Mark Colman, Amy Hebblethwaite, Annette Hames, Alison Forsyth and Martin Donkin
People who are homeless and have a learning disability tend to be more vulnerable and have greater health needs than homeless people who do not have a learning disability…
Abstract
People who are homeless and have a learning disability tend to be more vulnerable and have greater health needs than homeless people who do not have a learning disability (Leedham, 2002). However, the literature on the experiences of this population is very limited. This paper investigates the experiences and views of professionals from a range of settings who work with people who are homeless and have a learning disability. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 23 professionals working for health, social care, probation, employment and voluntary agencies. Professionals described how people who are homeless and have a learning disability have a range of complex personal, health and social needs that are often not met by current accommodation and support provision. Improvements to the quality of temporary accommodation and the on‐site support offered are needed in order to react effectively to episodes of homelessness. In addition, improvements in the quality of outreach support and a greater choice of suitable housing might help to prevent homelessness among this client group. Another paper on a difference aspect of this research (Hebblethwaite et al, this issue) will report on the personal experiences of homeless people with a learning disability.
Amy Hebblethwaite, Annette Hames, Martin Donkin, Mark Colman and Alison Forsyth
This paper explores the experiences of people who have been homeless and in contact with learning disability services. The research adds to the very limited evidence, particularly…
Abstract
This paper explores the experiences of people who have been homeless and in contact with learning disability services. The research adds to the very limited evidence, particularly in the UK, on how services can better meet the health and social needs of this group. All people with learning disabilities who were homeless and known to either local social services or health learning disability services in a large city in the North East of England were identified. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 14 participants at their current accommodation. Content analysis was used to identify common themes. Interview data indicated that breakdown of social support was the main cause of homelessness, and that in temporary accommodation people with learning disabilities were vulnerable to exploitation by other residents. Concerns were also expressed about the quality of housing, mental health was a recurring theme and the importance of ensuring that people with learning disabilities receive adequate treatment for these difficulties is discussed. Access to health care in general is facilitated by support in arranging and attending appointments. Mediation services may play a key role in preventing people with learning disabilities from becoming homeless through relationship breakdown. The study also suggests that improvements in temporary accommodation are needed, including housing designed specifically for people with learning disabilities, in order to react effectively to episodes of homelessness.
Details
Keywords
The management of children′s literature is a search for value andsuitability. Effective policies in library and educational work arebased firmly on knowledge of materials, and on…
Abstract
The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.
Details
Keywords
The author argues for the use of unedited, fixed-camera-position video footage in relationally responsive research grounded in Bakhtinian dialogic theory. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
The author argues for the use of unedited, fixed-camera-position video footage in relationally responsive research grounded in Bakhtinian dialogic theory. The purpose of this paper is to offer an empirical example of such a use, and shows how this contrasts with an ethnomethodological interactionist use of similar types of video footage.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical material is taken from an ethnographic study of a project group in the UK, in which video is used alongside other data during the fieldwork period.
Findings
The author proposes that the audio-visual detail of social interaction and the sense of experiential immersion upon re-viewing can provide a “talking back” dialogic potential for video recordings, that helps to show multiple narratives in social interaction other than the researcher’s original interpretation, and that points to new ways to engage with research participants.
Research limitations/implications
The paper focuses specifically on unedited video footage that is generated through fixed-camera positions. It is also limited to the ethnographic fieldwork period rather than the textual practices of writing up research.
Practical implications
The purpose and positioning of unedited, fixed-camera-position video footage in the empirical study is contrasted with other research approaches to video. Through this contrast, the paper offers methodological support for a way of using such footage which brings out a range of voices and alternative perspectives on social interaction.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the methodological literature by discussing a research approach in which both interactionist and phenomenological qualities of video footage were combined to develop a radically reflexive (Cunliffe, 2003) purpose for video in relational research.
Details
Keywords
For generations, Britain has had a household delivery of fresh milk; from the days before the Great War when it was delivered by a horse‐drawn milk float, with the roundsman often…
Abstract
For generations, Britain has had a household delivery of fresh milk; from the days before the Great War when it was delivered by a horse‐drawn milk float, with the roundsman often bringing the housewife to the door with his cries of “Milk‐O!”. The float had a churn and milk was delivered in a small can, served out by a dipper. This was the start of the distributive trade, organised between the Wars, from which the present industry has emerged. The trade gave universal acceptance to the glass bottle, returnable for household delivery, only the method of sealing has changed. There have been many demands for its abandonment in favour of the carton, of which recent years has seen a rise in its use in the increasing sales of milk by supermarkets and stores. Despite the problems with returnable vessels, the glass bottle has a number of advantages. The milk, including the cream line, is clearly visible, and short measure is most unlikely, which is a growing problem with carton‐filled milk. The number of prosecutions for short measure with cartons must be causing concern to trading standards departments. There is nothing to indicate the offence until the carton is opened.
Function libraries, and indeed the majority of organisations, especially those operating on a commercial basis or utilising public funds, consist of material and human structures…
Abstract
Function libraries, and indeed the majority of organisations, especially those operating on a commercial basis or utilising public funds, consist of material and human structures. The leaders of the human structure utilise personnel and materials in the pursuit of certain goals. Brech itemises four main elements in this process of planning and regulating enterprise activities. They comprise:
‘As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armour-plated, back…
Abstract
‘As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armour-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little, he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes’ (Kafka, The Metamorphosis, 1915, p. 19).
Kafka's The Metamorphosis (1915) appears in disability theory to aid explanation for those who experience acquired disability. This allegory offers a visceral picture of what a person can go through; there is a before and an after, a death and a life. I was able-bodied, capable, bursting with energy and then I woke up one morning utterly transformed. I no longer recognise myself; my consciousness mourns my previous existence, and I must come to terms with my reconstituted self.
It is that ‘other’ that I identify with now and, to discover what that means, I began composing a Requiem Mass. I have a long love affair with them; I have sung and conducted them and their ability to pierce the veil between life and death is of particular significance to me. This chapter examines the ways in which my acquired disability, this mystical death, impacts and informs my composition.