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Mary Elizabeth King on Civil Action for Social Change, the Transnational Women's Movement, and the Arab Awakening
Nonviolent resistance remains by and large a marginal topic to IR. Yet it constitutes an influential idea among idealist social movements and non-Western populations alike, one that has moved to the center stage in recent events in the Middle East. In this Talk, Mary King—who has spent over 40 years promoting nonviolence—elaborates on, amongst others, the women's movement, nonviolence, and civil action more broadly.
Print version of this Talk (pdf)
What is, according to you, the central challenge or principal debate in International Relations? And what is your position regarding this challenge/in this debate?
The field of International Relations is different from Peace and Conflict Studies; it has essentially to do with relationships between states and developed after World War I. In the 1920s, the big debates concerned whether international cooperation was possible, and the diplomatic elite were very different from diplomats today. The roots of Peace and Conflict Studies go back much further. By the late 1800s peace studies already existed in the Scandinavian countries. Studies of industrial strikes in the United States were added by the 1930s, and the field had spread to Europe by the 1940s. Peace and Conflict Studies had firmly cohered by the 1980s, and soon encircled the globe. Broad in spectrum and inherently multi-disciplinary, it is not possible to walk through one portal to enter the field.
To me it is also important that Peace and Conflict studies is not wary of asking the bigger hypothetical questions such as 'Can we built a better world?' 'How do we do a better job at resolving conflicts before they become destructive?' 'How do we create more peaceable societies?' If we do not pose these questions, we are unlikely to find the answers. Some political scientists say that they do not wish to privilege either violence or nonviolent action. I am not in that category, trying not to privilege violence or nonviolent action. The field of peace and conflict studies is value-laden in its pursuit of more peaceable societies. We need more knowledge and study of how conflicts can be addressed without violence, including to the eventual benefit of all the parties and the larger society. When in 1964 Martin Luther King Jr received the Nobel Peace Prize, his remarks in Oslo that December tied the nonviolent struggle in the United States to the whole planet's need for disarmament. He said that the most exceptional characteristic of the civil rights movement was the direct participation of masses of people in it. King's remarks in Oslo were also his toughest call for the use of nonviolent resistance on issues other than racial injustice. International nonviolent action, he said, could be utilized to let global leaders know that beyond racial and economic justice, individuals across the world were concerned about world peace:
I venture to suggest [above all] . . . that . . . nonviolence become immediately a subject for study and for serious experimentation in every field of human conflict, by no means excluding relations between nations . . . which [ultimately] make war. . . .
In the half century since King made his address in Oslo, nonviolent civil resistance has not been allocated even a tiny fraction of the resources for study that have been dedicated to the fields of democratization, development, the environment, human rights, and aspects of national security. Many, many questions beg for research, including intensive interrogation of failures. Among the new global developments with which to be reckoned is the enlarging role of non-state, non-governmental organizations as intermediaries, leading dialogue groups comprised of adversaries discussing disputatious issues and working 'hands-on' to intervene directly in local disputes. The role of the churches and laity in ending Mozambique's civil war comes to mind. One challenge within IR is how to become more flexible in viewing the world, in which the nation state cannot control social change, and with the widening of civil space.
How did you arrive at where you currently are in your thinking about IR?
I came from a family that was deeply engaged with social issues. My father was the eighth Methodist minister in six generations from North Carolina and Virginia. The Methodist church in both Britain and the United States has a history of concern for social responsibility ― a topic of constant discussion in my home as a child and young adult. When four African American students began the southern student sit-in movement in Greensboro, North Carolina, on February 1, 1960, by sitting-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter, I was still in college. Although I am white, I began to think about how to join the young black people who were intentionally violating the laws of racial segregation by conducting sit-ins at lunch counters across the South. Soon more white people, very like me, were joining them, and the sweep of student sit-ins had become truly inter-racial. The sit-in movement is what provided the regional base for what would become a mass U.S. civil rights movement, with tens of thousands of participants, defined by the necessity for fierce nonviolent discipline. So, coming from a home where social issues were regularly discussed it was almost natural for me to become engaged in the civil rights movement. And I have remained engaged with such issues for the rest of my life, while widening my aperture. Today I work on a host of questions related to conflict, building peace, gender, the combined field of gender and peace-building, and nonviolent or civil resistance. At a very young age, I had started thinking as a citizen of the world and watching what was happening worldwide, rather than merely in the United States.
Martin Luther King (to whom I am not related) would become one of history's most influential agents for propagating knowledge of the potential for constructive social change without resorting to violence. He was the most significant exemplar for what we simply called The Movement. Yet the movement had two southern organizations: in 1957 after the success of the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56, he created, along with others, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The other organization was the one for which I worked for four years: the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pron. snick), which initially came into being literally to coordinate among the leaders of the student sit-in campaigns. As the sit-ins spread across the South, 70,000 black, and, increasingly, white, students participated. By the end of 1960, 3,600 would have been jailed.
SCLC and SNCC worked together but had different emphases: one of our emphases in SNCC was on eliciting leadership representing the voices of those who had been ignored in the past. We identified many women with remarkable leadership skills and sought to strengthen them. We wanted to build institutions that would make it easier for poor black southern communities to become independent and move out of the 'serfdom' in which they lived. Thus we put less prominence on large demonstrations, which SCLC often emphasized. Rather, we stressed the building of alternative (or parallel) institutions, including voter registration, alternative political parties, cooperatives, and credit unions.
What would a student need (dispositions, skills) to become a specialist in IR or understand the world in a global way?
One requirement is a subject that has virtually disappeared from the schools in the United States: the field of geography. It used to be taught on every level starting in kindergarten, but has now been melded into a mélange called 'social sciences'. You would be surprised at how much ignorance exists and how it affects effectiveness. I served for years on the board of directors of an esteemed international non-profit private voluntary organization and recall a secretary who thought that Africa was a country. This is not simplistic — if you don't know the names of continents, countries, regions, and the basic political and economic history, it's much harder to think critically about the world. Secondly, students need to possess an attitude of reciprocity and mutuality. No perfect country exists; there is no nirvana without intractable problems in our world. No society, for example, has solved the serious problems of gender inequity that impede all spheres of life. Every society has predicaments and problems that need to be addressed, necessitating a constant process. So we each need to stand on a platform in which every nation can improve the preservation of the natural environment, the way it monitors and protects human rights, transitions to democratic systems, the priority it places on the empowerment of women, and so on. On this platform, concepts of inferior and superior are of little value.
You also co-authored an article in 1965 about the role of women and how working in a political movement for equality (the civil rights movement) has affected your perceptions of the relationship between men and women. Do you believe that the involvement of women in the Civil Rights Movement brought more gender equality in the USA and do you think involvement in Nonviolent Resistance movements in other places in the world could start such a process?
From within the heart of the civil rights movement I wrote an article with Casey Hayden, with whom I worked in Atlanta in the main office of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and in the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964. Casey (Sandra Cason) and I were deeply engaged in a series of conversations involving other women in SNCC about what we had been learning, the lessons from our work aiding poor black people to organize, and asking ourselves whether our insights from being part of SNCC could be applied to other forms of injustice, such as inequality for women. The document reflected our growth and enlarging understanding of how to mobilize communities, how to strategize, how to achieve lasting change, and was a manifestation of this expanding awareness. The title was Sex and Caste – A Kind of Memo. Caste is an ancient Hindu demarcation that not only determines an individual's social standing on the basis of the group into which one is born, but also differentiates and assigns occupational and economic roles. It cannot be changed. Casey and I thought of caste as comparable to the sex of one's birth. Women endure many forms of prejudice, bias, discrimination, and cruelty merely because they are female. For these reasons we chose the term caste. We sent our memorandum to forty women working in local peace and civil rights movements of the United States. The anecdotal evidence is strong that it inspired other women, who started coming together collectively to work on their own self-emancipation in 'consciousness raising groups.' It had appeared in Liberation magazine of the War Resisters League in April 1966 and was a catalyst in spurring the U.S. women's movement; indeed, the consciousness-raising groups fuelled the women's movement in the United States during the 1970s. Historians reflect that the article provided tinder for what is now called 'second-wave feminism', and the 1965 original is anthologized as one of the generative documents of twentieth-century gender studies.
We have to remember that women's organizations are nothing new, but have been poorly documented in history and that much information has been lost. Women have been prime actors for nonviolent social change in many parts of the world for a long time. New Zealand was the first country to grant women the vote, in 1893, after decades of organizing. Other countries followed: China, Iran, later the United States and the United Kingdom. Women in Japan would not vote until 1946. IR expert Fred Halliday contends that one of the most remarkable transnational movements of the modern age was the women's suffrage movement. The movement to enfranchise women may have been the biggest transnational nonviolent movement of human history. It was a significant historical phenomenon that throws light on how it is sometimes easier to bring about social and political change now than in the past.
Nonviolent movements seem to be growing around the world, and not only in dictatorships but also in democracies in Europe and the USA. How do you explain this?
I think that the sharing of knowledge is the answer to this question. Study in the field of nonviolent action has accelerated since the 1970s, often done by people who are both practitioners and scholars, as am I. Organizing nonviolently for social justice is not new, but the knowledge that has consolidated during the last 40 years has been major. The works of Gene Sharp have been significant, widely translated, and are accessible through the Albert EinsteinInstitution. His first major work, The Politics of Nonviolent Action, in three volumes, came out in 1973 (Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers). It marked the development of a new understanding of how this form of cooperative action works, the conditions under which it can be optimized, and the ways in which one can improve effectiveness. Sharp's works have since been translated into more than 40 languages. Also valuable are the works and translations of dozens of other scholars, who often stand on his shoulders. Today there may be 200 scholar-activists in this field worldwide, with a great deal of work now underway in related fields. Knowledge is being shared not only through translated works, but also through organizations and their training programs, such as the War Resisters League International and the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, each of which came into existence in Britain around World War I. Both are still running seminars, training programs, and distributing books. George Lakey's Training for Change and a new database at Swarthmore College that he has developed are sharing knowledge. So is the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict, which has built a dramatic record in a short time, having run more than 400 seminars and workshops in more than 139 countries. The three major films that ICNC has produced (for example, 'Bringing Down a Dictator'), have been translated into 20 languages and been publicly broadcast to more than 20 million viewers.
After its success, leaders from the Serbian youth movement Otpor! (Resistance) that in 2000 disintegrated the Slobodan Milošević dictatorship formed a network of activists, including experienced veterans from civil-resistance struggles in South Africa, the Philippines, Lebanon, Georgia, and Ukraine to share their experiences with other movements. People can now more easily find knowledge on the World Wide Web, often in their original language or a second language, and they can find networks that share information about their experiences, including their successes and failures.
I reject the Twitter explanation for the increased use of nonviolent action or civil resistance, because all nonviolent movements appropriate the most advanced technologies available. This pattern is related to the importance of communications for their basic success. Nonviolent mobilizations must be very shrewd in putting across their purpose, their goals and objectives, preparing slogans, and conveying information on how people can become involved. In order for people to join—bearing in mind that numbers are important for success—it is critically important to make clear what goal(s) you are seeking and why you have elected to work with civil resistance. This decision is sometimes hard to understand for people who have suffered great cruelty from their opponent, and who maintain 'but we are the victims', making the sharing of the logic of the technique of civil resistance vital.
What would you say is the importance of Nonviolent Resistance Studies in the field of International Relations and Political Science? And how do you counter those who argue that some forms of structural domination are only ended through violence?
In this case we can look at the evidence and stay away from arguing beliefs or ideology. Thanks to political scientists Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan, who have produced a discerning work, Why Civil Resistance Works (2011), we now have empirical evidence that removes this question from mystery. They studied 323 violent and nonviolent movements that occurred between 1900 and 2006 and found that the nonviolent campaigns were twice as effective as violent struggles in achieving their goals, while incurring fewer costly fatalities and producing much greater prospects for democratic outcomes after the end of the campaign. They found only one area in which violent movements have been more successful, and that is in secessions. So, we don't need to dwell in the realm of opinion, but can read their findings. Other scholars have written about the same issues using qualitative data ― by doing interviews, developing case studies, and analytical descriptions ― but the work of Chenoweth and Stephan is quantitative, putting it in a different category due to its research methods.
Reading 'Why Civil Resistance Works' it caught my eye that nonviolent campaigns seem less successful in the Middle East and Asia than in other regions. Did you see that also in your own work? And if so, do you have an explanation for it? In addition, do you believe that the 'Arab Awakening' is a significant turn in history, or did the name arise too quickly and will it remain a temporary popular phrase?
What I encountered in working in the Middle East was an expectation, notion, or hope among people that a great leader would save them and bring them out of darkness. This belief seems often to have kept the populace in a state of passivity. Sometimes such pervasive theories of leadership are deeply elitist: one must be well educated to be a leader, one must be born into that role, one must be male, or the first son, etc. Such concepts of leadership discourage the taking of independent civil action.
I think that the Arab Awakening has been significant for a number of reasons. As one example, there had been a widespread (and patronizing) assumption in the United States and the West that the Arabs were not interested in democracy. We have heard from various sources including Israel for decades that Arabs are not attracted to democracy. As a matter of fact, I think that all people want a voice. All human beings wish to be listened to and to be able to express their hopes and aspirations. This is a fundamental basis of democracy and widely applicable, although democracy may take different forms. The Arab Awakening rebutted this arrogant assumption. This does not mean that the course will be easy. One of my Egyptian colleagues said to me, 'We have had dictatorship since 1952, but after Tahir Square you expect us to build a perfect democracy in 52 weeks! It cannot happen!'
Among the first concessions sought by the 2011 Arab revolts was rejection of the right of a dictator's sons to succeed him. The passing of power from father to son has been a characteristic of patriarchal societies, in the Arab world and elsewhere. Anthropologist John Borneman notes, 'The public renunciation of the son's claim to inherit the father's power definitively ends the specific Arab model of succession that has been incorporated into state dictatorships among tribal authorities'. In Tunisia to Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Yemen (not all of which are successes), such movements have sought to end the presumption of father-son inheritance of rule.
I believe that we are seeing the start of a broad democratization process in the Middle East, not its end. The learning and preparation that had been occurring in Egypt prior to Tahrir Square was extensive. Workshops had been underway for 10 to 15 years before people filled Tahrir Square. Women bloggers had for years been monitoring torture and sharing news from outside. One woman blogger translated a comic book into Arabic about the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, from the 1960s, and had it distributed all over Cairo. Labor unions had been very active. According to historian Joel Beinin, from 1998 to 2010 some 3 million laborers took part in 3,500 to 4,000 strikes, sit-ins, demonstrations, and other actions, realizing more than 600 collective labor actions per year in 2007 and 2008. In the years immediately before the revolution, these actions became more coherent. Wael Ghonim, a 30-year-old Google executive, set up a Facebook page and used Google technologies to share ideas and knowledge about what ordinary people can do. The April 6 Youth Movement, set up in 2008, three years before Tahrir, sent one of its members to Belgrade in 2009, to learn how Otpor! had galvanized the bringing down of Milošević. He returned to Cairo with materials and films, lessons from other nonviolent movements, and workshop materials. This all goes back to the sharing of knowledge. Yet the Egyptians have now come to the point where they must assume responsibility and accountability for the whole and make difficult decisions for their society. It will be a long and difficult process. And it raises the question of what kind of help from outside is essential.
Why do you raise this point; do you think outside help is essential?
I know from having studied a large number of nonviolent movements in different parts of the globe that the sharing of lessons laterally among mobilizations and nonviolent struggles is highly effective. African American leaders were traveling by steamer ship from 1919 until the outbreak of World War II to the Indian subcontinent, to learn from Gandhi and the Indian independence struggles. This great interchange between black leaders in the United States and the Gandhian activists, as the historian Sudarshan Kapur shows in Raising Up A Prophet (1992), was critically significant in the solidification of consensus in the U.S. black community on nonviolent means. I have written about how the knowledge moved from East to West in my book Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Scholarly exchanges and interchanges among activists from other struggles are both potentiating and illuminating. Most observers fail to see that nonviolent mobilizations often have very deep roots involving the lateral sharing of experience and know-how.
You have written a book about the first uprising, or 'intifada', in the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 1987 and 1993. The second Palestinian uprising did not contain much nonviolent tactics though. Do you foresee another uprising soon? If not, why? If yes, do you think that Nonviolent Actions will play again an important role in that uprising, or is it more likely to turn violent?
Intifada is linguistically a nonviolent word: It means shaking off and has no violent implication whatsoever. (This word is utterly inappropriate for what happened in the so-called Second Intifada, although it started out as a nonviolent endeavor.) In the 1987 intifada, virtually the entire Palestinian society living under Israel's military occupation unified itself with remarkable cohesion on the use of nonviolent tools. The first intifada (1987-1993, especially 1987-1990) benefited from several forces at work in the 1970s and 1980s, about which I write in A Quiet Revolution (2007), one of which came from Palestinian activist intellectuals working with Israeli groups, who wanted to end occupation for their own reasons. These Israeli peace activists thought the occupation degraded them, made them less than human, in addition to oppressing Palestinians. The second so-called intifada was not a 'shaking off'. For the first time, it bade attacks against the Israeli settlements, which had not occurred before.
Let me put it this way: in virtually every situation, there is some potential for human beings to take upon themselves their own liberation through nonviolent action. We may expect that such potential is dormant and waiting for enactment. Disciplined nonviolent action is underway in a number of village-based struggles against the separation barrier in the West Bank right now, in which Israeli allies are among the action takers. As another example, the Freedom Theatre in Jenin is using Freedom Rides, a concept adopted from the U.S. southern Civil Rights Movement, riding buses to the South Hebron Hills villages and along the way using drama, music, and giant puppets as a way of stimulating debate about Israeli occupation. Bloggers and writers share their experiences (see e.g. this post by Nathan Schneider). For the first time, as we speak, the Freedom Bus will travel from the West Bank to make two performances in historic pre-1948 Palestine (Israel), in Haifa and the Golan, in June 2013. A Palestinian 'Empty Stomach' campaign, led by Palestinian political prisoners in Israel, has had some success in using hunger strikes to press Israeli officials for certain demands. With the purpose of prevailing upon Israel to conform to international resolutions pertaining to the Palestinians and to end its military occupation, Palestinian civic organizations in 2005 launched a Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign, drawing upon the notable example of third-party sanctions applied in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. The Palestinian Authority has called for non-state observer status at the United Nations and supports the boycotting of products from Israeli settlements resistance.
More and more Palestinians are now saying, 'We must fight for our rights with nonviolent resistance'. Many Israelis are also deeply concerned about the future of their country. I recently got an email from an Israeli who was deeply affected by reading Quiet Revolution and has started to reach out to Palestinians and take actions to bring to light the injustices that he perceives. Tremendous debate is underway about new techniques, novel processes, and how to shift gears to more effective mutual action. The United States government and its people continue to pay for Israel's occupation and militarization, which has abetted the continuation of conflict, although it is often done in the name of peace! The United States has not incentivized the building of peace. It has done almost nothing to help the construction of institutions that could assist coexistence.
Also, it is very important for the entire world, including Israelis, to recognize intentional nonviolent action when they see it. The Israeli government persisted in denying that the 1987 Intifada was nonviolent, when the Palestinian populace had been maintaining extraordinary nonviolent discipline for nearly three years, despite harsh reprisals. Israeli officials continued to call it 'unending war' and 'the seventh war'. Indeed, it was not perfect nonviolent discipline, but enough that was indicative of a change in political thinking among the people in the Palestinian areas that could have been built upon. Although some Israeli social scientists accurately perceived the sea change in Palestinian political thought about what methods to use in seeking statehood and the lifting of the military occupation, the government of Israel generally did not seize upon such popularly enacted nonviolent discipline to push for progress. My sources for Quiet Revolution include interviews with Israelis, such as the former Chief Psychologist of the Israel Defense Force and IDF spokesperson.
Your latest book is about the transitions of the Eastern European countries from being under Soviet rule to independent democracies. You chose to illustrate these transitions with New York Times articles. Why did you chose this approach; do you think the NY Times was important as a media agency in any way or is there another reason?
There is another reason: The New York Times and CQ Press approached me and asked if I would write a reference book on the nonviolent revolutions of the Eastern bloc, using articles from the Times that I would choose upon which to hang the garments of the story. The point of the work is to help particularly young people learn that they can study history by studying newspapers. The book gives life to the old adage that newspaper reporters write the first draft of history. In the book's treatment of these nonviolent revolutions, I chose ten Times articles for each of the major ten struggles that are addressed, adding my historical analysis to complete the saga for each country. It had been difficult for Times reporters to get into Poland, for example, in the late 1970s and the crucial year of 1980; they sometimes risked their lives. Yet it's in the nature of journalism that their on-the-spot reportage needed additional analysis; furthermore newspaper accounts often stress description.
After the 1968 Prague Spring, when the Soviet Union sent 750,000 troops and tanks from five Warsaw Pact countries into Czechoslovakia, crushing that revolt, across Eastern Europe a tremendous amount of fervent work got underway by small non-official committees, often below the radar of the communist party states. This included samizdat (Russian for 'self published'), works not published by the state publishing machinery, underground publications that were promoting new ways of thinking about how to address their dilemma. Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Lithuania were the most active in the Eastern bloc with their major but covert samizdat. As it was illegal in Czechoslovakia for a citizen to own a photocopy machine, 'books' were published by using ten pieces of onion-skin paper interspersed with carbon sheets, 'publishing' each page by typing it and its copies on a manual typewriter.
The entire phenomenon of micro-committees, flying universities, samizdat boutiques, seminars, drama with hidden meanings, underground journals, and rock groups transmitting messages eluded outside observers, who were not thinking about what the people could do for themselves. The economists and Kremlinologists who were observing the Eastern bloc did not discern what the playwrights, small committees of activist intellectuals, local movements, labor unions, academicians, and church groups were undertaking. They did not imagine the scope or scale of what the people were doing for themselves with utmost self-reliance. In essence, no one saw these nonviolent revolutions coming, with the exception of the rare onlooker, such as the historian Timothy Garton Ash. Even today the peaceful transitions to democracy of the Eastern bloc are sometimes explained by saying 'Gorby did it', when Gorbachev did not come to power until 1985. Or by attributing the alterations to Reagan's going to Berlin and telling Gorbachov to tear down the Wall.
By December 1981, Poland was under martial law, which unleashed a high degree of underground organizing, countless organizations of self-help, reimagining of the society, and the publishing of samizdat. Still, even so, some people believe that this sweeping political change was top-down. It is indisputably true that nonviolent action usually interacts with other forces and forms of power, but I would say that we need this book for its accessible substantiation of historically significant independent nonviolent citizen action as a critical element in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
You also mention Al Jazeera as an important media agency in your most recent blog post at 'Waging Nonviolence'. You wrote that Al Jazeera has an important role in influencing global affairs. Could you explain why? And more generally, how important is diversification of media for international politics?
Al Jazeera generally has not been taking the point of view of the official organs of governments of Arab countries and has usually not reported news from ministries of information. Additionally, it often carries reports from local correspondents in the country at issue. If you are following a report from Gaza, it is likely to be a Gazan journalist who is transmitting to Al Jazeera. If it is a report from Egypt, it may well be an Egyptian correspondent. Al Jazeera also has made a point of reporting news from Israel, and utilizing reporters in Tel Aviv, which may be a significant development. Certainly in the 2010-2011 Arab Awakening, it made a huge difference that reports were coming directly from the action takers rather than the official news outlets of Arab governments.
President George W. Bush did not want Al Jazeera to come to the United States, because he considered it too anti-American. I remember reading at the time that the first thing that Gen. Colin Powell said to Al Jazeera was 'can you tone it down a little?' when asking why Al Jazeera couldn't be less anti-American in its news. To me, either you support free speech or you do not; it's free or it's not: You can't have a little bit of control and a little bit of freedom.
Until recently, Al Jazeera was not easily available in the United States, except in Brattleboro, Vermont; Washington, DC; and a few other places. It was difficult to get it straight in the United States. I mounted a special satellite so that I could get Al Jazeera more freely. This does not speak well for freedom of the press in the United States. This may change with the advent of Al Jazeera America, although we still do not know to what degree it will represent an editorially free press.
News agencies are important for civil-resistance movements for major reasons. Popular mobilizations need good communications internally and externally! People need to understand clearly what is the purpose and strategy and to be part of the making of decisions. Learning also crucially needs to take place inside the movement: activist intellectuals often act as interpreters, framing issues anew, suggesting that an old grievance is now actionable. No one expects the butcher, the baker, or the candlestick maker, and everyone else in the movement to read history and theory.
When news media are interested and following a popular movement of civil resistance, they can enhance the spread of knowledge. In the U.S. civil rights movement, the Southern white-owned newspapers considered the deaths of black persons or atrocities against African Americans as not being newsworthy. There was basically a 'black-out', if you want to call it that, with no pun. Yet dreadful things were happening while we were trying to mobilize, organize, and get out the word. So SNCC created its own media, and Julian Bond and others and I set up nationwide alternative outlets. Eventually we had 12 photographers across the South. This is very much like what the people of the Eastern bloc did with samizdat — sharing and disseminating papers, articles, chapters, even whole books. The media can offer a tremendous boost, but sometimes you have to create your own.
Last question. You combine scholarship with activism. How do you reconcile the academic claim for 'neutrality' with the emancipatory goals of activism?
To be frank, I am not searching for neutrality in my research. Rather, I strive for accuracy, careful transcription, and scrupulous gathering of evidence. I believe that this is how we can become more effective in working for justice, environmental protection, sustainable development, pursuing human rights, or seeking gender equity as critical tools to build more peaceable societies. Where possible I search for empirical data. So much has been ignored, for example, with regards to the effects of gendered injustice. I do not seek neutrality on this matter, but strong evidence. For example, since the 1970s, experts have known that the education of women has profoundly beneficial and measurable effects across entire societies, benefiting men, children, and women. Data from Kerala, India; Sri Lanka; and elsewhere has shown that when you educate women the entire society is uplifted and that all indicators shift positively. The problem is that the data have for decades been ignored or trivialized. We need much more than neutrality. We need to interpret evidence and data clearly to make them compelling and harder to ignore. I think that we can do this with methodologies that are uncompromisingly scrupulous.
Mary Elizabeth King is professor of peace and conflict studies at the UN-affiliated University for Peace and and is Scholar-in-Residence in the School of International Service, at the American University in Washington, D.C. She is also a Distinguished Fellow of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Her most recent book is The New York Times on Emerging Democracies in Eastern Europe (Washington, D.C.: Times Reference and CQ Press/Sage, 2009), chronicling the nonviolent transitions that took place in Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, the Baltic states, Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She is the author of the highly acclaimed A Quiet Revolution: The First Palestinian Intifada and Nonviolent Resistance (New York: Nation Books, 2007; London: Perseus Books, 2008), which examines crucial aspects of the 1987 uprising overlooked or misunderstood by the media, government officials, and academicians.
Related links
King's personal page Read the book edited by King on Peace Research for Africa (UNU, 2007) here (pdf) Read the book by King Teaching Model: Nonviolent Transformation of Conflict (UNU, 2006) here (pdf)
Print version of this Talk (pdf)
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Something has changed in watching post-apocalyptic films in recent years. It is hard to pinpoint exactly when, and what exactly the cause might be, but at some point in the last few years the post-apocalypse has gone from an escapist fantasy to a figure of dread. The increasing rate of global warming leading to fires, droughts, and hurricanes; the ongoing Covid pandemic; and the rise of right wing nationalism has transformed the apocalypse from a subgenre of science fiction to a barometer of fears and anxieties. As Robert Tally argues the sense of the future has changed dramatically over the last decade: utopia has been replaced by dystopia in contemporary fiction and film and post-apocalypse has replaced predictions of a miraculous world of tomorrow. This is another way of addressing Fredric Jameson's old adage that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. To which we could add that this imagination is no longer an idle speculation about the future, but immediately lived, as apocalypse seems to inch closer, moving from the distant horizon to the lived present. Perhaps no film illustrates this more than Leave the World Behind a film less about the apocalypse as a distant event than the increasing permutation of apocalyptic fears and anxieties in daily life. Leave the World Behind is a film directed by Sam Esmail that was released on Netflix in December of 2023. It is based on the novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam published in 2020. The film begins when Amanda Sanford (Julia Roberts) makes an impromptu decision to rent a house on Long Island and escape the New York City with her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and two children, Archie and Rose. Her decision is predicated as much on a general misanthropy, as Amanda states, "I fucking hate people," as it is on the specifics of their current work and financial situation. Their vacation is an attempt to get away from not just the city, but people altogether. The home they rent is miles from any neighbor or any contact with the world. Over the course of the film isolation goes from being the dream to the nightmare. As the family settles in their rental home they immediately lose WIFI, cable, and cellular phone service, cutting them off from the outside world more than they wanted. Later, when they travel to the beach, an oil tanker runs aground, smashing into the beach. These events do not immediately disrupt their vacation, they endure the first with frustration and watch the second with curiousity, snapping photographs. This changes when late in the night there is a knock at the door, Clay and Amanda open the door to find G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha'la). G.H. introduces himself the owner of the house that they are renting. He explains that they were attending a symphony in New York City when the power went out. They decided to escape to go to their vacation house on Long Island rather than return to their apartment in the city. The very same house that the Sandfords are renting. This leads to an awkward encounter, as owner confronts renter each claiming a right to the house. Because they have only interacted via email, and the entire arrangement of renting the house is through a third party platform, neither group knows or recognizes the other. As G.H., or George, as he prefers to be called, puts it, had they spoken on the phone they would have at least recognized the sound of his voice. Because their relation is mediated through apps and interfaces (Airbnb is implied but never mentioned) they do not know or trust each other even though one party has already exchanged thousands of dollars and the other has let them into their house. The mediation of their relations through technology, house renting apps and email, means that they do not have the base level of trust that could be established through commerce, a fact that is all the more ironic given the intimacy of their mediated relationship, they are sharing the same house. Amanda is initially incredibly distrustful of the Scotts, fearing that they might be trying to run some sort of scam, or worse yet, could be potential child molesters. That George and Ruth are black and Amanda and Clay are white only exasperates the issue. Amanda is for the most part polite enough to mention the issue, but it is implied in her suspicion of George even after he produces a key to the house's liquor cabinet. The distrust in some sense is mutual, later we hear Ruth chastise her father for so readily trusting "white people." The fact that this film is in part produced by Barack and Michelle Obama have led some online to see it as a film fomenting racial division and distrust. This is in part predicated on the longstanding belief on the right that it is mentioning race as a factor of social life that produces racism. However, in the film race is only itself one variant of the general breakdown of social relations. The racial divisions are only a sharper version of what keeps everyone seeking to escape the city and get away from everyone. As the two families bunker down together the events outside of the home get even more strange. All of the events gesture towards a different aspect of a potential apocalypse: the entire communication technology from television to satellite phones seems to collapse; planes drop from the sky and slam into the beach; a drone flies overheard distributing pamphlets that seem to say "Death to America" in Arabic; deer congregate in large numbers in the yard and flamingos arrive in the pool, suggesting that the natural world too is out of balance; a loud sound tears through house, smashing windows; self-driving Teslas smash into each other and pile up on the freeway; and the son, Archie becomes allegedly from a tick bite. Even his sickness takes on strange symptoms, most dramatically a loss of all of his teeth. The logic of the film is more akin to reading the daily paper or following a newsfeed in which there is less an apocalypse than the uneven development of multiple apocalyptic potentials. It is hard to see how these different events constitute one consistent narrative of an apocalypse; instead they seem to gesture towards the multiple possibilities for the world ending, political, technological, and ecological. With each of these events the gathered families discuss theories and speculate about the possible nature of the threat they are facing. It is less a film about a specific vision of social collapse than it is about the inchoate fears of such a collapse. Since the film focuses on the individuals in the house, individuals who are cut off from other social contact, not to mention any source of new or information, we only ever get a limited and partial image of what might be happening in the world beyond the house. What we are left with is just speculation based on very limited and partial information. Without spending too much time on the question of the book versus the movie, it is worth noting that the film never departs from the immediate present of the few days at the rental house. With the exception of the images of the Earth seen from space we never see anything that they do not see. The book which the film is based upon occasionally departs for a sentence or two, cutting forward to tell us that the neighbors die months later in a refugee camp outside of Los Angeles. The book then eventually confirms the reader's suspicions that we are seeing the beginning of a full on pandemic and social collapse. These passages appear in the final sections of the book, the reader eventually learns that they are reading about the beginning of a full on apocalypse in which regular life will never return. This is how the novel recounts Rose, Amanda and Clay's daughter's, visit to a neighbor's house: "She couldn't know, would never know, that the Thornes, the family who lived there, were at the airport in San Diego, unable to make arrangements since there were no flights operating domestically because of a nationwide emergency without precedent, as though precedent were required. The Thornes would never see this house again in their lives, though Nadine, the matriarch, would sometimes dream of it before she succumbed to cancer in one of the tent camps the army managed to erect outside the airport. They'd burn her body, before they stopped bothering with that, as the bodies outnumbered the people left to do the burning."The jump forward and to another context confirms what we have come to expect, that the world as we know it has come to an end. In the film the viewer never knows anything more than the characters, we do not know what will become of them or the world, even as the film gives us more spectacular images of crisis, such as an airplane crashing into the beach. A second major difference is that in the book, the Scott's appearance at the door of the house in the middle of the night happens before any real crisis has taken place. In the novel at this point the only thing that has gone wrong is that the internet does not work, which is hardly a major crisis. In the film the oil tanker runs aground on the first day of Amanda and Clay's family vacation. This not only increases the dread, it confirm the Scott's story that something is very amiss and they are right in seeking shelter. This makes Amanda's suspicion seem all the more anti-social or even racist. The film also proliferates the images of social collapse, adding the drone, and the pile up of self-driving and self-colliding cars on the freeway. There are other differences: Ruth in the book is George's wife not his daughter, and the film introduces Rose's obsession with the television show Friends, a point that will be returned to later. The major difference is how the book and the film utilize the strengths and limitations of their medium to depict the particular situation of dread and uncertainty. The book gives moments of a omniscient third person narrator in a viewpoint that lets us see the enormity of the crisis, letting the reader know what the characters do not, while the film presents more of a spectacle of the crisis, boats, planes, and cars crash and burn, while restricting our viewpoint to the limited knowledge of the central characters. In adapting the story form text to film we see more, we see carnage and explosions, and ultimately know less. The families are not initially in any immediate danger. They have food, water, shelter, even power despite the news of a blackout. The question of what to do is initially an abstract one. It is impossible to know if they should stay in the house or return home. It is hard to know what to do without knowing what is going on. Our daily lives and activities presuppose as their backdrop a world that is as predictable as it is taken for granted. We assume that the internet will work, that stores will be open, and that a house rented through a website will be ours and ours alone. The rationality or irrationality of our actions make sense against the background of a world, or the institutions and structures that shape and define our decisions. When that world becomes uncertain than one does not know how to act. Should one return home to the city, end the vacation, or stay in a place that is safe, stocked with food and has power. It is only Archie's sickness that drives them from the home in search of help. George suggests that they go see Danny, his handyman for help. Earlier Amanda saw Danny at the grocery store stocking up on water and canned goods. He is presented as someone who both knows how to do things, and maybe even knows what is going on. When George and Clay arrive at Danny's house he is less than happy to see them. He advises them to do as he has done, bunker down and protect his family. He admonishes George to do the same, and when George invokes the idea of a neighbor helping a neighbor, of Danny possibly providing medicine to help Archie, they have the following exchange: George, "C'mon now. It's me. We're Friends." Danny, "That's the old way, George. You're not thinking clearly." George, "Danny, What are you saying? You're telling this man not to take care of his son." Danny, "Nothing makes a whole lot of sense right now. When the world does not make any sense I can still do what is rational, which is protect my own." Danny presents himself as the person who has taken stock of the situation and adjusted to the reality of the new world. Although what he offers in terms of theories and explanations, including a reference to Havana Symptom and a Chinese or Russian attack on infrastructure, is not much better than the other speculations that George and Clay offer. His theories maybe more apocalyptic, more extreme in their consequences, but he is still speculating based on limited information. The one thing he does offer, however, is a decisive course of action, one he considers to be rational: protecting his own, protecting property. Friendship, neighbors, social obligations are dismissed as the "old way." The question remains, however, as to what extent this is a new ethos, a new way of living. While the shotgun might be new, "protect my own" has been the dominant mentality, and dominant idea of rationality of everyone in the film so far. From Amanda's vacation plan which begins with the realization "I fucking hate people" to George and Ruth's attempt to go back to their home, everyone is striving to protect their own. Danny's survivalist rhetoric is nothing other than a continuation of the logic of contemporary capitalist society by other means. George and Clay's confrontation with George is intercut with another confrontation; while searching for Rose Ruth and Amanda are confronted by a large, and surprisingly aggressive herd of deer. The deer are intimidating, even menacing, until Rose and Amanda drop their hostility towards each other to aggressively yell back. These two different scenes, one of the theme of man versus man the other as woman versus nature, also define two different ideas of what it means to be rational, everyone for themselves or join together in some act of solidarity. All of which raises the question of the film's title, Leave the World Behind. The phrase is first mentioned as part of the advertising copy for the rental home. It promises an escape from the world. As the film progresses, however, this phrase becomes the central question of the post-apocalyptic culture. At what point should one recognize that normal is not coming back, leave the old world behind, and begin to adapt to a new one. This is one way to make sense of the film's enigmatic, and for some viewers, frustrating ending. Throughout the film, the girl Rose is obsessed with the show Friends. She is watching the show on an ipad as they drive to the rental house. When the internet breaks down she is frustrated in her attempt to watch the final episode, to find closure. It is remarked upon that Rose is obsessed with a show that took place and was filmed before she was born. As Ruth comments on Rose's interest in Friends, "But it's almost... Nostalgic for a time that never existed, you know?" in the final scene of the film Rose ventures to the neighbor's empty house. There she finds their empty survival bunker, a bunker that is stocked with food, water, a greenhouse, and most importantly for Rose, a shelf of DVDs. She finds a boxed set of Friends episodes and finally gets to watch the final episode. Rose gets closure for her particular quest and her closure ends the film. The last image is her face as the familiar theme song begins. It is a fundamentally ambiguous ending. We could interpret this viewing of a final episode as an act of closure of leaving the world of screens and pop culture pleasures behind, preparing for a new world from a new survival bunker. Or we could interpret it in the opposite manner, seeing it as a retreat into precisely the kind of escapist entertainment that have made us all unaware of the mounting dangers, ecological, economic, and political that threaten our world of family vacations and unlimited screen time. It cannot be overlooked that this particular act of closure has to do with not only watching television, but watching a television show that is nostalgia for a world before Airbnb rentals and even before the dissemination of screens, before an acceleration of the isolation of capitalist society. The show's popularity with the generations that have grown up since it aired have as much to do with this nostalgia as they do with its ubiquity on streaming platforms. The object of this nostalgia is perhaps friendship itself. As Ruth says earlier in the film, "But as awful as people might be... nothing's gonna change the fact that we are all we've got." Leaving the world behind is perhaps less a matter of defending one's own than it is recognizing that it is precisely such a logic that destroyed it in the first place. Leaving the world behind is not a matter of giving up all connections to defend one's own, but of finding new forms of solidarity, new connections.
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Lernen - Wenn Sie dieses Wort lesen, was schießt Ihnen durch den Kopf? Der letzte VHS-Kurs in südostasiatischer Kampfkunst oder doch eher zähe Stunden vor dem Mathebuch? Egal welches Bild Sie jetzt gerade im Kopf haben, eines ist sicher: Wie gelernt wird, hat sich in den letzten Jahren stark verändert. Wer heute Gitarre lernen möchte, schaut sich Videos auf Youtube an und lädt sich die Noten im Internet herunter. Wer eine Sprache lernen möchte, benutzt Sprachlernapps und vernetzt sich mit anderen Menschen über das Internet. Wir lernen aber auch ungewollt: Auf Instagram weckt ein Post über den Ameisenigel unser Interesse, wir folgen dem Link und einige Artikel (und viele Stunden) später sind wir auf einmal Experten für Kloakentiere. Während sich also das Lernverhalten im Privaten stark gewandelt hat, scheint dies in Schulen in Baden-Württemberg nur langsam anzukommen. Hier lernen meist noch alle gemeinsam mit der gleichen Stelle im Englischbuch. Wen es nicht interessiert, der bekommt unter Umständen eine schlechte Note. Wer schon weiter ist, soll sich zurückhalten, und dass die Darstellung der Entdeckung Amerikas in dem Buch nicht mehr ganz zeitgemäß ist, geht neben dem Streit um das offene Fenster unter. Zugegeben, diese Schilderungen sind natürlich überspitzt, jedoch lassen sich die Vorteile des Lernens durch und mit Social Media schlecht von der Hand weisen: Stets aktuelle und an die individuellen Interessen angepasste Informationen warten dort auf die Rezipienten und laden zur Interaktion ein. Doch natürlich hat die zögernde Haltung der Schulen und des Ministeriums in Baden-Württemberg Gründe. Aufgrund datenschutzrechtlicher Bestimmungen ist die Nutzung von Social Media im schulischen Kontext nur sehr eingeschränkt zulässig (s.u.). Hieraus resultiert, dass die Beschäftigung mit Social Media im Rahmen des Unterrichts zwar möglich ist, der eigentliche Einsatz zur Unterstützung von Lernprozessen jedoch nicht. Die entsprechende 2013 veröffentlichte Handreichung wurde kontrovers diskutiert (s.u.). Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, wie Social Media im Kontext des Unterrichts in Baden-Württemberg bearbeitet werden kann und welche konkreten Vor- und Nachteile sich hieraus ergeben. Hierfür soll zunächst kurz auf "Social Media" bzw. "Social Network Sites" eingegangen werden, um sich dann die aktuelle rechtliche Situation für Schulen in Baden-Württemberg etwas genauer anzuschauen. Anschließend sollen Einsatzmöglichkeiten von Social Media und deren Risiken im Kontext des Unterrichts beleuchtet werden, um zu diskutieren, welche der aufgezeigten Möglichkeiten in Baden-Württemberg zulässig wären und welche Vor- und Nachteile sich hieraus ergeben. Social Media Seit einiger Zeit ist der Begriff "Social Media" populär, um Plattformen wie Facebook oder Instagram zu beschreiben. Jedoch lässt sich bei Durchsicht der Literatur feststellen, dass es keine einheitliche Definition dieses Begriffes gibt. Erschwerend kommt hinzu, dass einige Autor:innen auch Begriffe wie "social network" o.ä. nutzen, um solche Plattformen zu beschreiben. Die Definition von Ellison and Boyd beispielsweise lautet:"A Social network site is a networked communication plattform in witch participants have uniquely identifable profiles that consist of user-supplied content, content provided by other users, and/or system-level data; can publicly articulate connections that can be viewed and transversed by others; and can consume, produce and/or interact with streams of user generated content provided by their connections on the site." (Ellison & Boyd, 2014, S. 158)Hierbei sprechen sie bewusst von "social network sites", da der Begriff "social network" auch einen Vorgang beschreiben könne, der offline stattfindet (vgl. ebd.). In dieser Arbeit wird der Einfachheit halber und weil dieser Begriff im deutschsprachigen Raum am verbreitetsten scheint der Begriff "Social Media" synonym zu "social network sites" verwendet. Kennzeichnend für social network sites oder auch Social Media ist nach Ellison und Boyd, dass sowohl Inhalte, die von anderen Usern oder der Plattform selbst bereitgestellt werden, passiv konsumiert werden, als auch aktiv produziert und verbreitet werden können.Hierbei werden Kontakte zu anderen meist öffentlich angezeigt (z.B. in der Freundesliste), wodurch andere sich wiederum mit diesen Freunden und den von ihnen produzierten und geteilten Inhalten verbinden und interagieren können. Hierbei können diese Verbindungen auch asymmetrisch sein (z.B. wird einer Person gefolgt, diese folgt jedoch nicht "zurück"). Durch Tagging kann sich hierbei ein breites Netzwerk ergeben, bei dem Inhalte nach bestimmten Themen eingeordnet und gefunden werden können (vgl. ebd., S.153 ff.). Wichtig ist hierbei zu betonen, dass diese Definition längst nicht mehr nur auf Plattformen wie Facebook oder Instagram zutrifft, sondern auch auf Online Gaming Plattformen und Ähnliches. Insgesamt lässt sich feststellen, dass die Grenzen zwischen Social Media und "normalen" Internetseiten immer mehr verschwimmen. Die Nutzung dieser Medien ist sowohl mit Chancen als auch Risiken verbunden (s.u.). Häufig ist mit dieser Erkenntnis die Forderung verbunden, Social Media und die dahinterstehenden Mechanismen Schüler:innen in der Schule näherzubringen, um ihre Medienkompetenz zu fördern, sie vor den Risiken zu schützen oder sich zumindest der Risiken bewusst zu sein. Zudem könnte Social Media ein geeignetes Tool sein, um Kommunikationsprozesse in der Schule zu erleichtern. Um die Frage, wie die Nutzung von Social Media in der Schule aussehen sollte, spinnt sich jedoch eine Diskussion, die im Folgenden näher beleuchtet werden soll. Hierfür wird sich nun zunächst der Frage gewidmet, wie sich derzeit die rechtliche Situation in Baden-Württemberg in Bezug auf Social Media in der Schule darstellt.Einsatz von Social Media in Schulen in Baden-Württemberg - rechtliche Lage Auf Basis des Ergebnisberichtes der Innenministerkonferenz vom 4. April 2012, die unter anderem Empfehlungen für die Verwendung von Social Media durch öffentliche Stellen gab, wurde 2013 vom Ministerium für Kultus, Jugend und Sport BW die Handreichung "Der Einsatz von 'Sozialen Medien' an Schulen" veröffentlicht (vgl. Ministerium für Kultus, Jugend und Sport BW, 2013, S. 2). Hierin wird ausdrücklich darauf hingewiesen, dass die Kommunikation über Soziale Netzwerke, wie beispielsweise Facebook oder Twitter, zwischen Schüler:innen und Lehrkräften sowie zwischen Lehrkräften aus datenschutzrechtlichen Gründen nicht erlaubt sei (vgl. ebd., S. 1).Grund hierfür sei, dass die Verarbeitung von personenbezogenen Daten im Rahmen der Schule unzulässig sei, wenn der Server des Anbieters außerhalb des europäischen Wirtschaftsraumes liegt oder ein Zugriff außerhalb dieser Zone möglich ist (vgl. ebd.). Bei "Fanpages" von Schulen auf Facebook sei die rechtliche Lage noch nicht umfassend geklärt. Das Ministerium empfiehlt in dem Papier, auf herkömmliche Homepages auszuweichen, und betont, dass bei der Nutzung der Fanpages auf die Veröffentlichung personenbezogener Daten oder Bilder von Schüler:innen verzichtet werden müsse.Ebenso unzulässig sei das Installieren von "Social Plugins" wie z.B. der "Like-Button" auf Facebook (vgl. ebd., S. 2). Erlaubt hingegen sei grundsätzlich das Behandeln des Themas "soziale Medien im Unterricht" und in diesem Zuge auch eine Nutzung bereits bestehender Accounts der Schüler:innen als Anschauungsmaterial. Hierbei müsse jedoch eine Freiwilligkeit der Schüler:innen sichergestellt sein (vgl. ebd.).Nach Veröffentlichung des Papiers kam Kritik auf. So beklagten Lehrende, dass Social Media oft das unkomplizierteste Werkzeug sei, um mit Schüler:innen in Kontakt zu treten, da sie diese im Alltag verwenden würden und andere Kommunikationswege wie beispielsweise E-Mail nicht genutzt würden (vgl. Trenkamp 2013, o.S.). Auch Stimmen von Lehrpersonen aus anderen Bundesländern wurden laut, welche die Vorteile der Kommunikation über Social Media als niedrigschwelliges Kommunikationsmittel gerade für Schüler:innen in prekären Lebensverhältnissen hervorhoben (vgl. Feynberg 2013, o.S.).Der Schweizer Medienpädagoge Philippe Wampfler sieht es gar als Paradox an, Schüler:innen vor den Gefahren der Sozialen Medien beschützen zu wollen, indem man sie aus der Schule verbannt (vgl. Wampfler, 2014, S. 126f.). Jedoch gab es auch Stimmen, die Zustimmung zu dem Papier äußerten (vgl. Breining, 2013, o.S.). Im Folgenden soll nun näher beleuchtet werden, wie Social Media im Kontext des Unterrichts überhaupt genutzt werden könnte und welche Chancen und Risiken dies mit sich bringen kann.Möglichkeiten und Chancen des Einsatzes von Social Media im UnterrichtDer Schweizer Medienpädagoge Philippe Wampfler sieht grundsätzlich zwei Möglichkeiten, Social Media im Unterricht einzusetzen: "[…] einerseits als Teil einer grundlegenden Vermittlung von Medienkompetenz […], andererseits als Hilfestellung für Lernprozesse" (Wampfler, 2016, S. 109). Im Folgenden soll sich zur näheren Betrachtung an dieser Unterteilung orientiert werden, auch wenn diese zwei Bereiche sicherlich nicht ganz trennscharf voneinander abzugrenzen sind und einige didaktisch-methodische Konzepte sich beiden Kategorien zuordnen lassen würden. Auch können im Rahmen dieser Arbeit nur einige Möglichkeiten vorgestellt werden. Die folgende Aufzählung erhebt somit keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit. Weitere, teilweise sehr viel detaillierte Vorschläge für den Einsatz finden sich hier hier und in weiteren Artikeln auf diesem Blog.Hilfestellung für LernprozesseKommunikationEin recht offensichtlicher Einsatz von Social Media im Kontext des Unterrichts ist die Kommunikation zwischen Lehrer:innen und Schüler:innen über die entsprechenden Plattformen. Inhalte der Kommunikation könnten hierbei Hausaufgaben, Verspätungen o.ä. sein. Schüler:innen sind über Social Media meist schneller zu erreichen als über die herkömmliche E-Mail, da sie diese auch privat nutzen (vgl. Wampfler, 2014, S. 127). Wie oben bereits erwähnt, kann dies gerade bei Schüler:innen aus prekären Lebensverhältnissen ein gutes Hilfsmittel darstellen, da die Kommunikation so recht spontan und niedrigschwellig vonstattengehen kann (vgl. Feynberg, 2013, o.S.).WissensmanagementNeben der Kommunikation zwischen Schüler:innen und Lehrer:innen sieht Wampfler in Social Media auch ein geeignetes Werkzeug für Wissensmanagement von Lehrer:innen. Mit Wissensmanagement meint er den Prozess, wie neue Informationen gefunden, gesammelt, strukturiert und schließlich verarbeitet werden. (vgl. ebd., S. 99) So könnten bestimmte Tools genutzt werden, um relevante Artikel auf Social Media zu sammeln und zu strukturieren. Blogs und Wikis könnten dazu genutzt werden, Ideen und Unterrichtspläne zu veröffentlichen. Vorteil hierbei sei, dass die Inhalte fortlaufend aktualisiert werden könnten. Auch zur Vernetzung von Wissen seien Soziale Medien geeignet (vgl. ebd. S. 100).KollaborationEine weitere Möglichkeit, Social Media zu nutzen, besteht darin, in Teams über Social Media zu arbeiten. So kann beispielsweise über Google Docs gemeinsam an Dokumenten geschrieben werden. Auch auf Blogs und in Wikis kann Wissen vernetzt, diskutiert und gemeinsam erarbeitet werden. Ebenso stellt die Videotelefonie ein geeignetes Werkzeug da, um ohne Fahrtwege gemeinsam an einem Projekt zu arbeiten. (vgl. Wampfler, 2016, S. 100f.) Dies sind Tools (von den genannten oder anderen Anbietern), die während der Corona-Pandemie im Online-Unterricht genutzt wurden und somit auch allgemeine Verbreitung gefunden haben, sodass bei vielen Schüler:innen zumindest ein grobes Wissen über die Nutzung dieser Werkzeuge vorhanden sein dürfte.Weitere EinsatzmöglichkeitenWie schon in den vorherigen Abschnitten angeklungen, lässt sich Social Media nicht nur für einzelne Aufgaben in eigens dafür vorgesehenen Fächern nutzen. Denkbar wäre es, den Gebrauch von Social Media fächerübergreifend zu etablieren und nicht nur in einem eigens dafür eingerichteten Schulfach. (vgl. ebd. S. 109) Besonders anbieten würden sich hierfür laut Wampfler Projektlernen oder andere selbstgesteuerte Lernphasen. Geeignet seien offene Arbeitsaufträge, die die Schüler:innen dann in Form von Lernjournalen bearbeiten. Hieraus würden Lehrer:innen dann wieder Kernideen entnehmen, aus denen sie dann neue Arbeitsaufträge erstellen. Die Lernjournale könnten beispielsweise durch Blogs ersetzt werden, bei denen auch Mitschüler:innen kommentieren und verlinken könnten, sodass ein Wissensnetzwerk entstehe (vgl. ebd., S. 110).Auch der Einsatz eines Backchannels, also eine Möglichkeit für Schüler:innen, per Endgerät still Fragen zu stellen, sei eine Option, Social Media im Unterricht zu etablieren. Dies hätte den Vorteil, dass eventuell auch stillere Schüler:innen sich zu Wort melden würden (vgl. ebd., S. 111). Entscheidend bei allen Einsatzmöglichkeiten sei aber immer auch die Medienreflexion. So müsse immer gefragt werden, an welcher Stelle der Medieneinsatz sinnvoll sei und ob eventuell auch Mechanismen aus der digitalen Welt in die Offline-Welt übertragen werden könnten (soziale Netzwerke knüpfen, individuelles Lernen usw.) (vgl. ebd. S. 112).Vermittlung von MedienkompetenzWie oben erwähnt, nennt Wampfler die Vermittlung von Medienkompetenz als ein Ziel der Nutzung von Social Media im Kontext des Unterrichts. Da es den Rahmen dieser Arbeit sprengen würde, an dieser Stelle den Medienkompetenzbegriff ausführlich darzustellen (näheres hier), wird sich im Folgenden an der Definition Baackes und den dort genannten vier Aufgabenfeldern Medienkritik, Mediennutzung, Medienkunde und Mediengestaltung orientiert. Auch wenn diese Definition und Unterteilung in der Vergangenheit kritisiert und weiterentwickelt wurde (vgl. bspw. Vollbrecht 2001, S. 52ff.), bietet sie dennoch eine grobe Kategorisierung, die für die Zwecke dieser Arbeit ausreichend erscheint.MedienkritikNach Baacke umfasst Medienkritik eine analytische, eine reflexive und eine ethische Dimension. Es sollen also gesellschaftliche Prozesse und ihre Folgen im Zusammenhang mit den Medien erkannt werden, dieses Wissen auf sich selbst angewendet und sozial verantwortet werden können (vgl. Baacke, 1996, S. 120). Im Zusammenhang mit Social Media scheinen hier vor allem zwei Punkte relevant zu sein. Erstens wird es durch die Masse an Informationen, die über Social Media geteilt wird, immer schwieriger, Fakten von Unwahrheiten oder Meinungen zu unterscheiden. Gerade im Zusammenhang mit Verschwörungstheorien scheint es sinnvoll, Schüler:innen zu vermitteln, wie sie seriöse von unseriösen Quellen unterscheiden können.Wampfler schlägt hier vor, auf der einen Seite auf herkömmliche Quellenkunde zu setzen (also die Frage danach, wer Urheber:in ist, auf welcher Seite die Information veröffentlicht wurde usw.) und auf der anderen Seite im Unterricht digitale Werkzeuge näherzubringen, die bei der Überprüfung helfen können (z.B. Google Bildersuche) (vgl. Wampfler, 2014, S. 131). Denkbar ist hierbei, dies nicht nur theoretisch aufzuzeigen, sondern auch durch praktische Übungen (reicht in den Bereich der Mediennutzung und Medienkunde hinein) im Unterricht auszuprobieren.Zweitens scheint es wichtig, Interessen der Social Media-Betreiber:innen und anderer beteiligter Akteur:innen zu kennen. Nach bekanntgewordenen Fällen wie "Cambridge Analytica" und der Diskussion um den "Filterblaseneffekt" ist klar, dass Algorithmen einen großen Einfluss auf Individuen, aber auch die ganze Gesellschaft haben können. Auch hier kann im Unterricht auf der einen Seite theoretisch aufgeklärt, aber auch praktische Erfahrung gesammelt werden, die dann gemeinsam reflektiert werden sollte.MedienkundeDie Medienkunde umfasst eine informative und eine instrumentell-qualifikatorische Dimension. Die informative Dimension beinhaltet Wissen über das Medium an sich (also z.B. Was sind soziale Medien), während die instrumentell-qualifikatorische Dimension die Fähigkeit bezeichnet, ein Mediengerät bedienen zu können (vgl. Baacke 1996, S. 120). In der heutigen Zeit ist davon auszugehen, dass viele Schüler:innen ein grundlegendes Verständnis davon haben werden, wie Social Media zu bedienen sind. Einzelne Funktionen oder wichtige Einstellungen z.B. zum Datenschutz werden jedoch vermutlich nicht bekannt sein. Gerade in der Primarstufe könnten altersgerechte und praktische Anleitungen hilfreich sein, um einen sicheren Umgang zu gewährleisten.MediennutzungBei der Mediennutzung geht es sowohl um die rezeptive als auch die interaktive Nutzung des Mediums (vgl. Baacke 1996, S. 120). Neben der recht offensichtlichen Rolle des Users als Rezipient scheint hier die interaktive Nutzung in Bezug auf das Lernen interessant. Wampfler betont in diesem Zusammenhang, wie wichtig Netzwerke in der heutigen Zeit sind. Als wichtige Kompetenz nennt er das Erstellen von sogenannten "Persönlichen Lernnetzwerken" (PLN). Hiermit ist gemeint, sich ein Netzwerk an Wissensquellen und Austausch mit anderen aufzubauen.Diese Beschreibung geht zurück auf Howard Rheingold, der den Begriff "Personal Learning Network" in seinem Buch "Net Smart" popularisierte. Im Idealfall würden, laut Wampfler, Lernprozesse durch das PLN vollständig individualisiert und reflektiert (vgl. ebd., S. 102). PLN würden durch die Vernetzung zu Anderen soziales Kapital bedeuten und somit zu eigenen Lernprozessen außerhalb der Institution Schule befähigen und seien somit eine Schlüsselkompetenz für das weitere Leben (vgl. ebd. f.).Diese speziell auf das Lernen ausgerichtete Mediennutzung ist vermutlich eine Art der Nutzung Sozialer Medien, die viele Schüler:innen nicht kennen, daher kann es sinnvoll sein, die Erstellung eines PLN bereits im Unterricht einzuüben. Hierfür wäre es hilfreich, die Nutzung von Social Media regelmäßig im Unterricht zu implementieren und so im Lauf der Zeit Schüler:innen die Möglichkeit zu geben, Netzwerke zu erstellen.MediengestaltungHier unterteilt Baacke in die innovative (Veränderung und Weiterentwicklung des Mediensystems) und die kreative (ästhetische Weiterentwicklung) Dimension. In Bezug auf Social Media würde dies bedeuten, im Unterricht auch darauf einzugehen, wie Social Media Sites erstellt und gestaltet werden können. Dies könnte beispielsweise geschehen, indem eigene Blogs erstellt und so grundlegende Funktionen nähergebracht werden. Hierbei könnte beispielsweise auch auf Gestaltungsregeln von Blogbeiträgen o.ä. hingewiesen werden. Diese Grundlagen würden Schüler:innen dazu befähigen, von diesem Punkt aus eigenständig zu experimentieren und neue Ideen zu entwickeln. Sicherlich ist auch denkbar, im Rahmen des Informatikunterrichts tiefer in das Programmieren einzusteigen und somit das Verständnis für das Programmieren z.B. einer App oder Website zu erhöhen.Risiken und beachtenswerte Punkte beim Einsatz von Social Media im UnterrichtNeben den Möglichkeiten, Social Media im Unterricht einzusetzen, und den damit einhergehenden Chancen bestehen jedoch auch Risiken, auf die nachfolgend näher eingegangen werden soll. Auch hier stellt diese Arbeit keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit. Es werden lediglich einige Punkte exemplarisch herausgegriffen.Lehrpersonen auf Social MediaDie Kommunikation mit Schüler:innen über Social Media kann, wie oben bereits erläutert, einige Vorteile mit sich bringen. Jedoch gilt es hierbei einiges zu beachten. Zunächst einmal stellt sich die Frage, ob Lehrpersonen in ihrer beruflichen Rolle überhaupt auf Social Media vertreten und mit Schüler:innen "befreundet" (oder je nach Plattform auch "abonniert") sein sollten. Die hier lauernde Problematik ist die der Vermischung von Privatem und Beruflichen.Dies kann einerseits für Lehrer:innen unangenehm sein, wenn Schüler:innen private Inhalte einsehen können, die Lehrer:innen lieber unter Verschluss gehalten hätten, oder es sogar zu Mobbing von Seiten der Schüler:innen kommt (vgl. z.B. o. A. 2021, o.S.). Eine größere Gefahr besteht hierbei jedoch für die Schüler:innen selbst. Zum einen kann von Seiten der Lehrpersonen in ihre Privatsphäre eingedrungen werden, wenn unbeabsichtigt Inhalte einsehbar sind, die sie nicht mit der Lehrperson teilen möchten, zum anderen besteht durch die Vermischung von Privatem und Beruflichem die Gefahr des Missbrauchs.Beim sogenannten "Cybergrooming" werden Kinder und Jugendliche über Soziale Plattformen manipuliert mit dem Ziel einer sexuell motivierten Straftat. Im privaten Chat auf Social Media können Grenzen verschwimmen. Die Kommunikation zwischen Lehrer:in und Schüler:in gestaltet sich wie ein Gespräch unter Freund:innen. Gepostete Bilder können Anlass zu übergriffigen Kommentaren sein. Auch wenn Missbrauch auch in der Offline-Welt stattfindet, scheint Social Media eine erhöhte Gefahr oder zumindest eine zusätzliche Gelegenheit für Täter:innen darzustellen.Philippe Wampfler empfiehlt trotz der Risiken eine Social Media-Präsenz für Lehrpersonen ausdrücklich, mit der Begründung, dass eine gute Aufklärung seitens der Lehrkräfte über Social Media nur stattfinden könne, wenn diese sich selbst mit dem Medium auskennen würden (vgl. Wampfler 2016, S. 92). Wie diese Präsenz auf Social Media aussähe und ob diese auch zur Kommunikation mit Schüler:innen genutzt werde, bleibe der Lehrkraft selbst überlassen. Jedoch sei es wichtig, diese Entscheidung bewusst zu treffen und je nach gewählter Variante bestimmte Regeln einzuhalten.So sollte die Präsenz auf Sozialen Netzwerken grundsätzlich zurückhaltend gestaltet sein. Zudem sollte von Anfang an ein Ziel formuliert werden, vor dessen Hintergrund das Profil angelegt wird (vgl. ebd., S. 93). Gründe für Lehrer:innen, auf Social Media präsent zu sein, könnten beispielsweise die bereits oben genannte Aneignung von Kompetenzen, Wissensmanagement, Vernetzung, Begleitung des Unterrichts oder auch Publikation von Unterrichtsmaterialen sein (ebd.).In jedem Fall stelle sich für Lehrkräfte die Frage, inwiefern sie ihre private und berufliche Internetpräsenz vermischen sollten. Hierbei stellt Wampfler vier Möglichkeiten zur Auswahl. Einerseits könnten Lehrer:innen ihr privates und berufliches Profil komplett miteinander verbinden. Hier müsse darauf geachtet werden, dass das private Profil immer auch kompatibel mit dem beruflichen Kontext bleibe und erfordere daher ein starkes Bewusstsein. Vorteil hierbei sei, dass der Auftritt bei guter Ausführung besonders authentisch wirke.Eine weitere Möglichkeit sei, zwei Profile anzulegen: Eines für den beruflichen und ein anderes für den privaten Kontext. Dies sei zwar mit etwas Mehrarbeit verbunden, jedoch sei eine klare Abgrenzung einfacher möglich. Auch die Trennung von Netzwerken sei denkbar, sodass für den schulischen Kontext beispielsweise nur Facebook und für die private Nutzung nur Twitter verwendet würde. Eine vierte Möglichkeit sei die vollkommene Abstinenz von Social Media. Diese empfiehlt Wampfler aus den oben genannten Gründen nicht (vgl. ebd. S. 95f.).Eine Möglichkeit, die er an dieser Stelle außen vor lässt, ist die der ausschließlich privaten Nutzung von Social Media, die jedoch ebenso legitim erscheint vor dem Hintergrund, dass Lehrkräfte damit dem Problem der Vermischung von Privatem und Öffentlichem aus dem Weg gehen und trotzdem Kompetenzen in dem Bereich Social Media sammeln könnten. Falls sich dafür entschieden wurde, über Social Media mit Schüler:innen zu kommunizieren, sollten in Absprache mit allen Beteiligten vorher festgelegte Regeln eingehalten werden, die sowohl für die Schulleitung und Lehrer:innen als auch die Schüler:innen und Eltern transparent gemacht werden sollten (vgl. ebd. S. 96).DatenschutzEin weiteres Risiko des Einsatzes von Social Media im Kontext des Unterrichts stellt die Verletzung des Datenschutzes dar. Wenn Social Media selbstverständlich im Unterricht genutzt würde, wären Schüler:innen gezwungen, sich auf den entsprechenden Plattformen anzumelden. Die Server der meisten gebräuchlichen Anbieter sind jedoch in den USA verortet. Die dort geltenden Datenschutzstandards sind nicht mit europäischen Recht vereinbar. Auch die AGBs stehen nicht mit dem deutschen Datenschutzrecht im Einklang.Zudem lässt sich die Frage stellen, wie ein kritisches Hinterfragen der Datenschutzregelungen möglich ist, wenn Social Media in der Schule zum alltäglichen Gebrauch gehört. Denkbar wäre jedoch hier, Plattformen wie Moodle o.ä. zu nutzen, deren Server in Deutschland liegen und die mit dem deutschen und europäischen Datenschutz vereinbar sind. Ebenfalls können Schüler:innen über die Datenschutzproblematik aufgeklärt werden, der heute fast niemand mehr entgehen kann. Jugendliche brauchen hierfür, wie Wampfler es ausdrückt: "(…) nicht nur Anleitungen, sondern Visionen" (Wampfler 2014, S. 107).Neurowissenschaftliche KomponenteAn dieser Stelle sollen kurz Bedenken aufgeführt werden, die sich eher grundsätzlich gegen den Einsatz von digitalen Medien im Unterricht richten, die jedoch auch im Umgang mit Social Media als beachtenswert erscheinen. Es gibt Stimmen, die sich entschieden gegen den Einsatz digitaler Medien im Unterricht aussprechen. Ein prominenter Vertreter ist hier der Neurowissenschaftler und Psychiater Manfred Spitzer.Er führt viele Gründe gegen das digitale Lernen an, die an dieser Stelle nicht alle diskutiert werden können. In Bezug auf Social Media scheint vor allem die verkürzte Aufmerksamkeitsspanne durch die regelmäßige Nutzung digitaler Medien relevant (vgl. Spitzer 2019, S. 117). Durch die Fülle an Reizen und Informationen und den hohen Aufforderungscharakter Sozialer Medien fällt es häufig schwer, sich auf eine Aufgabe zu konzentrieren. Spitzer argumentiert, der Einsatz von digitalen Medien im Unterricht sei daher kontraproduktiv. Er vertritt die These, dass das regelmäßige Multitasking, welches durch digitale Medien provoziert werde, zu dauerhaften Störungen der gerichteten Aufmerksamkeit führe (vgl. ebd., S. 115).Dadurch, dass Soziale Medien häufig so gestaltet sind, dass sie die Aufmerksamkeit der User:innen möglichst lange auf sich ziehen, besteht womöglich zudem die Gefahr einer "Sucht". Dies ist bisher nur in Bezug auf Online-Gaming eine offizielle Diagnose und wird in der Literatur kontrovers diskutiert (vgl. Winkler, Dörsing, Rief, Shen, & Glombiewski 2013, S. 326f.).Nachdem hier ein kurzer Einblick in die Möglichkeiten und Risiken der Nutzung von Social Media im Kontext des Unterrichts gegeben wurde, soll sich im Folgenden der Frage gewidmet werden, welche dieser Einsatzmöglichkeiten in Baden-Württemberg zulässig wären und welche Vor- und Nachteile sich hieraus ergeben.Was ist in Baden-Württemberg möglich? – Vor- und NachteileOben wurden die Einsatzmöglichkeiten nach "Hilfestellung für Lernprozesse" und "Vermittlung von Medienkompetenz" unterteilt. Social Media als Hilfestellung für Lernprozesse sind in Baden-Württemberg nur begrenzt nutzbar. Als Kommunikationsmittel ist Social Media in diesem Bundesland auszuschließen. Hiermit geht einerseits die Chance verloren, gerade Kindern und Jugendlichen aus prekären Lebensverhältnissen ein niedrigschwelliges Kommunikationsangebot zu bieten. Als Vorteil ergibt sich hier, dass weder Schüler:innen noch Lehrer:innen dazu gezwungen sind, Social Media zu nutzen und sich somit der problematischen Datenschutzlage auszusetzen.Als privates Wissensmanagementsystem können Lehrer:innen Social Media in Baden-Württemberg durchaus nutzen, solang hierbei keine personenbezogenen Daten von Kolleg:innen oder Schüler:innen preisgegeben werden müssen. Im Unterricht können Schüler:innen auf diese Möglichkeit der Social Media-Nutzung auch hingewiesen werden, ein aktives Einüben dieser Praxis, scheint jedoch nicht praktikabel, da dies eine intensive Social Media-Nutzung im Unterricht voraussetzen würde. Ähnliches gilt für das Erstellen eines Persönlichen Lernnetzwerkes, welches aktiv in den Unterricht miteingebunden werden müsste.Die Möglichkeit der Kollaboration über gängige Social Media-Plattformen gibt es in Baden-Württemberg zwar nicht (außer Schüler:innen entscheiden sich privat, dies zu tun), jedoch können hierfür datenschutzrechtlich unbedenkliche Plattformen wie z.B. "Moodle" oder "Big Blue Button" genutzt werden. Der Vorteil hierbei ist selbstredend die Einhaltung des Datenschutzes und dass Schüler:innen in sicherem Rahmen Funktionen wie Videotelefonie oder geteilte Dokumente im Kontext des gemeinsamen Arbeitens kennenlernen können. Nachteilig könnte sein, dass die Tools und Programme zunächst neu installiert und kennengelernt werden müssen.Hierbei stellen diese "sicheren" Plattformen nach der oben genannten Definition von Ellison und Boyd streng genommen keine bzw. nur eingeschränkt "social media sites" im herkömmlichen Sinne dar, da die Vernetzungsmöglichkeiten nur sehr begrenzt bestehen. Dies betrifft auch ein "fächerübergreifendes Social Media Konzept". Dies ist aufgrund des Datenschutzes nur mit bestimmten Programmen möglich und bietet somit einen sicheren, aber nicht annähernd so komplexen Rahmen, wie die gängigen Social Media Netzwerke.Im Bereich der Medienkompetenz lässt sich feststellen, dass Medienkritik im Unterricht in Baden-Württemberg sicherlich über Gespräche über Social Media und einzelne Profile als Anschauungsmaterial vermittelt werden kann. Hierbei kann vor allem die analytische und ethische Komponente berücksichtigt werden. Das Reflektieren über die eigene Nutzung muss ohnehin von Schüler:innen selbst vollzogen werden. Bei einer direkteren Begleitung auf Social Media wäre es jedoch der Lehrperson eventuell möglich, gezieltere Reflexionsanregungen zu geben.Die Medienkunde scheint von der rechtlichen Situation in Baden-Württemberg nur wenig beeinträchtigt zu sein. Viele Schüler:innen wissen bereits, wie sie die Endgeräte bedienen und was Social Media ist. Im Zweifel könnte dies jedoch auch im Unterricht vermittelt werden, ohne dass der Datenschutz verletzt würde. Die Mediennutzung kann im Unterricht in Baden-Württemberg zwar theoretisch besprochen und an Beispielen auch aufgezeigt werden, jedoch scheint ein intensives Einüben einer gezielten Nutzung von Social Media für das Lernen schwierig, da die gängigen Plattformen nur begrenzt zur Verfügung stehen.Bei dem Vermitteln der Social Media-Gestaltung ergeben sich durch die Gesetzgebung in Baden-Württemberg eingeschränkte Möglichkeiten. Hier ist es denkbar, datenschutzkonforme Blogs zu Hilfe zu nehmen, um die Möglichkeiten und Regeln der Gestaltung zu vermitteln. Natürlich ist auch das Erlernen von Programmierung im Rahmen des Unterrichts möglich.Durch die eingeschränkte Nutzung von Social Media im Kontext des Unterrichts wird einigen Risiken vorgebeugt. Auf der Hand liegt der Schutz der personenbezogenen Daten, aber auch die Gefahr des Verschwimmens von Grenzen und des Missbrauchs von Schüler:innen über Social Media sinkt, wenn es Lehrer:innen verboten ist, über diesen Weg mit Schüler:innen zu kommunizieren. Was die Störung der gerichteten Aufmerksamkeit durch Social Media angeht, kann noch nicht sicher gesagt werden, ob eine Vermeidung von Social Media in der Schule oder das intensive Einüben der Nutzung dieser Plattformen in der Schule unter Anleitung eine geeignete Maßnahme darstellt.FazitDiese Arbeit beschäftigte sich mit der Frage, welche Möglichkeiten des Umgangs mit und Einsatzes von Social Media im Kontext des Unterrichts bestehen, inwiefern sie in Baden-Württemberg rechtlich umgesetzt werden dürfen und welche Vor- und Nachteile sich hieraus ergeben. Hierfür wurde zunächst kurz der Begriff "Social Media" näher beleuchtet. Im anschließenden Kapitel wurde die rechtliche Situation in Bezug auf den Einsatz von Social Media in Baden-Württemberg erläutert und dann auf die grundsätzlichen Möglichkeiten und Risiken des Einsatzes von und der Beschäftigung mit Social Media eingegangen. Schließlich wurde aufgrund der gesammelten Informationen analysiert, welche der genannten Möglichkeiten in Baden-Württemberg zulässig erscheinen und welche Vor- und Nachteile sich hieraus ergeben.Die Analyse ergab, dass an Schulen in Baden-Württemberg Social Media eingeschränkt sowohl als Hilfsmittel für Lernprozesse als auch mit dem Ziel der Förderung der Medienkompetenz eingesetzt werden kann. Die größte Einschränkung, die sich hierbei ergibt, ist, dass die herkömmlichen und weit verbreiteten Social Media-Netzwerke nicht aktiv und als alltägliches "Arbeitswerkzeug" in den Unterricht eingebunden werden können.Überraschend war jedoch zu sehen, dass die Möglichkeit besteht, dass Schüler:innen und Lehrer:innen bestehende Social Media-Profile freiwillig zu Lernzwecken nutzen und somit der "Einsatz" von Social Media nicht grundsätzlich ausgeschlossen ist. Die Begründung für die Beschränkungen ist die Einhaltung des Datenschutzes, hieraus ergeben sich weitere Vorteile. So sinkt die Gefahr des Missbrauchs von Schüler:innen durch Lehrpersonen über Social Media und es besteht möglicherweise ein geringeres Ablenkungspotenzial durch Soziale Medien im Unterricht.Eine Frage, die sich im Verlauf dieser Arbeit immer wieder aufdrängte, ist, ob zur Vermittlung von Medienkompetenz ein intensiver und alltäglicher Gebrauch der herkömmlichen Social Media-Netzwerke notwendig ist. Letztendlich kann diese Arbeit diese Frage nicht klären. Hier finden sich in der Literatur stark widersprüchliche Stimmen und es bedarf sicherlich weiterer Forschung auf diesem Gebiet.Bei Durchsicht der Literatur war zudem auffällig, dass sich nur wenige Konzepte finden, wie Social Media überhaupt sinnvoll in den Unterricht integriert werden könnte. Auch hier besteht weiterhin Forschungsbedarf bzw. eventuell eine höhere Sensibilisierung für das Thema "Lernen und Social Media", welches in Zukunft sicherlich weiter an Bedeutung gewinnen wird.LiteraturBaacke, D. (1996). 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Introducción La televisión es considerada como un instrumento socializador modelador de conciencias y, sobre todo, incitador de la creación de la opinión pública en programas de carácter sensacionalista. En este sentido, este estudio basado en la sociedad del espectáculo tiene como finalidad analizar los efectos negativos que pueden desarrollarse a través del consumo de los estereotipos, el discurso televisivo y las prácticas de la audiencia en el visionado de este modelo de programas. A partir de los criterios y bases de estudio seleccionadas, se pretende establecer una comparativa, a nivel europeo entre España e Italia, mediante una instrumentación adecuada para conocer los perfiles individuales de los programas, así como de sus audiencias. De esta manera, se han seleccionado los programas «Corazón» de «TVE1» de titularidad pública, «Sálvame» de «Telecinco», privado y, «La vita in diretta» de «RAI 1», de titularidad pública y «Pomeriggio Cinque » de «Canale 5» privado. La meta de este estudio es obtener unos resultados concretos que validen la repercusión mediática de este tipo de programas de carácter sensacionalista. A partir de este objetivo se propondrán una serie de propuestas formativas. Objetivos El objetivo general de esta Tesis Doctoral consiste en analizar la programación de las cadenas públicas y privadas de los países de la Unión Europea (España-Italia) para destacar las claves del discurso televisivo, los estereotipos ideológicos y los hábitos de la audiencia en la televisión de carácter sensacionalista. Además, se abordarán 5 objetivos específicos: analizar los hábitos y tipos de audiencia de programas televisivos para conocer perfiles individuales; examinar contenidos y hábitos en los programas sensacionalistas de canales públicos y privados de España e Italia desde la perspectiva de la audiencia; analizar los discursos televisivos en programas televisivos sensacionalistas de España e Italia; descubrir diferentes estereotipos en los programas sensacionalistas a partir de análisis de contenidos y los percibidos por la audiencia; y observar estrategias de percepción crítica en la audiencia para la recepción de los mensajes sensacionalista. Método Esta investigación está compuesta por dos estudios. En primer lugar, se realizó un análisis cualitativo de la muestra audiovisual seleccionada en ambos países de la Unión Europea (España e Italia). Para ello, se llevó a cabo, con ayuda de la técnica conocida como la semana construida de Stempel, la transcripción de 16 emisiones (4 por programa). De esta manera, este primer estudio ha abordado a través de un análisis de contenido apoyado de observación no participante, así como un análisis sociodemográfico de los contenidos y sus protagonistas. Además, para conocer los valores comprendidos en las programaciones se ha tenido en cuenta la escala de Schwarzt. Por otro lado, en el segundo estudio, se ha validado un cuestionario para medir los hábitos de la audiencia frente al consumo de este modelo de programa. Por lo tanto, una vez validado y aceptado por expertos profesionales en materia de educomunicación se ha procedido a evaluar a la sociedad española e italiana. El cuestionario está conformado en dos bloques: por un lado, los primeros 15 ítems están relacionados con un estudio socio-demográfico de la población, y por otro lado, los 30 ítems restantes evalúan mediante escala Likert (donde el 1 es totalmente desacuerdo y el 5 totalmente de acuerdo) las prácticas de consumo de ambas sociedades europeas. Para analizar los resultados se ha utilizado el programa estadístico SPSS, estableciendo previamente las dimensiones y variables de estudio. Resultados Con respecto al estudio 1, el visionado de la muestra seleccionada «Corazón » y «Sálvame» (España) y «La vita in diretta» y «Pomeriggio cinque» (Italia) generan en el espectador ideas fundamentadas en el estatus social que se le presenta, así como representaciones de la calidad informativa en las distintas cadenas de televisión.El perfil de estos programas se caracteriza por utilizar los reportajes y crónicas, las entrevistas como los géneros televisivos más demandados en las cadenas de titularidad pública. Mientras que en las cadenas privadas se tiende a usar con mayor frecuencia las críticas y comentarios ante este mismo perfil. Además, se identifican por ser de producción nacional en máxima totalidad y desarrollados en escenarios artificiales exceptuando los reportajes que se realizan en escenarios naturales. En cuanto a la temática más frecuentada en sus contenidos, esta se vincula con temas relacionados con el amor, la familia, las noticias de divulgación y los «realities shows» perteneciendo este último tema solo a cadenas privadas. Por otro lado, atendiendo a las figuras protagonistas de los contenidos audiovisuales, se identifican en profesionales de la información y en personajes populares. Los periodistas que desarrollan los contenidos se identifican por ser en su mayoría mujeres debido a la carga emotiva de sus informaciones, así como el presentador específico o colaborador del programa. En cuanto a los personajes populares, en España, prevalece el sector femenino, de clase media, de origen nacional y de edades comprendidas entre 20 y 40 años. La única diferencia palpable en los cuatro programas se observa en la ocupación de los personajes populares, mientras que en la cadena pública optan por los meritócratas, la cadena privada prefiere los famosos por relación. Por su parte, el perfil de consumidor en Italia es el de hombre, de clase social media-alta, de procedencia nacional, meritócrata y de edades comprendidas entre los 20 y 60 años. Por último, en relación al lenguaje, este se determina por el uso del lenguaje periodístico apoyado de coloquialismo por parte de los profesionales de la información y el uso de lenguaje coloquial y discursivo por parte de los personajes del mundo de la farándula. Además, el sistema de signos y la comunicación no verbal están inmersos en el total de las retransmisiones, estableciendo un vínculo entre el receptor y el emisor del mensaje. En el estudio 2, el análisis de los resultados recogidos a través de la encuesta demuestra que el perfil español se caracteriza por consumir televisión durante toda la franja horaria de la cadena privada, «Telecinco» (43%) elegida en su mayoría, frente a la cadena de titularidad pública «TVE 1» (42%). Además, optan por el visionado del programa «Sálvame» con un 27% (privado), «Corazón» con un 12% (público) y un 61% niegan consumir ambos programas. Por otro lado, los programas de carácter sensacionalista son más consumidos en entornos rurales (2,81) que en entornos urbanos (2,71) según la media obtenida. En cuanto al perfil individual del espectador, este se identifica con una persona de una media de 65 años, mujer, sin diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la ocupación que desempeñe y con estudios de nivel bajo. Por su parte, el perfil italiano se define por el visionado de la televisión en franja horaria de tarde. Además, apuestan por la cadena de titularidad pública «RAI 1» (56%) frente a la privada «Canale 5» (39%). En cuanto a la elección de los programas de carácter sensacionalista, consumen con un 28% «Pomeriggio cinque» (privado), frente al 21% de «La vita in diretta» (público) y al 51% que señalan que no frecuentan ninguno. Por otro lado, el entorno urbano asciende en la media (2,86) frente a los entornos rurales (2,76) a la hora de consumir los programas de crónica «rosa». Por último, el perfil particular del televidente italiano es una mujer con una media de 65 años dedicada a los cuidados del hogar y con estudios de nivel bajo. Conclusiones En relación al estudio 1 se concluye que la batalla constante a la que se ven sometidas las cadenas de titularidad pública y privada, provocan que los espectadores se encuentren expuestos a la sobresaturación e infoxicación de los mensajes que transmiten a diario en su programación. Sin duda, los contenidos basados en el entretenimiento y temas de variedad son aquellos que suscitan mayor interés en la audiencia, a pesar de las faltas de respetos y constantes vulgarismos arraigados. En este sentido, los valores negativos y el enmascaramiento de la realidad son candentes en sus contenidos y los entrevistados tienden a enlazar el sensacionalismo únicamente con los programas conocidos como «telebasura» o programas de corazón. Por otro lado, en relación a los estereotipos arraigados en este tipo de programas, la figura femenina ocupa un segundo lugar en la sociedad actual, señalada como el sexo débil, imperando el machismo en los contenidos televisivos. Asimismo, las minorías, etnias o grupos marginales no cuentan con el respeto a la imagen de sus colectivos, provocando discriminación y desigualdad entre los espectadores. En este sentido, es necesario educar a los telespectadores para evitar que se mantengan estas diferencias en la sociedad. Por su parte, en el estudio 2 se concluye que la población española se caracteriza por consumir con mayor frecuencia aquellos programas relacionados con la crónica «rosa» o el sensacionalismo frente a la población italiana. El ascenso imperante por estos contenidos ha provocado que existan diferencias estadísticamente significativas en el estudio sociodemográfico de la muestra seleccionada. España incide en el consumo de la cadena privada, mientras que Italia prefiere la cadena de titularidad pública, apostando por el servicio público que ofrece a favor de la ciudadanía. Sin embargo, en relación al consumo de los programas seleccionados para el análisis de esta Tesis Doctoral, se ha demostrado que a pesar que los espectadores de ambas nacionalidades conocen la temática y los contenidos de los programas de crónica rosa, los resultados indican el escaso visionado sobre ellos. Esta conclusión se basa en el sentimiento de vergüenza relacionado por el consumo de contenidos basuras o inapropiados. Para finalizar, hay que destacar la necesidad de educar y formar a los ciudadanos en competencia mediática para que puedan convertirse en prosumidores empoderados. La falta de calidad informativa en los programas de carácter sensacionalista cobra un papel importante en los estudios de la comunidad académica, justificando la falta de códigos deontológicos que apoyen y desarrollen una correcta televisión de calidad. Asimismo, los estereotipos, creencias y prejuicios a través de los programas de crónica rosa deben ser erradicados, evitando la conformación de actitudes, sobre todo, en el público más vulnerable. ; Introduction Television is regarded as an instrument of consciousness and modeler socializing, above all, instigator of the creation of public opinion in sensationalist programs. In this way, this study based on the society of the spectacle has as purpose to analyze the negative effects that can be developed through consumption of stereotypes, the television discourse and the audience practices in the viewing of such programs. On the basis of the criteria and bases of selected study, we intend to establish a comparison at European level between Spain and Italy, using a suitable instrumentation for the profiles of individual programs as well as to their audiences. In this way, programs «Corazón» by «TVE1» public ownership, «Sálvame» by «Telecinco» private and «La vita in diretta» by «RAI l»public ownership and «Pomeriggio Cinque» by «Canale 5» private have been selected. The goal of this study is to obtain concrete results that validate the media impact of this type of sensationalist programs. From this objective a set of educational proposals will be offered. Objectives The overall objective of this thesis is to analyze the programming of public and private chains from the European Union countries (Spain and Italy) to highlight the keys of the television discourse, the ideological stereotypes and the habits of the audience on sensationalist TV. In addition,5 specific objectives will be addressed: to analyze the habits and types of audience of television programs for individual profiles; to browse contents and habits in the sensational programs of both public and private channels from Spain and Italy from the perspective of the audience; to analyze the television speeches in television sensationalist programs from Spain and Italy; to discover different stereotypes in the sensationalist programs based on the analysis of content and the perceived by the audience; and to observe strategies of critical perception in the audience for the receipt of sensationalist messages. Method This research is composed by two studies. In the first place, a qualitative analysis of the audiovisual show selected in both countries of the European Union (Spain and Italy) was performed. To do this, the transcription of 16 emissions (4 per program) was carried out with the help of the technique known as the week built of Stempel. In this way, this first study has addressed through a content analysis supported non-participant observation, as well as a socio-demographic analysis of the content and its protagonists. In addition, to know the values within the schedules the scale of Schwarzt has been taken into account. On the other hand, in the second study, a questionnaire to measure the habits of the audience before the consumption of this type of programs has been validated. Therefore, once validated and accepted by professional experts in the field of educommunication has proceeded to evaluate the Spanish and Italian society. The questionnaire is formed in two blocks: on the one hand, the first 15 items are related to a socio-demographic population study, and on the other hand, the remaining 30 items using Likert scale (where 1 is totally disagree and 5 fully agree) evaluated the practices of consumption of both European societies. To analyze the results the statistical program SPSS has been used, establishing beforehand the dimensions and study variables. Results With regard to the study 1, the viewing of the sample selected «Corazón» and «Sálvame» (Spain) and «La vita in diretta» and «Pomeriggio Cinque» (Italy) generating in the spectator of ideas based on the social status that is presented, as well as representations of the quality of information in the various television channels. The profile of these programs are characterised by the use of the reports and chronicles, the interviews as the genres most demanded in the public ownership chains. While in private chains tend to use more frequently the criticisms and comments before this same profile. In addition, are identified as being of national production in maximum entirety and developed in artificial scenarios except for reports that are made in natural settings. With regard to the thematic more frequented in its contents, this is linked to issues related with love, family, news of outreach and «reality shows» belonging tñe latter topic only to private broadcasters. On the other hand, the protagonists of audiovisual content figures are identified by information professionals and popular characters. Journalists who develop the contents are identified as being mostly women because of the emotional charge of their information, as well as specific program presenter or collaborator. Regarding popular personalities, in Spain, the female sector, middle class, national origin and aged between 20 and 40 years prevails. The only palpable difference in the four programs is observed in the occupation of popular personalities, while the public chain choose meritocrats, the private chain prefers famous for relationship. Meanwhile, the consumer profile in Italy is that of a man, upper-middle, class of national origin, meritocrat and aged between 20 and 60 years. Lastly, in relation to language, this is determined by the use of journalistic language colloquialism supported by information professionals and the use of colloquial and discursive language by characters from the world of entertainment. In addition, the system of signs and nonverbal communication are immersed in total retransmissions, establishing a link between the receiver and sender of the message. In study 2, analysis of the results collected through the survey shows that Spanish profile is characterized by consuming television throughout the time slot of the private channel, «Telecinco» (43%) chosen mostly against of public ownership chain «TVE 1» (42%). Also, they opt for the viewing of «Sálvame» program with 27% (private), «Corazón» with 12% (public) and 61% refuse to consume both programs. On the other hand, sensationalist programs are more consumed in rural areas (2.81) than in urban areas (2.71) according to the average obtained. As for the individual profile of the viewer, this is identified to a person from an average of 65 years old, female, with no statistically significant differences in occupation and perform low-level studies. Moreover, the Italian profile is defined by the viewing of television time slot afternoon. In addition, they opt for public ownership chain «RAI 1» (56%) versus private «Canale 5» (39%). Regarding the choice of sensationalist programs consume 28% «Pomeriggiocinque» (private), compared with 21% of «La vita in diretta» (public) and 51% indicating no frequenting none. On the other hand, the urban environment rises in average (2.86) compared to rural areas (2.76) when consuming chronic programs gossip TV. Lastly, the particular profile of the Italian television viewer is a woman with an average of 65 years dedicated to home care and low-level studies. Conclusions In relation to the study 1 it is concluded that the constant battle to which the chains of public and private ownership are subjected, cause that viewers are exposed to waterlogging and infoxication of the messages that are transmitted on a daily basis in their programming. Without doubt, the contents based on entertainment and themes of variety are those which give rise to a greater interest in audience, despite the lack of respect and constant vulgar words rooted. In this regard, negative values and masking of reality are burning in their contents and respondents tend to bind the sensationalism only with programs known as «trash TV». On the other hand, in relation to the stereotypes rooted in this type of program, the female figure occupies the second place in the current society, identified as the weaker sex, prevail sexism in the television content. In addition, minorities, ethnic groups or marginal groups do not count with respect to the image of their collective, causing discrimination and inequality among spectators. In this sense, it is necessary to educate viewers to prevent these differences remain in society. For its part, in study 2 it is concluded that the Spanish population is characterized by viewing more frequently those programs related with the chronic gossip TV or the sensationalism compared to Italian population. The prevailing ascent by these contents has caused that statistically significant differences exist in the socio¬demographic sample selected. Spain has an impact on the consumption of the private chain, while Italy prefer the chain of public ownership, betting on the public service that offers in favor of citizenship. However, in relation to the consumption of the programs selected for the analysis in this thesis, it has been demonstrated that despite viewers of both nationalities know the subject and the content of the gossip TV, the results indicate a limited viewing on them. This conclusion is based on the feeling of shame related by the consumption of rubbish or inappropriate contents. In conclusion, we must stress the need to educate and train citizens in media competence so that they can become prosumers empowered. The lack of quality information in the programs of sensational character takes a major role in the studies of the academic community, justifying the lack of codes of conduct to support and develop a correct quality television. Also, stereotypes, beliefs and biases through these programmes must be eradicated, avoiding the formation of attitudes, especially in the more vulnerable audience.
Introduction People say, "don't you ever want to come off?" I don't know. The thought of me getting up without taking something is totally. to me that's normal . If I haven't taken anything then I'm not normal . And for me to even, I can't contemplate not taking something, you know. I'm not a lost cause. I know what my problem is. It's other people that want me to stop. I don't want to stop. I don't want to. Does that make sense to you? (Mya) This extract is taken from an interview that formed part of my doctoral research looking at people's experiences of injecting drug use and treatment services in London, UK. Here I consider one of the ways participants described their use of drugs through a concept of becoming "normal." I pay particular attention to Mya's account and explore the very sense-making that her question (above) demands. Mya uses the concept of normality not only to reflect how drugs have become part of her everyday routines, or part of feeling normal, but actually in materially becoming herself—in embodying a "normal body." As she puts it, "if I haven't taken anything then I am not normal." In this sense, Mya's problem is not the drugs, but the people who want her to stop taking them. This understanding is important for challenging recent policy shifts towards reducing opiate replacement/substitution services in the UK (HM Government; Home Office). Methods The study took place from January to September 2014, and included participant observation at a drug treatment service, interviews with service providers, and "creative" interviews with people who inject drugs. The project was granted ethical approval by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Ethics Committee and the NHS Regional Ethics Committee. All participants were given pseudonyms. The creative interview is a term coined by Jennifer Mason to describe an in-depth semi-structured interview which produces additional types of data beyond the spoken word. The method was employed to explore participants' feelings of embodiment as enacted in the drug-using "event." I used a body mapping (drawing) task in these interviews to aid the communication of hard-to-articulate visceral experiences and depict the many actors, human and nonhuman, involved. (For a fuller explanation of the "events" perspective and methods taken in this study, please see Dennis 2016.) Below, I draw both from Mya's narrative and her pictorial account. Becoming "Normal" with Diamorphine Mya is a 52-year-old woman who was recruited to the study through word of mouth. She attended a supervised injecting clinic where another participant informed her about the study. The purpose of this clinic is to prescribe injectable diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) for clients to administer under supervised conditions. This unique service is specifically targeted at people who have previously struggled with the more orthodox opiate substitution treatments, such as methadone and buprenorphine. Mya explained that she had a long history of using street heroin, but in the last ten years has been injecting legally and has also illegally sought diamorphine. Mya's drug use had become very hard to sustain financially, both in paying for private prescriptions and in the illegal drugs market, and therefore she wanted a prescription through the National Health Service. She was told that this was only possible through this clinic. However, the clinic's intention was always to reduce this consumption, which Mya did not want to accept. This is because, as she explained, without drugs she is "not normal." A rhetoric of "normality," as deployed in the drug field, has taken two dominant paths. The first is in Parker et al. 's "normalisation thesis," which documents a move during the 1990s when drug use, albeit "recreational drug use," became increasingly common. A concept of "normalisation" is used to explain this social shift in acceptability towards drug taking. The second lies in a oucauldian-influenced embodied idea of performing normality in line with dominant neoliberal discourses. For example, Nettleton et al .'s study with recovering heroin users employs a concept of "normalisation" to explore the ways in which people talk about regaining certain bodily practices to fit in with "the norm." Using the work of Michel Foucault, and his concept of governmentality more specifically, Nettleton et al . argue that "normalisation" is "a crucial aspect of neo-liberal societies, where individuals are encouraged through [decentralised] political projects to become normal: 'the judges of normality are everywhere' (Foucault, 1977)" (175). Although there are vast differences, both these accounts seem to share an understanding of normality as a socially or discursively produced set of practices. However, Mya's narrative of becoming normal seems to be doing something different. She highlights how she becomes normal with drugs in a way that suggests that without drugs she is not normal. This highlights the material work involved in achieving this "normal" state. It is clear that being normal is something we do (both theories above consider normal behaviour as performative) rather than it being pre-defined. But for Mya this is enacted in an ontological rather than learnt way as she connects with drugs. To know normality—"to me that's normal"—and to be normal—"if I haven't taken anything then I'm not normal"—are conflated. Karen Barad, in her theory of agential realism, would call this an intra-action rather than an inter-action, where what we know (epistemology) and what is (ontology) collide, or rather elide. It is in these entanglements of matter and meaning that Mya becomes normal. Mya's narrative highlights the human body as an assemblage (Deleuze and Guattari) in which drugs have become a part. In this sense, drugs can be seen as part of this embodied self rather than separate. Consequently, Mya's account is about more than how her body interacts with drugs, but rather how they become together. Drawing from Deleuze's ontology of becoming, this is the idea that life does not start with any given entities or organisms, but that these forms are brought into being through the forces of life, and as such they are in a constant state of flux, becoming something else. This can challenge ideas of "recovery" (e.g. Home Office) where people are expected to remove themselves from drugs in order to regain their "normal" self. If one's "normal" includes drugs this calls into question the very attempt to de-couple an entangled relationship that, as another participant put it, "has been a long time in the making " (my emphasis). Therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that Mya explains with a heavy heart that she is feeling substantial pressure to reduce her prescription. She feels the clinic staff fail to understand how drugs are part of her and what constitutes her "normal." Thus, as she sees it, her "problem" is not the drugs themselves, but the people who want her to stop taking them. Mya's frustrations start to make more sense—to return to the question in the epigraph—when we think about the body as something we do , involved in a constant task of keeping oneself together . Keeping Oneself Together One does not hang together as a matter of course: keeping oneself together is something the embodied person needs to do . The person who fails to do so dies. (Mol and Law 43) Mol and Law argue that bodies are not something we have but something we do , and that bodies are actively held together through a series of practices. For instance, in their example of hypoglycaemia, a pin prick of blood needs to be taken for the condition to be known, and then counteracted by eating a sugary substance (49). Thinking about Mya's account of becoming normal in these terms, drugs, instead of being seen as "evil" objects of misuse, can, for Mya at least, be part of this vital (life) project of keeping one elf together. This thoroughly blurs the distinctions between "good" medicine (life sustaining/enhancing) and "bad" drugs of abuse (life destroying). Following a Deleuzian understanding of the human body as an assemblage, making the body "actualise" as one is a process of life: "'A' or 'a' (one) is always the index of a multiplicity: an event, a singularity, a life." (Deleuze 388). As such, making bodily boundaries becomes essential. For Mya, drugs are part of this individualisation process in quite overt ways. For example, in her body map (Figure 1) she drew a picture of herself inside a cloud, with voices shouting inwards, penetrating the barrier from outside. About these she said, they are "shouting at me," "telling me what to do," and "what's best for me." But she was at pains to point out that the depicted cloud is not about representing a pleasurable or disassociated feeling, but more to do with blocking out these intruding voices telling her how to live her life so that they "can't get to me": Mya: That makes it sound like the drug makes me feel like I'm in a cloud, it doesn't, cos I just feel normal , it just helps me to, to deal with things better, it helps me to get less stressful, does that make sense? Author: Normal? Mya: Yeah Author: So if you haven't had it, you feel more on edge? Mya: I'm a complete nervous wreck. I'll be jumping everywhere, you know, if someone opens the window of a bus and I'm jumping. Figure 1: Mya's Body Map For Mya, then, her drug use is not about pleasure, or pain for that matter, but about something altogether more vital: it is about keeping together in a stressful, invasive world, to "deal with things better." It seems that Mya's drawing—through which she was asked to depict her feelings when using drugs—is about trying to hold the permeable, leaky body together. For the injecting body, which regularly incorporates and excorporates drugs, is an active/metabolic body: The active body has semi-permeable boundaries [.] inside and outside are not so stable. Metabolism, after all, is about eating, drinking and breathing; about defecating, urinating and sweating. For a metabolic body incorporation and excorporation are essential. (Mol and Law 54) A similar argument is made by Vitellone, citing Keane: Heroin is not separate from but becomes central to the body, selfhood, and processes of individualization. Thus according to Keane "a drug is something external that becomes internalized, blurring the distinction between not only inside/outside but also self/other". (166; see also Keane) In Mya's drawing and account, drugs are intimately involved in the task of individuating—in making clear boundaries between her and the world. In this sense, her drawing of a cloud can be seen almost like an extra layer of skin. This also occurs in the accounts of two other participants. One female participant commented on how, without drugs, she does not feel herself, to the point that she said, "I don't want to be in my own skin." And a male participant also used similar language to note that without heroin (even though he is prescribed methadone, an opiate substitute) he can feel "disembodied": Everything is all "oh oh" [he makes sounds and body movements to show a fear of things getting too close] like that, everything is like right, like if you're trying to walk around the streets and it's just like you can't handle busy high streets and you know busy like tubes and . In these accounts, drugs are playing a key role in this boundary work, that is, in enacting the body as One. This resonates strongly with Donna Haraway's idea of individualisation as "a strategic defense problem" (212). This is the idea that the individual body is not something we are born with, but something we strive towards. Haraway argues that "bodies have become cyborgs," where "the cyborg is text, machine, body, and metaphor" (212). Mya takes great care in making sure that I have understoo this process of boundary-making, which is essential to the cyborg, and on several occasions checks back with me to confirm that she is making sense. She gives the impression that she has been explaining these feelings for years, but still does not feel fully understood. This is perhaps why she seems so thrilled when she feels I have finally got a handle on the dynamic: Mya: But the methadone makes me feel heavy, lethargic, with the diamorphine I can get on with being normal, more better, and not so sleepy, does that make sense? [.] It just helps me cope with everything. You know what I mean, everything . Even . Author: Like taking the edge off things? Mya: That's it, the edge off things, you've got it! I've never thought of that before, that's a good way of putting it. Author: No cos I was thinking about what you were saying about how you can feel anxious and stuff, and I can imagine it just . Mya: You're right, you've done it in a nut shell there. Cos people have asked me that before and I haven't been able to answer. That is a good answer. It takes the edge of things. Yeah. At the end of the interview, and long past this initial reference, Mya shows appreciation of this phrase once more, as an expression which she feels could help in her bid to be better understood: Author: Anyway, I'll end the interview there. Mya: Was that alright? Author: Yeah, perfect. Is there anything else that you think is important that I've missed out? Mya: No not at all. I think you've just helped me there by saying it takes the edge off things, I've been trying to put that into words for a long time, I didn't know how to say it . Although these experiences are of course linked to withdrawal symptoms as a particular arrangement of bodily connections, when I ask about this, it is evident that it is also about something more. For example, in trying to get at why Mya feels she needs diamorphine rather than methadone, she talks about it being "cleaner," "purer," "less groggy." And even though I prompt her on the potential enjoyment, she links "the buzz" to being able to get on with "normal things," saying "I can act more normal with the heroin": Mya: Definitely it's less groggy. Author: And does it give you a slight buzz also? Mya: Sometimes it does yeah. Like I can get on with my housework better and things like that, day to day things, I can act more normal with the heroin. With just the methadone, things just slip . With an interesting use of the term, Mya says that with methadone (which would be the more usual opiate prescribed in heroin treatment) "things just slip." Again, there is a sense of diamorphine holding her together, in a way that without it she would "slip." This perhaps highlights the slipperiness of connections that are only ever "partial" (Haraway 181). Rather than becoming too porous, with methadone she becomes too shut off or "groggy," and again her body becomes unable to do things. This is perhaps why she is so insistent that diamorphine stays put in her life: "I'm not going to lie, even if I don't get it, I'm still going to use the diamorphine." Or, in Haraway's words, she "would rather be a cyborg than a goddess"(181) —she would rather endure the political and potentially criminal consequences of requiring this "outside" substance than pretend to live apart from/above the material world. Conclusion When we consider bodies as something we do, rather than have, we see that rather than Mya's account of normality reflecting a social change (Parker et al .) or solely discursive embodiment (Nettleton et al .), it actually refers to how she becomes her "normal self" in more material ways. Mya's account thoroughly disrupts a separation of object/subject, as well as several other binaries that underpin contemporary ideas of psychoactive drug use and the body, including drug/medicine, inner/outer, self/other, and of course, normal/pathological. Instead, and in trying to do justice to Mya's q estion which opened the essay, her body is seen connecting with drugs in a way that holds her together (as One) in becoming "normal." Consequently, her fears over having these drugs stopped are very real concerns over a disruption to her corporeality, which demand to be taken seriously. This calls for urgent questions to be asked over current UK policy trends toward eliminating diamorphine prescribing services (see O'Mara) and reducing opiate substitution more generally. References Barad, Karen. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham: Duke UP, 2007. Deleuze, Gilles. "Immanence: A Life." Two Regimes of Madness: Texts and Interviews 1975–1995. Ed. David Lapoujade. New York: Semiotext(e), 2006. 384–91. Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia . London: Continuum, 2004. Dennis, Fay. "Encountering 'Triggers:' Drug-Body-World Entanglements of Injecting Drug Use." Contemporary Drug Problems (2016). . Haraway, Donna. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature . London: Free Association Books, 1991. HM Government. "Drug Strategy 2010: Reducing Demand, Restricting Supply, Building Recovery: Supporting People to Live a Drug Free Life." Home Office , 2010. 1 Jan. 2011 . Home Office. "Putting Full Recovery First." Home Office , 2012. 5 Feb. 2013 . Keane, Helen. What's Wrong with Addiction ? Melbourne: Melbourne UP, 2002. Mason, Jennifer. "What Is Creative Interviewing?" 2010. 10 May 2013 . Mol, Annemarie, and John Law. "Embodied Action, Enacted Bodies. The Example of Hypoglycaemia." Body & Society 10.2 (2004): 43-62. Nettleton, Sarah, Joanne Neale, and Lucy Pickering. "'I Just Want to Be Normal': An Analysis of Discourses of Normality among Recovering Heroin Users." Health 17.2 (2013): 174–190. O'Mara, Erin. "The State We're In: Heroin Prescribing in the UK." Drink and Drug News (Dec. 2015). 20 Jan. 2016 . Parker, Howard, Judith Aldridge, and Fiona Measham. Illegal Leisure: The Normalization of Adolescent Recreational Drug Use . Hove: Routledge, 1998. Vitellone, Nicole. "The Rush: Needle Fixation or Technical Materialization?" Journal for Cultural Research 7.2 (2003): 165–177.
Many functions that at one time could only be performed by humans can nowadays be carried out by machines. Automation impacts many areas of life including work, home, communication and mobility. In the driving context, in-vehicle automation is considered to provide solutions for environmental, economic, safety and societal challenges. However, automation changes the driving task and the human-machine interaction. Thus, the expected benefit of in-vehicle automation can be undermined by changes in drivers' behaviour, i.e. behavioural adaptation. This PhD project focuses on motivational as well as higher cognitive processes underlying behavioural adaptation when interacting with in-vehicle automation. Motivational processes include the development of trust and acceptance, whereas higher cognitive processes comprise the learning process as well as the development of mental models and Situation Awareness (SA). As an example for in-vehicle automation, the advanced driver assistance system Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) was investigated. ACC automates speed and distance control by maintaining a constant set cruising speed and automatically adjusting vehicle's velocity in order to provide a specified distance to the preceding vehicle. However, due to sensor limitations, not every situation can be handled by the system and therefore driver intervention is required. Trust, acceptance and an appropriate mental model of the system functionality are considered key variables for adequate use and appropriate SA. To systematically investigate changes in motivational and higher cognitive processes, a driving simulator as well as an on-road study were carried out. Both of the studies were conducted using a repeated-measures design, taking into account the process character, i.e. changes over time. The main focus was on the development of trust, acceptance and the mental model of novice users when interacting with ACC. By now, only few studies have attempted to assess changes in higher level cognitive processes, due to methodological difficulties posed by the dynamic task of driving. Therefore, this PhD project aimed at the elaboration and validation of innovative methods for assessing higher cognitive processes, with an emphasis on SA and mental models. In addition, a new approach for analyzing big and heterogeneous data in social science was developed, based on the use of relational databases. The driving simulator study investigated the effect of divergent initial mental models of ACC (i.e., varying according to correctness) on trust, acceptance and mental model evolvement. A longitudinal study design was applied, using a two-way (3×3) repeated measures mixed design with a matched sample of 51 subjects. Three experimental groups received (1) a correct ACC description, (2) an incomplete and idealised account omitting potential problems, and (3) an incorrect description including non-occurring problems. All subjects drove a 56-km track of highway with an identical ACC system, three times, and within a period of 6 weeks. Results showed that after using the system, participants' mental model of ACC converged towards the profile of the correct group. Non-experienced problems tended to disappear from the mental model network when they were not activated by experience. Trust and acceptance grew steadily for the correct condition. The same trend was observed for the group with non-occurring problems, starting from a lower initial level. Omitted problems in the incomplete group led to a constant decrease in trust and acceptance without recovery. This indicates that automation failures do not negatively affect trust and acceptance if they are known beforehand. During each drive, participants continuously completed a visual secondary task, the Surrogate Reference Task (SURT). The frequency of task completion was used as objective online-measure for SA, based on the principle that situationally aware driver would reduce the engagement in the secondary task if they expect potentially critical situations. Results showed that correctly informed drivers were aware of potential system limitations and reduced their engagement in the secondary task when such situations arose. Participants with no information about limitations became only aware after first encounter and reduced secondary task engagement in corresponding situations during subsequent trials. However, trust and acceptance in the system declined over time due to the unexpected failures. Non occurring limitations tended to drop from the mental model and resulted in reduced SA already in the second trial. The on-road study investigated the learning process, as well as the development of trust, acceptance and the mental model for interacting with ACC in real conditions. Research questions aimed to model the learning process in mathematical/statistical terms, examine moments and conditions when these processes stabilize, and assess how experience changes the mental model of the system. A sample of fifteen drivers without ACC experience drove a test vehicle with ACC ten consecutive times on the same route within a 2-month period. In contrast to the driving simulator study, all participants were fully trained in ACC functionality by reading the owner's manual in the beginning. Results showed that learning, as well as the development of acceptance and trust in ACC follows the power law of learning, in case of comprehensive prior information on system limitations. Thus, the major part of the learning process occurred during the first interaction with the system and support in explaining the systems abilities (e.g. by tutoring systems) should therefore primarily be given during this first stage. All processes stabilized at a relatively high level after the fifth session, which corresponds to 185 km or 3.5 hours of driving. No decline was observable with ongoing system experience. However, in line with the findings from the simulator study, limitations that are not experienced tended to disappear from the mental model if they were not activated by experience. With regard to the validation of the developed methods for assessing mental models and SA, results are encouraging. The studies show that the mental model questionnaire is able to provide insights into the construction of mental models and the development over time. Likewise, the implicit measurement approach to assess SA online in the driving simulator is sensitive to user's awareness of potentially critical situations. In terms of content, the results of the studies prove the enduring relevance of the initial mental model for the learning process, SA, as well as the development of trust, acceptance and a realistic mental model about automation capabilities and limitations. Given the importance of the initial mental model it is recommended that studies on system trust and acceptance should include, and attempt to control, users' initial mental model of system functionality. Although the results showed that also incorrect and incomplete initial mental models converged by experience towards a realistic appreciation of system functionality, the more cognitive effort needed to update the mental model, the lower trust and acceptance. Providing an idealised description, which omits potential problems, only leads to temporarily higher trust and acceptance in the beginning. The experience of unexpected limitations results in a steady decrease in trust and acceptance over time. A trial-and-error strategy for in-vehicle automation use, without accompanying information, is therefore considered insufficient for developing stable trust and acceptance. If the mental model matches experience, trust and acceptance grow steadily following the power law of learning – regardless of the experience of system limitations. Provided that such events are known in advance, they will not cause a decrease in trust and acceptance over time. Even over-information about potential problems lowers trust and acceptance only in the beginning, and not in the long run. Potential problems should therefore not be concealed in over-idealised system descriptions; the more information given, the better, in the long run. However, limitations that are not experienced tend to disappear from the mental model. Therefore, it is recommended that users be periodically reminded of system limitations to make sure that corresponding knowledge becomes re-activated. Intelligent tutoring systems incorporated in automated systems could provide a solution. In the driving context, periodic reminders about system limitations could be shown via the multifunction displays integrated in most modern cars. Tutoring systems could also be used to remind the driver of the presence of specific in-vehicle automation systems and reveal their benefits.:Table of contents LIST OF FIGURES I LIST OF TABLES II LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV SUMMARY V ZUSAMMENFASSUNG VIII 1 INTRODUCTION 12 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 14 2.1 BEHAVIOURAL ADAPTATION AND HIGHER COGNITIVE PROCESSES 14 2.2 VEHICLE AUTOMATION AND ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL 17 2.3 MENTAL MODELS 20 2.3.1 Definition 20 2.3.2 Mental model construction and update 20 2.3.3 Discussion of existing measures 21 2.3.4 Development of the mental model questionnaire 23 2.4 SITUATION AWARENESS 24 2.4.1 Definition 24 2.4.2 Relationship between mental models and Situation Awareness 26 2.4.3 Situation Awareness as comprehension process 27 2.4.4 Discussion of existing measures 27 2.4.5 Development of the Situation Awareness measurement technique 29 2.5 LEARNING, ACCEPTANCE AND TRUST IN AUTOMATION 30 2.5.1 Power law of learning 30 2.5.2 Acceptance 31 2.5.3 Trust in automation 31 2.5.4 Related research on learning, acceptance and trust in ACC 32 3 OVERALL RESEARCH QUESTIONS 34 4 OVERALL METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS 35 4.1 DRIVING SIMULATOR STUDIES AND ON-ROAD TESTS 35 4.2 DATABASE-FRAMEWORK FOR DATA STORAGE AND ANALYSIS 37 5 DRIVING SIMULATOR STUDY 42 5.1 AIMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 42 5.2 METHOD AND MATERIAL 43 5.2.1 Sampling and participants 43 5.2.2 Research design and procedure 44 5.2.3 Facilities and driving simulator track 45 5.2.4 Secondary task SURT 46 5.2.5 System description 46 5.2.6 Dependent variables trust, acceptance and mental model 47 5.2.7 Contrast analysis 48 5.3 RESULTS 49 5.3.1 Mental model 49 5.3.2 Trust and acceptance 51 5.3.3 Situation Awareness 52 5.4 DISCUSSION 56 6 ON-ROAD STUDY 59 6.1 AIMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 59 6.2 METHOD AND MATERIAL 59 6.2.1 Research design and procedure 59 6.2.2 Sampling and participants 60 6.2.3 Facilities and apparatus 60 6.2.4 Dependent variables mental model, trust, acceptance, learning and ACC usage 62 6.3 RESULTS 63 6.3.1 ACC usage 63 6.3.2 Trust and acceptance 64 6.3.3 Learning 65 6.3.4 Mental model 67 6.4 DISCUSSION 68 7 GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 70 7.1 THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS 70 7.2 METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS 71 7.3 LIMITATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 74 8 REFERENCES 76 9 APPENDIX 88 9.1 QUESTIONNAIRES USED IN THE DRIVING SIMULATOR STUDY 88 9.1.1 Original German version 88 9.1.2 English translation 91 9.2 ACC DESCRIPTIONS USED IN THE DRIVING SIMULATOR STUDY 94 9.2.1 Correct description 94 9.2.2 Incomplete description 95 9.2.3 Incorrect description 96 9.3 SCHEMATIC OVERVIEW OF THE DRIVING SIMULATOR TRACK 97 9.4 QUESTIONNAIRES USED IN THE ON-ROAD STUDY 99 9.4.1 Original German version 99 9.4.2 English translation 103 9.5 SEMINAR PROGRAMME: DATABASES AS ANALYSIS TOOL IN SOCIAL SCIENCE 107 9.6 CURRICULUM VITAE AND PUBLICATIONS 109 ; Viele Aufgaben, die ehemals von Menschen ausgeführt wurden, werden heute von Maschinen übernommen. Dieser Prozess der Automatisierung betrifft viele Lebensbereiche von Arbeit, Wohnen, Kommunikation bis hin zur Mobilität. Im Bereich des Individualverkehrs wird die Automatisierung von Fahrzeugen als Möglichkeit gesehen, zukünftigen Herausforderungen wirtschaftlicher, gesellschaftlicher und umweltpolitischer Art zu begegnen. Allerdings verändert Automatisierung die Fahraufgabe und die Mensch-Technik Interaktion im Fahrzeug. Daher können beispielsweise erwartete Sicherheitsgewinne automatisch agierender Assistenzsysteme durch Veränderungen im Verhalten des Fahrers geschmälert werden, was als Verhaltensanpassung (behavioural adaptation) bezeichnet wird. Dieses Dissertationsprojekt untersucht motivationale und höhere kognitive Prozesse, die Verhaltensanpassungen im Umgang mit automatisierten Fahrerassistenzsystemen zugrunde liegen. Motivationale Prozesse beinhalten die Entwicklung von Akzeptanz und Vertrauen in das System, unter höheren kognitiven Prozessen werden Lernprozesse sowie die Entwicklung von mentalen Modellen des Systems und Situationsbewusstsein (Situation Awareness) verstanden. Im Fokus der Untersuchungen steht das Fahrerassistenzsystem Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) als ein Beispiel für Automatisierung im Fahrzeug. ACC regelt automatisch die Geschwindigkeit des Fahrzeugs, indem bei freier Fahrbahn eine eingestellte Wunschgeschwindigkeit und bei einem Vorausfahrer automatisch ein eingestellter Abstand eingehalten wird. Allerdings kann ACC aufgrund von Einschränkungen der Sensorik nicht jede Situation bewältigen, weshalb der Fahrer übernehmen muss. Für diesen Interaktionsprozess spielen Vertrauen, Akzeptanz und das mentale Modell der Systemfunktionalität eine Schlüsselrolle, um einen sicheren Umgang mit dem System und ein adäquates Situationsbewusstsein zu entwickeln. Zur systematischen Erforschung dieser motivationalen und kognitiven Prozesse wurden eine Fahrsimulatorstudie und ein Versuch im Realverkehr durchgeführt. Beide Studien wurden im Messwiederholungsdesign angelegt, um dem Prozesscharakter gerecht werden und Veränderungen über die Zeit erfassen zu können. Die Entwicklung von Vertrauen, Akzeptanz und mentalem Modell in der Interaktion mit ACC war zentraler Forschungsgegenstand beider Studien. Bislang gibt es wenige Studien, die kognitive Prozesse im Kontext der Fahrzeugführung untersucht haben, unter anderem auch wegen methodischer Schwierigkeiten in diesem dynamischen Umfeld. Daher war es ebenfalls Teil dieses Dissertationsprojekts, neue Methoden zur Erfassung höherer kognitiver Prozesse in dieser Domäne zu entwickeln, mit Fokus auf mentalen Modellen und Situationsbewusstsein. Darüber hinaus wurde auch ein neuer Ansatz für die Analyse großer und heterogener Datenmengen im sozialwissenschaftlichen Bereich entwickelt, basierend auf dem Einsatz relationaler Datenbanken. Ziel der der Fahrsimulatorstudie war die systematische Erforschung des Effekts von unterschiedlich korrekten initialen mentalen Modellen von ACC auf die weitere Entwicklung des mentalen Modells, Vertrauen und Akzeptanz des Systems. Eine Stichprobe von insgesamt 51 Probanden nahm an der Studie teil; der Versuch wurde als zweifaktorielles (3x3) gemischtes Messwiederholungsdesign konzipiert. Die 3 parallelisierten Versuchsgruppen zu je 17 Personen erhielten (1) eine korrekte Beschreibung des ACC, (2) eine idealisierte Beschreibung unter Auslassung auftretender Systemprobleme und (3) eine überkritische Beschreibung mit zusätzlichen Hinweisen auf Systemprobleme, die nie auftraten. Alle Teilnehmer befuhren insgesamt dreimal im Zeitraum von sechs Wochen dieselbe 56 km lange Autobahnstrecke im Fahrsimulator mit identischem ACC-System. Mit zunehmendem Einsatz des ACC zeigte sich im anfänglich divergierenden mentalen Modell zwischen den Gruppen eine Entwicklung hin zum mentalen Modell der korrekt informierten Gruppe. Nicht erfahrene Systemprobleme tendierten dazu, im mentalen Modell zu verblassen, wenn sie nicht durch Erfahrung reaktiviert wurden. Vertrauen und Akzeptanz stiegen stetig in der korrekt informierten Gruppe. Dieselbe Entwicklung zeigte sich auch in der überkritisch informierten Gruppe, wobei Vertrauen und Akzeptanz anfänglich niedriger waren als in der Bedingung mit korrekter Information. Verschwiegene Systemprobleme führten zu einer konstanten Abnahme von Akzeptanz und Vertrauen ohne Erholung in der Gruppe mit idealisierter Beschreibung. Diese Resultate lassen darauf schließen, dass Probleme automatisierter Systeme sich nicht zwingend negativ auf Vertrauen und Akzeptanz auswirken, sofern sie vorab bekannt sind. Bei jeder Fahrt führten die Versuchsteilnehmer zudem kontinuierlich eine visuell beanspruchende Zweitaufgabe aus, die Surrogate Reference Task (SURT). Die Frequenz der Zweitaufgabenbearbeitung diente als objektives Echtzeitmaß für das Situationsbewusstsein, basierend auf dem Ansatz, dass situationsbewusste Fahrer die Zuwendung zur Zweitaufgabe reduzieren wenn sie potentiell kritische Situationen erwarten. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die korrekt informierten Fahrer sich potentiell kritischer Situationen mit möglichen Systemproblemen bewusst waren und schon im Vorfeld der Entstehung die Zweitaufgabenbearbeitung reduzierten. Teilnehmer ohne Informationen zu auftretenden Systemproblemen wurden sich solcher Situationen erst nach dem ersten Auftreten bewusst und reduzierten in entsprechenden Szenarien der Folgefahrten die Zweitaufgabenbearbeitung. Allerdings sanken Vertrauen und Akzeptanz des Systems aufgrund der unerwarteten Probleme. Erwartete, aber nicht auftretende Systemprobleme tendierten dazu, im mentalen Modell des Systems zu verblassen und resultierten in vermindertem Situationsbewusstsein bereits in der zweiten Fahrt. Im Versuch unter Realbedingungen wurden der Lernprozesses sowie die Entwicklung des mentalen Modells, Vertrauen und Akzeptanz von ACC im Realverkehr erforscht. Ziele waren die statistisch/mathematische Modellierung des Lernprozesses, die Bestimmung von Zeitpunkten der Stabilisierung dieser Prozesse und wie sich reale Systemerfahrung auf das mentale Modell von ACC auswirkt. 15 Versuchsteilnehmer ohne ACC-Erfahrung fuhren ein Serienfahrzeug mit ACC insgesamt 10-mal auf der gleichen Strecke in einem Zeitraum von 2 Monaten. Im Unterschied zur Fahrsimulatorstudie waren alle Teilnehmer korrekt über die ACC-Funktionen und Funktionsgrenzen informiert durch Lesen der entsprechenden Abschnitte im Fahrzeughandbuch am Beginn der Studie. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass der Lernprozess sowie die Entwicklung von Akzeptanz und Vertrauen einer klassischen Lernkurve folgen – unter der Bedingung umfassender vorheriger Information zu Systemgrenzen. Der größte Lernfortschritt ist am Beginn der Interaktion mit dem System sichtbar und daher sollten Hilfen (z.B. durch intelligente Tutorsysteme) in erster Linie zu diesem Zeitpunkt gegeben werden. Eine Stabilisierung aller Prozesse zeigte sich nach der fünften Fahrt, was einer Fahrstrecke von rund 185 km oder 3,5 Stunden Fahrzeit entspricht. Es zeigten sich keine Einbrüche in Akzeptanz, Vertrauen bzw. dem Lernprozess durch die gemachten Erfahrungen im Straßenverkehr. Allerdings zeigte sich – analog zur Fahrsimulatorstudie – auch in der Realfahrstudie ein Verblassen von nicht erfahrenen Systemgrenzen im mentalen Modell, wenn diese nicht durch Erfahrungen aktiviert wurden. Im Hinblick auf die Validierung der neu entwickelten Methoden zur Erfassung von mentalen Modellen und Situationsbewusstsein sind die Resultate vielversprechend. Die Studien zeigen, dass mit dem entwickelten Fragebogenansatz zur Quantifizierung des mentalen Modells Einblicke in Aufbau und Entwicklung mentaler Modelle gegeben werden können. Der implizite Echtzeit-Messansatz für Situationsbewusstsein im Fahrsimulator zeigt sich ebenfalls sensitiv in der Erfassung des Bewusstseins von Fahrern für potentiell kritische Situationen. Inhaltlich zeigen die Studien die nachhaltige Relevanz des initialen mentalen Modells für den Lernprozess sowie die Entwicklung von Situationsbewusstsein, Akzeptanz, Vertrauen und die weitere Ausformung eines realistischen mentalen Modells der Möglichkeiten und Grenzen automatisierter Systeme. Aufgrund dieser Relevanz wird die Einbindung und Kontrolle des initialen mentalen Modells in Studien zu automatisierten Systemen unbedingt empfohlen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen zwar, dass sich auch unvollständige bzw. falsche mentale Modelle durch Erfahrungslernen hin zu einer realistischen Einschätzung der Systemmöglichkeiten und -grenzen verändern, allerdings um den Preis sinkenden Vertrauens und abnehmender Akzeptanz. Idealisierte Systembeschreibungen ohne Hinweise auf mögliche Systemprobleme bringen nur anfänglich etwas höheres Vertrauen und Akzeptanz. Das Erleben unerwarteter Probleme führt zu einem stetigen Abfall dieser motivationalen Faktoren über die Zeit. Ein alleiniges Versuchs-Irrtums-Lernen für den Umgang mit automatisierter Assistenz im Fahrzeug ohne zusätzliche Information wird daher als nicht ausreichend für die Entwicklung stabilen Vertrauens und stabiler Akzeptanz betrachtet. Wenn das initiale mentale Modell den Erfahrungen entspricht, entwickeln sich Akzeptanz und Vertrauen gemäß einer klassischen Lernkurve – trotz erlebter Systemgrenzen. Sind diese potentiellen Probleme vorher bekannt, führen sie nicht zwingend zu einer Reduktion von Vertrauen und Akzeptanz. Auch zusätzliche überkritische Information vermindert Vertrauen und Akzeptanz nur am Beginn, aber nicht langfristig. Daher sollen potentielle Probleme in automatisierten Systemen nicht in idealisierten Beschreibungen verschwiegen werden – je präzisere Information gegeben wird, desto besser im langfristigen Verlauf. Allerdings tendieren nicht erfahrene Systemgrenzen zum Verblassen im mentalen Modell. Daher wird empfohlen, Nutzer regelmäßig an diese Systemgrenzen zu erinnern um die entsprechenden Facetten des mentalen Modells zu reaktivieren. In automatisierten Systemen integrierte intelligente Tutorsysteme könnten dafür eine Lösung bieten. Im Fahrzeugbereich könnten solche periodischen Erinnerungen an Systemgrenzen in Multifunktionsdisplays angezeigt werden, die mittlerweile in vielen modernen Fahrzeugen integriert sind. Diese Tutorsysteme können darüber hinaus auch auf die Präsenz eingebauter automatisierter Systeme hinweisen und deren Vorteile aufzeigen.:Table of contents LIST OF FIGURES I LIST OF TABLES II LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV SUMMARY V ZUSAMMENFASSUNG VIII 1 INTRODUCTION 12 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 14 2.1 BEHAVIOURAL ADAPTATION AND HIGHER COGNITIVE PROCESSES 14 2.2 VEHICLE AUTOMATION AND ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL 17 2.3 MENTAL MODELS 20 2.3.1 Definition 20 2.3.2 Mental model construction and update 20 2.3.3 Discussion of existing measures 21 2.3.4 Development of the mental model questionnaire 23 2.4 SITUATION AWARENESS 24 2.4.1 Definition 24 2.4.2 Relationship between mental models and Situation Awareness 26 2.4.3 Situation Awareness as comprehension process 27 2.4.4 Discussion of existing measures 27 2.4.5 Development of the Situation Awareness measurement technique 29 2.5 LEARNING, ACCEPTANCE AND TRUST IN AUTOMATION 30 2.5.1 Power law of learning 30 2.5.2 Acceptance 31 2.5.3 Trust in automation 31 2.5.4 Related research on learning, acceptance and trust in ACC 32 3 OVERALL RESEARCH QUESTIONS 34 4 OVERALL METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS 35 4.1 DRIVING SIMULATOR STUDIES AND ON-ROAD TESTS 35 4.2 DATABASE-FRAMEWORK FOR DATA STORAGE AND ANALYSIS 37 5 DRIVING SIMULATOR STUDY 42 5.1 AIMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 42 5.2 METHOD AND MATERIAL 43 5.2.1 Sampling and participants 43 5.2.2 Research design and procedure 44 5.2.3 Facilities and driving simulator track 45 5.2.4 Secondary task SURT 46 5.2.5 System description 46 5.2.6 Dependent variables trust, acceptance and mental model 47 5.2.7 Contrast analysis 48 5.3 RESULTS 49 5.3.1 Mental model 49 5.3.2 Trust and acceptance 51 5.3.3 Situation Awareness 52 5.4 DISCUSSION 56 6 ON-ROAD STUDY 59 6.1 AIMS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 59 6.2 METHOD AND MATERIAL 59 6.2.1 Research design and procedure 59 6.2.2 Sampling and participants 60 6.2.3 Facilities and apparatus 60 6.2.4 Dependent variables mental model, trust, acceptance, learning and ACC usage 62 6.3 RESULTS 63 6.3.1 ACC usage 63 6.3.2 Trust and acceptance 64 6.3.3 Learning 65 6.3.4 Mental model 67 6.4 DISCUSSION 68 7 GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 70 7.1 THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS 70 7.2 METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS 71 7.3 LIMITATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 74 8 REFERENCES 76 9 APPENDIX 88 9.1 QUESTIONNAIRES USED IN THE DRIVING SIMULATOR STUDY 88 9.1.1 Original German version 88 9.1.2 English translation 91 9.2 ACC DESCRIPTIONS USED IN THE DRIVING SIMULATOR STUDY 94 9.2.1 Correct description 94 9.2.2 Incomplete description 95 9.2.3 Incorrect description 96 9.3 SCHEMATIC OVERVIEW OF THE DRIVING SIMULATOR TRACK 97 9.4 QUESTIONNAIRES USED IN THE ON-ROAD STUDY 99 9.4.1 Original German version 99 9.4.2 English translation 103 9.5 SEMINAR PROGRAMME: DATABASES AS ANALYSIS TOOL IN SOCIAL SCIENCE 107 9.6 CURRICULUM VITAE AND PUBLICATIONS 109
This guide accompanies the following article: Doreen Anderson‐Facile and Shyanne Ledford, 'Basic Challenges to Prisoner Reentry', Sociology Compass 3/2 (2009): 183–195, 10.1111/j.1751‐9020.2009.00198.xAuthor's IntroductionCrime, incarceration and prisoner reintegration are pressing issues facing the United States today. As the prison population grows at record rates so, in turn, does the reentry of prisoners into society. The transition from prison to the outside world is often difficult for post‐release prisoners, their families, their communities and the larger society. Many formally incarcerated individuals do not have the skills or support to succeed outside prison walls. Unfortunately, when post‐release prisoners are not successfully reintegrated, they are often returned to prison and begin the cycle of incarceration.The following is a course designed around the basic challenges prisoners face upon reentry. The literature suggests that success depends in part on support and overcoming several barriers, such as homelessness and under/unemployment. This course begins with an examination of reentry barriers facing post‐release prisoners followed by an exploration of the relationship between prisoner reentry, race, gender, family, and employment and concludes with an assessment of ongoing research and public policy.Author RecommendsAnderson‐Facile, Doreen. (2009). 'Basic Challenges to Prisoner Reentry'. Sociology Compass, 3(2): 183–95.Anderson‐Facile's review of current research on prisoner reentry yields interesting results. Her article examines prisoner reentry as it relates to the barriers preventing successful reintegration. Anderson‐Facile begins with a look at incarceration and recidivism statistics leading readers through the barriers preventing reentry success. Barriers such as housing, family and community support, employment, and the stigma of a prison record make successful reentry difficult. Anderson‐Facile concludes with a look at current reentry programs. Anderson‐Facile highlights literature suggesting post‐release success begins with rehabilitation and ends with community support. The author notes that many successful programs are faith or character‐based. These programs focus on the individual and assist in substance abuse issues, vocational training, and transitional living arrangements. Finally, Anderson‐Facile notes that programs that work in one community may not show success in other communities, therefore concluding that matching programs with communities is a critical component for assuring post‐release success.Dhami, Mandeep K., David R. Mandel, George Loewesnstein, and Peter Ayton. (2006). 'Prisoners' Positive Illusions of Their Post‐Release Success'. Law and Human Behavior30: 631–47.Dhami et al. examine prisoners' forecasts of reentry success as this may have implications for how prisoners respond to imprisonment, release, and parole decisions. The authors examine sentenced US and UK prisoners' predictions for personal recidivism. The authors also asked UK prisoners how successful they will be compared to the average prisoner. Overall, both samples yielded overly optimistic, unrealistic beliefs about personal reentry success when compared to official data. The UK participants demonstrated a self‐enhancement bias by expressing that they would fair far better than the average prisoner. The authors conclude their article by discussing the implications of their findings and suggest future research possibilities.Holzer, Harry J., Steven Raphael, and Michael A. Stoll. (2002). 'Can Employers Play a More Positive Role in Prisoner Reentry? Urban Institute's Reentry Roundtable'.The authors report that in the early 21st century over 600 000 prisoners were released each year from prison and three million or more ex‐prisoners were in the general population. Holzer et al. indicate that one of the greatest hurdles for a newly released prisoner is finding employment because, as applicants, they are faced with an aversion on the employers part to hiring ex‐offenders. Holzer et al. explore the extent and nature of this aversion. Holzer et al. maintain that interventions by other agencies can help mediate employer aversions to hiring post‐release prisoners.La Vigne, Nancy G., Diana Brazzell, and Kevonne M. Small. (2007). 'Evaluation of Florida's Faith‐ and Character‐Based Institutions'. The Urban Institute.La Vigne et al. produced a summary of the findings from a 'process and impact' evaluation of two of Florida's faith and character‐based programs, also known as FCBIs. The authors' note that FCBIs are founded on principles of self‐betterment and faith development and are often ran by volunteers. The authors gathered data in the following ways: one on one interviews, semi structured interviews with staff members at all levels, focus groups with inmates, administrative data/official documents, and telephone and email communications with state corrections personnel. The authors noted that at six months, male FCBI housed participants were more successful than post‐released prisoners housed in Federal Department of Corrections (FDOC) facilities.La Vigne, Nancy G., Rebecca L. Naser, Lisa E. Brooks, and Jennifer L. Castro. (2005). 'Examining the Effect of Incarceration and In‐Prison Family Contact on Prisoners' Family Relationships'. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice21(4): 314–35.In this article, La Vigne, Naser, Brooks and Castro look at the role of the family in recidivism rates. Specifically, they examine the role of in‐prison contact with family members on released prisoner success. This article first defines family and then looks at the quality of familial bonds at imprisonment and during incarceration. Next, they examine the inter‐personal bonds in relationships, i.e., parent–child vs. husband‐wife of these post‐released prisoners. The authors' findings were inconsistent. For example, in some situations in‐prison contact was detrimental on family relationships and ties, wherein other cases the same contact served to strengthen the family and create a tighter network of family support for the newly released prisoner. These findings suggest further research is necessary.Pager, D. (2003). 'The Mark of a Criminal Record'. The American Journal of Sociology108(5): 937–75.Pager examined the relationship between prior incarceration and race on employment on two teams of subjects. One team consisted of two 23‐year‐old, white men and the other team was two 23‐year‐old, African‐American men. The two teams were nearly identical in personality, appearance, skills and employment history. The variables were race and criminal record. The findings suggest that race and employment history are important factors on post‐released employment. Thirty‐four percent of white applicants without criminal backgrounds received a call back while only 14 percent of black applicants without criminal backgrounds got called back. Seventeen percent of white applicants with criminal records received call backs while only 5 percent of black applicants with criminal records received call backs. These findings indicate that race and not prison record is a greater determinant of employment.Parsons, Mickey L. and Carmen Warner‐Robbins. (2002). 'Factors That Support Women's Successful Transition to the Community Following Jail/ Prison'. Health Care for Women International23: 6–18.Parson and Warner‐Robbins simply state the purpose of their article is to describe the factors that support the successful reentry of post‐release women into the community. The authors look at a specific program called Welcome Home Ministries (WHM), a community‐based program. The authors examine the demographics of the population, the rising incarceration rates, issues that lead to incarceration, and support for post‐release mothers. Through qualitative interviews with women who were participating in WHM programs upon release many themes emerged. The authors argue that these themes lead to implications about what future programs need to support women who are transitioning from prisoner to general public.Seiter, Richard P. and Karen R. Kadela. (2003) 'Prisoner Reentry: What Works, What Does Not, and What is Promising'. Crime and Delinquency49(3): 360–88.Seiter and Kadela examine the nature of the reentry issue and explore which reentry programs show success in reducing recidivism. The authors note a swing from modified sentencing to determinate sentencing which increases length of incarceration as an additional factor in successful reentry. Seiter and Kadela define reentry, categorize programs for prisoner reentry, and use the Maryland Scale of Scientific Method to determine program effectiveness. The authors find that programs that emphasized vocational training and employment development yield the most success.Travis, Jeremy and Joan Petersilia. (2001). 'Reentry Reconsidered: A New Look at an Old Question'. Crime and Delinquency47(3): 291–313.Travis and Petersilia drive prison reform by providing research‐based implications for revamping the current system of prisoner management. While prisoners have always been arrested and released, the authors point out that the numbers of both are increasing. They believe this is a call to action. Travis and Petersilia look at changing sentencing policies, changes in parole supervision, and how the removal and return of prisoners influence communities. The authors highlight the astronomical increase of prisoners at a time when sentencing policies are changing and are often inconsistent. They examine parole, the demographics of transitioning inmates, and the links between reentry and five social policies. The findings provide guidance for development of reentry policies.Wacquant, Loic. (2002). 'Deadly Symbiosis: Rethinking Race and Imprisonment in Twenty‐ First‐Century America'. Boston Review27(2): 22–31.Waquant begins his article with three abrupt facts about racial inequality and imprisonment in the United States all of which point to a 'blackening' of the nations prisons. The author points out that the high percentage of black people incarcerated in the United States is a direct result of four institutions; slavery, the Jim Crow System, the organizational structure of urban ghettos and the growing prison system. One of the main findings, according to Waquant, is that when laws and social reform restricted segregation (technically ended), the prisons picked up where society left off. Essentially he argues that, as evidenced by the ghettos and increasing numbers of African‐Americans behind bars, the prison serves to reaffirm racial inequality.Online MaterialsDepartment of Justice http://www.usdoj.gov/Urban Institute http://www.urban.org/California Departmen of Corrections and Rehabilitation http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Bureau of Justice Statistics http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjsLloyd Sealy Library at John Jay College http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/Pew Center http://www.pewresearch.org/Sample Syllabus Week 1: Introduction to Prisoner Reentry Anderson‐Facile, Doreen. (2009). 'Basic Challenges to Prisoner Reentry'. Sociology Compass 3/2: 183–95.Visher, Christy A. and Jeremy Travis. (2003). 'Transitions from Prison to Community: Understanding Individual Pathways'. Annual Review of Sociology29: 89–113. Week 2: Introduction to Prisoner Reentry Continued Travis, Jeremy and Joan Petersilia. (2001). 'Reentry Reconsidered: A New Look at an Old Question.'Crime and Delinquency 47/3: 291–313.The Urban Institute. 'Beyond the Prison Gates: The State of Parole in America. A First Tuesday Forum.'http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=900567, November 5, 2002. Week 3: Incarceration, Reentry, and Race Pettit, Becky, and Bruce Western. (2004). 'Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in US Incarceration.'American Sociological Review69: 151–169.Wacquant, Loic. (2002). 'Deadly Symbiosis: Rethinking race and Imprisonment in twenty‐first‐century America'. Boston Review 27/2 (April/May): 22–31.Marbley, Aretha Faye and Ralph Ferguson. (2005). 'Responding to Prisoner Reentry, Recidivism, and Incarceration of Inmates of Color: A Call to the Communities'. Journal of Black Studies 35/5(May): 633–49. Week 4: Incarceration, Reentry, and Gender O'Brien, Patricia. (2007). 'Maximizing Success for Drug‐Affected Women after Release from Prison: Examining Access to and Use of Social Services During Reentry'. Women & Criminal Justice 17/2&3: 95–113.Severance, Theresa A. (2004). 'Concerns and Coping Strategies of Women Inmates Concerning Release: 'It's Going to Take Somebody in My Corner"'. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 38/4: 73–97.Parsons, Mickey L. and Carmen Warner‐Robbins. (2002). 'Factors that Support Women's Successful Transition to the Community Following Jail/ Prison.'Health Care for Women International23: 6–18. Week 5: Incarceration, Reentry, and Family/ Home La Vigne, Nancy G., Rebecca L. Naser, Lisa E. Brooks, and Jennifer L. Castro. (2005). 'Examining the Effect of Incarceration and In‐Prison Family Contact on Prisoners' Family Relationships'. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 21/4 (November): 314–35.Pearson, Jessica and Lanae Davis. (2003). 'Serving Fathers Who Leave Prison'. Family Court Review 41/3(July): 307–20.Roman, Caterina Gouvis and Jeremy Travis. (2004). 'Taking Stock: Housing, Homelessness, and Prisoner Reentry,'The Urban Institute.http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411096, March 8, 2004. Week 6: Incarceration, Reentry, and Employment Pager, Devah. (2003). 'The Mark of a Criminal Record,'American Journal of Sociology 108/5 (March): 937–75.Solomon, Amy L., Kelly Dedel Johnson, Jeremy Travis, and Elizabeth C. McBride. (2004). 'From Prison to Work: The Employment Dimensions of Prisoner Reentry'. Urban Institute Justice Policy Center. October 2004, pp. 1–32. Week 7: Incarceration, Reentry, and Employment Continued Holzer, Harry J., Steven Raphael, and Michael A. Stoll. (2002). 'Can Employers Play a More Positive Role in Prisoner Reentry? A Roundtable Paper'. The Urban Institute, March 20–21, 2002, pp. 1–16.Harrison, Byron, and Robert Carl Schehr. (2004). 'Offenders and Post‐Release Jobs: Variables Influencing Success and Failure'. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 39/3: 35–68. Week 8: Prisoner Reentry: What Works? MacKenzie, Doris Layton. (2000). 'Evidence‐Based Corrections: Identifying What Works'. Crime and Delinquency46: 457–71.Petersilia, Joan. (2004). 'What Works in Prisoner Reentry? Reviewing and Questioning Evidence'. Federal Probation 68/2 (September): 4–8.Seiter, Richard P. and Karen R. Kadela. (2003). 'Prisoner Reentry: What Works, What Does Not, and What is Promising,'Crime and Delinquency 49/3 (July): 360–88. Week 9: Incarceration, Reentry, Research and Public Policy Lynch, James P. (2006). 'Prisoner Reentry: Beyond Program Evaluations.'Criminology and Public Policy 5/2: 401–12.Pager, Devah. (2006). 'Evidence‐Based Policy for Successful Prisoner Reentry'. Criminology and Public Policy 5/3: 505–14.La Vigne, Nancy G. Diana Brazzell, and Kevonne M. Small. (2007). 'Evaluation of Florida's Faith‐ and Character‐Based Institutions'. The Urban Institute http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411561, October 1, 2007.Jacobson, Michael. (2006). 'Reversing the Punitive Turn: The Limits and Promise of Current Research'. Criminology and Public Policy 5/2: 277–84. Week 10: Incarceration, Reentry, and Outcomes Dhami, Mandeep K., David R. Mandel, George Loewenstein, and Peter Ayton. (2006). 'Prisoners Positive Illusions of Their Post‐Release Success'. Law and Human Behavior30: 631–47.Richards, Stephen C., James Austin, and Richard S. Jones. (2004). 'Kentucky's Perpetual Prisoner Machine: It's About Money'. The Review of Policy Research 21/1: 93–106.Suggested ReadingsEvans, Donald G. (2005). 'The Case for Inmate Reentry'. Corrections Today pp. 28–9.Lynch, James P. and William J. Sabol. (2001). 'Prisoner Reentry in Perspective'. Crime Policy Report3: 1–25.'One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008'. The Pew: Center on the States 2008, pp. 1–35.Petersilia, Joan. (1999). Parole and Prisoner Reentry in the United States, The University of Chicago.Petersilia, Joan (2003). When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0‐19‐516086‐x.Travis, Jeremy, Amy L. Solomon, and Michelle Waul. (2001). 'From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry'. The Urban Institute.Young, D. Vernetta and Rebecca Reviere (2006). Women Behind Bars. London: Lynn Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1‐58826‐371‐1.Focus Questions
Think about the kind of crimes for which people are imprisoned. What types of crimes do you think the majority of the prisoners commit? What precursors would lead to someone being arrested and eventually imprisoned for these types of crimes? What is the likelihood that these factors remain upon release? Do you think prison should be rehabilitative or punitive? Do you think prison is always the best option for criminal behavior (in other words, is the old adage 'if you do the crime you need to do the time' valid?). Why are incarceration and recidivism rates different across race and class? How do you explain the disparities in incarceration rates for people of color? What kind of programs, if any, do you feel should be incorporated into a prison sentence (i.e. job training, counseling, AA, NA, religious opportunities, etc.). Suggested Culminating Activity: Students are to design a pilot program to assist prisoners successfully reenter into the community. Students must have the following parts in their report/ presentation: Prison/Community Summary (what population and community do you want to serve), Program Summary and Justification (what is the program – how does it work and why do you think it is a valuable program), Requirements for Participation in Program, Barriers to Success, Assessment/ Measurement of Success/ Failure, and Conclusion. Students must briefly site articles from this course to support their methodologies and indicate the problems they suspect they will face as they try to determine the success or failure of their program. Budgets and money are a non‐issue. In the 'real' world budgets are always an issue but for the purpose of this assignment they are not. However, when designing your program you should consider whether your design is financially feasible.. The goal of such an assignment is for students to recognize the barriers prisoners face to successful reentry, the evidence and research that goes into creating prisoner policies, and that a program must be multi‐faceted and comprehensive in order to provide a platform for former inmate success.
This sample syllabus above is modeled after a 10 week term. It is recommended for longer terms, that the following book be utilized:Irwin, John. (2005). The Warehouse Prison. California: Roxbury Publishing Company.ISBN: 1‐931719‐35‐7.John Irwin derived his data from a prison in Solano County, California. Irwin watched as incarceration rates doubled between 1980 and 2000 despite crime levels staying relatively stable. Irwin notes that most of the prisoners in his study were incarcerated for 'unserious' crimes and were often treated in unethical ways. Irwin begins by examining incarceration rates, the demographics of the prison population, problems prisoners faced while incarcerated, post‐release difficulties and hurdles, and the societal costs of the prison super‐structure. Irwin offers a thorough examination of why prisoners are incarcerated, what they face while inside prison walls, what challenges they face once released, and the financial implications of imprisoning people.
Dear readers, authors and reviewers,As usual in RESI's issues, vol. 9, n. 2, brings papers from authors from many different institutions. This time, the authors of the ten papers come from eleven different universities. This provides clear evidence of the journal's spread of reach and capilarity. What calls the attention now is the fact that three of the papers were submitted in English, although there are Latin Americans among their authors. There are at least five other papers going through the review process right now that were also written in English in spite of their authors being native speakers of Portuguese or Spanish, which increases or perception that there is a trend towards that.RESI's editors consider this a very positive movement, because it increases the visibility of the journal among a broader audience. The fact that RESI pioneered the adoption of DOAJ, now the leading indexer of open access academic journals in the world, and that it started using DOI to identify its issues and papers prior to most other Latin American journals demonstrate our concern in providing more visibility to the research that is carried out in Latin America. Of course, publishing papers in English will make that effort more effective. RESI intends to become a connection hub between our scientific community and that of the Norther Hemisphere. Therefore, papers in English will always be very welcome.In spite of that, we would like to stress our commitment with the publication of sound research developed in Portugues or Spanish, because that is essential for the integration of ibero-american researchers, something which still needs a lot of promotion. We should also highlight that issues involving information systems many times have a relevant cultural component that needs to be addresses by researchers that are familiarized with local realities and generate results that can be discussed with local authorities and society in general. And that is, surely, easier to do using the national language of those concerned. We shouldn't be happy to only import technologies that were developed in "the developed world" (no matter what that means!) adapting them to our local problems without a thorough reflection on their capacity, or even usefulness, in solving them.Therefore, at the same time we celebrate the interest and the courage of our authors to try and express themselves in a foreign language, in order to increase the visibility of their work, we will always be open to papers written by authors in their native language, if we have the technical conditions to review it properly, which currently only happens to Portuguese, Spanish and English. After all, an electronic journal such as RESI can provide international visibility for those who seek it, while also creating a democratic environment for the discussion of local issues with those who have a particular interest on it, which may be less effective if not done in the national language of the stakeholders.Having this reflection been made, we invite our authors, reviewers and readers to keep this "caotic" diversity of languages, perspectives and ideologies which have always characterized the University and now call attention to the papers that comprise this issue, which will be briefly presented in the next few paragraphs:The first paper, "Information systems graduate education and research in Brazil", written by Renata Mendes de Araujo and Márcio de Oliveira Barros, opens this issue with an important issue to all of those involved with graduate education in the Information Systems' field, which is the way we are forming the next generations of researchers in our maters and doctorate programs. In this paper, the authors report their experience in consolidating their graduate school at Unirio. The paper is addressed to researchers that deal with IS from an informatics perspective, but could also interest those who see IS from a managerial perspective.Lisiane Barea Sandi and Amarolinda Zanela Saccol show their concern with the way our society is assimilating new technologies, highlighting the fact that, in spite of the obvious benefits, there are also reasons for concern. In " Information overload due to the adoption of mobile and wireless information technologies and its consequences to sales professionals" the authors use an exploratory survey with 75 sales professionals, trying to analize the impacts of mobile telephony on their quality of life."The influence of managerial work determinants on the perception of fitness between technology and task: an exploratory study" is the work developed by Débora Bobsin, Monize Sâmara Visentini and Mauri Leodir Löbler, where they try to contribute to the understanding of information systems as tools to support the activities that are expected to be carried out by managers in organizations. The authors conclude that the more experience managers have with information systems, the more they consider that technology can affect his/her tasks. Also, the more access a user has to a system, the more he/she perceives the fit between technology and task.In "Motivation to create free and open source projects and how decisions impact success", Carlos Denner Santos Jr. and Kay M. Nelson propose a theoretical model that helps assess the reasons that lead an organization to get involved in open software development projects, so that, in the future, such projects can have their success evaluated in a more objetive way. This is an interesting complement to another paper the first author had published at Revista de Administração de Empresas, v. 50, n. 4, late in 2010.In "Engagement or friendship? The perspective of customers and suppliers about business relationships in the software sector", Rita de Cássia de Faria Pereira, Carlo Gabriel Porto Bellini and Fernando Bins Luce use a very original approach (interviews of pairs of customers-suppliers in the software industry – 14 dyads) to analyze issues concerning their relationships (commitment, trust, adaptation, cooperation, and communication) and contextual factors that may amplify or moderate those attributes (uncertainty, interdependence, and the existence of alternative suppliers).Edimara Mezzomo Luciano, Leandro Pilatti, Maurício Gregianin Testa and Ionara Rech deal with the use of COBIT framework to improving management processes of outsourced activities for both involved companies. The paper's title is " Applicability of COBIT in managing outsourced information technology activities: an investigation based on two multinational companies".Perceiving the influence of information technologies on the way companies organize themselves and coordinate their activities with those of customers and suppliers, Dayane Mayely Silva de Oliveira and Max Fortunato Cohen (UFA), carried out a literature review and mapped 21 technologies that facilitate the integration of production processes and emphasize the collaboration among autonomous organizations. This is reported in: "IT use along the supply chain in conjunction with the major management collaboration techniques".Problems involving information security increase as companies integrate their processes and systems to those of their business partners by means of computer networks. Concerned with that, Alexandre dos Santos Roque, Raul Ceretta Nunes and Alexandre Dias da Silva developed, in their paper "Proposition of a dynamic model for managing security information on industrial environments", a dynamic model for information security management, in which interaction, cooperation and motivation (of upper-management, supervisors and workers) are emphasized in order to meet the new demands of information security management: responsibility, trust and ethics.In an environment of activity/process integration of organizations and their business partners and huge information flow among the interested partiesas discussed in a previous paper in this issue (see Oliveira and Cohen), it becomes essential to adopt information security policies to make sure that information is always available to those who need it and do not fall in wrong hands. Leonardo Guerreiro Azevedo, Diego Alexandre Aranha Duarte, Fernanda Baião and Claudia Cappelli developed a set of criteria and a method to assess tools for management and execution of authorization rules for the access and use of information systems, applying them to a real situation at Petrobrás, one of the leading oil companies in the world, which they discuss in "Evaluating tools for execution and management of authorization business rules".Finally, the paper "Requirements and wished features for software testing tools: a study based on the use of SQFD", authored by Ismayle Sousa Santos, Rodolfo S. Ferreira de Resende, Pedro Alcântara Santos Neto and Clarindo Isaias P. da Silva e Padua presents the adaptation of QFD (Quality Function Deployment), a Quality technique developed originally for industrial products, to sortware development. By means of intelligent argumentation and detailing of all necessary steps for implementing the methodology, the authors make it easy for the reader to understand its possible use in the new field and contribute for its dissimination among the software developers. I wope you all have fun reading the papers in this issue!Alexandre R. GraemlEditor ; Prezados leitores, autores e revisores,O volume 9, número 2, como tem sido usual nas edições da RESI desde a sua fundação em 2002, é marcado pela diversidade geográfica dos seus autores. Desta vez, há onze instituições representadas entre os autores dos dez artigos publicados. Isto evidencia a abrangência e capilaridade deste periódico, agora com a contribuição de autores de seis estados brasileiros: Amazonas, Minas Gerais, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul e São Paulo, além de um norte-americano, do estado de Illinois, nos Estados Unidos. Mas o que chama mais atenção, e talvez já demonstre a preocupação dos autores brasileiros e latino-americanos em aumentar a visibilidade internacional da sua produção, é que três dos dez artigos ora publicados foram submetidos à revista em inglês. Há pelo menos outros cinco artigos de autores de língua espanhola ou português em análise no momento, para eventual publicação em edições posteriores da revista, o que reforça a percepção de que existe uma tendência nessa direção.Os editores da RESI consideram essa iniciativa louvável. O fato de a RESI ser o periódico brasileiro há mais tempo no DOAJ, o principal indexador de revistas de acesso livre no mundo, e de dispor de DOI para todos os artigos publicados nos últimos anos, individualmente, demonstra a nossa preocupação em dar visibilidade à pesquisa realizada na América Latina e para que isso ocorra mais eficazmente devemos começar a explorar mais o idioma inglês, não só no abstract, como sempre foi feito, mas também no corpo dos nossos trabalhos, sempre que possível. O esforço de internacionalização da revista, que pretende ser o principal fórum de discussões da área na América Latina, mas também um meio de conexão da nossa comunidade científica com os pesquisadores do Hemisfério Norte, deve ir nessa direção. Por isso, são muito bem vindos os manuscritos em inglês.Apesar disso, gostaríamos de reforçar nosso comprometimento com a publicação de bons textos em português ou espanhol, porque eles são essenciais para a maior integração dos pesquisadores ibero-americanos, que ainda precisa ser muito fomentada. É importante lembrar que as temáticas de sistemas de informação estão (e em alguns casos deveríam ser ainda mais!) relacionadas a questões culturais que precisam ser exploradas na pesquisa de autores que estejam familiarizados com as realidades locais envolvidas e gerar resultados de pesquisa que possam ser discutidas com agentes governamentais e a comunidade local, algo que, seguramente, ocorre de forma facilitada no idioma nacional. Não basta importarmos tecnologias dos "países mais desenvolvidos" (o que quer que isso signifique!) adaptando-nos a elas sem uma reflexão sobre sua capacidade, ou mesmo utilidade, na solução dos nossos problemas, considerando que foram desenvolvidas em outro contexo e, possivelmente, para outros fins.Por isso, ao mesmo tempo que festejamos o interesse (e a coragem!) dos nossos autores de se utilizarem de idioma estrangeiro para tornar sua pesquisa mais visível no exterior, em uma atitude nítidamente expansionista, também queremos deixar claro que a RESI sempre estará aberta e acolherá com carinho os trabalhos escritos no idioma original do seu autor, desde que tenhamos condições técnicas de avaliá-lo competentemente, o que hoje ocorre para o português, o espanhol e o inglês. Afinal, uma revista eletrônica como a RESI pode fornecer grande visibilidade internacional para aqueles que a procuram, mas também um espaço de discussão democrático que possibilite a comunicação dos seus autores com a sociedade, principalmente nos casos em que houver questões culturais e sociais importantes em discussão, o que pode ficar prejudicado se não no idioma nacional.Feita essa reflexão inicial e o convite para que mantenhamos sempre a "caótica" diversidade de idiomas, de perspectivas e de ideologias que caracteriza a Universidade, gostaria de chamar a atenção de todos para os artigos que compõem essa edição, brevemente descritos a seguir:O primeiro artigo, "Information systems graduate education and research in Brazil", de Renata Mendes de Araujo e Márcio de Oliveira Barros, ambos da Unirio, abre essa edição da RESI discutindo um tema muito importante para os pesquisadores que estudam Sistemas de Informação no Brasil, que é a forma como estamos preparando as novas gerações de pesquisadores em nossos programas stricto sensu. No artigo, os autores relatam a experiência de sua instituição na consolidação de um curso de pós-graduação na área. O trabalho é mais voltado para programas com origem na informática, mas encontrará leitores também entre aqueles que estudam as tecnologias de informação a partir de uma perspectiva de negócios.Lisiane Barea Sandi e Amarolinda Zanela Saccol, da Unisinos, demonstram sua preocupação com a forma como a sociedade está se apropriando das novas tecnologias, salientando que, além dos óbvios benefícios, há também questões preocupantes, que precisam ser discutidas. Em "Sobrecarga de informações geradas pela adoção de tecnologias da informação móveis e sem fio e suas decorrências para profissionais de vendas" as autoras se utilizam de uma survey exploratória com 75 profissionais da área de vendas, procurando analisar os impactos do telefone celular sobre sua qualidade de vida."A influência dos determinantes do trabalho gerencial na percepção do ajuste entre a tecnologia e a tarefa: um estudo exploratório" é o trabalho de Débora Bobsin, Monize Sâmara Visentini e Mauri Leodir Löbler (UFRGS e UFSM), em que procuram contribuir para o entendimento dos sistemas de informação como ferramenta de suporte para a execução das tarefas que compõem o papel do gestor na organização. Os autores concluem que quanto mais aumenta a experiência do indivíduo com os Sistemas de Informação, maior o ajuste percebido por ele, entre a tecnologia e a tarefa que executa. Da mesma forma, quanto maior o acesso do usuário ao sistema, maior o ajuste percebido entre tecnologia e tarefa.Em "Motivation to create free and open source projects and how decisions impact success", Carlos Denner Santos Jr. e Kay M. Nelson (USP e Southern Illinois) propõem um modelo teórico que ajuda a avaliar o que leva uma organização a se envolver em projetos de desenvolvimento de software livre para que, no futuro, seja possível avaliar com mais propriedade o sucesso dessas iniciativas. Trata-se de um complemento interessante a outro artigo publicado recentemente pelo primeiro autor na RAE (v. 50, n. 4, out/dez 2010).Em "Namoro ou amizade? A visão de clientes e fornecedores sobre relacionamentos de negócio no setor de software", Rita de Cássia de Faria Pereira, Carlo Gabriel Porto Bellini e Fernando Bins Luce (os três primeiros da UFPB e o último da UFRGS) adotam uma abordagem bastante original (entrevistas com 14 díades cliente-fornecedor do setor gaúcho de software - 28 empresas ao todo) para analisar aspectos relacionados ao relacionamento entre essas empresas (comprometimento, confiança, adaptação, cooperação e comunicação) e fatores contextuais que podem influenciá-los (incerteza, interdependência e disponibilidade de fornecedores alternativos).Edimara Mezzomo Luciano, Leandro Pilatti, Maurício Gregianin Testa e Ionara Rech (todos da PUC-RS) analisam a forma como a adoção do framework do COBIT pode auxiliar no aprimoramento dos processos de gestão das atividades terceirizadas, tanto pela empresa terceirizada quanto pela que terceiriza o serviço. O título do artigo é: "Aplicabilidade do Cobit na gestão de atividades de tecnologia da informação terceirizadas: uma investigação com base em duas empresas multinacionais".Percebendo a influência cada vez mais intensa das tecnologias da informação sobre a forma como as organizações se organizam para a produção e agregação de valor, Dayane Mayely Silva de Oliveira e Max Fortunato Cohen (UFA), fazem um levantamento bibliográfico sobre o fenômeno, mapeando 21 tecnologias que facilitam a integração de processos produtivos e incentivam a colaboração entre empresas autônomas. Isto é relatado em: "Os usos da TI ao longo da cadeia de suprimentos e em conjunto com as principais técnicas colaborativas de gestão".Os problemas relacionados à segurança da informação aumentam, na medida em que as empresas se informatizam e integram seus processos aos de parceiros de negócios por meio de redes de computadores. Preocupados com isso, Alexandre dos Santos Roque, Raul Ceretta Nunes e Alexandre Dias da Silva (UFSM) desenvolvem, em seu artigo "Proposição de um modelo dinâmico de gestão de segurança da informação para ambientes industriais", um modelo dinâmico de gestão da segurança da informação em que a interação, a cooperação e a motivação das pessoas (alta-gerência, chefes e funcionários) são priorizadas para atender os novos requisitos da gestão da segurança da informação: responsabilidade, confiança e ética.Em um cenário de integração das atividades das empresas com parceiros de negócios e grande fluxo de informações entre elas, conforme discutido inclusive em outro artigo dessa edição (ver Oliveira e Cohen), torna-se essencial que se adotem políticas de segurança da informação, para garantir que ela esteja sempre acessível àqueles que precisam e devem ter acesso a ela e não caiam em mãos indesejadas. Leonardo Guerreiro Azevedo, Diego Alexandre Aranha Duarte, Fernanda Baião e Claudia Cappelli (todos da Unirio) desenvolvem um conjunto de critérios e um método para avaliação de ferramentas para gestão e execução de regras de autorização para o acesso e utilização de sistemas, aplicando-os ao caso real da Petrobrás, conforme relatado em "Evaluating tools for execution and management of authorization business rules".O artigo "Requisitos e aspectos técnicos desejados em ferramentas de testes de software: um estudo a partir do uso do SQFD", de Ismayle Sousa Santos, Rodolfo S. Ferreira de Resende, Pedro Alcântara Santos Neto e Clarindo Isaias P. da Silva e Padua (a primeira da UFPI e os demais da UFMG) apresenta uma adaptação ao desenvolvimento de software da ferramenta QFD (desdobramento da função qualidade), tão defendida pelos guros da qualidade para aplicação a processos industriais. A argumentação inteligente e o detalhamento dos passos a serem executados na implementação da metodologia facilitam a compreensão do seu uso pelo leitor e contribuem para a sua divulgação entre os informáticos. Desejo a todos uma ótima leitura!Alexandre Reis GraemlEditor
Le rapport de soutenance rend tout d'abord hommage à la qualité du dossier présenté à l'appui de la demande de l'habilitation à diriger des recherches: un mémoire substantiel, deux livres (en français et en anglais), une quarantaine d'articles publiés dans des revues reconnues, des contributions originales à des ouvrages collectifs, ainsi que de nombreuses communications à des réunions scientifiques internationales. Les ouvrages d'Albert Doja sont très variés même s'ils sont essentiellement consacrés à l'Albanie et à la région balkanique. Il y a beaucoup de thèmes importants abordés et une quantité significative de propositions. C'est un corpus très riche, plein d'idées intéressantes qui poussent à repenser les concepts de base. Les rapporteurs notent qu'il y a deux thématiques organisent le dossier, celui de la construction culturelle de la personne (morphologie sociale, parenté et relations de genre) et celui des relations interethniques élargies aux champs de la religion, de la nation et de la folklorisation des traditions culturelles et notamment des conflits qu'enclenchent tous ces éléments. Sa thèse de Doctorat qui était en grande partie basée sur les données folkloriques et ethnographiques cherchait à comprendre la constitution de la personne en Albanie en utilisant des bases d'interprétation anthropologique où les influences les plus explicites sont les œuvres de Lévi-Strauss. De la construction de la personne le regard s'est très naturellement porté vers les valeurs et les traits structurels qui façonnent la société albanaise (un système lignager, l'idéologie du sang, l'hypertrophie du sentiment fraternel, le sens de l'honneur, la codification de l'amitié, etc.). Ces approfondissements et ces élargissements de la problématique de départ ont abouti, par touches successives, à un riche tableau où l'étude de la socialisation, de la formation de personne, la nature de la culture régionale, la structure sociale, la construction de l'honneur, les pratiques religieuses par rapport à la distribution linguistiques contribuent à un effort orienté vers une compréhension de la spécificité des sociétés et des cultures albanaises et sud-est européennes. De là il se met à analyser les formes et la dynamique de l'identité ethnique, nationale et le conflit. Son anthropologie représente une excellente combinaison qui devrait être utile dans la recherche régionale. Il s'agit d'une anthropologie sociale et historique des 'traditions' mais dans la mesure où elle se situe dans un balancement entre ethnie et nation on peut considérer qu'il s'agit d'une anthropologie du juste milieu qui d'ailleurs ne sacrifie nullement l'actualité comme en témoignent les analyses consacrées au phénomène des viols ou encore à l'exercice démocratique. Enfin il discute les questions plus contemporaines qui relèvent des transformations politiques et sociales dans la région, l'introduction de la démocratie, la migration et l'intégration. Le mémoire distingue d'ailleurs très bien les champs de recherche et les champs d'implication. Dans ce parcours Albert Doja démontre sa maîtrise de la région du point de vue historique, linguistique et culturelle en même temps qu'il intègre en grande partie ces connaissances dans les discussions théoriques contemporaines dans la discipline. Catherine Quiminal (Professeur, Paris VII) note que ce dossier met en évidence de manière convaincante l'intérêt, pour l'anthropologie, d'aborder des terrains concernant des sociétés du sud-est européen, puisque l'auteur revendique également une démarche comparative peu développée par l'anthropologie de l'Europe. De tels terrains permettent de "passer de l'Autre primitif ou archaïque, conventionnel ou populaire, en situation néo-coloniale ou dans une communauté locale, vers l'étude des processus dynamiques et transactionnels de transformation sociale, de modernisation et de globalisation". Albert Doja y fait état des connaissances historiques, géographiques, ethnologiques concernant la région. Il en restitue de manière critique les conditions de production et de reproduction et les limites. L'histoire des cultures du Sud-Est européen nécessite, selon l'auteur, une nouvelle formulation, un regard orienté sur la construction des identités, les transformations familiales et sociales. Le mode d'analyse proposé pour aborder des sociétés que l'auteur préfère qualifier de "conventionnelles" plutôt que de traditionnelles, s'éloigne volontairement de la monographie d'un groupe artificiellement isolé à la recherche de survivances, pour se focaliser sur les institutions centrales et les valeurs dominantes. Anthropologue né en Albanie, formé en France, ayant un engagement maintenu pendant plusieurs années dans des relations personnelles étroites en Europe du sud-est aussi bien qu'en Europe de l'Ouest, vivant et travaillant depuis de longues années en France, en Grande Bretagne et en Irlande, il se trouve dans une position propice à un type de recherche de terrain diachronique et comparative. Jonathan Friedman (Directeur d'études, EHESS) note également que dans sa tentative de caractériser la région balkanique comme située entre deux complexes de civilisation en réponse aux discussions classiques basées sur la notion de région croisée entre l'orient et l'occident et le réductionnisme que cela peut entraîner, Albert Doja propose de redéfinir la région en termes de frontières plus fluides et de co-existence entre peuples différents. Ici il prend en compte à la fois la culture ou la société dans le sens objectiviste de l'observateur et l'identité culturelle ou ethnique qui est pratiquée dans les interactions entre membres de différentes populations. Sa discussion de la méthode est fort intéressante et reflète le parcours de sa formation. Il insiste sur la nécessité de combiner des méthodes différentes, historiques et comparatives, ethnographie, analyses de textes et recherches sur les documents archivés. Jean Copans (Professeur, Paris V) note que Albert Doja passe d'une folkloristique classique de recueil des traditions à une anthropologie politique ou politologie géostratégique plurinationale. La question est d'importance car on doit se demander quelles sont les méthodologies de terrain les plus adéquates à l'étude des relations interethniques et des valeurs culturelles. Peut-on enquêter directement sur le processus de construction de l'ethnicité, peut-on observer en direct sa genèse interactive ou faut-il attendre un degré de fusion, de formalisation et de verbalisation pour la saisir et puis la déconstruire? Si les africanistes sont obsédés par cette question, pour Albert Doja il s'agit d'une nouvelle théorie, assez subtile et complexe. L'ethnicité est une question de point de vue, de position que redouble ici le problème de l'observation de la violence. L'anthropologie du génocide, de la souffrance et de l'affliction est à la mode mais c'est la mémoire qui joue le rôle central, de même que c'est le processus d'observation qui fournit des réponses empiriques aux nouvelles questions décisives qui mettent en cause les méthodes de la discipline. Michael Herzfeld (Professeur, Harvard University), note également qu'on ne peut qu'être profondément frappé par la grande envergure des observations d'Albert Doja sur l'ethnographie albanaise et par l'érudition qui les soutient. On constate, bien sûr, que les données dont Albert Doja traite sont riches d'informations et d'aperçus. Il est allé bien loin au-delà de la prospective limitée des chercheurs antérieurs à lui. Il a mené de sérieuses enquêtes empiriques et fait preuve qu'il possède suffisamment la capacité de fournir des descriptions nuancées des faits sociaux. Souvent il révèle une sensibilité ethnographique presque éclatante, là où on est peut-être le moins préparé à le rencontrer, comme c'est le cas notamment dans son article sur les problèmes de stabilité au Kosovo, là où une petite scène de tension et de méprise dans un café Internet révèle l'univers du "transnational" dans toute sa complexité. Mais ce qui sauve les analyses des études folkloriques traditionnelles (isolation intellectuelle et stigmatisation par l'association avec des nationalismes exceptionnellement durs et revanchistes) consiste avant tout en deux points forts: sa connaissance, évidemment bien profonde et circonstanciée, de l'histoire des théories les plus importantes en anthropologie sociale d'un côté, et sa méfiance soit du nationalisme soit des critiques souvent trop simplistes avancées par des savants qui n'avaient peut-être pas considéré que le modèle d'une identité construite peut devenir abusive dans le cas où elle sert à soutenir des idéologies identitaires opposées selon la rhétorique de l'opposition entre le faux et le réel. En ce qui concerne le champ des ethnicités comparées de l'Europe, Jean Copans note que des nationalités de l'empire austro-hongrois on glisse à l'ethnicisme avec des intellectuels organiques (et parfois des ethnologues) tout aussi responsables (et coupables!). Michael Herzfeld aussi mentionne les observations d'Albert Doja sur les points de parallélisme entre la politique ethnique et le comportement des savants, pour noter que celle-ci est une comparaison qui a pu achever un très haut niveau d'importance analytique. Le rapporteur est bien d'accord avec les observations d'Albert Doja, car ce qui est d'une importance capitale est le fait qu'il réussit à nous rappeler que les savants font déjà partie de ce qu'ils étudient, qu'ils le veuillent ou non. Il faut souligner que bien que d'autres ethnologues aient déjà établi des rapports, soit historiques, soit formels, entre le nationalisme et l'anthropologie, Albert Doja achève sur ce point une formulation suffisamment généralisable et heuristiquement suggestive pour qu'on puisse en dériver des projets "de terrain" à l'avenir. À ce propos Christian Bromberger (Professeur, Université de Provence) et Jonathan Friedman (Directeur d'études, EHESS) notent tous les deux que les interprétations des violences et des atrocités sexuelles dans les conditions de conflit interethnique pendant les guerres de Bosnie et du Kosovo sont fort intéressantes. Jean Copans (Professeur, Paris-V) estime aussi que l'hypothèse d'Albert Doja sur l'équivalence culturelle des modèles de lecture du viol par la victime et par celui qui l'a perpétré est pertinente. Albert Doja montre comment la pollution du sang dans des sociétés qui en ont érigé la pureté en valeur dominante vise et "amène nécessairement le désordre et l'éclatement du système social et du groupe tout entier". La substitution d'une ligne paternelle externe à la ligne établie par le mariage par l'agression désorganise profondément l'ordre parental de la société locale. Jean-Pierre Warnier (Professeur, Paris V) note à ce propos que les cadres d'analyse proposés par Albert Doja relèvent du structuralisme (Hage, Héritier, Testart, Douglas) en termes de catégories disjonctives et de rituels par rapport aux représentations des humeurs corporelles et à la réalité physique de l'agression–intrusion. Le cadre théorique structuraliste est traditionnellement considéré rebelle à l'analyse politique, mais le mérite d'Albert Doja est de montrer que la "culture" des protagonistes permet de comprendre l'impact ravageur du viol sur la subjectivité des acteurs, situant le viol dans un rapport de force et de pouvoir - pouvoir qui, comme le répétait Michel Foucault, s'adresse toujours au corps dans sa matérialité. Dans ses analyses des causes des viols, Albert Doja est convaincu que l'explication doit être cherchée dans le fait que les valeurs d'honneur sont mises en avant par une sorte d'agencéité (agency) politique et instrumentale. Par ailleurs, les rapports de pouvoir ne sont pas impliqués dans la re-traditionalisation des valeurs. C'est le changement des structures macrosociologiques qui alimente cette re-traditionalisation et c'est l'usage instrumental des valeurs identitaires et des valeurs morales et sociales de l'honneur ou de la religion qui fait que le viol soit aussi efficace comme une arme de purification ethnique. Ainsi on peut suggérer que le viol a une fonction politique immédiate. Jonathan Friedman note qu'un point bien fort dans les recherches d'Albert Doja consiste à démontrer l'importance de l'anthropologie dans la compréhension des conflits contemporains dans la région balkanique. Il démontre que la logique des rapports familiaux, basé sur un modèle fortement patriarcal où l'honneur est central et génératif des feuds (vendetta) qui bloque la résolution des conflits sans la violence. Cette logique lie la production des sujets masculins à la politique ethnique. C'est une contribution importante à une discussion de la guerre qui est souvent limitée à des concepts généraux comme le nationalisme ou les régimes corrompues qui utilisent leurs propres populations pour atteindre des buts privés. Dans sa discussion des rapports complexes entre l'État, les discours nationalistes et la façon dont ils sont assimilés en bas de l'ordre politique, Albert Doja suggère le rôle important de la mondialisation dans le déclenchement de la fragmentation à l'intérieur de l'État-nation. Il discute la façon dont se développent les débats entre Albanais et Serbes à propos du statut historique de Kosovo, où les intellectuels ont joué un rôle important. Certes Albert Doja construit son champ de manière historique, anthropologique et comparative. Même si cette comparaison s'arrête essentiellement aux frontières des Balkans, Jean Copans ajoute toutefois que par ailleurs il nous propose une théorie générale de 1'ethnicité. Il faut donc discriminer entre généralisation et comparaison. Or les sociétés des Balkans sont des sociétés de l'histoire écrite ce qui modifie les perceptions anthropologiques habituelles. Nous ne sommes pas dans le contexte post-colonial habituel mais le choix de propositions cognitivistes ne débouche heureusement pas sur des propositions essentialistes ou instrumentalistes, ni sur des réactions de mode qui mondialiseraient abusivement l'expérience récente des Balkans. Christian Bromberger note à ce propos que l'auteur, traitant du thème des identités, renvoie dos à dos les "primordialistes" et les "instrumentalistes" en notant justement que même si "les attributs culturels tenus pour être la marque distinctive d'un groupe peuvent faire l'objet de transformations, de substitutions, de réinterprétations, cela ne conduit pas à poser que l'identification ethnique peut s'exercer à partir de n'importe quoi". Jonathan Friedman ajoute aussi que la discussion d'Albert Doja sur les rapports entre l'ethnicité instrumentale et primordialiste est importante, même si elle reprend partiellement des discussions connues ailleurs aussi. Le fait que la manipulation de l'identité reste toujours dans des limites encadrées par une espace identitaire qui a ses propres limites implique que l'instrumentalisme est toujours limité et que "on ne peut s'identifier à partir de n'importe quoi". Mais Albert Doja marque un point important quand il soutient que ces deux concepts sont mieux compris si on les considère comme des aspects d'un même phénomène. Jean-Pierre Warnier remarque que la question du pouvoir et des rapports politiques apparaît souvent dans les travaux d'Albert Doja, mais là où il se rapproche le plus d'une analyse politique, c'est dans l'article «The politics of religion». D'un point de vue théorique, il ne semble pas suffisant de renvoyer dos à dos primordialistes et constructivistes, comme le fait pourtant le candidat. C'est l'analyse du pouvoir qui permet de trancher entre les deux, ainsi que l'a suggéré Jean-François Bayart dans son livre L'Illusion identitaire. A cette question concernant le pouvoir, Albert Doja répond que c'est précisément parce la question du pouvoir et des rapports politiques est centrale à l'ensemble de ses travaux qu'on devrait considérer plutôt réducteur de la traiter séparément. Le candidat dit faire une distinction entre pouvoir et politique et qu'il s'intéresse à l'usage instrumental des valeurs morales et sociales de l'identité. Catherine Quiminal note à ce propos que les processus que Albert Doja qualifie de construction identitaire se développent en fonction d'enjeux sociaux et politiques circonstanciés parce que définis par des rapports de force internes aux sociétés considérées et par les relations plaçant ces dernières sous la dépendance d'autres sociétés, rapports et relations qui sont générateurs de domination, de discriminations et de résistances. Ces relations ont sûrement des incidences sur la compréhension de ce que Albert Doja appelle indifféremment dynamique des valeurs culturelles ou dynamique culturelle des valeurs sociales. Christian Bromberger note également l'importance des processus de construction et d'affirmation des identités collectives, ainsi abordées par Albert Doja, dans une région marquée par une forte fragmentation des appartenances confessionnelles. L'auteur souligne le rôle des affiliations religieuses (le bektachisme par exemple) dans la construction des nationalismes et dans les phénomènes de résistance qui ont ponctué l'histoire complexe de l'Albanie et du sud-est de l'Europe. Il analyse, de façon éclairante et à diverses échelles chronologiques, les phénomènes de conversion et de reconversion religieuses dont l'Albanie a été le théâtre. Également fructueuse est pour Michael Herzfeld l'explication que Albert Doja suggère de l'islamisation compréhensive d'une grande partie de la population albanaise. Il étend son modèle aux cas des bosniaques, et on ne peut que regretter qu'il n'est pas encore arrivé à comparer d'autres cas, tel celui de la Crète (où la cruauté des autorités vénitiennes assurèrent leur défaite par les Turcs et donc fournit un cas extrêmement clair de ce que Albert Doja indique pour l'Albanie). Quelle ironie historique que ce soit l'Église catholique qui, par l'oppression des populations orthodoxes, ait déclenché la réaction par lequel l'Islam gagna son importance actuelle en Albanie, même si c'est dans ses aperçus historiques plutôt qu'ethnographiques où Albert Doja semble achever son plus haut niveau de perspicacité! Catherine Quiminal souligne aussi l'hypothèse suivante proposée par l'auteur: "Le développement des pratiques religieuses et des mouvements successifs de conversion et reconversion parmi les Albanais. . . se laisse interpréter comme des expressions de conflit et de protestation, conduisant aux mouvements nationaux et au nationalisme". L'étude de la dynamique de ces mouvements a permis à l'auteur de "comprendre la relativité des conflits politico-religieux et ethnico-nationaux. . . et de mettre la signification des changements d'appartenance religieuse dans la perspective de négociation et de redéfinition des identités sociales". La religion s'ethnicise à des fins de rassemblement. Nation, nationalisme et citoyenneté sont des notions également appréhendées par l'auteur comme constructions identitaires et idéologiques. L'ethnicité est considérée finalement comme "une forme et une métaphore de l'activité et de l'organisation sociale". Jonathan Friedman note aussi que la discussion par Albert Doja de la démocratisation possible de l'Albanie est assez prometteuse, même si elle est encore à ses débuts. Il est d'accord avec l'auteur qui se demande dans quels sens peut se produire une démocratisation dans une société où un affaiblissement de l'État débouche sur un renforcement des rapports parentaux et claniques, où les hiérarchies clientélistes sont à l'ordre du jour ainsi que l'identité du type clanique dominante. Mais on peut aussi suggérer que c'est au contraire les soi-disant institutions démocratiques qui sont adaptées à des stratégies "conventionnelles", semblable à la démocratie africaine (ou du moins congolaise). En fin de compte, les ouvrages d'Albert Doja représentent un corpus marqué d'une vaste érudition qui suscite de nouveaux points de départ pour une ethnologie comparative de la région balkanique. Avant tout, il a trouvé les moyens théoriques pour ériger un pont analytique entre les expériences sociales des gens ordinaires et les structures politiques des entités nationales construites en leur nom et, selon les discours officiels, en accord avec leur vie sociale et culturelle. Pour conclure, le rapport de soutenance revient sur l'originalité du dossier "en rendant hommage au travail accompli par Albert Doja", et souligne "l'intérêt d'une discussion entre anthropologues européanistes et anthropologues des aires culturelles plus traditionnelles de la discipline", aussi bien que "l'impression positive qui se dégage de cette œuvre riche et d'un parcours où chaque étape inaugure un renouvellement des perspectives et des thématiques".
The L Word: Generation Q is the reboot of The L Word, a long running series about a group of lesbians and bisexuals in Los Angeles in the early 2000s. Both programmes are unique in their positioning of lesbian characters and have been well received by audiences and critics alike. These programmes present a range of characters and narratives, previously excluded from mainstream film and television, bringing a refreshing change from the destructive images typically presented before. We argue that the reboot Generation Q now offers more meaningful representation of the broader lesbian and transgender communities, and discuss its relevance in the changing portrayals of gay representation. Gay visibility has never really been an issue in the movies. Gays have always been visible. It is how they have been visible that has remained offensive for almost a century. (Russo 66) In 2004 The L Word broke new ground as the very first television series written and directed by predominantly queer women. This set it apart from previous representations of lesbians by Hollywood because it portrayed a community rather than an isolated or lone lesbian character, that was extraneous to a cast of heterosexuals (Moore and Schilt). The series brought change, and where Hollywood was more often "reluctant to openly and non-stereotypically engage with gay subjects and gay characters" (Baker 41), the L Word offered an alternative to the norm in media representation. "The L Word's significance lies in its very existence" according to Chambers (83), and this article serves to consider this significance in conjunction with its 2019 reboot, the L Word: Generation Q, to ascertain if the enhanced visibility and gay representation influences the system of representation that has predominantly been excluding and misrepresentative of gay life. The exclusion of authentic representation of lesbians and gays in Hollywood film is not new. Over time, however, there has been an increased representation of gay characters in film and television. However, beneath the positive veneer remains a morally disapproving undertone (Yang), where lesbians and gays are displayed as the showpiece of the abnormal (Gross, "Out of the Mainstream"). Gross ("Out of the Mainstream") suggests that through the 'othering' of lesbians and gays within media, a means of maintaining the moral order is achieved, and where being 'straight' results in a happy ending. Lesbians and gays in film thus achieve what Gerbner referred to as symbolic annihilation, purposefully created in a bid to maintain the social inequity. This form of exclusion often saw controversial gay representation, with a history of portraying these characters in a false, excluding, and pejorative way (Russo; Gross, "What Is Wrong"; Hart). The history of gay representation in media had at times been monstrous, playing out the themes of gay sexuality as threatening to heterosexual persons and communities (Juárez). Gay people were incorrectly stereotyped, and gay lives were seen through the slimmest of windows. Walters (15) argued that it was "too often" that film and television images would narrowly portray gays "as either desexualized or over sexualized", framing their sexuality as the sole identity of the character. She also contested that gay characters were "shown as nonthreatening and campy 'others' or equally comforting and familiar boys (and they are usually boys, not girls) next door" (Walters 15). In Russo's seminal text, The Celluloid Closet, he demonstrated that gay characters were largely excluded from genuine and thoughtful presentation in film, while the only option given to them was how they died. Gay activists and film makers in the 1980s and beyond built on the momentum of AIDS activism (Streitmatter) to bring films that dealt with gay subject matter more fairly than before, with examples like The Birdcage, Philadelphia, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, and In and Out. Walters argues that while "mainstream films like Brokeback Mountain and The Kids are Alright entertain moviegoers with their forthright gay themes and scenes" (12), often the roles have been more of tokenisation, representing the "surprisingly gay characters in a tedious romcom, the coyly queer older man in a star-studded indie hit, the incidentally gay sister of the lead in a serious drama" (Walters 12). This ambivalence towards the gay role model in the media has had real world effects on those who identify themselves as lesbian or gay, creating feelings of self-hatred or of being 'unacceptable' citizens of society (Gamson), as media content "is an active component in the cultural process of shaping LGBT identities" (Sarkissian 147). The stigmatisation of gays was further identified by the respondents to a study on media and gay identity, where "the prevailing sentiment in these discussions was a sense of being excluded from traditional society" (Gomillion and Guiliano 343). Exclusion promotes segregation and isolation, and since television media are ever-present via conventional and web-based platforms, their messages are increasingly visible and powerful. The improved portrayal of gay characters was not just confined to the area of film and television however, and many publications produced major stories on bi-sexual chic, lesbian chic, the rise of gay political power and gay families. This process of greater inclusion, however, has not been linear, and in 2013 the media advocacy group known as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation (GLAAD) mapped the quantity, quality, and diversity of LGBT people depicted in films, finding that there was still much work to be done to fairly include gay characters (GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index). In another report made in 2019, which examined cable and streaming media, GLAAD found that of the 879 regular characters expected to appear on broadcast scripted primetime programming, 10.2% were identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and or queer (GLAAD Where Are We on TV). This was the highest number of queer characters recorded since the start of their reporting. In January 2004, Showtime launched The L Word, the first scripted cable television to focus chiefly on lesbians. Over the course of six seasons it explored the deep bonds that linked the members of an evolving lesbian friendship circle. The central themes of the programme were the love and friendship between the women, and it was a television programme structured by its own values and ideologies. The series offered a moral argument against the widespread sexism and anti-gay prejudice that was evident in media. The cast, however, were conventionally beautiful, gender normative, and expensively attired, leading to fears that the programme would appeal more to straight men, and that the sex in the programme would be exploitative and pornographic. The result, however, was that women's sex and connection were foregrounded, and appeared as a central theme of the drama. This was, however, ground-breaking television. The showrunner of the original L Word, Ilene Chaiken, was aware of the often-damning account of lesbians in Hollywood, and the programme managed to convey an indictment of Hollywood (Mcfadden). The L Word increased lesbian visibility on television and was revolutionary in countering some of the exclusionary and damaging representation that had taken place before. It portrayed variations of lesbians, showing new positive representations in the form of power lesbians, sports lesbians, singles, and couples. Broadly speaking, gay visibility and representation can be marked and measured by levels of their exclusion and inclusion. Sedgwick said that the L Word was particularly important as it created a "lesbian ecology—a visible world in which lesbians exist, go on existing, exist in forms beyond the solitary and the couple, sustain and develop relations among themselves of difference and commonality" (xix). However, as much as this programme challenged the previous representations it also enacted a "Faustian bargain because television is a genre which ultimately caters to the desires and expectations of mainstream audiences" (Wolfe and Roripaugh 76). The producers knew it was difficult to change the problematic and biased representation of queer women within the structures of commercial media and understood the history of queer representation and its effects. Therefore, they had to navigate between the legitimate desire to represent lesbians as well as being able to attract a large enough mainstream audience to keep the show commercially viable. The L Word: Generation Q is the reboot of the popular series, and includes some of the old cast, who have also become the executive producers. These characters include Bette Porter, who in 2019 is running for the office of the Mayor of Los Angeles. Shane McCutchen returns as the fast-talking womanising hairdresser, and Alice Pieszecki in this iteration is a talk show host. When interviewed, Jennifer Beals (executive producer and Bette Porter actor) said that the programme is important, because there have been no new lesbian dramas to follow after the 2004 series ended (Beals, You Tube). Furthermore, the returning cast members believe the reboot is important because of the increased attacks that queer people have been experiencing since the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Between the two productions there have been changes in the film and television landscape, with additional queer programmes such as Pose, Orange Is the New Black, Euphoria, RuPaul's Drag Race, and Are You the One, for example. The new L Word, therefore, needed to project a new and modern voice that would reflect contemporary lesbian life. There was also a strong desire to rectify criticism of the former show, by presenting an increased variation of characters in the 2019 series. Ironically, while the L Word had purposefully aimed to remove the negativity of exclusion through the portrayal of a group of lesbians in a more true-to-life account, the limited character tropes inadvertently marginalised other areas of lesbian and queer representation. These excluded characters were for example fully representative trans characters. The 2000s television industry had seemingly returned to a period of little interest in women's stories generally, and though queer stories seeped into popular culture, there was no dedicated drama with a significant focus on lesbian story lines (Vanity Fair). The first iteration of The L Word was aimed at satisfying lesbian audiences as well as creating mainstream television success. It was not a tacky or pornographic television series playing to male voyeuristic ideals, although some critics believed that it included female-to-female sex scenes to draw in an additional male viewership (Anderson-Minshall; Graham). There was also a great emphasis on processing the concept of being queer. However, in the reboot Generation Q, the decision was made by the showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan that the series would not be about any forms of 'coming out stories', and the characters were simply going about their lives as opposed to the burdensome tropes of transitioning or coming out. This is a significant change from many of the gay storylines in the 1990s that were seemingly all focussed on these themes. The new programme features a wider demographic, too, with younger characters who are comfortable with who they are. Essentially, the importance of the 2019 series is to portray healthy, varied representations of lesbian life, and to encourage accurate inclusion into film and television without the skewed or distorted earlier narratives. The L Word and L Word: Generation Q then carried the additional burden of countering criticisms The L Word received. Roseneil explains that creating both normalcy and belonging for lesbians and gays brings "cultural value and normativity" (218) and removes the psychosocial barriers that cause alienation or segregation. This "accept us" agenda appears through both popular culture and "in the broader national discourse on rights and belongings" (Walters 11), and is thus important because "representations of happy, healthy, well integrated lesbian and gay characters in film or television would create the impression that, in a social, economic, and legal sense, all is well for lesbians and gay men" (Schacter 729). Essentially, these programmes shouldered the burden of representation for the lesbian community, which was a heavy expectation. Critiques of the original L Word focussed on how the original cast looked as if they had all walked out of a high-end salon, for example, but in L Word: Generation Q this has been altered to have a much more DIY look. One of the younger cast members, Finlay, looks like someone cut her hair in the kitchen while others have styles that resemble YouTube tutorials and queer internet celebrities (Vanity Fair). The recognisable stereotypes that were both including and excluding have also altered the representation of the trans characters. Bette Porter's campaign manager, for example, determines his style through his transition story, unlike Max, the prominent trans character from the first series. The trans characters of 2019 are comfortable in their own skins and supported by the community around them. Another important distinction between the representation of the old and new cast is around their material wealth. The returning cast members have comfortable lives and demonstrate affluence while the younger cast are less comfortable, expressing far more financial anxiety. This may indeed make a storyline that is closer to heterosexual communities. The L Word demonstrated a sophisticated awareness of feminist debates about the visual representation of women and made those debates a critical theme of the programme, and these themes have been expanded further in The L Word: Generation Q. One of the crucial areas that the programme/s have improved upon is to denaturalise the hegemonic straight gaze, drawing attention to the ways, conventions and techniques of reproduction that create sexist, heterosexist, and homophobic ideologies (McFadden). This was achieved through a predominantly female, lesbian cast that dealt with stories amongst their own friend group and relationships, serving to upend the audience position, and encouraging an alternative gaze, a gaze that could be occupied by anyone watching, but positioned the audience as lesbian. In concluding, The L Word in its original iteration set out to create something unique in its representation of lesbians. However, in its mission to create something new, it was also seen as problematic in its representation and in some ways excluding of certain gay and lesbian people. The L Word: Generation Q has therefore focussed on more diversity within a minority group, bringing normality and a sense of 'realness' to the previously skewed narratives seen in the media. In so doing, "perhaps these images will induce or confirm" to audiences that "lesbians and gay men are already 'equal'—accepted, integrated, part of the mainstream" (Schacter 729). References Anderson-Minshall, Diane. 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Handbook of Lesbian and Gay Studies.London: Sage, 2002. 339–354. Graham, Paula. "The L Word Under-whelms the UK?" Reading Desperate Housewives. Eds. Janet McCabe and Kim Akass. I.B. Tauris, 2006. 15–26. Gross, Larry. "What Is Wrong with this Picture? Lesbian Women and Gay Men on Television." Queer Words, Queer Images: Communication and the Construction of Homosexuality. Ed. R.J. Ringer. New York: New York UP, 1994. 143–156. Gross, Larry. "Out of the Mainstream: Sexual Minorities and the Mass Media." Gay People, Sex, and the Media. Eds. M. Wolf and A. Kielwasser. Haworth Press, 1991. 19–36. Hart, Kylo-Patrick. R. "Representing Gay Men on American Television." Journal of Men's Studies 9 (2000): 59–79. In and Out. Dir. Frank Oz. Film. Paramount Pictures, 1997. Juárez, Sergio Fernando. "Creeper Bogeyman: Cultural Narratives of Gay as Monstrous." At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries 91 (2018): 226–249. McFadden, Margaret. T. The L Word. Wayne State University Press, 2014. Moore, Candace, and Kristin Schilt. "Is She Man Enough? Female Masculinities on The L Word." Reading Desperate Housewives. Eds. Janet McCabe and Kim Akass. I.B. Tauris, 2006. 159–172. Orange Is the New Black. Dir. Jenji Johan. Web series. Netflix Streaming Services, 2003–. Philadelphia. Directed by Jonathan Demme. Film. Tristar Pictures, 1993. Pose. Dirs. Ryan Murphy, Steven Canals, and Brad Falchuk. Television series. Color Force, 2018. Roseneil, Sasha. "On Missed Encounters: Psychoanalysis, Queer Theory, and the Psychosocial Dynamics of Exclusion." Studies in Gender and Sexuality 20.4 (2019): 214–219. RuPaul's Drag Race. Directed by Nick Murray. Reality competition. Passion Distribution, 2009–. Russo, Vito. The Celluloid Closet. Rev. ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1987. Sarkissian, Raffi. "Queering TV Conventions: LGBT Teen Narratives on Glee." Queer Youth and Media Cultures. Ed. C. Pullen. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 145–157. Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. "Foreword: The Letter L." Reading 'The L Word': Outing Contemporary Television. Reading Desperate Housewives. Eds. Janet McCabe and Kim Akass. I.B. Tauris, 2006. 20–25. Schacter, Jane S. "Skepticism, Culture and the Gay Civil Rights Debate in Post-Civil-Rights Era." Harvard Law Review 110 (1997): 684–731. Streitmatter, Rodger. Perverts to Fab Five: The Media's Changing Depiction of Gay Men and Lesbians. New York: Routledge. 2009. The Birdcage. Dir. Mike Nichols. Film. United Artists, 1995. The Kids Are Alright. Dir. Lisa Cholodenko. Film. Focus Features, 2010. The L Word. Created by Ilene Chaiken, Kathy Greenberg, and Michelle Abbott. TV drama. Showtime Networks, 2004–2009. The L Word: Generation Q. Prods. Ilene Chaiken, Jennifer Beals, Katherine Moennig, and Leisha Hailey. TV drama. Showtime Networks, 2019–. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. Dir. Beeban Kidron. Film. Universal Pictures, 1995. Walters, Suzanna Danuta. The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes and Good Intentions Are Sabotaging Gay Equality. New York: New York UP, 2014. Yang, Alan. "From Wrongs to Rights: Public Opinion on Gay and Lesbian Americans Moves towards Equality." New York: The Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 1999.
Die European Values Study (EVS) und die World Values Survey (WVS) sind zwei groß angelegte, länderübergreifende und längsschnittliche Umfrage-Forschungsprogramme. Sie umfassen eine große Anzahl von Fragen zu moralischen, religiösen, gesellschaftlichen, politischen, beruflichen und familiären Werten, die seit Anfang der achtziger Jahre repliziert wurden.
Beide Organisationen vereinbarten, ab 2017 bei der gemeinsamen Datenerhebung zusammenzuarbeiten. Der EVS war verantwortlich für die Planung und Durchführung von Umfragen in europäischen Ländern unter Verwendung des EVS-Fragebogens und der methodischen Richtlinien des EVS. Der WVSA war für die Planung und Durchführung von Umfragen in Ländern außerhalb Europas verantwortlich, wobei der WVS-Fragebogen und die methodischen Richtlinien des WVS verwendet wurden. Beide Organisationen entwickelten ihre Entwürfe für Master-Fragebögen unabhängig voneinander. Die gemeinsamen Items definieren den gemeinsamen Kern beider Fragebögen.
Der Gemeinsame EVS/WVS wird aus den beiden Quellendatensätzen des EVS und des WVS erstellt: - European Values Study 2017 Integrated Dataset (EVS 2017), ZA7500 Data file Version 5.0.0, doi:10.4232/1.13897 (https://doi.org/10.4232/1.13897). - World Values Survey: Round Seven–Country-Pooled Datafile. Version 5.0.0, doi: 10.14281/18241.20
Issue 33.6 of the Review for Religious, 1974. ; Review 1or Religious is edited by faculty members of the School of Divinity of St. Louis University, the editorial offices being located at 612 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boulevard; St. Louis, Missouri 63103. It is owned by the Missouri Province Educational Institute; St. Louis, Missouri. Published bimonthly and copy-right (~) 1974 by Review ]or Religious. Composed, printed, and manufactured in U.S.A. Second class postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri. Single copies: $1.75. Sub-scription U.S.A. and Canada: $6.00 a year; $I1.00 for two years; other countries, $7.00 a year, $13.00 for two years. Orders should indicate whether they are for new or renewal subscriptions and should be accompanied by check or money order payable to Review [or Religious in U.S.A. currency only. Pay no money to persons claiming to represent Review ]or Religious. Change of address requests should include former address. R. F. Smith, S.J. Everett A. Diederich, S.J. Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. Editor Associate Editor Questions and Answers Editor November 1974 Volume 33 Number 6 Renewals, new subscriptions, and changes of address should be sent to Review for Religious; P.O. Box 6070; Duluth, Minnesota 55802. Correspondence with the editor and the associate editor together with manuscripts, books for review, and materials for "Subject Bibliography for Religious" should be sent to Review for Religious; 612 Humboldt Building; 539 North Grand Boulevard; St. Louis, Missouri 63103. Questions for answering should be sent to Joseph F. Gallen, S.J.; St. Joseph's College; City Avenue at 54th Street; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131. Roman Documents The following three documents have been recently issued by the Pope or by Roman Congregations. ExPuLSION FROM EXEMPT CLERICAL INSTITUTES Experience has shown that many difficulties and harmful delays can result from the judicial process which, in accordance with canons 654-668 of the Code of Canon Law, must be established when there is question of the expulsion of a male religious in perpetual vows, whether solemn or simple, from an exempt religious institute. The heads of such religious institutes have frequently requested a dis-pensation-- already granted to some religious institutes, on an experimental basis in accordance with the motu proprio Ecclesiae sanctae, II, 6--from the obligation of establishing such a process for the expulsion of religious. They have requested that instead they be allowed to adopt the adminis-trative procedure laid down in canons 648-653 for the expulsion of male religious who have taken perpetual vows in non-exempt clerical institutes or lay institutes. That procedure is recognized as being in keeping with the demands of justice, canonical equity, and respect for the person. Having taken everything into account, the members of this Sacred Con-gregation unanimously decided on the following in their plenary session of October 23-25, 1973: When there is question of expelling male religious with solemn vows or simple perpetual vows, the religious orders and exempt clerical congrega-tions referred to in canon 654 are to follow the procedure prescribed in canons 548-653 for the expulsion of male religious with perpetual vows in non-exempt clerical congregations. The undersigned Cardinal Prefect conveyed this decision to the Supreme 1249 1250 / Review for Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 Pontiff, Paul VI, in an audience on November 16, 1973. He ratified the decision of the plenary session and ordered it to be confirmed and promul-gated. Therefore by means of this decree the Sacred Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes publishes the decision. The decree comes into force at once, nor does it need a formula o~ execution. It will remain in force until the revised Code of Canon Law shall have been introduced. Notwith-standing anything to the contrary. Given at Rome, March 2, 1974. Arthur Tabera, Pre[ect Augustine Mayer, O.S.B., Secretary MOTU PROPRIO APOSTOLIC LETTER ON MASS STIPENDS It has been a strong tradition in the Church that the faithful, moved by a religious and ecclesial consciousness, should join a kind of self-sacrifice of their own to the Eucharistic sacrifice so as to share in the latter more effectively and should thereby provide for the needs of the Church, above all for the support of the Church's ministers. This practice is in harmony with the spirit of the Lord's words: "The laborer is worthy of his hire" (Lk 10:7) which the Apostle Paul recalls in the First Letter to Timothy (5: 18) and the First Letter to the Corinthians (9:7-14). In this way the faithful associate themselves more closely with Christ who offers Himself as victim, and accordingly they experience more abun-dant effects. Not only has the practice been approved by the Church, it has been fostered, because the Church considers it to be a sign of the union of the baptized person with Christ as well as of the union of the Christians with the priest who performs his ministry for the benefit of the faithful. To keep this understanding intact and to protect it from any possible error, appropriate regulations have been made in the course of the centuries. These have had the purpose that the worship which the faithful freely offer to God should in fact be celebrated with no lessening of observance and generosity. Because of particular circumstances of different periods and human social conditions, however, it sometimes becomes morally impossible --and thus less equitable--to satisfy in their entirety the obligations which have been sought and accepted. In such cases, therefore, the Church is com-pelled by necessity to make a suitable revision of the obligations while trying at the same time to be consistent in this matter and to keep faith with the donors. With the intention that the regulations for Mass stipends--a'matter cer-tainly serious and one demanding great prudence--should be established equitably, by means of a notification from the papal secretariat issued on November 29, 1971, (AAS, 63 [1971], 841), we decreed that all decisions concerning reductions, condonations, and commutations of Mass stipends Roman Documents should be temporarily reserved to us and we suspended, as of February 1, 1972, all faculties, no matter to whom or in what manner they had been granted. Now that the principal purposes of that regulation have been accom-plished, we judge that the time has come to terminate the reservation. In order to place the appropriate governance of this matter on new foundations and to prevent any incorrect interpretations, with reliance on lawful prece-dents of the past, it has seemed best to now abolish any of the earlier faculties which remain. Nevertheless, to satisfy somewhat the needs which our brothers in the episcopate must sometimes consider and in ~,iew of the experience of the use of faculties granted to them in the apostolic letter Pastorale munus (AAS, 56 [1964], 5-12) and De episcoporum muneribus (AAS, 58 [1966], 467-72) issued motu proprio, we think it expedient to grant certain faculties to those who share the pastoral ministry in the Church with us. Therefore, after mature consideration, upon our own initiative and in virtue of the fullness of our apostolic power, we establish and decree the following for the whole Church: I. From July 1, 1974, the above reservation, mentioned in the notifica-tion of the Secretariat of State on November 29, 1971, ceases. From the same day the sacred congregations of the Roman Curia are empowered to resume their competence in this matter, but accommodating its exercise to new, carefully defined regulations imposed upon them separately. Thus petitions which may be concerned with this matter are once again to be presented to those congregations. II. From the same day all faculties previously in effect concerning Mass stipends, however granted or acquired, are completely revoked. Therefore, the faculties of any physical or moral person cease, whether granted by us or our predecessors, including oral concessions, by the Roman Curia, or by any other authority; whether by force of privilege, indult, dispensation, or any other reason, including particular legislation; whether faculties ac-quired .by communication, custom, including particular, centenary, or im-memorial custom, prescription, or any other manner whatever. In view of this revocation, we decree that only the following faculties have force for the future: a) the faculties now conceded to the sacred congregations of the Roman Curia, mentioned in no. I; b) the faculties contained in the apostolic letter Pastorale munus and in the Index o[ Faculties which are regularly granted to local ordinaries and to pontifical legates; c) the new faculties granted to bishops in this apostolic letter, men-tioned below in no. III. III. From July 1, we grant the f~llowing faculties to the same persons 1252 / Review for Religious, l/olume 33, 1974/6 listed in the° apostolic~ letter Pastorale munus, under the same conditions established in that letter: a) the faculty to permit priests who binate or trinate in the diocese to apply the Masses for a stipend, which is to be given to the needs assigned by the diocesan bishop to apply the Masses according to intentions for which a condonation or reduction would otherwise have to be sought. This faculty is not extended to concelebrated Masses of bination treated in the declaration of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, August 7, 1972,, no. 3b (AAS, 64 [1972], 561-3), for which the reception of a stipend under any "title is prohibited; b) the faculty to reduce, by reason of diminished income, the obligation of cathedral or collegiate chapters to apply the daily conventual Mass for benefactors, with the exception of at least one conventual Mass each month; c) the faculty to transfer, for suitable cause, the obligations of Masses to days, churches, or altars different from those stipulated in the foundations. These regulations become effective on the first day of July. We order that everything decreed in this apostolic letter issued motu proprio be effective and ratified, anything to the contrary notwithstanding, including anything requiring very special mention. Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 13, 1974, the eleventh year of our pontificate. Paul VI VESTMENTS AT MASS Queries have come from many places asking whether it is lawful to celebrate Mass without the sacred vestments or with only the stole worn over the cassock or one's civilian clothes. These queries have been prompted for the most part by practical rea-sons, especially in cases of traveling, pilgrimages, excursions, and camping. But there have also been reasons of another k~nd, such as to fit in better with given surroundings--when, for example, chaplains of a factory cele-brate in overalls or when Mass is celebrated in Scout uniform for young mountain climbers. Hence the question has been submitted: What is the mind of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship on this point? The answer, neither difficult nor far to seek, cannot but be in conformity with what is laid down in the norms issued during these years of liturgical renewal. General Principles First of all, there are the General Principles of the Roman Missal. In number 297 it is stated: "The diversity of ministries in the carrying out of sacred worship is manifested externally by the diversity of sacred vestments, Roman Documents / 1253 which should therefore be a sign of the proper office of each minister." In the following number 298 we read: "The vestment common to all ministers of whatever rank is the alb"; and in number 299: "The vestment proper to the celebrating priest, at Mass and in other sacred functions directly con-nected with it, is the chasuble." These regulations, which echo tradition and renew it in particular matters, are in practice the basis of the norms laid down in the other docu-ments which touch upon the subject. For example, the Instruction on Masses for particular groups (no. 11 b) simply refers to the text from the Roman Missal cited above. The same is quoted by the Third Instruction (no. 8 c) which then adds: The abuse of wearing the stole over the monastic habit, the cassock, or civilian dress when concelebrating or celebrating Mass is (ondemned. Nor is it lawful to carry out other sacred functions, such as the imposition of hands during ordinations, or the administration of the sacraments, or the giving of blessings, while wearing only the stole over one's civilian dress. Norm Unchanged From this norm the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship has never deviated, nor does it intend to do so either in regulations of a general char-acter or in particular indults. And the reason for this is quite simple, as already indicated in the General Principles--the distinction of orders, the decorum of the sacred action, and the clear-cut separation of the sacred from the profane. The community wishes to be respected, and it wishes to perceive also by means of the senses, the meaning of the rites, and to be included in the mystery. Only one extenuation has been introduced to facilitate the use of sacred vestments when traveling and changing from place to place, and that is the use of the chasuble without the alb. This presupposes that it is a full circular chasuble, reaching to the ankles, and with stole worn over it. In this case it is possible to do without the alb. The chasuble may always be of the same color, while the color of the stole will change according to the liturgical color of the day. This sacred vestment, when folded, can easily fit into a small traveling bag. But its use is limited to cases of necessity and it should be authorized upon the request of the Episcopal Conference of the respective country. Its use is regulated by precise norms (see Notitiae, 1973, pp. 96ff.). St. Pius once wrote: "Let beauty attend your prayer!" On that occasion he was referring more particularly to the chant, but it is applicable to the entire setting of the celebratioi~. The sacred vestment is one of the more important elements, and at the same time it emphasizes the sacredness of the celebration. All the ritual elements established by the competent authority should 1254 / Review ]or Religious, l/ohtme 33, 1974/6 be observed and respected so that every communication of the community with God should take place, through its duly qualified ministers, in a halo of dignity and solemnity that transcends the too worldly practices of every-day life. Annibale Bugnini Titular Archbishop of Diocletiana Secretary of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship Shared Prayer in Religious Communities Today Leonard Doohan Dr.Leonard Doohan writes from Ingersley Hall; Ingersley Road; Bollington; Mac-clesfield; Cheshire, England. A previous article by Dr. Doohan, "Apostolic Prayer," appeared in the July 1974 issue of Review ]or Religious, pages 785-9. The Spirit-inspired conciliar Church has presented all religious with five basic principles which ought to guide their continued developing growth in the spiritual life. They are: fidelity to the gospel, fidelity to the spirit of the institute to which the religious belongs, participation in the life of the Church, knowledge of the present world, and priority in conversion and in a deepening of the spiritual life. Each of these five spheres of life has focused more and more on the idea, so well developed by the Council (see AG 2,3; LG 9,1; GS 24,1i 32,1), that the person has the greatest possible growth within community. It is here within community, the Council says, that through a common effort in spiritual growth and development, the whole and each of the parts receives increase (see LG 13,3). Possibly, this idea of group growth is one of the great spiritual dimensions of the Council and reflection of postconciliar years. Moreover, no matter how mature individ-uals may be, there is still needed a painful and slow maturing and growth of the group's spiritual life. In any community's self-education to group growth, prayer in its various forms must have primacy. We hear.a great deal today about group discernment, community re-vision of life, assemblies, communication of life, chapters of renewal, forma-tion teams, community meetings, and the like; but if all these are not prayer experiences it is, I feel, really difficult for them to succeed as genuine steps in the development of the spiritual life of any group. All forms of prayer can lead to the development of the community's 1255 1256 / Review [or Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 spiritual life. The form I would like to consider is that form of group prayer technically known as "shared prayer." Possible Indications of Origins Shared prayer is now a commonly accepted form of prayer and it is quite unusual to find nowadays a reasonably sized group without at least some being in prayer groups or sharing prayer within their own communities. Christians have become increasingly aware that while prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God, for too long insufficient care has been given to a consideration of the subject of prayer--man. The subject of prayer is a person who is intimately connected with others--they are part of man. He grows and develops with others, because of others, but in prayer he has often tried to be without others and therefore has remained stunted in spiritual growth. I feel that the view of the great St. Teresa is correct that all real spiritual development is paralleled by a growth in prayer, and I think we can see that much of our frustrated effort at group renewal has at least a partial answer in the weakness of growth in group prayer in its many forms. Many rejected shared prayer, or never gave it a chance, because it was just one of the "new things" introduced without real need. Perhaps it is more correct to acknowledge that it is not new but unfortunately has been out of use for too long and as a result we have suffered. In the Acts of the Apostles we see the importance given to group prayer whether in the ideal image of Christian living presented by Luke in Chapter 2 (42), or in the practical'circumstances of daily life--Pentecost, election of Matthias, choice of the seven deacons, mission of Barnabas and Paul. In some cases, undoubtedly, study indicates that the prayer sp6ken of by the author of Acts could be the repetition of psalm-type Jewish prayers or, in other cases, a developing liturgical prayer. However, .in some passages, as the election of Matthias (1, 24-5) and the group prayer after the apostles' release from the Sanhedrin (4, 24f.), we are very definitely dealing with a group gathering where prayer is spontaneously shared. In fact, a reading of the Acts more easily leaves one with the general impression of a spon-taneous prayer-sharing rather than an already newly-structured prayer form or a total, unchanged acceptance of a prior Jewish-structured prayer-form. Moreover, the detailed description by Paul of the Corinthians' prayer meetings (1 Cor cc. 12 and 14) certainly highlights the characteristic of spontaneity in sharing; and, although he feels the need to regulate this, he continually reaffirms its value. The attitude of the early Christians is understandable enough--they were simply imitating Jesus who spontaneously shared His prayer with His disciples. In Jesus' case, it is true that some of His prayers are repetitions of Jewish prayer forms and in other cases are prayers put into His mouth by the evangelists. However, even when these clear cases are excluded, the Shared Prayer in Religious Communities Today / 1257 general picture left is still one in which Jesus, when praying to His Father, allows others to share in these filial expressions of His faith, hope, and love. It was in a general context of group sharing on a revision of apostolic life that Jesus burst into spontaneous prayer: "I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever, and revealing them to mere children" (Lk 10:21). The spontaneity of sharing JPY in apostolic success is praised by Jesus who, by example, goes on to show His valuing of spontaneity in prayer expression. In a brief article it is not possible to go into too many details. I would, therefore, just like to express the personal view that, in reading the early Christian fathers and ascetics of the first centuries, I was very definitely left with the impression of considerable spontaneous group spiritual sharing. Purpose of Shared Prayer The aim of shared prayer, like all prayer, is to g!ve glory to God by our thanksgiving, praise, sorrow, adoration or recognition of our total de-pendence on Him. In shared prayer we give glory to God with one mind and heart and in one shared expression. In some ways this form is possibly more ecclesial---it is more visibly shown that it is the one Spirit in each giving life to the whole body of the faithful. It think it is important to keep this aim clearly in mind and never to approach shared prayer merely as a means of bringing a group together. Moreover, when the aim is clear this undoubtedly modifies the way in which we approach the shared prayer--when convinced that the aim is to give glory to God we will more easily direct our prayers to our Father rather than drop to personal reflections for the benefit of the group. Effects of Shared Prayer The result of shared prayer over a period of time is very definitely abundant blessing by the Lord. Anyone who has shared prayer over a period of time cannot but be amazed at a growth and enrichment far greater than the effort put into it. Since we are concerned with a form of group asceticism, it is natural enough that the effects of shared.prayer, on the whole, parallel the normal psychological dynamic of growth in any group. If .we considered the dynamic growth of a group in five major stages: 1. Convocation, 2. Phase of human relationships, 3. Period of maturing of the ideal of a group, 4. Period of consolidation, 5. Permanence or disappearance ot~ the group, we would find parallel stages of growth in the prayer group. Moreover, it would be quite unreasonable for anyone to expect in the early ph.ase of convocation the results that come only after time together, growth suffering--real asceticism --in the later stages of group growth. On the other hand, some prayer groups never really move beyond the second phase of group development 1258 / Review ]or Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 and the result is a weekly, monotonous repetition of the same petitionary prayer in a friendly atmosphere. Moment of Convocation ¯ A group will come together (moment of convocation in group develop-ment) only if there already exists some mutual acceptance and common aspirations. The reason for setting up the group for shared prayer is gen-erally the same clearsightedness or deep awareness and realization that salvation consists in brotherhood--and the brotherhood is a praying-sharing community. The setting up of the prayer group demands deep faith con-viction regarding group growth and this vision must be shared by the group who already have a certain basic mutual acceptance and trust. If these prerequisites are not present, then it would seem a waste of time to attempt to set up a group for shared prayer; and it must be admitted that frequently, even within religious communities, there is too little faith and vision for the existence of group growth. Mariy communities are characterized by an individualism which guarantees the permanence of partial Christian spiritual growth. It must be said that many who dedicate themselves to community living seem unaware that this implies group growth. This preliminary step in group development---convocation has the effect of setting up the group for shared prayer. Period o4 Growth in Human Relationships There follows a pdriod of growth in human relationships within the group when in the prayer group the continued sharing of prayer leads to growth in self-acceptance, and in acceptance of and trust in others. The prayer becomes richer and more deeply shared--because I won't say things if I don't trust. Another direct effect at this stage is increased sensitivity to others, and to the presence of the Spirit in others. This leads to an experi-ential knowledge of who the Church is. It is important that the life of the prayer group be not just the moments of shared prayer, but rather be frequently enriched, at this stage, with various get-togethers of a social, even recreational, type. This can facilitate the development of trust, sensitivity, and mutual acceptance necessary for the development of group prayer life at this stage. However, it is important, during this time, to maintain the sharing principally on the level of faith-prayer- sharing and not allow it to become a mere socializing. Moreover, to improve the quality of the prayer, and the trust and sharing which are basic to it, the group, during this period in its own growth, could complement the shared prayer sessions with other periods of group discussion, revision of life, revision of prayer. Unfortunately, some groups just plod on week after week with a medi-ocre shared prayer and never pass through this second phase in the life of any group. Shared PrayerI"zn Religious Communities Today / 1259 At this stage, some within the group become dissatisfied with the quality of prayer life and leave. Some overemphasize the socializing dimensions and are not prepared to accept the demanding aspects of group asceticism and growth in shared prayer and they too leave the group. Tension results and this is the first main crisis in the prayer group's life. It can be overcome when the group searches to clarify the true direction of its prayer life together. Maturing the Group's Ideal A third phase in any group's psychological development is the period of maturing of the ideal of the group. Possibly, we could take a glance, for a similar situation, at the advice given by Paul to the Corinthians. Accord-ing to Paul, in all prayer meetings the group should emphasize that which exhorts, encourages, and builds up the community to the glory of God. These are effects that result from a qualitative improvement in the prayer life of the group at this stage. It becomes a period of increased mutual understanding, increased sensitivity to others, much deeper prayer sharing. At this stage, the group begins to understand the phases of spiritual life through which individuals in the group are passing, and when personal difficulties or "nights" in prayer come, the group can be supportive. I personally feel that it is only after a sufficient time has passed that in accepting, sharing, and making one's own another person's prayer we grad-ually totally accept that other person. Younger people in religious com-munities accepting older members completely, implicitly accept in them and through them the traditions of' an institute which otherwise they would probably never have absorbed so completely. This period is vital for the shared prayer of the group. It ought to be supported frequently by other meetings dedicated to revision of the group's shared prayer. I consider this point as the key to the qualitative develop-ment of the group's shared prayer--frequent group revision of the prayer. Period of Consolidation The period of consolidation is a moment of maturing in the group's development. For the prayer group it is the time when the quality of sharing in prayer opens the group to the total Christian vision of salvation in com-munity. Sharing becomes not only an attitude in prayer, but a life style. The members become profoundly convinced of being Church--being just parts of a total body which expresses itself in many ways. It is a period of real, though partial, realization of the original vision. It is also the period of openness to others outside the group. The group which came together for prayer finds now that the union achieved in sharing prayer is of sign value to the world, and the group now takes on increasingly the apostolic dimensions of witness to the union, sharing, and love which are of the 1260 / Review for Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 essence of Christianity. The union, trust, and sharing developed in prayer are contagious and expansive. Naturally enough, any group that becomes exclusive or even develops a certain type of spiritual ghetto has not reached this stage at all; in fact it has probably not even reached the preliminary moment of convocation in faith. That such prayer groups exist is also undeniable. The Final Stage The final stage in the psychological development of a group is the mo-ment of growth, expansion, or division. This crisis is the result of fullness and indicates the moment when the group sharing prayer should divide in order to be able to open to more people. No group should ever be exclusive nor is it a healthy sign when it is always the same. Rather, the growth achieved through group sharing in faith and prayer must be communicated. The sharing in prayer leads to a sharing of life and this sharing of life must not be just for the group but a gift for others. I realize that reality is more complex than a scheme, and life richer than a list, but I feel too that it is important to know the dynamic growth through which a group passes, and know what this can lead to in spiritual sharing in prayer. I have here tried to use one of the simplest ways of view-ing this. The general effects of shared prayer are increased acceptance, deepened trust, mutual understanding, increased sensitivity; those within the group receive exhortation and encouragement. They are helped in expressing themselves in prayer and the general result is now as it was in Corinth--the building up of community. Forms of Shared Prayer We normally consider three forms of personal, individual prayer: vocal, meditative, and contemplative. I would suggest that, in group shared prayer, there are three parallel types. Ihdividual vocal or formula prayer has as its group manifestation shared spontaneous prayer in which the expressions of each one are unconnected but shared by the group. Personal individual meditative prayer is, in the group, paralleled by a shared meditation in which the discursive aspects of meditative prayer follow, not the developing thought of an individual, but the train of thought of the group--the group meditates as a single mind. The third form---contemplative--is found in its .group manifestation, in certain genuine pentecostal prayer sessions. The form of group prayer we are concerned with, and which is generally understood by the current title of "shared prayer," is the first kind--shared, spontaneous expressions of prayer. In this group prayer, it is normal to begin with a short period of silence, then of prayer to the Holy Spirit to illumine the minds and enkindle the hearts of the group--to come and pray in the group. This prayer is made by a definite leader who then opens the Shared Prayer in Religious Communities Today / 1261 session with a reading, preferably from Scripture. This is followed again with silence--a strong, reflective moment from which vocalized prayer springs. When people begin to pray in their hearts--expressing the senti-ments brought forth by the reading--these sentiments should be vocalized for the group, and each person in the group unites himself with the prayer expressed. The word "shared" does not refer to the fact that we all pool together our prayers, but rather it refers to the fact that all in the group share the sentiments of anyone who vocalizes his prayer. Therefore, it is possible for someone who never vocalizes prayer within the group to share the prayer of all the others. It is not necessary to speak to share prayer. It is necessary to unite oneself with the prayerful sentiments of another. The leader should have a definite time to bring the session to a con-clusion. Some Problems Met in Shared Prayer When a group is just starting, it is frequent to find that all the time allotted to the session is filled with prayers of request. This is natural enough and is normal in the development of individual prayer too. The group should not be worried or discouraged by this, provided that, eventually, the prayer begins to open to praise, glory, adoration, thanksgiving, and sorrow. Again, the group should be on its guard that the time for shared prayer is not too full. If one after another within the group expresses prayer without much silence, then there is probably little listening. I can't come in straight away with my prayer if I was really listening and uniting myself totally to the prayer of the previous speaker. Good shared prayer needs silence and listening. Some will say that shared prayer is not natural, they feel uneasy and self-conscious. This is undeniable. For some it seems very artificial. On the other hand, anyone who begins to meditate following an Ignatian or Sulpi-clan or Carmelite method will undoubtedly feel the same way. Moreover, just as it becomes easier in personal meditation once the method is mas-tered and forgotten, so too in group shared prayer. Others will become frustrated by the slow development of the prayer and claim that what they have is better. I can only say that shared prayer needs time to develop. There could be no enrichment in any sphere of ex-istence without the tediousness of the early stages. A difficulty, or definite danger, that needs to be avoided is the substi-tuting of a pseudo dialogue for shared prayer. In'a period of prayer, instead of praying, we try to tell each other something and, at times, subtly surface a rejection or problem we cannot otherwise openly speak about. This must be checked. At times, someone will pray and monopolize the time of the session with long-winded interventions. This, like the previous problem, is best dealt with through a periodic revision by the group of its own prayer. I 1262 / Review for Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 repeat a point I have already emphasized--for me, personally, the key to shared prayer is the frequent revision of it. On such an occasion it would also be possible to recall to prayer those who may just drop to shared re-flection, because if it is shared prayer it should be kept at that level. Some people ask whether it is advisable to have a group for shared prayer within a religious community if not all the community wish to par-ticipate. I would think that, if shared prayer is a growth factor in building commui~ity, it should be used wherever there is a group. If the participants take care to avoid becoming a ghetto, keep people informed, always let it be seen to be open, then the rest of the community should have no cause to object. Finally, shared prayer is not a substitute for personal, private meditative or contemplative prayer. Anyone who uses it in that way indicates a lack of knowledge of the spiritual life, and a lack of correct perspective or re-lationship between individual and group growth. Shared prayer is an excellent form of group asceticism and leads to personal growth and the upbuilding of the community. It needs to be ap-proached with knowledge, guided by experienced members and continually open to revision, correction, and development. It is an indispensable ele-ment in group growth, but must be used with considerable flexibility--the pattern for one group is not necessarily that for another. As it develops and is used by more groups, the Christian will learn to move freely with others of common faith and be able to say with Paul: "I am longing to see you either to strengthen you by sharing a spiritual gift with you or, what is better, to find encouragement among you from our common faith" (Rm 1:11). In the Context of Discerning Sister Marie Beha Sister Marie Beha, O.S.C., is a member of the Monastery of St. Clare; 1916 North Pleasantburg Drive; Greenville, South Carolina 29609. Everything, everyone wants to grow: The desire is as universal as new grass springing up after early rains and warm sun. But growth is never any more predictable than the uneven development of an adolescent. We want to grow, but we can't make ourselves grow, nor can we control growth. All we can do is to further it or impede it. There are the laws both of nature and of spirit. What makes us grow must come from another: sun and truth to warm and enlighten us; food and love to nourish us. In terms of spiritual growth, it is pre-eminently God who enables us to grow and this He does with all the tenderness of His love. God desires that we grow and provides what we need for growth. Our part, and it is an essential part, is to collaborate with what is given to us, to co-operate with God's action in our lives. So a critical part of our life in the Lord is a.matter of discerning His unique call to us, of co-operating in becoming the person His creative love calls us to be. When we do, we grow; when we fail, we ourselves remain stunted and the coming of His kingdom is delayed. Granted that discernment is only one part of our growing. To know is effective only if we are willing to live out what we have learned. But it re-mains true that the first thing is to know, to discern. Paul speaks of "the mature who have their faculties trained by experi-ence to discern between good and evil" (Heb 5:14). And we might add, to discern not only what'is good and evil on the broad scale of things but to discover what is right for oneself, wrong for oneself, what is helpful at a particular time, what is impossible. In other words, discernment is not 1263 1264 / Review [or Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 so much concerned with the will of God in itself, but rather with the ways in which a particular person, in the concrete circumstances of everyday life, is drawn to respond to the Lord. As one matures, such deciding for oneself in terms of one's personal vocation becomes more and more necessary. General rules that apply to all have already been accepted and now must be passed beyond. What is uniquely personal must be" acknowledged and integrated into one's response. Such is the state of personal responsibility in which most Christians find themselves today as increasingly they must decide the specifics of their own life,~ relying less dependently on the laws of the Church. The present article hopes to deal with: (1) the context of discernment, the background within which discernment is operative; (2) some of the obstacles which prevent true discernment; and (3) conclude with some suggested criteria for discernment. Context of Discernment One of the most basic presuppositions of discernment is that it is an ongoing process, "ongoing" since discernment does not attempt to reach final answers which prescind from further need to discern. On the contrary, each discernment calls for yet another. It is like walking through a door, only to find still a further door to be opened, still another path to follow. Because of this, discernment is not just an exercise for a certain time of one's life, but rather something that must continue throughout life. If discernment has any seasons, these probably belong to the mature person, the one who has already incorporated into his life the general rules, the over-all direction and who must now make more specific application to his own life situation. So the focus continuously becomes more personal, more precise, more "vocational." Discernment is not only an ongoing necessity; in itself, it implies process. It does not reach infallible conclusions; it simply indicates courses of action which are clear enough to call for response. At this point, the focus of dis-cerning shifts from the original: Is this right, best? to How is'this effective in my life? What are its further implications? And the answers to these and similar questions may mean that the process has to be repeated. When this happens we need not feel that our first response was incorrect, a mistake. It may have been. But it may also have been simply a part of the process, the closing of a door that had to be opened and gone through before it could be honestly shut. If discernment, is process, then it takes time. How much time is some-thing that can only be determined in the very process. By this is meant that how much time a particular subject of discernment deserves is part of what must be decided within the context of discerning. If an issue seems of lesser importance, it may be the part of true discernment to spend only a minimal amount of time on it. But such a conclusion of triviality is already part of' In the Context o[ Discerning / 1265 the process, for what may b'e unimportant, in an objective sense, can be discerned to be critical in the context of an individual's life in the Lord; it can also assume increased importance at a specific moment of truth in an individual's life. Or the very raising of an issue of discernment may reveal that the time is not yet for this particular thing to be determined. Even though a decision would be helpful, efficient, even though other decisions may hinge on this one, there is nothing to do but wait for the right time to discern. One ot~ the surprises of discerning is the discovery that something which seemed to call for discernment has already been decided in the depths of one's own being. All the discernment process needs to do now is to reveal and so make explicit something that a person's life has already determined. In cases of important decisions that have to be made such a discovery of "it is finished" is delight and peace. In cases where reform and renewal are required, the discovery ot~ what has a!ready become vital is only the painful beginning of something that will require much labor. Discernment is not only process, it is a process most intimately, related to life. Its goal is life. In general, a positive discernment opens to life, to new life, to renewed life. It not only leads to fuller life; it is also something coming out of life. It comes, first of all, out of a life that is open to the Lord and His leading; and out of the reality of the individual's everyday. Dis-cernment is not theoretical, abstract, in the book; it is practical, specific, in the everyday. However, a caution is in order. Though daily life is one context of dis-cernment, it cannot be adhered to too narrowly, too pragmatically. Discern-ment can surface the unusual, the unexpected. It may seem to require an interruption, even an upheaval of the ordinary. But, I suspect, that when time has washed over the decision, even these unexpected developments, will be seen as congruent with the larger pattern of a person's life. And what appears to be an interruption proves, ultimately, to be only the surfacing of something that has been there all along. Continuity, even apparent discontinuity, needs to be tested against the reality of other people and of their lives. For the context of discernment is never solitary, just because our life in the Lord is never solitary. We stand before Him together and so the background for my discernment must be widened to include other persons with particular attention to those who are my neighbors. In some cases this may mean asking others for confirma-tion, suggestions, a different point of view. Even when such deliberate seek-ing out of others is not indicated, still the decision ot~ the individual must be viewed as part of love. Finally, the context of true discernment is always prayer, a life of prayer even more than specific prayer for he!p in each instance. Though an ex-pression of openness to God and desire to discern in the light of His truth is always right, still the most basic way in which prayer is part of the process 1266 / Review ]or Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 is that it provides a continuing conscious relationship with God all through life. The more real this contact is for the individual, the more direct and simpie his process of discerning. For one who lives in the truth, discovers the truth almost intuitively. So vital is the part played by prayer in true discernment, that without it, discernment would be limited to a merely human weighing of pro's and con's, rather than responding to the specifics of God's call in one's life. Obstacles to Discernment What impedes the discernment process, even renders it invalid at times? The obstacles are as diverse and many-leveled as the reality of man him-self. On the physical level, we face as primary obstacles failures in timing and fatigue, to name a few. The former element of timing has already been suggested in the preceding discussion. Not only can we fail to discern be-cause we are impatient but also because we want too much too soon. So we are pre-disposed to seek what will flatter our ego and give us a sense of accomplishment. But in reality, we may be reasonably certain that the way in which we are going to come to God is not the way of egoism nor of still more total reliance on self. Fatigue, with its accompaniment of pseudo-discouragement, depression, and inability to get beyond the immediacy of our own inadequate state also clouds true discernment. Something as human and as simple as a good night's rest may open the way to greater truth. But such physical obstacles are relatively straightforward in comparison to the psychological difficulties which impede discernment. It even seems that the more refined the issues which must be discerned, the more subtle is the danger from blocks arising from the psyche of the discerner. Such blocks include any habits of thinking that make one less flexible, prejudices, any fixed patterns of behavior. For example, a pattern of thinking that the difficult is always the more perfect, a prejudice that rules out the pleasurable as somehow suspect impedes true discernment. Patterns of emotional re-action can also disturb and cloud one's response to what is truth in the Spirit. Anything that keeps us agitated, circling around self, critical of our brothers, angry with ourselves and with others becomes an impediment. Perhaps the most pervasive of these emotional blocks, though not the most apparent among them, is the presence of fear. Not conscious fear, with a reasonable objective basis, but the unreasoned fear, the subconscious terror that lurks in the dark. It is this kind of fear which inhibits true response, compelling us to react unreasonably. Such fear cripples freedom and so limits our presence to truth. It also projects a God, created out of its own unreality, destroying the possibility of a loving relationship with Him. Usually these emotional blocks are so deep seated and beyondconscious control that they can only be worked with when they are seen through the In the Context of Discerning / 1267 eyes of a more objective observer. Sometimes when they are surfaced and expressed to another just that much light dissipates them and true growth will go on from there. At other times, these fears must be acted against, strongly but gently, until counter patterns can be set up. How strongly, how quickly, will be part of the discernment process. At least they must not be allowed to blind the discerner, crippling the whole process. The spiritual obstacle to truth in the discernment process is sin, not only the sinful acts themselves but also all the tangled roots of selfishness, greed, lust, bitterness, jealousy that somehow enslave us and keep us at a certain distance from the truth of the Spirit who would make us free. It is a critical part of the process to expose these roots, to open them up to the hearing power of the Father's love. The more we have deepened these tendencies by our concrete actions, the more they will influence our discern-ment coloring it with their own distorted lens. As.a beginning to their ex-tirpation, such sins can be acknowledged and so be made less influential. At best, they can be diminished by our counter efforts and, far more, by the saving power of Jesus which we ask for in the effort to discern honestly. Criteria for Discernment The criteria for discernment are not objective standards with universal applicability but are themselves matter for discernment. Which criteria apply here, which are especially revealing, what is" the meaning of a par-ticular criterion, all these questions must be included in the process itself. With this in mind, we can state a few standards which can serve to stimulate and guide the process, preventing it, perhaps, from becoming too subjective. First of all, discernment aims at uncovering truth, personal truth, and so it must be rooted in truth. ~This means it must be concerned with the real, the practical, the possible in our lives. What is patently impossible can never be the call of God; what is very difficult may be. This difference is what must be discerned and then tested in the concrete of an individual's life. To aid in such testing, one can ask, does this particular "spirit" under-line what is human in me; does it strengthen what is healthy about my personality, rather than reenforce some tendency that is already unhealthy. In other words, does it strengthen my defense reactions or does it result in a lowering of my defenses, even though such an opening of myself may leave me painfully exposed at first. Discernment in truth raises such questions as: Where am I able to be most myself? What course of action grows out of my experience of self and calls forth my best self? Paradoxically enough, such a discernment of what is best for myself, will result in a capacity to forget about self. It will broaden from the truth of self to the larger and truer understanding of self- 1268 / Review for Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 for-others. When this happens there need be no further hesitation; the truth of discernment is setting the self free. And freedom is a second criterion for discernment, for discernment can only arrive at the truth when it begins in freedom. The very initiation of the process must be a matter of the individual's free choice. If a person feels compelled to make adecisi0n, to come up with an answer, even when he realizes that the time has not yet come for working with this particular question, then the whole process can be set on a wrong course. In contrast, when the discernment begins in freedom, it ends by making the person more free. This is so true, that the experience of freedom gives some indication of a valid discernment. I say some indication because this experience of freedom may become apparent only after a painful period of struggle to integrate the newly discerned truth into one's life. This struggle may even be accompanied by a certain "compulsion" that is expressed in something like, "I must work with this now." This uncomfortable awareness that "now is the time" comes from within, however, and not from some external pres-sure, nor from a compulsion based on fear. When the individual can accept personal responsibility for what he feels "compelled" to do, then he can proceed in security and freedom. Freedom, as it is being used here, is almost synonymous with capacity to respond. The responsible man knows the reality of his own situation; he realizes and takes into account the needs of others and in doing this is free to answer "yes" with Christ to the Father. He is aware of the cost of his discipleship and willing to assume responsibility for it. In all of this he is free to discern and is being made freer in the very process. A third important standard for valid discernment is the criterion of unity. Can the particular result of this discerning be integrated into my life as an individual; does it serve to further unify and bring together the pieces of my life. When this is true, the new piece fits the pattern of my life and gives me a sense of comfort and ease. Such comfort and ease, however, may not be immediately apparent. Like a pair of new shoes, an unfamiliar truth or unaccustomed way of acting may take some breaking in, some getting used to but ultimately it should make the individual whole. Another way in which unity tests discernment is in terms of the com-munity. What will this course of action mean for others? Is it respectful of different gifts, of the complementarity of gifts? Again, this criterion must not be applied too readily. What may seem at first to be disruptive, what causes trouble to the community, may ultimately be for its peace. Perhaps this aspect of unity in community may best be tested in the willingness of the individual to consider the needs of others as part of his own discerning. Some of the differences between what is best for the individual and what is best for the community can be dealt with in terms of the gospel to which all are called. Does a particular object of discernment fit in with the message of Jesus in the gospel? Is it Christological? Paschal, involving both death In the Context of Discerning / 1269 and resurrection? When this is true it will bring peace to the individual and to the community. Not the peace of feeling that all is well but the peace of knowing that one is growing toward union with God. A fourth criterion of a discernment that is free, true, and unifying is the presence of a certain note of fidelity. First of all, the process must be faith-ful to the conditions for true discernment which have already been suggested. When these conditions are not met, when obstacles are not worked with, dishonesty eats holes in the foundation and the whole building begins to sink. In addition, fidelity, itself, is seen as open loyalty, coming out of a past and pointing ahead to a future. It must be consistent with the past of a person's life, unifying and giving a new meaning to what has gone before. This is so true that what has the elements of the new and unexpected to the casual observer will seem familiar and somehow right to the discern~r. Because true discernment comes out of a past it will often be characterized by a certain element of persistence. God's call to us has a way of repeating itself with growing insistency till we respond a "Here I am." But in the answering we come to recognize the call as something we have known, about for a long time, more or less consciously. Such recognition is, itself, an indication of a valid discernment. So truth in discernment is bound up with fidelity to one's past. But fidelity which only looks backward walks blindly in terms of the future. True fidelity has an element of openness which allows the individual to be moved ahead by the Spirit of God. In .practice what is discerned as right may not be equated with what is predictable. The Spirit blows where He will and this element of the unexpected is another assurance of His presence and His action. But the unexpected of God is not just the arbitrary. Quite often what we ourselves never expected, never dreamed of, is rather ob-vious to others; it may also become apparent to the individual once it has surfaced. In this case the surprise of the Spirit is welcomed with recogni-tion. Two other criteria for discernment are more specifically related to voca-tional discernment and its implications in the everyday of Christian life; these are the criteria of service and of prayer. When a directional force in life is to be discerned, or a particular course of action determined upon, a rather clear criterion is the question: Does this enable me to serve better? Does it allow me to become more aware of others, more open to their in-dividuality? Does it make me more compassionate? For one over-all direc-tion of life that must always be included in specific discernment is love. And in the Christian context love is spelled out as service so the where and the when and the how of my best service are always relevant evaluators. In a comparable way, prayer is both a means to discernment and a criterion for it. As m6ans to discernment, prayer calls for the most radical kind of openness before the Lord, a begging with one's whole being for 1270 / Review for Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 His light and His direction. It requires more honesty than we can summon out of ourselves; it calls for the truth that is the Spirit of Truth. If our prayer is an occasion for spinning illusions about God and about ourselves, then we are not really praying. For prayer deals in revelation, not always the bright light of beautiful religious truth, but often the darkness of our need to be redeemed. Prayer makes demands: that we wait for the Lord; that we remain open; that we change; that we begin every day, new in hope. Prayer that begins with a sincere desire for the Spirit of Truth will form the background for the most searching of discernments. But in addition to providing context, prayer also helps in the process itself. Of a specific object of inquiry it asks, is this something I can comfortably take before the Lord? Will it stand testing in the light of exposure to His presence? Even to ask the question is sometimes to arrive at an answer. In terms of times and circumstances of one's life, the question can be phrased, Where and when is my prayer most real? Where does God attract me? Where am 1 most able to be present to Him? What have been theprivileged moments of my re-lationship with Him? These are questions for individual discernment, not matters for general application of pious principles. The question of where I am able to be most myself before the Lord and, more importantly, of where He can best reveal Himself to me are as uniquely individual as the core of my being. They can only be answered in the context of my life and its development. In all of these ways, through prayer and service, through fidelity to past and future; through a deeper integration of truth into our own lives and of our lives into the life of Christ; through doing the truth in freedom we finally come closer to that unique perfection to which God calls us as persons. In our own way and time we grow into that "wisdom which comes down from above which is essentially pure; which also makes for peace and is kindly and considerate; it is full of compassion and shows itself by doing good, nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it" (James 3:17-8). Discernment of,Spirits in the Choice of Ministry: A Sociological View Leo F. Fay Dr. Leo F. Fay is the chairman of the Department of Sociology; Fairfield University; North Benson Road; Fairfield, Connecticut 06430. Introduction While the discernment of spirits as an aid to the. discovery of the will of God has a history that antedates even the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola, it has become a critical issue for religious only in more recent years. Prior to the post-Vatican renewals of religious life, discernment in the major decisions of a religious' life was made through submission to the will of superiors. As that traditional notion of discernment through obedience to authority has become deemphasized, the question of how individuals and groups of religious should make decisions has been receiving more and more attention. Most of that attention has been theological. Articles and treatises have been written on the how, when, and why of discernment, but usually from the theoretical and normative stance of the theologian. The present article is an attempt to broaden the discussion of discernment, especially as it relates to the choice of ministry, by injecting the empirical and descriptive viewpoint of the sociologist. One of the assumptions behind this effort is that theological reflection on religious life and behavior can have disastrous consequences if it is not formed by a sociological analysis of the .empirical realities of religious life and behavior. Often, for example, theological efforts at renewal will quite correctly assume that a particular form or practice traditional in religious life has come intrinsically meaningless and outmoded. It may be, however, that such a practice has definite, if latent, social functions which are crucial 1271 1272 / Review ]or Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 to the very existence of religious life and must be satisfied in another way. Three questions will be examined in this article: 1. What is the actual process of discernment in the choice of ministry? In other words, in what context; or under what circumstances, or in what setting does the contemporary religious make her choice-of-ministry deci-sions? 2. What is the content of discernment in the choice of ministry? In other words, what sort of considerations and motivations are religious in fact using in making those decisions? 3. What are the major problems with these trends, from a sociological point of view, for religious life and communities, and what directions might prove fruitful in the search for solutions? The Source of the Data The data for this article were collected from questionnaires distributed to 442 sisters of one of the American provinces of an international institute. 396 sisters (88%) returned questionnaires in this study of personnel plans and attitudes. The parts of the questionnaire that are of special relevance to our concerns here are two: a question designed to find out how the sisters themselves perceive and describe their own process of discernment when they are faced with a choice-of-ministry decision; and the reasons they give for choosing (or preferring) a particular ministry. The Process of Discernment The question of the sisters' perception of how they actually go about deciding on a choice of ministry listed thirteen alternatives for the respon-dents to choose among in describing their own discernment process, and left a fourteenth space blank ("other") in case they wished to express another possibility. Six of these alternative responses were authority-related: they included the bishops of the Church, the general chapter, the superior general, the provincial, provincial administrators, and local superiors. Four of the questionnaire items were personal (namely: "my own conscience," "my own reasoning and thought processes," "various kinds of reading," and "my own feelings and emotions';), and three were social (namely: "historical events and social conditions," "communication with other sisters," and "communication with the people I serve"). The results are very clear. The sisters' description of how they go about discernment in the chbice of their ministry is a description of an overwhelmingly personal process. The social context is a very poor second, and obedience to superiors is on the bottom of the list. The sisters were asked to rank the thirteen (or fourteen) items in order of importance to them personally in their own discernment activities. When we look at their first choices, we See that272 sisters (69.6%) base their discernment of God's will on processes that are basically personal, isolated, Discernment of Spirits in the Choice of Ministry / 1273 an individualistic. Forty-six sisters (11.6%) focus on social processes, and 14 sisters (3.5%) use authority-related processes. If we look, not just at first choices, but at the sisters' first three choices, the same general pattern persists, except that both authority-related and social processes do a little better. Out of 1188 responses (396 sisters × 3 choices) 7.9% are authority-related, 26.2% are social, and 53.5% are personal. The Content of Discernment The sisters who responded to the survey were asked to name specifically the ministry they expected realistically to be engaged in twenty months later, the ministry they would ideally prefer to be engaged in at that time, and the reasons for each of these choices. The questions on their reasons listed twelve items as possible answers and left the thirteenth space ("other") for expressing still another reason. Three of the alternative responses can be described as work-oriented (namely: "I f~el that position would make best use of my training," "I like that type of work," and "I am ready for another career"); three can be described as personal (namely: "my health makes it the best clioice for me," "I feel obligated by family circumstances to choose that position," and "I don't feel ready to undertake a move at this time"); three are situational (namely: "I would like to retire," "I like the living situation that goes with that position," and "I like the kind if clientele I would be serving in that position"), and three are congregational (namely: "I want to work with a group of sisters of this congregation," "I feel per-sonal loyalty to the position as a commitment of this congregation," and "I feel it is my duty to the congregation to fill that position"). The differences between the reasons the sisters gave for their choices indicate that the content of their discernment is overwhelmingly work-oriented. Looking at the sisters' first reasons only, we see that 37.2% named one of the work-oriented reasons first, 18.6% named congregational reasons, 12.4% had situational reasons, and 6.9% had personal reasons. If we con-sider the sisters' first three reasons for their projections and preferences, we find that 33.7% of the reasons given were work-oriented, 18.8% were sit-uational, 15% were congregational, and 5.7% were personal. Problems Arising from the Data From a sociological point of view, the data on the process of discern-ment in choice of ministry do not bode well for the viability of religious community. It might be serious merely to have discovered that obedience to a common authority is no longer of major importance in determining what the members of a religious community do with their lives. What is more serious is the discovery that the religious perceive the process they go through as so thoroughly personal, isolated, and individualistic. Serious 1274 / Review ]or Religious,' Volume 33, 1974/6 questions are suggested by these findings for both the community and the individual religious. From the point of view of the community (house, province, or entire congregation), the questions center on planning and even survival. What does it mean for any organization, religious or not, if the individual members see themselves as isolated and alone when it comes to deciding what to do with their lives, how to behave from day to day, and what their aspirations are? I am not referring here to the matter of obedience to authority; I am referring primarily to the fact that the religious do not see themselves as making decisions in response to their fellow religious, to the people whom they are sent to serve, or to the historical and social conditions of the world they are called to serve. From the point of view of the individual religious, the questions are of a more psychological nature. They come down to the difficulty of working out a meaning for the life she is leading. Traditional religious life, with its customs, rule, obedience, and so forth, did have advantage of a very clear meaning for most of its adherents most of the time. As these traditions have changed in response to the new respect for the person and for individual responsibility, the clarity of the meaning of religious life for the individual has been clouded. Now each religious is in the position of having to inte-grate into a coherent meaning system the apparently contradictory styles of corporatism and personalism, of commitment and freedom, of choice of ministry and responsible group membership. That integration is not easy. By contrast, the data on the content of the religious discernment in the choice of ministry seem much less problematic. The high degree of emphasis placed on work-oriented considerations suggests a professionalism that an outsider can only admire. Likewise, there is a solid (though much smaller) group that giv~es primary consideration to the needs and responsibilities of the religious institute. However, the strong emphasis on work, which suggests professionalism, does reinforce the problems already mentioned. Professional attitudes have consistently been found to be correlated with the need for personal auton-omy and independence; and whenever the latter qualities are found in any kind of corporate organization, they aggravate the tension between the needs of the organization and those of its individual members. Suggestions for Solutions It may very well be that, for those institutes which have established it, choice of ministry was an organizational mistake. Nevertheless, it seems to be firmly entrenched and destined to spread, so solutions to the problems of corporate unity and individual meaning must be found that are com-patible with it. I suggest that there are two general directions in which partial solutions may be found. The first direction goes to the process of discernment and concerns its Discernment o[ Spirits in the Choice of Ministry / 1275 formalization. The clear evidence that religious perceive their own discern-ment procedures to be isolated and individualistic suggests the need for instituting relatively formal and structured social procedures to be made available to all individual religious who are faced with a choice-of-ministry decision. These procedures should involve the participation of a variety of other persons: perhaps a few representatives of the province or congrega-tion, representatives of the ministries the individual is considering and of the one she is leaving, and a few close friends. If the individual should elect to go through such a formal procedure with a group like that, it would widen the perspecti~'e from which she views her choice and would lessen the isolation she feels in making it. The second direction goes to the content of discernment and concerns the introduction of a broader scope of factors to be considered in making choices. Since the evidence we have suggests a high degree of profession-alism which will likely be accompanied by increasing independence from the institute, a partial solution lies in keeping considerations of the institute's needs and responsibilities in the individual's consciousness. One practical way of doing that is the mechanism of communications from particular houses or works to the whole province or institute. Province newsletters, helpful as they are in many other respects, cannot satisfy this point: local communities and groups themselves must do the communicating. Further, these communications should avoid at all costs being theoretical, propa-gandistic, or complex, and should strive instead to be concrete and anecdotal, newsy, personal, and simple. Both these suggested solutions, of course, derive from the same funda-mental truth of social organization: as any group undergoes change in its traditional way of life, the greatest danger it faces is disunity and conse-quent disintegration. To avoid that, deliberate, even self-conscious steps must be taken to make concrete and real in the lives of individual members their membership in a corporate group. On Praying and Being Human: Reflections on the Anthropological Value of Prayer Eric Doyle, O.F.M. Father Eric Doyle, O.F.M., is a member, of the faculty of the Franciscan Study Cen-tre; University of Kent; Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NA; England. Introduction This article contains reflections on the activity we call prayer in terms of its anthropological value. Such an approach is possible because of the prior anthropological character of revelation, faith, and theology. Since there are two key concepts involved in these reflections, namely, anthropology and prayer, the articl~ has been divided into two major parts. The reason for presenting these reflections in a review intended principally for religious will be clear from the content of the first part of the article. I Christology and Anlhropology The Christological doctrine of the Church, if correctly understood, is the most radical and authentic anthropology the world has ever known. In the historical event which is the life, death, and glorification of the Man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Church has the source and center of everything that she knows and can ever know about God and man. Because He is the Incarnate Son of the Eternal God, Jesus of Nazareth discloses to us in the very reality of His own humanity who God is, what God is like; and this is expressed in its most original form by the words "Father" and "Forgiving Love." In the same way He reveals what it means to be man: the being in the world who is called in the innermost depths of his historical existence 1276 On Praying and Being Human / 1277 to surrender himself unconditionally to the will of God, as to his destiny, in faith, hope, and love. This is not to argue that the Church has nothing to learn about man from the historical, positive, and natural sciences or that she can ignore the teachings of psychology, psychotherapy, and sociology. What we are asserting here is that the Church has a point of reference for all that can be known about man and that point of reference is Christ who allows her to grasp the ultimate depth of meaning of anything that may be discovered about man. From this source and center there is one truth which the Church knows with infallible certitude, the truth namely, that God Himself is the guarantee of man's humanity. To surrender oneself to God is to arrive at one's own unique humanity. The process of growth in the relationship with God--a relationship established by grace which div-inizes and therefore humanizes man in his historical existence--is a process of drawing ever closer to the Origin of humanity itself and thus of becoming more authentically human. When the Church speaks of God, in virtue of the very word she utters, she says something about man; when she speaks of man in the light of the grace she has received in her Savior and Lord, she proclaims also a word about God. The Church's Doctrine of Man This essentially anthropological and authentically human orientation of the word she proclaims is the primary reason why the Church has a right to address herself to the world of today and to the men of our time. Above all, it is the foundation of her right to establish educational institutes of every kind and at every level--primary, secondary, and tertiary and of the right to present herself ready before the authorities of State and religiously "neutral" universities and other higher institutes of education, to form theo-logical faculties. She possesses a doctrine about man which has the courage to speak about his multi-dimensional nature and this doctrine is worthy of a hearing wherever and whenever men come together to pool their re-sources in order to grapple with the question of what it means to be human. It is true, of course, that this anthropological character of her word, her faith, and her theology has not always been apparent. Moreover, many people share the conviction that believers in God and especially theologians, are desperately concerned with some ideal world far removed from the stark realities of day-to-day life. Indeed, one still stumbles across the vulgar prejudice that theologians as a breed pass their time hairsplitting and jug-gling with ideas, oblivious of the world going on around them and even indifferent to its concerns. How far this idea corresponds to reality is, I suppose, a matter for some debate. In any case that it is now a figment of misinformed minds and has been for a good number of years will be obvious to anyone familiar with the development of theology in our times. It is incumbent upon us all who believe in the universality of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ who is Lord, to do all in our power to dispel these 1278 / Review for Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 false notions and gross misunderstandings by the quality of our lives, the extent of our concerns, and the intellectual honesty, rigor, integrity, and high calibre of our theology. Christian Anthropology and Dialogue with the World The radically historical character of the Church's faith, in virtue of which she constantly returns to the life of the Man, Jesus of Nazareth, formally distinguishes the content of the Christian Gospel from all mytho-logical worldviews and explanations of the meaning of man. The doctrine of the historical incarnation of the Son must have a paramount place in all dialogue with atheists, anonymous Christians, and implicit believers. If we prescind for the moment from the source of the Church's belief in this doctrine, namely the gratuitous love of the Immortal God for mankind and concentrate on the content of the assertion as de facto held by com.- mitted Christian believers, we can make it our point of departure in the dialogue that we for our part are paying the highest possible tribute to .human dignity. The content of this assertion is that the being whom the human race calls God, the Supreme Being, is held to be present to and united with this Man who lived out a human life like other men and who reached His destiny in total fidelity to His own humanity and this in such a way that His humanity was not impaired or in any way abolished, but on the contrary.was radically realized as itself in its own true and authentic nature. The implications of this assertion for an understanding of man demand analysis precisely because of the influence that the content of this assertion has on the lives, outlook, and activity of a significant number of people today who own the name Christian, because of the history of the Church's understanding of this assertion, and because it is an essential ele-ment of the assertion that Jesus is most truly a man. The assertion cannot be dismissed simply by the shabby argument of "projectionism" firstly be-cause of the historically conditioned existence of this man and secondly because the assertion holds in its dialectic that by the vei'y fact that God is here, Jesus of Nazareth is the realization of what it means to be human. Revelation and Christological Anthropology This anthropological orientation of Christology must have priority also among Christian believers. This is the case not only that they may be able to present an intelligible account of the meaning of their faith to a largely sceptical and unbelieving world, but because it is part of the revelation itself. God's word and His grace are the foundation of authentic and integral hu-manity so that without Him we cannot be truly human at all. The anthro-pological orientation of Christology, therefgre, is in no way a betrayal of the specifically supernatural character of Christian revelation nor can it be suspected of reducing this revelation to a subtle form of humanism. Theo-logical science is not committed to answering riddles or solving problems in On Praying and Being Human / 1279 the manner of the positive and natural sciences. Its purpose in every age is to strive to understand man as he is and as he is becoming, in his finitude and openness as the being made in the image of God and called by God to share the divine life. This is an ongoing process which is always new and never exhausted. No matter howmuch more knowledge may be accumulated by man in the future, no matter how many more secrets may be wrested from nature, man will be always the being in history who is open to God and capable of receiving the treasures of divine grace. This would still be the case even in the condition of the world where the vast majority of mankind had ceased to have any belief in God at all. Leaving aside what might be said about such a state of affairs from a purely phenomenological standpoint, we would still have to proclaim that we have Christ's word in hope that He will be with us to the end. Though this word gives no guarantee about numerical quantity--and at present it does seem that the number of explicit believers is growing less--it is the sure basis that the Church will not disappear from the face of the earth and that the remnant will remain on behalf of the nations. Renewal in lhe Church What is written in these pages about prayer applies to every Christian believer and, for that matter, to any man who prays, as distinct from some-one who merely uses a method or follows a system in order to arrive at inner equilibrium. My reflections, however, are addressed specifically to religious in the Church and this for a number of important reasons. It is my belief that the renewal of the religious life is only now beginning to move out of its-preparatory stages. This is also true of the Church in general. The last ten years since the final session of the Second Vatican Council have been a time of re-assessment, of preparing the ground, of hammering out principles, and of establishing priorities. Much has been achieved, but there is quite an amount left to be done. Let us take one example: developments in ecclesiology. The Church has come to a deeper awareness of her own nature as a community of believers in the world. This community is founded on the gift of God's grace of unity which is logically prior to its every expression in faith, worship, life, and order. This awareness of the Church's nature as a community has had repercussions in every area of the Church's life. It has raised questions at the practical level which are by no means yet answered. For example: What do we mean by "community" when applied to the Church in general and when we use it of a local group in the Church? What is the relationship between a territorial parish as realized at present and the theology of the local community in terms of a constantly shifting population? How does liturgical celebration reflect and foster the presence of community? Should diocesan priests be scattered over a multiplicity of parishes in a town or area of a city where they are compelled to live alone or in groups of no more than two or three or should they work to establish 1280 / Review ]or Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 a form of community life that is specifically priestly and not just a limp copy of religious life? If they were to live a much more realistic community life, how would they serve and retain contact with the people of those areas where once a priest was resident? What are the consequences for eschatology of this awareness of the Church as community? In what sense is "heaven" heaven before the Parousia of Christ? What is the relationship between a local parochial community and the community of a religious order in the parish? These are some of the questions that require us to reflect again on what may have appeared to us once as unchangeable structures and beliefs. A similar list might be drawn up with direct reference to the religious life. Enough has been said, however, to demonstrate that we ought not to allow ourselves to be lulled into thinking that the renewal is achieved and that we can now slacken our efforts. Religious and Spiritual Direction Religious life, as I have said elsewhere in this Review,1 is an indispens-able (not to say essentia!!) element in the life of the Church. If I read the signs of the times aright, then it seems to me that in the future members of religious order and congregations of men and women (I prescind here al-together from the question of the ordination of women, though it is by no means irrelevant to the point under discussion) are destined in the provi-dence of God to assume an ever greater if not the maximum responsibility for spiritual direction. This will be one of the finest fruits of the renewal of the religious life in the Church. It is already the case that people approach religious (and let us admit it quite simply and candidly that they approach us precisely as religious, that is, as those in the Church who publicly profess the evangelical counsels, however unthematic and even hazy their expression of this may be) with their questions or problems or mysteries and they rightly expect us to bring a spiritual dimension into the situation they present to us. They have the right to expect this of us for the simple reason that we are presumed to know something about the workings of divine grace in human life. After all, we have behind us the years we have spent in religious life with all the experiences of reflection and prayer that these years have provided--and we must not forget that it is the Church and God's grace, more than ourselves, that have made this possible. Moreover, we were called by God to the religious life for the sake of the Church. Psychotherapy and Spiritual Direction In emphasizing the importance of spiritual direction I am not denying nor even playing down the place of psychotherapy. Carl Jung has furnished us with more than enough evidence of how dangerous and uninformed such aErie Doyle, O.F.M., "Reflections on the Theology of Religious Life," Review ]or Re-ligious, v. 32 (1973), pp. 1258-60. On Praying and Being Human / 1281 an outlook is. Indeed, every religious, but especially those engaged in any form of apostolic work ought to read his profound and, in some ways, disturbing'essay, "Psychotherapists or the Clergy." Much of what he has to say about the attitude of the doctor may be applied without qualification to spiritual directors. One passage will suffice to demonstrate this. Speaking of the requirements in a doctor who wants to offer guidance to another he writes: We can get in touch with another person only by an attitude of unprejudiced objectivity . It is a human quality--a kind of deep respect for facts and events and for the person who suffers from them--a respect for the secret of such a human life. The truly religious person has this attitude. He knows that God has brought all sorts of strange and inconceivable things to pass, and seeks in the most curious ways to enter a man's heart. He therefore senses in everything the unseen presence of the divine will. This is what I mean by "unprejudiced objectivity." It is a moral achievement on the part of the doc-tor, who ought not to let himself be repelled by illness and corruption. We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses. 1 am the oppressor of the person I condemn, not his friend and fellow-sufferer. I do not in the least mean to say that we must never pass judgment in the cases of persons whom we desire to help and improve. But if the doctor wishes to help a human being he must be able to accept him as he is. And he can do this in reality only when he has already seen and accepted himself as he is.'-' These words reminded me of a passage in the Rule of St. Francis of Assisi which, for all practical purposes, says exactly the same: "And they [the Ministers] must take care not to be angry or agitated on account of anyone's sin because anger and agitatiofi hinder charity in themselves and in others.":' The spirit and the psyche are intimately connected and any religious who bears the responsibility now or will do so in years to come would be well advised to acquire a basic knowledge of the principles and methods of psychotherapy. What I am anxious to stress in this context, however, is that spiritual direction exists in its own right and to imagine that it can be simply replaced by psychotherapy is patent nonsense. It would be as foolish to reduce spiritual direction to psychotherapy as it would be to hold that a glandular extract will cure a neurosis." New Forms of Prayer The new forms of community prayer, the sharing of experiences of God, the openness and sympathy in communicating joys and sorrows, emptiness '-'C. G. Jung, "Psychotherapists or the Clergy," in Modern Man in Search o] a Soul, trs. by W. S. Dell and Cary F. Baynes (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1933), pp. 234-5. aRule o] St. Francis, Chapter 5. 4See Jung "'Psychotherapists," pp. 223-3. 1282 / Review ]or Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 and fullness, darkness and light experienced in the spiritual life are also providential in regard to this matter of religious and spiritual direction. It is a well-known fact that religious, especially in the United States df America and, to a much lesser extent, elsewhere, are leaders in these new forms of common prayer and this highly desirable openness in sharing with others one's experiences of God. All this has served to bring home to many religious the fundamental reason why they came to religious life, namely, to love and praise the Living God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit and to love and serve the brethren of that Son throughout their entire lives. The actual sharing of these experiences .teaches, as no book can, how God intervenes in a person's life, how His blessed grace renews people in the hidden depths of their being, how the Holy Spirit of God guides and enlightens people in the midst of the most humdrum and monotonous daily lives. I know from my own experience that listening to another person speaking about God's presence in daily life can actually become an experience of thd presence of God for the listener. Religious and Theological Formation The mushroom growth in the numbers of religious who are pursuing theological studies is also providential and here again the United States has the lead. So many of these religious are involved in education and formation at various levels and there are many of these who belong to the Charismatic Renewal Movement. One must be careful, therefore, not to brand this Movement generally as anti-intellectual. Of course the beast of anti-intellectualism shows its ugly head periodically in the history of the Church and these are areas where it is raising its head at the moment. Experience itself teaches unequivocally, however, that a solid theological formation is an essential requisite for spiritual direction. Indeed, ! would go so far as to say as a general rule, that without a protracted period of theological formation no one should dare to assume the responsibility of spiritual direction at all. By theological formation I mean a formation that is firmly rooted in the Church's tradition of theological reflection and not confused with "fashion-theology" which arrogates to itself the titles "exis-tential" and "personal," shifts its point of reference with every "new" issue and is as ephemeral as it is superficial. This awareness among so many religious of the necessity of a theological formation is born of the sound intuition that pietism, fundamentalism, emotionalism, and comforting plati-tudes just will not suffice for the apostolate of spiritual direction. All theo-logical endeavor is subservient to the faith and the Word of God and can never be an end in itself. In accord with the signs of the times, as they appear at least to me, we may say more specifically that the current widespread pursuit of theological formation among religious is directed towards achieving a greater competence~in spiritual direction the responsibility for which, as we have already said, religious will assume increasingly at every On Praying and Being Human / 1283 level of the Church's life and, for that matter, outside the body of committed Christian believers. The Experience of God It is obvious also that religious will have to be more prepared and willing to speak to those who come to them for this kind of direction and counsel about the experience of God in their lives and this without embar-rassment, but with courage and humility. Such openness is desirable and necessary not only because it will aid committed believers to recognize God's presence in their own lives, but also because of its witness value and the salutary effect it has on non-believers, sceptics, and the doubtful: Just as a solid theological formation furnishes the believer with the means of present-, ing an intelligible account of the faith and of giving reasons for accepting the Christian revelation which forbid the non-believer to dismiss the Chris-tian as a hoodwinked fool--even when no "proof" is forthcoming for what is believed, so also the readiness to speak in humility and honesty of the workings of God's grace and the experience of His presence in one's life, demonstrates that the believer is not someone merely committed to repeating intellectual propositions and to presenting the "party line," but a person made more human by the grace of God, which forbids the non-believer to brush religion aside as having no relation to concrete human existence. What has been suggested above about the increasing responsibility for spiritual direction on the part of religious takes on added seriousness in the light of the following passage from Jung's essay already mentioned above. It should be emphasized that what he writes is the result of his own researches: I should like to call attention to the following facts. During the past thirty years, people from all the civilized countries of the earth have consulted me. I have treated many hundreds of patients, the larger number being Protes-tants, a smaller number of Jews, and not more than five or six believing Catholics. Among all my patients in the second half of life--that is to say¢ over thirty-five--there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. It is safe to say that every one of them fell ill because he had lost that which the living religions of every age have given to their followers, and none of them has'been really healed who did not regain his religious outlook. This of course has nothing whatever to do with a particular creed or membership of a church.:, With the principle of the anthropological character of the Christian revelation briefly established, we may now turn to the anthropological value of prayer. Jung pointed out, as we have already quoted, that a doctor can only accept a human being as he is "when he has already seen and accepted himself as he is."" We noted that this may be applied without qualification 1284 / Review [or Religiot~s, Volume 33, 1974/6 to spiritual directors. What we have to say from here onward can be taken as a commentary on this text as applied to the spiritual director. Our reflections belong, of course, to another dimension where science ends, but it is a dimension of human existence brought to be by the grace and the love of God. To direct and counsel another human being in the ways of God requires experience, personal prayer, theological formation, and some knowledge of the teaching of the classical author~ of spiritual theology. We are concerned here with one aspect of one of these requisites, namely, the humanizing power of prayer. By prayer one learns to accept oneself before God. The spiritual director must have already seen himself as he is before God and ~iccepted what he has seen. II. Praying and Being Thomas of Celano, the most famous biographer of St. Francis of Assisi, describing the Saint at prayer, tells us that "all his attention and affection he directed with his whole being to the one thing he was asking of the Lord, not so much praying, as becoming himself a prayer.''r This description serves to emphasize the principal point of these reflections: that prayer is not primarily saying something but being someone in virtue of a relationship with God Who is ever-present everywhere in the totality of His Being. The purpose of all prayer, be it liturgical, public, corporate, personal, vocal, or silent, is to deepen our union with God. It is essentially a relationship of union with God, made possible by God Himself who, in absolute freedom and pure loving kindness, bridges the infinite gulf that separates us in our creaturehood from Him the Sovereign Lord and Creator of the universe. In this relationship we draw ever nearer to Him and the nearer we are to Him, the more do we become like Him. The more we become like Him, the more are we made truly ourselves. We already have some faint notion of this on the ordinary principles of the Creator/creature relationship. In every man there is a desire, a longing--however it may be expressed--to reach the Source whence he came and to which he must inevitably return. Our cer-tainty in the matter, however, is given uniquely in the doctrine of the Incar-nation. Jesus Christ is the truest man, the most authentically human man who ever walked our earth. Jesus Christ the Man There has been great emphasis in recent times on the humanity of Christ and we have been advised frequently to throw off the shackles of the fear of Arianism. While this is a most desirable development in Christology, rThom~s de Ce,lano, I/ita secunda s. Francisi, 95, Analecta iranciscana, v. X (Flor-ence, 1941), p. 187: "Omenm sic et intuitum et affectum in unam quam petebat a Domino dirigebat, totus non tam orans quam oratio factus." On Praying and Being Human / 1285 we need to be on our guard constantly against any form of reductionism that would make Him no more than a particularly good man among men in the world. Nor should we forget that for Arianism not only was Jesus not God, he was not really man either, since the Logos (understood to be the first, the highest, and the noblest of God's creatures) was made flesh by taking the place of the soul in the man Jesus. What we need to stress now is that because Jesus Christ is God-made-man, he is more human than any man. In His humanity Jesus is set apart in His aloneness (not to be confused with loneliness), though He is not separated from us, precisely because He is so truly, so radically, so authentically, and so devastatingly human. Prayer and Human Life There is nothing that can make a man more himself than the constant effort to deepen his relationship with God by loving the divine will and living in the divine presence. The kind of response a man makes to the divinely-given awareness of the Blessed Mystery who is God, who penetrates every fiber of our existence, radically determines the type of person he is. Prayer is not some optional extra in our lives, not some purely peripheral activity out on the fringe of the real business of our concrete, practical monotonous day-to-day occupations, not a luxury for those with time to spare. Prayer is an indispensable element in our relationship with God springing from the trancendent dimension of human existence, without which nothing in our lives can ultimately have any lasting value or validity. This is the chief reason why those who hold that it is not necessary to pray if one works generously and devotedly for others, support a fundamentally anti-human doctrine. We know, of course, that there is a true sense in which to work is to pray, dependent on consciously attending to the things of God. But as anyone knows who has spent protracted periods in the active apostolate, work sooner or later begins to lose its attraction and become a boring burden. It is then that one understands the power and value of prayer: Without prayer there is s6on no work at all. Man is the being in the world who is becoming. He finds himself plunged into the flow of existence that is steadily making its way to a term. When he comes to ask himself the questions What is man? and Who am I? he discovers he is limited and finite, on the one hand and always something more, something beyond what he has thus far experienced, on the other. If the Source and Center of all existence is not somehow a factor in his becoming, then a man will never be human or r~ally himself at all. There is an area of mystery in every man at the core of which is an openness to God, the All-Holy One, who calls out to him from His own blessed eternity. Homo sapiens, the being who finds truth and reality not only outside him-self, but in the inner depths of his own being, must also be homo orans. If he is not the latter, then he will slip back into being no more than homo 1286 / Review [or Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 sciens--and knowledge only puffs up, wisdom it is that builds up. Man must progress from homo sapiens to homo amahs by being homo orans, that is to say, by praying a man becomes himself a prayer. Belief and the Existence of God The Eternal God is the Absolute Other. He is ineffable in His being, uncontainable, incomprehensible, inconceivable, incomparable, inimitable, indescribable, without beginning and without end; He is the Immortal One. For the believer the existence of God is the most obvious thing in the world. God and His grace exist more truly than the world of sense objects and experience that surrounds us and makes us what we are. The believer knows that God exists more really than he does himself. Many people would claim that these are smug and arrogant assertions; others would listen wistfully, thinking to themselves: "How fortunate believers are to know with such certainty that there is after all something to cling to, something to give meaning to life; how blessed they are to feel that life is not in the end empty, pointless, and absurd." These reactions fail to appreciate all that is involved in belief in God. For it is only when God is accepted totally in faith that the real problems confront the believer and these are infinitely greater than the question of His existence. These problems arise from man's existence who as a believer finds himself faced with the absolute demands of God's existence. For once a man believes in God and lives by his faith in union with Him, he becomes aware sooner or later that this God is the Holy God. Unlike goodness, power, mercy, justice, beauty, truth, unity, and peace, holiness is a quality which is not immediately part of our experience. Holiness is a reality of another order altogether. In the faith encounter with God a man becomes aware that he is known in the inmost depths of his being. This encounter with God as the Holy One reveals the seriousness of existence and the responsibility a man bears for his existence in the world. From this arises the concomitant awareness of creaturehood which can cause a man to cry out to God in anguish: "What moved You in the depths of Your own eternal blessedness to bring my existence out of nothing?" In the anguish is the answer: "Love eternal called you out from nothing-ness" and in this answer a man knows that the source of his anguish is Love itself. The Holiness of God God is holy and He bears a holy Name (Ex 3:1-6; Jos 24:19-20; Is 6:1-3; Ez 36:16-36). The almost impossible truth is that He demands of us that we be h61y as He is holy: "Be holy for I, Yahweh your God, am holy" (Lev 19:4); "Yes it is I, Yahweh, who brought you out of Egypt to be .your God: you therefore must be holy because I am holy (Lev 11:45); "Be holy in all you do, since it is the Holy One who has called you, and scripture says Be holy for 1 am holy" (1 Pet 1 : 15). The holiness On Praying and Being Human / 1287 of God comes from His innermost Being which is separated from and utterly beyond everything that is finite and creaturely. God's holiness is not in the first place the opposite of sinfulness, immorality, and self-seeking-- though it includes the notion of moral holiness; it is rather the contrary of all that is not God Himself. God's holiness is the perfection of His Being which ineffably transcends everything created. In the fullness of His Being God is absolute identity between His Will and His Being. God is, simply and supremely. There can be no disparity, no contradiction between God's Being and God's Will: God is what He wills, He wills what He is. In His holiness lies the mystery of His Being, that is, the Mystery of what it is simply to be. God, then, is the Holy Mystery: Holy Source, Holy Wisdom, Holy Love--Holy Father, Holy Son and Holy "Spirit. God is the Mystery of the Thrice Holy One. God the Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans The absolute identity of the Being of God evokes feelings of awe and reverence which go beyond the categories of the purely rational. Our utter creaturehood is revealed to us in the awareness of God's holiness and this revelation occurs in the deepest recesses of the soul. In His holiness, God is both terrible and attractive, the Mysterium at once tremendum and ]ascinans as Rudolf Otto has profoundly analyzed and described it? In the presence of the Holy God man is both afraid and not-afraid at one and the same time as Rat explained to Mole in The Wind in the Willows: Then suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him. "Rat!" he found breath to whisper, shaking, "Are you afraid? . Afraid?" murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love. "Afraid! of Him? 0, never, never! And yet---and yet--O, Mole, I am afraid!" Then the two animals, crouching to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship.~ God is the Rex tremendae maiestatis who is revealed to us as the one who is and, as such He is made known as utterly beyond us. As Pure Being He is so utterly other that when He is encountered in His holiness He inspires awe and reverential fear of necessity because as the Holy One He is unknown and precisely as holy is totally outside all previous experience. Were it not for Him we should not be able to sustain the awareness of Pure Being. Man experiences himself as divided and disorientated in his existence; there is always tension between his being and his willing, disparity and SR. Otto, The Idea o] the Holy: Apt Inquiry into the Non-rational Factor in the Idea o] the Divine and Its Relation to the Rational, trs. by John W. Harvey (Oxford: Oxford University, 1923). OK. Graham, The Wind in the Willows (London: Methuen Children's Books, 1972), pp. 92-3. 1288 / Review for Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 open contradiction between what he is and what he wills. His being is fragmented and dissipated in its finitude and creatureliness. Yet God draws near to man; though He dwells in light inaccessible, He approaches man and reveals Himself as Holy Mystery and Divine Majesty. It is because He draws so close to us that we know Him to be totally other and utterly beyond us. A man is confronted with the truth of Pure Being and Total Unity and he is filled with awe and fear in the presence of such unambiguous simplicity. At the same time, however, this revelation of the holiness of God makes known to us that we are in some way like unto God. The meaning of having been created in the image of God is disclosed in all its wonder. Because He is One, the pure identity of being and willing, God is experi-enced as attractive, alluring and fascinating. In the absolute simplicity of His holy existence God is the fullness of reality. Man strives by the law of his being to be and to be more; he searches out and is drawn towards that which is to be most of all, most authentically and simply to be: the One who is the Holy Other and who lives forever. The Fidelity of the Holy God God the Holy One is revealed in the covenant wherein He pledges Him-self to man forever. Despite man's finitude, sinfulness, and ingratitude the covenant remains forever: "I will punish their sins with the rod and their crimes with the whip, but never withdraw my love from him or fail in my faithfulness. I will not break my covenant, I will not revoke my given word; I have sworn on my holiness, once for all, and cannot turn liar to David" (Ps 89:32-5). The fidelity of the Holy God evokes a personal attitude on the part of man which issues in adoration and establishes the foundation of true humility. In the presence of the Holy God man is made aware of who and what he is, not primarily of what he has done or has not done. God's holiness evokes an ontological attitude, one of being, not merely a moral or aesthetical attitude, which is brought about by the very presence of Pure Being and Simple Truth. The knowledge of God's holiness is what allows the man who arrives at it to integrate into his relationship with God the fact that he is a creature. The experience of the All'Holy God as the Mysterium tremendum et fascinans involves also an awareness of the absolute fidelity of God and of His total acceptance of a man as he is. This leads to self-acceptance as a creature and marks the beginning of the transformation into a new crea-ture. The realization comes that a man is known in the inmost depths of his being and this liberates him from the ambiguity of creaturely existence. Jesus Christ the Model of Prayer The unfathomable mystery of God the Holy One has been made known and drawn close to us. in the human life of the Man Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus On Praying and Being Human / 1289 Christ is the Father's Love which He will never take back; He is the Word that will never be revoked; He is the Covenant that will never be broken. In sending Jesus Christ to the world God has already accepted man and has already answered every prayer that might ever arise from a human heart. Since Christ is the foundation and center of the Christian life, it is only in contemplating Him that we can come to know what prayer means. We must now turn to Him whose life was itself an unbroken prayer to the Father. The pi-ayer of Christ is a favorite theme of the Gospel of St. Luke. He tells us that while Christ was praying after His baptism the Holy Spirit came down upon Him as a dove and a voice was heard from heaven: "You are my Son, the Beloved" (Lk 3:21). Again it was while at prayer that He was transfigured and a voice from heaven proclaimed: "This is my Son, the Chosen One" (Lk 9:28-,9). The foundation of Christ's prayer is the already established relationship with His Father, from which flow the desires of His will and the affections of His heart. Apart from the episodes where it is related that Christ went off to pray alone, St. Luke also tells us that Christ prayed in the presence of His disci-ples. This experience was one of the most treasured memories of the early Church: "Now one day when he was praying alone in the presence of his disciples he put this question to them 'Who do the crowds say I am' " (Lk 9: 18-9); "Now once he was in a certain place praying and when he had finished one of his disciples said, 'Lord teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.' He said to them, 'Say this when you pray: Father, may your name be held holy' " (Lk 11:1-2). This must have been a frequent oc-currence in the disciples' experience, and it wasone they remembered in their preaching and one which the Church preserved for us in the Holy Scripture. There must have been something truly remarkable and unforget-table about the sight of Jesus at prayer. In the episode which records that He taught them the Our Father, the Evangelist states quite simply: He was in a certain place praying. It is not said that he was in ecstasy but simply that He was praying. It was evidently the sight of Jesus at prayer that moved them to ask .Him to teach them to do the same. What can have moved them to ask Him to teach them to pray? After all they were Jews and therefore familiar with pr.ayer.1° The daily life of the pious Jew was filled with a round of prayer. Yet all this had not taught them what the simple act of this man at prayer had called forth from the inner depths of their being. One can try to picture the sight of Jesus praying in the midst of His disciples and try to discover what made them ask Him to teach them to pray. Perhaps it was His serenity, the entire composure of His being; perhaps they wanted to get at what was going on in His heart and mind that made Him the kind of man He was. If we reflect a little on the passage ~"Joachim Jeremias, The Prayers o] Jesus (London: SCM, 1969). 1290 / Review [or Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 in Luke 11 : lff., the answer will be seen to lie in what He told them to pray: "Say this when you pray: Father, may your name be held holy . " He told them to say "Father." It was this that came to His lips without hesita-tion, quite simply and in utter confidence. Perhaps this was the very word He had been using when they saw Him at prayer. In any case, the word "Father" tells us almost everything we need to know about Jesus and it is the clue to what caused His disciples to ask Him to teach them how to pray. He taught them to say "Father." This familiar little word, which no con-temporary Jew would have dared to use of God, Jesus made the heart and soul of all prayer for ever. The Sublime Mystery of God, the Sovereign Creator of the universe, is addressed by this Man in a term so familiar that it can only be translated "Daddy." God is our "Abba." What the disciples experienced, therefore, was not so much a man saying something as being someone. They saw Jesus the Son, that is Jesus being totally Himself in the presence of the Most High God. In teaching the disciples His own prayer which expresses the intimate relationship He had with Gdd, Jesus revealed to us well-nigh everything about God: His kindness, His love, His tenderness, His mercy, His desire that we approach Him on the same intimate and familiar terms as did Jesus Himself. We will never be able to grasp what it means to address God as Father because this is one of the most staggering mysteries of the entire revelation we have received in Jesus Christ. We say this prayer very often in liturgical worship and in public and personal prayer. We must always be on our guard not to allow it to become no more than a mere jingle of words. The Church has always treasured this prayer of her Lord and she always will. It is a matter for some sadness that the translations of the Mass have rendered the introduction to the Our Father Praeceptis salutaribus moniti et divina institutione forrnati audemus dicere by the limp invitation "Let us pray with confidence to the Father . " This rendering fails abysmally to express the sense of privilege and utter distinctiveness that audemus dicere contains. In this prayer we are using the very words of Christ and we are allowed to do this for no other reason than that He taught us to address God in His words and He drew us into His relationship with the Sovereign Lord of life and death. This sense of privilege has been beauti-fully retained in the translations of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysos-tom: "And make us worthy, Master, to dare with confidence and without condemnation to call You Father, O God of heaven, and to say: Our Father . -11 By divine grace, which is the life and love of God Himself, we are truly 11"The Divine and Holy Liturgy of Our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom," Byzantine Daily Worship (Alleluia Press, 1969), p. 288; see also "The Divine and Holy Liturgy of Our Father among the Saints Basil the Great," ibid, p. 336. See also K. Rahner, On Prayer (New York: Paulist. 1968), p. 20. On Praying and Being Human / 1291 made God's sons an'd daughters. Now in human adoption there is necessarily r~quired a likeness of nature--the mother and father must adopt a human being. There is, however, no likeness of nature between God and man. God brings it about by His own most holy grace and we become like Him and are thus His sons and daughters. Human adoption is purely external, dependent only on the will of the adopter. In divine adoption there is realized an internal change so that we are rightly said to be born of God. Finally, in human adoption in order to succeed to the goods of the adopter, the latter must die. In divine adoption God the Adopter is always the Living God and we receive the riches of His love and eternal life in the very act of adoption. In coming to the awareness of God's holiness we arrive also at the knowledge of our own creaturehood--we come to acknowledge who and what we are. The.Incarnation of the Son discloses to us that we are accepted by the Holy God to the degree, that He makes us His sons and daughters and, therefore, that we are a new creation in Christ Jesus our Lord. With these two fundamental principles before our mind we can now turn to their practical implications for the life of prayer. Prayer and Becoming Ourselves The Creator/creature relationship has been transformed and elevated by God's grace to the Father/Son relationship of an entirely new order. In His revealing Word God has made Himself known to us as He is and it is through His Word that all prayer is possible. There have been many definitions of prayer, the best known being "the raising of the mind and heart to God." Yet every one of them proceeds from and is intelligible only in terms of this fundamental relationship with God the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. The purpose of prayer, in all its modalities, is to lead us to conscious awareness and ever clearer recognition of the grace of being a son of God the Father. This grace is not an entity added to our natural being as spiritual creatures, but a radical assumption of our entire being by the love of God. It is a dimension of our human existence which God has brought into being. Prayer increases our awareness of divine adoption--Tthat is, of being this person before God the Father by reducing to conscious reflection this fundamental condition of our human existence. When we place ourselves in God's presence we are before the One who is at once our Creator and our Father. We are able to do this because He has loved us from before the foundation of the world. We are not the result of fate nor the plaything of chance, but unique, original persons called into existence by the creative act of God's most sovereignly free love. We were willed into existence by the love of God; we exist because God wants us, as ourselves, to exist. The Father saw us from all eternity in the face of His Christ and He always loved what He saw. The simple truths that God created us and allows us to address Him as Father, disclose to us that God 1292 / Review /or Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 is Love, not only in Himself, but also to us. In this most radical, most basic sense God has already accepted us even before we are able to approach Him and it is this acceptance that makes any relationship with Him pos-sible. We must be careful, therefore, not to think of God as changing His "mood" towards us; He does not, because He cannot, grow hot and cold in our regard. We must not project our own changeability onto Him. God does not "spy" on us, He does not try to "catch" us. On the contrary, He gazes at us in His sovereign holiness from His blessed eternity and by this gaze conserves us in being. Through prayer we deepen the awareness of who and what we are in the very structure of our being and this is the primary reason why prayer is indispensable in self-development. Prayer and Self-acceptance The awareness of who and what we are before God also reveals to us the dark side of our spiritual nature. This is not a pure.ly psychological phenomenon; it has its origin in the mystery of iniquity. The refusal to admit this dark side of our being and the tendency to reduce the awful reality of sin to psychological disorders and cultural conditioning are among the chief causes of the spiritual sickness of our time. From the dark and sinful side of our nature proceeds the strange power which drives us to seek ourselves and to assert ourselves. Yet instead of bringing us to a uni-fied selfhood, this self-seeking and self-assertion have the contrary effect of splintering our being in multiplicity and of driving us into loneliness in the midst of the crowd. This dark and sinful side of our being must be acknowl-edged. We have all experienced the divided self; denial of it is itself a further proof of the division in ourselves. We wear so many masks and it is worth comment that the very word person which describes our uniqueness is derived from the Greek prosopon which originally meant a mask. Yes, we act, we play so many parts, we assume such varying roles according to the circumstances of persons, times, and places. In truth we are pretenders and hypocrites. And while we wear so many masks we are hiding from ourselves. In the midst of this frightening multiplicity we are unable to answer the question "Who am I?" So we run away from ourselves, we try to forget what we were yesterday and to convince ourselves that we really are ourselves today. We are disgusted because we are counterfeit and we try to lose ourselves in the feverish activities of our life of masquerade, while being driven further into the desert of loneliness, so that we dare not be alone. Emergence of the Real Self When we place ourselves in God's presence--and this means that all pretense ceases--we see ourselves in the light of God's Primordial Unity behind the masks that hide us. We recognize the multiplicity of our being. On Praying and Being Human / 1293 We see ourselves in the midst of all our pretense, hypocrisy, and acting. Yet the miracle is that we do not go mad, we do not commit suicide. In prayer the real self begins to emerge and with it and through it the deeper knowledge and conscious awareness that we are loved already and accepted; that is to say, we know God as Father and Forgiving Love. He has not condemned us, we are not oppressed. By the power and grace of His ac-ceptance we are able to accept ourselves; we no longer turn from ourselves in nausea and disgust. From the moment of self-acceptance the process of unification of our being has begun. Furthermore, this grace of self-accept-ance begins to make itself felt outside the formal moments of prayer. The real self begins to appear in our relationships with others so that we are no longer the victims of our changing environment. The masks begin to drop away to reveal the much more delightful, lovable, and authentic some-one who was hidden under the rubble of hypocrisy ,and pretense for so long. Self-acceptance, however, must not be thought to be recapitulation before our sinfulness nor passive resignation in the face of our divided being. It is the realization of ourselves as creatures of a Loving Creator and sons of a Tender Father which defines our inmost being and which allows the absolutely unique, never-to-be-repeated, utterly original someone who we are to emerge from the depths of our being. With this comes the concomi-tant awareness of the uniqueness of others. Even in the act of speaking to another person we become more and more aware of the love of God and we are no longer afraid to let another look into our eyes. Self-acceptance through prayer brings recognition of one's dignity as creature and son of God. As creature we realize we owe to God our adora-tion, thanksgiving, praise, worship, and honor; as sons we know we owe Him our love. To love God with all our heart, our mind, our soul, and our strength--this is our dignity in the world as sons of God. Once we have learned this self-acceptance we will never be lonely again. Rather, we become conscious of our aloneness in the world which is part of our uniqueness. This brings with it a longing to be alone whenever life will allow us in the midst of all our duties, responsibilities, and work. These moments alone will be amongst the most blessed in our life, for they will be spent in the presence of our Creator and Father before whom, with whom, and in whom we will be most truly ourselves. Prayer and True Self-love Self-acceptance through prayer leads gradually to a true self-love. After a time God reveals to the man who prays that He does really want the love of the human heart. This brings us, of course, to the center of the mystery of Divine Love. How is it possible that the Eternal God in the self-suffi-ciency of His Triune Blessedness should want the love of the human heart? And yet this is the simple and staggering truth of God's will for man. The knowledge of this truth reveals to us our dignity and worth before Him. 1294 / Review Jor Religious, Volume 33, 1974/6 God wants the love of my heart. If I refuse it, then He will never have it, because no one can stand for another or take another's place in loving God. God's love of our love for Him brings us to a love of self which is born of the awareness of our uniqueness. Self-love, thus understood, will preserve a person from the frightful stupidity of wishing.he were someone else. When one examines the implications of this stupidity, which is the worst form of envy, it becomes apparent that it is the most awful act of ingratitude to God. For He has given every one of us at least one talent of being ourselves. If we have two or five talents besides, all to the good. But let us not ignore the one that is the most precious 'of all--ourselves. If we hide this talent or bury it under pretense and hypocrisy, if we while away our time in daydreams, wishing we were someone else, then we are ignoring not merely what we have, but actually who we are and there will be no interest at all on the day of reckoning! Moreover, if we recognize this" one talent and love it as a gift from God, then we will avoid all odious comparisons. For which is the fuller, a glass filled with water or a bucket filled with water? The fact that the bucket has more water than the glass is neither here nor there as far as the glass is concerned! Finally, true self-love brings with it the desire to be like God, that is, the longing for holiness. We do not mean a desire for the effects of holiness, but for unity of our being and our will. It is a longing for integrity, a longing to rid ourselves of the disparity between who we are and what we will and it is one of the most precious graces God grants to us. Integrity is not achieved at once, of course; it is the fruit of long effort and the constant practice of virtue. It demands a rooting out of all self-seeking which is hidden in the depths of our being. We will come back to this in a later section. Prayer and Listening It is not easy to be a lisfener. We often wait for what we want to hear, sometimes we do not listen at all. So often we imagine that our own words are far more important than anything we may hear. In conversations we find ourselves waiting for the other to stop talking so that we can cast forth our pearls and give voice to our wisdom! How sad all this is; for We probably say far more in the silence of really listening than by all the words that pour out when we talk. It is no fancy to describe prayer as listening. Not that this means hearing voices or having words whispered in our ear. Prayer is a listening to God, listening for the word which says "I love you." Fo