Search

Begin New Search Topic Mental Health Political Geography Middle East

1. Case Studies on the Role of Gender and Identity in Shaping Positive Alternatives to Extremisms

Author:
Rosalie Fransen, Melinda Holmes, Helena Gronberg, Stacey Schamber, and Shannon Foley Martinez
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Abstract:
The International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), with the support of Global Affairs Canada, has developed a set of “Case Studies on the Role of Gender and Identity in Shaping Positive Alternatives to Extremisms,” in Cameroon, Indonesia, Jordan, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Sweden, and the United States. The case studies demonstrate how conducting a Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) improves understanding of the drivers, narratives and roles that engender extremisms and violent extremist activity. By profiling examples of peacebuilding, deradicalization, reintegration and counternarrative work in these contexts, the case studies emphasize how attention to gender and intersectional identities can improve the effectiveness of interventions to transform extremisms – not only by preventing or countering it, but by providing positive alternatives that enable people to realize a peaceful, pluralistic future. The case studies cover a number of themes relevant to contemporary preventing/countering violent extremism (P/CVE) and counterterrorism (CT) work, including countering white supremacist extremism, the role of masculinities in recruitment and disengagement, addressing trauma and deploying mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) approaches in reintegration and rehabilitation, and work with religious leaders to promote peaceful, pluralistic and gender-just interpretations of religious texts and traditions. The case studies are intended for use by practitioners and policymakers to guide them in conducting a gender analysis and in integrating responsiveness to gender and identity factors in policies and interventions.
Topic:
Education, Religion, Violent Extremism, Counter-terrorism, Women, Inequality, Trauma, Violence, Mental Health, White Supremacy, Identity, Political Participation, and Gender
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Africa, South Asia, Indonesia, Middle East, Libya, North Africa, Sweden, Jordan, Somalia, Southeast Asia, Cameroon, and United States of America

2. Mental Health Reforms in Lebanon During the Multifaceted Crisis

Author:
Sara Catherine Mourani and Marie-Christine Ghreichi
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Multiple disasters over the past two years have greatly harmed the mental health of the Lebanese population. Despite a long history with political turmoil, discussing mental health in Lebanon remains culturally taboo. Responses to mental health remain under-supported and challenges surrounding this sector will be critical in Lebanon’s transition out of the crisis. This paper seeks to investigate the current state of the mental health system in Lebanon and provides policy recommendations to improve its adaptability in responding to the multifaceted crisis the country is currently experiencing.
Topic:
Health, Reform, Mental Health, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Middle East and Lebanon

3. Beyond the Binary Understanding of Masculinities: Displaced Syrian Refugee Men Living with Disability and Chronic Illness in Jordan

Author:
Aitemad Muhanna-Matar
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS), Georgetown University in Qatar
Abstract:
This article analyzes the dynamics of renegotiating masculinities among displaced Syrian men with disabilities in Jordan. The article draws its analysis on the personal narratives of four Syrian men who have experienced disability and chronic illness caused by the Syrian war. Their personal narratives challenge the binary and singular understanding of masculinities in the literature and the gender discourse used by international humanitarian aid organizations, which tend to associate masculine identity with social embodiment. This discourse also perceives the marginalized and subordinated masculinities as either complicit to hegemonic masculinity with its traits of violence, or emasculated by physical disability. The personal narratives provide evidence that disabled men do not completely disavow the normative image of masculinity through loss of their physical strength. Rather, they shape their unique masculinities by composing diverse elements of masculinities that they experienced throughout their life. Their emerging masculinities alter masculine normative traits of domination and aggression with emotional and moral traits of loving, caring, reciprocity, collective responsibility, democracy, and justice. Yet, the emerging composite masculinities of disabled men are still drawn upon the moral virtues of patriarchy.
Topic:
Refugees, Disability, Mental Health, Masculinity, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Middle East and Jordan

4. The Mental Health Costs of Displacement

Author:
Amira Roess, Mia Atoui, Essam Daod, and Mohammed Abo Hilal
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:
In addition to economic and legal insecurity, many refugees and IDPs suffer from the immediate and long-term effects of PTSD and other mental health issues resulting from their experiences with conflict, displacement, and discrimination in their new environments. While government and NGO initiatives exist in Jordan, Iraq, and other host countries to promote mental health awareness and services in refugee communities, these resources are insufficient to address this dire need. How can aid and development programs prioritize mental health as a key component of refugee support? What are the gaps in the regional mental health systems that must be bridged in order to serve refugee communities? What initiatives exist to empower refugee communities at the grassroots level to advocate for mental health services?
Topic:
Refugees, Displacement, Trauma, Mental Health, NGOs, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, Syria, and Jordan

5. Roundtable On Mental Health Amid COVID-19

Author:
Weeam Hammoudeh, Samah Jabr, Maria Helbich, and Cindy Sousa
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the devastating and disproportionate effects of structures of violence that produce vulnerability in communities of color globally, including with respect to mental health-care provision. While coping and resilience are dominant mainstream frameworks to understand mental health in crisis—both in Palestine and elsewhere—the three contributors to this roundtable were asked to offer a rejoinder to that approach. They reflect on the pandemic as an opportunity to revisit how we understand and advocate for critical approaches to mental health in Palestine in the midst of prolonged crisis.
Topic:
Mental Health, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

6. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Iraq: Challenges and Solutions

Author:
Julie Meier
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
Worldwide, millions of people survive severely distressing experiences caused by war and conflict, humanitarian disasters, and displacement. While such events affect the mental health of any population, the psychosocial well-being of persons in humanitarian contexts are rarely addressed in research. In Iraq, sustained and accelerated trauma is a reality, as the local population has endured years of prolonged violence and persecution. Iraq has undergone almost forty years of conflict, including authoritarianism, an eight-year Iran-Iraq war, two Gulf Wars, decades of economic sanctions, a civil war, and the recent occupation by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Topic:
Islamic State, Conflict, Mental Health, and Peace
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

7. MENA’s Frozen Conflicts

Author:
Marc Lynch
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:
Over the last year, the MENA region’s simmering conflicts have seemed frozen in place. The internationally-fueled civil wars in Syria, Yemen and Libya have long since settled into an equilibrium in which no side can either truly win or truly lose. Those conflicts have been held in place in part by local ecologies and war economies and in part by the competitive interventions by regional and international powers on behalf of their proxies and clients. But are these conflicts truly frozen? What does viewing them through such a lens gain, and what are the theoretical and analytical costs? To explore these questions, POMEPS convened a virtual research workshop on September 25, 2020, with scholars from diverse empirical and theoretical backgrounds.
Topic:
Security, Civil War, Politics, Citizenship, Military Intervention, Conflict, Syrian War, Mental Health, Crisis Management, Peace, Justice, Capital, and Mobilization
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, Libya, Yemen, North Africa, Lebanon, Syria, and United States of America

8. Challenges of Health Care in the Middle East and North Africa

Author:
Kathrin Thomas
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arab Barometer
Abstract:
MENA publics are dissatisfied with overall government performance in their countries. In 2018-19, a quarter (21 percent) say they are completely satisfied or satisfied with their governments’ general performance. In fact, there is not a one single country where satisfaction with government performance exceeds 50 percent since Arab Barometer started surveying in 2006-07. Moreover, ratings have deteriorated over the last decade in a number of countries. For example, a steady downward trend can be observed in Jordan (-18 points) as well as Sudan (-17 points) and Tunisia (-24 points) since 2010-11.
Topic:
Government, Health, Health Care Policy, Mental Health, and Public Health
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

9. Antidepresan Konulu İçeriklerin Gazetelerde Sunumu

Author:
Ferihan Ayaz and Hatice K. Adıyaman
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bilgi
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
Antidepresan kullanımının yararları ya da zararları kamuoyunda tartışıla gelmektedir. Gazetelerdeki antidepresan konulu içeriklerin nasıl sunulduğu, antidepresanlara yönelik tutumlar, antidepresanların neden olduğu ya da tedavi ettiği hastalıklar merak konusudur. Dolayısıyla bu çalışmanın genel amacı antidepresan içerikli yayınların gazetelerde nasıl sunulduğunu ortaya koymaktır. Bu genel amaç doğrultusunda Prnet MSuite Programı aracılığı ile yapılan tarama sonucunda Aralık 2017 itibariyle Türkiye’nin tirajı en yüksek ilk 5 gazetesi olan Sabah, Hürriyet, Sözcü, Posta ve Habertürk gazetelerinde 2015, 2016 ve 2017 yılları arasında içinde “antidepresan” kelimesi geçen toplam 180 içerik, içerik analizi yöntemi ile analiz edilmiştir. Analiz sonucunda gazetelerin antidepresanlara yönelik tutumunun çoğunlukla nötr ve olumsuz olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. “Antidepresanların başka hasta lıklara neden olması”, antidepresanlara ilişkin risk faktörlerinin ilk sırasında yer almaktadır. Antidepresanlara ilişkin yan etkiler arasında ilk sırada “cinsel problemler” ve “sersemlik / baş dönmesi / uyku hali” gelmektedir. Antidepresan kullanmaya alternatif olarak ilk sırada “toplumsal / ekonomik / siyasi yapının düzelmesi” önerilmiştir. Antidepresanların tedavi ettiği hastalık olarak çoğunlukla depresyona / mutsuzluğa işaret edilmiştir. Ancak kimi zaman antidepresanların tedavi ettiği ve neden olduğu hastalık aynı olabilmektedir. Sonuç olarak gazetelerin genel olarak antidepresanlara olumlu bakış açısının olmadığı, çoğu zaman kafa karıştırıcı bilgilerin verildiği, antidepresanlara ön yargı geliştirebilecek nitelikte içeriklerin var olduğu söylenebilir.
Topic:
Media, News Analysis, Mental Health, and Antidepressants
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

10. Journal of Public and International Affairs 2018

Author:
Andi Zhou, Sam Kanson-Benanav, Collin Smith, Yi Xu, Amn Nasir, Sameer Anwar, Saim Rashid, Muqueet Shahzad, Lauren Eades, William O'Connell, Caper Gooden, Paige KW Gasser, Laurie Georges, Seleeke Flingai, and Erika Parks
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:
School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:
These are critical times for those who work to further the public interest. Across the globe, divisions and distrust erode the clarity required to tackle the great challenges of our day. Those who advocate for truth find themselves under attack from those who fear what they might lose if the status quo is changed. There is exceptional need today for powerful voices speaking on behalf of sound policy. The 10 articles in this 29th edition of the Journal of Public and International Affairs all reflect a dogged determination among young policy professionals around the world to press ahead in spite of the headwinds. These pages contain fresh ideas on electrifying rural Myanmar, reforming the U.S. banking system, strengthening the Jordanian labor market, and preventing recidivism among convicted sex offenders in Texas, to name just a few. The JPIA was born from the conviction that graduate students have a unique and invaluable voice in key policy debates. The authors of these articles, together with the 45 editors from 13 graduate programs around the world who selected and reviewed them, will shape the future of economic, international, domestic, and development policy in the decades to come. We strive continually, especially at this moment, to amplify their voices.
Topic:
Development, International Cooperation, Nuclear Weapons, Treaties and Agreements, International Affairs, Bilateral Relations, Labor Issues, Business, Mental Health, Accountability, Public Sector, Hezbollah, Services, Electricity, Pollution, and Waste
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Africa, South Asia, Middle East, Canada, Brazil, South America, Central America, Lebanon, Mozambique, North America, Mexico, Jordan, Southeast Asia, Myanmar, and United States of America