Finding Balance
Effects of Resilience and Acculturation Stress on Integration and Social Competence of Migrant Children and Adolescents in Northern Chile View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar
Migration in Chile has increased exponentially in recent years, with education being one of the main focuses of attention in this cultural transformation. Integration and social competence in migrant population is determined by several factors. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential effects of resilience and acculturation stress on levels of integration and social competence in migrant students in Northern Chile. 292 School children of both genders ages 8 to 18 -from fourth grade to senior year of high school- participated in it. A subscale of the Child and Adolescent Assessment System (Sistema de evaluación de niños y adolescentes SENA) was used to assess integration and social competence. Also, the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-12) and the Acculturation Stress Source Scale (FEAC) were used. The results show that integration and social competence have statistically significant and direct associations with resilience (p < .001) and indirect associations with acculturation stress (p = .009). Both constructs could be defined as protection and risk factors respectively and should be intervened in educational contexts to favor adaptation in the integration of migrant children and adolescents.
Age (Un)Friendly Cities and Communities, Prisons, and the Pandemic
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Helen Codd
This original and ground-breaking interdisciplinary paper brings together perspectives from gerontology, penology, and social policy to explore critically the nature and consequences of the lack of visibility of ex-prisoners within global research, policy and practice on age-friendly cities and communities (AFCC), at a time when increasing numbers of people are ageing in prison settings in many countries. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose challenges in the contexts both of older peoples’ lives, wellbeing and health, and also within prison settings, and thus it is timely to reflect on the links between older people, prisons and cities, at a time of ongoing change and uncertainty. Just as there is an extensive body of ongoing research exploring age-friendly cities and communities, there is extensive published research on older people’s experiences of imprisonment, and a growing body of research on the needs and experiences of older people leaving custodial settings. However, these two research and policy fields have evolved largely independently and separately, leading to a lack of visibility of ex-prisoners within AFCC research and policy and, similarly, the omission of consideration of the needs of ex-prisoners within the broader context of age-friendly cities and communities. Existing checklists and tools for assessing and measuring the age-friendliness of cities and communities may be of limited relevance in this context, especially in the light of the impacts of the pandemic. This paper identifies potential paths to integration and for cross-disciplinary research in this context, concluding with recommendations for developing inclusive research, policies, and evaluation frameworks.
Featured Researching Social Isolation and Digital Relationships With Empathy: Methodological and Theoretical Learnings From an Experiential Phenomenological Study With Older Adults View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Marek Hasa
When a socially isolated older person develops a human connection enabled by digital media, in what ways does this affect her everyday reality and self-perception? While the field of gerontechnology continues to grow the body of objectivistic knowledge regarding the effectiveness of various digital interventions and specific design features addressing loneliness, we remain distanced from understanding the impact of digital interactions on isolated older adults' identities and lived experiences in its full complexity. To close this gap, this paper proposes a human-first, phenomenology- and hermeneutics-driven approach. In May and June 2021, 15 pairs of younger volunteers and socially isolated older adults, equipped with tablets, were guided to gradually build a digital friendship over four weeks. While training the older participants during home visits and collecting rich multimodal data through observations, in-depth interviews, phone check-ups, and participants' communication logs, diverse ethical motivations led the author to abandon the idea of maintaining a completely rational, distanced position through phenomenological bracketing. The unprecedented sensitivity of the interplay between older age and loneliness, as well as its manifestation during the technology acceptance and learning process required the involvement of empathy and emotionality on the researcher's side. Reflecting on the methodological process of the present study, this paper offers key learnings and highlight crucial ethical considerations for future qualitative research with older adults. Moreover, the study's preliminary findings are shared to shed more light on the various identity and wellbeing changes new technology adoption may trigger in older adults.
