Editor(s)

Dr. Bakare Kazeem Kayode
Assistant Professor,
Faculty of Education, Al-Medina International University, Malaysia.

ISBN 978-93-91595-57-9 (Print)
ISBN 978-93-91595-65-4 (eBook)
DOI: 10.9734/bpi/sthss/v5

This book covers key areas of humanities and social sciences. The contributions by the authors include generic green skill, tessellation, creativity, regular polygon, motif, innovation technology, collectivist culture, context sensitivity, disabling contexts, enabling contexts, individualist culture, GLOBE study, Singapore studio Era, social cultural criticism, World council of churches, ecumenical disability advocates network, un convention on the rights of people with disabilities and sustainable development goals, world health organization, disability justice, inclusion, liberation, problem-based learning, focus group, macroeconomics, online education, face to face education, insurance sales, transformation, consumption basket for a decent living, multi-type maltreatment, externalizing behavior, internalizing behavior, social support, factors affecting mental health, well-being assessment, reinforcement, scaffolding, stress. This book contains various materials suitable for students, researchers and academicians in the field of humanities and social sciences.

 

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Chapters


The Role of Generic Green Skills for Enhancing Creativity and Innovation: Tessellation of Regular Polygons

Abdullahi Musa Cledumas, Yusri Bin Kamin, Haruna Rabiu, Mohammed Umar Isa, Shuaibu Halliru

Selected Topics in Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 5, 16 August 2021, Page 1-12
https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/sthss/v5/9034D

This work presents a better modelling approach for tessellating regular polygons that is also environmentally friendly. Tessellation of polygons that have been innovated through created motifs, as shown in this work, is a departure from standard tessellations of things and animals. In comparison to employing irregular polygons or other items, the fundamental contribution of this work is the simplification and innovation of new patterns from existing regular polygons, in which only three polygons (triangle, square, and hexagon) that may be freely tessellated are employed. This is accomplished by lowering the size of each polygon to its smallest value and then tessellating each of the smaller figures to the right or left to produce two distinct patterns of the same unit called motif.After then, the motifs are joined to form a pattern. The proposed approach is shown to be superior than tessellating ordinary regular polygons in this innovation because more designs are obtained, and more colours can be obtained or introduced to produce meaningful tiles or patterns. Tessellations, in particular, can be observed in many aspects of life.

Tesellations can be found in a variety of places, including art, architecture, hobbies, clothing design, including traditional wears, and many other places.

Impact of Context Sensitivity on Manager’s Behavior

R. B. N. Sinha, N. Lakshmi

Selected Topics in Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 5, 16 August 2021, Page 13-20
https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/sthss/v5/11882D

The study aimed to examine how manager’s sensitivity to enabling and disabling contexts affects his behavior. A sample of 150 respondents, 50 from each of three different locations (Patna, Delhi & Mumbai) in India, participated in a study that explored the shifts in the behavior of managers when they moved from disabling to enabling or from enabling to disabling context. The results showed that in some instances manager’s behavior improved as a function of the change from disabling to enabling and reversed as a result of the change from enabling to disabling contexts. Some of the behaviors were more positive in the enabling than in the disabling context. The study suggests a need to explore the issues further.

American and South Korean Cultural Contexts: Present and Future Implications

Scott Lincoln

Selected Topics in Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 5, 16 August 2021, Page 21-26
https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/sthss/v5/11843D

The cultural contexts of South Korea and the United States are vastly different in many ways. The purpose of this study is to examine the origins of these differences, the implications on the present-day societies, and to try to determine any trends for the future. The differing philosophies upon which each society was founded have caused Korea to become an exceptionally high-context society, while the United States represents a significantly lower-context society. While the GLOBE Study results for these countries confirm much of what we would expect of low- and high-context societies, this study concludes that the results indicate that South Koreans seem to be ready to cast off some of their traditional ways and embrace a more egalitarian society, and that the two cultures' acceptance of similar idealized cultural values will lead to a gradual convergence of even such drastically divergent cultures.

Study on Comedy Films of Malaysian Studio Era: An Approach to Social Culture Criticism

Ayu Haswida bt Abu Bakar

Selected Topics in Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 5, 16 August 2021, Page 27-34
https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/sthss/v5/3828F

Comedy often is a serious matter because it is based on works with comments upon and critiques on social and political issues that have the potential of being presented as serious. Meanwhile the cinema is a very powerful cultural practice and institution. The focus of this research rests on comedy film as an agency of criticism to society. Thus, this research is to examine the capability of comedy cinema as a medium of criticism. The insight developed of this research constructed through a qualitative research design. Focuses on the Malaysian cinema era of studio. It rests on the framework of comedy as critiques on social culture that has the potential of being presented as serious. The objectives of this study, to explore and to analyse the function of the comedy films of Malaysian Studio Era as an approach to social culture criticism. Regard to the finding, it shows that comedy genre does to a degree which strongly influenced by socio-culture does serve as an ‘agency’ of meaning. Thus, critiques on social culture that has the potential of being presented as serious and is viewed as having the potential to criticise cultural discourses by underlining their status as fiction.

NGOs and Disability Justice Activism in the Religion Academy

Mary Jo Iozzio

Selected Topics in Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 5, 16 August 2021, Page 35-53
https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/sthss/v5/11464D

The World Council of Churches (WCC), an organization of 348 member churches, is a model of coalition building particularly through its support of individuals, churches, and their ministries for the inclusion, participation, and contributions of people with disability in its ecumenical work. The Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (EDAN) informs one of the initiatives of the WCC—faith in Jesus Christ and communion fellowship—in the journey toward visible unity and justice for people who were too often missing the banquet of a church of all and for all. EDAN and other international disability advocates have most recently embedded its agenda of inclusion into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations explicitly recognizes the Human Rights for persons with disability and, with the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), has raised protections against discrimination, exploitation, and abuse of people with disabilities to the level of international law. The World Health Organization works collaboratively in gathering data and local analyses of efforts to minimize preventable disability and maximize rehabilitation program availability with partners across the globe. These organizations, global in nature, have benefitted from the insights raised by people with disability and scholars working at the intersections of disability, religion, and justice. This essay examines the efficacy and opportunities of international coalitions available with these organizations so as to challenge the ethics of simple accommodations with a more robust social justice of affirmation and advocacy for people with disability: a new paradigm for our churches and our world.

The objectives of the study 1) consider how Christian communities understand diversity in the human family inclusive of People with Disability (PWD); 2) challenge Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to increase their support of PWD by making accessibility the key to initiative remedies; and 3) to encourage collaboration in mission efforts that ensure the inclusion of PWD and their allies in policy and decision-making.

A Case Study on Students’ Experiences of PBL in Macroeconomics at Higher Education in Trinidad and Tobago

Rhonda Dookwah, Gabriel Julien

Selected Topics in Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 5, 16 August 2021, Page 54-64
https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/sthss/v5/10248D

This research highlights the experiences of sixteen undergraduates who studied Macroeconomics at a higher education institution in Trinidad and Tobago called Prestigious College. The students used the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach for the first time and were extremely excited and anxious about learning through the use of the PBL strategy. Furthermore, they were quite willing to deviate from the traditional instructional method to accept the PBL. A review of the existing literature within the local context, indicated that there is a dearth of information about the experiences of these undergraduates who study Macroeconomics, using the PBL approach at Prestigious College. Hence, their voices and opinions about their experiences are absolutely necessary since they can be a catalyst for the proper creation of policy and implementation of PBL in this country. Moreover, their voices and opinions answer the research question: What are students´ experiences with Problem-Based Learning in the study of Macroeconomics at Prestigious College? Consequently, an action research which used a case study was employed to adequately ascertain their experiences. It involved semi-structured interviews with four focus groups. Data were collected, collated, analyzed, and narrated using two major themes: PBL motivates learners and PBL facilitates self-directed learners. Recommendations strongly advocating student-centered strategies were also offered.

Based on 10 authentic audio-recorded data, the study aims to explore the dynamics of the insurance sales agent-client interactions in transformational China’s rural areas from a socio-cultural perspective. It sets out from generalizing the specific discursive patterns from moves and steps [1,2] of the utterances made in the agent-client interactions, governed by communicative purposes. The first move, warming up, deserves more attention as it serves crucial function in the interactions. The paper delineates the different types and functions of warming up, and relates them to the underlying operating mechanism of rural agent-client interactions; another vital move, establishing credentials and trust, has also been analyzed in details, since trust is the pillar stone in the conclusion of insurance sales. Through the analysis, the study aims to depict the transforming nature of the modern Chinese rural society, where old and traditional value system has been, for a large part, demolished, while new value system is yet to be established.

The Decent Life Basket for Families with School-Age Children

Adina Mihailescu, Mariana Stanciu, Livia Stefanescu, Cristina Huma

Selected Topics in Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 5, 16 August 2021, Page 84-94
https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/sthss/v5/12233D

GAR-UM-2019-XI-5.5-8 Grant Interim Report: The goal of the first stage of the research project is to achieve a decent living standard for families with school-aged children. Stage I entails actions such as examining official publications from the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), the Research Institute for Quality of Life (RIQL), and other sources (Eurostat, the European Commission, and UNICEF) to clarify the research's objectives, methods, and indicators. All of these activities help to identify indicators that will aid in the development of the next stage of the grant, which includes research methodology, the construction of a questionnaire for families with school-aged children, and the development of an interview guide for the teacher and paediatrician.  A questionnaire will be used to interview Bucharest households with school-aged children aged 6 to 14, in order to determine the consumption basket for this family structure. The indicated families will be chosen using the "snowball" technique, which will be applied in stages until the information needed is saturated. The procedure will include an interview guide for teachers (teacher / teacher) to finalise information about the children's school needs, as well as medical staff (paediatrician / family doctor) to update medical needs related to health care and children's hygiene, particularly in the new conditions of the Corona virus pandemic (COVID-19).

Exposure to family violence as a child has a detrimental long-term impact on one’s life. This relationship is under-researched in Asian populations in the United States or in Asian countries. The objectives of this research are to examine long-term effects of maltreatment, including interparental violence and child maltreatment on externalizing and internalizing problems experienced by Asian and Asian American college students and explore protective effects of social support against the negative consequences of family maltreatment. Surveying 542 college students in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and the United States, we measured effects of family maltreatment on problem outcomes and examined the role of social support. Exposure to dual harm of family maltreatment (i.e., intraparental violence and child maltreatment) increased students’ externalizing problems compared to exposure to one type of family maltreatment, but no differences in internalizing behaviors were found. Effects of social support from parents and peers on externalizing and internalizing problems were neither moderating nor mediating, but direct. Those who received parental support had fewer externalizing behaviors, but effects of peer support were not significant. In contrast, those who obtained parental and peer support showed lower levels of internalizing mental health concerns. Surprisingly, men exhibited more mental health issues than women. Exposure to dual harm increases behavioral problems, but family support can help repair damage among Asian and Asian American college students. The relationship between abuse and problem outcomes was similar across countries, indicating common psychological processes.

School Factors and Support System for Positive Mental Health and Well-Being

Vini Sebastian

Selected Topics in Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 5, 16 August 2021, Page 114-120
https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/sthss/v5/3701F

According to the World Health Organisation [1]: Mental Health is the foundation for the well-being and effective functioning of individuals. Mental Health is a state of balance both within and with the environment. The entire gamete of a person that is the physical, social, emotional, spiritual and, all other factors of the environment affect the ‘Mental Health of the person. Teaching is one of the most stressful professions, and ‘Mental health’ for teachers is of utmost importance. Most teachers deal with this issue in their ways. This article focuses on the factors within the institution which could be a source of ‘Mental health issues and lack of well-being of teachers. Teachers enjoying good ‘Mental health’ and ‘Physical health’ will contribute to the well-being of the students and the school. The article will make the school authorities aware of the different factors which affect the teachers’ ‘Mental Health’, and how the teachers/school can change the situation for achieving well-being in teachers. Teachers are also human begins who have their own needs, so as they encourage the students and parents, teachers themselves would require motivational support from the counselors. A Psychological assessment conducted can objectively assess the ‘Mental Health’ issues and establish the well-being standards for the institution. Teachers must work towards ‘Mental Health well-being’ which can infuse in them fresh energy to move forward towards their professional growth and also work towards the all-around development of the students under their care.

The main objective of this study was to investigate the use of three Bapedi traditional musical instruments in religious and cultural practices. The instruments are meropa (drums), dinaka (whistles and reed pipes) and phalafala (sable antelope horn). Bapedi musical instruments are frequently employed in both vocal and instrumental dance ensembles, as well as in festivals, religious rites, and funeral processions.In traditional Bapedi civilization, there are a variety of rites.Some are associated with human life cycles and are referred to as rites of passage.Others are conducted at times of adversity, such as sickness or drought. Others are seasonal and have anything to do with crop planting or harvesting.The purpose of these rites is to keep the cosmic power in balance.Oral interviews were the primary source of information.Publications and records are examples of secondary sources.Photographing various instruments, seeing videos of performances, and conducting semi-structured interviews with nine (9) traditional musicians were among the other approaches used. The following research question therefore guided this study: what are the religious and cultural functions of meropa (drums), dinaka (whistles and reed pipes) and phalafala (sable antelope horn) during religious and cultural practices of Bapedi people? The purpose of this contribution is to show that Bapedi religious and cultural practices need not to be seen as superstitious, magic, pagan or as evil. The findings revealed that the three traditional musical instruments studied have varying effects on Bapedi society's social, religious, and cultural activities. Although it was concluded that all three play a role, it was found that drums play the most important part in both religious and cultural practices.

In this book chapter the author discusses the interconnections between social media addiction, cult indoctrination, and the coronavirus pandemic, all in relation to the United States presidency of Donald Trump. The relationship of the Trump presidency to each of these three phenomena: social media addiction, cult indoctrination, and the coronavirus pandemic, is initially examined separately.   Subsequently the author ties things together by exploring the interconnections of these three different phenomena with each other, in the context of the Trump presidency.   The author concludes with his own belief about how we can avoid the most detrimental consequences of all these interconnections. However, the author believes that the current very real and understandable human phenomenon of pandemic caution fatigue has been tremendously amplified by President Trump’s use of cult indoctrination techniques in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic devastation.

Study on the Constitution of the Subject in the Work of Franz Kafka: A Psychoanalytic View

Jose Luiz Cordeiro Dias Tavares

Selected Topics in Humanities and Social Sciences Vol. 5, 16 August 2021, Page 148-156
https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/sthss/v5/12163D

This essay examines Franz Kafka's novel Letter to My Father from a psychoanalytic standpoint. Kafka presents a brave exposition of himself in the relationship he had with his father and the interference in his psychological development, with a significant self-biographical content. Some sections of this novel clearly address topics such as the Freudian theory of narcissism, the process of identification with parental figures, Oedipal characteristics, the formation of the Ego and its aspirations, and the significance of the Super Ego in the subject's formation. Sigmund Freud felt that we might approach the concerns of the human soul through literary texts. Freud makes numerous references to authors such as Goethe, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, and Sophocles throughout his extensive oeuvre. Human emotions and suffering are expressed via literary texts. The relationship between Franz Kafka's words and Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis is quite evident in the text Letter to My Father, which is the subject of this study.