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Dehumanization in the Global Migration Crisis
No full textWhat does it mean to fail to recognise people's humanity? This book analyses dehumanization in the global migration crisis to answer this complex question. Drawing from interviews with refugees and asylum seekers, Dehumanization in the Global Migration Crisis presents a philosophical, yet empirically grounded account of what dehumanization entails. While dehumanization is commonly used as a key concept in scholarship, popular media, and public debate to call attention to remediable harms faced by the forcibly displaced, its precise meaning is far from clear. A wide variety of practices is called dehumanizing, ranging from international policies that confine people under undignified circumstances within refugee camps to using (forced) migrants as bargaining chips in political negotiations. Yet,(how) do these practices exactly deny the humanity of the persons involved? What sense of humanity is at stake in the adversities that refugees, asylum seekers, and unwanted migrants face? Through a detailed examination of victims' descriptions of their lived experiences with dehumanization, animalization, objectification, and brutalization, De Ruiter finds that dehumanisation is best understood as a distinct form of moral exclusion that is characterised by blindness to the significance of their human subjectivity. The book provides a critical discourse analysis of the usage of the term dehumanization in reporting on the global migration crisis, and sets out what should be done to counteract the dehumanization of refugees, asylum seekers, and unwanted migrants
How to provide existential and spiritual support to people with mild to moderate dementia and their loved ones.:A pilot study.
No full textBackgroundPeople with mild to moderate dementia and their loved ones may experience strong existential and spiritual challenges due to the disease. People with dementia could therefore benefit greatly from ongoing conversational support. Within the literature and in supportive practice, there are very few tools that help professionals provide this type of support. Professionals may therefore be unaware of, or uncertain of, how support can be given.ObjectiveTo develop and test support approaches that may enable professionals to better conduct conversations with attention for existential and spiritual issues.MethodsParticipatory action research was conducted with dementia care professionals who spoke to 62 clients and 36 loved ones. Research consisted of two cycles of analyzing support, formulating strategies to try, testing and reflecting on the success of these actions and formulating new ones. The Diamond model for existential and spiritual issues regarding mild to moderate dementia, developed in previous research, was used as a framework.ResultsFive types of approaches, corresponding to the five fundamental polarities within the basic framework, were found to be helpful in alleviating tensions and bolstering strengths. For issues of self-confidence and -worth, an approach of exploring the felt self was developed; for issues of capacity and adaptability, an exploring daily routines approach; for issues of security and loss, an exploring a trinity of needs approach; for issues of burden and enrichment, an exploring memory approach; and for issues of faith and meaning, an exploring ones’ predicament approach. When exploring these approaches, participants found sets and sequencing of questions and prompts to be helpful and transformative.ConclusionProfessionals can use the Diamond framework to provide conversational support to alleviate tension, enhance meaning and bolster strength for clients and loved ones
Documenten, loketten en rookgordijnen: Strategieën voor het (niet-)tegengaan van grensoverschrijdend gedrag
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The role of group formation and interpersonal connections in support:A qualitative analysis of social structures in emergency services organizations and hospital-based emergency settings
No full textProfessionals in emergency services organizations (firefighters, paramedics, police, military) and professionals in hospital-based emergency settings (emergency rooms, operating rooms, intensive care units) are frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events. They are at higher risk for the development of trauma-related mental health problems than the general population. To maintain mental health, it is essential for individuals to be embedded in a social environment with supportive relationships. We employed ethnographical research that explored the social environment of seven high-risk professional groups in the Netherlands through observational fieldwork, interviews, and document analysis. We analyzed the data using Chie Nakane’s social anthropological model of Group formations and interpersonal connections as a heuristic lens. Findings indicate that in the social environments of these various high-risk occupational groups, two different social structural tendencies can be distinguished: vertical versus horizontal group formation and interpersonal connections. In our discussion, we suggest how these different social structures in which the professional is embedded might explain inconsistent results in current studies, and how knowledge of these different social structures might be relevant for support and prevention of trauma-related mental health problems
Factors associated with posttraumatic stress severity and treatment response in a retrospective, naturalistic sample of homicidally bereaved children and young people
No full textBackground: Research on the mental health of homicidally bereaved children and young people is scarce. Despite the importance of timely referral of those at risk of developing severe mental health problems, few convincing risk factors have been identified. The effectiveness of current treatment models is unclear.Objective: This study examined factors associated with posttraumatic stress (PTS)symptom severity and treatment response in a naturalistic sample of homicidally bereaved children and young people who received traumatic grief-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TGF-CBT); and assessed whether PTS-symptoms decreased between the start and termination of treatment.Method: Data was used from 222 children and young people aged between 8 and 25, who had completed therapy by July 2017, and for whom either start – or end scores on PTS-symptoms, or both, were available. PTS-symptoms were measured with the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale-8 (CRIES-8). We explored associations of personal and loss-related variables with baseline symptom levels and symptom reduction during treatment, using latent growth modelling.Results: PTS-symptoms decreased significantly from pre- to posttreatment and with a large effect size. Higher age was associated with early treatment discontinuation. Female sex was associated with higher baseline scores, and having lost a parent or sibling with lower baseline scores. Higher baseline scores were associated with larger symptom reduction during treatment.Conclusions: TGF-CBT shows promise in reducing PTS-symptoms following homicidal bereavement, regardless of the individual differences in personal or loss-related characteristics included in this study. However, it is important to recognize the uniqueness of children and young people confronted with homicidal loss, and to tailor treatment to their individual needs and developmental stage. More research on risk and protective factors for adverse mental health outcomes and response to treatment in children and young people bereaved by homicide is urgently needed
