The manner in which the media reports crime stories and criminal behaviour, and how it portrays offenders, impacts upon the public perception of the type of services available to…
Abstract
The manner in which the media reports crime stories and criminal behaviour, and how it portrays offenders, impacts upon the public perception of the type of services available to those requiring treatment, containment or training in the centres in which we work. News reporting not only shapes the views of the general public but also places in the spotlight those who work within these services.This paper examines the position of crime, and criminal or deviant behaviour in the hierarchy of newsworthiness and explores some ways in which public services are protecting themselves from the dangers of unwanted media attention.
Owen Holland and Phil Husbands
The purpose of this paper is to describe the origins, members, activities, and influence of the Ratio Club, a British cybernetic dining club that met between 1949 and 1958…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the origins, members, activities, and influence of the Ratio Club, a British cybernetic dining club that met between 1949 and 1958. Although its membership included some of the best known British cyberneticists, such as Grey Walter and Ross Ashby, along with pioneering scientists such as Alan Turing, the club is poorly documented, and its significance is difficult to establish from published sources.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach involved the consultation and analysis of unpublished material in both private and public archives in the UK and the USA, coupled with interviews with surviving members, guests, and contemporaries.
Findings
The Ratio Club grew out of a distinctively British strand of cybernetic activity that was mainly fuelled by the deployment of biologists to engineering activities during the Second World War. It was also strongly influenced by the approach of the psychologist Kenneth Craik. Although members were keenly aware of contemporary American developments, such as Wiener's approach to the mathematics of control, and the psychological and sociological concerns of the Macy Conference, the emphasis of the club was on the application of cybernetic ideas and information theory to biology and the brain. In contrast to the wide influence the later Macy conferences exercised through their published transcripts, the Ratio Club influenced its core disciplines though its members, several of whom became prominent and effective advocates of the cybernetic approach.
Originality/value
This is the first journal paper to give an authoritative, detailed, and accurate account of the club's origins, activities, and importance.
Details
Keywords
Jeff Gavin and Adrian J. Scott
Revenge pornography is a growing risk among adolescents and young adults. Often stemming from sexting, some victims of revenge pornography report experiencing victim-blame similar…
Abstract
Purpose
Revenge pornography is a growing risk among adolescents and young adults. Often stemming from sexting, some victims of revenge pornography report experiencing victim-blame similar to that accompanying the reporting of rape. The purpose of this paper is to explore the assumptions that underlie attributions of victim-blame, with a focus on perpetrator and victim responsibility, as well as gendered assumptions surrounding sexting.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 222 UK university students (111 male, 111 females) read one of two versions of a hypothetical revenge pornography scenario, one involving a male victim of a female perpetrator, the other a female victim of a male perpetrator. They then responded to an open-ended question regarding responsibility.
Findings
Qualitative content analysis of these responses identified three inter-related themes: the victim’s behaviour, mitigating victim responsibility and minimising the behaviour.
Social implications
The majority of participants in this study attributed at least some responsibility to the victims of revenge pornography depicted in the scenarios. Sex of the victim played a less important role than assumptions around sexting.
Originality/value
The study suggests that victim-blame is linked to the consent implied by sharing intimate images with a partner, but is also mitigated by the normative nature of this relationship practice. There was some evidence that the experience of male victims of revenge pornography is trivialised. These findings have implications for e-safety and victim support.
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Daniela Schädeli and Adrian Ritz
This article investigates different terms and concepts of paradox dimensions in Public Administration because these terms are often used interchangeably. The aim is to reveal the…
Abstract
Purpose
This article investigates different terms and concepts of paradox dimensions in Public Administration because these terms are often used interchangeably. The aim is to reveal the theoretically based macro-level concepts and establish a common ground for a shared dialogue about managing paradoxes in the field.
Design/methodology/approach
This article uses a complementary review approach. First, a systematic literature review is executed to identify the macro-level paradox concepts and to capture their theoretical common ground. Second, the problematizing literature review aims to reflect Public Administration literature with literature from outside the field, mainly from Organization Studies and General Management.
Findings
For the most part, the macro-level paradox concepts in Public Administration are used to illustrate the context or situation of another research topic, rather than as standalone theories to be conceptually or empirically explored. In 63 out of 589 articles, we found a theoretical definition of the mentioned macro-level paradox concept. This definition refers mainly to the sources of paradoxical situations and focuses less on the decisions and reactions thereto. Based on the review findings, an analytical model for the management of paradoxical situations in the public sector is provided and applied, followed by recommendations for further research.
Originality/value
This article aims to combine the macro-level paradox concepts in Public Administration with the insights of Paradox Theory and reveals that paradoxes could be a core topic in the field. Scholars in Public Administration could approach paradoxical situations from their own perspective while simultaneously strengthening the field’s identity by encouraging multiperspectivity.
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Christopher McMahon and Peter Templeton
Moving away from the stories of financial disaster we encountered in Chapter 2, Chapter 3 examines what it means for fans when their club is suddenly awash with more financial…
Abstract
Moving away from the stories of financial disaster we encountered in Chapter 2, Chapter 3 examines what it means for fans when their club is suddenly awash with more financial muscle than some nation-states due to the generosity of a wealthy benefactor who is seemingly more interested in sporting glory than in financial gain. This chapter engages with the notion of the football club as a billionaire’s plaything. Roman Abramovich’s acquisition of Chelsea in 2003 saw the West London club embark on an eye-watering spending spree and a sustained period of on-field successes, one that was unknown in the club’s history to that point. As a result, we take Chelsea during the Abramovich era as a starting point for considering how this model of ownership affects the relationship between fans and the connection that they have with their club. The evident success that financial muscle can bring shows owners what a happy fanbase is capable of, what they are capable of doing, and what they are capable of ignoring. The success of the financially doped teams of the 2000s created a precedent for winning over a fanbase with a successful football club, but nevertheless sat awkwardly with the normative ideals of how a football club should exist in the world and relate to its supporters.