Widows typically face significant challenges related to widowhood, such as restrictive cultural practices, socio-economic hardships, limited property rights, inadequate healthcare access, and social stigma. When a widow is also a migrant returnee, her situation is often compounded by additional layers of vulnerability. While the reintegration experiences of returnee women have received limited empirical attention, studies focusing specifically on widow returnees are even scarcer. Using Dzieko & nacute;ska's framework, this study explored the reintegration experiences of a returnee widow in Elu Ohafia, Abia State, Nigeria, through semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal that the widow has not been fully reintegrated into her late husband's family and community, as she feels emotionally abandoned, socio-culturally excluded, and environmentally vulnerable. Importantly, the study shows that her reintegration is mediated by kinship governance and patrilineal norms, which shape her access to belonging and the property she co-owned with her late husband. Drawing on this case, the study advances the concept of 'invisible insiders' to describe individuals who are formally incorporated into a community through marriage but remain structurally excluded from full membership and protection, particularly after widowhood. Implications of findings for research, policy and social work practice are discussed.
Youth research often leans on emotional registers to conceptualise young people's experiences, framing stress, uncertainty, transgression, inequality or bullying as key sites of emotional intensity. Emotional categories are also used to characterise whole cohorts, with labels such as the precariat, the narcissistic or anxious generation. These framings can show how young people navigate and shape rapidly changing social conditions. At the same time, an emphasis on the transitional, exceptional or epochal can reinforce dominant narratives of youth as inherently unstable, perpetually at risk, or, conversely, as a romanticised source of future hope. Such perspectives obscure more rounded accounts of contemporary youth. Without attending to everyday life, these approaches risk narrowing youth emotionality to moments of crisis or flux. Drawing on a case study of everyday loneliness among young people in Australia, based on interviews and diaries with 20 participants, this article argues for closer integration of the sociology of everyday life and emotions into youth studies. Bringing these fields together highlights how emotions are embedded in mundane routines, relationships and forms of self-work, shaping youth subjectivities over time. This approach moves youth studies toward more relational, situated and nuanced understandings of what it means to feel and be young today.
The sociological canon has historically marginalised women, rendering invisible the contributions of the Early Women Sociologists (EWS) born prior to 1920. This paper addresses this epistemic gap by mapping the presence and theoretical legacies of EWS within contemporary scholarly networks. Based on an international literature review and an online survey involving 76 scholars, the study identifies 45 EWS cited as core references, distinguishing between classical, emerging, and lesser-known figures. The analysis highlights how EWS developed original approaches to social theory and methodology. Their writings reveal pioneering insights into feminism, intersectionality, materialist critiques, standpoint theory, and media studies, grounded in lived experience and practical engagement with social issues. Findings also underscore tensions in the current process of recognition: while some figures are becoming consolidated through historiographical studies, handbooks and university curricula, many remain marginal or absent, reflecting selective logics of canon formation. Recovering and reintroducing these voices thus requires not only filling gaps but critically questioning the epistemic criteria of legitimacy within sociology. The study argues that engaging with EWS enriches social theory, expands disciplinary boundaries, and fosters a more inclusive and increasingly transnational sociology.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered a major wave of migration to Georgia, which has become both a transit and host country. This study examines integration and identity formation among young Ukrainian refugees and young Russian and Belarusian migrants who arrived in Georgia post-2022. Based on qualitative interviews conducted in Tbilisi and Batumi, the research combines empirical data with theoretical perspectives from migration and youth studies. The analysis reveals contrasting experiences: Ukrainian youth often struggle with housing and economic insecurity despite generally positive public sentiment, while Russian and Belarusian youth - typically with higher human capital - grapple with politicized identities and social tensions. Across all groups, identity emerges as fluid and shaped by legal status, socio-political affiliations, transnational ties, and local contexts. Youth are shown to be active agents navigating integration through informal networks, education, and civic engagement, rather than passive recipients of policy. A comparative lens underscores the need for differentiated policy responses that reflect the distinct challenges and capacities of each group. This study offers insights into youth mobility amid conflict and displacement and offers recommendations for fostering inclusive integration and identity development within Georgia's shifting geopolitical landscape.
This article questions environmental values in the context of contemporary social transformations, through a sociological approach based on [Beck, U. (1992). Risk society: Towards a new modernity (M. Ritter, Trans.). SAGE Publications. (Original work published 1986)] framework of the Risk Society, [Moscovici, S. (1961). La Psychanalyse, Son Image et Son Public. Presses Universitaires de France] sociology of social representations, and [Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice (R. Nice, Trans.). Stanford University Press. (Original work published 1980)] concept of symbolic capital. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with a random sample of citizens, the article analyzes individuals' social representations of the environment and the extent to which environmental values are reflected in their behavior. The results reveal a clear cognitive gap between environmental discourse and practice, explained by disparities in, to use Bourdieu's phrase, cultural capital, the plurality of representations, and weak trust in institutions. The study concludes that environmental values are not only based on knowledge, but also on individuals' social and living contexts that give meaning to action. Finally, it proposes the need to shift from awareness-raising approaches to building an environmental culture grounded in symbolic and social justice.
This paper critically examines women's return migration through its theoretical underpinnings and regional variations. It situates individual agency within diverse structural variables while exploring return decision-making and re-adaptation of women returnees through a comparative investigation of chosen regional contexts. Drawing on case studies in Poland and Morocco, and with a specific focus on women's experiences, the article examines motivations to return and challenges of re-adaptation within which returns are taking place. It addresses gaps in migration theories that marginalize return - particularly women's transnational experiences and evolving state attitudes - and synthesizes theory and regional contexts to deepen understanding of women's return migration. Based on these findings, the paper proposes the Adaptive Return Migration Concept Model (ARM), portraying return as a negotiated, multi-layered process shaped by structural constraints, relational agency, and individual aspirations. This offers insights for gender-sensitive reintegration policies and questions whether 'women's return migration' remains a fixed category amid shifting mobility patterns and care dynamics.
Backgrounds:Non-communicable diseases are the leading global cause of death, disproportionately affecting individuals in low- and middle-income countries. This study aims to assess the economic impact of NCDs in terms of out-of-pocket expenditure and its catastrophic effect on households affected by NCDs.Materials and methods:A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among participants aged 45 years and above in the Bankura district of West Bengal. The study included 480 participants. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify the socio-economic factors associated with catastrophic health expenditure among households with elderly individuals affected by NCDs.Results:The findings reveal that 69.38% of elderly participants suffer from multiple morbidities, while 23.54% have a single morbidity. The mean monthly healthcare cost per elderly individual was highest among the poorest and richest households, amounting to INR 6,430. Predicted probabilities indicate that the likelihood of incurring catastrophic health expenditure was higher among older adults aged 75 and above compared to those aged 45-54.Conclusion:An urgent need exists for the government to implement prevention strategies to reduce the economic burden of NCDs on households. To specifically address the impact of catastrophic health expenditure related to NCDs, both public and private healthcare facilities.
Bangladeshi migrant women experienced unbearable conditions abroad, often resulting in early deportations and causing additional difficulties upon their return. Despite this, there was very little attention given to the investigation of the lived experiences of forcibly returned women. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the challenges and adaptation strategies of women returnees during their reintegration period at home. This study used a qualitative research technique, conducting in-depth interviews with 21 participants through snowball sampling. Thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo. The findings showed that migrant women were not warmly accepted by society, causing social isolation, employment challenges, and psychological dilemmas. The study also showed that vulnerable women tried to reintegrate through self-employment and sought socio-psychological support from family members, relatives, NGOs, and governments. The study recommends adopting an integrated approach at individual, community, and structural levels for ensuring sustainable reintegration for vulnerable returnees.
Voluntary return migration is a multifaceted process encompassing the assisted or independent return of migrants to their country of origin, transit, or a third country, based on a voluntary decision of the returnee. Rather than constituting a mere reversal of migration, return reflects a constellation of socio-political, economic, and cultural dynamics that intersect with structural inequalities, including gender, legal status, family position and socio-economic status. This article adopts a mixed-method approach to literature review to provide a critical examination of an under-researched aspect in voluntary return migration studies through a gender-focused lens. Return processes are frequently embedded in gendered expectations operating within returnees' networks, while reintegration challenges are often mediated by socially ascribed gender roles. Our findings unveil the necessity of developing multi-layered analytical frameworks that treat gender not as a descriptive variable but as a relational regime that shapes return migration experiences.
This article aims to examine the situation of low-skilled and temporary female migrants, with particular focus on Bangladeshi workers who were forcibly repatriated from the Gulf countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the recruitment process, remittance patterns, and precariousness of Bangladeshi and other South Asian migrants in the Gulf States have received considerable attention from social scientists, this paper explores how the most vulnerable group of migrants- female workers involved in domestic and cleaning services- have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the most significant migration-changing event of our generation. This paper is based on semi-structured interviews conducted in Bangladesh with female migrant workers who returned from the Gulf countries due to forced repatriation during COVID-19. The research shows that, due to COVID-19-induced repatriation, female migrant workers face economic hardships as well as social challenges during the process of reintegration in Bangladesh. The study also contends that involuntary return increases the stress and difficulties faced by female migrants regarding their economic situation and reintegration. From this, the author recommends further research into the long-term impacts of female migration, particularly among older female migrants who are unable to work, cannot save money from migration, and consequently fall into poverty.
I became both lens and landscape when I encountered a fraudster. I draw from a real-time encounter with a cryptocurrency fraudster. Using Goffman's dramaturgical theory, I conceptualise the crypto fraudster as a performing subject who crafts trust through staged authenticity, emotional modulation, and aesthetic precision. I argue that scams are not merely deceptive acts, but performative events co-produced through platform affordances and affective labour. Methodologically, I offer a participant-situated lens, emphasising emotional reflexivity and positionality as sources of criminological insight. I reframe it as a symbolic performance embedded in the sociotechnical architectures, and call for a more situated, experiential, and attuned understanding of life online.
Homelessness presents a growing global challenge that governments worldwide have grappled with in recent years. The issue is exacerbated by the lack of a consistent definition of homelessness, incomplete statistics on the homeless population, varied methods of identifying them, and diverse designs of homelessness policies characterised by more or less different intervention systems among countries that mostly reintegrate a small fraction of homeless individuals into mainstream society. This article responds to these problems by presenting, in detail, a comprehensive analytical tool, the 'Framework for Comprehensive Evaluation of Homelessness Policies', which we have created and successfully used to analyse and evaluate homelessness policy in the Czech Republic. Its potential lies in identifying the strengths and all existing problems and deficiencies in current homelessness policies across different countries and/or regions, by governments at various state levels and by transnational institutions, and in proposing practical measures to mitigate them. More specifically, it allows for evaluating the complexity of existing strategic documents focused on homelessness, the relevance of the intervention tools and measures they contain, and their real modes of implementation and impacts on the target group of homeless people.
While there exists an extensive body of literature examining the correlation between grit and subjective well-being (SWB), limited research has been dedicated to addressing the issue of endogeneity within the context of grit. This paper aims to investigate the impact of grit on SWB by utilizing nationally representative panel data from China. To mitigate concerns about endogeneity, we employ various panel regression techniques, including instrumental variable approaches and an exceptionally high-dimensional fixed effects approach, to effectively account for confounding factors that may arise from the relationship between grit and SWB. Our findings provide robust evidence of a significant positive effect of grit on SWB. We also observe noteworthy heterogeneity in the impact of grit concerning gender and perceptions of fairness. Specifically, we find that females and individuals with a higher perception of fairness are more likely to experience a positive effect of grit on SWB, as compared to males and individuals with a lower perception of fairness, respectively. Additionally, our results demonstrate that grit fosters prospects for social mobility, autonomy and control over life, and a positive mental state. These outcomes can be interpreted as potential mechanisms through which grit influences SWB.
This study seeks to explain the triggering factors behind skilled labour migration from T & uuml;rkiye in a multidimensional manner. The study adopts a relational perspective in analysing the conditions that trigger qualified labour migration from T & uuml;rkiye. In other words, global structural and local contingent factors are considered in their mutual interactions, and migrants are not viewed as passive recipients merely subjected to these conditions. Local triggers of skilled migration are grounded in data obtained from a field study conducted between 2022 and 2023. In their responses to various questions, almost all participants used these three concepts, which could be listed as peace, security and a stress-free life. Therefore, this type of migration is conceptualised as peace of mind migration in this study. Globally, developed countries with significant immigration flows increasingly attempt to ground their migration policies in shared principles. It is argued that through these policies, they seek to design the world as a labour reservoir, attracting workers of different qualifications at the times and in the quantities required by their economies. The study seeks to understand how migrants contextualise global and local conditions within their own biographies and how these interconnections shape their decision to migrate.
This cross-sectional study aims to examine the ethical values regulating the use of generative artificial intelligence (ChatGPT) among university students in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. A descriptive-analytical survey of 1,000 students across multiple faculties revealed a high adoption rate of approximately 82% in both contexts, with no statistically significant differences by university affiliation (odds ratio = 1.009, p = .955) or sex. Students primarily reported using ChatGPT for information retrieval, writing assistance, error detection, and summarization. Despite its frequent use, mean scores on ethical-value items indicate strong disagreement with substituting traditional instruction, uncritically trusting AI-generated content, and prioritizing AI over face-to-face interaction. Regression analysis further demonstrates that ethical values significantly predict responsible usage behaviors, suggesting that AI integration occurs within a framework of moral regulation rather than unrestrained technological dependence. Although usage patterns appear structurally similar across the two national contexts, variations in institutional policy environments highlight differing governance dynamics that may shape long-term regulatory approaches. The findings contribute to ongoing debates on AI in higher education by emphasizing not only the continued role of ethical norms in shaping student engagement but also the importance of culturally grounded governance frameworks that balance innovation with responsibility.
This study explores the return migration experiences of Syrian refugee women moving from Turkey back to Syria, with particular attention to the factors shaping their return decisions, the support mechanisms provided during the process, and their post-return reintegration and future aspirations. Employing a phenomenological research design, qualitative data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 17 women aged 18-60. Findings suggest that return decisions are influenced by political and administrative conditions in both Turkey and Syria, access to basic services, and host-state policies. Despite the regime change in Syria, persistent challenges such as political instability, security risks, economic hardship, social fragmentation, and restrictive gender norms remain. These circumstances have led to feelings of regret among many returnees and have increased their tendency to re-migrate. The study underscores that return migration can only constitute a permanent and sustainable solution if it is voluntary, adequately supported, and accompanied by meaningful improvements in the country of origin.
