Confronting Challenges
“I Just Want Us to Have a Normal Life” : An Exploration of Hope, Aspirational Capital, and Discourse among U.S. Mothers in Poverty
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jill Weigt, Colleen Janey
In this study, we explore the contours of hope among U.S. mothers in poverty who no longer have full access to state-provided welfare benefits. Using qualitative interviews with a panel of mothers over a two-year period (n = 33 and 23), we document that, even as they demonstrate and draw on a great deal of aspirational capital, defined as the capacity to hope despite structural inequalities and often without the means to realize such hopes, the mothers’ conceptualizations of hope are constrained discursively. Our analysis knits together a strengths-based community cultural wealth framework and an institutional ethnography-informed examination of the ways the women work with the discourses available to them to envision their futures. We find that, despite the very challenging material conditions with which they cope, these mothers demonstrate strong aspirational capital, informed by resistant and navigational capital and curtailed by discourses related to gender and neoliberalism. Implications of the analysis include the identification of strengths in a population typically denigrated culturally and politically, the application of the community cultural wealth framework to social class, and a deeper understanding of hope for mothers in poverty and the ways gender and neoliberalism structure their lives.
Correlation between Community Leadership, Volunteerism and Residents’ Well-being: An Empirical Study in Taiwan View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Yuan Shie Hwang
This study explores the correlation between community leadership, volunteerism and residents' well-being, and provides relevant suggestions to promote residents' well-being. This study was conducted via quantitative method, and main measurement tools include: (1) Leadership scale, including management capacity (5 items) and problem-solving capacity (6 items); (2) Volunteerism scale (4 items); and Residents’ well-being scale, including psychological well-being (12 items), safety well-being (5 items), and relational well-being (8 items). The data for this study come from a probability survey of community residents over the age of 20 in Taiwan. 40 communities in 8 counties and cities were randomly selected as the research site, and 20 residents from each community were randomly selected to participate in the survey through the cluster sampling method. The data were collected using a self-administered group survey approach, supplemented by face-to-face interviews for individuals unable to participate in the group format. A total of 795 valid questionnaires were completed. The main research findings include: (1) Community leadership, volunteerism and residents’ well-being are highly positively correlated; (2) Leaders’ management and problem-solving capacities have a significant impact on volunteerism; and (3) Community volunteerism have a significant impact on the well-being of residents. The main suggestions are as follows: (1) Cultivate the leadership of community leaders to enhance residents’ volunteerism; (2) Strengthen management and problem-solving capacities of community leaders to promote the residents’ well-being; (3) Stimulate community volunteer action to promote a virtuous cycle of volunteerism and residents’ well-being.
Addressing Social-Mental Health Needs of Public Housing Residents through the Lens of Internal Migration
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Amy Mejias, Laura Racovita
Poverty rates in rural areas and city suburbs stem mainly from changes in resident families' poverty levels (Howell & Timberlake, 2014) and pre-existing mental health-related issues. When the search for better employment opportunities drives internal migration, it often becomes unidirectional: from the rural to the urban areas. For many, this often means urban poverty, homelessness, and deprivation (Speak, 2010), and often people end up living in public housing, struggling with mental health issues that are either related to the new environments and challenges, or are pre-existing. Some of these could be related to their negative experiences during childhood, known as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). It has been documented that ACEs can result in adult vulnerability, affect health and opportunities in life, and play a role in adverse housing outcomes (Grey & Woodfine, 2018). However, the specific association between ACEs and living in public housing, whether generational or not, has not been thoroughly researched. Therefore, this paper focuses on the results of a research study based on public housing residents in a medium-sized city in the Southern United States, where the local Housing Authority manages approximately 2,300 low-income apartments housing individuals, couples, and families. The research study (a) investigates ACEs' role in intergenerational public housing, (b) looks into how public housing residents' specific social-mental health needs can be successfully addressed, and (c) identifies the barriers related to accessing the much-needed resources and services. The results are presented through the lens of internal migration.
Psychological Counseling in Light of Global Cultural Changes
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Abdulaziz Rashed
The study considers the psychological characteristics of individuals from different cultures, reveals the problems facing counselors from different cultures, and identifies the challenges facing psychological counseling for people with different cultures. The study was limited to analyzing the content of cross-cultural studies and articles that dealt with the subject of psychological counselling and psychological characteristics, but not other topics. The study included cross-cultural studies from 2017 until 2022, and the study procedures were completed in 2022. In the study, the researcher used the descriptive analytical method in its style of content analysis. The results of the study indicate that there were differences in some psychological characteristics of individuals depending on the variable of culture within the limits of the studies on which the research was conducted, as the characteristics included mental alertness, altruism, cultural intelligence, general compatibility, academic self-concept, self-confidence, creative abilities, and quality of marital life. The results also indicated that there was agreement in the trends towards psychological illness, motivation to achieve, and psychological immunity within the limits of the studies on which the research was conducted. The results indicate the challenges faced by psychological counseling for people with different cultures, such as the difference in psychological characteristics, the difference in problems, the difference in interpretation of verbal and non-verbal behavior, and the attitudes of the counselor and the guided toward other cultures.
