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Some communities in the Veneto Region (Italy) are facing a major technological disaster due to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) pollution. In response to this serious problem, a group of ordinary mothers exposed to PFAS contamination came together under the name MammeNoPfas (MothersNoPfas) to address this environmental disaster moving towards activism. They started to develop the epistemic capacity to understand these substances and disseminate this knowledge within their communities. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of these mothers as an epistemic community and a minority group, engaged in an accidental form of environmental activism. Based on in-depth narrative interviews, 23 mothers were involved in the study. A grounded theory and thematic analysis methods were used. Four major themes emerged: (1) health surveillance, (2) collective ignorance, (3) collective learning, (4) community practices. Nine sub-themes were associated with the emerging themes. This study demonstrated that the skills acquired by MammeNoPfas enabled significant participation in environmental and health issues. Social mobilisation, fighting for legal justice against those who poisoned their land and bodies and establishing themselves as an epistemic community are the three main dimensions characterising the struggle of MammeNoPfas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the relatively unexplored topic of the collective memory of environmental disasters from a psychosocial perspective. To achieve this, we conducted an exploratory case study on the Vaia storm, which hit the Italian Alps in October 2018, causing significant social and ecological damage. We carried out thirteen in-depth semi-structured interviews with members of the enunciatory community of Vaia as follows: groups of people who either experienced the disaster firsthand, studied it, or had a particular interest in it. Through a thematic analysis of the interview transcripts, the four following key themes emerged that illustrate the forms taken by the collective memory of the disaster: (1) a sensory dimension; (2) an emotional dimension; (3) a narrative dimension; and (4) a material dimension. Our findings suggest a non-anthropocentric, hybrid understanding of collective memory, aligning with emerging concepts in the psychosocial literature on the emotional impacts of environmental disasters. We also advance potential future research questions at the intersection of memory studies, resilience, and sustainability and stress the practical implications of collective memory in fostering sustainable practices and enhancing climate resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dramatic consequences related to borders, such as migrants' deaths, disappearances and human rights violations, have increased since the 1990s. Several migration policies contribute to border violence, leading to traumatic mental health effects on migrants, their families and activists. The literature has overlooked the psychological, cultural and religious/spiritual experience of activists sharing the burden of migrants and their families' grief and struggles. To explore the experiences of activists while in the act, the research adopted a sociocultural approach and conducted twenty-five semi-structured interviews with border activists. The qualitative thematic analysis revealed five themes, encompassing how activists dynamically make sense of their experiences: rehumanising vocation; endless feelings; empathic-epistemic experiential ambivalence; personal coping strategies and liberation transformative actions. These themes offer a transitional model, progressing from acknowledging States' responsibilities to developing transnational, cross-cultural and inter-faith forms of human solidarity. Finally, this model fuels ethically inspired community struggles towards social equality, justice and transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a qualitative study of the relational dimension of the social work practice with asylum seekers and refugees. The aim of the research is to explore how a group of social workers working with asylum seekers and refugees represent their relationship with users and how they construct this relational work. In Italy, the social workers' practice is performed by workers with different educational backgrounds, as it is not a juridically recognised job with its theoretical and operative background. In this study, 20 social workers working with asylum seekers and refugees employed in the asylum accommodation centres of the Extraordinary Reception Centres system and the Protection System for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Northern Italy participated in semi-structured interviews. From the results of the thematic analysis of the interviews, which applied a bottom-up coding strategy, it emerged that social workers describe their relationship with users as a means of intervention (goal-oriented relationship) but also as a source of information (needs-centred relationship), a negotiation process and a source of emotional strain (emotionally demanding relationship). Furthermore, the construction of relational work requires social workers to take into account normative obligations and organisational lines (contextual frame) to refer to their role but also, at the same time, to their biographical background and personal resources to develop strategies. Therefore, social workers working with asylum seekers and refugees need to find a mediation between a personal approach to the relationship and a professional one (person-role balance). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Western democratic society, the specificity of the bioethical debate over the life-sciences involves bringing together many different study factors. The dilemmas raised by the new scientific discoveries highlight how contemporary common sense is plagued by a profound feeling of anguish over possible future anthropological developments. One of the central problems is the social construction of consent as a psychological strategy seeking to orient public opinion toward accepting new applications of science and technology. On the one hand, the general features in the epistemological analysis of the mind-brain identity are called into question; and on the other, together with all those research directions concerned with the 'meaning of life' we enter the dimension of the complex issue inherent in the possibility of establishing if there exists something transcending thought and what it may be. In both cases a problem is raised on which the meaning of human life and the world depend, while between the two universes described by medical science and ethical-philosophical thought a window of opportunity for important psychological research is opened. In order to understand such phenomena the present article defends the theory that social psychology must adopt as its subject matter 'thinking society,' that is, society characterized by discussion and reasoning on themes relevant to bioethics. KEYWORDS: Bioethics, health, mind-body, nihilism, psychosocial consent, social construction, social representations.

Suicide rates in prison are particularly high in Italy. Some initiatives have been accomplished to reduce this phenomenon, including minimum-security prison (MSP) projects. This article considers the dimension of spiritual transcendence (ST) in improving these programmes since few studies have considered ST in MSP s and in preventing suicide. The research used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and involved ten detainees from two structures to investigate suicide ideation, the transformative potential of an MSP experience, and whether ST helped detainees. The results showed that the MSP experience primarily helps inmates improve their reasons for living and maturation. ST also supports them, and believers found this to be a source of well-being. Some considerations on this issue were developed related to the improvement of MSP intervention with religious, philosophical/existential reflection and spiritual activities, and the need for broader studies on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dignity therapy (DT) is recognized as a valid form of support for terminally ill patients who have to manage trauma and loss. Given the positive evidence associated with DT, finding ways of adapting it for the older people warrants consideration. The study examines if DT can be improved with the use of an album of family photographs, in order to process the sense of loss of dignity and past traumas. Sixteen institutionalized participants were surveyed, via mixed methods. Quantitative data were collected with the help of the Patient Dignity Inventory, and the qualitative analysis was based on generativity documents. Results confirmed the feasibility of this approach for this cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]