This autoethnography examines how scholar-activism is formed when scholarship emerges from illegality, exile, and forced return. Drawing on a longitudinal archive of public media interviews, professional documents, nonprofit materials, and structured reflexive writing (2026), I trace cyclical migrations from undocumented youth in Texas to return migrant in Mexico, doctoral student in Canada, and nurse scientist back in Texas. Across these stages, intersecting identities as a gay, Latino, working-class migrant shaped how I navigated institutions and linked research with advocacy. The analysis identifies three formations: exile as a structural and epistemic formation; nursing as redistribution and structural intervention; and scholar-activism as dual infrastructure connecting evidence-building with community solidarity. From these, I develop acompañamiento científico (scientific accompaniment) as a praxis framework for scholars working in contexts of criminalized migration and health inequity, offering guidance for integrating scientific rigor with relational accountability in community-engaged and policy-oriented research.
The small island nation of Mauritius has experienced substantial economic development in the last 20 years, yet women-owned enterprises remain comparatively underrepresented. Drawing on focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 26 women entrepreneurs across diverse sectors, this study illuminates the social and institutional challenges they encounter by centering women’s own accounts of these challenges and the types of support they need to succeed. Despite national discourses of empowerment and equality, participants described persistent structural and interpersonal barriers—including discrimination based on gender, age, race, ethnicity, and religion—that leave many feeling undervalued and insufficiently recognized within Mauritian society. At the same time, their narratives reveal both resilience and a clear articulation of the resources they deem most vital. The article concludes with a set of policy recommendations that emerge directly from the women’s voices. By doing so, this study provides an applied, contextually informed set of policy directions for inclusive entrepreneurial development in Mauritius and contributes to intersectionality scholarship by showing how social policy and international migration flows can create new vulnerabilities for local women entrepreneurs.
This study examines a culturally grounded rhythmic intervention as an applied social science strategy to strengthen sustained attention in preschool children from low-income communities in Barranquilla, Colombia. Guided by neural entrainment theory and principles of scholar activism, a 10-week percussion program using Caribbean instruments was implemented in partnership with a public preschool serving marginalized families. A quasi-experimental design with 38 four-year-olds compared structured rhythmic training with passive music exposure. Sustained attention was assessed through standardized behavioral observation at pretest and posttest. Children in the experimental group showed significantly greater gains, with a large effect size ( d = 1.04). Findings demonstrate that culturally rooted, low-cost interventions can promote developmental equity and advance socially engaged research in early childhood education.
Social innovation labs have emerged as collaborative platforms addressing complex societal challenges, yet little is known about how value co-creation unfolds within these ecosystems, particularly in the Global South. This article examines the mechanisms of value co-creation in four Moroccan social innovation labs representing distinct governance models. Drawing on a qualitative multi-case study anchored in Service-Dominant Logic and the Quadruple Helix framework, the analysis conceptualizes labs as engagement platforms that integrate heterogeneous resources. Findings highlight three key organizational levers sustaining inclusive co-creation: trust-based governance, user-centered methodologies, and structured value-sharing mechanisms. The study also identifies structural fragilities, including financial instability, governance tensions, and limited impact-evaluation tools, which threaten long-term sustainability. These results extend the co-creation theory to fragile institutional contexts and provide implications for policymakers and ecosystem builders.
This study used a person-centered approach to determine the relationship between violent behavior and health services use in a nationally representative cohort. This longitudinal analysis used data from Waves 1–3 (n = 5,114) of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Data, including social, familial, and behavioral health survey variables. This study used variables indicating the participant had or had not received counseling, substance abuse, and/or sexually transmitted infection (STI) treatment. In addition, respondents were asked if they ever needed care but did not receive it, and if they had ever shot or stabbed someone. Latent Transition Analysis was used to identify specific classes of violent behavior and health service utilization. Latent transition analysis (LTA) also describes changes between specified latent classes, how classes are characterized, and the probability of changing groups. Between 80 and 98 percent of participants recorded not receiving services, and 20–23 percent report needing care but not receiving it. Using Collins and Lanza’s approach to LTA, a three-status model was optimal based upon both model fit and parsimony. This resulted in groups with a Low Lifetime Probability and Low Service Utilization (LPLS), Low Youth Probability and Unmet Service Needs (YPUS), and Low Adult Probability with High Service Engagement (APSE). The probability of engaging in violence was directly associated with need and utilization of health and mental health services. Results suggest that one potential mechanism to prevent or mitigate violent behavior is to ensure adequate, timely health and mental health treatment are received.
The aim of this paper is to examine how key actors implementing Rwanda’s National Gender Policy conceptualise gender equality within local contexts. Using purposive sampling, 38 participants from government, nongovernmental organisations and community-based organisations were interviewed across five districts in Rwanda. Thematic analysis indicates that within the Rwandan context, gender equality is conceptualised as a socially constructed concept, articulated through notions of legal parity, moral partnership, empowerment, and gender complementarity. While conceptual plurality represents both a strength and a constraint, it also creates inconsistencies in implementation. The study recommends clarifying definitional frameworks linking rights, empowerment, and complementarity, and aligning policy guidance with culturally grounded, power-sensitive approaches to foster equitable transformation.
Hospitals serve two million victims of interpersonal violence per year and may be the only place survivors seek services. Other formal systems may have little or inconsistent communication with hospitals, to the detriment of survivors. To improve responses to survivors, four counties in California piloted a web-based platform for forensic examination documentation and electronic communication of nonaccidental injury reports among medical, legal, and support services providers. The research team conducted a qualitative implementation evaluation, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research for Process Redesign (CFIR PR), which captures implementation determinants of process change. We conducted descriptive analysis of platform metrics to demonstrate implementation over an eight-month period, scoping sessions with potential users during testing, and interviews with users. We identified constructs across six CFIR PR domains that impacted three intervention processes: (1) forensic exam documentation of injuries, (2) sharing documentation of injuries with law enforcement, and (3) sharing victim referrals with VSPs. Implementation varied across counties. Forensic examiners used the platform most and reported a mix of increased and decreased efficiencies. Tracking reports through the system increased accountability within and between organizations, while many report receivers needed to use previous processes. In these four pilot counties, technology use reflected leaders’ implementation strategy regardless of goals. In counties that had less collaborative implementation approaches, there was also reduced platform use. Successful implementation may be challenged by an absence of intentional collaboration and a shared implementation process. Future research may explore how planning and engagement strategies impact adoption and engagement long term.
This article presents results from a national online survey on the unintended effects of research ethics board (REB) processes on research, teaching, and learning in the Social Sciences and Humanities across Canada ( N = 620). Focusing on student responses ( n = 93), key findings reveal how REB proceduralism, inconsistent risk assessments, and ethics creep disproportionately burden graduate students and restrict innovative, culturally responsive research. Students indicate that REB processes prioritize institutional liability over meaningful ethical engagement, often resulting in delays, emotional strain, and reduced academic motivation. Using DiMaggio and Powell’s framework of institutional isomorphism, the authors identify a paradox: while ethics processes are intended to be standardized, their implementation varies significantly across institutions. The authors recommend reducing barriers for low-risk studies, streamlining multi-institutional reviews, and enhancing REB transparency and cultural responsiveness, alongside offering student-informed strategies for reforming ethics review to better support early-career researchers.
This research investigates the perspectives of teacher educators on multidisciplinary initiatives within the teacher education sector. It entails a concise survey of 50 in-service teacher educators through a mixed-method design to gain insights into the classroom challenges and opportunities encountered in the implementation of policies pertaining to multidisciplinarity in teacher education in India. The outcomes indicate that teacher educators demonstrate optimism regarding the transformation of the system toward a multidisciplinary framework. Nonetheless, substantial challenges persist within the sector, underscoring the critical role of teacher educators in addressing these challenges to optimally leverage the benefits of multidisciplinarity. The study underscores the necessity for the proactive engagement of teacher educators in fulfilling the comprehensive objectives of multidisciplinary teacher education policies. Future research may investigate how the pedagogies of in-service teachers adapt to multidisciplinary teacher education policies.
The theme for the 2025 annual conference for the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS) was “Scholar-Activism: All Around Us and Within.” This is a written version of the Presidential Address that then AACS President, Dr. Lindy Hern, delivered at the conference. In it, Hern discusses her own pathway to scholar activism through a reflection on her own herstory, her own research, and her own work with activists. The analysis presented in this essay connects to larger ongoing societal issues such as the rising authoritarianism in the United States and what scholar-activists can do about this problematic development.
The phenomenon of organizational silence in the leader–member hierarchical relationship has been characterized as an organizational dysfunction of leadership processes in healthcare settings. This study explores how relational identity mediates the relationship among organizational silence and leader–member trusted interactions, shedding light on the way military hierarchical relationships are formed and enabled. The empirical cross-sectional research was conducted in a military hospital using 160 leader–member dyads. Data were analyzed using SPSSv25 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Acquiescent silence negatively impacted on trust (affect-based and cognition-based) and this relationship was improved via the mediation of the leaders’ or the members’ relational identity. The findings imply that organizations should focus on developing relational identity as a key enabler of addressing the effects of members’ acquiescent silence. Also, attention should be given on the association of trusting work relationships and unhindered knowledge exchanging.
This paper reassesses policy analysis through discourse analysis, showing how language shapes social realities, power relations, and policy outcomes. While grounded in theory, it adopts a clearer methodological and applied focus, presenting discourse analysis as a practical tool for policy inquiry and design rather than a purely abstract exercise. The article uses a structured interpretive review and cross-case synthesis of major scholarship and policy controversies, including climate change, immigration, pandemic response, Brexit, education reform, drug policy, and caregiving policy. Across these cases, it explores how policy problems are framed, how narratives gain authority, which actors are legitimized or marginalized, and how discourse narrows or expands acceptable policy options. The paper engages debates over positivist versus interpretive analysis, practicality, and the relationship among discourse, evidence, and power. It concludes by offering a practical framework for analysts and policymakers to support more reflexive, inclusive, equitable, and effective governance.
Parental behavior is an important factor contributing to mental health outcomes in children, and if improperly managed, it can significantly hinder their development and well-being. In this study, we investigated the relationship between parental behavior and the mental health of children in Ghana. Using a nationally representative sample of 8,746 children aged 5–17 years, from the Multiple Cluster Indicators Survey (MICS 6) dataset, we use a bivariate probit model to estimate the effects of parental behavior on the likelihood of children experiencing depression and nervousness. We find that violent parental behavior is associated with a higher likelihood of child depression by 8.0% and nervousness by 13.7%. The results also show that various indicators of parental violence were associated with child depression and nervousness. We conclude that exposure to violent parental behavior is detrimental to children’s mental health. We also find that exposure to long hours of work and having functional disabilities could be detrimental to the mental health of children. The findings highlight the need for interventions to reduce parental violence and support the mental health of children in Ghana. Addressing this issue is essential for achieving SDG target 3.5, which is related to mental health and well-being. The findings contribute to the literature on child mental health and underscore the importance of addressing parenting behavior in promoting child mental health and well-being.
Emotional intimacy, a crucial aspect of friendship, involves a sense of closeness fostered by sharing thoughts and feelings in a trusting, safe, and vulnerable manner. Accurate measurement of emotional intimacy is essential for understanding its dynamics in close relationships, including friendships. This study aimed to measure the emotional intimacy in Indonesian and evaluate its psychometric properties using the Rasch model, including an assessment of differential item functioning (DIF). These findings suggest that the Emotional Intimacy Scale holds promise as a measure of emotional intimacy within the context of Indonesian friendships.
The research examines how limited formal education among females influences both the incidence and underreporting of rape cases in South Africa. The study uses a panel dataset comprising 244 municipalities observed annually between 2008 and 2024. Unlike previous studies, we assume that the observed number of reported rape cases is an outcome bounded by a stochastic reporting frontier. Deviations from this frontier are interpreted as underreporting. The analysis is performed using an instrumental variable stochastic frontier model and the maximum likelihood estimator. We find the average ratio of actual to potential rape cases approximately 0.66 implying that 34 percent or roughly one-third of rape cases goes unreported in South Africa. Approximately 49 percent of the observed variation in official rape cases is due to underreporting. Rape cases and underreporting are higher in municipalities where majority of females have no formal education. These findings are consistent with the proposition that females with limited formal education are more likely to normalize coercive sexual behaviour and conceal rape. The average underreporting of 34 percent additionally suggests that the social burden of rape in South Africa may be higher than official statistics suggest.
Kodomo Shokudo is a Japanese community-based, grassroots response to urban food insecurity and social pathologies that include youth and elder isolation and the lack of transfer of knowledge and skills. The feasibility of its modification for urban Indigenous communities in which the author was already engaged as an activist scholar is presented in a case study format using an Indigenist food justice praxis. A discussion of the process and outcomes of implementation of the program in six cities in the United States and Canada is presented. The case studies illuminate the challenges and opportunities presented throughout the implementation process, along with the benefits of establishing these foodscapes. The case studies are driven by relational methodologies that are a core component in Indigenist research.
