Resistance to girls' education in Pakistan has long been an intractable problem; the lowest enrolment figures are in Pashtun areas. This study focused on Pashtun men's perceptions of girls' education. Pashtun men of diverse backgrounds participated in a two-round Delphi exercise, followed by in-depth qualitative interviews in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Although contradictory ideas from religion, culture, and politics were elicited, consensus developed on major barriers to girls' access to education: poverty, Pashtunwali (tribal code), religion, accessibility, resources, shortage of female teachers, curriculum, and political apathy and corruption. Understanding the barriers to girls' education could help development professionals overcome them.
Resistance to girls' education is a social justice and human rights issue in many countries. InPakistan, where the lowest school enrollment for girls is inPashtun areas borderingAfghanistan, it is especially problematic.Pashtun society is patriarchal: Men have the power to construct obstacles to girls' education, and to remove them. This article therefore explores a different way of overcoming barriers to gender justice, namely through the participation of men. A qualitativeDelphi process and in‐depth interviews withPashtun men led to their consensus on seven key points of leverage where action could be taken. Participants agreed that progress toward gender parity could be achieved only by making allies of powerful community leaders, especially religious leaders, and by utilizing existing institutions, such as the mosque,Jirga (council of elders), and the men's guest house. For each point of leverage, a policy recommendation is made for increasing girls' participation in education.
Using a qualitative Delphi method, this study explored how the Pashtun community, living across the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, perceives the role and significance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The study also examined deep-rooted causes of the resistance to NGO-based development and suggested best practice strategies. Analysis of the Delphi finding showed consensus that most NGOs are perceived with deep suspicions and fear among the Pashtun society. Most of these suspicions and elements of mistrust were echoed in terms of an extension of western imperialism, violations of local cultures, spreading immorality, corruption and lack of credibility, and transparency. We discuss the implications for social work practice.
PurposeOur thematic analysis of the academic literature on Canadian Muslim Youth aims to identify and describe the factors which contribute to the construction of identity among Muslim youth in Canada and make some research and policy recommendations to address this issue. In this review, we responded to the following questions: What is the current research evidence for Canadian Muslim Youth identity construction? What are the major themes included in the identified publications?Design/methodology/approachWhat does it mean to be a Muslim youth in Canada and how do Canadian Muslim youth negotiate and construct their identities in a globally polarized world? Using Arksey and O'Malley's framework (2005), a scoping review of empirical studies published between 2000 and 2021 was conducted to explore the diverse contexts that intersect in the creation of Canadian Muslim youth identity.FindingsA thematic analysis of the literature identified five key themes: religiosity, racism and discrimination, parental influence, citizenship and gender that intersect in multiple ways to contribute to the construction of diverse and complex Muslim youth identities. The scoping review highlights a gap in community-based research and the need for a broader range of theoretical perspectives on Muslim youth identity construction, as well as culturally appropriate policies and social work practice models for positive youth development.Originality/valueIn contemporary Canadian culture, Muslim youth must negotiate and create their own exclusive identity, which justifies the context of what it means to be Canadian and Muslim at the same time. As highlighted in the literature, a number of tensions within the Canadian policy, between the policy and the Muslim tradition and within the Muslim community itself pose challenges in the identity development among Muslim youth. Therefore, It is critical for social work practitioners, researchers and policymakers to consider above mentioned socio-political and religious dimensions while designing, implementing and evaluating youth programs for Muslim communities.
Research supports that the positive involvement of fathers in caregiving activities cultivates family cohesion and fosters the emotional well-being of fathers and their families. However, there are limited community-based resources that support and celebrate the development of nurturing fatherhood and focus on strengthening father-daughter relationships. In collaboration with diverse communities in Calgary, Canada, a local network launched a community-based and culturally relevant program, Honouring Fathers and Daughters, to promote positive fatherhood roles and to celebrate both nurturing fatherhood practices and the significance of father-daughter relationships. Participants (N=65), from ethnically and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds, including 19 fathers, 17 mothers, and 29 children, joined the program. A community-based research approach (CBR) was employed to gather participant responses through feedback forms. Through qualitative analysis, responses indicated three key themes: valuing and appreciating father-daughter relationships, the need for social and cultural spaces for the engagement and transformation of fathers, and the importance of providing opportunities for fathers to learn new strategies for parenting and bonding with their daughters. This article highlights the importance of community-based engagement programs for nurturing father-daughter relationships and provides insights for communities.
PurposeThis study examined 46 articles in total, which yielded 5 recurring themes: perceived discrimination, language barriers, socioeconomic barriers, cultural barriers and educational/knowledge barriers. The two most dominant themes found were the inability to speak the country's primary language and belonging to a culture with different practices and values from the host country. The review provides vital insights into the numerous challenges that immigrants and refugees encounter as they navigate through the primary care systems of English-speaking (E-S) countries and potential solutions to overcome these barriers.Design/methodology/approachAccess to adequate healthcare plays a central part in ensuring the physical and mental wellbeing of society. However, vulnerable groups such as immigrants and refugees, face numerous challenges when utilizing these healthcare services. To shed further light on the barriers impacting healthcare quality, the authors' team performed a scoping thematic review of the available literature on immigrant and refugees' experiences in primary healthcare systems across E-S countries. Articles were systematically reviewed while focusing on healthcare perceptions by immigrants, potential barriers and suggestions to improve the quality of primary care.FindingsThis work looked at qualitative and quantitative information, attempting to combine both paradigms to give a rich and robust platform with which to devise a further study through focus groups. Qualitative inquiry accounted for 28/46, or 61%, of studies, and quantitative inquiry made up 9/46, or 20%, while 9/46 or 20% combined both qualitative and qualitative. Emerging themes are -perceived ethnic discrimination faced by immigrants accessing primary care, language barriers, socioeconomic barriers, cultural barriers and educational barriers.Research limitations/implicationsMost medical journals rely on quantitative data to relate "results" and cases. The authors set out to change ways in which medical reports can be done. Most of the authors were solely trained in quantitative research; consequently, they had to learn to isolate themes and to use a narrative approach in the article.Practical implicationsResearch implications clearly indicated that using a qualitative (phenomenological) approach with quantitative data created a human and reachable discourse around patient comfort and the realities of immigrants and refugees to E-S countries. The use of this research opens medical practitioners (and patients) to a richer understanding within a usually difficult arena.Social implicationsBy understanding the qualitative nature of medical research, practitioners, students and mentors are able to bridge medical quantitivity to the human, widening doors to social science and medical collaboratory research.Originality/valueAs stated above, this work is important as it understands the human/patient element and de-emphasizes the medical obsession with quantifying the lives of patients through hard data. This is a unique collaboration that relies on the qualitative to pinpoint and define the difficulties of newcomers to E-S countries.