The role of religion in conflict and peacebuilding has mostly been depicted in binary terms: either as a source of violence or of reconciliation. The Government of Myanmar facing serious challenges to resolve between the conflicting demands and aspirations of the Rakhine Buddhist and the Muslim communities. The Government of Myanmar trying to show Rohingya community as a whole as violent extremists – ignoring the historical fact that the Rohingya themselves are one of the most-oppressed minority group in the world. The problems faced by Rohingya are implanted in decades of authoritarian rule, violence, and mistrust among different religious groups. Pre-empting deep-seated violence could be eliminated by showing a credible process that can demonstrate to the Buddhist and Muslim communities that political avenues exist and multi-religious dialogue could facilitate peaceful co-existence. This study will employ critical discourse analysis and doctrinal analysis on the existing literature, news reports and reports of the local bodies and international organizations followed by a case study to analyze how religion played a role in unrest and violence in Rakhine State in Myanmar and how multifaith dialogue and cooperation could contribute towards reconciliation process for peaceful coexistence of Rohingya and other religious and ethnic groups. The case study is to be conducted using semi-structured interviews among persons fleeing from violence and took shelter in Bangladesh and also participants residing in conflict zone including individuals from majority and minority religious and ethnic groups and other relevant stakeholders. While identifying potential solutions or way outs for the Rakhine State, this study will also show how religion played either positive or negative role and lessons need to be learned for long-term peacebuilding.

RULCOVÁ, Simona. The integration of the Slovak ethnic minority in Czech society. Praha: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2016. 113 pp. Master Degree Thesis. The Slovak minority is considered to be the most integrated minority in the Czech Republic. The work offers an analysis of the cultural diversity, focusing on the Slovak minority and the transformation of its identity. It summarizes examples of the social integration of Slovaks in the Czech Republic and assesses its role in a real life. The Slovak question in the Czech environment is also presented in a historical perspective, but the main emphasis is put on the analysis of current situation. The work is complemented by own filed research that it maps the real situatiton of transformations of identity and the social integration of the representatives of the Slovak minority, including the functionality of the institution which deals with the integration of the Slovak minority. Keywords: identity, Slovak ethnic minority, integration, Czech Republic, migration.

The attainment of ethnic minority students in their host countries has been occupying a significant part of the international literature for many years. However, results suggest that no generalisations can be made on whether an ethnic minority group underachieves in a particular country and the reasons behind their attainment levels, unless that specific group has been investigated in the country in question. Cyprus joined the EU in 2004 and since then the demographic composition in the island changed dramatically; a change reflected in schools. The literature on ethnic minority group attainment in secondary schools in Cyprus is virtually non-existent and, as such, in this PhD programme the aim was to examine the attainment of ethnic minorities compared to native students and the reasons behind the observed patterns. In order to answer the research questions a series of studies were carried out. Initially, two quantitative studies were conducted. These studies used trimester grades as a proxy of attainment and Rasch analysis to turn these ordinal student grades into a linear scale. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses were then run to check for trends and significant associations. Two qualitative studies then followed. Firstly, a focus group study was conducted utilising the help of six young female teachers, all teaching classics to create a homogeneous group. Then followed an interview study utilising semi-structured interviews on sixteen teachers. For both studies a thematic analysis was undertaken on the transcribed discussions. Another quantitative study then followed which employed an enhanced methodology to the first two studies and richer data. The final study was a mixed methods study and concentrated on school absences. Results demonstrate the reality in lower secondary schools in Cyprus for the first time. The minority group Georgians, the first time that this group is met in the literature, and a combination of other smaller groups put together in a group called ‘Others’, are shown to achieve significantly lower than natives. Ethnic background, gender, generation status, absences, the socio-economic status of the family and the character of the local educational system were shown to be related to student attainment. The widely held belief that ethnic minority students do even worse in those subjects that are more language-dependent is disproven; rather it is the content of the subject that is felt to be more influential on attainment. Also, the recently emerging consensus that unexcused absences are more strongly associated with attainment than excused absences is not upheld in this study; a more detailed classification of unexcused absences might be responsible for this. Finally, it is interesting to note the differential influence of different absence variables on different school subjects. Findings highlight the need for change and improvement in the educational practice in Cyprus and add to both the local and international literature. The specific factors identified can form the basis on which to base suggestions for improvements and further research.

L’élargissement de l’Union Européenne à vingt-sept états membres, les flux commerciaux constants et la migration des peuples ont engendré une forte diversité ethnique et culturelle au sein de cet espace géographique. La diversité ethnoculturelle croissante se répercute sur les différents systèmes de santé qui sont confrontés au défi de s’adapter à la diversité des prestataires de services médicaux et de leur personnel, ainsi qu’à la diversité des usagers des services médicaux. Nos travaux ont comme point de départ le multiculturalisme apparu en Irlande dans les années 1990 et le processus suivi pour mettre en place une stratégie d’ensemble, ou « Whole Organisation Approach » (WOA), qui sert de cadre aux hôpitaux afin de répondre au mieux à la diversité de leur personnel et à la diversité ethnoculturelle de leurs usagers. Le système de santé en République d’Irlande est intéressant, car il a tenté de planifier et de mettre en œuvre des services de soins et de soutiens qui tiennent compte des besoins spécifiques des minorités ethniques présentes dans un état nouvellement multiculturel. Nos travaux analysent l’étendue de la mise en œuvre de la WOA pour la gestion de la diversité ethnoculturelle dans six hôpitaux en Irlande grâce à la recherche qualitative et identifient les facteurs qui favorisent et freinent la bonne mise en œuvre des trois volets de la stratégie adoptée par l’Irlande qui sont la déclinaison organisationnelle des valeurs de l’organisation, l’environnement de travail et les éléments de service nécessaires à la formation interculturelle. / Europe in the 21st century is a continent of cultural and ethnic diversity. Recent enlargement of the European Union to 27 states, constant flows of free trade and the migration of people have resulted in an increasingly diverse Europe. National health systems face the challenge of accommodating the cultural diversity of healthcare providers and service users. The Irish health system is an example of a national health system which has attempted to implement adequate planning and delivery of care and support services, encompassing the needs of minority ethnic communities (MECs) in a new and rapidly changing multicultural Ireland.This research focuses on the challenges of recent multiculturalism in Ireland and describes the Irish health sector’s process in the construction of the Whole Organisation Approach (WOA) as the framework for Irish hospitals to respond to the management of diversity and the provision of culturally sensitive healthcare service delivery to members of MECs.The aim of the research is to investigate how six hospitals have implemented the Whole Organisation Approach as recommended in the Irish Health Services Executive’s National Intercultural Health Strategy 2007-2012. Research findings indicate to what extent the Irish strategy has been implemented in each hospital and outline factors that promote and impede successful implementation at a hospital level and analyses how each of the three strands, i.e. organisational ethos, workplace environment and service elements necessary to support intercultural training, of the WOA have been implemented across the 6 hospitals.

The purpose of this content analysis was to analyze the past 25 years of research in two major social work journals, Social Work and Research on Social Work Practice, to provide a status update on the amount of ethnic-focused research being published within the discipline. This analysis examined trends in ethnic-focused publications, the change across time in percent of focused articles, the top topics studied, per ethnic group, the top funded topics, most and least involved funding agencies, geographical groupings of focused samples, the setting of the samples, measures used, and the percentage of samples based in a clinical versus non-clinical setting. Results showed there has been continued growth and improvement in quality and quantity of minority-focused research in both journals, although there is still room for growth within the discipline towards increased multicultural competence. While the majority of focused research studied African American and Latinos, little attention was given to Asian and Native American populations. Furthermore, while almost twice as many focused articles were funded, compared to non-focused articles, the types of topics being funded are still not as representative of the needs of ethnic minority populations as they could be. While the increase in ethnic focused research over the past 25 years is promising, additional focus within the field is warranted. Suggestions are given to improve the quality and quantity of ethnic-focused research over time.

The present phenomenological study explores the experiences of ethnic minority students at John Brown University. The study includes 25 interviews with undergraduate ethnic minority students. The findings from this study show minority students have an overall positive response to their experience at a private, Christian institution. Additionally, participants experienced a variety of challenges which included feeling less than, lacking connection, and feeling isolated. Lastly, the researchers noted what was necessary for minority students to succeed at this university, which included support from faculty, staff, and organizations. The most important finding from the study was that minority students need a sense of belonging to succeed at John Brown University.

As China experiences rapid urbanization, local traditional knowledge (LTK) has been increasingly brought to the public’s attention as a significant feature of cultural identity and inclusiveness. Especially in the ethnic minority areas, it is important to respect LTK so that the cultural identity and social cohesion of ethnic minorities can be sustained in an increasingly urbanized environment. The objective of this research is to explore the incorporation of LTK during the process of urbanizing China’s ethnic minority regions from the perspective of residents. Using Dali City as a case study, this dissertation investigates local Bai people’s perspective on LTK with urbanization in mind. Questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions, and daily field observations are employed to examine how Bai LTK is impacting Dali’s cultural landscape. Based on the questionnaire surveys answered by 80 Bai people, this research finds that Dali has a well-preserved Bai cultural landscape. Complementary to the questionnaire findings, the focus group data and daily field observations provide robust conclusions on how local Bai people perceive the preservation of their culture. Respondents placed a high cultural value on Bai language, traditional architecture, and traditional festivals. Nonetheless, a discrepancy is evident between participants’ preferences regarding the conservation of Bai traditions, which reveals the culture preservation is facing challenges. By demonstrating that there are profound differences in Bai LTK conservation between the urban and rural areas, this study contributes to more realistic descriptions of the impact of urbanization in Dali. Particularly, it captures the cultural processes which transform the built environment and reveals a better strategy to integrate LTK with urban development. The decision-making process for ethnic culture preservation is highly complicated and refers to achieving a benefit equilibrium for every stakeholder using a more participative approach. LTK indicates an intrinsic value to a livable city and is instrumental in an inclusive urbanism. The research findings assert a better understanding of culture preservation from the perspective of Bai people in Dali and shed light on the interplay between LTK and sustainable development in the ethnic minority region.

Health literacy is a social determinant of health and health disparity and low health literacy contributes to poor health outcomes in ethnic minority young adults (EMYAs). There is a gap in the literature regarding the health literacy readiness (HLR) of EMYAs transitioning to adulthood. The overarching research question concerned the perspectives of EMYAs on HLR for the transition to adulthood. A phenomenological study design was used with a theoretical framework that integrated concepts from the socioecological and health belief models. Twelve purposefully selected EMYAs ages 18-22 from a southern U.S. county participated in the study. Data were collected by telephone using semistructured interviews. The interview questions centered on EMYAs' self-assessed HLR for the transition to adulthood, attitudes and beliefs about HLR, barriers to and benefits from HLR, and facilitators of HLR for the transition to adulthood. Recorded data were transcribed and analyzed, spirally coded, and reduced into overarching themes. Three categories emerged: deficient acumen, access problems, and application challenges. Results showed that EMYAs viewed HLR as vital for the transition to adulthood, though 92% reported low HLR. EMYAs reported individual factors; available time and deficient knowledge; and social factors, family support, and deficient school education as influencing their HLR. The study findings revealed poor HLR in EMYAs but identified areas that can be targeted to improve HLR. Results may contribute to positive social change by providing health educators with knowledge they can use to enhance community health engagement strategies and develop culturally sensitive interventions aimed at improving HLR in EMYAs.

Obesity is an increasingly prevalent health issue, especially among children who live in high poverty, low income, and low education areas that lack needed resources and health care to promote quality of life. African American youth have a higher rate of obesity than other populations. The purpose of this project was to address an identified gap in practice by improving health care professionals' ability to provide culturally competent care to African American youth. An educational intervention framed by the Purnell model for cultural competence was developed to address the question, Will cultural competency staff education improve knowledge to prevent and manage childhood obesity among African American youth ages 2 to 19? Health care professionals (n = 10) in 5 community clinics completed the 17-item, 5-point Likert response Cultural Competence Assessment before and after an online education module. The higher the sum of the scores on the items, the higher the self-assessed cultural competence. Using Cohen's d statistic to calculate effect size, a small effect size was found on 1 item, a medium effect size was found on 1 item, and a large effect size was found on 15 items, indicating an increase in self-assessment of cultural competency after the education intervention. The findings demonstrate that education can increase health care professionals' knowledge about how to provide culturally competent management of African American childhood obesity. Practicing culturally competent preventive care in ethnic communities can reduce the gap in practice, which may bring about positive social change in society by decreasing chronic health care comorbidities and disparities in ethnic populations. The project may be of particular interest to nurse providers in primary care and community settings.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地球環境学) / 甲第19349号 / 地環博第142号 / 新制||地環||28(附属図書館) / 32351 / 京都大学大学院地球環境学舎環境マネジメント専攻 / (主査)准教授 小林 広英, 教授 岡﨑 健二, 准教授 深町 加津枝 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Global Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM