Deborah Hutchings, Nick Heather, Emma Dallolio, Eileen Kaner, Catherine Lock and Paul Cassidy
Excessive alcohol consumption is a major cause of health and social problems in the UK. Research has shown that alcohol‐related problems are responsive to early identification and…
Abstract
Excessive alcohol consumption is a major cause of health and social problems in the UK. Research has shown that alcohol‐related problems are responsive to early identification and brief intervention in primary health care. However, primary health care professionals have generally been reluctant to implement alcohol screening and brief intervention into routine practice. Addressing this issue has been the latest focus of an ongoing World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Project. The present study (Phase IV) is concerned with the implementation of screening and brief intervention materials and procedures for widespread and routine use in primary health care.
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Dorothy Newbury-Birch, Katherine Jackson, Tony Hodgson, Eilish Gilvarry, Paul Cassidy, Simon Coulton, Vicky Ryan, Graeme B. Wilson, Ruth McGovern and Eileen Kaner
The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) amongst young people in the criminal justice system (CJS) in the North East of England and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) amongst young people in the criminal justice system (CJS) in the North East of England and to compare the ability of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to the Youth Justice Board ASSET tool in identifying alcohol-related need in Youth Offending Team (YOT) clients.
Design/methodology/approach
A validated screening tool (AUDIT) was used to identify alcohol-related health risk or harm. Findings from AUDIT were compared with those of the standard criminogenic risk screening tool used in CJS (ASSET). An anonymous cross-sectional questionnaire was administered during a one-month period in 2008. The questionnaires were completed by 11-17-year-old offenders who were in contact with three YOTs, one Youth Offending Institution and one Secure Training Estate.
Findings
In total, 429 questionnaires were completed out of a possible 639 (67 per cent). The majority (81 per cent) of the young offenders were identified as experiencing alcohol-related health risk or harm and 77 per cent scored within a possibly alcohol-dependent range. In total, 77 (30 per cent) of young people completing both assessments were identified as having an AUD by AUDIT but not identified as needing alcohol-related treatment using ASSET.
Research limitations/implications
This research was confined to one geographical area of England, however, the results show that even in this area of high drinking by young people the levels of AUDs amongst young people in the CJS are very high.
Social implications
There are major social implications to this research. It is imperative for changes to be made to the care pathways in place in the UK for young people coming through the CJS with alcohol-related issues.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the evidence base by using well-validated tools to measure alcohol use amongst young people in the CJS in the UK.
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The purpose of this paper is to address the core concept of docility in Simon’s learning theories and elaborate docility as a missing link in organizational performance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the core concept of docility in Simon’s learning theories and elaborate docility as a missing link in organizational performance structures. In his book, Administrative Behavior, first published in 1947 with three subsequent editions, Herbert A. Simon introduced a new concept to the emerging field of organizational theory, docility.
Design/methodology/approach
In Administrative Behavior, Herbert A. Simon introduced to management and organization theorists the concept of docility. Simon adopted the concept and meaning from E.C. Tolman’s (1932) classic work, Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men, and his novel views on learning processes and key concepts like purpose (goals), thought processes (cognitive psychology) and cognitive maps. This paper elaborates on docility mechanisms and the implications for social learning in organizations.
Findings
This paper addresses this lacuna in the organizational literature, and the implications for current theories of organizations and organizational learning.
Practical implications
Docility is a tool to link individual learning with organizational learning in complex environments and changing technologies.
Originality/value
The paper traces origins of Simon’s docility and learning theories.
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Norman Anthony McClelland, Toby Brandon, Wendy Dyer, Kathryn Cassidy, Louise Ridley and Paul Biddle
There is clear evidence that prison can be detrimental to mental health and that wider society has tended to assume “out of sight, out of mind” for prisoners in mental distress…
Abstract
Purpose
There is clear evidence that prison can be detrimental to mental health and that wider society has tended to assume “out of sight, out of mind” for prisoners in mental distress. The lack of access to effective mental health care in prisons along with increasingly lower numbers of prison officers, or Operational Officers (OOs), has created a negative culture that requires the development of specialist services. With this comes a need to conduct evaluations, and investigations, into the roles of OOs and mental health-care staff. This study aims to report on a commissioned evaluation around the introduction and development of an HMP Mental Health Unit, named the integrated support unit (ISU), in the North of England. This study’s section of the wider evaluation focuses on the early team building, working practice and development of mental health registered nurses, other care staff and OOs within the ISU.
Design/methodology/approach
Three focus groups incorporating two professional groups took place on the ISU. The first of six Mental Health Workers (MHW) including Registered Mental Health Nurses and support workers; the second of two sets of two ISU dedicated OOs. The areas addressed within each of the groups concerned why staff wanted to work in the ISU, as well as how they would measure its potential success, and the necessary skills competencies and training they thought were required to prepare them to work in the area.
Findings
Overall, the participants expressed an interest or enthusiasm for their work having actively chosen to work in the ISU. There was a strong sense of a wish for the unit to succeed; in fact, success was a motivating drive for all. Both OOs and MHW emphasised the importance of teamworking, autonomy and freedom as well as information sharing. Analysis also revealed many areas of practice that were challenging. The findings are optimistic for the development of such special units as evaluated here. The drivers for different professions along with their measures of success in the field are discussed in detail. The relationship, expectations, hopes and needs of both MHW and prison officers working in a multidisciplinary unit provide useful information to support both policy and practice in the field. The authors make recommendations around training regimes and how they can effectively coordinate the different symbiotic professional roles. The ISU is a new initiative in offender management within prisons and is reviewed as a model of mental health practice in prison settings.
Practical implications
The value in recruiting to the ISU dedicated OOs, with committed interests in mental health. A continued emphasis on the ongoing development of team working, focussing on issues of risk, trust and treatment. The development (by nurses) of a formal/mandatory period of training for new OO’s prior to taking up a role on the ISU. For mental health nurses to embrace team leadership/educator roles in the areas of mental health awareness, team building and conflict resolution. To capture and formulate and develop the specific range of mental health interventions offered within the ISU.
Originality/value
The presented research explores and evaluates the introduction of a new mental health wing (ISU) for 11 patients in a Northern UK prison. It does this through the consideration of group discussions with both MHW and OOs on this wing. This work is part of a larger study.
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Richard J. Murnane, Giovanni Allegri, Alphonce Bushi, Jamal Dabbeek, Hans de Moel, Melanie Duncan, Stuart Fraser, Carmine Galasso, Cristiano Giovando, Paul Henshaw, Kevin Horsburgh, Charles Huyck, Susanna Jenkins, Cassidy Johnson, Godson Kamihanda, Justice Kijazi, Wilberforce Kikwasi, Wilbard Kombe, Susan Loughlin, Finn Løvholt, Alex Masanja, Gabriel Mbongoni, Stelios Minas, Michael Msabi, Maruvuko Msechu, Habiba Mtongori, Farrokh Nadim, Mhairi O’Hara, Marco Pagani, Emma Phillips, Tiziana Rossetto, Roberto Rudari, Peter Sangana, Vitor Silva, John Twigg, Guido Uhinga and Enrica Verrucci
Using risk-related data often require a significant amount of upfront work to collect, extract and transform data. In addition, the lack of a consistent data structure hinders the…
Abstract
Purpose
Using risk-related data often require a significant amount of upfront work to collect, extract and transform data. In addition, the lack of a consistent data structure hinders the development of tools that can be used with more than one set of data. The purpose of this paper is to report on an effort to solve these problems through the development of extensible, internally consistent schemas for risk-related data.
Design/methodology/approach
The consortia coordinated their efforts so the hazard, exposure and vulnerability schemas are compatible. Hazard data can be provided as either event footprints or stochastic catalogs. Exposure classes include buildings, infrastructure, agriculture, livestock, forestry and socio-economic data. The vulnerability component includes fragility and vulnerability functions and indicators for physical and social vulnerability. The schemas also provide the ability to define uncertainties and allow the scoring of vulnerability data for relevance and quality.
Findings
As a proof of concept, the schemas were populated with data for Tanzania and with exposure data for several other countries.
Research limitations/implications
The data schema and data exploration tool are open source and, if widely accepted, could become widely used by practitioners.
Practical implications
A single set of hazard, exposure and vulnerability schemas will not fit all purposes. Tools will be needed to transform the data into other formats.
Originality/value
This paper describes extensible, internally consistent, multi-hazard, exposure and vulnerability schemas that can be used to store disaster risk-related data and a data exploration tool that promotes data discovery and use.
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Micha Popper and Ofra Mayseless
We know a great deal today about the impact of transformational leaders, their actions, typical behaviors and their ways of influencing others (Bass, 1985, 1999a, b; Bass &…
Abstract
We know a great deal today about the impact of transformational leaders, their actions, typical behaviors and their ways of influencing others (Bass, 1985, 1999a, b; Bass & Avolio, 1990). However, we know relatively little about the psychological substructure, the internal world of these leaders, namely who they are and how they developed this way. These aspects were raised earlier in Bass’s early work (Bass, 1985) but have received little attention so far (Bass, 1998; Judge & Bono, 2000). We argue that the internal world of a transformational leader is characterized by a motivation to lead, leadership self-efficacy, motivation and capacity to relate to others in a pro-social way, optimism and openness to new experiences and viewpoints of others. We further argue that the origins of the ability and motivation to be a transformational leader lie in childhood experiences, and that the development of this ability and motivation can be understood and conceptualized by means of major developmental theories such as attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1988). On the basis of these theories, we suggest a researchable conceptual framework for characterization of the internal world and the development of transformational leaders.