International Journal of Social Quality

On 1 and 2 November 2023, politicians, scientists, and leaders of tech companies gathered in Britain's Bletchley Park (Milmo and Stacey 2023) to discuss the risks of artificial intelligence (AI). The main focus points were disinformation, cyber attacks, and the (by the way probably low) likelihood that AI will soon go beyond a “frontier” and threaten life as we know it.

This issue of the IJSQ contains articles presenting quite diverse topics of study. In the opening section, noteworthy and significant statements are made on the nature and origins of the current threats of artificial intelligence (AI), which are very pressing at present. The customary Diary on Climate Change will be resumed in the forthcoming Issue 13.2. The subsequent articles respectively concern the impacts and origins of climate change in northern Nigeria and constructive answers from community groups; a case study illustrating the community struggle for the preservation of koalas in Australia; the life circumstances of unaccompanied minor refugees during their transit stay in Greece; the revictimization of (young) victims of crime in Romania and beyond; and working poverty in Slovakia and the European Union (EU).

This research aims to explore the impacts of climate change on communities in low-income countries. A review of the literature on this important and pressing global topic is presented. Since this issue is multidimensional and complex, we try to approach it comprehensively. The social quality scientific perspective has specific affinity with traditional African “holistic thinking.” The empirical part of our research concerns a study in northern Nigeria on rural residents’ perceptions of various aspects of environmental changes caused by climate change, and the impacts on the social quality of their daily lives. The protective effects of a community development project (the National Climate Change Policy Response, NCCPR) are also explored. Farmers appear to be the most vulnerable group. Climate change significantly compromises their socioeconomic security, personal security, well-being, and health. We conclude that communities in low-income countries will continue to suffer disproportionally from various kinds of climate-caused disasters. Community development projects have the potential to decrease their vulnerabilities. This article justifies a strong normative plea to the countries that have caused the human misery depicted to take responsibility by contributing to restoration payments and enforcing sustainable behavior of CO₂-emitting industries.

Koalas are one of the most globally recognized conservation species. With populations rapidly declining in core forest habitats in northern New South Wales, pressure has mounted on successive governments to create a regionwide park to protect this population from further decline. Establishing a conservation-effective national park at a landscape level in a highly fragmented area with high pressure from alternative land uses, such as forestry, agriculture, and urban development, presents considerable challenges in design. The authors explore how the exclusion of prime koala habitat from the proposed park for logging is inconsistent with koala protection, which needs to consider the integrity of the broader reserve system and be accorded the requisite status of World Heritage. A commentary on the implications from the social quality perspective is provided.

This article explores daily threats in the lives of unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) in Greece. The aim is to stimulate debate and understanding in the context of growing forced migration. Our observations, arguments, and conclusions are primarily informed by critical discussion of politics, policies, and legislation of the European Union, Greece, and international treaties on human rights. Our analysis also draws upon impressions from site visits and interviews with social workers at urban shelters and supervised apartments of semi-independent living (SILs) on the Greek mainland. Aspects related to the social quality of URMs’ daily circumstances include quality of accommodation, presence of contact persons, sense of safety and security, and social inclusion. Vulnerabilities related to the insecurities of temporary transit status are central. The availability of formal and informal services providing care, protection, recovery, education, sports, and well-being is essential. The social quality perspective frames our analysis and interpretation.

Serious crimes are committed today in various forms using diversified modi operandi. Perpetrators look for more efficient ways of enhancing the proceeds of their crimes. Trafficking in human beings, including children, to exploit them sexually or through forced labor is common. In this context, victims need special protection from law enforcement agencies, because, in some cases, they suffer revictimization. Legislators must therefore take into account their vulnerable status during criminal proceedings to prevent any form of revictimization. This article presents the situation in both legal and judicial systems regarding victims of serious crimes associated with revictimization. This research also aims at finding appropriate legal measures and instruments for fighting serious crimes, including trafficking vulnerable children and women, and enhancing state policy for reducing revictimization. To achieve these aims, the article is based on a qualitative research methodology, paying particular attention to the serious risk factors that generate revictimization in practice.

This article discusses working poverty as a socioeconomic human condition that leads to reduced social quality of daily life circumstances. The analyses are based on the social quality theory (SQT) and approach (SQA). Social quality (as an existential human condition) and working poverty (as a result of a combination of aspects of the conditional factors of social quality) have not yet been investigated as two interconnected phenomena. We analyzed working poverty in the EU and Slovakia by assessing its relationships with these aspects of the conditional factors. On a societal level we also assessed influences of processes in the socioeconomic and financial, sociopolitical and legal, sociocultural and welfare, and socioenvironmental dimensions. Our research was based on Eurostat data, other available databases, and two social quality studies on societal processes in Ukraine. We conclude with specific proposals and recommendations to reduce and mitigate the impacts of working poverty.