This paper argues that there is a need to critically assess bias in the representations of older adults in the field of Human–Robot Interaction. This need stems from the recognition that technology development is a socially constructed process that has the potential to reinforce problematic understandings of older adults. Based on a qualitative content analysis of 96 academic publications, this paper indicates that older adults are represented as; frail by default, independent by effort; silent and technologically illiterate; burdensome; and problematic (...) for society. Within these documents, few counternarratives are present that do not take such essentialist representations. In these texts, the goal of social robots in elder care is to “enable” older adults to “better” themselves. The older body is seen as “fixable” with social robots, reinforcing an ageist and neoliberal narrative: older adults are reduced to potential care receivers in ways that shift care responsibilities away from the welfare state onto the individual. (shrink)

Conceived through collaboration by activist academics from Israel and Northern Ireland, this book draws from experience to offer practical and theoretical insights and programs for promoting activist pedagogy for shared learning and shared life in divided societies.

Feminist research is inherently linked to action, since it integrates scholarship with activism and seeks a fundamental social change. As such, it studies communciation processes as action-oriented on two complimentary levels: action within – the perpsective of meanings created as a result of active negotiations with texts by specifically socially-situated audiences; and social action – the perspective that understandings of human communication should be applied for the improvement of social life. Such a perspective emphasizes subjectivity as the central form of (...) knowledge-making and studying, it encourages reserachers' reflexivity upon their personal, social and political positioning, it prioritizes interdisciplinary and multidimensional cooperation, it encourages non-hiereachical and empowering researcher-researchee relationships, and redefines a host of ethical research-related issues. The result is a series of challenges to normative assumptions about conducting and presenting science, and about the value of social knowledge and its emancipatory implications. A variety of case-studies applying feminist perspectives to communication research will be presented to illustrate these issues from the areas of news, advertising, children's culture, media texts and construction of gender identities, and the use of new technologies. The implications of the feminist approach to the redifinition of communication studies, and its possible contribution to bridging theory and practice, research and social change, academy and everyday life, will be highlighted. (shrink)

This article examines the dominant images of female immigrants to Israel from the former USSR. The analysis considers the intersection between gender, class, and race in the context of the problematic status of female immigrants. Portrayals of the female immigrants are studied through a qualitative content analysis of news items in the Israeli popular press during the years 1994-1997. The results suggest that the female immigrant appears in the Israeli press primarily in two negative images: as a supplier of sexual (...) services and as the “other,” not one of “us.” A third image of the “exceptional immigrant” occasionally appears. Popular press items and the results of a preliminary phone survey of a representative sample of the Jewish population are quite consistent. The survey indicates that 65 percent of the respondents hold negative attitudes toward the immigrants, the most salient of which associates them with the sex industry. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to show that any process of benefit sharing that does not guarantee the representation and participation of women in the decision-making process, as well as in the distribution of benefits, contravenes a central demand of social justice. It is argued that women, particularly in developing countries, can be excluded from benefits derived from genetic research because of existing social structures that promote and maintain discrimination. The paper describes how the structural problem of gender-based inequity (...) can impact on benefit sharing processes. At the same time, examples are given of poor women’s ability to organise themselves and to achieve social benefits for entire communities. Relevant international guidelines (e.g. the Convention on Biodiversity) recognise the importance of women’s contributions to the protection of biodiversity and thereby, implicitly, their right to a share of the benefits, but no mechanism is outlined on how to bring this about. The authors make a clear recommendation to ensure women’s participation in benefit sharing negotiations by demanding seats at the negotiation table. (shrink)

In recent years, the field of virtual reality (VR) has shown tremendous advancements and is utilized in fields ranging from entertainment, scientific research, social networks, artistic creation as well as numerous approaches to employ VR for psychotherapy. While the use of VR in psychotherapy has been widely discussed, little attention has been given to the potential of this new medium for art therapy. Artistic expression in virtual reality is a novel medium which offers unique possibilities, extending beyond classical expressive art (...) mediums. Creation in virtual reality includes options such as three-dimensional painting, an immersive creative experience, dynamic scaling and embodied expression. In this perspective paper, we present the potentials and challenges of virtual reality for art therapy and outline basic principles for its implementation. We focus on the novel qualities offered by this creative medium (the virtual environment, virtual materials and unreal characteristics) and on the core aspects of virtual reality (such as presence, Immersivity, point of view and perspective) for the practice of art therapy. (shrink)

This mixed method study (Explanatory Design - the Participant Selection Model) investigated the use of joint drawing (the Family Squiggle) as a family climate assessment tool for hearing families who have a deaf / hard of hearing (D/HH) child. The goal was to evaluate the possibilities of applying a quantitative approach to characterize the pictorial phenomena produced by hearing families who have a D/HH child, and then apply qualitative research approaches to better understand the meaning of these phenomena. Twenty-eight hearing (...) families (parents and child) whose child was diagnosed as D/HH and used hearing devices (hearing aids, implant) were recruited along with 16 families with a hearing child of a similar age enrolled in a mainstream school. The sessions involved a joint drawing followed by a family interview. In the quantitative stage, pictorial phenomena for which there was a significant association between the phenomena and the group of families were defined. These were: (1) The number of dominant images, (2) Images occupying less than a quarter of the page. (3) Images with accentuated outlines. (4) Moderate colorfulness with four to five colors in each drawing. (5) Minimal representation of the face. (6) Concrete rather than creative titles. (7) Muting of conflictual themes. (8) Images reminiscent of hearing devices (hearing aids, implant). In the qualitative phase, interviews were conducted with the hearing families with a D/HH child to better understand the meaning of these pictorial phenomena. The findings suggest that each of these phenomena represent the preoccupation of the family with deafness / being hard of hearing, capture a certain aspect of family dynamics, and together provide a broader and deeper picture of the family climate and the interactions between the child's family and hearing. This assessment tool may thus be utilized when verbal tools cannot be easily applied. (shrink)

Studies have underscored the complexity of the encounter between ultra-Orthodox society and psychotherapy, as well as the challenges involved in developing a therapeutic relationship in cross-cultural therapy. However, there is scant research on therapy for ultra-Orthodox children, especially when it comes to arts therapies that take place in a cross-cultural setting. The current study examined the perceptions of 17 arts therapists who are not ultra-Orthodox, and who currently work or have previously worked with ultra-Orthodox children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with (...) the therapists and analyzed using the principles of Consensual Qualitative Research. The study covered four domains: perceptions of the significance and objectives of arts therapy with ultra-Orthodox children; the influence of the cultural difference between therapist and client on the emotional experience and the therapeutic relationship; the use of arts in therapy; systemic aspects. The findings indicate significant perceptual and value-based disparities between therapists and clients, which pose difficulties and challenges to all participating parties and require therapists to be highly sensitive. Aside from the difficulties, the findings suggest that this cultural difference may also have certain advantages for clients as well as therapists. The findings likewise attest to the multifaceted process of change that is taking place within Haredi society in its attitude toward psychotherapy in general and arts therapy in particular. (shrink)

Research in School-Based Art Therapy has been widely discussed in recent years, and the number of studies that examine staff perceptions and the special characteristics of art therapy within the education system has risen considerably. The current study explored the critical issue of adolescent clients’ perceptions of art therapy in school, from their point of view as clients. The methodology and data analysis were conducted according to the principles of Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR). The sample was composed of 12 adolescent (...) clients, aged 14–18 (M = 16), who took part in in-depth semi-structured interviews. The findings were organized into five domains that emerged from the interviews: referrals and initial engagement with therapy, the setting within school, the nature of art therapy at school, the relationship with the art therapist, and the impact of art therapy on these clients. The analysis revealed that although some participants initially agreed to art therapy because it got them out of class and let them have fun instead, they realized after a period of time of art therapy that they were engaged in a personal and emotional process focusing on them which allowed them to express their feelings without the fear of judgment. Participants at times used the word “mother” to describe their relationship with the art therapist, and stated that the presence of the art therapist at school made them feel safer and helped them deal with day-to-day problems. School-based... (shrink)

This commentary was submitted to the World Medical Association on behalf of the International Network on Feminist Approaches to Bioethics. Our submission included a description of feminist research ethics, suggestions for specific revisions to the Declaration, and elements found in other international research ethics codes that are important from a feminist perspective. Our goals were to encourage the WMA to craft a declaration that: conceptualizes issues of vulnerability in richer and more nuanced ways, resists the influence of profit motives, and (...) extends the scope of responsibility for ethical research more broadly. (shrink)

The purpose of the present study was to identify the sources of social support for feminist issues in Israel. Attitudes toward these issues as social problems and toward feminism as a social movement were examined through a questionnaire administered to 2,097 university students studying in the Tel Aviv area in 1985-1986. The study found that Israeli students who considered gender discrimination in promotion and prohibitions against abortion severe social problems were more likely to be on the political left, nonreligious or (...) secular, and generally tolerant of difference and open to change. Support for the perception of violence against women as a social problem was stronger than for the other two issues and cut across the dominant cleavages in Israeli society. Students do not connect violence against women with gender inequality. These findings and their significance for the development of feminism in Israel are discussed within the framework of Gamson and Modigliani's analysis of the culture of policy issues. (shrink)

The Declaration of Helsinki is recognised worldwide as a cornerstone of research ethics. Working in the wake of the Nazi doctors’ trials at Nuremberg, drafters of the Declaration set out to codify the obligations of physician-researchers to research participants. Its significance cannot be overstated. Indeed, it is cited in most major guidelines on research involving humans and in the regulations of over a dozen countries.Although it has undergone five revisions,1 and most recently incorporated language aimed at addressing concerns over research (...) carried out in resource-poor countries,2–5 the Declaration could go much farther in addressing the profoundly altered landscape of research with humans. Research involving humans is now a global enterprise and often involves participants from resource-poor countries. Rather than being carried out at single institutions by veteran researchers, many studies are now conducted at many locations—including sites that are not academic medical centres—by new and relatively inexperienced investigators. A growing number of projects involve novel agents, based on innovative work in genomics and proteomics. Increasingly, research is sponsored by the for-profit sector. National governments and professional organisations around the globe provide laws, regulations and standards for the conduct of research involving humans. Considerable scholarship also critiques and guides this endeavour.In light of the current effort of the World Medical Association to revise the Declaration, we offer ideas on how to re-conceive the concept of “vulnerability” and its links with the principle of justice and, in turn, redirect the attention of researchers towards those who might be so designated.In the research context, “vulnerability” is associated with an inability partly or totally to protect one’s own interests. Typically, conceptions of vulnerability centre upon characteristics associated with particular groups that …. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Journal of the History of Ideas 63.4 (2002) 555-575 [Access article in PDF] Measurer of All Things:John Greaves (1602-1652), the Great Pyramid, and Early Modern Metrology Zur Shalev [Figures]Writing from Istanbul to Peter Turner, one of his colleagues at Merton College, Oxford, John Greaves was deeply worried: Onley I wonder that in so long time since I left England I should neither have received my brasse quadrant which I (...) left to be finished for my journey thither, nor any notice of it [...]. I agreed with mr. Allen upon price and the time that he should finish it, if he hath failed me he hath done me the greatest injury that can be. 1A great injury indeed, because Greaves's journey to Italy and the Levant was all about measuring—luckily the instrument did reach him at some later stage. The thirty-six-year-old Professor of Geometry at Gresham College was taking the measurements of countless monuments and objects in the locations he visited. In Rome he measured, among many other ancient structures, Cestius' Pyramid and St. Peter's basilica. In Lucca, deeply impressed, he counted his paces around the beautiful city walls. In Siena he observed together with a "Mathematical Professor" one of the Sidera Medicea using "a glass." In Egypt he even hurt his eyes gazing at the sun, looking for sunspots and measuring its diameter. 2 His measuring mission, however, culminated in the fixing of the [End Page 555] latitudes of Istanbul, Rhodes, and Alexandria. As Bishop Juxton wrote before the trip to Greaves's employers at Gresham College (apparently using Greaves's own promotional language): This worke I find by the best astronomers, especially by Ticho Brache [ sic ] and Kepler, hath beene much desired as tending to the advancement of that science, and I hope it wil be an honour to that nation and prove ours if we first observe it. 3A mathematician-Orientalist, commanding the ancient and modern astronomical and geographical literature of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian authors, Greaves was arguably the best qualified European at the period to perform the task. That he miscalculated the latitude of Rhodes is of less consequence for his present-day readers. 4 However, one of the most obscure and therefore telling of his measurement activities was the survey of the Pyramids of Giza, which resulted in the Pyramidographia (1646). 5 This remarkable learned treatise and travel account hybrid, which is at the focus of the present study, gives us a glimpse into the rich and complex world of scientific antiquarians.Greaves is most conveniently remembered today as an Orientalist. While we must be thankful to Edward Said for broadening the meaning of Orient-alism—from an academic discipline, accumulating objective knowledge of the East, into a much wider cultural discourse, his emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and on the European colonial mindset is less useful for making historical sense of what early modern Orientalists were doing—physically and culturally. We can understand Greaves's "Oriental" enterprise in its [End Page 556] depth and variety only within long established European traditions of scholarship and keeping the intellectual concerns of his time in mind. 6But beyond articulating for us the nature of early Orientalism, the Pyramidographia, as well as Greaves's entire scientific career, situated in their wider European context, provide a fine entry point into a foreign world of learned practices and methods. It teaches us how well into the seventeenth century astronomy and philology, observation and bookishness, could coalesce in one figure, in one enterprise. 7 We still lack a modern biography of Greaves, a complex protagonist of a complex period, and even a full evaluation of his intellectual work. While this paper surely cannot compensate for that, I do attempt here a brief exposition of Greaves's Pyramidographia. 8Modern historians of archaeology and Egyptology, preoccupied mostly with the disciplines' progress and development of scientific standards, have noted the Pyramidographia in passing and praised its precise language and rigorous research... (shrink)

This article deals with a tripartite structure applied to a Tannaitic source. This structure is designed in the form of a difficulty and a short resolution, bringing one example for each of the three parts of the Tannaitic source. The uniform formative-stylistic phrasing gives the discussion of the Tannaitic source's three parts a tripartite form. The Tannaitic source utilises a chaining of examples from the first to the second part and from the second to the third part.

Pregnancy is a frequently applied exclusion criteria for many forms of research. Common justifications for this exclusion include the potential for teratogenicity, as well as the potential for physiologic changes in pregnancy to impact the research itself. The systematic exclusion of pregnant persons from clinical studies has created a significant gap in knowledge regarding medication safety and efficacy in pregnancy, which continues to cause significant harm to pregnant persons in need of medical therapy. To produce meaningful data and facilitate effective (...) knowledge translation to the clinical setting, special consideration to the pharmacology of pregnancy, as well as to outcomes of concern for this population is essential. The exclusion of pregnant participants from research is not ethically justifiable, as it violates the principles of autonomy, justice and nonmaleficence. While the inclusion of pregnant patients in research presents it’s own challenges, with appropriate methodological, ethical, and clinical considerations, we may be able to narrow the knowledge gap and improve drug availability and safety for pregnant patients and their children. (shrink)

This article engages in the explanation and interpretation of three unclear words, dyofe, meiarak and kitana, that appear in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Eruvin 104a-b. The words are part of the Talmudic text and the article addresses the various meanings ascribed to them and explains them. This is required because of the contradiction and confusion that exist in the explanation and interpretation of these three words. The research method employed involves examining the various explanations given by the commentators, comparing the (...) words with other sources and checking their suggested meanings in Talmudic dictionaries. The research results show different versions of these three words and the conclusions indicate that the different versions change their possible explanation and interpretation. CONTRIBUTION: The innovation of this article is in presenting the various sources of these words, noting their various versions and the different interpretations that derive from them. The article also describes the interpretive development of these words, as well as noting the commentators who offer explanations for the two first words, which generate contradictory meanings. (shrink)

Solomon's sea (a brass basin used in the First Temple) was discussed in the Yerushalmi Talmud Eruvin 1:5 (as well as in BT Eruvin 14a-b), and it revolved around the shape of Solomon's sea. However, inaccurate volume values of the basin were cited in the Yerushalmi. The aim of this article was to offer a new explanation for one problem arising in connection with these values. The setting of this study was the inaccurate volume values of the basin appearing in (...) the Yerushalmi. The background of the issue at stake is the fact that Jewish scholars cannot accept that Scripture contains discrepancies (cf. BerR. 4:6). Our methods were to review the different explanations given by different commentators and to introduce a discussion by R. Avraham Ben Hiyya ha-Nassi and the Book of Tashbetz dealing with an explanation of verses related to the basin's shape. We suggested a new idea based on the above-mentioned discussion: by reducing the basin's width by one handbreadth as the verse states, one could reach exactly the values appearing in the Yerushalmi for the volumes of a squared basin and a circular basin. Based on our suggestion, one could settle the volume values appearing in the Yerushalmi without correcting them. CONTRIBUTION: The key insight was that one could settle the volume values appearing in the Yerushalmi without correcting them. This insight was connected with the textual history of the Rabbinic literature, which exactly fit HTS's scope. (shrink)

The Talmud Bavli presents in Tractate Eruvin a controversy between two Amoraim, Ulla and Rabbah. This controversy on the topic of producing a sound on the Sabbath is the context of the present study. According to Ulla, any production of sound on the Sabbath is forbidden, and according to Rabbah, producing a musical sound is prohibited on the Sabbath but producing a sound that is not musical is permitted. The purpose of the study is to present the two approaches to (...) solving the controversy, where the dilemma is which of them should the halakha follow. The setting of the study is a comparative analysis of two different halakhic approaches. Accordingly, this controversy created two different fundamental halakhic approaches that have implications for the authority of the Talmud Bavli compared to the Talmud Yerushalmi, that is, which of these Talmuds has more authority than the other. The research methods of this article portray the various outlooks of the poskim and commentators, from amongst the first representatives to relate to this problem, where the results show that a relative majority of the commentators follow the approach of the Rif. The article's conclusion is that the authority of the Talmud Bavli is greater than that of the Talmud Yerushalmi.CONTRIBUTION: The contribution of the article is in showing the fundamental arguments that the poskim and commentators raised to solve this dilemma, which serve as a basic foundation for all the poskim and commentators who followed them and who advocated either the one approach or the other. Furthermore, the article also contributes by providing a source interpretation of the Hebrew and Aramaic text and rabbinic literature, which fits the scope of the journal. (shrink)

This article deals with the additional phrases found in the Cairo Genizah fragment related to Bavli, Tractate Eruvin 4b-5a, identified as Cambridge UL T-S F1 44. FGP No. C 96446. Some of these additional phrases have not been found in any version of the various manuscripts and printed versions, and some were found in only one version. The purpose of the article was to examine whether these additional phrases preserve an ancient version that was only preserved in this Genizah fragment (...) or whether they are a type of errors in the fragment. The conclusions of the article with regard to these additional phrases are varied; some of the phrases preserve an ancient version and some do not. (shrink)

This article deals with different versions of a story in Tractate Eruvin of the Babylonian Talmud. This story has different versions in various sources, including in one page from the Genizah fragment Cambridge U-L T-S F2 23, numbered C98948 in the Friedberg Jewish Manuscript Society. Each version changes our understanding of the story’s content, and in this article we will display these variations and examine the feasibility that they reflect about the original version. The story ends with the phrase Lo (...) shamiʿa li, for which we shall offer a new alternative meaning.Contribution: The main contribution of this article is in revealing the importance of comparing the different versions to the same story which implies a change in the content of the story. This has future implications when considering a story that has different versions. In addition, exploring and examining a particular phrase can offer a different interpretation or meaning than it was commonly thought. These insights are based on story and phrase found in the theological text, so that the article fits to the focus and scope of this journal. (shrink)

This article examines the pronunciation of identical consecutive letters in the Yemenite Jewish tradition, with a basic comparison with the pronunciation of identical letters in other present-day traditions. It is notable that in the Yemenite tradition also there are differences of opinion as to the pronunciation of these letters as a result of the effect of their pronunciation in other present-day traditions. In this article, we present the fundamental views with regard to the pronunciation of identical consecutive letters as well (...) as their possible pronunciations in light of the grammar rules evident from the grammarians. The article does not purport to provide a historical, developmental or chronological investigation of the grammar rules; rather, it focuses on one specific topic involving the pronunciation of identical consecutive letters in the Yemenite tradition. (shrink)

This article describes the tripartite structure, a formative style used in the redaction of some sugyot in Tractate Eruvin. The attitude to the tripartite structure is portrayed here as reflected by commentators and researchers who mentioned this pattern, whether directly or indirectly. The purpose of the article is to present several select examples of the tripartite structure in some sugyot in Tractate Eruvin. This will have the significant effect of illuminating different literary forms worthy of exploration, such as the tripartite (...) structure here, as well as in other Talmudic sugyot whose focus is mainly halakhic. Sometimes the form utilized has a considerable effect on redaction of the contents, for example for understanding the sugya or solving various difficulties that it contains. These patterns are also evident in other additional sugyot and they constitute an important research foundation for examining their application in additional sugyot in the different tractates. (shrink)