HONORING EXEMPLARY WRITING ACROSS THE MASON COMMUNITY
Mission s tate M ent
The mission of The George Mason Review is to capture Mason’s spirit, where “innovation is tradition,” through the publication of diverse works from across the curriculum. The George Mason Review, a publication for undergraduates by undergraduates, seeks scholarship that demonstrates creativity and critical thought. In its print and virtual form, this cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary journal features exemplary academic work and welcomes submissions that challenge the boundaries of how scholarship has traditionally been defined.
How to s ub M it Your w ork
The George Mason Review accepts submissions year round. We accept research writing, literary critiques or analyses, creative nonfiction, and all other forms of scholarship. Please submit your work electronically at gmreview.gmu.edu.
Peer r eview Process
Submissions undergo a two-tiered, double-blind peer review process. Initially, each paper is evaluated by four Peer Reviewers from different majors. Once all papers have been read, our Peer Reviewers vote on which papers should proceed to the second round of review. Papers included in the second round of review are assessed by the GMR editorial board, which consists of our Editor-in-Chief and Assistant Editor, and are subsequently voted on. Throughout the entire process, the identity of the author remains anonymous to the reviewer, and the identity of the reviewer remains anonymous to the author, constituting a double-blind review.
Volume 32
Best of GMR: Early 20s Collection would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the following people:
e xecutive b oard
Mathilda Tataw Editor-In-Chief
Mathilda Tataw Copy Editor
Mathilda Tataw Graphic Designer
Facult Y a dvisors
David Carroll
Kathryn Mangus
Jason Hartsel
a cknowledg M ents
Special thanks to all former editors, peer reviewers and the Office of Student Media
l essons learned from s mallpox and their application to measles
Vi Nguyen, Shadi Mohammadabadi — First Place, Vol.29
t ransforming the Body: r o B ots in the t ransformers f ranchise as Vehicles for Queer i dentities
Madison Hoffman — Second Place, Vol. 29
s ocial l earning for the m asses: a n a nalysis of the g lo B al c limate strike
Shawish — Third Place, Vol.29
e xistence u nder f orced resettlement: the palestinian d iaspora n arriti V e
Dahlia Mohamed — First Place, Vol.30
a compariti V e analysis : #metoo, nari moV ement and the price of neoli B eralist feminism
Hailey Rastrelli — Second Place, Vol. 30
Emma Dando — Third Place, Vol.30
Ways to improV e suicide pre V ention for lg BtQ + youth
Sean R. Diment — First Place ,Vol. 31
Molly Izler — Second Place,Vol. 31
n ote F ro M t H e e ditor
The first thing I want to say is “Welcome Back GMR!” After a long two-year hiatus, The George Mason Review (GMR) is back! And what better way to kick it off than to honor the community that made it all happen? For the efforts of our previous editors, peer reviewers, contributors, advisors, and all others involved, I personally say thank you. Without your invaluable contributions none of this would have been possible.
Looking back on the previous writing published in GMR has been an enlightening experience as they provide insight to the diverse perspectives and ideas held by the Mason community. It is in that spirit that we at The George Mason Review decided to commemorate the early 2020s of GMR by showcasing the top three winners in Vol 29, 30, and 31. Volume 32 takes time to relfect on how at GMR we strive to elevate the student research that happens within our community and highlight our campus’ diversity both in and out of the classroom.
Back when I was a freshman coming to Mason I knew I wanted to be a part of a writing publication. So serving as Editor-In-Chief has been an opportunity come true as I explore different works and pursue fun and amazing opportunities.
Over the past two years being a part of Student Media has been an rewarding experience where I have learned new skills and have been able to network through going to conferences, supporting our journals, and doing a variety of special projects. This allowed me to be able to grow academically, professionally, and intellectually while exploring my passions. I am thankful for all the support I have received during my time here.
Sincerely,
Mathilda Tataw Editor-in-Chief
Volume 29 would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the following people:
e xecutive b oard
Ahmad Alach
Saahil Iyer
Minh Duc Vu Editor-In-Chief Assistant Editor Graphic Designer
Facult Y a dvisor
Jason Hartsel
Peer r eviewers
Lisa Ferioli, Matthew Hoang, Michael Lamarche, Abdul Noor, Jasmine Okidi, Ashley Platenberg, Cameron Safi, Yun Zhao
a cknowledg M ents
Additional thanks to Richard Willing for help with copy editing. Cover art submitted by Tung Tran.
n ote F ro M t H e volu M e 29 e ditor
George Mason University is an institution dedicated to two things above all else: research and diversity, both intellectual diversity and diversity in their student body, faculty, and staff. The foundation that these two values lay allows GMU to be a truly exceptional educational institution.
In that spirit, we at the George Mason Review have made it a focus to disseminate student research happening in the Mason community that displays our campus’ intellectual diversity and prowess for interdisciplinary scholarly discussions. My time as Editor-in-Chief has been immensely gratifying, not only because of the privilege of carrying on the Office of Student Media’s dedication to exemplary student research, but also because I got to witness the efforts of my hard-working team and the aweinspiring people I have met during the past year. Many people have made this year’s publication a success. I would like to acknowledge and thank Jason Hartsel, the Assistant Director of Student Media, for his continuous support, advice, and encouragement. I would also like to thank Saahil Iyer, GMR’s Assistant Editor, for his effort and contributions. He went above and beyond to ensure that this edition was a success. Although I am graduating this month and will not be a part of next year’s edition, I look forward to seeing what next year’s GMR publication looks like and I am certain that under Saahil’s leadership, the result will be nothing short of excellent. I would also like to thank Minh Vu, GMR’s Graphic Designer/ Webmaster. Minh is the architect of the publication and a valuable member of my team who showed, time and time again, how indispensable he is. A big thanks to Mr. Richard Willing, a valuable member of the copy-editing team and someone who did any and everything he could to help.
Thank you to those who submitted their work and to the authors who wrote the papers enclosed beyond this page. Without them, none of this is possible. Finally, thank you to our readers for supporting GMR and making sure that our dedication and hard work is appreciated and seen. I hope that you find the papers included in this year’s edition as insightful, inspiring, and informative as I did.
Sincerely,
Ahmad Alach 2019-2020 Editor-in-Chief
Volume 30 would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the following people:
e xecutive b oard
Saahil Iyer
Mariam Qureshi
Sarah Luria
Minh Duc Vu Editor-In-Chief
Assistant Editor
Copy Editor
Graphic Designer
Facult Y a dvisor
Jason Hartsel
a cknowledg M ents
Special thanks to Ashley Platenberg for assisting us with Peer-Reviewing.
Cover art “Tomorrow May Be Far Away” by Romare Bearden.
n ote F ro M t H e volu M e 30 e ditor
I have been at The George Mason Review (GMR) for 3 years. Even now, as I say that to myself, I cannot believe it. 3 years at a publication that is now 30 years old. Over those 3 years, from my time as a volunteer Peer-Reviewer to Assistant Editor and now Editor-in-Chief, I have always been amazed at the kinds of work I have had the privilege of reading. What makes The George Mason Review unique, and what makes George Mason University special, is the students. The students who go out of their way to do research into areas they find interesting and explore ideas that blur the lines between fields are the ones who truly embody the spirit of this university and the spirit of curiosity that drives humanity itself. It is with great honor that I present to you just a handful of the exemplary works we received from such students.
This year’s publication is the result of the work of a collection of people whom we could not have done this without. I would like to take some time to acknowledge those people here. I want to acknowledge and thank Jason Hartsel, Assistant Director of Student Media and our advisor, for his ongoing support, advice, and encouragement for everyone at the GMR. To the students who submitted their work, I thank you. I thank you for all your hard work in a year that has taken a toll on all of us. A pandemic is not easy for anyone, but to endure it and still conduct great research is a feat that deserves high praise. To Ashley Platenberg, I thank you for helping us peer-review the submissions we received. Your evaluations have always been insightful and were indispensable to us during the decision-making process. Considering your graduation this fall, I wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors. I would also like to thank Mariam Qureshi, the Assistant Editor of the GMR. Despite having joined us in the fall, you have gone above and beyond time and time again to help us bring this issue together. Another person who deserves enormous thanks is Sarah Luria, the GMR’s Copy Editor. You have been indispensable to me and the rest of the team and I thank you for designing the cover art of this year’s issue. As a member of our team who is graduating this year, I wish you the best of luck as you begin your career outside of Mason. Lastly, I would like to thank the GMR’s Webmaster Minh Vu. As the architect of this publication, we quite literally could not have put this issue together without you.
A special thanks also goes to you, dear reader, because it is your continuing support of the GMR that makes this all worth it. We hope you appreciate the works of your peers enclosed within these pages, and that hopefully they inspire you to pursue your own passions and burning questions as these authors did.
Sincerely,
Saahil Iyer 2020-2021 Editor-in-Chief
Volume 31 would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the following people:
e xecutive b oard
Meg Thornberry
Lexi McCaffrey Editor-In-Chief Associate Editor
Peer r eviewers
Isabella Horne
Ashley Platenberg Aisha Ibrahim Semira Benyam
Facult Y a dvisor
Jason Hartsel
a cknowledg M ents
Special thanks to Kathryn Mangus, David Carroll, Ben Hosig, and the Office of Student Media.
n ote F ro M t H e volu M e 31 e ditor
Raise your hand if you are sick to death of hearing about how this year looks a little bit different than last year. Now prepare to raise your other hand, because I have one more story for you. This was the first time in a couple of years that the George Mason Review met or recruited in person. While this year’s staff was incredible, it was also quite small. With the hybrid model we used for meetings and recruitment, I met fewer than half of them in person. It takes an exception kind of person to sign up for work online, then actually do it and turn it in on time to be assigned even more work. I need to give a special shout-out to the peer reviewer from Volition, Semira, who joined us as a pinch-hitter at the last minute, and then an even longer shout-out to Ashley, Aisha and Isabella, who actually signed up to join this crazy thing from the outset. Finally, to Lexi, my Associate Editor, who jumped in half-way through to make sure this whole thing actually got done, I legitimately have no idea what I would have done without you. I think we would probably be publishing this in August.
Our advisor Jason Hartsel brought me on in January, instead of September, after something of a crisis, meaning mainly that all of the experienced staff had graduated, and I am both deeply flattered and annoyed that he thought I could fix it. Our initial thoughts that my being a grad student meant that I could still get this journal published on time were quickly dashed, as all of the logistical pieces did not seem to care that I had a few more years of journalism and publishing experience than previous editors-in-chief. Thank you so much to all of the contributors who bore with me as I explained that it would just be a little bit longer until we actually got their work published anywhere from two to five times, depending on their tenacity. I’m sorry if you graduated before we went to print, and so couldn’t put this on your resumes, but at least now you have bragging rights at the wonderful jobs I know you all got anyways. Thank you for trusting us to ferry your work from the confines of the classes you wrote them for out into the big, scary world.
Finally, thank you to our readers for actually pick this up instead of just glancing at “that blue thing outside of the library.” I know it sounds like another cliché, but there were many fantastic works submitted this year, and we really did have to make some difficult decisions about what to include. I hope you enjoy, or at least find edifying, the selection we’ve put in front of you here.
Sincerely,
Meg Thornberry 2021-2022 Editor-in-Chief
l essons learned F ro M s M all P ox and t H eir a PP lication to M easles
Vi nguyen, shadi mohammadaBadi
Majors: Computational and Data Sciences, Bioinformatics
Class of 2021
ABout the work
Infectious diseases demand immediate response and appropriate measures to control the spread and contain infected individuals. Smallpox is the first and only infectious disease that has ever been completely eradicated from human history. Measles, however, remains as a preventable disease that threatens millions of lives worldwide despite previous eradication efforts. A complete investigation into the Intensified Smallpox Eradication program has revealed that sufficient funding, global participation, vaccination above the herd immunity thresholds, and appropriate containment measures are the driving factors that determine the success of any eradication program such as measles.
We searched for smallpox data on the number of casualties and cases along with government funding collected from all parts of the world. There had been great efforts in eradicating smallpox since the eradication program was renewed. We collected the data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By looking at the Intensified Smallpox Program, we can draw a more vivid picture of the measures taken, the aftermath of the program, and lessons learned from the disease. We pulled information from digital libraries and used search terms such as “smallpox,” “eradication,” “measles,”... In addition to searching for journal articles, we also looked for popular articles that reported on the recent outbreaks of measles.
The success of smallpox eradication program in the late 20th century marked a milestone in eliminating a disease that had caused millions of deaths and a global program that had never been attempted before. With advancements in the medical field improving vaccine efficacy and healthcare in the 21st century, we are more equipped than ever to eradicate any infectious disease. Yet, the measles virus has remained with its hosts for over centuries. The disease has contracted 1261 people in 2019 in the United States alone where there is better access to healthcare and vaccination. Measles warrants more attention alongside with other infectious diseases like polio and malaria. With the increasing proportion of the population who refuse to get immunized, it is more challenging than ever to contain and control the spread of measles. Measures need to be
taken to counter vaccination hesitancy from parents and invite global participation to contribute both efforts and finances to the program. Studying the Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program gained us a better understanding of how working together as a united force can end any eradicable disease.
aBSTRacT
Recently, historians have begun to study the American character in an effort to better understand American culture and how it has evolved over time. One acceptance that arguably began to take shape in the‘60s (Riffkin, 2014).
Further research is needed in order to more fully explore the dominate threat narratives posited by the mainstream media in 1960s America. It is important to not only understand those threats present in TIME but also those in other prominent media outlets during this turbulent decade. The significance of this research has farreaching effects within the fields of history, as well as the field of conflict analysis and resolution.
I. INTRODUCTION
Although it is known as the most dangerous infectious disease ever known to human history, smallpox is also the very first and only disease that has ever been completely eradicated. Interestingly enough, the first vaccination was developed in response to this disease’s devastating outbreaks that led to millions of deaths worldwide. The terrors of smallpox prompted government officials to institute the Eradication Program that intensified over the course of the mid-1900’s and finally led to the complete destruction of variolas, the smallpox-causing virus, from human history.
Given such an aggressive disease, how were government officials, law makers, and medical professionals able to coordinate their efforts to put an end to smallpox? Fast forward to 2019, a disease that has been responsible for over 200 million deaths has lingered onto mankind for more than three centuries: measles. Both diseases are considered eradicable by the WHO as they are spread by virus and only have human reservoirs. A complete examination of the Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program is necessary to fully understand what was done right and to present an action plan for other infectious diseases such as measles.
II. METHODOLOGY
We searched for smallpox data on the number of casualties and cases along with
government funding collected from all parts of the world. There had been great efforts in eradicating smallpox since the eradication program was renewed. We collected the data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By looking at the Intensified Smallpox Program, we can draw a more vivid picture of the measures taken, the aftermath of the program, and lessons learned from the disease. We pulled information from digital libraries and used search terms such as “smallpox,” “eradication,” “measles,” etc. In addition to searching for journal articles, we also looked for popular articles that reported on the recent outbreaks of measles.
III. S M a LL p Ox aS THE f IRST ERa DIC aTED DISE aSE
a .B aCKGROUND
Smallpox was known as one of the most dangerous and contagious diseases in the 20th century. Proximity to the diseased person and contact through body fluids helped spread the variola virus. It was believed that victims remain contagious even after they passed away as the scabs from their sores still exhibited traces of variola [1]. The disease claimed 300 millions of deaths within the span of the 20th century (Figure 1).
One of the earliest efforts to stop the spread of smallpox was the use of variolation in China. The United States, however, was hesitant to administer variolation for fears of further spreading the disease. George Washington was initially against the idea of injecting infectious variolas to healthy individuals. However, he later became a strong believer in the effectiveness of this method after he noticed the British soldiers were less susceptible to the disease [2].
B. Ea RLY METHODS O f ERa DIC aTION
The next innovative effort to smallpox eradication was pioneered by Dr. Edward Jenner in 1796 [2]. He developed and coined the term, “vaccination,” using cowpox. This innovation sparked mixed reactions across the country as the method seemed unethical even though it salvaged thousands of lives from smallpox. The vaccination proved to be a success as England experienced a significant drop in the number of reported smallpox cases after the vaccination became widespread and available to the public [3] (Figure 2).
Figure 2 illustrates the trend in the number of deaths from smallpox recorded in London. A drastic decline in the number of smallpox incidents following the year in
which vaccination was first introduced [4]. Regardless of the positive implications of the vaccination, the concept of injecting virus to stimulate the body’s immune response against it became immoral and soon abolished. Limited funding and political interference also impeded the process in 1850 [2].
Smallpox persisted for another century until another wave of smallpox eradication movement was ignited. Leading the smallpox eradication movement, the World Health Organization (WHO) expanded their policy which led to the adoption of the global eradication program. The program was initially making slow progress as it lacked adequate funding and attention due to competitions of other infectious diseases at the time. The program also suffered from the urgent need for administrative structure and expertise. The lack of medical supplies and vaccinators was also an impeding factor to the program [5].
C. INTENSIfIED SMaLLpOx ERaDICaTION pROGRaM
In 1967, the program was renewed and renamed the Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program. Equipped with sufficient government funding this time (Figure 3), the program showed significant improvements in mechanisms for reporting cases and increased availability and mass distribution of smallpox vaccines. The number of cases went up due to more accurate reporting systems (Figure 4). In 1987, the WHO revised the number of incidents in the past few years as people tended to underreport cases [2].
To maximize resources, people were vaccinated based on the notion of surveillancecontainment, that is investigating the outbreak sites to contain and vaccinate contacts and nearby neighborhoods within the proximity of the infected persons. Political affairs were put aside as international government officials coordinated efforts to a shared purpose. The United States and the Soviet Union collaborated to advance the healthcare systems in nations in systemic poverty. Countries that were resistant to foreign intervention moved towards acceptance of foreign aid. Vaccination covered a large proportion of the populations to ensure the herd immunity was met. The most important factor that contributed to the success of the program was the dedication and continued efforts of the staff as they were willing to come out at the site to check
and record the progress. Smallpox eradication advisers were sent across borders to hold training sessions to the native medical officials [5].
In 1980, the WHO declared the world free of smallpox.
IV. MEaSLES aND ITS CHaLLENGES
a. WHaT IS MEaSLES?
Measles is a highly contagious virus that affects the respiratory system, immune system, and skin. Measles virus spreads by coughing and sneezing. Someone who is not immune against the virus has a 90% chance of becoming infected in case of coming in contact with the virus. The symptoms associated with the measles usually develop 7 to 14 days after a person is exposed to the virus. The initial symptoms consist of high fever, loss of appetite, red and watery eyes, runny nose, and cough. Two to three days into the illness, small white spots appear inside the mouth that last for 3 to 5 days. Then a red and maculopapular rash follows which covers much of the body before the recovery from the disease begins [7].
Acute complications from measles include diarrhea, pneumonia, inflammation of the middle ear, corneal ulceration, and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). The latter could cause permanent brain damage. Severe illness and complications from the measles virus are mostly common in children under 5 years old, adults, malnourished, and immune compromised individuals [7].
B. MEaSLES ELIMINaTION
The first measles vaccine was developed in 1963. In developed countries, the first dose of measles vaccine is given to children by the age of 18 months, normally combined with mumps and rubella vaccines (MMR). A second dose is usually needed between the ages of four and five years old, to increase the immunity. As a result of improved healthcare systems, the mortality rate of measles has dropped from 30% of all infected individuals in the 1920s to less than 0.5% in the 2010s. In countries struggling with malnutrition and inadequate healthcare, the death rate is still about 10%. Vaccination against the virus has dropped the measles death by 60-75%. Although the fatality rate is declining, many risk factors remain unsolved;
such as (1) people traveling to areas with endemic measles, (2) immunodeficiency in children because of HIV or AIDS, leukemia, or malnourishment, and (3) infants losing passive antibody before they receive immunization [7].
In 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the United States. WHO defines measles elimination as “the absence of endemic measles virus transmission in a defined geographic area for at least 12 months.” The lowest number of cases in a given year was 37 in 2004. However, the US has seen several measles outbreaks in recent years. In 2019, 1261 individual measles cases have been confirmed, which is the greatest number of cases since 1992. This significant increase in measles cases is a result of travelers bringing the virus to the country and spreading the disease among the people who are not vaccinated. The most recent outbreaks in New York City were associated with importations from Israel that caused an ongoing transmission in under-vaccinated Orthodox Jewish communities. In October, NY state announced the end of their measles outbreak, therefore, the US maintains its measles elimination status. This threat to the measles elimination status attracted substantial attention to the risks of the spread of this disease [8].
C. CHaLLENGES
Herd immunity against measles requires 95% of the entire population to receive two doses of the measles vaccine. In 2018, the first dose measles vaccine coverage was 86%, while the second dose vaccine coverage was only 69%. That is part of the reason why measles outbreaks happened in countries that had previously achieved an
elimination status. Greece, the United Kingdom, Albania, and the Czech Republic lost their measles-free status as a result of continuous outbreaks [9]. It has proven difficult to achieve the herd immunity world-wide to eradicate the disease because of objection to vaccination based on religious reasons, fears of side-effects, difficulty in reaching all minority groups, or parents who simply forget to vaccinate their child for the first or second dose. In addition, some countries have not yet made vaccination mandatory in order to enter the school. Figure 7 shows some of the reasons that some parents still refuse vaccines [6].
In 1998, a British gastroenterologist, Andrew Wakefield, and his colleagues published a paper in The Lancet which claimed that MMR vaccine causes development of autism in children. This paper, which was fully retracted in 2010, started a wave of anti-vaccination movement. Further research proved this infamous article to be invalid because the sample size was not representative of the population and the samples were biased. An investigation also revealed a conflict of interest in publication of the article. However, the source has been cited about 4000 times [10].
This article rejuvenated a worldwide anti-vaccination movement especially in Western European and North American countries. The vaccination rate in the United Kingdom dropped from 92% in 1996 to 81% in 2004. Although the article was disproved, it was only in 2013 that the vaccination rate increased back to 93% which is closer to the rate needed to avoid an epidemic. In the United States, the
vaccination rate dropped by about 2% in 1999 and 2000. As a result, multiple outbreaks of measles have happened throughout the Western countries. In the UK, the number of people who contracted measles increased from 56 in 1998 to 449 in 2006. In 2008, measles was announced endemic in the UK for the first time since 1994. The outbreaks were reported to be a direct result of the drop in vaccination rates following the Wakefield article [10][11]
D. CURRENT EffORTS
The Measles and Rubella Initiative (M&RI) is a global partnership that was launched in 2001 under the leadership of the American Red Cross, the United Nations Foundation, CDC, UNICEF, and WHO. The M&RI aims to eliminate measles in at least five of the six WHO regions by the end of 2020. However, WHO has yet to endorse a global eradication goal for this disease. The Initiative supports countries to increase the coverage of measles and rubella vaccination, fund, plan, execute, and monitor campaigns, investigate outbreaks and support effective response
to outbreaks, and find solutions for facilitating vaccination delivery. Since 2001, M&RI has raised global measles vaccination coverage to 85% and reduced deaths by 79%. So far, the partnering organizations have invested more than US $1.2 billion towards the measles and rubella elimination goal [12].
It only costs about $2 to vaccinate a child against measles. But many developing countries are facing limited funding. The recession in 2008 and 2009 led to funding shortfalls which caused widespread outbreaks in many countries. M&RI estimates a budget of approximately $215 million over the period 2018-2020 to continue their vaccination and surveillance activities. With the current funding and donations, they predict a shortfall of about $71 million for this three-year period. Without new donor investments, the Initiative has to scale down or cancel some of its major activities. The budget breakdown by strategic objectives of M&RI is shown in the figure below [13].
The failures of the first Smallpox Eradication Program and the Measles Initiative serve as reminders of every important element that factored into the success of the
V. aCTION pLaN
Intensified Smallpox Eradication. One of the main factors that contributed to the decimation of the virus was sufficient government funding. Both the initial Smallpox Eradication and the M&RI suffered heavily from inadequate finances. As a result, these movements idled within the country’s border and fell short of supplies and equipment to properly contain the disease. Therefore, government and private funds and subsidies are necessary to support eradication movements and provide necessary supplies. Figure 10 shows a comparison in costs of continuous controlling the disease versus actually eradicating it [14]. Although eradicating the disease might require large amounts of funding upfront, the costs decline in the long run as the disease is controlled and eventually eliminated.
The notion of surveillance-containment requires global participation and coordination among country leaders to collaborate in efforts to contain the disease. The Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program called together leaders of all developed countries to coordinate their resources to a shared purpose. Global involvement and continuous efforts are the driving components that could, together, put an end to measles.
We were able to eradicate smallpox within the span of 10 years while measles is still an ongoing disease despite continuous efforts following 1982 when measles was deemed eradicable. We suggest surveillance of the travelers before traveling to high risk countries. CDC recommends a list of required and recommended vaccines for each country, but it does not enforce the requirements. For this purpose, travelling agencies and embassies should require record of immunization before approving travel documents or visas to individuals who are travelling to countries with endemic measles.
Families should be well informed about all the facts and the science behind vaccination to counter vaccine hesitancy. The belief that vaccines might be linked to autism in children usually arise from personal testimonies on the internet and is not supported by scientific evidence. Chairman Lamar Alexander from Society for Research in Child Development expressed concerns about the gullibility of parents and the “need to understand the role of social media and online misinformation to spread dangerous rumors and falsehoods [15].” A nation whose vaccinated population is below the herd immunity threshold not only puts its citizens at risk but also the rest of the world. As measles is a disease that can be entirely prevented by vaccination, an increase in the number of incidents in 2019 where vaccines are readily available suggests a drop in the vaccinated population who has refused to get vaccinated. This threatens world health security.
Countries need stricter rules regulating measles vaccination. Primarily, all countries should mandate measles vaccines to children. They can enforce that by fining parents who refuse vaccination. For example, the health minister of Germany has proposed a fine of 2500 euros for parents who do not vaccinate their children against measles [16]. Schools should have a strict surveillance and make sure all students are adequately immunized with two doses of measles vaccine.
CONCLUSION
The success of smallpox eradication program in the late 20th century marked a milestone in eliminating a disease that had caused millions of deaths and a global program that had never been attempted before. With advancements in the medical field improving vaccine efficacy and healthcare in the 21st century, we are more equipped than ever to eradicate any infectious disease. Yet, the measles virus has remained an issue for centuries. The disease has been contracted by 1261 people in 2019 in the United States alone, even though there is better access to healthcare and vaccination than ever before. Measles warrants more attention alongside with other infectious diseases like polio and malaria. With an increasing proportion of the
population refusing to get immunized, it is more challenging than ever to contain and control the spread of measles. Measures need to be taken to counter vaccination hesitancy from parents and invite global participation to contribute both efforts and finances to the program. Studying the Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program gave a better understanding of how working together as a united force can end any eradicable disease.
Sources for this and all other papers can be found in the combined “Sources” section that begins on page 125.
t rans F or M ing t H e b odY: r obots in
t H e t rans F or M ers Franc H ise as v e H icles F or Queer i dentities
m adison h offman
Major: English Class of 2020
ABout the work
The genesis of this work comes from the course this assignment was written for, English 451: Science Fiction, as taught by Professor Jessica Hurley. Much of the underlying energy of the course came from disregarding preconceptions about genre in order to explore the intersection between science fiction media and a wide variety of literary theories. This essay incorporates multiple theories visited during the course, including feminist theory and, most prominently, queer theory. Many essays on these theories also served as models for Transforming the Body in how this essay draws not just on theory, but on a wide variety of central and related fictional texts to make its argument. Amanda Thibodeau’s “Alien Bodies and a Queer Future: Sexual Revision in Octavia Butler’s ‘Bloodchild’ and James Tiptree, Jr.’s ‘With Delicate Mad Hands” is probably the most direct example of this, and not coincidentally, is also one of the primary references in this essay.
For those not in the discipline of literary and media studies, I might explain this essay like so: the point of Transforming the Body is to take a big, mass-market franchise, apply a literary theory to it that, at times, literally runs counter to the themes of the text, and explain why the act of doing so is an important part of understanding how people relate to and understand depictions of ourselves in media. In my opinion, this essay re-visions scholarship not so much by using innovative methods, but by applying traditional analytical methods to a less-common intersection of media and theory that I feel deserves more exploration.
INTRODUCTION
Out of all the long-running media franchises that have arisen from children’s entertainment, the Transformers multimedia franchise distinguishes itself by being one of the most prolific and popular properties out there. After nearly forty years in existence, both the nature of the franchise and the nature of the Transformers themselves have changed a great deal. Along the way, as Transformers have transformed themselves, they also have made important statements about queer identity and formation and about the role of science fiction in both developing and simultaneously commenting on sexuality and sex roles in the greater society. The heart of my argument rests on the simultaneous nature of the Transformers as both an entertainment product and an alien species that manifests queerness in a distinct and intrinsic fashion. This duality is what makes the Transformers such a vital subject for examination under the lens of queer theory.
The Transformers multimedia franchise began as the result of a driving force that sparked many other classic franchises of the 1980s: capitalism. The heart of the original franchise was its transforming mecha toys, which shifted between a humanoid robot form and another alternate mode – usually a vehicle, but also other types of forms or objects are now well established. The story that eventually sprang up around the toys gave them a classic sci-fi flair: despite being robotic in nature, the Transformers were actually an alien species from the mechanical planet Cybertron, apparently driven to Earth by a long-lasting civil war. The toy line quickly spawned an animated TV show called The Transformers, which became the first of many as the franchise became a staple of American pop culture – and as such a staple, it is ripe for academic study. Like many science fiction stories centering on alien beings, the Transformers franchise is one that offers many possibilities for readings on topics like gender and sexuality, particularly when using the lens of queer theory. This is something both enhanced and complicated by the sheer breadth of the franchise, which covers dozens of properties including books, toys, television shows, and comics.
One of the larger branches of the franchise, the live action film series, has contributed a great deal to the public perception of gender, sexuality, and queerness. “Perhaps inevitably, the films grew to encompass their own themes and identity separate and apart from what had come before,” says Jim Sorenson, the author of Transformers: A Visual History. “The U.S. Military is always front and center. A sense of mildly transgressive humor permeates the films as well” (342). This focus on militarism and a particular brand of humor are some of the elements which contribute directly to this perception. The film series creates the overall impression that the Transformers’ identities are almost exclusively masculine in nature: specifically, a form of hypermasculinity which incorporates elements of misogyny and homophobia while excluding things like femininity, vulnerability, and queerness.
Virtually every Transformer in the film franchise is coded male by virtue of their visual design and voice acting. The 2007 film was intended to include a female Transformer character, but she was dropped because “the idea of a female Transformer needs its own explanation, and there just wasn’t going to be enough time” (qtd. in Ellis, “The Problem of Lady Robots”). When Skids in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen jeers, “Why don’t you get a haircut with yo’ bitch-ass! Go whine to your boyfriend!” at Leo Spitz (1:10:04 -1:10:06) or Wheelie humps the leg of human heroine Mikaela while chanting “Say my name, say my name!” (1:25:03) it becomes difficult to ignore the films’ clear statement about what ideas of gender and sexuality the Transformers are intended to embody.
But again, this perception is diluted and complicated by the statements other properties in the franchise are making. “The recent trend in the [Transformers] IDW comics is to not only suggest that gender is a thing, but not offer an explanation for it. “Thank God, because feeling compelled to explain why females might exist is tiresome,” says media critic Lindsay Ellis in her video essay “Queering Michael Bay.” “Why wouldn’t the Transformer pairs bond, and why would heteronormativity even be a thing for a race of asexual robots?” (13:53 - 14:13) Questions like these have been reified in adultaimed Transformers comic book series like “More Than Meets the Eye,” “Till All Are One,” and “Lost Light,” all of which directly engage with a vision of Cybertronian culture in which same gender romantic relationships are the social norm and the very concept of Cybertronian genders is thoroughly explored. The contrast between how these properties handle this topic seems to place the franchise on a sliding scale of the treatment of queerness, one that ranges from ‘recognized’ to ‘ridiculed.’ The nature of such a large franchise is to encourage such contradictions to coexist, with neither taking clear precedence.
However, this continuum isn’t necessarily correct when viewing the franchise from a theoretical perspective. By using ideas about aliens as representations of queer identity (as derived from a larger body of queer theory), we can see that the concept of Transformers as a species is one that contains an inherent sense of queerness, disrupting the seemingly binary nature currently displayed in the franchise. This is demonstrated in three main elements of the Transformers franchise: the concept of a personified machine that can adopt gendered and sexual identities, the concept of transforming bodies, and the concept of an alien society which exists free of the systematic confines that humans place on gender and sexuality.
pERSONI f YING MaCHINES aS a N aCT O f
Q UEER T Ra NSGRESSION
Despite their science fiction status as both aliens and robots, there’s no doubt that the Transformers are in some ways very human. This can be seen not only in the humanoid aspects of their visual design, but in their behavior – across the franchise, Transformers consistently demonstrate that they have the capacity to communicate with others, express emotions, and use logic and reason, traits all closely associated with a commonly defined sense of humanity. It is for these reasons that author Robert Arp, in his Transformersfocused essay “Morally Responsible Machines,” concludes that “a being that has these traits…is a person, regardless of metallic innards, plasmatic innards, or natural, biological innards” (137). In this way, Transformers bear a close resemblance to Donna Haraway’s definition of a cyborg, being “an amalgam of human and machine, biological and mechanical” (456).
So what do you do with a bunch of alien Cybertronians who are also cyborgs? There is the distinct possibility that acknowledging Transformers as being both humans and machines is an act that distances them from traditional definitions of personhood just as much as it humanizes them, if not more so. In many theoretical contexts, the blending of two identities is an act of transgression against the typical boundaries of identity. Indeed, Haraway goes on to conclude that the very existence of cyborgs and their hybrid identities “make very problematic the statuses of man or woman, human, artifact , member of a race, individual entity, or body” (472). When a personified machine, already a hazard to boundaries, goes one step further and adopts a gender or expresses romantic attraction, it transgresses against normalized ideas of gender and sexuality – something which, in the eyes of humans, is often considered an act or demonstration of queerness.
The classic sci-fi short story “Fondly Fahrenheit” by Alfred Bester offers an example of how providing gender to machines is both personifying and transgressive. The story’s text constantly shifts the pronouns and point-of-view being used to blur the identity of the human protagonist Vandaleur and his android servant; both members of the pair are transgressors in society, the android for possessing a defect that makes it capable of murdering humans and Vandaleur for enabling and participating in the android’s crimes. By the end of the story, even after the android’s destruction, “they” seem to have settled into acceptance of their dual nature and reject the idea that their interdependency is the result of socially diagnosed projection: “But we know one truth. We know they are wrong” (Bester 302). While Transformers don’t typically get involved in such murderous intrigues, there is an unmistakable similarity in the melding of man and machine to create a protagonist. Yet, the nature of Transformers as aliens solidifies their identity in a way that Vandaleur can’t quite manage. Rather than the man and the machine coming
from separate origins, in Transformers they are fundamentally conjoined – a cyborg whose transgressions are part of its nature, not its choices.
T Ra NS fORMING B ODIES aS SYMBOLS O f R E aff IRMED a ND fREED I DENTITIES
There’s a lot to unpack with regards to how Transformers incorporate the fundamental act of transformation and the possession of a second ‘body’ as part of their physical being. The non-diegetic reason for it, of course, is the perennial novelty of toys that can change shape. Yet despite that, the act of transformation is one that has diegetically taken on a great deal of significance. As a fundamental aspect of all Transformers-related media, the Transformers canon continuously represents it as a natural part of Cybertronian life, and the right to control and choose when/how to exercise it is often shown to be a contentious topic in that society. The 2005 IDW continuity, for example, depicts it as a source of social hierarchy: Cybertronians are divided into vocational classes depending on their alternate mode and its relative ‘usefulness’ to society (“Transformation”). There’s certainly a wealth of queer implications in the concept, particularly as it relates to social status, but the strongest ways that transformation is positioned as a queer act comes with how transformation relates to the individual.
In the universe of the Transformers, the named act of transformation generally refers to the change back and forth from a Cybertronian’s humanoid ‘root’ mode to its alternate mode (or ‘alt mode.’) In the ordinary course of Cybertronian culture, it’s a common act to upgrade or switch alt modes depending on current circumstances or personal desire. This is common to the point that ‘mode attachment’ is regarded as an unusual oddity, and the act of assuming one permanent form is considered to be a drastic and unnerving choice (“Alternate mode”). Forms of Cybertronian social thought which dictate that alt modes are immutable, like the class system of Functionism described above, are primarily represented as being overly conservative to the point of fascism. Indeed, Functionists in the 2005 IDW continuity are depicted as forbidding changes in mode choice or career and “cultivat[ing] a stigma” against Cybertronians who sought such changes (“Alternate mode”). The desire to ‘change’ one’s body to better reflect internal identity is a common feature of queer identities, particularly with regards to the transgender community and other gender non-conformists. In her essay “Alien Bodies and a Queer Future”, queer theorist Amanda Thibodeau notes that, “More often than not, Jameson suggests, the alien body is a kind of Chimera, ‘an ingeniously cobbled together object in which secondary features of our own world are primary in the new one’” (qtd. in Thibodeau 264). If changing one’s body is a secondary feature of our human bodies, then it is certainly one that has been prioritized for in the bodies of the Transformers – prioritized, and
normalized. To Transformers, the idea that the body is a personal territory which can and should be altered to express identity or purpose is an innate one, encompassed in their physiology, culture, and name.
There are also implications to the fact that a majority of the Transformers’ alt modes take the form of some kind of transportation or vehicle. H.L.T. Quan posits that in marginalized communities – of which she includes the queer community as an example – the act of running away is one of survival and “literally making oneself unavailable for servitude and governing” (p. 186) The bodies of these aliens are ones that are literally enabled to distance themselves from the physical presence of centralized, prescriptive authority. Freedom, while not typically identified as a purely queer concept, is something that many of those in marginalized queer communities seek out: freedom of selfexpression, and freedom from forms of governance that look to control and limit that expression. To borrow a common quote from Optimus Prime, it can be accepted that among both queer humans and Transformers “[f]reedom is the right of all sentient beings” (“Optimus Prime”).
aLIEN SOCIETIES aS Q UEER COMMUNITIES
Many pieces of Transformers media focus on the Transformers in relation to Earth and human society rather than their own, or focus on military-oriented action stories rather than ones embedded in Cybertronian culture. However, the franchise contains a truly fascinating expanse of back story about the native planet Cybertron and the societies formed there. There’s quite a lot of be learned from the places that Cybertronian society differentiates itself from human society; from a purely social perspective, it might constitute a form of “queer utopia” in how it reimagines a society free of human-centric interpersonal pressures on queer individuals and queer relationships. This is demonstrated most explicitly in how the franchise approaches issues of Cybertronian reproduction and romantic relationships.
Earlier in this essay, Transformers were described as ‘sexual,’ a term not necessarily intended to refer to sexual orientation (though it very well could) but rather to reproductive processes. While exact explanations for reproduction vary across continuities (including methods such as budding, harvesting immature bodies from the surface of the planet Cybertron, or literal, factory-style construction) Transformers are generally not considered to partake in sexual reproduction, meaning that the relationships they form are independent from it. According to the online Transformers Wiki, “Despite most continuities having male and female genders (gender being a mental and social classification, as opposed to “sexes”, a physical distinction) and a definite, strong history of transformer romance existing between these genders, there is little canonical evidence
for Transformers reproducing sexually” (“Reproduction”). Not only does this validate the existence of Cybertronian gender as an identity independent of physical sex, but this sets the stage for queering reproduction by removing reproduction as a factor in relationships. A commonly held tenet of anti-queer sentiment is that queer relationships are ‘antireproductive’ in one way or another, either by virtue of not generating offspring the way a heterosexual relationship (assumedly) would, or by raising offspring in an ‘unsuitable’ or otherwise nontraditional environment. Reframing reproduction as a queer act through alien methods is not a new feature in science fiction by any means. Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild”, for example, stands as a possible example of queering reproduction through role reversal and the inclusion of alien forms of procreation – in the story, the male human protagonist Gan is impregnated by the female alien T’Gatoi, creating what Thibodeau calls a “queer heteronormativity” through the complex negotiations of power and consent their partnership requires (Thibodeau 272). So too does the Transformers franchise incorporate queerness by not recognizing a reproductive imperative to form any sort of interpersonal relationship, let alone one formed in a specific configuration of genders.
Despite the franchise’s liberation of interpersonal relationships from the confines of reproductive imperativeness, there still remains the ways that Transformers approach relationships in general. By and large, the franchise is not one that consistently concerns itself with relationship-building, particularly when it comes to romantic relationships. However, in the places where those romantic relationships do exist and are placed within the context of a wider Cybertronian society, one key element about how these relationships factor into society becomes clear: they don’t factor into it. More precisely, relationships are depicted as being important to Transformers on a purely personal and emotional level, but Cybertronian society never demonstrates a broader social position on relationships the same way that, say, a human society might have a position on favoring certain kinds of relationships over others. In most of the franchise, romantic relationships lack a codified existence; when Transformers enter a romantic relationship, there are no clear expectations placed on them in regard to things like marriage, relationship roles, a shift in social status upon initiating a relationship, etc. The few places in the Transformers franchise where romantic relationships are codified by society still offer an interesting departure from human modes. In the IDW 2005 continuity, there exists the concept of a “Conjunx Endura,” a term which refers to a committed romantic partner (“Conjunx Endura”). However, it is also shown alongside a related concept called an ‘Amica Endura’– a committed platonic partner. The importance of both partnerships are shown to vary among Cybertronian subcultures, but both are formalized within society through the performance of rituals demonstrating mutual affection and appreciation (“Amica Endura”). Even then, the decision to enter such a partnership is purely personal, and generally has no wider social repercussions. The removal of relationships as a social factor
almost seems to mimic modern efforts to equalize the treatment of queer and straight relationships, like the initiative to use ‘partner’ rather than ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend.’ In the society of Transformers, such initiatives are a non-issue.
Thibodeau partially defines a utopia: …a rejection of present constructions for a future vision. Theories that articulate the deconstruction, the multiplication, or the eradication of systems of categorization embody utopian principles…The world Sedgwick imagines with its endless taxonomies and a never-ending capacity to alter, create, or destroy them, epitomizes the project of queer science fiction and utopia, signaling not a waning of quality within the genre but a deepening of implications and an expansion into realms hitherto unexplored (266).
As a human dream of an alien society, the Transformers and their society represent a queer utopia by doing just what Thibodeau describes: eliminating present constructions or obstructions in favor of a future with a freer, more equal ground, one that would allow queerness to flourish by never seeking to constrict it.
CONCLUSION
The question remaining, at the end of the day, is why this matters. Why does it matter that Transformers may be an alien species that manifests queerness, when they exist in a franchise that can comfortably shrug off or put on such interpretations depending on the audience being aimed at? One reason, of course, is that we as academics and readers cannot allow the perception of authorial intent or statements to restrict ideas about a work’s theoretical potential. Even the Transformer live-action films, which declare themselves to be one of the most ‘no-homo’ properties to exist on a near-textual level, generate mass potential for queer readings, as author D. Harlan Wilson demonstrates in his article “Technomasculine Bodies and Vehicles of Desire,” which explores how Transformers in the 2007 film act as vehicles of human sexuality in both heterosexual and homosexual ways. In Wilson’s words, “I have argued that Transformers stand as polyvalent markers for masculine subjectivity and selfhood; like so much sf (science fiction), they serve as a window into our own diegetic present as much as the history and future of their own narrative diegesis, reflecting and commenting on the nature of contemporary reality” (360). This is why we continue to seek out and examine such classical franchises - they reflect our growth back onto us not just in how they create new material for us to consume, but in how we choose to perceive that material. In 1984, Transformers sold toys. In 2007, they fought for the fate of the Earth in spectacular screen battles. In 2019, they fight, fall in love, resist fascism, adopt new pronouns, and keep fighting. In the future, what will Transformers – aliens much like us in so many ways, aliens who demonstrate traits so many of us seek to cultivate and others seek to eliminate – show us about ourselves?
s ocial l earning F or t H e Masses: a
n a nalY sis o F t H e g lobal
c li M ate s trike
n e V een s haW ish
Major: Communication, Public Relations Class of 2020
ABout the work
On September 20th, 2019, the Global Climate Strike organized the largest climate protest ever recorded in history. Because of the movement, 4 million young people across the world gained a common understanding and took to the streets of their cities to demonstrate against the lack of climate change action by policy makers. Observing the movement’s use of activists, a major organized protest, social media engagement, and a concise list of demands, the following research seeks to understand Albert Bandura’s social learning theory of communication as it relates to the effectiveness of the Global Climate Strike.
aBSTRacT
On September 20th, 2019, the Global Climate Strike organized the largest climate protest ever recorded in history. Because of the movement, 4 million young people across the world gained a common understanding and took to the streets of their cities to demonstrate against the lack of climate change action by policy makers. Observing the movement’s use of activists, a major organized protest, social media engagement, and a concise list of demands, the following research seeks to understand Albert Bandura’s social learning theory of communication as it relates to the effectiveness of the Global Climate Strike.
INTRODUCTION
In the last 30 years, climate change has been discussed and debated in American politics. Since the First World Climate Conference in February 1979, the public’s opinion of the belief in climate change has increased massively. Yale’s program on Climate Change Communication, a partnered program with George Mason University, estimates that 73% of Americans believe that global warming is real, an increase of 10 points since March 2015 (Leiserowitz et al, 2018). Most Americans not only believe in climate change, but 72% say that the changing climate is important in their personal life. While most Americans also believe in funding renewable energy research, little has been done in American governmental policy to combat, adapt to, or even establish bipartisan ground about the idea of climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, known as the IPCC, is the United Nations board for climate change analysis. Their most well-known, and most recent research has found that the urgency to act on climate change is massively understated. The IPCC describes the traitorous implications that an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius would cause to not only wildlife, but the lives of humans across the world. If the human population continues to live in the unsustainable ways that are currently in place, there is a likelihood that global warming will reach a minimum of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030 to 2052, just 11 years from now. The implications of this increase include a lengthy list of scenarios that would all be devastating for human life. The most extreme cases that scientists describe are dangerous increases in temperatures and sea levels rise would make most countries unlivable, leading to an increase in displaced people. There are also potential impacts on a mass loss of biodiversity, poverty and health concerns, and breakouts of extreme diseases.
With the IPCC’s extensive report, a sudden surge of climate change activists in 2019 took over the media’s attention. Many groups have come up in recent years to
advocate for protecting the earth, but one in particular has become prominent across the world: The Global Climate Strike. The face of the advocacy group is 16-yearold Greta Thunberg. Greta, a Swedish born citizen, has advocated for climate change policy for almost two years now. At 15 years old, Thunberg began to skip school every Friday to protest outside of the Swedish parliament building. Thunberg often uses the IPCC’s report to cite her case on the need for climate policy. She has even attributed the report as the reason why she began school striking every Friday. Her lone strikes began to make waves across social media, finding the eyes and ears of other climate change activists that would soon join her.
Thunberg’s Fridays for Future efforts led to the Global Climate Strike on September 20th, 2019. While many other climate change groups are well-known in the activist community, like the efforts of the London based Extinction Rebellion, the climate change debate hasn’t seen a worldwide strike that has gotten mass attention quite like the Global Climate Strike. The group consists mostly of young adults, children, and teenagers, all motivated by the fear of uncertain futures and anger toward the negligence by those currently in power that have not taken a stand toward slowing down the effects of climate change. With the effort of these young activists, this worldwide strike has now been recorded as the largest climate change protest in recorded history. The week of September 20th, the Global Climate Strike describes that there were a record 7.6 million climate activists across the world that took to the streets in the name of climate change policy.
Climate change activists, especially those among Fridays for Future or the Global Climate Strike, have a concise, straightforward, and extreme list of demands. The Washington Post’s Jeremy Hodges describes that protestors among most climate activist groups are synonymously demanding governments to treat “climate change as an emergency,” (Hodges, 2019). Lowering carbon emissions, switching to renewable energy, and participating in the tenets of the Green New Deal are just the beginning. Many also acknowledge that these demands would require a complete transitional shift in society’s culture. Not only would the energy already embedded in society need to get a complete renovation, but the economy, the agendas of those in public office, and the policies in place for big businesses would also need to shift.
Regardless of how to solve the issue of climate change, a spark has started among society, and the climate strike movement has grown immensely in the last year. Much of the movement’s growth can be attributed to aspects of the movement that can be explained using social learning theory. This research further explores the climate strike on the impact of the public by understanding the social learning theory. This analysis will specifically discuss the actions and aspects of the Global Climate Strike and its effectiveness through the lens of social learning.
LITERaTURE REVIEW
B aCKGROUND
Developed by Albert Bandura, a researcher who is most commonly known for his famous Bobo Doll Experiment, the social learning theory was among the first to lay a framework by which a person’s ideas, motivations, and actions are thought to be developed by the influence of external stimuli. Social learning theory was the first of its kind to explain how an individual’s social and cultural exposure influences the way that one learns about their environment, thus influencing their thoughts and behaviors. Described by Bandura himself, social learning theory describes the “important roles played by vicarious symbolic, and self-regulatory processes” which, he says, are often overlooked in other communication and psychology-based theories (Bandura, 1971, p. 2).
CONCE pTUa L DE f INITION
The impact of individuals in a society, culture, or community can be influential in both positive and negative ways. This is seen throughout numerous studies among different disciplines, contexts, and situations that will be discussed further in this review. Social learning theory describes many different aspects of learning, but all studies, regardless of discipline or subject, observe the four components of the theory in some way: attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation. As shown among the studies analyzed, social learning theory is a broad perspective that can be used among many different disciplines. The studies that will be discussed further fall in one of the disciplines of communication, social work, medical, public policy, and criminology.
COMMUNIC aTION p ERS p ECTIVE
Among the communication perspective, researchers Cynthia DeMartino, Ronald Rice, and Robert Saltz’s study analyze social learning theory as a way to understand the motivation behind college drinking behavior. The researchers describe that understanding common drinking behavior among college students can create enforcement and deterrence approaches that will help minimize the unhealthy binge drinking culture on college campuses (DeMartino et al, p. 479). To combat the social normality of excessive college drinking, the researchers describe the importance of further research to develop and market the negative effects of binge drinking, rather than facilitating punishment. The researchers suggest that attempting “to decrease the
expected rewards associated with drinking” seen among the social settings on college campuses, could “decrease positive social norms” (p. 482).
DeMartino and her team describe that the only requirements of using social learning theory is that the action being demonstrated has “costs and benefits, and that it is a learned or socially influenced behavior” (p. 480), making college drinking and social learning a great combination for this study. The team collected data through a randomly selected, cross-sectional sample of undergraduate college students that were all administered a survey of 60 questions. Through this survey, the researchers found that college drinking is heavily influenced “by social norms and differential reinforcement” (p. 487).
In this case, social learning theory is used to explain the negative implications of binge drinking culture on college campuses, describing that social settings can elicit negative behavior by observation. In the next study, researcher Melody L. Bethards’ study observes this approach of learning through observation of a positive perspective. Professor Bethards analyzes social learning at a community college that specializes in nursing programs to understand the positive implications of observable behavior to create a better learning opportunity for students. In the same way that college students are influenced by what they see their peers doing, the same idea can be successfully applied to nursing students in classrooms to gain a better understanding of the material they need to know.
CL aSSROOM LE a RNING
Bethards describes that in nursing and medical courses, there is often a struggle among professors to figure out the best way to create meaningful class lessons (Bethards, p. 65). To combat a negative educational experience, professor Bethards describes the understanding and use of social learning theory in a way that supports the use of impactful, observational learning simulation experiences for nursing students. Using the four main ideas of social learning theory, attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation (p. 65), Bethards describes that observational learning in the case of simulations in classrooms has been proven to be effective, finding that all students, regardless of the role they are assigned in a simulation lesson, are able to equally learning the same information.
In studies that use an understanding of social learning theory, social influence is often described through face-to-face, or interpersonal, communication. A very similar idea as that of DeMartino and team’s study on college drinking culture, or Bethards’ ideas on face-to-face observer learning, researchers Brooke Miller and Robert G. Morris describes the implications of virtual peers; there is a valuable influence that internet
relationships may have on real life, and internet behavior. Little research has been done on the implications that new devices like smart phones and laptops have on behavior and learning, so the researchers describe their study as vital to knowledge of social learning theory in the present day context.
Miller and Morris’ study particularly analyze social learning theory of virtual relationships on the influence of minor criminal behaviors, a similar approach to DeMartino’s study of underage binge drinking culture. The researchers also analyze a part of social learning theory of positive and negative reinforcement that DeMartino also identifies, describing the pros and cons of using both in this context. Through their study, Miller and Morris prove that virtual relationships have a large impact on social learning.
Through the use of surveys administered to a sample size of undergraduate college students, the researchers found that virtual relationships held just as much weight on learning as interpersonal relationships. They found that the difference between the two types of relationships is a difference in an individual’s learning process (Miller and Morris, p. 1559). Specifics about a person like age or gender are affected differently, and likely have more influence on crime related behavior virtually rather than when learned in a real-life relationship. For example, a person who is younger may be more impacted by an internet relationship than by someone who is older. The researchers describe that their study examined how both virtual and interpersonal relationships have an impact on social learning, but Miller and Morris’ believe that further research on individual characteristics should be studied to continue to understand the impact of virtual peers (p. 1562).
SOCI a L CH a NGE
Discussing social learning theory and the impact that it has can go far beyond college campuses and undergraduate students. The same ideas of Bandura’s theory can be seen in real life examples, like in researcher Chavis McCullough’s study on social learning theory and behavioral therapy. McCullough describes Bandura’s theory as one that addresses “people in need” and applies “the theory to human problems within a social context” (McCullough, p. 471). Because of the popular ideas of social learning among academia, McCullough identifies that the amount of research around it is robust. The researcher describes that the theory gives a good starting place to deal “with a variety of behavioral concerns in many different disciplines and settings” (p. 478). An error that McCullough found among studies revolving around social learning theory is the lack of research around people of color, making it important for her to conduct this study. McCullough’s qualitative case study focuses on her client, Jamaal: a 22 year old,
African American male. McCullough describes that Jamaal comes from a family with conservative Christian beliefs that impacts the communication among the family. Jamaal is described as having difficulty accepting his sexual identity as it is not accepted in his own family. Because the communication in his community is influenced by the rules of their religion, it’s evident to McCullough that the main reasons behind her client’s lack of acceptance is a learned idea from those in his life. The researcher describes that one of the most influential ways of helping individuals like Jamaal would be the basis of social learning theory: “to change behaviors from a social and cultural context” (p. 478).
This similar approach of changing social and cultural contexts is identified in Professors Tao Fu and William A. Babcock in their study of entertainment-education, known as E-E throughout the article. Identified in this study, the main goal of entertainment-education is to promote social change among society, a similar theme in many of the other studies analyzed. Described by the researchers, Bandura’s social learning theory “provides the theoretical foundation for most E-E studies” (p. 84). The show being analyzed is The Jin Xing Show, a Chinese talk show aired weekly. The host, Jin Xing, is the “first transgender women in China to appear in the media” (p. 86), a widely controversial topic among the conservative society.
Researchers Fu and Babcock describe China as an authoritarian-capitalist government and society (p. 91) and argue that entertainment-education is the best way to educate the public on social change and equality using the comprehension of social learning theory. A similar outcome of McCullough’s study about the need to influence society on controversial issues, Fu and Babcock describe the host, Jin Xing’s thoughts on the need for free expression among the Chinese population. Xing describes this as society’s need for a voice “…in a real, direct, and frank way” that entertainment education provides (p. 91).
Throughout many studies, social learning theory is paired with some type of social activism. Whether it be as pronounced like in McCullough’s study or in Fu and Babcock’s article, or more subtle and among a smaller population like in Bethards’ or DeMartino’s, social learning theory is often used to describe ways in which new ideas or often taboo perspectives are spread with the intent to slowly create acceptance among society. This is further discussed in researcher Keith Fluegge’s article and his understanding of the theory as it pertains to public perception of GMOs.
Fluegge describes the disparity among science and the general public’s understanding of GMOs, and how most scientists, or science based researchers, believe that this is due to the negative influences of activists against genetic modification. Fluegge denies this, arguing that researchers who do believe this are only identifying the cognitive inputs of individuals, rather than the understanding of social learning theory: “human behavior
manifests as a constant interaction between environmental, behavioral, and cognitive influence” (Fluegge, p. 2939). To combat the negative perception of the public’s ideas of GMOs, Fluegge describes a very similar solution to that of McCullough’s. Fluegge says that researchers who are looking to change the negative view that many people have about GMOs and diet need to start by changing the argument to fit modern day society as it pertains to genetic modification. This should include educating the public about the real, scientifically proven understanding of GMOs. Like McCullough’s conclusion, the way to fix a negative stereotype, or view of a particular issue among a specific group of people is to start by changing perceptions among society by using education to influence.
SOCI a L LE a RNING a ND ENERGY SUSTa IN a BILITY
The conclusions of both studies are identified as the basis for professor Sarah Darby’s study of social learning and public policy. The study conducted analyzes an English town that won an “energy-conscious village competition” (Darby, p. 2929), and begins to understand how the use of competition could influence public opinion of energy sustainability, but alone cannot change the public’s long term behaviors.
Darby’s qualitative study used surveys and questionnaires, as well as interviews, to understand what those living in this town believe now about sustainability, and how the competition could have potentially changed those ideas. Darby describes that “social learning is a prerequisite for sustainable energy use,” (p. 2929). She notes that while there are many studies on the environment, as well as public opinion about sustainability, there is a lack of “adult learning about energy,” creating the need for her study (p. 2929). The researcher says that energy consumption is among human behavior, which part of social learning, is “open to change through learning” (p. 2938).
Through her study, Darby concludes that the competition did influence those in the town on their ideas of sustainability, but it is likely not the main way that education on energy was learned. The researcher suggests that awareness campaigns like this competition are likely not beneficial long term without more influence, knowledge, or governmental involvement (p. 2938). While the competition was a good starting placing that ignited influence and change, that same social change might only be temporary.
A similar approach to Darby’s conclusion, the findings of CGIAR’s (Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research) study are important in understanding social learning and issues about climate change. The organization describes similar ideas as Darby’s conclusion, addressing that “social learning brings multiple stakeholders together to provide their insights on a complex problem in order to arrive at shared
solutions” (CGIAR, 2017). Like any multidimensional issue, the use of multiple ideas and perspectives must be used to bring about real, long term, social change. When looking at an issue like the public’s opinion of energy sustainability, or a broader topic like climate change as a social issue, understanding the connection between social learning theory and social change, as Darby said, is a prerequisite to moving forward on understanding public opinion.
DISCUSSIO N
The analysis will take the understanding of social learning and comprehend the theory in terms of the Global Climate Strike. Four sub-themes of the movement will be demonstrated: the use of activists, the September strike, the movement’s social media presence, and the movement’s cohesive list of demands.
THE USE O f aCTIVISTS
Arguably the most prevalent activist in the Global Climate Strike is Greta Thunberg. Many people that follow the movement have attributed her efforts and the start of the mainstream ideas of the strike to her actions. Thunberg has endlessly fought for climate change policy. When her Friday school strikes started to grow traction across social media, Thunberg quickly began appearing in the media. She has spoken at events like TEDx, been featured on a song called “The People” by the world famous band, the 1975, and even got a seat on the panel that opened the 2019 U.N. Climate Action Summit where she gave a compelling speech.
Thunberg’s efforts are widely seen throughout the world. Many of the young individuals that have protested often quote Thunberg, showing that she has sparked the interests of many to embrace the climate change movement. Without Thunberg’s drastic actions, it’s hard to tell if the strike would have been as big as it was, and continuously is.
In many of Thunberg’s speeches, she discusses the science behind climate change. She often quotes the IPCC’s 1.5 Degree report when discussing the impacts of climate change. When Thunberg was invited to testify at the U.S. Congress in early September, she simply turned the IPCC report in, saying, “I am submitting this report as my testimony because I don’t want you to listen to me, I want you to listen to the scientists.” She has often spoken about the impacts and uncertain futures of the current, unsustainable state of the world. She has popularized the issue, and many people around the world hear her.
In researcher Patti Kristjanson and her team’s article, Social Learning and Sustainable
Development, they describe that social learning theory “can provide a way to address complex socio-ecological … problems by integrating diverse knowledge and value systems at many different levels,” (Kristjanson et al, p. 2). This is an important aspect of social learning theory especially in terms of the Global Climate Strike. Throughout the world, many individuals have a different background, financially and educationally. Thunberg’s descriptions of complex issues about climate change are available to individuals across the world. She quotes scientific evidence and allows for those in her audience to learn, think, and if they are compelled to, protest about the information now available to them. Making information accessible through the use of young activists like Thunberg is extremely effective by the movement and shows the theory of social learning prominently demonstrated by the Global Climate Strike.
THE SE pTEMBER STRIKE
The most prominent aspect of the Global Climate Strike is the actual strike itself. With the use of activists providing the public with free and accessible information on climate change, the movement was able to mobilize entire communities to strike on behalf of climate change policy.
The first official Global Climate Strike was on September 20th, 2019. Vox describes that the strike involved 4 million people across the world, making it the largest Climate protest in history. The New York Times describes the protestors were “anxious about their future on a hotter planet” and “angry at world leaders for failing to arrest the crisis.” A common idea shared among opinion leaders across communities was observed by those 4 million people that decided to act: this is a distinct, clear characteristic that social learning theory explains. The motivation of these individuals was learned in some way by those in their external realities. They were all taking a stand among the Global Climate Strike, so it’s extremely likely that they knew Thunberg and the other organizers. The protestors were there to express their disdain in a similar light, creating a cohesive space for those with common learned ideas to share and express them further.
Beyond those that were among the strike in September, the news media covered the protest extensively. Until now, articles are still being published about the strike by major newspaper outlets. This allows for more people to learn more about the issue and brings the topic of climate change and the movement into the conversations of mainstream society. The strike was an example of how social learning can successfully mobilize individuals to a specific event or situation, but the strike being discussed further in the media and among other individuals in society further expresses social learning theory.
THE MOVEMENT’S SOCI a L MEDI a p RESENCE
The social media presence of the movement has been extremely important to the movement’s success and continued efforts. The use of activists and the strike’s mobilization wouldn’t have been as impactful without the media’s strong use of social media. The movement was recognized by a majority of young people, from teenagers to college students, who were primarily people of color and/or girls. The Washington Post has reported that in a survey of 300 American climate strike organizers and participants, 68% of organizers and 58% of protesters were female. In a separate survey done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, also reported by the Post, over 57% of teenagers feel afraid or angry about climate change. The majority of the movement’s organizations are teenagers under the age of 18, which is also the most prominent group on social media.
The movement began because of social media. Thunberg’s Instagram account has documented her every climate strike move since the beginning of her protests. With those around the world identifying with her and being compelled by her efforts, the movement grew, along with the movement’s social media accounts. Advertising of the strike was done across social media on accounts like Thunberg’s and the official Global Climate Strike (Fridays for Future and/or School Strike for the Climate) social media pages, as well as the account of fellow climate change non-profit organizations that helped get the word out about the strike.
Social media is one of the most prominent uses of social learning in modern society. Social media helps get messages out quickly to a huge audience. A person with a large platform has a lot of influence. Their perspectives, ideas, and opinions can be shared across accounts and gained by the public. Shared ideas and connections happen quickly on social media which is one reason why the movement’s social media has become so prominent, especially leading up to the September strike. Most participants found out about the strike through social media, and the strikes use of pop-culture references like memes to get information about the movement and climate change around social media. On the Global Climate Strike website, many of the ways for individuals to get involved is to get involved through different social media campaigns. Their website has a list of ways for individuals to share about the movement on their own social media accounts, allowing for more of the movement to get around by word of mouth. The strong social media presence that the movement has built has been extremely beneficial in educating and mobilizing younger generations.
THE MOVEMENT’S LIST O f DEM a NDS
Present in the movement’s social media platforms, expressed by their activists, and articulated by the time of the first September strike, the movement’s demands are clear. From the Global Climate Strike’s website, the demands include: the acceptance of the Green New Deal, respect for indigenous people, environmental justice, protection of biodiversity, and action toward sustainable agriculture. These demands, along with full descriptions and explanations of each are accessible to the public and have been widely shared among social media. They are concise, straight-forward, and easy to understand for the majority of people. Throughout the September strike, those that participated in the strike and were interviewed by news outlets often discussed things that were described by the movement, like one of the listed demands, the reasoning, and the importance. These demands, while on the website, were iterated by the media and by the popular activists (particularly Thunberg). Because of common wording, and the mass accessibility to the public of the demands, it’s easy for the public to get informed about the issues. The common repetition of the demands allowed for individuals to learn about the issues in an easy manner. Because of this, the public has more of an understanding of climate change, and it’s impacts on society.
The wording of the newsletter that describes the movement’s list of demands is communal; we is used whenever describing what needs to be accomplished. This isn’t solely just when the demands are being discussed, but it is most prominent here. Throughout social media, or any other ways that are used to mobilize their public, the use of we can be observed. This allows for people to feel connected and inspired. It also creates a better likelihood that they will learn more and get involved.
CONCLUSION
The social learning theory posits that a person’s ideas, motivations, and actions are often developed by the influence of external stimuli than anything else. The impact of individuals in a society, culture, or community can be influential in both positive and negative ways. When discussing persuasion, social learning is influential: countless communication researchers like Bandura have demonstrated the meaningful impact that social learning has on peers. People are social. They learn by observation, conversation of those around them, and the experiences that they are drawn to.
Using the lens given to us by the social learning theory, one can identify the impact of the public’s involvement on the success of the Global Climate Strike movement. Climate change as a topic is the most popular that it has ever been, with the majority of people (73%) in America believing in the human caused crisis.
The role of popular climate activists had a major social influence on over 4 million people across the world. The millions that took to the streets shared common, learned ideas that were made accessible by the movement’s popular activists through a vast social media presence. Many aspects of the Global Climate Strike movement are exemplary of social learning, but possibly the most influential are the movement’s strategic use of social media, the influential activists, a clear list of demands and its ability to mobilize an organized, peaceful, and impactful strike. Analyzing these four themes of the movement, it’s evident that the movement’s effectiveness can be understood through the social learning theory. Though it is still unclear if the movement will produce change in the United States’ policy, the Global Climate Strike movement has created a platform for the climate crisis to be at the forefront of public debate.
vol. 30 2020-2021
e xistence u nder Forced
r
esettle M ent: tH e Palestinian d ias P ora n arrative
dahlia m ohamed
Major: Government & International Politics
Conflict Analysis & Resolution Class of 2021
About thE woRk
This work was written for my Conflict Analysis and Resolution 301 course, Research and Inquiry in Conflict Resolution, instructed by Dr. Claudine Kuradusenge-Mcleod. In this piece, I explore theories I have equipped during my undergraduate research in this field, including Social Identity Theory, Relative Deprivation, Trauma Theory, Strain Theory, and many others.
In previous courses, I had written about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but not in the same way I wrote this paper. Where before I had focused on the legality of Israel’s actions against Palestinians, in this paper, I focus on the psychology of what having their human rights infringed is like. I spoke with Palestinian diaspora members who were forced to resettle and asked of their experiences both outside and inside Israel/Palestine and how those experiences shaped their identity and created a narrative of victimization.
In conducting this research, I found that many Palestinians believe that they have been silenced. Their traumas and painful experiences had been swept under the rug in the realm of politics and power. They fear that if they speak up, they may never see their home country ever again. Thus, I wanted to make sure that they could share their stories through my voice. This work revisions scholarship in the sense that Palestinian tragedies are not presented as mere statistics, but as real life stories that deserve to be heard.
INTRODUCTION
Having a homeland gives humans the ability to distinguish themselves. For millenniums, disputes over possession and control of land have persisted, causing fatality, split political ties, and isolation of economic resources. Both Palestinians and Israelis believe that they are the rightful owners of Canaan based on several factors including a deep connection with culture, historical presence, biblical stories, Zionism, and the tragedies of the Holocaust. There is a perceived divergence of interest as each community desires to call this land home but does not desire giving up their identity in do so. Neither side is willing to assimilate for peace and there is little consensus for a two-state solution.
The international community pushed for a Jewish home in Palestine and once a legal government was achieved, the legitimacy of Palestine as a state dissipated. Despite formulating an agenda to uphold peace in the region, the United Nations has ultimately failed to monitor ceasefire, occupation, and all other human rights violations committed by the Israeli government and military. Many Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by Israeli settlements, rendering them the largest and one of the longest-standing refugee populations in contemporary times, with over 5 million refugees.
Although Palestinians have been inhabiting this land for centuries, their ownership in the recent century has been stripped almost completely, with only a fraction of the land left under their control. They can no longer reside in, build on, or enter territories they once considered their own. As they are being pushed out of their homeland and/or backed into specific regions such as the West Bank and Gaza Strip, their ability to survive has decreased drastically. Their livelihoods—ability to earn a quality education, find jobs, receive medical attention, and even have access to running water—has deteriorated since the building of Israeli settlements in 1948. It is also important to note that many of these settlements violate international law. In addition to displacement measures, Israeli police and military forces have been found guilty of many Palestinian civilian deaths from police brutality and military air strikes. The international community has gone on record condemning Israel but has failed to take any action to obstruct these illegal acts.
This depreciation of survival has only gotten worse during the COVID-19 global pandemic. On July 21, 2020, property that was dedicated for coronavirus testing in Palestine was demolished by Israeli soldiers. Though just before doing so, all of the medical equipment was also confiscated. Ra’ed Maswad, the owner of the land, said that “the facility, at the northern entrance of Hebron city, was supposed to provide rapid testing service to reduce the overwhelming pressure on Palestinian hospitals, especially amidst the dangerously increasing number of Palestinians testing positive
for the virus.” Maswad did not have a permit to build the facility, and that is the offered excuse for its demolishment. However, it is clear that getting a permit would have been impossible to do as Palestinian residents of Area C were not granted the same liberties as their Israeli counterparts. As of September 17, 2020, there are 44,037 Palestinians who have tested positive with the coronavirus. According to the World Health Organization, In West Bank, “the total number of COVID-19 cases has risen by 30% or 13,407, an average of 788 cases per day. In the Gaza Strip, cases have risen by 83% or 1,820, an average of 109 cases per day for the same period.” By demolishing a COVID-19 testing center, the chance of surviving the deadly aftermath of the virus is significantly reduced.
It is apparent that the Israeli government has, whether it be by direct or indirect violence, made survival a difficult task for Palestinians. This article will address the many ways that Palestinians are suffering with the inquiry: How have forced resettlements of Palestinians created a narrative of victimization within the Palestinian identity?
pa LESTINI a N L I f E U NDER I SRa ELI O CCU paTION :
a L ITERaTURE R EVIEW
The actions of the Israeli government and defense forces against the Palestinian people has been identified as a frequent issue in the realm of human rights and international law. Human rights have been described as “rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status.” Examples of human rights are the right to life, liberty, and security of a person, the right to express opinion, the right to work, the right to face no inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, the right to face no arbitrary arrest, the right to fair trial, the right to freedom of movement, the right to have a nationality, and the right to own property and not be arbitrability deprived of it. Many scholars, cited in this literature review, have found that the actions of Israel have been contradictory of these human entitlements. In this literature review, information has been collected on the repercussions of land deprivation, safety and security of Palestinians, with additional information on the psychological trauma experienced by Palestinian civilians, refugees, and diaspora.
R E p ERCUSSIONS O f La ND D E p RIVaTION
Land is where communities are built, culture is adopted, and a collective future is established. Without land, man cannot exist. Displacement refers to unnatural settlement and a forced exodus of people from their land of origin. In many cases,
displacement is schemed by a powerful outside force who wishes to seize contested territory to exploit native labor and natural resources. Rarely is there a case of pursuing assimilation. Displacement also refers to disrupted familiarity with one’s identity and belonging. Oren Yiftachel writes that “settler societies, such as the Jewish community in Israel/Palestine, pursue a deliberate strategy of immigration and settlement that aims to alter the country’s ethnic structure.” He defines an ethnocratic regime as one that is, despite claiming that the incumbent regime is democratic, focuses “ethnicity (and not territorial citizenship) [as] the main determinant of the allocation of rights, powers, and resources, and politics is characterized by constant democratic-ethnocratic tension.” Literature suggests that this is the case of Israel as the Palestinian people are denied many rights, yet must abide by the laws. Several decades of painting colonization as legitimate, democratic, and moral has effectuated Israel’s reproductive and oppressive hegemony. When Palestinians resist the regime, they are crushed by security forces, as seen in the First and Second Intifadas. It is currently illegal for Palestinians to protest as they, with a conviction rate of near 100%, can face a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
The Palestinian people perceive the creation of Israel as a catastrophe (al-Nakba). Their continuous displacement has disturbed “key psychosocial domains of human security.” Uprooting has transformed their way of life, their hopes for the future, and the perception of the world around them. The forced military occupation of their land has fostered a sense of resentment towards former allies to which many have abandoned them and have even shaken hands with their oppressor. Dissent in neighboring nations is even more prevalent as refugees cannot become residents and consequently, cannot own property. The acceptance of Zionism ultimately cultivated the isolation of the Palestinian culture, inducing a “Palestinian identity, as opposed to identifying primarily as Muslim or Arab.” However, this does not mean that religion is not important to them, as the inaccessibility of holy sites of worship, such as Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, has caused profound psychological distress.
When homes are destructed by Israeli air strikes and crops are destroyed by the military, Palestinians experience immense irreversible trauma.
Saf ETY a ND S ECURITY
Violence is a mode of oppression, but it can also be utilized as a mode of retaliation. In 1987, the First Intifada was a peaceful attempt of protest. In 2000, the Second Intifada was a violent attempt of protest. Both times, instead laying down arms and allowing Palestinians their independence, Israel responded with disproportional military might, piloting the obliteration of several Palestinian cities in the West Bank and Gaza. Noam Chomsky asserts that Israel strategically justifies the repression of Palestinians by
claiming attacks are an ad hoc response. However, victims of destruction consist more of civilians than of militants. Between September 2000 and November 2008 “more than 4700 Palestinians—mostly civilians, including more than 900 children—were killed by Israeli military action.” In less than one month alone, “from Dec 27, 2008, to Jan 17, 2009, 1366 Palestinians were killed.”
In regard to the post-Intifada world, Palestinians still experience violence from Israel. In 2018, 295 Palestinians were killed and over 29,000 were injured. In 2019, 133 were killed and 14,788 were injured. In addition to homicide, many Palestinians are arbitrarily arrested and subject to inhumane conditions. Imprisonment settings include small windowless cells, exposure to extreme heat or cold, foul smells, and painfully bright lights. Detainees are denied hygiene and quality food. Many have reported being forced into solitary confinement. In the interrogation room, they are bound to a chair for hours, and in some cases, days. Interrogators, offering no opportunity to meet with council, shout and strike detainees and threaten harm to their families. Not one Palestinian has been able to launch a criminal investigation against their torturers since 2001. Among Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) violence against Palestinians, Israeli settler vigilantism is common. The article written by Nir Gazit examines cases of Jewish settler violence and explains that they are a by-product of the harmful narrative pushed by the state that concurrently reproduces their control. In other words, this vigilantism is a form of state collusion. Israel informally considers illegal settlements as an extension of policy in order to bypass accountability. In return, the government fails to address settler violence.
The borders built to separate the two groups also contribute to the belittling nature of the Israeli state. The publicized aim for these borders was to prevent Palestinians from entering Israel without permits. In reality, the wall was strategically built in order to serve pseudo objectives such as de facto annexation and expansion. 85% of the barrier is inside the West Bank when it has been advertised to run through the Green Line . This prompted the creation of more than 600 Israeli-controlled checkpoints in the West Bank, where many Palestinians testify they experience degrading treatment. Approximately 150 Palestinian communities have been unable to access and cultivate their land in result of this barrier. And much of what they can access, $73 million worth to be precise, has been deliberately targeted by the military including food production facilities, farmland, and crops, including almost 1 million olive trees between 2001 and 2015 alone. The Olso Accords only permits Palestinian herders access to 31% of Palestinian rangeland, 54.5% of agricultural land, and in Gaza, fishermen have a three nautical mile limit. Fishermen who go past this threshold risk facing the Israeli navy who will not hesitate to shoot, arrest, and confiscate their belongings.
According to the literature evidence base, Palestinian food insecurity is a direct result of food sovereignty absence. Despite presence in the Fertile Crescent, as of 2018,
68.5% of Palestinians in Gaza were considered food insecure, as well as 11.6% of those in the West Bank. However, the numbers in West Bank are most likely larger as 76% of residents are living in poverty. Restrictions on selling goods in Jerusalem and on the international market have damaged Palestinian income. Selling goods through the international market requires export through Israel. Wages are consequently embezzled with a reporting of revenue leakage of about $115 million of the Palestinian economy to Israel annually. A contributing factor of food insecurity is the predominant water crisis. Scholars argue that the issue does not lie on water availability, but rather political turmoil where the Israeli government refuses supply to Palestinians. Under the Oslo Accords, Israel maintained control of all water resources, extracting 80% from West Bank water into Israel. Today, the Palestinians receive only 75% of the remaining 20%. As a result, Palestinians obtain lacking water from Israel’s national water company and or rainfall. However, even company water is unsustainable as 1/3 pumped is lost through leakage from faulty pumps that have not been approved for repair by Israel. Palestinians are not authorized to dig water wells and this has damaged their agricultural development. Marwan Haddad reveals that the former Israeli water commissioner, Ben-Meir, said that he would be willing to provide water needs but was not willing to give up any sovereignty. This has instilled a Palestinian fear of negotiating water needs as opposed to demanding their water rights. Fulfilment of water needs puts Palestinians in a position where they are recognized as consumers and visitors, rather than a settled community, risking further Israeli monopolization of the water supply. Accessible water is contaminated by Israeli settlement pollution. In 2016, 19 million cubic meters of wastewater were drained into the West Bank. It is estimated that 9095% of it has been exposed to sewage and dangerous levels of pesticide and fertilizer chemicals such as nitrate and chloride. The intensity of this dehumanizing behavior has led to malnourishment in which, as of 2015, “for every 1,000 babies born in Gaza, 28 die from malnutrition, anemia, or other food insecurity related causes.” Ilan Pappé documented that 72.8% of children under the age of 2 suffer from anemia, 34.3% are wasting, 31.4% are stunting, and 31.45% are underweight.
Among lack of food and water, lack of education has played a role in the distress of young Palestinians. The influx of poverty and food insecurity has generated child laborers and brides. In 2020, between January and March (pre-COVID-19), The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), in its quarterly unemployment report, documented another rise in the unemployment rate of Gaza, which reached 45.5% (comparably to 42.7% in the fourth quarter of 2019) and in the West Bank which reached 14.2%. Palestinian youth who are consistently unable to find jobs endure psychological problems. The inability to contribute to their already suffering society impedes their sense of purpose.
CONCLUSION
The reviewed literature suggests that Palestinians living under Israeli occupation are bound to a cycle of inescapable oppression. There are visible self-perpetuating factors that are trapped in a web designed by the Israeli government. Palestinians are unable to complete their education, find employment and develop their economies, which in turn, makes them unable to acquire the funds required for existence. A path for Palestinian livelihood is flooded with obstacles instilled by the Israeli government and military forces. This is a consensus amongst human rights defenders, including Israeli scholars Nir Gazit, Ilan Pappé, and Oren Yiftachel. The instances above and emotional trauma are directly linked. To further delineate this, studies evaluating the psychosomatic impact of living under occupation and/or uprooting should be performed.
M ETHODOLOGY
In conducting this research, it is evident that a cause-and-effect relationship between Israel’s policies concerning Palestinians and the victimization of Palestinian diaspora members exists. To have answered this inquiry qualitative data was crucial for investigating the magnitude of prevailing persecution. This included data that represented the Palestinian perception of their identity and experiences of resettlement. The interviews were semi-structured in which the same guide was used for every session, however, additional follow-up and probing questions were asked in some sessions to provide more detailed answers. Narrative Analysis is a methodology used in the field of Conflict Analysis and Resolution to investigate the content of the stories told by my participants. Through Narrative Analysis, I used what scholars call ‘Thematic Analysis’ for “comparing cases and groups (that is, for elaborating correspondences and differences between the various groups in the study).” The sampling process was purposive and consisted of reaching out to eight people via social media who previously indicated that they had a relationship to Palestine. For example, if their social media, namely Instagram and Twitter, biographies consisted of the Palestinian flag emoji, they were contacted. Snowball sampling was also utilized as contacted participants suggested individuals they knew that would be interested in partaking in this study.
Limitations of this study include the COVID-19 pandemic. This has made communicating with interviewees much more difficult as face-to-face interaction was impossible. Due to the older generation being less interactive on social media, I was unable to find older Palestinians with my chosen method of sampling. I considered asking participants to refer their older family members, however, they seemed more excited to refer their friends. Thus, I opted to ask the younger Palestinians what they
knew about their parents’ and grandparents’ experiences during our interviews. The limitation to only online interaction also meant that interviews were conducted either over the phone or over video calls. Face-to-face interviews ensure more quality as they entail more human connection, increasing response rate, and they integrate the analysis of non-verbal behavior. However, digital interviews assure a sense of privacy that face-to-face do not. It makes participants, who are speaking about sensitive issues, feel that they are communicating in a safe space. This sense of security is reinforced as they will be in whichever location they so choose. Another limitation of this study was a language barrier. The native language of Palestine is Levantine Arabic, whereas I am only familiar with Egyptian Arabic. This limited interviews to English speakers only. This meant that participants would consist of Palestinians who have assimilated to a new culture.
Ethical concerns in this research consist of my own identity. My mother is Palestinian, meaning that I am exploring a community to which I belong to. While conducting interviews, if the participant knew of my background, bias may have been elicited. My appearance, my name, and perhaps even my activity on social media can reveal my ethnicity. To address concerns of consent, a consent form was created and sent to each participant before the interview process. Emphasis on the voluntary nature of the interview was made, clarifying that no question asked is required an answer. It was also emphasized that participants would remain anonymous and that nothing they said could trace back to them.
I NTERVIEWS
How have forced resettlements of Palestinians created a narrative of victimization within the Palestinian identity? To address this inquiry, I explored the stories that Palestinian Diaspora in the United States tell about themselves and how they position themselves vis-à-vis Israel. I explored how Palestinians have cognized their identity, both individual and group, and the types of narratives they have used to cope with the continuous occupation of their homeland. This article goes beyond identifying historical events by dissecting responses to such incidents and understandings of the past. This information would further inform me of the transgenerational community dynamics and what their sight of the future looked like. In essence, the official account of occupation endorsed by the Israeli government and security forces has had an impact on both the individual and group identity transformation of Palestinians.
Selected participants were not required to have ever lived in or visited Palestine. One participant was born and raised in Palestine. One was born in Palestine but raised in host countries. Six participants were born in the United States, but only three would
visit Palestine often, the other two only visited once in their lifetime, and one had never gone at all. Regardless of where they were born or reside, they are all Palestinian and are thus able to provide insight on the experience of resettlement. Of the eight participants, six of them were female and two of them were male. My youngest participant was 16 years old and my oldest was 24.
Themes that were present in the experiences shared by the interviewees included identity, homeland, and trauma. With regard to how participants felt about their identity, Palestinians are proud of their history and culture, regardless of how assimilated they have become to the land in which they have resettled on. Many understand their existence to be demonized by the West, but some manifest this rejection into honor. In terms of the theme of homeland, participants expressed feelings of both belonging and exile. Palestinians own a sense of solidarity in which they all believe they and their country have a right to exist. In terms of the theme trauma, participants shared a collection of stories that rendered inescapable desolation.
D ISCUSSION
W H aT IT M E a NS TO BE pa LESTINI a N
The Palestinian Diaspora identity has been molded by the event of their resettlement and the opposing narratives that strive from it. Combatting the propaganda that is elicited by Israel and its allies has stigmatized their existence. Participant #7 expresses being Palestinian as a “constant loss and constant argument” in which she must “have all the facts all the time to argue why [she] exist[s].” Participant #3 adds to this by expressing a feeling of “constant injustice.” She also expresses the feeling of guilt in which she believes she “should be in Palestine. [She] should be there fighting” for her country. Participant #1 referred to this as survivor’s guilt. “I am grateful for the life I have, but I’m also motivated to fight the obstacles that stand in Palestinian success. I always want to do better and do more because I know my people are oppressed.” Many shared that embracing their identity has come at the cost of maintaining the status quo foreign policy perspective. From a young age in American schooling systems, they were taught that being anti-Israel and being anti-Semitic were synonymous. Thus, their struggles were consistently projected to be invalid. Participant #7 admits that sometimes she felt jealous of her cousins living in Palestine who “can exist without being gaslit . They can be Palestinian in the culture.” Despite these unpleasant feelings, every participant I interviewed is proud of their heritage and strongly holds on to it. As Participant #4 explained, “no matter how removed you are from the homeland, you are still from there.” Many participants claimed that this is even the case for those who
have never visited or those who cannot even speak Arabic. In conducting this research, I found that the Palestinian Diaspora community is a close-knit one, in which they befriend and develop deep bonds with each other.
Palestinian identity is further dissected depending on the location in Palestine one is from. Participant #5 explained that there are “different perspectives of Palestine— people from Jerusalem see differently than the people from Gaza.” Participant #3 exemplified with the statement, “if I’m from West Bank, I’ll never be able to enter Jerusalem, even if where I want to go is five minutes outside of my city. I can’t see al-Aqsa… I would have to go to see al-Aqsa secretly and against the law. There would be consequences for me if I’m caught.” Participant #2 explained that those who had Palestinian-Israeli passports could move around more easily than those who only had Palestinian passports. Foreigners, with neither Palestinian nor Israeli citizenship, also had difficult experiences as they could be suspected to be spies. This was supported by Participants #1, #8.
For many, distinguishing Palestinian identity is difficult because Israeli identity has become so similar to theirs. Participant #4 stated, “Israelis try to hijack our culture.” In which he expressed would not have been as painful under different circumstances, “you can share my knafeh , my hummus, but don’t tell me that I’m not indigenous to this land. Participant #7 added,
Our culture is being stolen. It’s not a secret, it’s in your face. It’s thievery and murder and nobody cares. People think that’s normal…They want to be us, but they don’t want us to exist. They want us to dissolve into thin air… I believe Jewish people deserve to be in Palestine. But I can’t help but feel anger when I see Ashkenazi Jewish people claim that they have the same ties to the land that I do.”
Describing the Palestinian identity involves having either no or a negative relationship to Israel. Participant #7 declared, “we pretend Israel doesn’t exist in any way except that they are our oppressor. Violence, brutality…we don’t acknowledge they have a culture. Jewish people in the Middle East have a culture, but it’s not Israeli.” Participant #6 said, “I feel anger towards the government, but also towards Israelis that contribute to the discrimination of Palestinians.”
pa LESTINE IS O UR H OME
The first thought that enters Palestinians’ minds when speaking about Palestine is not a negative one. They do not immediately think of sorrow, but rather, look to their country with fondness and nostalgia. Participant #7 told me about her grandparents’
love story in their tiny village. “Their houses were so close together. My grandpa only wanted her. The salon where my grandma got her bridal hair done is still there.”
Participant #4 told me about the train rides his grandmother would take to visit her family and eat picnics together on top of the mountain. He said that picturing the view of the sky would put him at peace. A lot of Palestinian life revolves around food, agriculture, gardening, and cooking. Participant #7 reminisced on the oranges in Yafa.
Participant #1, #2, and #5 told me about the olive trees. Participant #2 said in Jenin, there were some that once belonged to her grandfather. She remembers him being sad about the Israelis occupying his land and taking them away from him.
Many of the participants have seen Palestine in person. Participant #6 gave an interesting description, “it’s not a 24/7 war, but it’s 24/7 occupation.” All of the participants believe that Israel wants to control Palestinians and remove them from the region. Participant #1 stated that the purpose of the checkpoints in the West Bank is to make sure “anyone who is Palestinian in West Bank cannot leave Palestine.”
Participant #3 said “they want us to know they are in control. It’s not Palestine, it’s Israel… They’re so threatened by us, they want us to feel lower than them.” Similarly, Participant #7 said Israel uses a “territorial tactic to show their control over us…They want to separate us, look how far Gaza is from the West Bank. They’re telling us ‘we’re in between you and we’re surrounding you’.” Every participant who has visited Palestine has experienced a pro-longed process of travel. This includes interrogation, unsolicited search of belongings, and background checks. Participant #5 asserted that “the IDF wants to make it a longer journey than it should be to make Palestinians think twice before entering their homeland again.” Many participants shared an experience of what Participant #7 calls “playing nice” in order to evade problems when entering their homeland. Participant #3 said her dad would greet IDF by saying Shalom and they would translate the Arabic name of their city into Hebrew. Participant #1 pretended that she and her fiancé were strangers in hopes to bypass passport control quickly. This is a painful, but necessary action they partake in. Participant #4 said it is juxtaposing to his identity. “We’re supposed to hold our ground; that’s what it means to be Palestinian. Do I have to give up who I am to enter my country?” Participants #3 and #8 have taken photos and videos of the illegal actions committed by Israeli soldiers. Participant #3 recorded a young boy get physically abused by the IDF. When she showed the video to her family members, they told her to delete it in fear of never being able to enter Palestine again. This claim is supported by Participants #2 and #4. Participant #2 stated, “they look you up at the checkpoints and try to find out if you’re ‘pro-Palestine or antiIsrael.” Participant #1’s fiancé and Participant #7 had their phones taken from them without their consent and their social media apps and messages were scrolled through.
L IVING a N IGHTM a RE
Palestinian Diaspora have experienced transgenerational trauma, dating back to biblical times. However, for the purpose of this paper, I will be referring to events that occurred no earlier than the 20th century. Participant #3 shared a story her grandmother told her about living through Al-Nakba. “They would hide in tunnels. My mother was always warned not to speak to the IDF and to always be wary of them.” Participant #4 shared a story of his uncle’s close-to-death experience during the 1967 war. He told me,
In Nablus, you were supposed to surrender by putting a white sheet on the window. My dad’s family didn’t get the memo and when the soldiers came into our town, they started shooting into the house. The entire family hid under a table, unable to get to my baby uncle sleeping in a crib, in the room soldiers were shooting at.
Although his uncle survived, Participant #2 had a family member that did not. She was named after her mother’s aunt who was killed by an Israeli soldier. Participants’ #6, #7, and #4 families left Palestine as early as 1948, when the Israelis first began occupying their territory. Participant #6 said, “it was hard. Families got separated, some left and some that remained were killed. My grandfather left Gaza in 1948, leaving behind his mother and his siblings. He has siblings that he hasn’t seen since.”
Participant #7 said, “my mom’s family left out of fear of what was to come. She wasn’t born in Palestine.” Participants #3 and #8, had family that did not leave until much later. Participant #3 said, “my dad came to America when he was 13 years old. My grandparents didn’t want my dad to be a victim of brutality. It was the hardest time of his life—seeing occupation before his eyes, leaving his mom behind.” Participants #1, #2, and #5 lived in Palestine and left more recently. Participant #5 described the most difficult part of leaving being that he was still close to home. “I lived in Jordan. I would hear about troops being deployed in Gaza and my neighbors’ homes being raided. And I couldn’t do anything about it.”
It is important to note that trauma in the case of Palestinians is not limited to homicide. Participant #1 said that “it’s a misconception that [Palestine is] always a warzone. The bad days are bad, but the good days are really good.” Relatedly, Participant #6 said,
What we fight for here [in the US] is different than the reality of it. I remember seeing the IDF at the gates and a group of kids were playing soccer. I watched as their ball rolled towards the soldiers’ feet. One of the kids ran to pick it up and continued to play. These kids were playing soccer while having guns pointed at them. It’s their normal life.
Participant #3 said that they had never gone to the West Bank or Gaza. “I have no family there, but also, it would be too sad to see it. It’s destroyed and my heart wouldn’t handle it.” However, Participant #5 who is from Gaza does not recognize it as destroyed. He told me that “Gaza doesn’t look like a warzone. It’s beautiful. But there are camps. Areas are demolished, but we always build it back up.” However, he does not deny that Gazans are suffering. Participant #5 had his home demolished by Israeli soldiers who used it as a hideout. His family’s olive trees were destroyed and there were bombshells all over their property. Despite this, they were never reimbursed entirely for the damage. Participants shared the same belief of why they endured inhumane treatment by the IDF. Participant #7 asserted,
We are being ethnically cleansed. We are the victims of ethnic cleansing and we aren’t wrong for being upset about it. US propaganda is so engrained in our education system. We believe what our teachers say and there’s a pattern behavior of them being wrong.
Similarly, Participant #4 said,
In the beginning, it was blatant ethnic cleansing. Now, they’re trying to hide it and slowly ethnically cleanse the West Bank. They kick out Palestinians, but if you were to give refugees the right of return, the demographics would be altered as more Arabs would be there than Jews. And that’s what they don’t want.
All participants believe that the checkpoints throughout West Bank have a purpose to control and torment Palestinians. Palestinians experience aggression from the IDF while in transport. Participant #7 shared her experience when trying to enter Jerusalem, “They did it so passively. They’d have a smile on their face when asking us the most invasive questions. They made us feel like criminals.” Participant #8’s earliest memory of violation was when she was ordered to take off her bra during a full body search. Participant #1 was forced to drink baby milk to prove that it did not contain drugs. Participant #8 had a cousin who was shot and killed by the IDF in front of their fiancé at a checkpoint. The couple was in the West Bank purchasing goods for their upcoming wedding. Likewise, they believe detention camps to have the same purpose. Participant #8 informed,
Soldiers shoot rubber bullets at you to make you bleed. Blood identifies you as the enemy, making it easier for the IDF to rally you up and arrest you… Once you’re arrested, you’ll always get rounded up during any protest. They call it having a ‘tick.’
I have a cousin right now who’s 19 years old. And he’s been in and out of jail since he was 13. He was initially arrested for throwing rocks at the IDF. He’s got a ‘tick’ on him and the IDF regularly picks him up.
Participant #6 said,
I met a young elementary school boy who said that he was excited about seeing his friends in jail. He got picked up by the IDF while walking by a funeral. The IDF was trying to convince him to be their spy. They offered him tea, and he laughed about how he drank the tea and left.
Participant #5 described the Gazan experience differently, he said that “in Gaza, you wouldn’t see Israeli soldiers picking up children. Instead, they eliminate on sight. They are more extreme; they’ll bomb the house of and kill everyone of immediate family to the person they’re looking for.” Similarly to Participant #8, Participant #1 explained that at the border and at checkpoints, Palestinians who travel frequently are flagged. And “if you have a ‘suspicious’ name, like ‘Muhammad’ and the IDF is looking for a person with that name, you could be detained.” Comparably, Participant #3 shared her experience of “IDF targeting ‘suspicious’—whoever they deem suspicious—Palestinian boys…July 19, 2017, I’ll never forget the day I saw a soldier shoot this boy in front of my eyes. He was unarmed, wearing a keffiyeh .” Participant #8 informed me that when a wanted person dies, the IDF will keep their body until the end of their sentence. She told me that one protestor from her town had a sentence that was 100 years long.
Jerusalem is a city in which both Palestinians and Israelis reside. There is increased security to protect Israeli citizens and reprimand Palestinians. One of my participants shared their violent experience with the IDF in 2019. I will not be saying which participant told this story as this event has become public information. They said,
I was taking touristy pictures in front of the Dome. We were there like 30 minutes after Salat trying to take the perfect picture. At the time, the Bab Al-Rahma conflict was heightened so there was increased security because the Palestinians had just taken it back forcefully… All of the sudden, we see a masked person throw firecrackers. Israeli soldiers started shooting rubber bullets and chasing that person. Within seconds, there were triple the number of soldiers and the fire department had arrived. People were running and screaming. The soldiers marched into the mosque and forced people out. People were getting arrested just for walking. I had this instinct to start recording. I always wondered how I would react if I were in a situation like that and I thought that I would run. But I just wanted to document
what was happening and show other people.
IDF soldiers started to push me and told me to leave, but I stayed and continued to record. There was this big crowd, I saw this old woman on a wheelchair and the Israeli soldiers were pushing her in a way you shouldn’t push an old lady. I reached in to help her, but one of the female guards that told me to leave recognized me. She grabbed me with both hands and took me down to the ground, but I managed to pull out my American passport right before. She threw it away and told me she didn’t care about my identity. She proceeded to get on top of me and handcuff me and that was when all of the soldiers used their legs to keep me down. Guns pointed. My mom was trying to help, but she was smashed against the wall and handcuffed. My sister was on the outskirts of the barricade they had formed around me and was getting pushed and tossed. I guess when the female soldier’s supervisor realized that I was an American after picking up my passport, he gave it back and undid my handcuffs. At that point, I was half unconscious.
It is recognized by Palestinians that Israel wants full sovereignty over Jerusalem and its holy sites. Participant #8 shared her experience one night in 2017.
It was 3:00 A.M when all of the surrounding mosques and imams called for all able Palestinian men to defend Al-Aqsa. The Israelis were trying to siege it with bulldozers. My fiancé at the time and all of my male cousins left and stood in front of the mosque. I was so worried about them; I wanted to tell them to come back. But if they didn’t defend it, who would? I have this constant struggle of choosing what’s more painful: losing my family or losing my country.
In describing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, participants emphasized that it was complex, unnecessary, and sadistic. Participant #7 was displeased with the terminology used to describe the struggle. She said,
Calling it a conflict suggests that there’s two equal parties fighting over something. When in reality, it’s colonialism. It’s ethnic cleansing… I hate the wording that’s used to describe this issue. It suggests that they are both wrong. One side responds with anger and pain, the other side is the perpetrator of violence. I hate when it’s put on the same level of each other… It wasn’t a conflict when it was the Aboriginals in Australia, or the Native Americans in the US, or Black people in South Africa.
Participant #4 agreed with this claim of imbalance and explained,
The Israelis have a military force and the play of social engineering. Israel has nuclear weapons; Palestinians are fighting with sticks and stones (both literally and figuratively)… The conflict started off as a noble effort. The Israelis were seeking asylum. But that turned into something ugly. It turned into the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians.
Participants were not optimistic that the future of Palestine would be in their favor. Participants #5, #4, #7 believe that there has been progress, but not enough. Participant #4 saw a “shift in diaspora Palestinians having conversations with Israelis. We are changing the belief that all of them are the same.” Participant #7 is slightly hopeful as she said, “ten years ago, I wouldn’t have thought Rashida Talib or Ilhan Omar could have their platforms. I always thought you’d have to be a Zionist.” However, for the most part, participants believe that Israel is too strong for Palestine to fight back alone. Participant #6 believes that Palestinian liberation would be “more possible if we elect a president that pushes for it. But no president will win an election without fully backing Israel.” Participant #2 added to this and mentioned that the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will not help. She also asserted, “we are not on any map. It’s Israel. The world has already accepted that there is no Palestine.” Participant #4 feared that “Palestine could disappear.”
Every participant believes that a two-state solution is improbable. Participant #3 claimed, “Israel doesn’t want a bi-national state.” They all acknowledge that it is more likely for the one state solution to be in favor of Israel. Some participants idealized coexistence while others were indifferent. Participant #4 argued that “coexistence and peace are needed in the reality we live in for our existence.” On the contrast, Participant #8 said,
On paper, living together seems great, but that’s not reality… I don’t know if coexistence is possible… It’ll be hard to forgive the person who killed your friend, your neighbor, your brother. How do you forgive a genocide?… Would you forgive them? Maybe in my kids’ lifetime, my grandkids’ lifetime, we can all live together and share. But not in my lifetime. I can’t forgive the man that shot my cousin. But my kids didn’t go through that that. They can forgive.
Yet, Participant #6 illustrated that coexistence already exists and is unsatisfactory. “We see coexistence in Jerusalem, but there is still a lot of segregation. Palestinians will always be looked at as second-class citizens.” Participant #1 had “no expectation for peace beyond this.” Because of this reality, Participant #2 advocated that Palestinians should “use the enemy resources… Take Israeli citizenship if you can. You’ll be able
to open businesses; your voice will be heard; you’ll have an easier life.” Participant #7 completely opposed this point,
It’s not good enough. We want a right to return. And until we get that, we will continue to be angry. Coexistence is impossible without reparations. We need monetary and land compensation to prove that we can trust them…We want our land back. We want the names of our cities back. We want reparations. But even then, that’s not enough. We want the respect that we deserve…Anger deserves to be heard, hurt deserves to be shown. Coexistence only asks us to give up something. It asks them to give up nothing.
CONCLUSION
Exploring the American Palestinian Diaspora allows scholars to identify the disruptions of life committed by Israel on an international scale. The repercussions of Israeli occupation are transboundary. It is clear that Palestinians have been expelled from their homeland on a mass scale. Returning to the land in which they have deep historical and cultural connections to has become a challenge due to the restrictions put in place by the Israeli government and forces. I have found that every Palestinian diaspora member knows of someone who was seriously injured or killed by an Israeli official, whether that be an immediate relative or a friend of a friend. These struggles are pertinent in everyday life and affect the perception they have of themselves and the world. Transgenerational trauma exists as there is a feeling of never-ending crime committed against their people. Palestinians express a deep fear of losing loved ones to an act of hate on a daily basis. This loss is not limited to death, but also includes imprisonment and relocation. It also includes never being able to see the land in which they are ingenious to and all of its historical markers.
Despite this victimization, Palestinians are perceived as the problem. Their description in the media and education systems is that they are of terrorist and antiSemitic intent. American Palestinians reside in a country that openly supports their oppressor, both by media and foreign aid. This feeling of unwantedness, in both their homeland and the land in which they currently live, has damaged their psyche. Fear has enveloped their lives and ability to not only prove their innocence, but to advocate for their freedom. Upon interviewing my participants, they seemed to show a deep gratitude for my research. They felt silenced in that they could not own both a voice and a right to return.
a c o MParative a nalY sis:
#Me t oo, n ari
Move
M ents and t H e
Price o F n eoliberalist Fe M inis M
h ailey r astrelli
Major: Global Affairs
Class of 2021
ABout the work
Identifying the problems associated with the role of neoliberal feminism in #MeToo is a major feat. However, comparatively analyzing Nari: Mahila Bus Service Limited, a movement similar in cause, yet differing in approach allows for reflection. As such, while neoliberalism is certainly not a new phenomenon, neoliberal feminism is. Through this paper, it is clear such feminism has no place in a women’s movement. Tarana Burke’s ‘Me Too’ originated with the promise of powerful, effective mobilization. Otherwise, a movement for all women, striving to dismantle sexual violence for all. Finally, the #MeToo movement’s intersectional failure is rooted in the resources mobilized by white, neoliberal feminists (time, energy, and money) to benefit themselves (Mohanty, 1984). Nearly the Movement fails to become intersectional when the resources mobilized are not accessible to all identities. In a world where our privilege is so public, it is easy to wonder if posting or purchasing is all privileged activists are doing. At its best, #MeToo has exposed male entitlement within our culture. This is important; however, it is not enough for survival and longevity. White, neoliberal feminists have yet to mobilize their most crucial resource––privilege.
aBSTRacT
When the #MeToo movement erupted over social media in October of 2017, women, men, and people alike, across the globe united on social media. Through contemporary, transnational feminism, advocates took to their screens. Deep engagement with social media and culture has begun to offer women opportunities to mobilize for women’s rights. While #hashtag activism has allowed feminists to address sexism, misogyny, rape culture, and sexual harassment in public spaces, although this mode of activism was introduced in the West, it would not take long for it to expand its influence from Global North to South. However, the women associated with the digital boom of the #MeToo Movement have received significant, high praise for dismantling structures of sexual harassment, in the workplace. The presence of Neoliberal Feminism has created new barriers of their own. White, Neoliberal feminists colonized a movement initially built by women of color and continually silenced them; while neglecting to recognize how unique forms of harassment affect people of marginalized identities. Where Tarana Burke’s original ‘Me Too’ was built upon community justice and healing, #MeToo has diminished shared narratives to likes, retweets, and sales––primarily to the benefit of White, Neoliberal Feminists. This paper will thoroughly examine the problematic tendencies associated with #MeToo. Further analyzing the movements weaknesses by comparatively analyzing a similar, yet successful movement in the Global South; Nari.
I NTRODUCTION
It was 1997, when young activist Tarana Burke sat across the table from a 13-yearold girl; speechless. The young girl courageously expressed her experience as a survivor of sexual violence to Burke––who couldn’t help but feel outraged at the fact that this could happen to someone else… too. In that moment, Burke had no idea what she would do next would inspire a movement for decades to follow. However, the saying “Me Too” was not actually used until 2006 to raise awareness of rampant sexual misconduct in society (Donegan, 2018). Burke’s ‘Me Too’ was one centered on community healing and justice. But still, it hadn’t gotten the limelight yet. In 2017, with a single tweet, the #MeToo movement surged across the internet. White, actress Alyssa Milano demanded “time is up” for the serial sexual abuser, Harvey Weinstein; and sexual harassment, assault, and abuse survivors alike, across the world, rallied on Twitter and Instagram roaring #MeToo. Even today, #MeToo remains trending on social media.
Since then, the Movement has brought down 202 serial abusers (including Harvey Weinstein), brought on non-disclosure agreement bans (NDA’s), protections for
workers, and more. Besides its effect on the west #MeToo has also busted down the “behind closed doors” nature of assault, transnationally (Donegan, 2018). Rightfully so, the women associated with the rise of #MeToo deserve some praise for their ability to use their privilege to expose culturally ingrained male entitlement; at its best. Equally, white, neoliberal feminists deserve criticism for further imposing structures of violence and discrimination against people of marginalized identities. To be clear, though ‘Me Too’ stemmed back to 1997, with a young black activist, Tarana Burke––white, neoliberal feminists like Alyssa Milano––continually take credit for the movements transnational boom.
Across the world, #MeToo was on everyone’s Instagram feed. However, a movement, such as Bangladesh’s Nari: Mahila Bus Service Limited wasn’t taking up transnational screen time. Yet Bangladeshi feminists were breaking down barriers of their own. Just because it wasn’t trending, doesn’t speak to failure; instead, it’s success. The Nari movement, like #MeToo, was similar in cause and platform. The difference lies in the mobilization of resources and framing of their cause, in addition, to culture and mentality. These distinct differences will be highlighted and drawn upon throughout the paper. Nevertheless, to be specific, Bangladeshi feminists did not fall to western Neoliberalism, like American feminists did. In short, Bangladeshi feminists were not concerned with the visibility of their movement, in the same way the West was... but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Thus, visibility is not particularly a metric for success.
To illustrate, by definition and practice, the actions of white, neoliberal feminists are harmful. In other words, in the context of this text, a neoliberal feminist is primarily a variation of Western feminism, where such ‘feminists,’ by nature direct their energy and resources towards the upper-middle classes (Banet-Weiser, Gill, & Rottenberg, 2019). Thus, lending itself to the erasure of intersectionality by placing a price on every aspect of inclusion. Moreover, Neoliberal feminism is exclusively informed by the market calculus and motivated by ‘capital’ gains as a means of empowerment. Capital, in this case, not only refers to monetary value but cultural capital, as well. As such, neoliberal feminism (particularly amongst white women) is uninterested in traditional forms of achieving social justice or intersectionality of mass mobilization. Instead, to white, neoliberal feminists––inclusion comes at a price. Such feminists detect the price of market freedom in areas of oppression, like a flare. Therefore, incentivizing them to flock towards the movement as an untapped market for profit. Thus, confusing such gestures as actual, tangible, direct action.
So, indeed, the #MeToo movement is in trouble. Such neoliberal and colonial prospective could render the movement, ultimately useless given its problematic nature. However, it’s not unable to be remedied. In fact, ‘Me Too’ activists and feminist scholars have echoed that the movement is at a pivotal moment for change (Ulus, 2018) (Jones,
2019). Through this paper, I argue––it is white, neoliberal feminists’ mobilization of inaccessible resources that forces people of marginalized identities to resort towards other social movements. Thus, these actions communicate white, neoliberal feminists’ commodification of oppressed narratives as a means to garner monetary and cultural capital by reinforcing privilege through capitalist structures of systematic oppression. Through comparative analysis with Bangladesh’s Nari Movement to illuminate the pitfalls of #MeToo’s adoption of Neoliberalism, as a means to combat social injustice.
O RIGINS : T HE 2016 E LECTION & R ISE O f N EOLIBERa L fEMINISM
Just a year prior to #MeToo, author Nancy Fraser (2016) sets precedent for this topic seamlessly. In her work, “Progressive Neoliberalism versus Reactionary Populism: A Choice Feminists Should Refuse,” Fraser (2016) asserts in the wake of the 2016 election, feminists who rallied for Hillary Clinton were essentially left grasping at straws to formulate a ‘new’ strategy for feminism. In the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump, Progressive Neoliberalism became an ally to “new social movements” (particularly feminism). Pitting groups such as feminists on one end and service-based business sectors (Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood) at the other. This alignment preemptively configured the functions of the #MeToo as a white, neoliberal feminist movement. The structure of such power within a social movement disguises forces of cogitative capitalism and financialization, falsely presenting it as emancipation.
This movement towards Neoliberal feminism is explicitly imperialistic and colonial, in nature. To explain, Neoliberal feminism operates on behalf of American empire building (Eisenstein, 2017). Further, this feminism seeks to impose, rather than negotiate. In other words, it seeks to dominate not liberate. Which are not inherently feminists, at all. Feminism in nature seeks to promote equality for all––rather run into the same problem of gendered domination (Beam, 2014). Also, Neoliberal feminism is privatized and individualized with little commitment to the masses of women or non-binary gendered peoples, truly a westernized concept. Which allows one to recognize parallels to #MeToo.
pRECEDENCE : T HE pROBLEM O f pRO f IT
In recent years, white (so-called) ‘activists’ have experienced criticism for exploiting black trauma through artistry, they profit off of. Also, straight ‘activists’ and retailers turning profits from pride branded items during June. Now, privatized and individualized white, Neoliberal ‘feminists’ make money off of #MeToo marketed DIY Rape Kits and necklaces. Yet, the problem with profit, is not uniquely monetary.
In fact, profit can lie within garnering cultural capital through digital interaction. For instance, when ‘activists’ make a post on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook––it doesn’t come free of cost. To get down to brass tacks, social media users are really just pawns in yet another Neoliberal institution; Big Tech (if you will).
To demonstrate, western ideas of ‘success,’ typically lie within visibility––one statement western readers can resonate with is “If I’ve never heard of it, it must not be that good.” However, when the focus is social justice and movements, that is surely not always true. In fact, in the case of Bangladesh’s Nari Movement, it might’ve been for the best. In the example of Nari, Bangladeshi feminists did, in fact, establish their following online. However, the online platform was merely used to leverage communication and accessibility. In economics terms, the Facebook platform was a Public Good, nonexclusive and non-rival (Eisenstein, 2017). This platform aided Bangladeshi feminists in communicating strategy, providing support to one another, and hashing out ideas without endangering psychical space (Moitra, Hassan, Bhuiyan, & Ahmed, 2020). Additionally, the fact that, transnationally, no one had heard of them––made their work even more meaningful because they didn’t need the incentive of cultural capital to keep moving.
In contrast, #MeToo values cultural capital as a metric and means of success. Likes, comments, new followers and reposts are all forms of capital exchanged in this digital, cultural arena. Like a market, social media platforms carry their own forms of exchange, in western eyes. For instance, western social media users typically make assumptions about themselves based on their number of follows, likes, comments or retweets. Thus, verifying their status as incentives, driving human behavior. Which would explain social movements, mega-boom on social media but failure to affect change in the physical setting. Sure, there are positives when it comes to dissemination of information, accessibility, and movement visibility associated with #hashtag activism. Yet, its success is rooted in method and mindset.
When white, Neoliberal feminists rely on forms of monetary and cultural capital as a means of empowerment and metric of success, they minimize comprehensive social action to a purchase. In most cases, exploiting narratives all to turn a profit. Ultimately abolishing pre-existing successful methods of union like community organizing and inclusion efforts (Jones, 2019). Then, further stratifying social structure within the movement to fit the needs of the most privileged, rather than oppressed.
fRa MING R ESOURCE M OBILI zaTION : W RONG TOOLS , R IGHT T HEORY
Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT) was developed in the 1970s, as a means to study social movements. The praxis of the argument relies on the idea that the success of a social movement is dependent upon resources mobilized by dominant actors (i.e., time, money, skills, etc.). In addition, to the activists’ abilities to effectively use or ‘mobilize’ them (McCarthy & Zald, 1977). Resources can be material, human oriented, socially organized, cultural, or moral (McCarthy & Zald, 1977). Whatever form they come in; they must be accessible in order to truly measure success. Which is easy to do in the case of Nari and #MeToo.
Rather successfully, Nari organizers were effective with the resources they were able to mobilize. Digitally, Facebook was a platform that Bangladeshi feminists were familiar with and equally able to use. For activists that did not have social media or cellular devices––community organizing proved to be effective and accessible, as well. Bangladeshi feminists were deliberate in being accessible but also protective of their members in the fight to end sexual assault on public transportation. By meeting online or in-person, with spokespersons for the groups, they were able to write petitions and raise funds. Collectively the group agreed to place the funds towards a “Women’s Only Bus-Service,” which were fully operational and accessible to anyone who needed them. Additionally, they wrote to legislature, demanding reforms be made to the law––outlawing sexual assault and abuse. Which was granted, thus becoming the first mandate outlawing rape in the history of Bangladesh (Das, 2016).
On the other hand, #MeToo activists, such as Alyssa Milano took on social media platforms, not as a means of mobilization but stratification; however, not intentionally. To put it in perspective, Alyssa Milano (and other women like her) is white, which comes with inherent privileges, yet on top of that––she is also rich and a celebrity. Thus, setting precedent for inaccessibility. Simply put, the forefront action of famous women taking responsibility for #MeToo’s trending, puts many resources on the other side of the glass ceiling. Meaning women of color and people of marginalized identities needs are left at the bottom of the ladder, while white, neoliberal feminists are more easily able to climb ahead and break through.
Frankly, women of color are disproportionally affected by sexual assault and harassment; leaving black women to ask, when will ‘Me Too” become ‘We Too,’ (Jones, 2019). In fact, per 100,000 workers, black women were three times more likely to be harassed in the workplace than white women (Ulus, 2018). Yet it is the resources of white, financially liberated women that are being placed at the forefront of #MeToo. To be clear, neoliberal feminists tend to mobilize resources, such as time, money, and
even the justice system. Which are often resources that people in the United States have inequal access to, particularly in discussions of race and class (Donegan, 2018). Particularly when discussing the criminal justice system, which has a history for mistreating black women. For instance, for every black woman who reports sexual violence, at least 15 black women do not report (Jones, 2019). Further, to date, white, neoliberal feminists have effectively mobilized their time, energy, and money to benefit themselves––leading to their role at the center of the movement––granting inclusivity to few marginalized voices. Exploiting such narratives later for monetary and cultural capital. #MeToo has become corporatized, pandering to potential consumers instead of promoting justice. As a result, the #MeToo movement reflects the bourgeois’ needs who have the resources and means to prosecute or seek justice through the legal system; that was not designed to benefit the marginalized in the first place.
fRa MING THE I SSUE : CONTINUING ‘W RONG TOOLS , R IGHT T HEORY ’
Framing Theory, a phenomenon coined by scholars Benford and Snow (2000) involves the social construction of a societal happening. Moreover, it is in the way mass media sources, political figures, or other social actors present a social issue as a means to garner support (Benford & Snow, 2000). Perception and deception come to play when movement recruitment takes place; and messaging is everything. To gain a healthy following, movement organizers tend to stress different parts of their cause to appeal to different types of people. Through both Nari and #MeToo, one may observe the ways by which these two movements, similar in cause differ in applying their framing techniques. Nari’s framing techniques were not too complicated. Given Bangladesh’s history with women, the majority of Bangladeshi women are not shy when it comes to fighting for their rights. So, the vast majority of women actively participate in the social, cultural, economic, and political activities for which they need public transport to meet up the daily necessities (Das, 2016). Given their recent, silent history of feminist activism, it’s no surprise women in Bangladesh did not hesitate after learning fortythree percent of women had reported being sexually assaulted in public (Moitra, et. al, 2020); particularly on public transportation. Similarly, to #MeToo, female commuters created a digital space where women felt comfortable sharing their experiences. Also, the women responsible for facilitating such discussions were well-educated and members of the middle class (Das, 2016). However, they used this platform to enlist new members by using narrative to create a collective sense of belonging and raise awareness (Moitra, et. al, 2020). Their cause was put up front as ‘what you see, is what you get.’ Whereas #MeToo told a different story.
The trouble is most white, neoliberal feminists do not consciously comprehend why their methods of employment are problematic. Nevertheless, that does not mean they should not be critiqued. To put it best, #MeToo was not merely framed as ‘inclusive’ it was advertised. To be clear, white, neoliberal feminists employed the west’s most elite, high profile, and wealthy women as the face of #MeToo’s brand. The movement cared more about visibility through cultural capital that neoliberal feminists further marginalized communities of color by advertising #MeToo as a safe haven. However, due to the nature of neoliberalism, women of color and people of marginalized identities’ narratives were simply used as leverage. In other words, a means to gain cultural capital and appear ‘intersectional.’ Further implicating other less fortunate groups, whose narratives would simply serve as leverage for profit. Then forcing them to resort to other movements––less specific to their cause, but rather branded identity.
CONCLUSION & fIN a L T HOUGHTS fOR SUCCESS
In short summary, identifying the problems associated with the role of neoliberal feminism in #MeToo is a major feat. However, comparatively analyzing Nari: Mahila Bus Service Limited, a movement similar in cause, yet differing in approach allows for reflection. As such, while neoliberalism is certainly not a new phenomenon, neoliberal feminism is. Through this paper, it is clear such feminism has no place in a women’s movement. Tarana Burke’s ‘Me Too’ originated with the promise of powerful, effective mobilization. Otherwise, a movement for all women, striving to dismantle sexual violence for all. Finally, the #MeToo movement’s intersectional failure is rooted in the resources mobilized by white, neoliberal feminists (time, energy, and money) to benefit themselves (Mohanty, 1984). Nearly the Movement fails to become intersectional when the resources mobilized are not accessible to all identities. In a world where our privilege is so public, it is easy to wonder if posting or purchasing is all privileged activists are doing. At its best, #MeToo has exposed male entitlement within our culture. This is important; however, it is not enough for survival and longevity. White, neoliberal feminists have yet to mobilize their most crucial resource––privilege.
Modeling t H e eFF ects o F d e HY dration on c ellular g rowt H and wound r e Pair
e mma dando
Major: Bioengineering
Class of 2022
ABout the work
Dehydration is a common problem among athletes and the elderly, both of whom get injured more frequently than the average adult. Dehydration has been linked to reduced circulation, a reduced amount of water being absorbed into the cellular matrix, increased inflammation, decreased blood pressure, decreased volume of plasma, increased heart rate, decreased cellular density, and increase adhesion constant, depending on the severity and duration of dehydration. A comprehensive and functioning model describing the impacts of dehydration on tissue growth could be used when studying and designing treatment plans for groups vulnerable to dehydration and to inform decisions on environments for growing cell cultures and tissue in vitro. Previous models have described hydration and water replacement in the human body or the process of tissue growth or wound repair. This model integrates the effects of dehydration with the parameters of wound repair to create a more comprehensive model. This resulting model is a combination and modification of a continuum and a partial differential equation model. The continuum model is modified to consider more of the effects of dehydration on the tissue with the intent to increase the accuracy of the model. The overlapping parameters and relationships are used to link the models together. The combined model is then modified with unitless parameters that represent the severity and duration of dehydration to create the final model. The model found that while the simulated subject is fully hydrated, intralayer elastic couplings are the largest factor that increases cell density, being to a power of nine. The influence of the tangential diffusion of cells is only to a power of one and comparatively uninfluential. The grouped effect of cell crowding and cell synthesis and apoptosis to decrease cellular density is to a power of negative nine, so mathematically it balances out the effect of the elastic couplings. The influence of the tangential velocity of cells is the next most influential component to decrease the cellular density, at a power of five. During severe dehydration, the cell crowding component and the elastic component changed by a power of four, the cell crowding component becoming less negative and the elastic couplings component increasing. Both the tangential diffusion and tangential velocity decreased by a power of two. Unexpectedly, the cellular density changed very little with varying simulations of dehydration. Despite this, the model shows that dehydration slows the rate of wound healing and it suggests that the severity of dehydration is more detrimental than the duration of dehydration.
INTRODUCTION
The impacts of dehydration on cellular growth have been studied, but not formed into a computational model that could inform medical treatments and in vitro experiments that involve growing tissue [1]-[5]. Dehydration is defined as a reduction of the total concentration of water in the body, such that the body weight is reduced [6]. Acute and chronic forms of dehydration can cause a variety of symptoms [6],[7]. Mild to moderate dehydration is common in athletes and the elderly [4]. Both groups are also more likely than the average population to get injured [4],[8],[9]. A comprehensive and functioning model describing the impacts of dehydration on tissue growth could be used when studying and designing treatment plans for groups vulnerable to dehydration and to inform decisions on environments for growing cell cultures and tissue in vitro. The expected model will seek to combine, simplify, and modify two computational model: a continuum model and a partial differential equation model [1],[2],[3]. Due to the composition of the two computational models, which will act as a base for the combined or resulting model, the resulting computational model is a set of ordinary differential equations. The resulting model has the same limitations as the continuum model and the partial differential equation model. Any areas where the limitations of the two models overlap could be areas of concern, as any errors may be compounded. Physiologically, the final model references the known role of dehydration on inflammation [5],[10],[11], circulation [4],[5], and the extracellular matrix [1],[2],[4]. The final model highlights and helps explain the differences between wound repair while the patient is healthy and while the patient is dehydrated, which is of medical significance as it could help inform medical opinions on wound care and as a factor in medical studies on wound repair [4],[5],[12],[13].
This project is done via computational modeling, due to the unfeasibility and invasiveness of any other method. This project studies the movement and growth of living cells, which is difficult to study experimentally. Biopsies could be used, to a limited extent. However, in order to control for variables, such as medical conditions, lifestyle factors, and age, each subject would have to be biopsied multiple times. This still would not have perfect comparability, as the biopsy would be a slightly different area each time. Additionally, as the study involves wound repair, taking repeated biopsies of the area could slow the healing of the wound by damaging the scab or enlarging the wound itself. There are, to the knowledge of this paper, no scans that could be used over the course of the study that would provide the required information.
This model focuses on the impact of dehydration on wound repair, specifically seeking to determine the differences between wound repair in a healthy patient and wound repair in a dehydrated patient. Previous work on this subject includes two
computational models. One model [1],[2] describes cell density by modeling the tissue as a compressible fluid in a two-dimensional continuum model with the extracellular matrix as a vector array. The final equation of which is shown in Equation 1. The continuum model simulates the intralayer elastic couplings, the adhesion of cells, the forces of the lamellipodia, and the rate of apoptosis and replacement of cells within a cell sheet. Specifically, the left side is the derivative of the cell density in terms of time. The first term on the right is the ratio of the residual bulk modulus to the adhesion of the epithelial cells (κ) multiplied by the change in cellular density (∆ρ). The second term is the growth factor of the equation (g(ρ)), which is a function of the cellular density. During cellular expansion there are four boundary conditions, shown in Appendix A. The variables are the same as in Equation 1; additionally, φ is a situationally defined constant and ρ0 is the initial cell density. The model and boundary conditions are based off a series of assumptions. The conditions are assumed to be steady state. The acceleration of each cell is assumed to be negligible compared to its velocity. The model assumes that the cell layer responds passively and instantaneously to any force acted on it. The model also assumes that ρ(x,0) is constant and the initial density is relative to the prestress created by the action of the lamellipod in the interior of the cell sheet at confluence [1],[2]. The second of the two computational models that is used as a base for the resulting model is not a continuum model, but a partial differential equation which is shown in Equation 3. The left side of the equation represents the cellular density derivative over time when the trajectories are always perpendicular to the surface. The terms on the right describe how the cells diffuse tangentially along a tissue surface that is not a straight vector, the influence of tangential velocities of individual cells and the
tangential velocities over the tissue surface, the collective effect of cell crowding or cell spreading, and the rate of change of the number of cells present due to tissue synthesizing cells, respectively. The parameter D is a constant for diffusive flux, ρ symbolizes cellular density, un is the surface velocity’s tangential component, κ is the local mean curvature, vs is the individual cell’s tangential component, t is time, and l is the arc length. In addition to steady state assumptions, the partial differential equation model assumes that the initial cell density distribution and initial radius are arbitrary and subject to a boundary condition of ρ(-π,t) = ρ(π,t). It is assumed that
the cells are subject to a tangential cell velocity field that depends on the length of the cavity wall [3]. These two models will be combined with precedence given to the continuum model. The parameters already in the combined model will be modified to reflect how dehydration effects them based upon a literature review. Specifically, the cellular density decreases [14] and the adhesion constant increases [11], depending on the severity and duration of dehydration. In addition to these impacts, dehydration can reduce circulation [4],[5], prevents enough water from being absorbed into the extracellular matrix [4], increases inflammation [5],[11], decrease blood pressure [7], decreases the volume of plasma [6],[13] and increases the heart rate [12].The relationship between these changes and the modeled parameters has not been well defined in literature.
M aTERI a LS a ND METHODS
The project is done via computational modeling, specifically, a continuum model. The general pattern of cell density change within wound healing can be defined as cell spreading or cellular growth in terms of the literature. Figure 1 shows how dehydration impacts the physiology of the body based off of literature defined relationships. Literature defines this growth in terms of logarithmic growth and partial differential equations. The creation of the final mathematical model is shown in Figure 2. The final mathematical model is made up of a primary linear first order partial differential equation and four boundary equations.
Dehydration
Increased epithelial adhesion, decreased cellular density
Factors are assumed to not influence the model or to overlap with modeled parameters
Figure 1: The flow diagram showing how dehydration impacts the body and the model.
The equations are originally based off of two computational models, whose final equations are shown in Equations 1 and 3. The continuum model shown in Equation 1 and 2 was used as the primary model and the secondary model, shown in Equation 3 was used to modify the continuum model. The original continuum model describes the main forces that control cell migration of a cell sheet. Specifically, the intralayer elastic couplings, the adhesion of cells, the forces of
Continuum Model [1]
Partial Derivative Model [3]
Combined Model without Dehydration Modifiers
Combined Model with Dehydration Modifiers
Figure 2: The flow diagram showing how the final mathematical model is derived. The equations are Equations 1, 2, 5, and 6.
the lamellipodia, and the rate of apoptosis and replacement of cells [1],[2]. The secondary model describes how cells diffuse tangentially along a tissue surface that is not a straight vector, the influence of tangential velocities of individual cells and the tangential velocities over the tissue surface, the collective effect of cell crowding or cell spreading, and the rate of change of the number of cells present due to tissue synthesizing cells [3]. The additional factors of the secondary model are incorporated into the primary model by modifying the growth of the cellular density segment of the continuum model’s main equation. The growth segment is assumed to be Equation 2 during cellcolony expansion, which would be present during wound repair [1],[2]. The equation is assumed to be logistical growth in this model during tissue growth. The parameter ρk is the limiting cell density and α is a situationally defined growth constant. This equation already has some factors that overlap with the factors of the secondary model, namely the rate of cell growth and apoptosis and ratio of the cell density and the limiting cell density. To simplify the final equation and prevent from overweighting these factors in the final equation, they are assumed to be analogous. Specifically, the factors from the continuum model that are assumed to be analogous to the partial differential equation model are, respectively, the rate of change of the number of cells present due to tissue synthesizing cells is assumed to be analogous to the rate of apoptosis and replacement of cells and collective effect of cell crowding or cell spreading is assumed to be analogous to the ratio of the cell density and the limiting cell density. The secondary model is not a continuum model, so it looks at the movement of individual cells and the surface area in two separate parameters [3]. The continuum model lumps these areas into the movement of the tissue as a whole [1],[2]. To allow for more direct comparability between the results of this model and the continuum model that serves as a base, the parameters for the cell and surface area will be lumped together. The additional factors were added to the equation. The final growth equation is shown in Equation 4. The parameters are
Figure 3: The simulation model for the parameters and the dehydration modifiers. The severity (bet) and duration (tau) modifiers are assigned a value of X, as this is changed in each simulation. The other values are from the continuum model [1],[2] and the partial differential model [3].
the same with s being an additional parameter which is the surface that is used in the gradient. This becomes part of the combined model, shown in Equation 5 and 6. Equation 5 has the residual bulk modulus (k) and cellular adhesion (b) combined into a constant, κ. Equation 6 elaborates to show the adhesion constant, which has been shown to be modified by the dehydration [1],[2],[3],[11]. The combined model uses the assumptions that both models used in their own creation, in addition to the ones stated. These assumptions keep the final equation and boundary conditions simple enough to model and analyze.
The factor of dehydration was added to the combined model [1],[2],[3],[11],[14], [15]. The literature review indicated how each of the parameters in the model changes in dehydrated conditions. Specifically, the cellular adhesion of the epithelial layer
increases with dehydration [11] and cellular density decreases with time in and severity of dehydrated conditions [14]. Partially based on models for dehydration, the dehydration factors were added as dimensionless multiplied modifiers for the parameters [1],[2],[3],[15]. The equation is shown in Equation 7. Two dehydration modifiers were used to alter Equation 7. The parameters were modified solely by the severity of dehydration or by the severity and the duration of dehydration [11],[14]. Both modifiers are defined as being from 0 to 1, with the lower bound being noninclusive. The severity modifier is labeled β. Α value of 1 is defined as normal hydration. A lower value is defined as some level of dehydration. The duration modifier is labeled as τ. A value of 1 is defined as no time spent dehydrated. A lower value is defined as some time spent dehydrated. For both modifiers, a value of 0 is assumed to be fatal. This approach assumes a direct and linear correlation that impacts the parameter with even the slightest dehydration and does not have a limit to how much it changes. Dehydration has been linked to other symptoms as well. Depending on severity and duration of dehydration it reduces circulation [4],[5], prevents enough water from being absorbed into the extracellular matrix [4], increases inflammation [5],[11], decrease blood pressure [7], decreases the volume of plasma [6],[13] and increases the heart rate [12]. The relationship between these changes and the modeled parameters has not been well defined [4],[6],[7],[11],[12],[13]. This model assumes that the factors either do not impact the rate of wound repair or are described by the change in the parameters that are modeled.
The final equation was translated to a SIMULINK model and MATLAB code. The general code for the input values is in Appendix H. The code allows the parameters to be easily changed and the output to be captured. All but the created dehydration modifiers are filled with test values from the two models the model is derived from and a literature review, as shown in Appendix H. This allows the model to be run and validated based on standard averages and general trends. Additionally, the boundary conditions was coded into the model [16],[17]. The SIMULINK model is shown in Figure 3. The model uses a node as the sink to capture the values in the code for analysis. The source used is a constant, as the model assumes that the internal cellular factors that dictate cell and tissue growth do not change as the wound heals. The model will be validated by using a set of literature values and various values of dehydration. The comparison of the different outputs should reveal that the rate of change of cellular density over time decreases and thus show a decline in the rate of wound healing as dehydration increases in severity and duration. The final model
Figure 4: The results of the model when run to model fully hydrated conditions. The tau and beta were both set to one. The other parameters are the test values declared in Appendix H. This is used as a control for the dehydrated simulations to be run against. It is also used to compare against the continuum and partial differential model to test the accuracy of the model. This model shows that cell crowding and elastic couplings components have the largest influence on the model. The rho value shows that the cellular density of this model is higher than expected.
has six nodes to capture the model’s final results and to allow the analysis of the components of the model.
There is one node for each of the four grouped segments of the equation that are combined via addition and subtraction to make the final model. There is also one node to look at the cellular density and one to observe the derivative of the cellular density in terms of time.
Figure 5: The results of the model when run to evaluate the effects of changing the duration modifier. The beta was set to one, the tau was set to 0.9. The other parameters are the test values declared in Appendix H. The simulation shows the same pattern of decreasing values and slowed wound repair as Appendices B, D, and E.
RESULTS
Figure 6: The results of the model when run to simulate acute dehydration. The beta was set to 0.1, the tau was set to 0.9. The other parameters are the test values declared in Appendix H. This simulation shows that acute dehydration does not have the same level of impact as severe dehydration, but it does decrease the components. This indicates that wound healing would be slowed, but not significantly.
The simulation was tested in three ways in addition to a control. The control was to run the model at fully hydrated values. The first type of modification was changing the severity constant while keeping the duration constant at 1. The second type was changing the duration constant while keeping the severity constant at 1. The first two types were not based on anatomical values. Instead they were controlled attempts to model the impact of each variable on the model as a whole. The third type involved changing both parameters. These values were not based on experiments. Instead they were based on theoretical situations and assigned theoretical values. This created a possible source of error where any situations that were not anatomically possible could have created results that were not anatomically possible and did not reflect physiological relationships. Despite the lack of physiological relevance, the trials proved that the modifiers were influencing the model independently and the model produced a single type of output.
The simulation at fully hydrated values is the closest to the models that were used to derive this model. The resulting lines all reach a visually steady state, with minor oscillations found when the data is examined. The node that is attached to the part of the model that represents the elastic couplings between layers shows that the steady state is a large, positive value. Based on the simulations, no change smaller than a
Figure 7: The results of the model when run to simulate severe dehydration during a long period of time. The beta was set to 0.1, the tau was set to 0.1. The other parameters are the test values declared in Appendix H. This simulation is slower to reach steady state than any other simulation. The change in the steady state values shows that the rate of wound healing would be slower than when fully hydrated, but faster than when acutely dehydrated.
factor of ten has any notable effect. Comparatively to the other values, the elastic couplings have a large influence on the change of density over time. The part of the model that represents the effects of cell crowding and the synthesis and apoptosis of cells resulted in a large, negative value. Both of these factors having this level of influence makes sense with the continuum model, as they are some of the primary factors considered by the continuum model [1],[2]. Additionally, it has been indicated that dehydration increases adhesion forces, which would impact the influence of the elastic couplings, and decreases the overall cellular density, which would impact the grouped effect of cell crowding and cell synthesis [11]. The part of the model that represents tangential diffusion along non-straight lines is a small, positive value at the steady state. Compared to the rest of the model, tangential diffusion has a small effect on the change of cell density over time. The part of the model that represents the tangential velocity of cells and tissue returns a medium, positive value at steady state. Tangential velocity appears to have less influence on the model than the elastic couplings or cell crowding, but notably more than the tangential diffusion. These factors were only considered by the partial differential equation model [3]. The steady state value of the cellular density, ρ, was approximately 2.3 * 104 cells/mm3. when rounded to accommodate for oscillations. This is larger than the upper end of the cellular density found in the continuum model, which ranged from 1000 to 9000 cells/mm3 [1],[2]. Mathematically, this difference is partially accounted for by the
Figure 8: The results of the model when run to simulate moderate dehydration for a medium length of time. The beta was set to 0.5, the tau was set to 0.5. The other parameters are the test values declared in Appendix H. This simulation’s values are show that the moderate dehydration would allow wound’s to repair faster than during severe or acute dehydration.
addition of the tangential diffusion along non-straight lines and the tangential velocity of cells and tissue. Generally, adding more elements makes models more accurate [2],[15], but some factors may have been overweighted in the creation of this model due to unintentional overlap.
To test the behavior of the model and the influence of the individual modifiers, two sets of trials were run where one modifier was set to a value of 1 and the other was set to 0.1, 0.5, and 0.9. The severe value was chosen as the largest value that does not exceed one decimal place, the mild was chosen as the smallest value that does not exceed one decimal place, and moderate was chosen as the halfway point. There is no direct physiological correlation, however severe is assumed to be the most the human body can take before dying and mild is assumed to be the smallest amount of dehydration that will impact the body. All of these were physiologically unfeasible trials as they would involve either a person being some degree dehydrated while not having been dehydrated for any length of time or being dehydrated for some length of time while not suffering from dehydration. Both sets of trials maintained the same type of behavior that was exhibited in the fully hydrated simulation. For both sets of trials, the farther the dehydration constants got from fully hydrated values, the lower the eventual steady state values of the equations were. This matches the expected trends from literature [4],[6],[7],[11],[12],[13]. The lowering of the modifiers, for the most part, produced similar behaviors and steady states, as shown in Appendices B, D, E, and Figure 5. When one modifier was set to 0.5, the differences were more apparent as shown in Appendices C and F. The trial where the duration modifier was
set to 0.5 showed larger values for all of the components of the equation than the trial where the severity modifier was set to 0.5.
There were three simulations where both modifiers were altered. The first modeled the subject during acute dehydration, severe in duration and short in time. For this situation, the severity modifier was set to 0.1 and the duration modifier was set to 0.9. This is shown in Figure 6. The resulting cellular density was very similar to the fully hydrated value. The derivative of the cellular density in terms of time, the tangential diffusion along non-straight lines, the elastic couplings between layers, and the tangential velocity of cells and tissues were all decreased. The effect of cell crowding was increased to a less negative number. This may be because a section of tissue with lower cellular density has less issues with cell crowding. The second simulation was of the body during severe dehydration after a long period of time. For this situation, the severity and duration modifiers were set to 0.1. This is shown in Figure 7. The modifiers significantly slowed the exponential curves, so it took until approximately 1.4 seconds to achieve the approximate steady state that the fully hydrated model achieved in approximately 0.1 seconds. The modifiers also decreased all the values except the cell crowding, which increased, and the cellular density, which changed very little. The third simulation was of a person who had been moderately dehydrated for a medium length of time. This had both modifiers set to 0.5 and is shown in Figure 8. The graphs show the same pattern as Figure 7, though not as severely. In both simulations where both modifiers were set to the same value, the cellular density did not drop significantly, which would have been expected with the established literature correlation. However, the derivative of the cellular density in terms of time did, which matches the slowed rate of wound healing that was predicted by literature [4],[5],[6],[7],[11],[12],[13].
The model can be characterized as exponential. Each component exhibits either an exponential growth or decay curve. The curve that represents the cellular density, the tangential diffusion along non-straight lines, the effect of intralayer elastic couplings, and the effect of the tangential velocities of individual cells and the tissue as a whole are a growth curve. The grouped effect of cell crowding and cell synthesis and apoptosis is an exponential decay curve. The derivative of cellular density in terms of time is most closely characterized as a bi-exponential model. The initial spike is brief, then decays to a steady state value that is greater than the initial value, which is most clearly shown in Figure 7. Based on the resulting graphs when the modifiers are changed from fully hydrated values, the most effected segments are the grouped effect of cell crowding and the effect of cell synthesis and apoptosis and the tangential diffusion along nonstraight lines. When the modifiers are altered enough, the curve delays and the peak seen in the final value widens.
DISCUSSION a ND SUMM a RY
The final model and its results demonstrate the impact of dehydration on otherwise healthy tissue growth. The relative influence of various factors of cellular growth were shown in the value of each factor during the fully hydrated simulation. Specifically, after the initial exponential curve the relationship of the steady state values can be used to determine a general relationship between the components of the equation and the final cellular density. While fully hydrated, intralayer elastic couplings are the largest factor that increases cell density, being to a power of nine. A correlation has been shown between higher cell density and higher elastic expression within tissue [18]. This does not guarantee that a higher elastic expression would indicate that the cell density should be higher there, but it suggests the possibility. The influence of the tangential diffusion of cells is comparatively small being only to a power of one [19]. The area chosen was chosen for mathematical simplicity, it is possible that a different surface area would change the level of influence of this factor. The grouped effect of cell crowding and cell synthesis and apoptosis to decrease cellular density has an approximately equivalent amount of effect as the elastic couplings, being to a power of negative nine. The nature of wound repair is likely the reason why this factor is so large. The need to replace cells would be increased, but the number of cells that had been damaged would also be increased. Dehydration reduces circulation, thus reducing the nutrients that would reach the cells, which could decrease the rate of cell synthesis [4]. Additionally, the process of wound healing has been shown to be contingent on cell movement and the shape of the cell groupings [19]. These combined factors together could cause the cell crowding component to decrease cell density by such a large amount. The influence of the tangential velocity of cells is the next most influential component to decrease the cellular density. Physiologically, it’s likely that the movement of the cells allows them to spread out and decrease the cellular density at any one point [19]. Mathematically, the cell crowding component and elastic forces appear to effectively cancel each other out in all of the simulations. This leaves the tangential diffusion and the tangential velocity to determine the change in cellular density.
The simulations that only change one of the dehydration modifiers were used to determine the relative level of influence of the two modifiers. The change of both factors independently produced the same general trends for the components of the equation. The effect of crowding became less negative. It is possible hydration, to some extent, disrupts the natural movement and shape changes that are necessary for a wound to repair itself [19]. Cellular adhesion increases with dehydration, which could change how the movement of cells and their extrusion [11],[20]. The
value of tangential diffusion and tangential velocity decreased. Both are types of cell migration, so any factor that would impact cell movement would impact them both [20]. The same increase in cellular adhesion that could impact the effect cell crowding could impact the tangential diffusion and velocity components [11]. Additionally, dehydration decreases circulation, which reduces the amount of nutrients [4]. This could impact any cell movement. The value for the elastic couplings decreased. This could be due to the increase in adhesion forces or the possible correlation between cell density and elastic couplings [11],[18],[19]. While the same trends appearing with both individual simulations could indicate an error in the model, the correlation between the factors makes sense, as the factors both are indicative of the effect of dehydration and generally work in tandem. The correlation being due to a modeling error is less likely because of the differences between results. While when one value was set to 0.1 or 0.9 the results were identical, they were not always. When the severity modifier was set to 0.5, both the cell crowding factor and the derivative of the cellular density had higher initial values and the rest of the factors has higher steady states than when the time constant was set to the same, as shown in Appendices C and F. This could indicate that the severity of dehydration is more important than the duration of dehydration.
The relative influence of the equation components on the change in cellular density due to dehydration can be examined by how much the factors change between fully hydrated values and when the modifiers are both set to 0.1, simulating severe dehydration. The cell crowding component and the elastic component changed by the largest factor. Both changed by a power of four, the cell crowding component becoming less negative and the elastic couplings component increasing. Mathematically, the two cancel each other out. Both the tangential diffusion and tangential velocity decreased by a power of two.
The results for the cellular density were unexpected. When the model was run with the dehydration modifiers set to fully hydrated values, the cellular density was higher than the upper end of the range found by the continuum model by approximately a power of ten [1],[2]. Whether this is due to a modeling error or a different set of initial conditions is unclear. When run to simulate dehydrated conditions, the cellular density did not change significantly between levels of dehydration. Dehydration has been determined to decrease the cellular density due to the change in circulation and diameter of blood vessels [14]. The minimal variance could be due to a modeling error. The model relies on a series of simplifications and assumptions. Either one could have been made incorrectly or multiple assumptions could have compounded an error. The model could also have some degree of truncation errors from the computation, which prevents the decrease from being as large. The model never reaches a full steady state,
so the oscillations could hide a smaller decrease. Alternatively, no literature could be found that gives an exact range of possible human cellular densities, but it is possible that the cellular density can only change within certain parameters.
The results of the model provide some illumination on the differences between wound repair while hydrated and dehydrated. Previous work on this subject has shown the cellular density decreases and the adhesion constant increases, depending on the severity and duration of dehydration [11],[14]. In addition, dehydration can reduce circulation [4],[5], prevents enough water from being absorbed into the extracellular matrix [4], increases inflammation [5],[11], decrease blood pressure [7], decreases the volume of plasma [6],[13] and increases the heart rate [12], which creates an overall slower process for wound healing [1],[2]. This model suggests some of the ways that these factors influence and slow the rate of wound repair. By dividing the rate of wound repair into components the effect of the factors can be better observed and explained. The model shows that the severity of dehydration is more detrimental to the rate of wound repair than the duration of dehydration in some situations.
Future tests and simulations could further validate or be used to refine the model. One way would be to run a test under the conditions modeled and compare the end states of both tests. This would likely be unfeasible. The constants could be checked and standardized using the same method that the continuum model used, as shown in Appendix G. The method uses a set of equations that could be used to optimize the constants of the equation. Where zρ and zd is summed over all points and j begins at one. The goal would be to minimize z = zp + zd [1]. If similar models could be found a comparison could be used, similarly to how the simulation could be used with experimentally gathered data.
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX b
Appendix B: The results of the model when run to evaluate the effects of changing the severity modifier. The tau was set to one, the beta was set to 0.1. The other parameters are the test values declared in Figure 3.
APPENDIX C
Appendix C: The results of the model when run to evaluate the effects of changing the severity modifier. The tau was set to one, the beta was set
to 0.5. The other parameters are the test values declared in Appendix H.
APPENDIX D
Appendix D: The results of the model when run to evaluate the effects of changing the severity modifier. The tau was set to one, the beta was set to 0.9. The other parameters are the test values declared in Appendix H.
APPENDIX E
Appendix E: The results of the model when run to evaluate the effects of changing the duration modifier. The beta was set to one, the tau was set to 0.1. The other parameters are the test values declared in Appendix H.
APPENDIX F
Appendix F: The results of the model when run to evaluate the effects of changing the duration modifier. The beta was set to one, the tau was set to 0.5. The other parameters are the test values declared in Appendix H.
APPENDIX G
z ρ = ∑ρrmsj
zd = ∑drmsj
APPENDIX h
clc;clear;
%Specify parameters
%parameter values would change depening on exact sample being modeled
%values are test values based on literature research and assumption kappa = 13700; % (micro*m)^2/h - residual bulk modulus/adhesion constant rho_init = 0.004876; %cells/?m2
%rho = ; %cellular density - thing being found
%chng_rho = rho - rho_init; %change in cellular density - thing being found al = 0.0913; %growth constant rho_k = exp(1.158)*rho_init; %limiting cell density
D = 0.0001; %cellular diffusion constant - literature - assumed 0.0001 for now
SX = 1; %gradient(rho); %surface gradient of rho - sample value
%dehydration variables
%The variables would change in each simulation to model different
%situations with different levels of severity and durations of dehydration bet = X; %start 1 tau = X; %start 1
%Simulate the model - unfinished psuedo-code
%The code will run the model, capture the output, and plot the output.
a = sim(‘DehydratedWoundModel’);
%the following plots all five outputs using simulation data inspector plot(a.yout);
APPENDIX I
Initial Equations to be combined to get Equation 7:
LGBTQ+ youth are at an increased risk for suicide due to a variety of stressors that are rooted in stigma and intolerance of their sexual and/or gender identities. Combatting LGBTQ+ youth suicide requires decreasing stigma and addressing existing socioeconomic issues through public policy, but that will take political will and time. In contrast, cultivating resilience can occur immediately, help mediate the negative effects of these struggles, and create protective factors against suicide. I discuss existing suicide prevention framework, and practices that cultivate resilience through social support, self-care, and finding meaning. I also suggest examining social media, especially Tik Tok, to deliver resilience enhancing education and to expand literature to identify specific, efficacious resilience practices within the LGBTQ+ community to help reduce the tragically high rate of suicide and suicide ideation.
INTRODUCTION:
R ISK faCTORS fOR SUICIDE IN LGBTQ+ YOUTH
In 2021, the Trevor Project (TP), a crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer & questioning (LGBTQ) people under 25, released findings from their National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health. The study, which surveyed roughly 35,000 LGBTQ youth (1324) across the United States, found that 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year, with transgender and nonbinary youth populations having a rate over 50%.1 The Trevor Project’s data corroborates with a systematic review of the LGBTQ youth suicide, which found transgender youth were 5.87 times more likely to attempt suicide compared to heterosexual youth, and overall, LGBTQ youth were 3.5
times more likely to attempt suicide.2
Risk factors for suicide in LGBTQ+ youth stem from general stressors along with lack of acceptance and intolerance that leads to discrimination, anxiety, depression, bullying, self-harm, substance abuse, isolation, conversion therapy, food insecurity, homelessness, internalized homophobia, and a lack of outlets to receive support to mitigate these issues.1,3-7 Minority stress theory helps explain the unique stressors faced by the LGBT community and the adverse mental and physical health effects that result and contribute to suicide ideation.8 Some risk factors for suicide are experienced more by certain groups within LGBTQ youth.1 LGBTQ youth of color endure additional stressors on the basis of race, especially Black and Indigenous LGBTQ youth.1,8 This is seen where TP found that while 72% and 62% of LGBTQ youth experienced symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder and depression respectively, LGBTQ youth of color were less likely to have access to mental healthcare and more likely to face discrimination.1,8 Transgender & nonbinary youth also experience additional stressors due to gender identity compared to cisgender youth, living with greater food insecurity and being subjected to higher rates of conversion therapy.1, 8 To help mitigate these challenges, TP and other crisis lines are available to support the immediate mental health crises of LGBTQ+ youth.
LGBTQ+ YOUTH SUICIDE pREVENTION fRa MEWORK
The National Suicide Prevention Hotline (NSPH), The Trevor Project (TP), and Crisis Text Line (CTL) are three notable suicide prevention crisis lines. While the NSPH and TP offer both text and call support, CTL is entirely text-based.9,10 Of the three, TP is specifically tailored for LGBTQ youth.1 However, in CTL’s 2020 annual report, they noted that 45% of overall conversations were from LGBTQ+ identifying people, and 75% of overall conversations were from people 24 and younger.9 While not all conversations on this platform are suicide related, the issues often discussed are risk factors for suicide such as depression, anxiety, loneliness, and self-harm.3,4,5,9
Assessing the efficacy of some of these platforms remains a challenge. A systematic literature review of the effectiveness of crisis lines found that it was difficult to assess the effectiveness of crisis lines at preventing suicide in the long run, though in the immediate, results supported that these types of services were useful.10 However, there is not much information that deliberately measures the impact of crisis lines at stopping LGBTQ+ suicide.
Another important factor to consider in the context of LGBTQ+ Youth Suicide Prevention is the impact of public policy. When same-sex marriage was legalized in 2015, suicide ideation amongst LGBTQ youth decreased.7,11 Conversely, the same
is true, as anti-LGBTQ legislation can increase risk for suicidality by encouraging stigma.6,7 Therefore, legislation focused on affirming LGBTQ+ identity and alleviating the socioeconomic struggles affecting the health of LGBTQ+ youth would greatly benefit LGBTQ+ suicide prevention, but these efforts are challenged by the recent slew of anti-LGBTQ legislation.12
R ESILIENCE pRaCTICES & pROTECTIVE faCTORS aG a INST SUICIDE
Resilience is commonly defined as the process of positively adapting or coping despite the stressors and adversity one experiences.13 A person’s social circles, selfcare practices, and sense of meaning compose important roles in their individual resilience.13,14 Having and practicing resilience helps buffer the negative effects of stress and stress related disorders, such as anxiety and depression, through biopsychosocial mechanisms, resulting in better well-being and secondarily reduce the risk of suicide.13-15 The extra benefit of resilience is its plasticity, meaning it is not static, and can be cultivated.13
Community resilience, known as the strategies by which a community helps foster and maintain well-being, is also important in the context of LGBTQ+ youth, as individual resilience can be limited by minority stressors.14 For LGBT youth, community resilience is affected by visibility, role models, community values, and access to LGBT specific resources.14 To best maximize the protective factors that result from resilience, both individual and community resilience must be cultivated. I provide a non-exhaustive list of specific individual resilience practices along with protective factors against suicide in Table 1(page 17). Some of the resilience practices are general, while others are LGBTQ+ specific and relate to the tenets of community resilience. The relationship between the protective factors against suicide, both interpersonal and intrapersonal, with resilience practices is imperative to highlight. Often times, what falls under the umbrella term of resilience directly affects well-documented suicide protective factors.6,13
Resilience practices can also occur between the pillars simultaneously. For example, if someone were a part of an LGBTQ+ identity organization which hosted run clubs or meditation times, the impact of such practices on the overall well-being and resilience of that person would be especially impactful.
Noting the possible mixed effects of navigating faith-based organizations for
Ta B le 1: Resilience Practices & Suicide Protective Factors
resilience category social self-care meaning suicide protective factors NonExhaustive List of Resilience Practices
• Finding affirming friends and connecting with supportive family members. 1, 3, 4, 13, 14, 16
• Joining organizations & support groups that relate to individual interests and reflect individual identity. 1, 13, 14, 16
• Having access to supportive, affirming physical & mental healthcare providers. 3, 4, 13, 14, 16
• Crisis Lines like Trevor Project, Crisis Text Line, & National Suicide Prevention Hotline. 10
• Running, weight lifting, yoga, or any form of exercise. 1, 13
• Getting appropriate amounts of sleep and resting. 13
• Meditation & breathing exercises. 13
• Eating nutritional foods. 1,13
• Doing an activity that brings joy and offers a form of expression: reading, drawing, writing, creating etc. 1, 13
• Cognitive reframing of stressors. 13
• Connecting with a spiritual group, cultural org, or faith-based organization. 1, 13
• Volunteering and supporting others. 13
• Developing dreams and ambitions for one’s life. 13, 16
• Actively recognizing and building selfworth. 1, 13, 16
• Participating in LGBTQ rights activism. 3, 14, 16
• Availability of effective, culturally appropriate physical and mental healthcare providers. 3, 4, 6, 13, 14, 16
• Cultural and religious beliefs that discourage suicide. 1, 3, 4, 6, 13
• Acceptance and support from family, friends, and community; having pronouns respected. 1, 3, 4, 6, 14
• Positive role models and LGBTQ visibility. 3, 6, 14
LGBTQ+ youth is important as well. Engaging with such an organization is not required to find meaning or community, but it is a commonly suggested practice in resilience education. To maximize the protective factors against suicide for LGBTQ+ youth, careful consideration of faith-based organizations’ affirmation of LGBTQ+ identity is imperative. Religious institutions have systemically oppressed LGBTQ+ people through encouraging intolerance, discrimination, conversion therapy, and contributing to sexual abuse.1,17 These actions harm the well-being of LGBTQ+ youth and contribute to LGBTQ+ suicidality.1-7
WaYS TO CULTIVaTE R ESILIENCE IN LGBTQ+ YOUTH
A systematic review of school-based resilience promotion education found students had more self-efficacy, increased usage and effectiveness of coping skills, and mental health protective factors after receiving resilience enhancing sessions.18 For LGBTQ+ youth, delivery of this education could occur through gay-straight-alliances (GSAs) which already serve as a protective factor.3,19 However, GSAs are not always available. Students of color and students living in the South have significant less access to GSAs, but are also among the greatest students of need to help improve mental health and well-being.20
LGBTQ+ community centers and health clinics can also provide important social support, resources, and care for LGBTQ+ youth, but like school GSAs, these are not always available and can also be dependent upon access to transportation, health insurance, and other socioeconomic resources that LGBTQ+ youth have disparities in.1 Increasing LGBTQ+ cultural competency in health providers and reducing unconscious and conscious biases also remains a crucial, yet ongoing effort.7,21 It is incredibly disheartening when LGBTQ+ youth finally muster the bravery to receive the healthcare they deserve, only to be rejected and invalidated by a practitioner who does not accept their right to exist. In many ways, the rejection and invalidation experienced by LGBTQ+ youth in a health clinic, a vulnerable place that should be safe and nurturing, can severely harm their self-worth and views of themselves, increasing risk of anxiety, depression, and suicide.1,4,6 In contrast, having a health provider that affirms, validates, and supports LGBTQ+ youth identity can cultivate social resilience, also leading to vital healthcare treatments and resources, resulting in improved well-being and increased resilience. 3,4,6,13,14,16 Therefore, it is imperative that in the conversation of LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention, health systems and practitioners fight antiLGBTQ+ sentiment as much as possible, as it will lead to increased resilience and help reduce the risk of suicide in LGBTQ+ youth.
The Internet, specifically social media platforms and online communities, also play an important role in LGBTQ youth resilience and well-being. TP found that for LGBTQ youth, 71% had access to online affirming communities compared to 47% at school and 33% at home.1 Therefore, I believe that delivering resilience enhancing education through the community’s highly utilized social media platforms would significantly help LGBTQ+ youth manage their life’s challenges and create protective factors against suicide. This is corroborated by a study which reviewed social media habits of LGBTQ+ youth, indicating that younger LGBTQ+ people are more likely to use social media to enhance well-being than their older counterparts.22 Specifically, utilization of social media and the Internet helps connect LGBTQ+ youth to information regarding their identities, to feel stronger, to learn, and to have a sense of community.22
Social media can therefore act as a tool for building social support, promote individual resilience enhancing education, and build community resilience for the LGBTQ+ youth community.
One particular app that I implore future research on is Tik Tok. Tik Tok is a newer social media platform whose utilization is not greatly studied in LGBTQ+ youth, but in the Washington Post, columnist Olheiser describes how “Tik Tok has become the soul of the LGBTQ internet.”23 I believe studying LGBTQ+ youth Tik Tok utilization would update existing literature and must be assessed for the application’s ability to promote individual and community resilience. Tik Tok uses an algorithm that connects users to content reflecting their interests, creating LGBTQ visibility, community, and could therefore lead to protective factors against suicide.23 TP’s 2021 survey also found that LGBTQ youth mentioned watching LGBTQ people on Tik Tok and YouTube as a way to find joy, strength, and consequently develop resilience.1 It would also be beneficial to further study this app specifically, along with other highly utilized social media platforms to see how they could be negatively impacting LGBTQ+ youth as well. I also believe more needs to be studied about LGBTQ+ youth utilization of swipebased dating applications (SBDAs) and Grindr. Specifically, Grindr, a location-based app commonly used for hookups, can affect individual’s body image, lead to feelings of objectification, and social comparison.24 SBDA users have higher levels of anxiety and depression, though causality remains uncertain.25 This could be an element that negatively affects both community resilience and individual resilience and well-being of LGBTQ+ youth since these apps allow for LGBTQ+ specific connection. To better explore the impact of resilience practices, social media, SBDAs, and Grindr, I suggest a full list of research suggestions in Table 2 (page 20).
CONCLUSION
Minority stress theory helps explain how societal intolerance manifests into socioeconomic and intrapersonal stressors of LGBTQ+ youth that create risk factors for suicide which public policy and system-approaches could relieve. Ensuring LGBTQ+ have appropriate, culturally competent healthcare is a vital part in this discussion. However, such efforts could require significant time, while the needs of LGBTQ+ youth are immediate. Cultivating resilience in LGBTQ+ youth could serve as an immediate, effective suicide prevention method by encouraging community, fostering meaning, and inculcating self-care practices that lead to protective factors against suicide. Future research should highlight and differentiate the most efficacious resilience practices, and focus on how Tik Tok, SBDAs, and Grindr can affect resilience and suicide ideation, with the guiding principle to stop LGBTQ+ youth suicide.
Ta B le 2: Future Research Suggestions on Resilience & Social Media
research categories
in LG btQ+ Youth
future research Questions
• What are the most efficacious individual resilience practices to reduce minority stress for LGBTQ+ youth?
• How do resilience-based education outcomes differ by race, sexual orientation, & gender identity for LGBTQ+ youth?
• What socioeconomic factors contribute to resilience-based education efficacy for LGBTQ+ youth?
ResilienceBased Practices
Social Media Utilization in LGBTQ+ Youth
• How do LGBTQ+ youth feel about religious institutions and their ability to promote resilience?
• What are examples of LGBTQ+ affirming religious and faith-based organizations?
• What aspects of life contribute most to individual LGBTQ+ youth meaning?
• How does LGBTQ+ culture influence well-being and resiliency in LGBTQ+ youth?
• How do LGBTQ+ youth cope with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation?
• How does Tik Tok affect the well-being of LGBTQ+ youth?
• How does Tik Tok affect suicide ideation and prevention in LGBTQ+ youth?
• How often do LGBTQ+ youth use hookup/dating apps like Grindr, Bumble, and Tinder?
• What effects do Grindr, Bumble, and Tinder have on the well-being and resilience of LGBTQ+ youth?
• Does Grindr usage serve as a risk factor for suicide in GBTQ+ youth?
• How effective is [YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat, Twitter] at promoting resilience enhancing education for LGBTQ+ youth?
• Who are the most important role models on social media for LGBTQ+ youth?
• How do resilience-based education outcomes differ by social media app delivery?
D ISCL a IMER
Studies cited in this paper reflect a variety of acronyms and descriptions to refer to sexual minorities ranging from LGBT, LGBTQ, to LGBTQ+. In order to avoid any confusion or misinterpretation of data, I chose to use the identifiers listed from each study. However, when sharing results of multiple studies and implications in future research, I chose to use the term LGBTQ+.
aCKNOWLEDGEMENT
This paper was supported in part by the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, Ohio. Special thanks to my mentor Melissa K. Thomas, PhD, MSPH, MSA, MCHES, Assistant Professor, Department of Primary Care, OU-HCOM.
Misin F or M ation g one v iral: How PaY walls iMPact t H e
c onsu MP tion o F Misin F or M ation
m olly i zer
Major: Government and International Politics
Concentration: Public Policy
Minor: American Sign Language
Class of 2023
During the COVID-19 pandemic, in conjunction with ever increasing political polarization, the majority of the public deviated further into an online information environment, amplifying the volatility of digital sources. Given the prevalence of misinformation, it is vital to thoroughly understand the role this heightened transaction cost plays in its increased consumption. In evaluating the paths taken to misinformation, a key player has gone broadly unevaluated: paywalls — a barrier to information that, while allowing media companies to conduct business, also heightens the transaction cost in acquiring information. To what extent do paywalls in online content affect the consumption of misinformation? In this study, the author will examine the impact of paywalls in two parts; first, by constructing a statistical profile of demographics who are more likely to accept misinformation, and second by conducting a qualitative survey of various subjects’ responses to paywalls, noting each response outcome as either positive (successfully identified credible alternative) or negative (chose false or misleading information or abandoned search entirely). The twofold process allows susceptibility to misinformation and practical response to paywalls to be evaluated in conjunction, creating a critical bridge between the two areas of literature. By approaching the issue in both a quantitative and qualitative method, the findings will allow the complex psychological decision-making process to be more accurately captured and applied tothe mitigation process. We expect to find significant correlation between those who are likely to believe misinformation and respondents with negative reactions to paywalls.
I NTRODUCTION
In modern American life, hardly anyone is untouched by misinformation — it permeates our news, social media feeds, and daily interaction with others. The internet has become, for most Americans, the primary source of information (O’Brien et al., 2020), with 67% of people “substantially increasing” their online news consumption in 2020 alone (Flew, 2021, p. 12). This substantial deviation into an online information environment has failed to mitigate the framework by which citizens interact with content at a rate that adequately addresses the risks posed.
While online misinformation has always been abundant, the dominant presence of online news media is a relatively new concept (Flew, 2021, p. 13). In evaluating the paths taken to misinformation, a key player has gone broadly unevaluated: paywalls — a barrier to information that, while allowing media companies to conduct business, also heightens the transaction cost in acquiring information. While economic factors will clearly impact responses to paywalls, what has largely gone unexplored is the psychological barriers that paywalls impose on consumers, and, most critically, what results due to those barriers
The year 2020 best exemplified the visible effects of misinformation. The social withdrawal that came as a result from the COVID-19 pandemic not only reduced face to face interaction — it established the internet as more than just a source of information, but as a social hub. The rapid socialization of information created ideal conditions for misinformation. Socialized internet information is extremely volatile with potential for intense subjectivity, elevating sources with a lack of credibility to the same level as credibly renowned news outlets.
This transformative aberration occurred at a time in which information was more vital than ever. 2020 was a major year for American democracy, as the 2020 presidential race tested the norms of electoral politics and the institutional forbearance of American government. In addition, a raging pandemic made accessible and credible medical advice a resource that could determine, quite literally, if someone lives or dies. In this context, understanding misinformation environments is critical. Whether that be through the storming of the United States Capitol under the false belief of a stolen election, or through the denial of a lifesaving vaccine, misinformation is more than just conspiracy; it is costly, dangerous, and in many instances deadly.
In the following paper, the author will explore the existing literature on paywalls,
misinformation, and the ways they interact. The academic and legislative community cannot propose solutions to reduce the consumption of misinformation without a thorough understanding of where it occurs; in a similar faction, media cannot provide alternative outlets without considering their business models. Thus, by exploring these concepts thematically, they can be compared in conjunction and association. The literature review will focus on the following areas in order: the demographics impacted by paywalls, the measurement of quality information, the concept of willingness to pay versus capacity to pay, and the psychological factors that distinguish these two from each other in the decision-making process.
L ITERaTURE R EVIEW
M E aSURING Q Ua LITY
As information rapidly deviated to online platforms, traditionally printed newspapers pivoted to digital content in order to remain accessible and profitable. The central dilemma with this transformation is determining how to continue profiting as a business without losing customers, who now have more options than ever before. Thus, newspapers have increasingly deployed what are known as “paywalls” before allowing consumers to read their content (Pattabhiramaiah et al., 2019). By imposing these barriers, media companies gain two things: a profitable business modal, and the perception of higher quality. Generally speaking, when information is guarded behind a paywall, it is perceived to be more credible (Pattabhiramaiah et al., 2019). However, context has begun to strain these models; “We observe that the institutional capacity to produce news through traditional channels is facing a resourcing crisis with the collapse of traditional business models, yet the demand for news remains high and has increased in the context of COVID-19, we can see a ‘news gap’ that can be filled by a range of outlets, including fake news” (Flew, 2021, p. 19). Further, the monetization of information means that news outlets have two viable options to maintain profits: use information perceived and verified as high quality to incentivize consumers, or use a strategy in which journalists “hunt for clicks by following what is out there online and what might get … readers’ attention” (Vobič & Milojević, 2014, p. 1032). Both strategies rely heavily on the judgement of the user in their outcome, placing the dilemma in each individual decision between transaction cost and perceived benefit. Existing literature suggests that the best definition of misinformation would be “information considered incorrect based on the best available evidence from relevant experts at the time” (Vraga & Bode, 2020, p. 138). This is specifically applicable because it distinguishes the opinions of the public from that of experts in a field, an essential
distinction considering that it is the public who are our case in this study. By placing more emphasis on the opinions of experts, deliberate and factual consensus defines the truth rather than the public, thus reducing chances of misidentifying misinformation
While news consumption increased in 2020, so did social media usage — with 44% of the global population “substantially increasing” their usage of social media (Flew, 2021, p. 12). In conjunction with this occurrence, English language fact checks increased by 900% (Luengo & García-Marín, 2020). The credibility of information circulated via social media lacks proper vetting — it essentially circumvents the previous definition by allowing the public to define truth for themselves, with little to no mitigation. Thus, the discrepancy in incentives can be seen as “emanating from the behavior of platforms, rather than the attitudes of users” (Flew, 2021, p. 15). In this way, identifying the most common alternative sources is vital to mapping the outlets through which individuals learn of misinformation; because quality varies by incentives, solutions must keep these incentives in mind to prevent further distortion.
D EMOGRap HICS
The most important outcome of this study lies in who is most susceptible to misinformation. Given that both explicit and implicit factors will contribute to decision making, demographics provide insight into implicit and identity-based choices, while explicit factors such as political orientation provide the other half of a person’s background.
Explicit factors, such as race, age, gender, education, and media use (including past payments or P.P), are generally easy to quantify and measure. A key gap in literature, however, lies in the more implicit and subjective factors that make up ones decision making path, such as paying intent (PI) and willingness to pay (WTP) (Flew, 2021). Demographics allow a key justification for the implicit psychological factors that stem from a person’s personality type, identity, and political orientation.
aBILITY VS W ILLINGNESS
The most key distinction in identifying the factors weighed in the decision-making process lies in the difference between ability to pay for journalism and the willingness to do so. Existing literature heavily explored the socioeconomic impacts of access to journalism but notes that conventional wisdom about the impact of economic factors places too much emphasis on the quantitative measure of economic security “because it relies on a few crude indicators that fail to capture how individuals perceive their personal economic situation” (Wroe, 2016, p. 3). The most effective factors in
measuring willingness versus ability are the previously mentioned variables of paying intent (PI) and willingness to pay (WTP). Note that these variables do not rely on the economic capacity of an individual directly; while financial capabilities may play a role in decisions, it is ultimately the subjective subfactors that determine the outcome. One study identifies 17 factors that influence this decision, divided into subcategories of consumer-based, product-based, and economic factors, including age, gender, education, media use, news interest, experience, brand image, free mentality, format, personalization, ease of use, exclusiveness, perceived quality, specialization, paywall, income, and price (O’Brien et al., 2020). For the sake of a more thorough modal, this study will add two additional factors: race and political party.
Status quo suggests that “news consumption has grown faster than the market can match — resulting in a wide gap between availability of information and the demand for it” (Pattabhiramaiah et al., 2019, p. 16). Because of this discrepancy, news outlets must continue to compete to find a balance between their ability to offer information versus the willingness of their consumers to purchase it. Understanding this tradeoff is essential to proposing solutions.
pSYCHOLOGIC a L faCTORS
TH aT DETERMINE a BILITY a ND C apaCITY
Often left unsaid are the motivations of the perpetrators of misinformation – the acknowledgement that online platforms allow psychological reasoning factors to take a backseat to momentary whims is widely understood by figures and weaponized against their political opposition. With intense political polarization and national tension, information environments are already interpreted skeptically – but, in this context digital spaces seem to increase the “irrationality” of the public (Luengo & GarcíaMarín, 2020, p. 420). As a result, social media platforms become political tools for disseminating misleading information and polarizing audiences. In conjunction with this weaponization is a rapidly decreasing trust in traditional media outlets, with the United States citizens decreasing their trust in media outlets by an estimated 21% in 2020 (Flew, 2021, p. 13).
Platform abuse and misinformation amplification is especially relevant considering the widespread reach and influence of politicians, public figures, and celebrities. In a study conducted by the Reuters Institute and Oxford University in which 250 flagged posts involving COVID-19 misinformation, it was found that while these groups made up 20% of misinformation claims, they accounted for 69% of the total social media engagement (Brennen et al., n.d., p. 1). The faces and ethos associated with information — particularly, free information — creates an easily identifiable outlet
through which consumers can weigh value with very little transaction cost, again emphasizing the role of this tradeoff in the psychological decision making process, and the implicit biases of the audiences.
The essential moment — when a person is seeking information, clicks on content, and is met with a paywall — becomes not one of intense calculation with the consideration of social susceptibility to misinformation, but rather a quick decision between several choices: 1) To increase transaction costs and take the time and resources to get through the paywall. 2) Seek information elsewhere. 3) Abandon the search entirely.
By viewing this critical juncture through a lens of demographics, we can then measure what groups view an increased transaction cost as a suitable tradeoff for higher quality information. The psychological implications of paywalls as impediments to quality information — and thus, a motivating factor in consumption of misinformation — is drastically under researched (O’Brien et al., 2020). The rationality behind news selection rests entirely on the psychological pathways a person may form. Without aiming to measure these factors, it is impossible to identify the true causes of an increased market for false information. By viewing all these factors in conjunction and interaction, we will begin to answer the question: To what extent do paywalls in online content affect the consumption of misinformation?
M ETHODS
The most appropriate path to answering this question involves a twofold response; one of both qualitative and quantitative data. Using the 17-factor approach in the O’Brien study with the additional factors of race and party identification, creating a 19-factor profile of a case. Secondly, a survey approach will ask if the respondent agrees with certain statements, including a mix of true and false claims based on current events. Then, the 19 factors will be graphed as dependent variables, where the rate of correct identification of misinformation is the independent variable. This method will establish a quantitative profile of individuals who are more likely to believe false or misleading information at a statistically significant rate based on demographic features. Once this profile has been established, the process of qualitative data begins. A second round of surveys will ask a different random sample about their various responses when faced with online paywalls in a variety of contexts, particularly the responses that occur at the point of interest, which was established during the literature review. Each response will fall in one of the three categories discussed — get through the paywall, seek information elsewhere, or abandon the search entirely, with the second option holding the most potential for misinformation to emerge. These responses can then be compared to the statistical profile of those who are most likely to accept misinformation
— if the respondents who react to paywalls by consuming less credible news sources match with the statistically established profile, a clearer picture of the psychological pathways emerge by drawing connections between barriers and perceived solutions. The twofold process allows susceptibility to misinformation and practical response to paywalls to be evaluated in conjunction, creating a critical bridge between the two areas of literature. We expect to find significant correlation between those who are likely to believe misinformation and respondents with negative reactions to paywalls.
I M p LIC aTIONS
Addressing misinformation is vital to the long-term cohesion of society. Without a unified set of acceptable facts, there remains no foundation for collaboration, discussion, and development. As the “infodemic” continues to spread virally, scholars must act with deliberate speed to identify causes, outlets, and solutions to the significant increase in misinformation — as well as individuals’ susceptibility to it.
Paywalls, and the obstacles they impose to quality information, must be considered as viable catalysts of this problem. The context of inaccessible information, and the incentives it imposes to consume more easily accessible and possibly less credible information, is especially relevant in a time in which consumers have unlimited sources to select from. By establishing a clearer picture of the process that leads an individual to consume misinformation, scholars and policy makers can take considerable steps to prevent others from doing the same.
r ace and c on F idence in aM erica’s e ducation
s ophia n guyen
Major: Government and International Politics
Concentration: International Relations
Minor: Global Affairs
Class of 2023
aBSTR ac T
This paper analyzes the question of whether one’s race impacts one’s confidence level in America’s education system. Specifically, if black Americans have less confidence in America’s education system versus white Americans. Using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and scholarly articles, we statistically analyze the two variables to determine if there is a correlation. The end result of my data analysis did not support my hypothesis that black Americans have less confidence in America’s education system versus white Americans, however, it does support the fact that race has a relationship with one’s level of confidence in education.
I NTRODUCTION
Do African Americans show less confidence in the United State’s education system? This has been complex yet continuous research, but the answer to this question can further acknowledge a problem in America’s education. This paper theorizes that race is a predominant factor as to why African Americans are more likely to show less confidence in the education system and the following theoretical concepts support this hypothesis:
1. Better educational opportunities in white institutions during the 1960s: During the 1960s when African Americans first were granted the opportunity to have an education, black students began to enroll in predominantly white schools rather than choosing to attend historically black institutions. This was generally because of the greater opportunities that were accomplished through
these white institutions, and how it was widely known that black institutions during the 1960s were purposely underfunded, understaffed, and established to separate the achievement gap between white and black students (Hartney & Flavin, 2013).
2. Reduced fundings towards education in low-income cities: Low-income cities, most of which are predominantly black, tend to have less funding towards their education, compared to its higher-income, more predominantly white counterparts. This creates an achievement gap between black and white students, furthering racial disparities in education (Hartney & Flavin, 2013).
3. Racial Prejudice in Academics: Not only do underserved black families in America face racial prejudice inside of academic settings, but many black Americans still face racial discrimination in higher levels of education like being subjected to slurs and jokes, being seen as if they were not smart enough compared to their peers, and being unfairly suspected by their teachers, peers, and polices on campus. (Anderson; 2019).
While I theorize that race is a determinant of an individual’s confidence level in America’s education system, there are also numerous intervening variables that can alter the way we see the dependent variable. For example, income is a good intervening variable to act as a control group as it will be used to interpret the independent and dependent variables in SPSS. Despite my hypothesis, I hypothesize that higher income black Americans will have more confidence in America’s education system rather than lower-income black Americans.
I am aware of my limitations throughout this paper and acknowledge the fact that race cannot stand on its own in comparison to one’s level of confidence in education, as there are many complex variables that surround racial bias and inequality. That being said, this paper does not attempt to “prove” the hypothesis to be true, but rather uses existing research data to support the once questioned hypothesis.
L ITERaTURE R EVIEW
Public trust in education has fluctuated throughout the years. While there are many variables to choose from for an independent variable, it is hopeful that supporting variables like age, income, ideology, achievement rate, and demographics are supportive to the independent variable of race and how a person’s color affects their level of confidence in education. This literature review attempts to look back at past research
and add to the question of if race determines one’s level of confidence in education and if African Americans tend to have less confidence in education.
Joshua Klugman and Jun Xu (2008) reviewed confidence levels in education between white and black Americans from 1974-2002. They theorized and tested that presidency, income, and higher education levels were associated with one’s level of confidence in their education. In contrast to my theory, Klugman and Xu hypothesized white Americans were more likely to have less confidence in education, as they tended to be more conservative, more religious, and have more income than black Americans, making them more critical towards education. Klugman and Xu’s data stated that white Americans’ confidence in education was always lower than black Americans, but while both white and black confidence had lowered between the years 1974-2002, many variables caused it to fluctuate (Klugman & Xu; 2008). For example, the variable presidency was correlated with the fluctuating levels of confidence. They claimed that during Republican presidencies, whites were more confident in their education than blacks, rather than when Democrat Jimmy Carter and Democrat Bill Clinton came into office in 1977 and 1992, black confidence significantly increased as white confidence lowered. Overall, Klugman and Xu concluded that white Americans had lower confidence in education than black Americans (Klugman & Xu; 2008).
David R. Johnson and Jared L. Peifer (2015) succeeded Klugman and Xu’s theory and tested whether political ideology, religion, income, and demographics were associated with the confidence level of education (Johnson & Peifer; 2015). They both argued against Klugman and Xu and claimed that blacks had an overall lower level of trust in education compared to whites. Using income as a controlled variable, they both found that higher-income, more conservative blacks had a higher level of trust. Johnson and Peifer stated that with using blacks and education as covariates, they were the only variables that had significantly low levels of confidence. It was concluded that simply due to inequality within secondary and primary education for black students, blacks were more likely to be untrusting towards education, especially in higher-level institutions (Johnson and Peifer; 2015).
Jean W. Yeung and Dalton Conley (2008) explored the black-white achievement gap to see if there was any correlation between family income and the gap between black-white achievement in education. Three variables, occupation, income, and socioeconomic status, were the main determinants to one’s achievement rate. (Yeung & Conley; 2008). Based on the results, black students had significantly lower levels of academic achievements compared to white students. It was concluded that racial disparity in wealth was clear between black and white families with the way that white families were more likely to have a higher level of academic achievement because of
their higher level of income and status.
In conjunction with Yeung and Conley’s hypothesis, Michael T. Hartney and Patrick Flavin (2013) furthered the belief that political ideology and political foundations separated the black-white academic achievement gap, thus causing black families to have a lack of trust in their education. They theorized that due to the states’ legislators lack of attention to improving school resources and teacher quality for underserved, black families, this was a determinant to their lagging achievement rates. It was concluded that not only were education reform policies more responsive towards white communities rather than black communities, but whites were more likely to dismiss the identity of a racial achievement gap. (Hartney & Flavin; 2013). As a result, systematic political inequalities distinguished the academic achievement gap between blacks and whites.
James P. Huguley, Eric Kyere, and Ming Te-Wang (2018) agreed with Hartney and Flavin in terms of black Americans’ lower levels of confidence, yet investigated that parental confidence in their children’s long-term education determined educational outcomes within black students. They theorized that because black parents were more likely to have lower confidence in both their children’s long-term and shortterm education, they were more likely to have less achievement in their education. It was suggested that the lack of confidence towards higher level education by black parents had more of an effect towards their children’s academic achievement. Because of their opinion towards educational disadvantages and racial achievement disparities in higher level education for black students, black students tended to lagged behind white students in terms of overall academic success (Huguley et al., 2018).
M ETHODOLOGY
I hypothesize that race is the dominant factor of one’s level of confidence in education. Furthermore, because I hypothesize that black Americans are more likely to have less confidence in education in contrast to white Americans, the null hypothesis is that there is no correlation between one’s race and levels of confidence in education. To test the hypothesis, I will have to use the variables race_2 (race: black / white) as my independent variable and coneduc (confidence in education) as the dependent variable in data set GSS 2012 within SPSS. The independent variable race_2 is a dichotomous variable that asks respondents to identify themselves as white or black. The ordinal dependent variable coneduc is categorized by a great deal, only some, and hardly any. However, I will recode coneduc to coneduc3 so that it reads as hardly any, only some, and a great deal.
To confirm or reject the null hypothesis, we will have to use various forms of
measurement. Because this is an ordinal by dichotomous variable, we will use Chisquare and Phi to measure the significance and strength of association between race and confidence in education. I want to be at least 99% confident that I can reject the null hypothesis, therefore, I will need to have an alpha value of .001 or lower. If an alpha value of .001 or lower can be identified, then I am less likely to make a type 1 error and will further calculate strength and direction between the two variables.
While I hypothesize that race is a determinant of one’s level of confidence in education, I have yet to consider other variables that might affect one’s opinion. In previous research, a person’s income has been a recurring variable to measure one’s level of confidence in education. In this case, income will be used as a control variable in SPSS. The ordinal variable rincom06 ranges from under $1,000 to $150,000 and over. Since there are twenty-five categories, I have recoded this to rincom3 and into 3 categories: low income (under $1,000-$12,499), middle income ($12,500-$49,000), and high income ($50,000-over $150,000). Recoding the control variable to have fewer categories as an ordinal variable will allow the variables to compare with one another effectively and efficiently.
As Michael A. Miner (2020) and Johnson and Peifer hypothesized in their research, I also believe that black Americans who have more income are more likely to be confident in education than lower income black Americans (Miner; 2020). Because higher income individuals are able to afford better education and resources, I hypothesize that they will have more confidence in education than those who have lower income and cannot afford better education and resources. To test significance, I will have to use both Chi-square and Phi again to check for significance and strength of association.
DaTa aN a LYSIS
Using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), I have conducted two data analyses. The first analysis will be conducted with the dichotomous independent variable race_2 that asks respondents if they identify as white or black, and the recoded ordinal dependent variable coneduc3 that measures level of confidence in education.
Using SPSS to conduct the first statistical analysis between the independent and dependent variables, the results are as follows. The cross tabulation, bar chart, and statistical tests goes against how I expected the variables to be related. Table 1.1 in the first row shows that white Americans (17.7%) have less confidence in education than black Americans (11.1%). Table 1.1 in the last row, black Americans (36%) shows more confidence in education than white Americans (21.8%). It is noteworthy that in Table 1.1 in the second row, over half of the respondents (58.3%) are in the middle in terms of their confidence in education. There is a statistically significant relationship,
TaBle 1.1: Confidence in Education by Race (white/black) a,b
chaRT 1.1: Confidence in Education by Race (white/black)
as X2(4) is 33.388 with the degrees of freedom being 4, and the p-value being less than .001. The alpha-value allows us to be at least 99% confident to reject the null hypothesis and not make a Type 1 error, as the relationship between the variables does exist in the population. However, although we are at least 99% confident that there is a relationship between race and levels of confidence, it does not support my hypothesis
that black Americans have less confidence in education.
In Table 1.1, the degree of the relationship is calculated in Phi. As Phi = .159, this shows a weak relationship between the two variables. This confirms that although there is a statistically significant correlation between race and their levels of confidence in education, it is a rather weak relationship. Overall, my hypothesis that black Americans are more likely to have less confidence in education was not supported by the data analysis. Because Phi calculates the degree of the relationship, there are other potential explanations that I could use to alter the dependent variable, which brings me to my control variable rincom3. For the second analysis, income was introduced as a control variable and the results are as follows. As seen in Table 2.1, there are many differences between low income Americans and high income Americans in terms of their confidence in education.
TaBle 2.1: Analysis 2- Introduction to Control Variable
For low income Americans, with X2(4) being .786 and the alpha-value (.940) being greater than .1 , it does not nearly reach the 90% confidence, and I have to assume that there is no relationship between low income Americans and how it affects blacks’ and whites’ level of confidence in education. This results in me having to fail to reject the null hypothesis and risk making a Type 2 error, as there is no statistically significant relationship. For Table 2.1, although low-income white Americans (11.2%) have less confidence in education than low-income black Americans (6.7%), compared to how low-income black Americans (40%) have more confidence in education than lowincome white Americans (32.7%), the statistical results show inconsistency and no relationship between the variables. This concludes that race does not have a meaningful relationship in the low income category. One limitation to this category is the small sample size of 133 respondents. If the sample size was increased and results still showed inconsistency and no relationship, I would be more confident that there is no relationship in the population and that I would no longer risk making a Type 2 error.
For high income Americans, with X2(4) being 15.200 and the alpha-value (.004) being less than .01, I can be at least 99% confident that there is a relationship between high income Americans and how it affects one’s level of confidence in education. With the alpha value, I am at least 99% confident that I can reject the null hypothesis and not make a Type 1 error. In Table 2.1, although high income white Americans (21.2%) have less confidence in education than black Americans (11.9%), high income black Americans (26.2%) have more confidence in education than white Americans (15.4%). Because Phi calculates the degree of the relationship and is .210, this indicates a moderate relationship between high income and an individual’s level of confidence in education. When talking about Phi in the middle income category, because Phi = .252 and is slightly higher than the Phi value in the high income category, I can conclude that while there is a relationship between race and both middle and high income Americans, race and the levels of confidence has more of a relationship in the middle income category. Black Americans had higher levels of confidence in all low, middle, and high income categories. Despite the low income category having no statistical relationship between race and levels of confidence, this again goes against Miner’s and my hypothesis that higher income black Americans are more likely to have more confidence in education (Miner; 2020).
In all three categories, white Americans had less confidence in education while black Americans had more confidence in education. My hypothesis that black Americans have less confidence in education was challenged and further not supported. In conclusion, race does determine one’s confidence level in education and is proven to be supported based on my data analysis. However, while it is not in favor of my overall hypothesis, it is in favor of Klugman, and Xu’s hypothesis that white Americans have less confidence
in education (Klugman & Xu; 2008).
D ISCUSSION /CONCLUSION
The research question and the theories behind it were based on how race can determine one’s level of confidence in education. With higher opportunities within white institutions than black institutions, reduced fundings towards low-income cities that are predominately black, and racial prejudices towards black students in higher institutions, this led me to believe that race was a determinant of one’s level of confidence in education, and how black Americans were more likely to have less confidence in education. The GSS data showed a statistically significant yet weak relationship between race and the level of confidence in education and went against my hypothesis that black Americans have less confidence in education. With using income as an intervening control variable, it also did not support my hypothesis that high income black Americans have more confidence in education than low income black Americans, because they overall had more confidence in all categories. However, because white Americans overall had less confidence in education despite using income as a control variable, the relationship between blacks’ and whites’ confidence in education was not at all in my favor and requires further exploration and perhaps a larger population size.
One limitation that I encountered with the statistical data was the bias that could have been present during the time of the survey. Year 2012 was Democrat President Obama’s second term in office, and because white Americans leaned more conservative and against President Obama, thus making them more critical towards his policies and reforms, this could have led them to be less confident in education at the time of the survey. This was something that was tested in Klugman and Xu’s research and was further explored in my research as well. (Klugman & Xu; 2008). I would like to someday view a 2020 dataset with the same variables, as I predict that with Donald Trump being president at the time, black Americans are more likely to have less confidence in education.
Race cannot stand for itself in terms of one’s level of confidence in education, and this is proven by the different statistical significance and relationship strengths I encountered while using income as a control variable. Although race does appear to be a factor to one’s opinion on education, a much larger sample of respondents, perhaps a mixture of nation-wide and in-person respondents and an updated survey centered around racial biases should be conducted so that I can be more positive in not making a Type 1 error. Confidence in education has fluctuated through the years, and the lack of updated data surveys has made this paper limited in what I can achieve. My hypothesis that black Americans have less confidence in education was not supported, but the relationship between race and levels of confidence has a statistically significant,
yet weak relationship. I am determined in the future to revisit this research paper with a newly designed data set and a much larger sample size.
appENDIx
CUMULaTIVE pERCENT fREQUENCY TaBLES Of VaRIaBLES
TaBle 3.1: Independent Variable
TaBle 3.2: original Dependent Variable
TaBle 3.3: Recoded Dependent Variable
TaBle 3.4: original Control Variable
TaBle 3.5: Recoded Control Variable
S ou R ce S
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a
comparati V e a nalysis: # m e too, n ari m oV ements and the p rice of n eoli B eralist f eminis m
by hAiley rAStrelli
1.Banet-Weiser, S., Gill, R., & Rottenberg, C. (2019). Postfeminism, popular feminism and neoliberal feminism? Sarah Banet-Weiser, Rosalind Gill and Catherine Rottenberg in conversation. Feminist Theory, 21(1), 3-24. doi:10.1177/1464700119842555
2.Beam, Myrl. (2014). Compassion, Community, Capital, and Crisis: Neoliberalism and the NonProfitization of Queer Social Movements. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, http://hdl.handle.net/11299/177068.
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4.Das, A. K. (2016). Case Study: From #destroythejoint to Far-Reaching Digital Activism— Feminist Revitalization Stemming from Social Media and Rea. Civic Media. doi:10.7551/ mitpress/9970.003.0024
5.Donegan, M. (2018, May 11). How #MeToo Revealed the Central Rift Within Feminism Today. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/may/11/howmetoo-revealed-the-central-rift-within-feminism-social-individualist
6.Eisenstein, Z. (2017, January 12). Hillary Clinton’s Imperial Feminism. Retrieved December 04, 2020, from https://www.thecairoreview.com/essays/hillary-clintons-imperial-feminism/
7.Fraser, N. (2016). Progressive Neoliberalism versus Reactionary Populism: A Choice that Feminists Should Refuse. NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, 24(4), 281-284. doi:1 0.1080/08038740.2016.1278263
8.Jones, C. (2019, January 30). When will MeToo become WeToo? Some say voices of black women, working class left out. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.usatoday. com/story/money/2018/10/05/metoo-movement-lacks-diversity-blacks-working-class-sexualharassment/1443105002/
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10.Mohanty, C. T. (1984). Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses. Duke University Press, 12(3), on Humanism and the University I: The Discourse of Humanism., 333358.
11.Moitra, A., Hassan, N., Bhuiyan, M., & Ahmed, S. I. (2020, January). Understanding the Challenges for Bangladeshi Women to Participate in #MeToo Movement. Association for Computing Machinery, 4, 1-25. http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1145/3375195
12.Ulus, E. (2018). White fantasy, white betrayals: On neoliberal ‘feminism’ in the US presidential election process. University of Dundee School of Business, 18(1), 163-181. Retrieved from http://www.ephemerajournal.org/contribution/white-fantasy-white-betrayals-neoliberal%E2%80%98feminism%E2%80%99-us-presidential-election-process.
m odeling the e ffects of d ehydration on c ellular g roW th and Wound r epair
by eMMA DANDo
1. J. C. Arciero, Q. Mi, M. F. Branca, D. J. Hackam, D. Swigon, “Continuum Model of Collective Cell Migration in Wound Healing and Colony Expansion,” Biophys J., vol. 100, no. 3, pp. 535543, Feb. 2011, doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2010.11.083.
2. C. Ziraldo, Q. Mi, G. An, Y. Vodovotz, “Computational Modeling of Inflammation and Wound Healing,” Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle), vol. 2, no. 9, pp. 527-537, Nov. 2013, doi: 10.1089/ wound.2012.0416.
3. S.G.D. Hegarty-Cremera, M.J. Simpson, T.L. Andersen, P. R. Buenzli. “Modelling cell guidance and curvature control in evolving biological tissues.” bioRxiv. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10. 1101/2020.07.10.197020v1 (accessed Sep 17, 2020).
4. I. Lorenzo, M. Serra-Prat, J. C. Yébenes, “The Role of Water Homeostasis in Muscle Function and Frailty: A Review,” Nutrients, vol. 11, no. 8, pp. 1875, Aug. 2011, doi: 10.3390/nu11081857.
5. K. Ousey, K. F. Cutting, A. A. Rogers, M. G. Rippon, “The importance of hydration in wound healing: reinvigorating the clinical perspective,” J Wound Care, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 124-130, doi: 10.12968/jowc.2016.25.3.122.
6. D. Périard, A. H. Tammam, M. W. Thompson, “Skeletal Muscle Strength and Endurance are Maintained during Moderate Dehydration,” Int J Sports Med, vol. 33, no. 8, pp. 607-612, Apr. 2012.
7. Mayo Clinic “Dehydration.” Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ dehydration/symptoms-causes/syc-20354086 (accessed Sep 20, 2020).
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9. T. Fitzgerald, “Professional Athletes,” Health Day, Dec. 2019. [Online]. Available: https://consumer. healthday.com/encyclopedia/work-and-health-41/occupational-health-news-507/professionalathletes-648171.html (accessed Dec 29, 2020).
10. M. Collier, “Understanding Wound Inflammation,” Nursing Times, vol. 99, no. 25, pp. 63.
11. N. I. Dmitrieva, M. B. Burg, “Elevated Sodium and Dehydration Stimulate Inflammatory Signaling in Endothelial Cells and Promote Atherosclerosis,” PLOS ONE, vol. 10, no. 6. doi: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0128870.
12. H. M. Logan‐Sprenger; G. J.F. Heigenhauser; G. L. Jones, L. L. Spreit, “The effect of dehydration on muscle metabolism and time trial performance during prolonged cycling in males,” ProQuest, vol. 3, no. 8, Aug, 2015, doi: 10.14814/phy2.12483.
13. N. A. Shaheen, A. A. Alqahtani, H. Assiri, R. Alkhodair, M. A. Hussein, “Public knowledge of dehydration and fluid intake practices: variation by participants’ characteristics” BMC Public Health, Dec. 2018, https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-0186252-5 (accessed Oct, 20, 2020).
14. A. Cho, L. Mitchell, D. Koopmans, B. L. Langille, “Effects of Changes in Blood Flow Rate on Cell Death and Cell Proliferation in Carotid Arteries of Immature Rabbits,” Circulation Research, vol. 81, no. 3, pp. 328-337, Sep. 1997, doi: 10.1161/01.RES.81.3.328.
15. D. Downey, R. C. Seagrave, “Mathematical Modeling of the Human Body During Water Replacement and Dehydration: Body Water Changes,” Annals of Biomedical Engineering, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 278-290, Mar. 2000, doi: 10.1114/1.267.
16. Simscale, “What are Boundary conditions,” https://www.simscale.com/docs/simwiki/numericsbackground/what-are-boundary-conditions/ (accessed Oct 22, 2020).
17. MathWorks, “Help Center,” https://www.mathworks.com/help/pde/ug/steps-to-specify-aboundary-conditions-object.html (accessed Oct 23, 2020).
18. D. B. Camasão, D. Pezzoli, C. Loy, H. Kumra, L. Levesque, D. P. Reinhardt, G. Candiani, and D. Mantovani, “Increasing Cell Seeding Density Improves Elastin Expression and Mechanical Properties in Collagen Gel-Based Scaffolds Cellularized with Smooth Muscle Cells,” Biotechnology Journal, vol. 14, no. 3, p. 1700768, 2018.
19. J. J. Franco, Y. Atieh, C. D. Bryan, K. M. Kwan, and G. T. Eisenhoffer, “Cellular crowding influences extrusion and proliferation to facilitate epithelial tissue repair,” Molecular Biology of the Cell, vol. 30, no. 16, pp. 1890–1899, 2019.
20. L. Li, Y. He, M. Zhao, J. Jiang, “Collective cell migration: implications for wound healing and cancer invasion,” Burns and Trauma, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 21-26, 2015.
Ways to i mproV e s uicide p re V ention for lg B tQ+ youth
by SeAN r. DiMeNt
1. The Trevor Project. (2021). 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health. West Hollywood, California: The Trevor Project.
2. di Giacomo E, Krausz M, Colmegna F, Aspesi F, Clerici M. Estimating the Risk of Attempted Suicide Among Sexual Minority Youths: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatr. 2018;172(12):1145–1152. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.2731
3. Suicide Risk Factors. The Trevor Project. Accessed June 28, 2021. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ resources/preventing-suicide/suicide-risk-factors/
4. Risk and Protective Factors. Published May 13, 2021. Accessed June 28, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/ suicide/factors/index.html
5. Andrea Kaniuka, Kelley C. Pugh, Megan Jordan, Byron Brooks, Julia Dodd, Abbey K. Mann, Stacey L. Williams & Jameson K. Hirsch (2019) Stigma and suicide risk among the LGBTQ population: Are anxiety and depression to blame and can connectedness to the LGBTQ community help?, Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 23:2, 205-220, DOI: 10.1080/19359705.2018.1560385
6. Gorse, M. Risk and Protective Factors to LGBTQ+ Youth Suicide: A Review of the Literature. Child Adolesc Soc Work J (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-020-00710-3
7. Eckstrand KL, Potter J, eds. Trauma, Resilience, and Health Promotion in LGBT Patients: What Every Healthcare Provider Should Know. Springer International Publishing; 2017. doi:10.1007/978-3319-54509-7
8. Meyer IH. Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychol Bull. 2003;129(5):674-697. doi:10.1037/00332909.129.5.674
9. Crisis Text Line. (2021). Everybody Hurts 2020. New York, New York: Crisis Text Line
10. Hoffberg AS, Stearns-Yoder KA, Brenner LA. The Effectiveness of Crisis Line Services: A Systematic Review. Front Public Health. 2020;7. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2019.00399
11. Jessica N. Fish (2020) Future Directions in Understanding and Addressing Mental Health among LGBTQ Youth, Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 49:6, 943-956, DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2020.1815207
12. 2021 Officially Becomes Worst Year in Recent History for LGBTQ State Legislative Attacks as Unprecedented Number of States Enact Record-Shattering Number of Anti-LGBTQ Measures Into Law. HRC. Accessed June 14, 2021. https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/2021-officially-becomesworst-year-in-recent-history-for-lgbtq-state-legislative-attacks-as-unprecedented-number-of-statesenact-record-shattering-number-of-anti-lgbtq-measures-into-law
13. Thomas KH, Taylor SP. Stopping Military Suicides: Veteran Voices to Help Prevent Deaths. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, An imprint ABC-CLIO, LLC; 2020.14. Meyer, I. H. (2015). Resilience in the study of minority stress and health of sexual and gender minorities. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2(3), 209–213. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000132
15. Sher L. Resilience as a focus of suicide research and prevention. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2019;140(2):169-180. doi:10.1111/acps.13059
16. Toomey RB, Ryan C, Diaz RM, Russell ST. Coping With Sexual Orientation-Related Minority Stress. J Homosex. 2018;65(4):484-500. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2017.1321888. Epub 2017 Jun 1. PMID: 28441107; PMCID: PMC5656566.
17. Lefevor GT, Huffman CE, Blaber IP. Navigating Potentially Traumatic Conservative Religious Environments as a Sexual/Gender Minority. In: Lund EM, Burgess C, Johnson AJ, eds. Violence Against LGBTQ+ Persons: Research, Practice, and Advocacy. Springer International Publishing; 2021:317-329. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-52612-2_25
18. Joyce S, Shand F, Tighe J, Laurent SJ, Bryant RA, Harvey SB. Road to resilience: a systematic review and meta-analysis of resilience training programmes and interventions. BMJ Open. 2018;8(6):e017858. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017858
19. Johns MM, Poteat VP, Horn SS, Kosciw J. Strengthening Our Schools to Promote Resilience and Health Among LGBTQ Youth: Emerging Evidence and Research Priorities from The State of LGBTQ Youth Health and Wellbeing Symposium. LGBT Health. 2019;6(4):146-155. doi:10.1089/lgbt.2018.0109
20. Zongrone AD, Truong NL, Kosciw JG, Gay L and Straight Education Network, Hispanic Federation of New York City, UnidosUS. Latinx LGBTQ Youth in U.S. Schools.; 2020. Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.glsen.org/latinx
21. Furness BW, Goldhammer H, Montalvo W, et al. Transforming Primary Care for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: A Collaborative Quality Improvement Initiative. Ann Fam Med. 2020;18(4):292-302. doi:10.1370/afm.2542
22. Craig SL, Eaton AD, McInroy LB, Leung VWY, Krishnan S. Can Social Media Participation Enhance LGBTQ+ Youth Well-Being? Development of the Social Media Benefits Scale. Social Media + Society. 2021;7(1):2056305121988931. doi:10.1177/2056305121988931
23. TikTok has become the soul of the LGBTQ Internet. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost. com/technology/2020/01/28/tiktok-has-become-soul-lgbtq-internet/. Accessed June 28, 2021.
24. Filice E, Raffoul A, Meyer SB, Neiterman E. The influence of Grindr, a geosocial networking application, on body image in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men: An exploratory study. Body Image. 2019;31:59-70. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2019.08.007
25. Holtzhausen N, Fitzgerald K, Thakur I, Ashley J, Rolfe M, Pit SW. Swipe-based dating applications use and its association with mental health outcomes: a cross-sectional study. BMC Psychol. 2020;8:22. doi:10.1186/s40359-020-0373-1
m isinformation g one Viral: h o W p ay W alls i mpact the c onsumption of m isinformation
by Molly izer
1.Brennen, S., Simon, F. M., Howard, P. N., & Nielsen, R. K. (n.d.). Types, sources, and claims of COVID-19 misinformation. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Retrieved November 13, 2021, from https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/types-sources-andclaims-covid-19misinformation
2.Flew, T. (2021). Trusting and valuing news in a pandemic: Attitudes to online news media content during COVID-19 and policy implications. Journal of Digital Media & Policy, 12(1), 11–26. https://doi.org/10.1386/jdmp_00045_1
3.Luengo, M., & García-Marín, D. (2020). The performance of truth: Politicians, fact-checking journalism, and the struggle to tackle COVID-19 misinformation. American Journal of Cultural Sociology, 8(3), 405–427. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-020-00115-w
4.O’Brien, D., Wellbrock, C.-M., & Kleer, N. (2020). Content for Free? Drivers of Past Payment, Paying Intent and Willingness to Pay for Digital Journalism – A Systematic Literature Review. Digital Journalism, 8(5), 643–672. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2020.1770112
5.Pattabhiramaiah, A., Sriram, S., & Manchanda, P. (2019). Paywalls: Monetizing Online Content. Journal of Marketing, 83(2), 19–36. http://dx.doi.org.mutex.gmu. edu/10.1177/0022242918815163
6.Vobič, I., & Milojević, A. (2014). “What we do is not actually journalism”: Role negotiations in online departments of two newspapers in Slovenia and Serbia. Journalism, 15(8), 1023–1040. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884913511572
7.Vraga, E. K., & Bode, L. (2020). Defining Misinformation and Understanding its Bounded Nature: Using Expertise and Evidence for Describing Misinformation. Political Communication, 37(1), 136–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2020.1716500
8.Wroe, A. (2016). Economic Insecurity and Political Trust in the United States. American Politics Research, 44(1), 131–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X15597745
race and confidence in america’s education
by SoPhiA NguyeN
1.Anderson, M. (2019, May 2). For black Americans, experiences of racial discrimination vary by education level, gender. Pew Research Center; Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch. org/fact-tank/2019/05/02/for-black-americans-experiences-of-racial-discrimination-vary-byeducation-level-gender/
2.Hartney, M. T., & Flavin, P. (2013). The Political Foundations of the Black–White Education Achievement Gap. American Politics Research, 42(1), 3–33. https://doi. org/10.1177/1532673x13482967
3.Huguley, J. P., Kyere, E., & Wang, M.-T. (2018). Educational Expectations in African American Families: Assessing the Importance of Immediate Performance Requirements. Race and Social Problems, 10(2), 158–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-018-9229-1
4.Johnson, D. R., & Peifer, J. L. (2017). How Public Confidence in Higher Education Varies by Social Context. Journal of Higher Education, 88(4), 619–644. https://doi-org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.1080/0 0221546.2017.1291256
5.Klugman, J., & Xu, J. (2008). Racial Differences in Public Confidence in Education: 1974-2002*. Social Science Quarterly, 89(1), 155–176. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2008.00526.x
6.Miner, M. A. (2020). Unmet Promises: Diminishing Confidence in Education Among CollegeEducated Adults from 1973 to 2018. Social Science Quarterly, 101(6), 2312–2331. https://doi. org/10.1111/ssqu.12873
7.Yeung, W. J., & Conley, D. (2008). Black-White Achievement Gap and Family Wealth. Child Development, 79(2), 303–324. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01127.x
THE largest classrooM ON caMPus
student media offers mason students the opportunity to directly apply academic skills in a hands-on environment, and we believe that faculty collaboration is integral to our mission of student success.
here are just a few of the ways faculty members can partner with student media:
STuDio RenTalS — reserve one of our state-of-the-art radio studios for interviews or student projects (ISDN-equipped).
on MaSon . COM — utilize our free online blogging platform in the classroom for student portfolio projects or to post writing assignments for group discussion
claSS viSiTS — schedule a class visit so your students can learn about exciting media opportunities available to them.
FoR-cReDiT opTionS — help students earn internship credit through one of our 12 unique media groups or encourage
them to submit original work for credit.
SaMple conTenT — use content from one of our scholarly or literary journals as source material for readings or critiques.
co-cuRRiculaR couRSeS — refer students to one of our six 1-credit courses offered through mason’s Communication department:
Comm 347 (Cable TV)
Comm 148/348 (radio I & II)
Comm 145/345 (Newspaper I & II)
RecoMMenD a STuDenT
SeRve aS a conTeST
Facult Y g uide
g M r i n t H e c lassroo M
The George Mason Review (GMR) provides prime examples of undergraduate scholarship that can be used to teach students about the characteristics of good research writing, inspire them to explore new ideas, and provide a sense of personal confidence that results from publishing their work for a campus-wide audience of peers and professors. Exposing students to the work of their counterparts can act as a mirror, reflecting undiscovered personal potential. Incorporating GMR into your classroom can take many forms: develop a lesson plan around analyzing one of our published works; utilize the concepts and ideas contained in these pages as a brainstorming tool for students unsure of what topic to explore; offer extra credit to students who submit their work for publication; or come up with your own innovative application.
M ake g M r t H e
assign M ent
Some professors have found success in raising student achievement by making submission to GMR a course requirement. Students who write with a wide and diverse potential audience in mind tend to put more thought into their work, leading to improved academic outcomes and higher levels of critical thinking. This is a valuable exercise in producing a paper that is accessible to those from varying backgrounds without comprising academic integrity. Knowledge that your work will be publicly available can be a powerful motivator, and publication in an academic journal is a great addition to any résumé or portfolio.
g etting s tarted
Mason’s INTO program, the English Department, and UNIV 100 classes have all used GMR in a variety of ways. We would be happy to make a brief presentation to your class or meet with you one-on-one to create a tailored approach that complements your curriculum.
GMR is available electronically via gmreview.gmu.edu
To request print copies, e-mail us at gmreveiw@gmu.edu
n ote F ro M t H e a dvisor
The George Mason Review (GMR) began life as “an annual collection of English 101 and undergraduate writing” in 1992, publishing under the name GMU Freshman Review. That first edition’s introduction reveals the motivations of its creators as they sought to “create a sense of community by publishing work that reflects the cultural and academic quality of GMU’s undergraduate population.” Their clear intent was to present “models of writing” that could serve as a “learning tool that crosses the curriculum” for both faculty and students:
“We want this anthology to help undergraduate writers with what seems to be one of their biggest difficulties — generating ideas and just getting started… When students know their work is being taken seriously beyond the classroom, they may very well aspire to a whole new set of standards and, with purpose and focus, aim at the highest quality possible in their writing… Instructors can find in the collection a sense of what to prepare themselves for and what kind of standards they should set for themselves and their classes… We hope that the essays are useful — whether you are ‘stuck’ [on an assignment] or an instructor looking to show your students how a research paper ‘works.’”
Over 30 years later, our mission remains the same: seek out and publish exemplary undergraduate writing across the curriculum with the conviction that students grow as scholars by publishing their work for a campus-wide audience and faculty members gain a valuable classroom tool that can help improve academic outcomes.
Since those early days as a freshman English anthology, GMR has evolved into a modern, peer-reviewed, undergraduate research journal that accepts scholarly submissions from all years and all majors. By exploring and challenging the boundaries separating disciplines from one other — the humanities from the sciences, the academic from the creative — The George Mason Review exists as a unique platform where scholarship, creativity, and critical thought can co-exist.
Mason has experienced rapid evolution as an institution over the past several decades, but the lodestar that has guided us through each step (or leap) along the way is our shared commitment to academic excellence, meaningful innovation, and cuttingedge research. The George Mason Review embodies each of these noble pursuits while providing all Mason undergrads with opportunities and experiences that pave the way for greatness in the classroom and prepare them for successful careers in the future.
I am extremely proud to serve the Mason community as the faculty advisor for GMR and continue the rich traditions established by that first cohort of educators who recognized the need for this type of forum and made it a reality. Participation is vital to our continued growth as an academic journal, so I strongly encourage all students to submit original work for publication and all faculty members to consider integrating GMR into their curriculum.
Please feel free to reach out directly to me (jhartsel@gmu.edu) with any questions you may have, requests for extra copies of GMR, or with examples of how you have utilized our publication in the classroom.
Reflecting on the history and evolution of this journal has only strengthened my belief in its value and purpose; I look forward to collaborating with the outstanding students, faculty, and staff of George Mason University to share the amazing things we accomplish together with the world.
