task for social pedagogy.

This study aimed to explore the perceived barriers to physical activity among college students Study Design: Qualitative research design Eight focus group discussions on 67 college students aged 18-24 years (48 females, 19 males) was conducted on College premises. Data were analysed using inductive approach. Participants identified a number of obstacles to physical activity. Perceived barriers emerged from the analysis of the data addressed the different dimensions of the socio-ecological framework. The result indicated that the young adults perceived substantial amount of personal, social and environmental factors as barriers such as time constraint, tiredness, stress, family control, safety issues and much more. Understanding the barriers and overcoming the barriers at this stage will be valuable. Health professionals and researchers can use this information to design and implement interventions, strategies and policies to promote the participation in physical activity. This further can help the students to deal with those barriers and can help to instil the habit of regular physical activity in the later adult years.

This article specifically focusses on understanding the discipleship process of the millennial generation (15–35 years of age) in Africa. The millennial generation is the largest population group in Africa, with more than 200 million individuals in Africa. Focussing on developing a disciple identity with African millennials from a missional ecclesiology, the question attended to is: What is the church’s perception of the identity of these African millennials and how can the church disciple them? Discipleship is understood as to engage with people to discover their true identity and vocation in God. Discipleship takes place on three different levels according to the modern worldview: the spiritual world (Gospel-as-word), the seen world (Gospel-as-deed) and the excluded middle (Gospel-as-sign). These distinctions have, for example, the implication that discipling is located not only at the church but also in the world. Millennials are motivated as much by their personal relationships and human connections as they are by the influences of their technological skills, social media and group pressure. It is observed in this article that millennials are currently discipling the world in different ways. Therefore, four suggested steps are discussed for the churches to involve millennials in their discipleship programmes.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: It is believed that this article has definite intra- and interdisciplinary implications. Although this article is written from a missiological departure, it also covers other theological disciplines like Practical Theology and Youth work. It also includes articles from communications and sociology and would make valuable contributions to the field of, especially, sociology as well as anthropology.

This short psalm is generally regarded as a wisdom psalm, celebrating family and community. In biblical times it may have served to encourage fellowship among pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem for the feasts, or as a call for unity among the northern and southern tribes. But how is it interpreted today? Does it speak to our social relations? For this article, three groups of contemporary South Africans study the psalm and share their perceptions as to its meaning for them. The groups include women in a township who are part of a church “home-group”, teenagers from various backgrounds who attend a weekly “youth meeting” at a local church, and performance artists who are members of the same church. Each group shows imaginative ideas and significant engagement with the psalm. The study contributes by showing that the ancient wisdom in the psalm is meaningful today although the imagery and media may need to be adjusted to the particular audience. It is thus a stimulus to those who work with young people to encourage them to “re-translate” biblical texts (particularly poems) and thus to make them their own.

The use of the term authenticity in the social science literature can be rather eclectic at best and unscrupulous at worst. (Vanini, 74)We live in an age of authenticity, according to Charles Taylor, an era which prizes the finding of one’s life “against the demands of external conformity” (67–68). Taylor’s argument is that, correctly practiced, authenticity need not result in individualism or tribalism but rather a generation of people “made more self-responsible” (77).Philip Vanini has surveyed the turn toward authenticity in sociology. He has parsed the word authenticity, and argued that it has been used in three ways—factual, original, and sincere. A failure to attend to these distinctives, mixed with a “paucity of systematic empirical research” has resulted in abstract speculation (75). This article responds to Taylor’s analysis and Vanini’s challenge.My argument utilises Vanini’s theoretical frame—authenticity as factual, original, and sincere—to analyse empirical data gathered in the study of recent religious innovation occurring amongst a set of (“alternative worship”) Christian communities in the United Kingdom. I am drawing upon longitudinal research I have conducted, including participant observation in digital forums from 1997 to the present, along with semi-structured interviews conducted in the United Kingdom in 2001 and 2012.A study of “alternative worship” was deemed significant given such communities’s interaction with contemporary culture, including their use of dance music, multi-media, and social media (Baker, Taylor). Such approaches contrast with other contemporary religious approaches to culture, including a fundamentalist retreat from culture or the maintenance of a “high” culture, and thus inherited patterns of religious expression (Roberts).I argue that the discourse of “alternative worship” deploy authenticity-as-originality as essential to their identity creation. This notion of authenticity is used by these communities to locate themselves culturally (as authentically-original in contemporary cultures), and thus simultaneously to define themselves as marginal from mainstream religious expression.Intriguingly, a decade later, “alternative worship” was appropriated by the mainstream. A new organisation—Fresh Expressions—emerged from within the Church of England, and the Methodist Church in Britain that, as it developed, drew on “alternative worship” for legitimation. A focus on authenticity provides a lens by which to pay particular attention to the narratives offered by social organisations in the processes of innovation. How did the discourse deployed by Fresh Expressions in creating innovation engage “alternative worship” as an existing innovation? How did these “alternative worship” groups, who had found generative energy in their location as an alternative—authentically-original—expression, respond to this appropriation by mainstream religious life?A helpful conversation partner in teasing out the complexity of these moves within contemporary religious innovation is Sarah Thornton. She researched trends in dance clubs, and rave music in Britain, during a similar time period. Thornton highlighted the value of authenticity, which she argued was deployed in club cultures to create “subcultural capital” (98-105). She further explored how the discourses around authenticity were appropriated over time through the complex networks within which popular culture flows (Bennett; Collins; Featherstone; McRobbie; Willis).This article will demonstrate that a similar pattern—using authenticity-as-originality to create “subcultural capital”—was at work in “alternative worship.” Further, the notions of authenticity as factual, original, and sincere are helpful in parsing the complex networks that exist within the domains of religious cultures. This analysis will be two-fold, first as the mainstream appropriates, and second as the “alternative” responds.Thornton emerged “post-Birmingham.” She drew on the scholarship associated with the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, glad of their turn toward popular culture. Nevertheless she considered her work to be distinct. Thornton posited the construction of “taste cultures” through distinctions created by those inside a particular set of signs and symbols. She argued for a networked view of society, one that recognised the complex roles of media and commerce in constructing distinctions and sought a more multi-dimensional frame by which to analyse the interplay between mainstream and marginal.In order to structure my investigation, I am suggesting three stages of development capture the priority, yet complexity, of authenticity in contemporary religious innovation: generation, appropriation, complexification.Generation of Authenticity-as-OriginalityThornton (26, italics original) writes:authenticity is arguably the most important value ascribed to popular music … Music is perceived as authentic when it rings true or feels real, when it has credibility and comes across as genuine. In an age of endless representations and global mediation, the experience of musical authenticity is perceived as a cure both for alienation … and dissimulation.Thornton is arguing that in this manifestation of youth culture, authenticity is valued. Further, authenticity is a perception, attached to phrases like “rings true” and “feels real.” Therefore, authenticity is hard to measure. Perhaps this move is deliberate, an attempt by those inside the “taste culture” to preserve their “subcultural capital,”—their particular sets of distinctions.Thornton’s use of authentic slides between authenticity-as-sincerity and authenticity-as-originality. For example, in the above quote, the language of “true” and “real” is a referencing of authenticity-as-sincerity. However, as Thornton analysed the appropriation of club culture by the mainstream, she is drawing, without stating it clearly, on both authenticity-as-sincerity and authenticity-as-originality.At around the time that Thornton was analysing club cultures, a number of Christian religious groups in the United Kingdom began to incorporate features of club culture into their worship services. Churches began to experiment with services beginning at club times (9.00 pm), the playing of dance music, and the use of “video-jockeying.” According to Roberts many of these worshipping communities “had close links to this movement in dance culture” (15).A discourse of authenticity was used to legitimise such innovation. Consider the description of one worship experience, located in Sheffield, England, known as Nine o’Clock Service (Fox 9-10, italics original).We enter a round, darkened room where there are forty-two television sets and twelve large video screens and projections around the walls—projections of dancing DNA, dancing planets and galaxies and atoms … this was a very friendly place for a generation raised on television and images … these people … are doing it themselves and in the center of the city and in the center of their society: at worship itself.This description makes a number of appeals to authenticity. The phrase “a generation raised on television and images” implies another generation not raised in digitally rich environments. A “subcultural” distinction has been created. The phrase “doing it themselves” suggests that this ‘digital generation’ creates something distinct, an authentic expression of their “taste culture.” The celebration of “doing it for themselves” resonates with Charles Taylor’s analysis of an age of authenticity in which self-discovery is connected with artistic creation (62).The Nine o’Clock Service gained nationwide attention, attracting attendances of over 600 young people. Rogerson described it as “a bold and imaginative attempt at contextual theology … people were attracted to it in the first instance for aesthetic and cultural reasons” (51). The priority on the aesthetic and the cultural, in contrast to the doctrinal, suggests a valuing of authenticity-as-originality.Reading Rogerson alongside Taylor teases out a further nuance in regard to the application of authenticity. Rogerson described the Nine o’Clock Service as offering “an alternative way of living in a materialist and acquisitive world” (50). This resonates with Charles Taylor’s argument that authenticity can be practiced in ways that make people “more self-responsible” (77). It suggests that the authenticity-as-originality expressed by the Nine o’Clock Service not only appealed culturally, but also offered an ethic of authenticity. We will return to this later in my argument.Inspired by the Nine o’Clock Service, other groups in the United Kingdom began to offer a similar experience. According to Adrian Riley (6):The Nine O’clock Service … was the first worshipping community to combine elements of club culture with passionate worship … It pioneered what is commonly known as “alternative worship” … Similar groups were established themselves albeit on a smaller scale.The very term “alternative worship” is significant. Sociologist of religion Abby Day argued that “boundary-marking [creates] an identity” (50). Applying Day, the term “alternative” is being used to create an identity in contrast to the existing, mainstream church. The “digitally rich” are indeed “doing it for themselves.” To be “alternative” is to be authentically-original: to be authentically-original means a participant cannot, by definition, be mainstream.Thornton argued that subcultures needed to define themselves against in order to maintain themselves as “hip” (119). This seems to describe the use of the term “alternative.” Ironically, the mainstream is needed, in order to define against, to create identity by being authentically-original (Kelly).Hence the following claim by an “alternative worship” organiser (Interview G, 2001):People were willing to play around and to say, well who knows what will happen if we run this video clip or commercial next to this sixteenth century religious painting and if we play, you know, Black Flag or some weird band underneath it … And what will it feel like? Well let’s try it and see.Note the link with music (Black Flag, an American hard core punk band formed in 1976), so central to Thornton’s understanding of authenticity in popular youth cultures. Note also the similarity between Thornton’s ascribing of value in words like “rings true” and “feels real,” with words like “feel like” and “try and see.” The word “weird” is also significant. It is deployed as a signifier of authenticity, a sign of “subcultural capital.” It positions them as “alternative,” defined in (musical) distinction from the mainstream.In sum, my argument is that authenticity-as-originality is present in “alternative worship”: in the name, in the ethos of “doing it themselves,” and in the deploying of “subcultural capital” in the legitimation of innovation. All of this has been clarified through conversation with Thornton’s empirical research regarding the value of authenticity in club culture. My analysis of “alternative worship” as a religious innovation is consistent with Taylor’s claim that we inhabit an age of authenticity, one that can be practiced by “people who are made more self-responsible” (77).Mainstream AppropriationIn 2004, the Church of England produced Mission Shaped Church (MSC), a report regarding its future. It included a chapter that described recent religious innovation in England, grouped under twelve headings (alternative worship and base ecclesial communities, café, cell, network and seeker church models, multiple and mid week congregations, new forms of traditional churches, school and community-based initiatives, traditional church plants, youth congregations). The first innovation listed is “alternative worship.”The incoming Archbishop, Rowan Williams, drew on MSC to launch a new organisation. Called Fresh Expressions, over five million pounds was provided by the Church of England to fund an organisation to support this religious innovation.Intriguingly, recognition of authenticity in these “alternative” innovations was evident in the institutional discourse being created. When I interviewed Williams, he spoke of his commitment as a Bishop (Interview 6, 2012):I decided to spend a certain amount of quality time with people on the edge. Consequently when I was asked initially what are my priorities [as Archbishop] I said, “Well, this is what I’ve been watching on the edge … I really want to see how that could impact on the Church of England as a whole.In other words, what was marginal, what had until then generated identity by being authentic in contrast to the mainstream, was now being appropriated by the mainstream “to impact on the Church of England as a whole.” MSC was aware of this complexity. “Alternative worship” was described as containing “a strong desire to be different and is most vocal in its repudiation of existing church” (45). Nevertheless, it was appropriated by the mainstream.My argument has been that “alternative worship” drew on a discourse of authenticity-as-originality. Yet when we turn to analyse mainstream appropriation, we find the definitions of authenticity begin to slide. Authenticity-as-originality is affirmed, while authenticity-as-sincerity is introduced. The MSC affirmed the “ways in which the Church of England has sought to engage with the diverse cultures and networks that are part of contemporary life” (80). It made explicit the connection between originality and authenticity. “Some pioneers and leaders have yearned for a more authentic way of living, being, doing church” (80). This can be read as an affirmation of authenticity-as-originality.Yet MSC also introduced authenticity-as-sincerity as a caution to authenticity-as-originality. “Fresh expressions should not be embraced simply because they are popular and new, but because they are a sign of the work of God and of the kingdom” (80). Thus Fresh Expressions introduced authenticity-as-sincerity (sign of the work of God) and placed it alongside authenticity-as-originality. In so doing, in the shift from “alternative worship” to Fresh Expressions, a space is both conflated (twelve expressions of church) and contested (two notions of authenticity). Conflated, because MSC places alternative worship as one innovation alongside eleven others. Contested because of the introduction of authenticity-as-sincerity alongside the affirming of authenticity-as-originality. What is intriguing is to return to Taylor’s argument for the possibility of an ethic of authenticity in which “people are made more self-responsible” (77). Perhaps the response in MSC arises from the concern described by Taylor, the risk in an age of authenticity of a society that is more individualised and tribal (55-6). To put it in distinctly ecclesiological terms, how can the church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic be carried forward if authenticity-as-originality is celebrated at, and by, the margins? Does innovation contribute to more atomised, self-absorbed and fragmented expressions of church?Yet Taylor is adamant that authenticity can be embraced without an inevitable slide in these directions. He argued that humans share a "horizon of significance" in common (52), in which one’s own "identity crucially depends on [one’s] dialogical relations with others" (48). We have already considered Rogerson’s claim that the Nine o’Clock Service offered “an alternative way of living in a materialist and acquisitive world” (50). It embraced a “strong political dimension, and a concern for justice at local and international level” (46). In other words, “alternative worship’s” authenticity-as-originality was surely already an expression of “the kingdom,” one in which “people [were] made more self-responsible” (77) in the sharing of (drawing on Taylor) a "horizon of significance" in the task of identity-formation-in-relationships (52).Yet the placing in MSC of authenticity-as-sincerity alongside authenticity-as-originality could easily have been read by those in “alternative worship” as a failure to recognise their existing practicing of the ethic of authenticity, their embodying of “the kingdom.”Consequent ComplexificationMy research into “alternative worship” is longitudinal. After the launch of Fresh Expressions, I included a new set of interview questions, which sought to clarify how these “alternative worship” communities were impacted upon by the appropriation of “alternative worship” by the mainstream. The responses can be grouped into three categories: minimal impact, a sense of affirmation and a contested complexity.With regard to minimal impact, some “alternative worship” communities perceived the arrival of Fresh Expressions had minimal impact on their shared expression of faith. The following quote was representative: “Has had no impact at all actually. Apart from to be slightly puzzled” (Interview 3, 2012).Others found the advent of Fresh Expressions provided a sense of affirmation. “Fresh expressions is … an enabling concept. It was very powerful” (Focus group 2, 2012). Respondents in this category felt that their innovations within alternative worship had contributed to, or been valued by, the innovation of Fresh Expressions. Interestingly, those whose comments could be grouped in this category had significant “subcultural capital” invested in this mainstream appropriation. Specifically, they now had a vocational role that in some way was connected to Fresh Expressions. In using the term “subcultural capital” I am again drawing on Thornton (98–105), who argued that in the complex networks through which culture flows, certain people, for example DJ’s, have more influence in the ascribing of authenticity. This suggests that “subcultural” capital is also present in religious innovation, with certain individuals finding ways to influence, from the “alternative worship” margin, the narratives of authenticity used in the complex interplay between alternative worship and Fresh Expressions.For others the arrival of Fresh Expressions had resulted in a contested complexity. The following quote was representative: “It’s a crap piece of establishment branding …but then we’re just snobs” (Focus group 3, 2012). This comment returns us to my initial framing of authenticity-as-originality. I would argue that “we’re just snobs” has a similar rhetorical effect as “Black Flag or some weird band.” It is an act of marginal self-location essential in the construction of innovation and identity.This argument is strengthened given the fact that the comment was coming from a community that itself had become perhaps the most recognizable “brand” among “alternative worship.” They have developed their own logo, website, and related online merchandising. This would suggest the concern is not the practice of marketing per se. Rather the concern is that it seems “crap” in relation to authenticity-as-originality, in a loss of aesthetic quality and a blurring of the values of innovation and identity as it related to bold, imaginative, aesthetic, and cultural attempts at contextual theology (Rogerson 51).Returning to Thornton, her research was also longitudinal in that she explored what happened when a song from a club, which had defined itself against the mainstream and as “hip,” suddenly experienced mainstream success (119). What is relevant to this investigation into religious innovation is her argument that in club culture, “selling out” is perceived to have happened only when the marginal community “loses its sense of possession, exclusive ownership and familiar belonging” (124–26).I would suggest that this is what is happening within “alternative worship” in response to the arrival of Fresh Expressions. Both “alternative worship” and Fresh Expressions are religious innovations. But Fresh Expressions defined itself in a way that conflated the space. It meant that the boundary marking so essential to “alternative worship” was lost. Some gained from this. Others struggled with a loss of imaginative and cultural creativity, a softening of authenticity-as-originality.More importantly, the discourse around Fresh Expressions also introduced authenticity-as-sincerity as a value that could be used to contest authenticity-as-originality. Whether intended or not, this also challenged the ethic of authenticity already created by these “alternative worship” communities. Their authenticity-as-originality was already a practicing of an ethic of authenticity. They were already sharing a "horizon of significance" with humanity, entering into “dialogical relations with others" that were a contemporary expression of the church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic (Taylor 52, 48). ConclusionIn this article I have analysed the discourse around authenticity as it is manifest within one strand of contemporary religious innovation. Drawing on Vanini, Taylor, and Thornton, I have explored the generative possibilities as media and culture are utilised in an “alternative worship” that is authentically-original. I have outlined the consequences when authenticity-as-originality is appropriated by the mainstream, specifically in the innovation known as Fresh Expressions and the complexity when authenticity-as-sincerity is introduced as a contested value.The value of authenticity has been found to exist in a complex relationship with the ethics of authenticity within one domain of contemporary religious innovation.ReferencesBaker, Jonny. “Alternative Worship and the Significance of Popular Culture.” Honours paper: U of London, 2000.Bennett, Andy. Popular Music and Youth Culture: Music, Identity, and Place. 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The Rise and Fall of the Nine o’Clock Service. London: Continuum, 1996.Kelly, Gerard. Get a Grip on the Future without Losing Your Hold in the Past. Great Britain: Monarch, 1999.Kelly, Steven. “Book Review. Alt.Culture by Steven Daly and Nathaniel Wice.” 20 Aug. 2003. ‹http://www.richmondreview.co.uk/books/cult.html›.McRobbie, Angela. Postmodernism and Popular Culture. London: Routledge, 1994.Riley, Adrian. God in the House: UK Club Culture and Spirituality. 1999. 15 Oct. 2003 ‹http://www.btmc.org.auk/altworship/house/›.Roberts, Paul. Alternative Worship in the Church of England. Cambridge: Grove Books, 1999.Rogerson, J. W. “‘The Lord Is here’: The Nine o’Clock Service.” Why Liberal Churches Are Growing. Eds. Ian Markham and Martyn Percy. London: Bloomsbury T & T, 2006. 45-52.Taylor, Charles. The Ethics of Authenticity. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1992.Taylor, Steve. “Baptist Worship and Contemporary Culture: A New Zealand Case Study.” Interfaces: Baptists and Others. Eds. David Bebbington and Martin Sutherland. Carlisle: Paternoster, 2013. 292-307.Thornton, Sarah. Club Cultures. Music, Media and Subcultural Capital. Hanover: UP New England, 1996.Vanini, Philip. “Authenticity.” Encyclopedia of Consumer Culture. Ed. Dale Southerton. Los Angeles: Sage, 2011. 74-76.Willis, Paul E., et al. Common Culture. Symbolic Work at Play in the Everyday Cultures of the Young. Milton Keynes: Open UP, 1990.

Although the demarginalisation of youths is an international concern, South African youths are viewed by various scholars and policy documents as a particularly vulnerable and marginalised group. It becomes essential to understand what characterises their marginalisation in order to find innovative ways to work towards their demarginalisation. In this article we reflect on current faith-based concerns and compare this with the specific characteristics of the marginalisation of young people. In an effort to contribute to the development of a strategy towards demarginalisation, we will explore the key features of the Circle of Courage in terms of the principles of belonging, mastery, independence and generosity. We will further propose the inclusion of Ubuntu principles in the practical application of the Circle of Courage for churches and faith-based organisations in demarginalising youth in the South African context.

This paper describes a digital storytelling project, completed with two classes of “non-college bound” Seniors at Shady Grove High School in the Midwestern United States. Using narrative inquiry as a methodological framework, student’s stories were examined and considered as meaningful contributions to current knowledge about issues in rural education. Three broad themes revealed themselves in the student’s work: 1. High school is viewed solely as a pipeline to college, 2. High school is not seen as “useful” or meaningful for students with career aspirations that do not require a four-year college degree, and 3. High school is mediated through the relationships formed there (teacher and peer). This project revealed the complex and complicated ways in which one group of rural students engaged with digital literacies to reflect on who they are, how they see themselves, and how they view their educational experiences connecting to their future selves.

This research is titled: " The Role of Peer of Teenager's Reproductive Health Problem Counselor in Overcoming at PIK-R Batujajar Sub District Formation, Bandung Barat Regency". PIK-R is an information center and counseling for teenagers under supervised by BKKBN (Familiy Planning Board of Republic of Indonesia). The aims and objectives of this research were: To describe the role of peer counselor in overcoming teenager's reproductive health problem. To identify various factors that influence the role of peer counselor in overcoming teenager's reproductive health To identify several efforts to overcome barrier on peer counselor in overcoming teenager's reproductive health. Practical implications of social work intervention on peer counselor in overcoming teenager's reproductive health. The research method employed a qualitative approached relied largely on the interpretative and critical approaches to social work science. The data gathering is used a documenting real events, recording what information (with words, gestures, and tones), observing specific behaviors, written documents, and participant observation. In this research, the number of informants were 7 teenagers related to reproductive health counseling . Research finding the role of teenagers in counseling on reproductive health is still weak due to systems that could not easily be accessed by them . The group dynamic is very important component in reproductive health counseling because the discourse within the group will cover eproductive health, and addresses the reproductive processes, fuctions and systems at all stages of life, however this condition also remains weak. Recommendations went to BKKBN in order to create a synergy program for synergy health between PIK-R, Official Staff of reproductive health at Batujajar Sub District and DP2KBP3A to build data integrity based on digital online related to overcome reproductive health of teenagers.

Multiple types of childhood adversities are risk factors for dating violence among college-age youth and in turn, dating violence is associated with alcohol use. This work quantitatively examines associations of childhood adversity and dating violence with alcohol use among college students using a cumulative stress approach. Multi-campus surveys were collected from March to December 2016 in four universities across the United States and Canada ( n = 3,710). Latent class analysis identified patterns of childhood adversity and dating violence. Regression analyses investigated the associations of latent class patterns with past year number of drinks, alcohol use frequency, and problematic drinking. Latent class analysis produced seven classes: “low violence exposure” (18.5%), “predominantly peer violence” (28.9%), “peer violence and psychological child abuse” (10.8%), “peer and parental domestic violence” (9.9%), “peer and psychological dating violence” (17%), “peer and dating violence” (6.6%), and “childhood adversity and psychological dating violence” (8.3%). Compared to the “low violence exposure” group, “peer and psychological dating violence” ( B = .114, p < .05), “peer and dating violence” ( B = .143, p < .05), and “childhood adversity and psychological dating violence” ( B = .183, p < .001) groups were significantly associated with problematic drinking. Results highlight how childhood adversity and dating violence contribute to problematic alcohol use, suggesting interventions that address both childhood adversity and dating violence may be most effective at reducing alcohol misuse among college students.

The article presents a sociolinguistic analysis of dialectal conversations in the German part of Switzerland. It focusses on an adolescent peer group, whose members position themselves socially using a wide range of stylistic variation. The highschool students’ community situat-ed in a rural area in the middle of the Swiss Alps co-construct their group identity deliberately combining various types of linguistic variants, styles and languages. Thus, they resort to ele-ments of a widely spread young urban street style as well as to traditional and to some extent outdated dialectal variants simultaneously. On the one hand, it is the width of the linguistic resources which is remarkable. On the other hand, it is impressive to observe the youths’ competence in combining different variants creating their new and own communicative style. The study sheds light on the subtle stylistic techniques at work and demonstrates how much knowledge about the peer group’s linguistic practices, preferences and resources is necessary to interpret and understand their conversations and social contextualisations. The methodolog-ical approach to the analysis of linguistic variation is a conceptual one: the main communica-tive practice in the young men’s talk are conceptualised by means of bricolage – a specific way of incorporating and adapting linguistic elements to create a new and individual speech style. The conceptual approach also allows for a comparison of the peer group’s linguistic practices with speech styles of other young peer groups all over Europe: even if the specific resources used by the youth might differ to some extent, the way in which young urban and young rural pupils deal with linguistic variation is surprisingly similar.

Abstract The Office of the Commissioner for Mental Health in Malta was established in 2011 to promote and protect rights of persons with mental disorders and their carers. This advocacy role includes monitoring of involuntary care, regular reporting on quality of care and care environments, in-depth analysis and recommendations on emerging issues such as mental health literacy, multidisciplinary care plans, drug addiction services and stigma and regular networking across ministries, agencies, departments, and NGOs, breaking silos and building bridges. Data for 2018 shows that acutely ill young people (10-29 year olds) were 30% of acute involuntary admissions. Males and foreign nationals from medium and least developed countries were more frequently represented. Substance abuse, mood disorders and psychotic disorders were the more common diagnostic groups. Building resilience and providing opportunities for early intervention are key elements of better mental health and well-being in the younger generation. Six examples of good practice in adolescent and youth mental health from Malta will be presented: Youth.inc by A&Auml;¡enzija Å»għażagħ; Kellimni.com by SOS Malta; Youth Mental Health First Aid by Richmond Foundation; Research and Professional Education by ACAMH (Malta); Student Support Services at MCAST MALTA; Project Enlight! by Enlight Foundation. Two of these initiatives were recognised as best practices at European level in a peer learning exercise conducted by the Dutch Youth Institute. The recommendations are: more focused approaches towards young people with acute mental disorders with special attention to their specific needs; the identification of young people in trouble; work programmes that build resilience, life-skills and employment prospects; the intensified use of refined electronic and social media tools for promotion, prevention and early intervention; and active support and encouragement of peer group development and self-help initiatives. Key messages Networking stakeholders to break silos and build bridges. Resilience and early intervention for better mental health and well-being.

Abstract Background Youth resettling to the U.S. from conflict-affected countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) face countless challenges. As they cope with their experiences of armed conflict and forced migration, these girls and boys must also adjust to the language and social norms of their new society, often encountering prejudice and discrimination along the way. Previous studies indicate that schools can play a central role in facilitating this adjustment while also promoting mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. This qualitative study aims to understand the lived experiences of MENA newcomers resettled in Austin, Texas and Harrisonburg, Virginia and to assess how schools, families, and communities support their mental and psychosocial wellbeing. Methods We held six focus group discussions across the two cities with a total of 30 youths (13–23 years) from Iraq, Syria, and Sudan. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 caregivers and 27 key informants, including teachers, administrators, service providers, and personnel from community-based organizations. Results Guided by Bioecological Theory, our thematic analysis identifies several means by which various actors work together to support resettled adolescents. We highlight promising efforts that seek to enhance these supports, including sheltered instruction, school-parent collaboration, peer support programming, social and emotional learning initiatives, and integrated mental health centers. Conclusion While this study underscores the resilience of newcomers and the value of local support systems, it also reflects the importance of investment in schools, mental health systems, and resettlement programs that can enable newcomers to achieve their full potential.

Introduction I think the Privacy Act is a huge edifice to protect the minority of things that could go wrong. I’ve got a good example for you, I’m just trying to think … yeah the worst one I’ve ever seen was the Balga Youth Program where we took these students on a reward excursion all the way to Fremantle and suddenly this very alienated kid started to jump under a bus, a moving bus so the kid had to be restrained. The cops from Fremantle arrived because all the very good people in Fremantle were alarmed at these grown-ups manhandling a kid and what had happened is that DCD [Department of Community Development] had dropped him into the program but hadn’t told us that this kid had suicide tendencies. No, it’s just chronically bad. And there were caseworkers involved and … there is some information that we have to have that doesn’t get handed down. Rather than a blanket rule that everything’s confidential coming from them to us, and that was a real live situation, and you imagine how we’re trying to handle it, we had taxis going from Balga to Fremantle to get staff involved and we only had to know what to watch out for and we probably could have … well what you would have done is not gone on the excursion I suppose (School Principal, quoted in Balnaves and Luca 49). These comments are from a school principal in Perth, Western Australia in a school that is concerned with “at-risk” students, and in a context where the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 has imposed limitations on their work. Under this Act it is illegal to pass health, personal or sensitive information concerning an individual on to other people. In the story cited above the Department of Community Development personnel were apparently protecting the student’s “negative right”, that is, “freedom from” interference by others. On the other hand, the principal’s assertion that such information should be shared is potentially a “positive right” because it could cause something to be done in that person’s or society’s interests. Balnaves and Luca noted that positive and negative rights have complex philosophical underpinnings, and they inform much of how we operate in everyday life and of the dilemmas that arise (49). For example, a ban on euthanasia or the “assisted suicide” of a terminally ill person can be a “positive right” because it is considered to be in the best interests of society in general. However, physicians who tacitly approve a patient’s right to end their lives with a lethal dose by legally prescribed dose of medication could be perceived as protecting the patient’s “negative right” as a “freedom from” interference by others. While acknowledging the merits of collaboration between people who are working to improve the wellbeing of students “at-risk”, this paper examines some of the barriers to collaboration. Based on both primary and secondary sources, and particularly on oral testimonies, the paper highlights the tension between privacy as a negative right and collaborative helping as a positive right. It also points to other difficulties and dilemmas within and between the institutions engaged in this joint undertaking. The authors acknowledge Michel Foucault’s contention that discourse is power. The discourse on privacy and the sharing of information in modern societies suggests that privacy is a negative right that gives freedom from bureaucratic interference and protects the individual. However, arguably, collaboration between agencies that are working to support individuals “at-risk” requires a measured relaxation of the requirements of this negative right. Children and young people “at-risk” are a case in point. Towards Collaboration From a series of interviews conducted in 2004, the school authorities at Balga Senior High School and Midvale Primary School, people working for the Western Australian departments of Community Development, Justice, and Education and Training in Western Australia, and academics at the Edith Cowan and Curtin universities, who are working to improve the wellbeing of students “at-risk” as part of an Australian Research Council (ARC) project called Smart Communities, have identified students “at-risk” as individuals who have behavioural problems and little motivation, who are alienated and possibly violent or angry, who under-perform in the classroom and have begun to truant. They noted also that students “at-risk” often suffer from poor health, lack of food and medication, are victims of unwanted pregnancies, and are engaged in antisocial and illegal behaviour such as stealing cars and substance abuse. These students are also often subject to domestic violence (parents on drugs or alcohol), family separation, and homelessness. Some are depressed or suicidal. Sometimes cultural factors contribute to students being regarded as “at-risk”. For example, a social worker in the Smart Communities project stated: Cultural factors sometimes come into that as well … like with some Muslim families … they can flog their daughter or their son, usually the daughter … so cultural factors can create a risk. Research elsewhere has revealed that those children between the ages of 11-17 who have been subjected to bullying at school or physical or sexual abuse at home and who have threatened and/or harmed another person or suicidal are “high-risk” youths (Farmer 4). In an attempt to bring about a positive change in these alienated or “at-risk” adolescents, Balga Senior High School has developed several programs such as the Youth Parents Program, Swan Nyunger Sports Education program, Intensive English Centre, and lower secondary mainstream program. The Midvale Primary School has provided services such as counsellors, Aboriginal child protection workers, and Aboriginal police liaison officers for these “at-risk” students. On the other hand, the Department of Community Development (DCD) has provided services to parents and caregivers for children up to 18 years. Academics from Edith Cowan and Curtin universities are engaged in gathering the life stories of these “at-risk” students. One aspect of this research entails the students writing their life stories in a secured web portal that the universities have developed. The researchers believe that by engaging the students in these self-exploration activities, they (the students) would develop a more hopeful outlook on life. Though all agencies and educational institutions involved in this collaborative project are working for the well-being of the children “at-risk”, the Privacy Act forbids the authorities from sharing information about them. A school psychologist expressed concern over the Privacy Act: When the Juvenile Justice Department want to reintroduce a student into a school, we can’t find out anything about this student so we can’t do any preplanning. They want to give the student a fresh start, so there’s always that tension … eventually everyone overcomes [this] because you realise that the student has to come to the school and has to be engaged. Of course, the manner and consequences of a student’s engagement in school cannot be predicted. In the scenario described above students may have been given a fair chance to reform themselves, which is their positive right but if they turn out to be at “high risk” it would appear that the Juvenile Department protected the negative right of the students by supporting “freedom from” interference by others. Likewise, a school health nurse in the project considered confidentiality or the Privacy Act an important factor in the security of the student “at-risk”: I was trying to think about this kid who’s one of the children who has been sexually abused, who’s a client of DCD, and I guess if police got involved there and wanted to know details and DCD didn’t want to give that information out then I’d guess I’d say to the police “Well no, you’ll have to talk to the parents about getting further information.” I guess that way, recognising these students are minor and that they are very vulnerable, their information … where it’s going, where is it leading? Who wants to know? Where will it be stored? What will be the outcomes in the future for this kid? As a 14 year old, if they’re reckless and get into things, you know, do they get a black record against them by the time they’re 19? What will that information be used for if it’s disclosed? So I guess I become an advocate for the student in that way? Thus the nurse considers a sexually abused child should not be identified. It is a positive right in the interest of the person. Once again, though, if the student turns out to be at “high risk” or suicidal, then it would appear that the nurse was protecting the youth’s negative right—“freedom from” interference by others. Since collaboration is a positive right and aims at the students’ welfare, the workable solution to prevent the students from suicide would be to develop inter-agency trust and to share vital information about “high-risk” students. Dilemmas of Collaboration Some recent cases of the deaths of young non-Caucasian girls in Western countries, either because of the implications of the Privacy Act or due to a lack of efficient and effective communication and coordination amongst agencies, have raised debates on effective child protection. For example, the British Laming report (2003) found that Victoria Climbié, a young African girl, was sent by her parents to her aunt in Britain in order to obtain a good education and was murdered by her aunt and aunt’s boyfriend. However, the risk that she could be harmed was widely known. The girl’s problems were known to 6 local authorities, 3 housing authorities, 4 social services, 2 child protection teams, and the police, the local church, and the hospital, but not to the education authorities. According to the Laming Report, her death could have been prevented if there had been inter-agency sharing of information and appropriate evaluation (Balnaves and Luca 49). The agencies had supported the negative rights of the young girl’s “freedom from” interference by others, but at the cost of her life. Perhaps Victoria’s racial background may have contributed to the concealment of information and added to her disadvantaged position. Similarly, in Western Australia, the Gordon Inquiry into the death of Susan Taylor, a 15 year old girl Aboriginal girl at the Swan Nyungah Community, found that in her short life this girl had encountered sexual violation, violence, and the ravages of alcohol and substance abuse. The Gordon Inquiry reported: Although up to thirteen different agencies were involved in providing services to Susan Taylor and her family, the D[epartment] of C[ommunity] D[evelopment] stated they were unaware of “all the services being provided by each agency” and there was a lack of clarity as to a “lead coordinating agency” (Gordon et al. quoted in Scott 45). In this case too, multiple factors—domestic, racial, and the Privacy Act—may have led to Susan Taylor’s tragic end. In the United Kingdom, Harry Ferguson noted that when a child is reported to be “at-risk” from domestic incidents, they can suffer further harm because of their family’s concealment (204). Ferguson’s study showed that in 11 per cent of the 319 case sample, children were known to be re-harmed within a year of initial referral. Sometimes, the parents apply a veil of secrecy around themselves and their children by resisting or avoiding services. In such cases the collaborative efforts of the agencies and education may be thwarted. Lack of cultural education among teachers, youth workers, and agencies could also put the “at-risk” cultural minorities into a high risk category. For example, an “at-risk” Muslim student may not be willing to share personal experiences with the school or agencies because of religious sensitivities. This happened in the UK when Khadji Rouf was abused by her father, a Bangladeshi. Rouf’s mother, a white woman, and her female cousin from Bangladesh, both supported Rouf when she finally disclosed that she had been sexually abused for over eight years. After group therapy, Rouf stated that she was able to accept her identity and to call herself proudly “mixed race”, whereas she rejected the Asian part of herself because it represented her father. Other Asian girls and young women in this study reported that they could not disclose their abuse to white teachers or social workers because of the feeling that they would be “letting down their race or their Muslim culture” (Rouf 113). The marginalisation of many Muslim Australians both in the job market and in society is long standing. For example, in 1996 and again in 2001 the Muslim unemployment rate was three times higher than the national total (Australian Bureau of Statistics). But since the 9/11 tragedy and Bali bombings visible Muslims, such as women wearing hijabs (headscarves), have sometimes been verbally and physically abused and called ‘terrorists’ by some members of the wider community (Dreher 13). The Howard government’s new anti-terrorism legislation and the surveillance hotline ‘Be alert not alarmed’ has further marginalised some Muslims. Some politicians have also linked Muslim asylum seekers with terrorists (Kabir 303), which inevitably has led Muslim “at-risk” refugee students to withdraw from school support such as counselling. Under these circumstances, Muslim “at-risk” students and their parents may prefer to maintain a low profile rather than engage with agencies. In this case, arguably, federal government politics have exacerbated the barriers to collaboration. It appears that unfamiliarity with Muslim culture is not confined to mainstream Australians. For example, an Aboriginal liaison police officer engaged in the Smart Communities project in Western Australia had this to say about Muslim youths “at-risk”: Different laws and stuff from different countries and they’re coming in and sort of thinking that they can bring their own laws and religions and stuff … and when I say religions there’s laws within their religions as well that they don’t seem to understand that with Australia and our laws. Such generalised misperceptions of Muslim youths “at-risk” would further alienate them, thus causing a major hindrance to collaboration. The “at-risk” factors associated with Aboriginal youths have historical connections. Research findings have revealed that indigenous youths aged between 10-16 years constitute a vast majority in all Australian States’ juvenile detention centres. This over-representation is widely recognised as associated with the nature of European colonisation, and is inter-related with poverty, marginalisation and racial discrimination (Watson et al. 404). Like the Muslims, their unemployment rate was three times higher than the national total in 2001 (ABS). However, in 1998 it was estimated that suicide rates among Indigenous peoples were at least 40 per cent higher than national average (National Advisory Council for Youth Suicide Prevention, quoted in Elliot-Farrelly 2). Although the wider community’s unemployment rate is much lower than the Aboriginals and the Muslims, the “at-risk” factors of mainstream Australian youths are often associated with dysfunctional families, high conflict, low-cohesive families, high levels of harsh parental discipline, high levels of victimisation by peers, and high behavioural inhibition (Watson et al. 404). The Macquarie Fields riots in 2005 revealed the existence of “White” underclass and “at-risk” people in Sydney. Macquarie Fields’ unemployment rate was more than twice the national average. Children growing up in this suburb are at greater risk of being involved in crime (The Age). Thus small pockets of mainstream underclass youngsters also require collaborative attention. In Western Australia people working on the Smart Communities project identified that lack of resources can be a hindrance to collaboration for all sectors. As one social worker commented: “government agencies are hierarchical systems and lack resources”. They went on to say that in their department they can not give “at-risk” youngsters financial assistance in times of crisis: We had a petty cash box which has got about 40 bucks in it and sometimes in an emergency we might give a customer a couple of dollars but that’s all we can do, we can’t give them any larger amount. We have bus/metro rail passes, that’s the only thing that we’ve actually got. A youth worker in Smart Communities commented that a lot of uncertainty is involved with young people “at-risk”. They said that there are only a few paid workers in their field who are supported and assisted by “a pool of volunteers”. Because the latter give their time voluntarily they are under no obligation to be constant in their attendance, so the number of available helpers can easily fluctuate. Another youth worker identified a particularly important barrier to collaboration: because of workers’ relatively low remuneration and high levels of work stress, the turnover rates are high. The consequence of this is as follows: The other barrier from my point is that you’re talking to somebody about a student “at-risk”, and within 14 months or 18 months a new person comes in [to that position] then you’ve got to start again. This way you miss a lot of information [which could be beneficial for the youth]. Conclusion The Privacy Act creates a dilemma in that it can be either beneficial or counter-productive for a student’s security. To be blunt, a youth who has suicided might have had their privacy protected, but not their life. Lack of funding can also be a constraint on collaboration by undermining stability and autonomy in the workforce, and blocking inter-agency initiatives. Lack of awareness about cultural differences can also affect unity of action. The deepening inequality between the “haves” and “have-nots” in the Australian society, and the Howard government’s harshness on national security issues, can also pose barriers to collaboration on youth issues. Despite these exigencies and dilemmas, it would seem that collaboration is “the only game” when it comes to helping students “at-risk”. To enhance this collaboration, there needs to be a sensible modification of legal restrictions to information sharing, an increase in government funding and support for inter-agency cooperation and informal information sharing, and an increased awareness about the cultural needs of minority groups and knowledge of the mainstream underclass. Acknowledgments The research is part of a major Australian Research Council (ARC) funded project, Smart Communities. The authors very gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the interviewees, and thank *Donald E. Scott for conducting the interviews. References Australian Bureau of Statistics. 1996 and 2001. Balnaves, Mark, and Joe Luca. “The Impact of Digital Persona on the Future of Learning: A Case Study on Digital Repositories and the Sharing of Information about Children At-Risk in Western Australia”, paper presented at Ascilite, Brisbane (2005): 49-56. 10 April 2006. http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/brisbane05/blogs/proceedings/ 06_Balnaves.pdf>. Dreher, Tanya. ‘Targeted’: Experiences of Racism in NSW after September 11, 2001. Sydney: University of Technology, 2005. Elliot-Farrelly, Terri. “Australian Aboriginal Suicide: The Need for an Aboriginal Suicidology”? Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health, 3.3 (2004): 1-8. 15 April 2006 http://www.auseinet.com/journal/vol3iss3/elliottfarrelly.pdf>. Farmer, James. A. High-Risk Teenagers: Real Cases and Interception Strategies with Resistant Adolescents. Springfield, Ill.: C.C. Thomas, 1990. Ferguson, Harry. Protecting Children in Time: Child Abuse, Child Protection and the Consequences of Modernity. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Foucault, Michel. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. Ed. Colin Gordon, trans. Colin Gordon et al. New York: Pantheon, 1980. Kabir, Nahid. Muslims in Australia: Immigration, Race Relations and Cultural History. London: Kegan Paul, 2005. Rouf, Khadji. “Myself in Echoes. My Voice in Song.” Ed. A. Bannister, et al. Listening to Children. London: Longman, 1990. Scott E. Donald. “Exploring Communication Patterns within and across a School and Associated Agencies to Increase the Effectiveness of Service to At-Risk Individuals.” MS Thesis, Curtin University of Technology, August 2005. The Age. “Investing in People Means Investing in the Future.” The Age 5 March, 2005. 15 April 2006 http://www.theage.com.au>. Watson, Malcolm, et al. “Pathways to Aggression in Children and Adolescents.” Harvard Educational Review, 74.4 (Winter 2004): 404-428. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Kabir, Nahid, and Mark Balnaves. "Students “at Risk”: Dilemmas of Collaboration." M/C Journal 9.2 (2006). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0605/04-kabirbalnaves.php>. APA Style Kabir, N., and M. Balnaves. (May 2006) "Students “at Risk”: Dilemmas of Collaboration," M/C Journal, 9(2). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0605/04-kabirbalnaves.php>.

Abstract Background The Stanley Foundation Bipolar Treatment Outcome Network (SFBN) recruited more than 900 outpatients from 1995 to 2002 from 4 sites in the United States (US) and 3 in the Netherlands and Germany (abbreviated as Europe). When funding was discontinued, the international group of investigators continued to work together as the Bipolar Collaborative Network (BCN), publishing so far 87 peer-reviewed manuscripts. On the 25th year anniversary of its founding, publication of a brief summary of some of the major findings appeared appropriate. Important insights into the course and treatment of adult outpatients with bipolar disorder were revealed and some methodological issues and lessons learned will be discussed. Results The illness is recurrent and pernicious and difficult to bring to a long-term remission. Virtually all aspects of the illness were more prevalent in the US compared to Europe. This included vastly more patients with early onset illness and those with more psychosocial adversity in childhood; more genetic vulnerability; more anxiety and substance abuse comorbidity; more episodes and rapid cycling; and more treatment non-responsiveness. Conclusions The findings provide a road map for a new round of much needed clinical treatment research studies. They also emphasize the need for the formation of a new network focusing on child and youth onset of mood disorders with a goal to achieve early precision diagnostics for intervention and prevention in attempting to make the course of bipolar illness more benign.

Purpose The youth leadership development program is an opportunity to establish best practices for the development of youth and of the wider community. Based on underpinning research related to social cohesion and social capital, the purpose of this paper is to focus on connectedness is consistent with the work of Putnam (Bowling Alone). Design/methodology/approach Reflecting the multi-level character of all complex problems and also the need to explore common values, social networks and problem-solving mechanisms, the initial approach was a pre- and post-activity survey for participants, and focus groups with elders and parents. The pilot survey, however, revealed participants were unable to discriminate between the nominated Likert scales. The consequent approach turned to appreciative inquiry involving observational data and selected interviews with a random sample of participants from both gender groups, as well as focus groups with community elders. Findings The study presents findings from an experiential activity in a youth group to bridge social boundaries. Findings are presented using a social-ecosystem model. Key constructs relevant to a discussion of social cohesion and connectedness are discussed, and the youth development initiative identified bridging capital strategies and noted countervailing forces to engagement and successful integration. Central to effective social development strategies is the need for peer- and community-based initiatives to foster shared responsibility, hope and a sense of significance. The social-ecosystem framework offers a potential and realistic approach to enabling families and community groups to be the foundation of a safe and resilient country. Research limitations/implications A single case study, where the pilot survey revealed participants were unable to discriminate between the nominated Likert scales. The consequent approach turned to appreciative inquiry involving observational data and selected interviews with a random sample of participants from both gender groups, as well as focus groups with community elders. Practical implications Looking first at the participants in this program, engagement requires challenge and buy-in, much the same as in classroom-based educational strategies. There are some preconditions that vary by gender. For young men, there is a mask that they adopt. As well, there is a rift between fathers and sons – confirmed in the community consultation and a more general inter-generational gap that requires attention. There are competing tensions that emerge at the family, community and societal levels. For example, the prevailing discourse is on acute VE related responses. However, what is needed is a greater focus on building social cohesion. Conversely, if family commitment is an important motive to disengage from VE, then cultural realities such as fractured communities, lack of role models, as well as a lack of suitable knowledge and the infrastructure for people to deal with vulnerable youth makes the whole issue highly problematic. Social implications Central to community-based primary prevention responses and to bridging capital is the need for common values, strong social networks and shared problem-solving mechanisms. Table I presents a summary of key insights and countervailing forces (in italics and with a *) that illustrates a tug-of-war between different stakeholders in the social-ecosystem. This list is not exhaustive, but it provides a formative framework for the deeper exploration of community participation and evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of primary prevention. Originality/value An experiential approach to bridging social boundaries based on a youth development program in a refugee community is presented. Findings are presented using a social-ecosystem model was presented. Key constructs include an ecosystem model, and a framework that links social cohesion, capital and connectedness. The study presents ideas to activate bridging capital strategies and highlights countervailing conditions to engagement and development.

Dear Readers, It is a great honor for us to publish eighth volume, four issue of Global Journal of Psychology Research: New Trends and Issues (GJPR). Global Journal of Psychology Research: New Trends and Issues welcomes original empirical investigations and comprehensive literature review articles focusing on psychological issues and related disciplines. The mission of the journal is to publish articles of professional interest for members of psychology. The scope of the journal includes, but is not limited to; the following major areas of psychology science including clinical psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, experimental psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, traffic psychology, forensic psychology, psychometric psychology, sports psychology, health psychology, educational psychology, media psychology and neuroscience psychology. Articles focusing on doctoral students’ professional identity; psychosocial antecedents of those who work in practice, personal and social predictors of risky sexual behaviours in Iranian youth, the effects of Machiavellianism and person–group dissimilarity on workplace incivility, the communication between a doctor and his patients’ parents as a factor in the availability of medical care for disabled children and adulthood transition of students with special educational needs in Portugal; preliminary results of professionals perception are included in this issue. The topics of the next issue will be different. You can make sure that we will be trying to serve you with our journal with a rich knowledge in which different kinds of topics are discussed in 2018 Volume. A total number of seventeen (17) manuscripts were submitted for this issue and each paper has been subjected to double-blind peer review process by the reviewers specialized in the related field. At the end of the review process, a total number of six (6) high quality research papers were selected and accepted for publication. Aim of this issue is to give the researchers an opportunity to share the results of their academic studies. There are different research topics discussed in the articles. We present many thanks to all the contributors who helped us to publish this issue. Best regards,