Social Epidemiology: Past, Present, and Future

In a context where epidemiologic research has been heavily influenced by a biomedical and individualistic approach, the naming of “social epidemiology” allowed explicit emphasis on the social production of disease as a powerful explanatory paradigm and as critically important for interventions to improve population health. This review briefly highlights key substantive areas of focus in social epidemiology over the past 30 years, reflects on major advances and insights, and identifies challenges and possible future directions. Future opportunities for social epidemiology include grounding research in theoretically based and systemic conceptual models of the fundamental social drivers of health; implementing a scientifically rigorous yet realistic approach to drawing conclusions about social causes; using complementary methods to generate valid explanations and identify effective actions; leveraging the power of harmonization, replication, and big data; extending interdisciplinarity and diversity; advancing emerging critical approaches to understanding the health impacts of systemic racism and its policy implications; going global; and embracing a broad approach to generating socially useful research. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health, Volume 43 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Loneliness and Social Networks in Europe

The paper analyses social causes of loneliness in Europe using cross-national data from the 2017 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) module “Social Networks and Social Resources” from 13 countries categorised as Northern Europe, Continental Europe, and Central and Eastern Europe. The paper aims to examine loneliness with regard to three specific groups of predictors, related to network, sociocultural and sociostructural aspects. The results suggest that sociability patterns and personal networks are the most important predictors of loneliness. While the frequency of contacts with family members and close friends and the overall number of contacts showed significance, loneliness was primarily related to the quality of personal relationships. Considering sociocultural factors, the obtained findings showed that social trust is consistently associated with lower levels of loneliness. Furthermore, people from Continental Europe were, in general, less lonely than North and East Europeans. Age was an important factor here as respondents from younger age groups were lonelier in Nordic countries than in the other two blocs of countries, while older respondents were lonelier in Central and East European countries. Finally, sociostructural indicators in general showed less predictive value compared to sociability patterns and sociocultural variables. However, when it came to socioeconomic exclusion, this aspect showed a stronger connection with loneliness for the individuals from the Nordic group of countries. The findings of this paper contribute to the vibrant field of contemporary scholarship on loneliness with a fresh perspective based on comparing three large blocs of European countries and an integrated approach to various predictors of loneliness.

CSR and Corporate India: A Study on Public and Private Sector Divide

CSR is increasingly a misunderstood and much debated concept worldwide. There is a saying in the business, “Business of the business is to do business and nothing else”. Profit is the only and dominating objective of the business, as profit is needed both for the working and growth of the business. Over the time, there has been a sea change in the objectivity and priority of business. From a commercial unit, the business now has been a social entity with corporate citizenship. CSR is fast becoming an increasing business strategy both nationally and globally. CSR practices of Indian companies got a radical boost with statutory provision in the Companies Act 2013 that make it mandatory to every Indian company and foreign entity with Indian presence to spend 2 per cent of its average net profits of its profit made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy. There exists difference in the outlook of companies towards social causes and varying CSR policies and practices. Also Public and private sector divide in CSR practices prevails. There is need for continuous investigation of the changing social and economic needs and the role of corporate houses in meeting the aspirations of the stakeholders and the society at large. Keeping this in view, the present paper entitled “CSR and Corporate India: A Study on Public and Private Sector Divide” is a sincere attempt to make a comparative analysis of CSR practices of public sector and private sector companies with special emphasis on industries of Kalinganagar steel hub of Odisha. Keywords: CSR, FDI, MoUs, Corporate India.

Criminological Aspects of the Causes of Crime

In modern criminology, the threefold division of the causes of crime is accepted: physical; Anthropological and social. However, it should be noted that in modern criminology there is an opinion that the reasons are divided into two parts. In particular, physical factors should be removed from this classification and the causes of crime should be divided into social and anthropological categories. For modern criminology, in relation to the causes of crime, it would be most appropriate to take into account the vast experience of the past and to conduct our further research in a three-part classification: studying anthropological, physical and social causes and influencing these causes, developing prevention measures. Experience has clearly shown that the science of criminology in the fight against crime, occupies a leading place among the social sciences, whose recommendations should be taken into account as much as possible in the social control of crime.

Towards new Dimensions of Environmental Education at “P. Kr. Yavorov” Secondary School – the First Eco-school in Varna and the Region

Today we all live in an extremely dynamic world which provokes a variety of challenges related not only to health but also to education and social isolation. It appears that many young people are motivated and ambitious to shape their own future gaining experience and confidence during the school years. Many of their ideas have a creative and rational potential which triggers socially useful initiatives and projects on regional, national or international level. Participation in eco projects, volunteering and supporting social causes combines studying and practical activities and, thus, raises the quality of education and breaks its traditional character. And when innovation is also included, the result is predetermined and winning. Using an integrated system for ecological management, “Peyo Yavorov” Secondary School has encouraged students, teachers and parents to participate in eco initiatives for more than 20 years. This enriches their knowledge and improves the environment. Focusing on the ecological education ensures better understanding of the environmental problems with their local and global impact. Different approaches are used for developing key competences which creates later an active, healthy and environmental-friendly behavior. Activities in the eco field have proved to be effective as means of raising sensitivity and responsibility aiming at the change of one’s attitude – towards themselves, the others and the environment.

Az átmenet etikája – Az előregyártott síremlék, mint önkép

The Ethics of Transition – The Prefabricated Tombstone as Identity Portrait. The present paper is part of a broader study. The broader context of the research compares and analyses the English and Transylvanian funeral rituals. My current paper examines a slice of this broader research context, identifying the problem of the funeral ritual, which has traditionally served as a transitional and linear ceremony. As such, the funeral started to transform from being a transitional ritual into a mosaic, personalized rite, by losing its transitional character. In the context of examining the social causes, the study examines how linear transitional elements are eliminated in funerals and, ultimately, how so-called existential holes appear in the funeral rituals. Keywords: self-image, post-socialist identity, tombstone, funeral

‘Frightening proportions’

This article deals with Rabbi Meir Kahane’s assimilation doctrine, an under-studied aspect of previous published research on Kahane. The present study suggests that this doctrine is catalysed by a palingenetic myth of decline and rebirth, which also catalyses Kahane’s ideology. By proposing this, this article aims to offer a new perspective on the understanding of what drives Kahane’s ideology. It is further suggested that Kahane’s palingenetic myth is in part built around a myth of ‘intraracial antagonism’ between the American Jewish Establishment (AJE) and the ‘common Jew’. Following Bruce Lincoln’s theory of myth, it is here contended that Kahane’s assimilation doctrine is presented as ‘ideology in narrative form’. The study surveys the alleged causes and effects of assimilation, and what solutions Kahane presents to put an end to it. Among the alleged causes, Kahane singles out the AJE’s purported gutting of Jewish religious education, which is said to have alienated Jewish youth from their religion. Aside from curtailing Jewish continuity, Kahane for example identifies Jews engaging in social causes that allegedly run counter to Jewish interests as one alleged effect of assimilation. To end assimilation Kahane promotes a solution of campaigning in Jewish communities to ultimately put a stop to intermarriage, to instil hadar and ahavat Yisroel among Jews by the means of a regenerated Jewish educational system, and to encourage Jews to ‘return’ to Israel.

Women Lawyers for Social Causes: Professional Careers and Legal Development in Thailand

Women lawyers are increasing seen among the leading legal defenders of human rights and social movements in Thailand. Increasing visibility is partly a result of news coverage and social media, but women lawyers activism has far older roots. In this article, we examine two related processes of change that contribute to women’s emergence as leading social cause practitioners. First, we discuss the relationship between Thailand’s legal system and its social and political development since the end of the nineteenth century. Second, we employ career narratives of three women lawyers with innovative practices for social causes as a lens through which to examine how lawyers transform available resources into an identity, law practice, and law. We discuss not only the role of prior generations of women lawyers, connections between influential elites and social cause lawyers, and the founding of a few key organizations within the NGO community, but also the role of the women as architects of their own careers. We conclude that they have become successful by aligning their practices with emerging social movements and progressive bureaucrats, unexpectedly creating professional identities with somewhat different relationships to the rule of law.

Wokebranding: social causes as branding strategies. State of the art in Chile

Brands have chosen different ways of generating value; from models based on attributes, benefits and value, to taking critical political positions and embracing social causes, known as Wokebranding. Based on the collection of primary data and from a qualitative and exploratory perspective, this research helps to understand the state of the art of this trend in Chile. The case study shows the difficulties for a rapid adoption of this type of tendency in the context of a weakened industry. This study tries to contribute to the scarce academic attention that has been put to these topics in Latin America.