Prison violence generates much public interest with concerns for the financial costs, staff safety and public safety. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experience of…
Abstract
Purpose
Prison violence generates much public interest with concerns for the financial costs, staff safety and public safety. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experience of riotous behaviour from the perspective of prisoners in a maximum secure adult prison. It also seeks gather information and to generate discussion on areas for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
A purposive sampling method and in-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out. Interpretative phenomenological analysis identified super ordinate themes and related sub-themes within the participants’ narratives. Emergent themes were then considered in relation to the theories and concepts that underpinned and connected them.
Findings
Super ordinate themes emerged centred around the subject of social processing and relationships. Prisoners emphasised the role of prisoner-staff relationships in feeling valued as part of the social structure and considered riotous behaviour the best method of communication at that time. Social comparison highlighted the value they placed in being part of the prisoner culture and the nostalgic nature of the riotous behaviour for them. It lends support to earlier theory on prison adjustment and social psychological explanations for rioting.
Research limitations/implications
It is not assumed that the findings of this study can be universally applied given the sample size and the idiosyncratic nature of participants’ experiences. This research may provide greater insight into the motivational factors related to individuals involved in riotous behaviour. With such insight prison staff may be more able to consider whether prisoners’ needs are being sufficiently met to help prevent such behaviour in the future.
Practical implications
This research may help inform training on the identification and management of potential riots. With insight into the individual motivational factors prison staff may be more able to consider whether prisoners’ needs are being sufficiently met to help prevent such behaviour in the future.
Originality/value
This paper reports on the prisoners’ individual experience of being involved in riotous behaviour. Due to the paucity of literature on this behaviour, this exploratory study is intended to add to existing knowledge.
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Christy Craig, Emily Oertling, Twyla Hill and Cheyla Clawson
This collaborative paper presents three case studies on four scholars' experiences with remote data collection. The authors highlight the challenges and strengths of online…
Abstract
Purpose
This collaborative paper presents three case studies on four scholars' experiences with remote data collection. The authors highlight the challenges and strengths of online qualitative research across three disparate projects: an interdisciplinary exploration of matrilineal heritage, an examination of Irish women's sexual identity and an investigation of dress practices among Tz'utujil-Maya.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative researchers traditionally go into the field to explore and understand social phenomena. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, while people faced the daily realities of a worldwide crisis from within their homes, remote data collection became a necessary strategy to pursue knowledge. As a result, researchers adapted to unknowns regarding recruiting, scheduling, technology, interviewing and analysis.
Findings
Participant and researcher experiences during the adaptation to remote interviewing yielded important lessons on research strategies.
Originality/value
Outcomes from these studies highlight the potential value of online data collection alongside the necessity for flexibility in designing and conducting qualitative research.
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Niamh Hearns, Frances Devine and Tom Baum
This viewpoint paper aims to assess a curriculum response within a specific vocational sector, hospitality, driven by the recent surge in intra EU labour migration and the ensuing…
Abstract
Purpose
This viewpoint paper aims to assess a curriculum response within a specific vocational sector, hospitality, driven by the recent surge in intra EU labour migration and the ensuing increase in workplace cultural diversity.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper identifies an appropriate curriculum response by assessing the industry implications and proffering a conceptual model of curriculum response.
Findings
The experience across business sectors, such as hospitality, emphasises the need for training that is geared to meet the needs of both international and indigenous employees and that, critically, intercultural issues represent a significant training gap. It is posited that the curriculum response is multifaceted embracing the need to address course content, learning outcomes, assessment methods and the training needs of educators.
Originality/value
The paper is targeted at academics within applied business education, specifically in those areas of the services sector that have experienced significant labour migration in recent years. It is also of wider value to those involved in curricula design in a vocational context.
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Brittany Paloma Fiedler, Rosan Mitola and James Cheng
The purpose of this paper is to describe how an academic library at one of the most diverse universities in the country responded to the 2016 election through the newly formed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe how an academic library at one of the most diverse universities in the country responded to the 2016 election through the newly formed Inclusion and Equity Committee and through student outreach.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper details the context of the 2016 election and the role of social justice in librarianship. It offers ideas for how library diversity committees can address professional development, recruitment and retention efforts and cultural humility. It highlights student outreach efforts to support marginalized students, educate communities and promote student activism. Finally, it offers considerations and suggestions for librarians who want to engage in this work.
Findings
This paper shows that incorporating social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion requires individuals taking action. If institutions want to focus on any of these issues, they need to formally include them in their mission, vision and values as well as in department goals and individual job descriptions. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Libraries fully supports this work, but most of the labor is done by a small number of people. Unsustainable practices can cause employee burnout and turnover resulting in less internal and external efforts to support diversity.
Originality/value
Most of the previous literature focuses either on internal activities, such as professional development and committees, or on student-focused activities, such as outreach events, displays and instruction. This paper is one comprehensive review of both kinds of activities.
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Niamh O' Brien, Martin Lawlor, Fiona Chambers and Wesley O'Brien
Higher Education Institutions observe that many students are experiencing mental health issues, such as high levels of anxiety and stress. Young adults are recognised as a…
Abstract
Purpose
Higher Education Institutions observe that many students are experiencing mental health issues, such as high levels of anxiety and stress. Young adults are recognised as a vulnerable group who carry the burden of mental health problems worldwide. Mental health interventions can be effective in positively influencing students' emotional and behavioural wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
In the current study, the principles of Intervention Mapping (IM) were applied to guide the development, implementation, and evaluation of a specifically tailored mental health programme for a selected student cohort in a large Higher Education Institute in Ireland. Mixed qualitative (Delphi technique and focus group discussions) and quantitative (survey) data were gathered to gain a broad perspective of mental health concerns and learning needs among a sample of higher education students (n = 99).
Findings
Existing evidence guided by theoretical frameworks were blended to create a specifically tailored mental health programme to meet the needs of higher education students in Ireland. Results indicate that the established six-stages of IM provide an empirical process that has the potential to effectively respond to the mental health needs of students in higher education. IM identifies the priority needs of students in higher education and ensures that suitable behaviour change techniques for mental health are addressed. 10;
Originality/value
IM is a suitable method to critically and collaboratively develop a mental health intervention for the overall wellbeing of the general higher education student population, both nationally and globally. 10;
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Leonie Lynch, Maurice Patterson and Caoilfhionn Ní Bheacháin
This paper aims to consider the visual literacy mobilized by consumers in their use of brand aesthetics to construct and communicate a curated self.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to consider the visual literacy mobilized by consumers in their use of brand aesthetics to construct and communicate a curated self.
Design/methodology/approach
The research surveyed a range of visual material from Instagram. Specifically, the goal was to use “compositional interpretation”, an approach to visual analysis that is not methodologically explicit but which, in itself, draws upon the visual literacy of the researcher to provide a descriptive analysis of the formal visual quality of images as distinct from their symbolic resonances. The research also incorporates 10 phenomenological-type interviews with consumers. Consistent with a phenomenological approach, informants were selected because they have “lived” the experience under investigation, in this case requiring them to be keen consumers of the Orla Kiely brand.
Findings
Findings indicate that consumers deploy their visual literacy in strategic visualization (imaginatively planning and coordinating artifacts with other objects in their collection, positioning and using them as part of an overall visual repertoire), composition (becoming active producers of images) and emergent design (turning design objects into display pieces, repurposing design objects or simply borrowing brand aesthetics to create designed objects of their own).
Research limitations/implications
This research has implications for the understanding of visual literacy within consumer culture. Engaging comprehensively with the visual compositions of consumers, this research moves beyond brand symbolism, semiotics or concepts of social status to examine the self-conscious creation of a curated self. The achievement of such a curated self depends on visual literacy and the deployment of abstract design language by consumers in the pursuit of both aesthetic satisfaction and social communication.
Practical implications
This research has implications for brand designers and managers in terms of how they might control or manage the use of brand aesthetics by consumers.
Originality/value
To date, there has been very little consumer research that explores the nature of visual literacy and even less that offers an empirical investigation of this concept within the context of brand aesthetics. The research moves beyond brand symbolism, semiotics and social status to consider the deployment of abstract visual language in communicating the curated self.