First-generation immigrants and refugees (newcomers hereafter) enroll in college at high rates often motivated by high aspirations and optimistic views about the potential for education to stimulate social mobility in the United States. In their pursuits, however, newcomers face many obstacles to completing their degree. This chapter draws on Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital to explore the postsecondary aspirations and experiences of eighteen current and recently graduated newcomer college students. Through in-depth interviews, participants documented the challenges they faced during their transition to college. This chapter draws attention to the social and structural challenges facing newcomers as they transition to college as well as the resources on which they may draw in their educational pursuits. For instance, while participants demonstrated fortitude and determination to succeed in college, many also expressed concerns that they would not be able to fulfill their career goals and high aspirations. The findings offered in this chapter have practical implications for educators and policymakers seeking to improve the completion rates of newcomer college students.

One of the most powerful ways to counter the isolation that often accompanies social media use – whether that use is professional or personal – is to foster community. That community can take various forms. For researchers and online investigators, it may mean working collaboratively or celebrating the cultures of those you are researching. For everyday users of social media, community may mean reaching out to others to talk about what you’re observing or to share your thoughts and feelings online. However, not all attempts to develop a sense of community are equally beneficial: According to recent research, for example, venting can have positive or negative effects, depending on how the user engages. In this chapter, the authors discuss what is known about effective ways to combat the isolation that can be endemic to online engagement, and how to proactively foster community in online and offline spaces to minimize the risk of psychological harm and maximize psychosocial well-being.

While people have similar biological responses when viewing graphic online imagery, our unique identities mediate that affect. This chapter explains how reactions to disturbing images can vary significantly from person to person, and how important it is to understand what makes each of us – and each other – more or less vulnerable to potential psychological harm when engaging online. The chapter explores how we can better protect our kids and communities by becoming more aware of the potential impact of social media content on ourselves and on other people, and the steps we can take to lessen the risk of harm.

In this chapter, we offer a number of recommendations for those who are in a position to do something technically, structurally, and legally or otherwise to minimize the risk of psychological harm that comes with the public’s use of social media and other online sites, especially their engagement with graphic or other upsetting digital material. We outline the policy implications of what we’ve learned from more than three years of desk research and original interviews that we have conducted with dozens of people, ranging from technologists to psychologists to content moderators to human rights investigators and beyond. We first spotlight the competing interests that underscore social media companies and governments’ policy deliberations with regard to content moderation. Next, we lay out our suggestions for companies, governments, and individuals with regard to how to improve the experiences of both content moderators and everyday social media users. We close with suggestions for creating a more “pro-social” online environment, one that not only better mitigates the risks of psychological harm but potentially encourages greater connection, resulting in wellness and even flourishing.

In the concluding chapter of Graphic, the authors recount the story of a pivotal trip they took to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where they absorbed the stories and insights of a diverse cohort of women who had gathered to discuss the concept of resilience. Through a World Cafe–style event, where the women discussed their perspectives on both trauma and healing, the authors gathered several insights that can be used to help foster positive experiences in peoples’ engagement with social media and other online spaces. This final part of the book underscores key themes from earlier chapters, including the power of humor, community, and connection to minimize psychological harm when engaging with graphic material online and, ultimately, to maximize well-being.

While graphic online content may be upsetting, people who regularly work with such content – like journalists, content moderators at social media companies, and human rights investigators – have developed various strategies for minimizing the risk of psychosocial harm when engaging with such material. Many of these strategies can be adapted by the general public to limit the risk of harm and maximize the potential for positive outcomes from their online engagement. Such strategies include tactics aimed at increasing our control over when and how users view graphic online material, varying how users engage with upsetting media, treating such content like “toxic waste” and limiting exposure of the user, their loved ones, and their households, and striking the balance between looking at and engaging with such content, and knowing when it may be better to look away.

Too often, people mindlessly scroll through their social media feeds and other online spaces to catch up on the activities of their friends and family or simply to pass the time. However, this behavior can leave them vulnerable to the more insidious aspects of online engagement, especially if they come across graphic online content – whether intentionally or without warning. In this chapter, the authors of Graphic discuss how bringing greater intentionality to one’s online engagement can serve as a protective force. They summarize the most recent research and insights from their interviews with diverse experts to illustrate tactics for deriving greater meaning from time spent online and ultimately how to use that engagement to not only protect oneself from psychological harm but also to potentially even flourish.

This chapter from Graphic discusses humans’ biological and psychological responses to viewing the suffering of others, including through graphic videos and photographs found online. The authors discuss the sometimes-negative effects of such images on human rights workers and journalists – including the risk of secondary or vicarious trauma – referencing the most recent research as to what happens in the body when people view and process upsetting images.

The concept and application of resilience have been significantly expanded in the last three decades and the term is being used more and more broadly to represent a large-scale multi-disciplinary and comprehensive approach to both natural and human-related coastal issues associated with rising sea level, increased storm frequency and intensity, and human stressors. This chapter reviews the relevant findings from the recent global climate-change reports and introduces the resilience of barrier–inlet systems. In terms of the natural system, the survival of the very landform under the condition of accelerating sea-level rise is discussed via a conceptual model or a couple of numerical models. The resiliency of the human–natural barrier–inlet environment is far more complicated than just the natural system. The concepts and complicated framework outlined in the recent NRC (National Research Council) and USGCRP (US Global Climate Research Program) reports are reviewed, and illustrated with two case studies.

Both past and current research indicates that the creation of an imaginary companion is a common, normative, and healthy form of elaborated role-play that emerges in early childhood. Imaginary companions are often the invisible friends that children create for themselves, or the special stuffed animals or dolls that children imbue with personalities. Children often describe and experience their imaginary companions in ways that parallel real friendships with peers. Their emotional investment in these invented characters raises important questions about the broader roles they serve in their lives. Current research in this area has focused on the developmental significance of imaginary companions, and the extent to which they might have a real and meaningful impact on children’s development. This chapter reviews the extant literature on imaginary companions, with a particular focus on the relations between children’s imaginary companions, creativity, and coping with adversity.

This chapter explores vulnerability, courage, and grit in turn, considering their relationship to one another and to the task of educating for emotional virtues and for social justice. Resilience and mindfulness in education are often recommended to make vulnerable or at-risk youth less vulnerable, to mental or emotional disturbance, poor academic achievement, drop out, and related concerns. Yet this chapter argues that there is a bright side to vulnerability, and good reason to question common conflations of it with entirely negative experiences and feelings. There can be a positive role for particular kinds of experiences of vulnerability, generally within communities, and particularly in education. On the other hand, courage is normally prized in society, and has been promoted in education. However, to be understood as a virtue, courage must be tempered, so that it is not reckless, careless, or brash. Grit is a combination of passion and perseverance.

This chapter provides several examples of how artificial intelligence–based technologies are changing human rights practice, from detecting abuses to dealing with their aftermath. It especially focuses on three critical issues where the field of psychology can address a spectrum of human rights needs. The first is the psychological impact of the application of AI within society, specifically the positive and negative impacts of its use within humanitarian and human rights work. The second is the risk of its application perpetuating bias and discrimination. The third is the spread of disinformation and the manipulation of public opinion. While the chapter touches on all three issues, it particularly focuses on the third because of the central role disinformation is currently playing in everything from democratic governance to daily life. For each of these issues, the chapter summarizes how psychological research might provide critical insights for mitigating harm. The chapter closes with priority considerations for minimizing the negative effects of AI on human rights.