Kenyan informal settlements have been thoroughly depicted by previous researchers as biophysical, epidemiological, and economic risk environments in which food insecurity is recognised as one of the most persistent everyday challenges. Although unemployment and illness are key contributors to the inability to purchase sufficient food, the reasons why households experience food insecurity are more complicated and not fully understood. Part of the problem is that few previous studies have privileged socio-political contributions (e.g. gender-based power inequalities and the impacts of social networks) to household food security risk. Whilst food security researchers commonly utilise the concept of vulnerability to address household-scale risk, this concept is rarely applied to interpersonal dynamics within households. Using data gathered through participant observation, questionnaires, and 109 in-depth interviews with 67 participants, this thesis provides an ethnographic account of household food insecurity in an informal settlement which addresses three primary questions: (1) In what ways might interpersonal relationships within households contribute social and political obstacles to achieving food security? For instance, how and why might risk for food insecurity emerge from experiences of interpersonal conflict? (2) What role do extra-household social networks play in experiences of food security within households? (3) How useful is the concept of vulnerability for addressing experiences of risk which are negotiated between household members? In the informal settlement of 'Bangladesh', Mombasa, Kenya, conflict within domestic, especially conjugal, relationships represents a potential source of risk to food security for individual members or entire households. Contributing to this conflict are gender inequality, power differentials, the failure to meet marital expectations, and how people respond when presente with risk. Resulting experiences of food insecurity are shown to contribute to further conflict in the household, thereby creating a cycle of conflict and food insecurity. Those who find that they have insufficient food at home may receive assistance (food or money) from members of their social networks. However, these relationships may also contribute to experiences of conflict, and therefore insecurity, within households. Applying concepts of vulnerabilty to account for experiences of risk and their consequences (food insecurity) requires differentiating between what represents a hazard, a response, and an outcome. Within multi-person households, it is exceedingly difficult to divide lived experiences involving interpersonal conflict among these three categories. Thus, I argue that vulnerability is less useful for research concerning intra-household dynamics than it is for studies which assume households to be undifferentiated units.

This thesis aims to investigate the secondary transfer effect of contact, a phenomenon whereby contact with one outgroup leads to improved attitudes towards other, non-contacted outgroups. While evidence mounts for the existence of secondary transfer effects, its underlying mediation processes remain poorly conceptualised and thus, poorly understood. Thus, in this thesis, I aimed to clarify the conditions under and the processes by which the secondary transfer effect works. Chapter 1 introduces intergroup contact theory and traces its development from the contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) to the uncovering of the secondary transfer effect. Based on theory from all aspects of intergroup contact research, Chapter 1 proposes a theoretically reformulated approach to understanding the deprovincialization hypothesis by way of (1) diversity beliefs, (2) the development of a multicultural outlook on intergroup relations, and (3) a more nuanced understanding of when ingroup identity is likely to relate ethnocentrically to outgroup attitudes. Point three more specifically looks at the role of social dominance orientation as a moderator of the relationship between ingroup identification and outgroup attitude. Chapter 1 also provides an extension to the attitude generalization hypothesis by considering the role that similarity gradients play. Chapter 2 discusses methodological considerations important to the analysis strategy used throughout the thesis. Six empirical investigations across three contexts—England (Studies 1 and 2), Northern Ireland (Studies 3 and 4) and South Africa (Studies 5 and 6) set out to test the secondary transfer effect and the hypotheses offered in Chapter 1. Across three cross-sectional studies (Studies 1, 2, 3, and 4), a three-wave longitudinal study (Study 5) and an experimental study (Study 6), I was able to show the following: (a) that attitude generalization is a robust mediator of the secondary transfer effect (Studies 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5); (b) similarity gradients qualify the attitude generalization process such that attitudes generalize more strongly between outgroups that are perceived to be similar (Studies 3, 4, and 5); (c) that diversity beliefs (Study 2) and multiculturalism (Study 4), as alternative interpretations of the deprovincialization effect, mediate the secondary transfer effect; (d) social dominance orientation moderates the relationship between ingroup identification and outgroup attitude (Study 3); (e) that the deprovincialization and attitude generalization hypotheses are not independent, but rather interrelated processes of the secondary transfer effect (Studies 2, 3, and 4); (f) that experimentally manipulated forms of extended contact can lead to the secondary transfer effect because group categories and membership are made salient during the extended contact experience (Study 6); and (g) that it is contact that leads to wider attitude generalization rather than less prejudiced people seeking contact from a wider pool of social groups (Study 5). Furthermore, owing to their three-wave longitudinal (Study 5) and experimental (Study 6) designs, these two studies provide the most convincing evidence of the causal nature—from contact to reduced prejudice—of the secondary transfer effect to date. Taken together, these six studies provide a wealth of critical support for the secondary transfer effect as well as for the reformulated deprovincialization and the extended attitude generalization hypotheses.

Abstract- We and They in the perspective of society and law This work reflects the attitude and perception of a Czech majority towards two different minorities i.e. Vietnamese and Roma. The main goal of this thesis is to describe the cultural aspects and specific values of these two minorities, to present an overview of factors that influence the way the majority and minority interact and live together. These factors are based either on legislation or on social psychological or sociological phenomena of these interactions. This work also tries to offer an answer to the questions regarding the causes of differences between these two minorities in the living together with the majority and if it is similar to the situation somewhere else in the world. Attention is also given to the role of law in facing these issues and solving the problems that arise for these minorities and if it is desirable and realistic to regulate the attitudes of minorities and majority towards each other. The main conclusion is that Roma and Vietnamese differ from each other in many aspects and the factors influencing their relations with the majority are very complex. There exist huge differences in perception and attitudes towards these two minorities in Czech Republic. Roma and Vietnamese have a different history, differ by...

Thesis (D.Phil.)--University of Oxford, 2009. / Supervisor: Professor Andrew Hurrell. Bibliography: p. 339-396.

Environmental stewardship schemes are an important driver of biodiversity and habitat improvement throughout England, with the provision of funding to land managers to deliver effective land management that will benefit wildlife, habitats, natural resources and the population. Participation in agri-environment schemes is voluntary and much is done to encourage scheme participation. Dartmoor is a designated landscape, a National Park, and a Special Area of Conservation and encompasses areas of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Dartmoor is a farmed landscape, with the area divided into 92 common land units, over which a diversity of common rights are exercised. At present, the majority of Dartmoor Commons are managed by Environmental agreements, protecting the habitat and the SSSI’s. There is a demand for Dartmoor to be a recreational area, an environmental jewel, and a farmed landscape. Protection of this landscape requires the amalgamation of various organisations and individuals. Research indicates the benefits of group agri-environment schemes, of a landscape-scale approach to the improvement of habitats and the provision of wildlife corridors, crossing the boundaries of land ownership. vi The research considers the factors associated with group agri-environment schemes, where it is not necessarily like-minded individuals who come together because of a common cause and a shared vision. The issue surrounding common rights results in persons coming together because they have common rights and not necessarily a common view. A combination of interview responses and questionnaire data has been pulled together to ascertain the factors affecting agri-environment scheme participation on Dartmoor. The data reflects on the impacts of group agri-environment schemes on the commons of Dartmoor. The question remains as to the voluntary nature of group agri-environment schemes on Dartmoor. Hardin (1968) recognised the impact of one commoner’s decision had on another. Dartmoor agri-environment schemes require participation from the majority of commoners; therefore an individual’s action has a consequence. This research aims to investigate the impacts of agri-environment schemes on the commons of Dartmoor.

This thesis is an interdisciplinary project in experimental social psychology, psychopharmacology, neuroscience, and neuroethics. The role of emotion in higher order psychological processes – social and moral judgments – was investigated. Specifically the role of noradrenergic mediated emotional arousal was researched. Behavioural studies demonstrated that acute beta adrenergic blockade with propranolol led to a reduction in negative implicit racial associations and also a modification of moral decision making. These findings suggest that basic affective processes might be causally relevant for higher order evaluations. However, enhancement with the noradrenergic potentiating agent reboxetine did not show effects opposite to those of propranolol on racial attitudes or moral judgments, which might indicate that emotional arousal, specific to beta-adrenoceptors might be involved in the effects of propranolol. Further a pharmacological fMRI study demonstrated that the activation pattern in brain regions commonly associated with intergroup bias -- such as the amygdala, insula, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and fusiform gyrus -- was affected by propranolol, and that the effect in the amygdala was correlated with implicit racial bias. Taken together the research suggests that automatic emotional arousal plays a role in higher order psychological processes, such as moral and social judgments, which aids the understanding of the underlying neurobiology of such processes. Finally, the ethical implications – such as the prospect of pharmacological moral enhancement – are discussed. The findings also suggest that the moral and social effects of already widely used psychotropic medications should be subject to further empirical and ethical investigation.

Orientador: Lucia da Costa Ferreira / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T05:05:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Campos_SimoneVieirade_D.pdf: 11587065 bytes, checksum: 687aa83fcd27cb0b3f8a2a69d88acf67 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: O estabelecimento de áreas ambientalmente restritivas figura como um dos principais instrumentos de conservação ambiental do país. Partindo do fato de que a maioria das áreas de proteção integral no Brasil é habitada, buscamos desvendar os processos de mudança social em curso nessas áreas partindo do estudo de uma área de proteção integral específica: O Parque Nacional do Jaú, na Amazônia brasileira. O objetivo central desta pesquisa é compreender os modos de ação dos moradores deste parque frente à situação de anomia legal, de suspensão de direitos provocados pela implantação de uma área de proteção integral em seu local de moradia. Algumas das perguntas centrais que direcionaram nosso trabalho foram: de que modo os moradores são sujeitos ativos no direcionamento do rumo das transformações sociais no parque? Será que as ações dos moradores frente às restrições de uso e acesso a recursos a que foram submetidos caminham num único sentido possível? De que modo a heterogeneidade desses sujeitos em relação aos seus objetivos e em relação aos seus modos de agir influencia e/ou constitui a direção das mudanças sociais no parque? Verificamos que os modos de ação dos moradores frente à essa situação são bastante heterogêneos. Algumas das principais estratégias de ação observadas foram: estabelecimento de acordos e parcerias institucionais (acordo de pesca) e informais {parceria com empresários de pesca esportiva), mudança nas estratégias de sobrevivência, na forma de utilização dos recursos, na relação com demais sujeitos sociais participantes dessa arena negociatória; êxodo e posterior mobilização de ex-moradores no município vizinho de Novo Airão / Abstract: The establishment of restrictive environmental areas figures as one of the main instruments of environmental conservation in the country. Beginning with the fact that the majority of integrally protected areas in Brazil is inhabited, we seek to reveal the processes of social change in course in these areas, based on the study of a specific integrally protected area: the Jaú National Park, in the Brazilian Amazon. The central objective of this research is the comprehension of the inhabitants' modes of action in the park while facing a situation of legal Anomia, of suspension of rights provoked by the implantation of an area of integral protection where they live. Some of the central questions that gave direction to our work were: in what way are the inhabitants active subjects in deciding the course of the social transformations in the park? Subjected to use and access restrictions in the park, are the inhabitants' actions leading to a unique possible solution? In relation to their objectives and to their manners of action, how does the heterogeneity of these subjects influence and/or determine the direction of the social changes in the park? We verified that, in the face of this situation, the inhabitants' modes of action are quite heterogeneous. Some of the main strategies of action observed were: establishment of agreements and institutional partnerships (fishing agreements) and informal partnerships (partnership with sportive fishing entrepreneurs), changes in survival strategies in the form of resource utilization, in relationship with other social subjects participating in this arena of negotiation, exodus and posterior mobilization of ex-inhabitants in the neighboring town of Novo Airão / Doutorado / Doutor em Ciências Sociais

It is important to consider the effects of past conflicts on the current perceptions of the people of Cyprus and of the future generations. This thesis contends that the ongoing division of Cyprus along with the many unresolved issues regarding past conflicts have had a profound effect on how the people of Cyprus perceive new information in regard to their future. The inquiry will explore the historical background of Cyprus and the affects of nationalism. The need for enemies, large group identity, divided societies and the need for dialogue will also be examined in relation to perception and new information. In light of the interviews and the lived experiences in Cyprus questions arise in regard to how the Cypriots will move forward to a solution that is agreeable to both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. With each person's perception being influenced by the past conflicts, pain and suffering how will they move forward? How has protracted conflict and nationalism influenced the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot perceptions to new information including a possible solution in Cyprus?

Social conflict, as opposed to armed conflict, has received less attention in the field of quantitative research. This paper investigates the structural causes of political violence in 35 African states using data from the Social Conflict in Africa dataset and the Beck and Katz panel corrected standard errors time series regression model. Theoretically, a closed political opportunity structure, combined with a weak state unable to provide public goods, should together produce high levels of social conflict. The independent variables attempt to operationalize these concepts from four different angles. In this analysis Access to Education and Infrastructure (AEI), Ethno Linguistic Fractionalization (ELF), Freedom in the World Political Rights (FIW), and National Material Capabilities (NMC) were all significant predictors of social conflict. This study found that as the level of ethnic fractionalization and material capabilities within states rose, the frequency of social conflict events also increased. However, as access to infrastructure and political rights declined, the number of social conflict events increased. Wald chi-square and R-square values suggest that the model is complete and has substantial explanatory power.