Frontiers in Sociology最新文献

Background: Personal care attendants (PCAs) provided essential care and support to home care clients during the COVID-19 pandemic and thus were a vital part of the pandemic response in helping to keep older adults and individuals with disabilities out of nursing homes. Furthermore, they are one of the largest and fastest growing workforces in the United States. Yet this essential workforce received little attention during the pandemic. Guided by feminist theories on caregiving and the principles of community-based participatory research, this study examined the experiences of PCAs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Data from 78 in-depth interview participants representing Medicaid-Funded Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) PCAs, clients, family caregivers, and service providers in Kansas, United States, as well as additional data from 176 PCA survey participants were analyzed. Findings from this interactive, convergent, mixed-methods study were integrated by theme using the weaving approach.

Results: Four major themes emerged from the analysis: (1) PCAs remained in this field during the pandemic out of a commitment to their clients; (2) PCAs were undervalued and invisible as an essential workforce; (3) direct care work had an emotional toll on PCAs during the pandemic; and (4) PCAs have mixed feelings about their satisfaction with the job, and, as good workers quit, they were difficult to replace.

Discussion: PCAs held professional-level responsibilities without the recognition or pay of a professional. The pandemic had mixed impacts on job stress and satisfaction, suggesting that the intrinsic rewards of the job and social support had a protective impact. However, intrinsic rewards are not enough to retain this workforce, and the growing PCA workforce shortage leaves many clients having to choose between no care and poor care. Our findings indicate that institutions and systems must better support and recognize this essential workforce to build and maintain a quality in-home care services system.

Introduction: This study investigates how social capital, family support, culture, entrepreneurial qualities, and self-efficacy influence women's work-life balance and entrepreneurial success in Indonesia.

Methods: This research employs a quantitative methodology, gathering data via a survey with 350 participants.

Results: The investigation findings indicate that culture, family support, and entrepreneurial tendencies significantly influence self-efficacy, social capital, and business success. Additionally, social capital and self-efficacy significantly mediate the association between the independent variables and satisfaction with work-life balance and company performance.

Discussion: The research emphasizes the significance of the interaction between social, cultural, and personal aspects in boosting entrepreneurial success and well-being, and the results offer useful insights to assist the growth of women entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

Introduction: Historically, LGBTQ+ people have and continue to endure discrimination across many contexts, including healthcare. Research and data from nationwide samples in the United States regarding medical-related stigma experienced by LGBTQ+ people are scant.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was distributed online to a national sample of United States residents. Participants answered questions about their healthcare, including experiences with medical-related gaslighting, trauma, and trust.

Results: Compared to cisgender and heterosexual people (n = 857), LGBTQ+ people (n = 815) reported significantly higher rates of medical-related gaslighting (46.5% vs. 26.5%, ORs 1.75-2.80) and trauma (18% vs. 8.9%, ORs 1.63-2.66). Likewise, LGBTQ+ people conveyed significantly less trust (ORs 0.46-0.53) in primary care providers (59.8% vs. 74.1%), medical specialists (56.5% vs. 71.7%), pharmaceutical companies (17% vs. 28%), insurance companies (15.9% vs. 29.3%), and U.S. healthcare systems (17.8% vs. 30.4%).

Discussion: Medical-related gaslighting, trauma, and distrust are pervasive systemic disparities among LGBTQ+ people. Addressing these challenges will require ongoing, lifelong motivation, dedication, and commitment for LGBTQ+ education, advocacy, and leadership to dismantle current prejudiced practices and foster more inclusive, supportive, affirming healthcare environments.

Cities across the United States are affected by climate change impacts, and several cities have adopted climate adaptation plans to respond to this growing threat. These plans outline interventions that require a multi-skilled workforce working towards "green" or sustainable goals. However, the "green jobs" linked to these goals are ill-defined and misunderstood among employers and job seekers and can cause gaps in implementing the interventions outlined in the climate adaptation plans. Therefore, it is important to analyze the current state of green jobs in US cities and understand what employers, job seekers, and others think of the green jobs market. We conduct this analysis with the help of natural language processing and qualitative coding in the City of Worcester, Massachusetts, USA using job data from Indeed and semi-structured interviews. We find that the current green job market in Worcester is siloed around green jobs requiring degrees and that non-degree green jobs are significantly less present. Moreover, most green jobs are located far away from Worcester, making them unattractive to job seekers, influencing the overall image of green jobs among job seekers. Finally, both policymakers and employers are unclear about the definition of a "green job" impacting a job seeker's search behaviors. All this points to a vague description of green jobs and green workforce, that can significantly impact Worcester's ability to achieve a climate-ready workforce and to achieve its climate adaptation goals.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a pervasive and growing issue that affects diverse populations worldwide. This study aimed to synthesize the factors affecting the risk of GBV among 2SLGBTQIA+ adolescents and youth. A scoping review was conducted using international databases (Web of Science, Scopus, Proquest, PubMed, Embase, EBSCOhost) since 2009. The studies were independently appraised by two reviewers guided by the PRISMA approach. Ninety-nine articles focusing on the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, GBV, and adolescents or youth were included for the review. The factors affecting the risk of GBV among 2SLGBTQIA+ adolescents and youth were categorized into (1) Wellbeing and mental health; (2) Disparities compared to cisgender youth; (3) Perpetration and victimization; (4) Different types of violence; and (5) Differences among 2SLGBTQIA+ subgroups. The studies further showed relevance to climate-related stressors such as displacement and resource scarcity, and how those can further amplify the vulnerabilities of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth to GBV. The findings revealed the necessity for multi-level strategies that account for the compounded risks faced by 2SLGBTQIA+ adolescents and youth, including those introduced by environmental crises. These five factors related to GBV among 2SLGBTQIA+ adolescents and youth should be considered by social work professionals when working with at-risk populations. Due to limited robust evidence (from countries outside the US) and the diverse contexts of the selected studies, future research is needed to minimize GBV among 2SLGBTQIA+ adolescents and youth, especially as climate change introduces new layers of vulnerability.

Systematic review registration: 10.37766/inplasy2024.4.0008.

Introduction: This study explores the relationships between local governance effectiveness, population densities of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), and rural multidimensional poverty in India, using data from the 2011 Indian Census, 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2020 Mission Antyodaya, and 2019/21 National Family and Health Survey (NFHS).

Methods: The research examines how SC/ST population densities and local governance effectiveness are associated with the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) across Indian states through regression and correlation analysis.

Results: The study's findings reveal a national, rural MPI of 0.110, with 26% of the rural population experiencing multidimensional poverty. The study's results also show that a statistically significant negative correlation exists between rural MPI and local governance effectiveness, with a 0.32% reduction in MPI for every 1% improvement in governance effectiveness. Conversely, higher SC and ST population densities are associated with increased MPI, with a 0.14% rise in MPI for each 1% increase in these densities. The study also highlights that ST population density has a stronger association with MPI than SC population density, indicating greater vulnerability to multidimensional poverty in areas with higher ST populations.

Discussion: Overall, the study underscores the importance of effective local governance in reducing rural poverty and suggests targeted efforts in areas with high SC and ST densities, particularly ST, to alleviate poverty. It also emphasizes the need for up-to-date data to understand and address rural poverty comprehensively.

The article analyzes the concept of vulnerability and its relation to the principles of equality and non-discrimination based on a theoretical discussion and the analysis of the concept in three case studies in different human rights areas. First, an overview of the development of the legal norms of the right to equality and non-discrimination in the context of social and political developments is given, including contextualizing and embedding the concept of vulnerability in this debate. Second, the results of three case studies from different policy and legal fields will be presented. The first case study focuses on the role of vulnerability in UN human rights documents on climate change and mobility, the second case study on the role of vulnerability in the anti-discrimination case law of European courts, and the third case study on the concept of vulnerability in Austrian asylum procedures. The objective is to study the concept in different settings and, subsequently, comparatively carve out common themes across the case studies. The case studies show that vulnerability is a fuzzy concept, which often ends up being attached to 'special-needs groups' and which frequently mobilizes stigmatizing and stereotyping narratives. The concept does not have equality-promoting connotations, emphasizes individual and group-specific deficit accounts, and often fails to grasp structural factors of discrimination and inequality.

Despite making some of the most important advances in the social scientific study of woman abuse, feminist sociological research and theorizing that prioritize the concept of patriarchy have leveled off or declined in the last 15 years due, in large part, to the current hegemony of mainstream criminologists fundamentally opposed to a rich gendered understanding of one of the world's most compelling social problems. Drawing on nearly 50 years of research done by an international cadre of highly experienced scholars, this article demonstrates the importance of revisiting some major feminist conceptual, empirical, and theoretical contributions from the past. Recommended here are gender-specific conceptualizations of abuse, in-depth reviews of the extant literature, self-report surveys of potential male offenders, quantitative indicators of men's patriarchal attitudes and beliefs, and supplementary open-ended survey questions.

In this study we draw on Foucault's work on governmentality and examine the power dynamics involved in establishing and implementing policies that promote equality in European higher education. Using a qualitative case study design, we selected 17 public universities situated in 13 European countries, from which we collected information about (1) the way these institutions problematize inequality in reference to participation in higher education, by labeling and categorizing vulnerable students and (2) the modes of governing and power tools (designed as support measures) they employ to address inequality. The results of the study show that the most typical profiles of vulnerability with which the universities in the sample engage include: students with disabilities, students from low-income backgrounds and students with children. Additionally, most universities use targeted support measures (as opposed to mainstreaming strategies) which consist in a mix of financial aid and support and adaptation services. The critical analysis of these measures reveals their power to shape students' identifies and actions, through processes of subjectification, categorization, normalization and responsabilization. In the last section, we discuss the tension that appears between the European universities' social dimension and the neoliberal policies that shape their functioning.