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“Leshilo o leitia mahlo, wale itia marago ole tsoshitse/ goba wale phazamisha”: Victim-centered solutions for social grant fraud in rural Limpopo, South Africa
No full textIn South Africa, social grants preserve recipients’ human dignity, enhance their quality of life and unlock their full potential. Social grants support approximately 46% of the South African population and they have a substantial impact on the lives of 27.8 million recipients. The fact that Limpopo is the province with the second-highest number of households receiving at least one type of grant motivated this study. A qualitative inquiry was conducted, and a phenomenological research design was adopted to explore social grant fraud in Kgobokwane village in Limpopo through a criminological theoretical lens. Eight participants who had experienced South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) fraud were interviewed. The findings laid the groundwork for recommendations and shed light on the risk factors behind victimization, the community's role, the significance of culture and language, and the underreporting of crimes. This paper seeks to help recipients of social grants and underprivileged communities make well-informed decisions to combat social grant fraud. Its recommendations aim to empower victims and promote education and awareness to minimize victimization
Exposure Experiences of Area Residents Near a Chronic Environmental Contamination Site
No full textBackground: The study aims to analyze and interpret the exposure experiences of local residents living within 5 miles of the Fernald Feed Materials Production Center, a former uranium processing site. The goal is to enhance public health efforts addressing psychological stress resulting from environmental exposure.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted from July 1998 to February 2001 as part of the Fernald Living History Project. The study focuses on 4 key phenomenological events: air releases of uranium by-products, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency public notifications of water contamination, a citizens' class action lawsuit against the US Department of Energy and National Lead of Ohio, Inc, and extensive media coverage. Researchers used descriptive inductive coding to analyze data from these events, involving 34 participants.
Results: The study identified 5 central themes in the residents' exposure experiences: disruptions to life, loss of trust, seeking answers, interpreting ambiguous threats, and adaptive responses. Participants recounted how these events affected their lives and triggered emotional responses.
Conclusion: This research provides valuable insights into the experiences of individuals living near environmentally contaminated sites and offers guidance for future prevention and mitigation strategies
Designing is Imagining: What Futures and Identities Do Activists With Developmental Disabilities Imagine When Designing For Learners With Developmental Disabilities?
No full textAs learners engage in learning environments, they constantly co-develop ideas about who they are (their identities), and who they can become (their futures). Designers of learning activities make assumptions about what learner identities and imagined futures learners will ultimately take up. Learning activity designers with developmental disabilities who identify as activists may make assumptions about learners with developmental disabilities that other designers would not. Working from a critical disability praxis orientation, the research was led by a person with a developmental disability. This study utilized a grounded theory approach to discourse analysis to analyze the design talk between two adult activists with developmental disabilities while they engaged in a co-design process to create a learning activity intended for learners with developmental disabilities who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). The activity was a game that explores inductive logic. Discourse was analyzed to understand what imagined futures and learner identities these activists assumed learners with developmental disabilities might take up. These activists imagined learners with developmental disabilities who use AAC as being inquisitive, interdependent, and ableism literate, and capable of achieving futures that were validating, inquisitive, accessible, and ableism-literate. These futures and identities suggest that future participatory design research with adults and youth with developmental disabilities might yield innovative curriculum designs
Southeastern Ohio Hemlock Stands Prior to Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Infestation: Baseline Conditions from 2 Surveys a Decade Apart
No full textThe Hocking Hills of southeastern Ohio are situated at the western range boundary of eastern hemlock, where this foundation species occurs in isolated pockets in ravines and on steep slopes. The goal of this study is to characterize these hemlock stands prior to infestation by hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), which recently entered the state and is likely to cause high mortality if untreated. Individuals in 30 plots established from 2008 to 2011 were resurveyed in 2020, allowing determination of growth rates and mortality rates. Each plot was paired with an upslope transect in the resurvey to record non-hemlock species likely to seed in from above. Tree species diversity in the plots is low (Shannon H’ < 1), as eastern hemlock remained the dominant species in all plots; storm damage and competitive thinning appeared to account for most mortality across all species. Hemlock growth rates were comparable to deciduous species. Common co-occurring species are statistically associated with particular topographic and soil properties on the plots. Following future hemlock mortality, tulip-poplar, chestnut oak, white oak, sweet birch, and red maple may be among the first species to dominate the canopy; Japanese stiltgrass currently appears to be the invasive species of greatest concern. An understanding of pre-HWA composition, structure, and forest dynamics can inform restoration efforts, if in the future long-term, sustainable HWA control or host-tree resistance is developed; this understanding can also apprise management and conservation efforts in the unique hemlock stands of southeast Ohio.
Supplemental material: https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/10536
Ensuring Success for Grieving Nursing Students through Mentorship and Community
No full textBackground: Approximately 22-30% of undergraduate college students have experienced the loss of a loved one within the last year, and almost 50% within the last two years. A College of Nursing located in the Southeastern United States saw an increase in students experiencing an immediate family member loss. The demanding curricula and clinical experiences encountered by these students further heighten grief symptoms and social isolation.
Aim: This study aimed to develop a tailored program to provide resources and a support system to nursing students who have experienced loss and grief.
Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental design with two data collection points. Relationships, self-esteem, purpose, and optimism relating to grief symptoms were assessed pre-and-post program using the Flourishing Scale. Due to the limited sample size, the Mann-Whitney U nonparametric test was used to assess differences in Flourishing scores.
Results: The results indicated no significant differences between the pre-and-post Flourishing Scale scores. However, participant feedback towards the support group was positive.
Conclusion: Grief groups tailored to nursing students provide an important community of support that maintains positive student health and well-being
