Adapting Antonak and Harth's Mental Retardation Attitude Inventory for Kuwait's Culture

The purpose of this research was to adapt Antonak and Harth's (1994) Mental Retardation Attitudes Inventory for the Kuwaiti culture and to investigate its four‐dimensional structure. The study also aimed at identifying a unidimensional subset of items besides examining the quality of the identified items and the overall inventory. The 34 ‐item adapted inventor y was administered to 56 4 college students. Item analysis indicated that 29 items have had good psychometric characteristics. However, the exploratory factor analysis, cross‐correlations of scale and item scores, and correlations among scales did not support the four‐dimensional structure of the adapted inventory. Further, the sample was split into two random halves. A uni‐dimensional subset of 20 items was identified in one sample by iterative factor analyzing the item data and discarding items with small loadings. The other sample was used to cross‐validate uni‐dimensionality of the identified items. Analysis indicated that scores of the 20‐item inventory have high Cronbach coefficient alpha, and high stability and generalizability coefficients. Partial support for the validity of the scores had been ascertained by comparing the scores of male and female students, and by regressing the inventor y scores on indicators of familiarity with individuals with mental retardation. Findings were discussed with reference to Kuwaiti culture. Over the last two decades, inclusion has internationally become a critical part of the reform efforts to improve the delivery of services to individuals with Mental Retardation (MR). This trend focuses on increasing the opportunities for the placement of these individuals in the same social and educational set tings as individuals without MR. The new arrangements for providing services have created challenges to people without disabilities concerning acceptance, integration, and inclusion of individuals with MR into the mainstream of society (Praisner, 2003). Many researchers (e.g. Priestly, 1998; Yazbeck McVilly & Parmenter, 2004) have convincingly argued that these challenges have their roots in the societal norms and values that concurrently developed throughout the unfolding history of the meaning of MR. As Priestly (1998) noted, although people with differences have existed in all societies, the degree to which they were integrated or excluded varied according to predominant cultural perceptions. Yazbeck, McVilly and Parmenter (2004) suggested that people's attitudes toward individuals with MR are socially constructed and are acquired through experience over time. Individuals with MR are often judged by people based on their disability instead of their whole lives and what they may accomplish and experience during their life (Blatt, 1987). Consequently, People may rely on false generalization and develop negative attitudes towards individuals with MR. Makas, Finnerty‐Fried, Sugafoos, and Reiss (1988) noted that for nondisabled persons, positive attitude toward people with disability is usually conceptualized as being ‘nice’ and ‘helpful’, whereas for a person with a disability, the attitude would be dispensing with the category of disability entirely. A study of community attitudes in one state of Australia found that up to 86% of respondents reported feeling ‘uncomfortable’ when interacting with individuals with disabilities (Enhance Management, 1999). Another study (European Commission, 2001) found that 40% of Europeans reported feeling ‘uneasy’ in the presence of people with disabilities. Attitudes manifest themselves as positive or negative reactions toward an object, driven by beliefs that impel individuals to behave in a particular way (Yuker, 1988). They comprise a complex of feelings, desires, fears, convictions, prejudices, or other tendencies learned through varied experiences that give rise to a set or readiness to act toward a person in a certain way (Chaiken & Stangor,1987). This means that attitude is not behavior, but the precondition of behavior. In addition, Myers, Ager, Kerr, and Myles (1998) identified three types of attitudes that influence how non‐disabled people interact with, and include or exclude people with disabilities: (1) A preparedness to engage with people as consumers, neighbors, or friends; (2) a lack of awareness about individuals with MR; and (3) a wariness or hostility regarding the idea of community integration. Research has shown that the third type of attitudes, which represents negative and non‐acceptance of individuals with MR is commonly observed (Gething, 1994; Schwartz & Armony‐Sivan, 2001). Such negative attitudes in a society may present people with MR as a burden on the welfare system. Moreover, people might not see individuals with disabilities as possessing a valuable social role or possessing the same abilities and characteristics that the majority of people possess. Tus, individuals with MR may not be accepted or included in society and may often be treated badly. In turn, Wolfensberger (1988) indicated that individuals with MR, being in a devalued position, would behave badly as they think that this is what is expected of them. As integration of persons with MR is increasingly becoming a global reality, Kuwait has designed social policy aimed at promoting acceptance and inclusion of people with disabilities into the mainstream of society. To implement the policy of integration, the Kuwaiti government is continually forming inclusive services for individuals with MR. The recent policy of inclusion (law 13/96), which has been adopted in 1996, asserts that people with disabilities have a fundamental right to live and grow within their local communities. This law has spawned an expanded system of services to encourage people with disabilities to live like people without disabilities. Inclusion policies give individuals with MR the right to be involved in the same situations as people without MR. For example, more individuals with MR, for example, are being employed. Moreover, most children with Downs syndrome now attend Kindergarten and are included in social programs for children in the general population. The general goal of all types of services provided for individuals with MR is to improve their participation in society. Although the Kuwaiti government has shown a growing interest in the integration of individuals with MR, the chances of these individuals being able to integrate into mainstream society would depend on the attitude of others, such as students, teachers, coworkers, social workers, professionals, towards them. These attitudes, as found in many Western studies (Antonak & Harth, 1994; Gordon, Tantillo, Feldman & Perrone, 2004) are, for the most part, negative, which may contribute to negative outcomes on the part of individuals with MR (Byon, 2000). According to Wright (1983), disability situations are vulnerable to fundamental negative attitudes, and this would seem to be even truer in the culture found in Kuwait. In Kuwaiti culture, disability has stigmatizing effect on members of the immediate and extended family; families tend to keep members with MR out of the sight of other people. This contributes to social exclusion of people with MR. There is also the traditional common belief that disability is related to (1) God's willing that the parent should have a child with a disability, (2) God is punishing the parent, (3) God is testing the parent, or (4) God is selecting the parent for an unknown reason. Commonly, persons with MR have been considered burdensome and shameful, because they are incapable of contributing to traditional social obligations and roles. While those traditional beliefs still exist, the law 13/96 was legislated to support the integration of persons with MR into various aspects of life. Consequently, we expect that people in the society would react to this trend with frustration, anger, or refusal. Usually, people in Kuwait have little or no information about individuals with MR; thereby uninformed determinations, such as stereotypes, reflect their attitudes toward these individuals. According to Blatt (1987), a stereotype will fill in the cracks and unanswered questions in a situation with which people are not familiar. Langer (1989) in her theory of ‘mindfulness’ also shows that stereotype is ‘premature cognitive commitments’ that leads people to make judgments without enough information and reflection. Moreover, the society labels given to individuals with MR are often accompanied with stigma and negative connotations. This situation makes it difficult for those individuals to be included into society and be accepted for what they actually are and not for what others assume them to be. According to Biklen and Bogdan (1977), this type of discrimination is called ‘handicapism’ and is defined as‘…a set of assumptions and practices that promote differential and unequal treatment of people because of apparent or assumed physical, mental, or behavioral differences’ (p.206). These perceptions may prevent individuals with MR from being accepted, and they might be viewed, based on Erikson's theory, as a pseudo species, or as less than human (Smith, 1981). Furthermore, professionals', leaders', and students' views and beliefs about the integration of individuals with MR into society may result in slowing the process of inclusion and discouraging people from accepting these individuals as what they are. For example, though senior staff in Kuwait's Ministry of Social Affairs succeeded in including children with Downs syndrome into public kindergarten, no other effort has been made since 1996 to integrate other children with disabilities into inclusive educational settings. More critical is that, while leaders make efforts toward inclusion, they continue to support the permanent residence of individuals with MR in social welfare institutions and urge the government to provide free health, social and educational services for the residents. Ahmad (2004) found that between 1992 and 2002, there was an increase in the number of children, and males and females adults with MR who live in the Social Welfare Institution for permanent care. The number of residents with MR has increased from 223 to 296. According to Philips (1992), leaders' and professionals' beliefs about individuals with MR could have commenced with the industrial revolution that brought with it the practice of classifying people who were different, and who were not able to pursue personal dreams or act as the industrial society required. Leaders and professionals may perceive individuals with MR, as Blatt (1987) stated, blessed innocents or surplus population that is unnecessary and expendable. These beliefs may never give the individuals with MR an adequate opportunity to present themselves and their abilities to others. Praisner (2003) suggested that leaders' attitudes are the key factor in successful inclusion. Due to leadership position, leaders' and professionals' attitudes about inclusion either could result in increased opportunities for individuals with MR to be served in different settings or increased efforts to support the segregated special education services. According to Goodlad and Lovitt (1993), leaders and professionals have the decision to develop an inclusive setting, if they (1) make and honor commitments, (2) do what they say in formal and informal settings, (3) express interest in inclusion, (4) act and make their actions known, and (5) organize their staff and their physical surroundings to implement inclusive programs. As Praisner (2003) stated, the success of inclusion depends on how leaders exhibit behaviors that advance the integration, acceptance, and success of individuals with disabilities in general settings. Researchers (e.g., Horne, 1985) have also shown that students' positive attitudes may increase their willingness to work with individuals with MR, and lead to removal of barriers to integrate them into society. The positive attitudes of students may help to encourage the establishment of policies and the allocation of resources to increase the integration of individuals with MR into different settings in the society (Yazbeck, et al., 2004). To enhance the policy of inclusion in Kuwait, society needs to evaluate some of its structures and change people's attitudes to fit the needs of individuals with MR instead of making these individuals fit society's structures. Helping individuals with MR to be included into society and establish socially valued roles would not be difficult if the attitudes of society are less restrictive and less resistant to change. As Kuwait continues to develop social and educational policy about inclusion, researchers must pay attention to the connection between integration and attitudes. The provision of educational and social opportunities for individuals with MR can be legislated by Kuwait's government, but acceptance from other people cannot be ensured without knowing people's beliefs and thoughts about persons with MR. Developing an understanding of the attitudes that is predominant in society, which in turn influences the actions of its members, is critical if we plan for social changes and for evaluating the effectiveness of public policy on promoting an inclusive society (Schwartz & Armony‐Sivan, 2001). Given that there are negative attitudes toward people with MR, particular care must be taken to monitor changing social attitudes toward these individuals to identify any serious impediment to the progress of their inclusion in different settings: schools, workplace, and the wider community. Research that is relevant to individuals with disabilities (e.g. Geskie & Salasek, 1988; Antonak & Harth, 1994) has revealed the need for researchers to investigate the attitudes of people toward MR. Wolfensberger (1983) suggested that the key to changing how people are valued socially is to change the perceptions people have about individuals who may differ from the norm. Research, however, has indicated that the investigation of attitudes toward individuals with MR requires a psychometrically sound instrument. It is crucial to conduct research to gather accurate information about these attitudes; it would clarify people's awareness of persons with MR, and assist in evaluating intervention programs and developing appropriate course work for special education fields. Further, it would inform public policy decisions, funding priorities, and service delivery, which in turn, enhance the likelihood of achieving successful integration and improving qua lit y of life for persons with MR (Antonak & Harth, 19 94; Schalock, 1990). Accurate measurement of attitudes could also lead to early detection of negative attitudes, such as personal prejudices, misconceptions, and irrational fears of professionals, social workers, and teachers when they first get involved in disability work settings. Furthermore, it would help in providing a baseline for monitoring changes in their attitudes over time (Byon, 2000). Changing attitudes would help in supporting efforts of individuals with MR to become autonomous (Philips, 1992), and help to decrease the resistance of others to allow people with MR to make decisions about their own lives and to be independent (Schalock, 1990). As the history of the deinstitutionalization movement has shown, becoming autonomous and independent are not as simple as releasing people from state facilities and hoping they survive on their own. Autonomy and independence are based upon choice‐making, and choice‐making must be taught to people with MR, as they have never been allowed to make their own choices and do not know how to rationally choose for themselves. However, as Crutcher (1990) noted, personal choice is based on opportunity, and opportunity is accessible only when society decides it should be. Therefore, in order for individuals with MR to have the opportunity to make their own decisions and be successfully included in society, special effort must be taken to change peoples' attitudes towards them. Moreover, a psychometrically sound instrument of attitudes helps researchers to assess with known precision respondents' feelings about individuals with MR (affective aspect of attitudes), and their conceptions about them (cognitive aspect of attitudes). On the affective side, there are feelings of approval or disapproval of individuals with MR in the society. On the cognitive side, there are beliefs, knowledge, and expectations that affect people's behavior towards individuals with MR. The affective and cognitive aspects affect the respondents' opinions of what services should be provided for individuals with MR and what policy should be adopted. These also assist in the design, implementation, and evaluation of social intervention program and strategies geared toward removing barriers to integration (Geskie & Salasek, 1988). The present study focused on adapting, for use in Kuwait, the Mental Retardation Attitude Inventory‐Revised (MR AI‐R) of Antonak and Harth (1994). The MRAI‐R was chosen because of the limitations of the MR attitudes' instruments in the Gulf States, and in particular the lack of such an instrument in Kuwait. After reviewing literature, it seemed that there was only one measure of attitudes; an inventory developed by Qaryauti (1988). Despite the claimed appropriateness of Qaryauti's scale, we decided to use the MRAI‐R of Antonak and Harth for several reasons. First, Qaryauti's scale was based on Western instruments that Antonak and Harth criticized and motivated them to construct the MRAI‐R. In contrast, Antonak and Harth constructed the MRAI‐R based on a review of more than 50 years of the attitude literature, and developed their inventory on the most available valid instrument. Second, by reviewing the items of the MRAI‐R and Qaryauti's scale, it was clear to us that the MRAI‐R is more consistent with the requirements of the law 13/96 that was mandated in Kuwait to assure the right of individuals with MR to be included into public schools, workplace, and the wider community (see Table 1). Third, the MRAI‐R, unlike Qaryauti's scale, incorporates several components of attitudes: (1) the integration‐segregation of individuals with MR in various school programs, workplace, and community; (2) the willingness of people to be associated with individuals with MR (Social Distance); (3) the rights of individuals with MR to be included in schools, communities, and the workplace (Private Rights); and (4) the derogatory beliefs of people about the moral character and social behavior of individuals with MR. Of the 22 items in Qaryauti's scale, 13 were related to derogatory beliefs, six to social distance, and only three to private rights and integration‐segregation. Fourth, many transcultural researchers have used the MRAI‐R in populations as diverse as the United States, Australia, and Korea. In the US, Ward (1998) used the MRAI‐R to explore relationships between empathy and attitudes among 200 parents and adult consumers with developmental disabilities. Also, Yozwiak (2002) utilized the MRAI‐R to examine the beliefs and attitudes of 210 community members toward a child with MR who was a witness to a sexual abuse case. In an Australian study, Yazbeck and others (2004) used MRAI‐R to examine differences in attitudes between students and professionals in disability services, and persons in the general community (N=492). In Korea, Byon's study (2000) used the MRAI‐R to investigate the effect of social desirability on attitudes toward MR, and to compare the relationships between attitude measures (both direct and indirect measures) and behavioral outcome indicators. Obviously, findings from a large number of studies using the MRAI‐R contribute to its validity. In contrast, we failed to find any study in which Qaryauti's scale was used. Based on the above arguments, it seems that the MRAI‐R would be useful in needs assessments, especially in schools and mental health clinics. For example, when the ministry of education decides to implement the inclusion policy in schools, there would be a need to assess attitudes of teachers and students towards students with MR. The results of such assessment would help in designing programs that improve attitudes as needed. The MRAI‐R can also be useful for social workers, professionals, and researchers who work in a variety of primary social welfare settings. It helps them to identify and target those people who are the most in need of training and preparation to change their attitudes toward MR. In a wider scale, non‐profit organizations can use results of assessing attitudes in advocating the rights of those individuals. In general, the primary usage of the MRAI‐R could be: (1) screening for early identification of negative attitudes; (2) assessing attitudes of specific groups toward persons with MR; (3) pre‐ or post‐ measurement in intervention studies; and (4) helping researchers who aim at studying the effects of attitudes on different variables in the life of people with MR (i.e. job satisfaction, life satisfaction, family relationship, social support), or the relationship between attitudes and demographic variables (i.e. gender, age, marital status, employment, educational status, familiarity with individuals with MR). Following the recommendation of Antonak and Livneh (1988) that researchers should use the existing instruments and stop creating new ones, the purpose of the present study is to develop an Arabic inventory of attitudes toward individuals with MR by adapting the MRAI‐R to be suitable for use in Kuwait. Specifically, the study aimed at: (1) revising the MRAI‐R items to make them suitable to Kuwait's culture; (2) investigating the suitability of the four‐factor‐structure of the MRAI‐R for measuring attitudes toward individuals with MR in Kuwait; (3) selecting a uni‐dimensional subset of items, if the four‐factor‐structure was not confirmed; and (4) examining the psychometric characteristics of the adapted inventory. We decided to carry out this study on college students for various reasons: (1) college students are prospective educators or professionals who will be either dealing with people with MR or making decisions that affect their lives; (2) college students in Kuwait play an active role in social change and in changing public opinions;(3) they are representative cross‐section of Kuwaiti society; (4) a sample of college students is more easily acquired than a sample from the general population.     

Stateless and Citizenship Rights in the Middle East: the Case of Kuwait

This article examines Kuwaiti citizens' views towards expanding citizenship rights to disenfranchised groups. Using survey data from 1581 Kuwaiti citizens in 1998, the author focused on the influence of Kuwaitis' social statuses, cultural affiliations, social networks and religious beliefs. Are attitudes toward inclusion specific to the national origin of the excluded? It was found that variables connoting status decrease support for the stateless. Cultural adherence to Islamic nationalism and Pan‐Arabism and those who follow the media regularly positively influence support for the stateless. These findings suggest that citizens' attitudes about inclusion/exclusion are specific to the national origin of the dis‐enfranchised.     

Socio‐spatial mix and inter‐ethnic attitudes: Jewish newcomers and Arab‐Jewish issues in the Galilee

Urban and regional planners tend to recommend spatial mix of socially diverse populations as an appropriate strategy to achieve social equity and improve inter‐group relations. However, the actual impact of such a mix on social relations in general, and inter‐ethnic attitudes in particular, has been subject to on‐going, yet inconclusive, debates among social scientists. This paper adds to the study of these issues by examining the inter‐ethnic attitudes of residents in Jewish ‘new settlements’ (elsewhere termed ‘community settlements’, or ‘mitzpim'), which were established some 15 years ago among the Arab villages of Israel's central Galilee region. We found that despite certain strands of ethnocentrism, most Jewish settlers hold significantly more moderate views on Arab‐Jewish issues than: (a) the general (non‐Galilee) Jewish public in Israel; and (b) the region's Arab population. The influence of the socio‐spatial mix on the moderation of hostile attitudes, at least among the Jews, is analyzed and explained by comparing our data with the findings of previous research on the topic. On the basis of that comparison we conclude that the Arab — Jewish mix in the Galilee, along with socio‐economic characteristics of the Jewish population and the existence of a ‘penetrating group phenomenon’, have combined to moderate Jewish attitudes in the study region. Planners are called upon to use this knowledge.     

Residents' attitudes toward ethnic neighborhood tourism (ENT): perspectives of ethnicity and empowerment

ABSTRACT

Ethnic neighborhood tourism (ENT) has the potential to not only alter the identity of the ethnic landscape but to also influence the distribution of power and economic benefits from tourism between ethnic groups. Such unequal distribution may foster divergent attitudes toward tourism between minority residents whose culture is at the center of ENT and those of the majority population whose cultural heritage is being overshadowed. With this in mind, this study compared the relationship between Japanese and Brazilian residents’ perceived empowerment from tourism and their attitudes toward tourism development in the ENT destination of Oizumi, Japan. Results revealed that even though the Brazilians perceived themselves to be more psychologically and socially empowered from ENT, the perceptions of empowerment among the Japanese were slightly better predictors of support for tourism and Japanese residents’ perceptions of tourism's contributions within the community. The findings suggest the importance of sociocultural determinants of resident attitudes especially among those who do not perceive economic benefits from tourism. The study also indicates the appropriateness of combining social exchange theory with more holistic theories to capture the complexities influencing resident attitudes toward tourism.     

Belief in a Just World and Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action

The effect of identity, as socially constructed by race and gender, on social policies has been widely examined in policy analysis. Policy analysis would be improved by a wider discussion that includes the influence of social‐psychological constructs on social provision. We fill this gap by drawing on the theory of the “belief in a just world” and link this theory to attitudes toward the support of controversial government programs. We argue that this theory is a critical antecedent to the previous research on social construction. We hypothesize that citizens who perceive that the world is just and that opportunities are equal between groups are much less likely to favor government interventions altering market outcomes. We find that after controlling for race, sex, and political ideology, respondents who believe that luck is the primary determinant of success (low belief in a just world) are more supportive of preferential hiring programs for African Americans and women.     

Attitude of Iranian Female University Students to Sport and Exercise

Women's sport has always been a challenging subject in Muslim countries and Muslim women have had to face various constraints regarding their participation in sport and exercise, which also influence their attitudes to sport. This study aims to explore the attitude of Iranian female university students toward sport by survey method (N?=?1,120) and qualitative interviews (N?=?50). The results indicate that the majority of the participants have negative attitudes to sport, and accordingly they do not practice it. Various macro-, meso- and micro-level factors were found as perceived barriers. From the results it can be concluded that the media as a tool for raising awareness to providing role models and shaping the social values of mainstream society does not take a positive role in order to develop the culture of women's sport, and to change the attitude of female students and their social environments to sport in Iranian society.     

Courses of Conflict: Transmission of Knowledge and War's History in Eastern Sri Lanka

After three decades of armed confrontations, the Sri Lankan civil war ended in May 2009 with the military defeat of the liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). To sustain the war for so long, mechanisms of knowledge reproduction were used legitimizing violence and assuring the conflict's transmission across the generations involved in it. Drawing on ongoing fieldwork in the island's Eastern Province, this article addresses the processes through which Sri Lanka's war-history has been taught and learnt, empirically linking the multiple sites of knowledge transfer. It suggests a trajectory moving from the institutional (policy and textbooks) to the defiant (specific schools and armed movements) spaces of transmission, while comparing the attitudes, memories of violence and transmission strategies of educators, students and former combatants. The data are embedded within the broader discussions on social change and the cultural reproduction of war, a process illustrated with the help of a new concept: semantic alliances.     

How racialized policy contact shapes the social constructions of policy targets

Policy feedback scholars argue the relationship between policy and politics is dynamic and reciprocal. For instance, policies “make citizens,” teaching the public who deserves positive government treatment and who does not. Furthermore, individual experiences with policy shape participation and beliefs about government, which shapes future policy. But few scholars have examined how experiences with a law shape attitudes toward those targeted by policy. We use a survey of 3000 respondents on MTurk (including an over-sample of people of color) to show how direct and indirect experience with policy shapes social constructions of politically relevant groups. Specifically, we examine how direct (personal) and indirect (via someone they know well) experience with two policy areas (criminal justice and social welfare) shape perceptions of the targets of criminal justice and welfare policy. We find the effect of policy contact is racialized; policy contact has a greater effect on white respondents compared to Black respondents. But despite this contact, whites' attitudes about groups' deservingness remain lower than those of their Black counterparts.     

Providing Cultural Context for ‘Sacrifice of the Social Outcasts’

In ‘Sacrifice of the Social Outcasts’, C.L. Kieffer proposes that the disabled formed a socially marginal group that might have been preferentially targeted for human sacrifice in ancient Maya society. Extensive ethnohistoric and iconographic evidence exists that the disabled and deformed held high status in pre‐contact Mesoamerica precisely because of their physical disabilities and played well‐defined social roles. Several incidences of the sacrifice of these individuals are produced, but they are associated with extraordinary events. The actual cultural context suggests that the sacrifice of a disabled individual may have larger social implications. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The politics of ‘forgetting’ as poetics of belonging: between Greek self‐narration and reappraisal (Michaniona, 2000/3)

ABSTRACT. The repressive mechanisms of collective memory have received due attention in the social sciences, with scholars examining the ethics of remembering and forgetting and their political implications. This study focuses on episodes that took place in a Northern Greek town in 2000 and 2003, when an Albanian student was twice denied the right to hold the Greek flag during a commemorative national parade. It is argued that this line of action against the student, representative of Greek attitudes towards immigrants in Greece, asserted the locality's participation in the Greek ‘imagined community’. This was made possible through a process of ‘forgetting’ the locality's history and the analogies this presents with the experience of contemporary immigration. Questioning the ethical implications of this collective decision, the article links regional micro‐politics to nationalist discourses that originate in the European project itself.     

Iraqi Perceptions of Out‐groups: Effects of Ethnicity,Religion, and Location

At the Iraq “liberation” in 2003, many asked, “Could Sunni, Shi'a and Kurdish factions be brought together, or is it likely that ethnic conflicts would lead to civil war?” This pilot project addressed: 1) How do Iraqis' self‐reported ethnic/religious identities (their membership in their personal in‐groups) relate to their perceptions of other unlike groups (out‐groups)?, and 2) How does a place of residence relate to Iraqi perceptions of out‐groups? My team collected 479 surveys of Iraqi opinions in Iraq, Jordan, and The Netherlands, asking for perceptions of Those Other Groups, their out‐groups. I found that background items of religion, ethnic origin, and location, taken by themselves, did not relate strongly to respondents' attitudes towards out‐groups. But, some combinations of background items did give significant differences in perceptions towards other groups. For example, moderate Arabs (with respect to ethnic importance) in Iraq were the group most opposed to foreigners, and were the group most opposed to expatriate Iraqis returning to Iraq. In this paper I explain important terms (out‐group and wiki); report on my findings in the midst of a period of regime change in Iraq; mention the use of an alternate way to disseminate research findings over the internet via a wiki; and describe follow‐up projects on social capital among Iraqis. My hope is that this will contribute to a base from which researchers and fieldworkers can develop theories to explore and explain elements of civil society in Iraq and other societies. This paper presents the following major sections: Abstract; Introduction; Purpose; Background; Methodology; Results; Conclusions; Further; Work; Appendixes; and End Notes     

Who Deserves Solidarity? Unequal Treatment of Immigrants in Swiss Welfare Policy Delivery

Rising immigration rates in Western Europe concur with increasing anti‐immigrant attitudes. While assessments of welfare eligibility in the United States demonstrably hinge on how public servants perceive different racial groups as deserving, we know less about ethnically motivated discrimination in the European context. This paper argues that Switzerland is a critical case for studying such developments. It combines social construction theory and the deservingness heuristic to analyze how social constructions of Swiss natives and immigrants influence 90 disability benefits insurance procedures. Findings reveal that immigrants are perceived as less deserving and less powerful than Swiss applicants. Thus, Swiss welfare workers do not allocate welfare benefits independently of an applicant's nationality. Our results raise fundamental questions about the equal treatment of welfare applicants in times of rising immigration and anti‐immigrant attitudes. The feed‐forward effects of social constructions imply longer‐term consequences for good administrative practices and society that require scholarly attention.     

‘My Daughter was Genetically Drafted with me’: US‐Vietnam War Veterans,Disabilities and Gender

This article examines war's lasting bodily legacies by focusing on the Vietnam veterans’ Agent Orange movement that arose in the mid‐1970s. This movement pushed for the recognition of the disabling effects of Agent Orange not only on veterans themselves but also on their children. By taking biological responsibility for miscarriages or children's birth defects, veteran‐fathers challenged gender norms that blamed women and required men to hide their grief about both war and children. They also reinforced pitiful representations of children with disabilities in seeking to win benefits for their children. This article studies the representations of and discourses about these children, including how race and gender informed media coverage of the Agent Orange movement. Although women fought on behalf of Vietnam veterans and their families, their roles nevertheless remained circumscribed within conventional gendered expectations and domestic arrangements. The article uses the methods of disabilities, gender, social and cultural history to analyse veterans’ movement records as well as newspapers, Congressional hearings, television news and documentary films. It underscores the centrality of disability as a category of historical analysis and the value of (re)considering the fields of war, gender and reproduction through the analytical lens of disability.     

Disability and Social Inclusion: The Blind Songstress in Early Twentieth-Century Guangzhou

This article examines disability as a contested notion of social inclusion by focusing on the blind songstress (guji) in early twentieth-century Guangzhou (Canton). Through personal memoirs, the print press, and institutional documents, this article reconstructs the social life of guji as their experiences intersected with professional community, workplace, and charity. First, I show that the adoption of blind girls from families into training guilds managed by veteran guji was a chosen kinship strategy for blind women since the late Qing period. Second, the commercial sponsorship of guji following the establishment of the Republic not only expanded working opportunities for blind women but also exposed their vulnerability to male-dominated entertainment spheres. Third, the reformist critique of guji as an inappropriate form of sex-related consumption pushed the nascent military government to collaborate with foreign missionaries in “rescuing” blind girls from their professional households. The experiences of guji thus reveal competing ideas of what qualified a disabled person to become a member of society at the beginning of the twentieth century, as work-based inclusion gave way to charitable inclusion as an outcome of shifting social attitudes toward the employment of women with disabilities.     

For all the Wrong Reasons? Re‐evaluating Truman,Domestic Influences,and the Palestine Question

This essay is a re‐evaluation of President Harry Truman's foreign policy in Palestine and whether his decision‐making was influenced by domestic issues, events and attitudes. The article both weighs in on the current debate of whether Truman was susceptible to electoral influences and the Jewish vote, and argues that Truman never knowingly placed American interests in jeopardy by going against the recommendations of his State Department. Rather, the advice of his closest aids convinced him that a pro‐Zionist policy would not detriment American interests in the Middle East. Thus, Truman could then seek to gain political and electoral advantages from a policy that he believed was already in America's best interest. In addition, I will argue that American anti‐Semitism and a revival of nativist attitudes in America resulted in an environment in which America would not accept its share of the displaced persons. As a result, Truman advocated a policy of refugee Zionism with regards to the Palestine Question, which ultimately undermined the British, who were too weak to uphold the Palestine Mandate following the war. Thus, the influence of American domestic issues took many forms and was one integral factor in the eventual outcome of the Palestine Question.     

Learning in Authentic Contexts: Projects Integrating Spatial Technologies and Fieldwork

In recent years, professional practice has been an issue of concern in higher education. The purpose of this study is to design students' projects to facilitate collaborative learning in authentic contexts. Ten students majoring in Management Information Systems conducted fieldwork with spatial technologies to collect data and provided information works for communities. Activity theory was used to analyze the activity system of the project. The results showed that the project had positive effects on students' attitudes toward practical knowledge and social communication. In the end, the author suggests the benefits and problems related to promoting learning through integration with community practices.     

New approaches to the study of tourist experiences in time and space

Nowadays, a growing number of researchers are investigating subjective attitudes of people toward their environment with ever-increasing spatial and temporal resolutions. It seems that researchers' interest in daily experiences is not merely a passing research fad, but rather that individuals in current societies find more interest in their own momentary experiences. They talk about their affective states, they spend considerable portions of their income on intangible experiences, and they instantly share personal ‘moments’ through various online social media platforms. These trends are even more apparent in the tourism and leisure industries which aim to generate positive experiences among individuals. This research note points out new directions in the exploration of experiences during tourism and leisure activities. It discusses a new relevant concept, subjective momentary experiences on one hand and presents novel methodological opportunities on the other. In order to portray these new trends, a case study that describes the episodic experiences of festival attendants in a high tempo-spatial resolution is presented.     

The Firm and Shaky Ground of Education for Sustainable Development

This paper employs academic and parable forms to evaluate critically the strengths and weaknesses, potentials and lacunae of education for sustainable development (ESD) and other sustainability-related educations. The meteoric rise to prominence of ESD is first briefly reviewed, as is the firm ground it now stands upon as an international and national educational priority. The remainder of the paper explores the shaky ground of ESD: the field's reliance on a goal, sustainable development, which, in its by-and-large continued embrace of the growth principle, is a myopic response to the Earth condition; the field's embrace of an instrumentalist conception of nature when such a conception itself feeds unsustainability; the overly skills/training orientation of ESD and its stunted engagement with a range of key aspects of the human-nature relationship; the failure of ESD to realize its original breadth and promise in its marginalization of the voice of peace, social justice, anti-discriminatory, indigenous and futures educators as well as that of sustainability educators in the South; its adoption of an anachronistic ‘steady state’ conception of nature. Finally, it is suggested that sustainability-related education would be enriched and enlivened by fomenting a dynamic complementarity between notions of transience and sustainability     

Image is everything: educator awareness of perceived barriers for students with physical disabilities in geoscience degree programs

ABSTRACT

This exploratory pilot study builds on the image issues associated with geoscience degrees (namely physical geography and geology) and the potential obstacles this creates for prospective applicants with physical disabilities; departmental faculty may not be aware of the exclusive image projected that is thought to attract more students. While the industry has moved from field-based data collection to more office-based observation and interpretation of those data, universities still heavily rely on “adventurous geoscience” in their marketing, depicting students tackling challenging environments. The context of perception issues within the geoscience discipline is illustrated through selected program promotional materials, and student registration data. These issues were used for the basis of our study survey, sent out to higher education geoscience educators, which asked questions reading fieldwork and accessibility of the curriculum. These surveys were followed up with semi-structured interviews, investigating educator awareness of the perceived importance of fieldwork within the curriculum. The awareness of accessibility issues were connected with opportunities to lower perceived barriers sufficiently to encourage students with disabilities to apply for geoscience degrees. Outcomes of this exploratory investigation are hoped to provide the springboard for further conversations amongst the geoscience community.     

Een‐Gonyama Gonyama!: Zulu Origins of the Boy Scout Movement and the Africanisation of Imperial Britain

British imperialists in the late 19th century denigrated non‐western cultures in rationalising the partition of Africa, but they also had to assimilate African values and traditions to make the imperial system work. The partisans of empire also romanticised non‐western cultures to convince the British public to support the imperial enterprise. In doing so, they introduced significant African and Asian elements into British popular culture, thereby refuting the assumption that the empire had little influence on the historical development of metropolitan Britain. Robert Baden‐Powell conceived of the Boy Scout movement as a cure for the social instability and potential military weakness of Edwardian Britain. Influenced profoundly by his service as a colonial military officer, Africa loomed large in Baden‐Powell's imagination. He was particularly taken with the Zulu. King Cetshwayo's crushing defeat of the British army at Isandhlawana in 1879 fixed their reputation as a ‘martial tribe’ in the imagination of the British public. Baden‐Powell romanticised the Zulus' discipline, and courage, and adapted many of their cultural institutions to scouting. Baden‐Powell's appropriation and reinterpretation of African culture illustrates the influence of subject peoples of the empire on metropolitan British politics and society. Scouting's romanticised trappings of African culture captured the imagination of tens of thousands of Edwardian boys and helped make Baden‐Powell's organisation the premier uniformed youth movement in Britain. Although confident that they were superior to their African subjects, British politicians, educators, and social reformers agreed with Baden‐Powell that ‘tribal’ Africans preserved many of the manly virtues that had been wiped by the industrial age.