Suzanne Hughes, Timothy James Trimble and Anne O’Rourke
Young offenders are disproportionately represented in the Irish Prison Service (IPS) and are a population with complex needs and highest risk of re-offending. Subsets of young…
Abstract
Purpose
Young offenders are disproportionately represented in the Irish Prison Service (IPS) and are a population with complex needs and highest risk of re-offending. Subsets of young offenders in IPS are placed on Protection for their own and/or other’s safety. There is limited research regarding the experiences of young offenders, and there is none on the subjective experiences of young offenders on Protection that could be identified. This study aims to address a limitation of a previous study on the experiences of young offenders in an Irish prison (Hughes et al., 2017) by providing insight into experiences of young offenders on Protection in Mountjoy Prison.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a non-experimental, qualitative, semi-structured interview design, a purposive sampling method was used, and six young offenders participated. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim with potentially identifiable information removed to ensure anonymity. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was applied to interpret the data.
Findings
Two superordinate themes provided an overview of the young offender’s experiences of Protection in an Irish prison: ‘Social Order on Protection’ and ‘Adjustment on Protection’.
Research limitations/implications
Even though it is a relatively small sample size, this study contributes to existing literature and considers sentence management and clinical implications.
Originality/value
This study helps to address a gap in literature by providing insight into the overall experiences of young male offenders (aged 18–21) on Protection in an Irish prison. The findings are in line with most researches, which highlight additional negative consequences of “restrictive prisons regimes” such as Protection. This study provides information to prisons for the development of best practice guidelines and better sentence management and delivery of services to young offenders on Protection.
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Daniel Briggs, Tim Turner, Kerri David and Tara De Courcey
There is an immense public health concern about the effects of binge drinking across the Western world, in particular about British youth on holiday abroad. While existing UK…
Abstract
There is an immense public health concern about the effects of binge drinking across the Western world, in particular about British youth on holiday abroad. While existing UK research has shed some light on binge drinking and its consequences, this has largely been restricted to surveys. Therefore, an analysis of the social context of British youth and binge drinking abroad currently remains absent. This article attempts to fill that gap by offering an insight into the social context of binge drinking in a holiday resort in Ibiza. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork and makes use of one field note to highlight what Hunt and colleagues (2010) refer to as ‘important relationships between youth, pleasure and context’, to explore the social interactions of binge‐drinking British youth abroad.
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With the proliferation of clients using a separate project management company to manage construction projects, a number of problems arise. This paper analyses the problems found…
Abstract
With the proliferation of clients using a separate project management company to manage construction projects, a number of problems arise. This paper analyses the problems found by project management companies when managing construction projects in New Zealand. The fundamental problems faced were relationship‐based. The research in this paper found that project management companies need to overcome problems in their relationships with other professionals on the project team and with the client. The paper discusses these problems using data collected from a survey to project management companies in the New Zealand construction industry. The research in this paper examined how project management companies saw their role, their experiences of managing construction projects and makes suggestions for improving relationships. This research suggests that the problems faced by companies in New Zealand are likely to be global and therefore any solution suggested can be applied to other countries.
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Suzanne Jane Smith, Jane E. Powell, Neil Summers and Susan Roulstone
The purpose of this paper is to explore perceptions of quality of life (QoL) of people with a dual diagnosis of learning disability and autism to facilitate a better understanding…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore perceptions of quality of life (QoL) of people with a dual diagnosis of learning disability and autism to facilitate a better understanding for clinical practice and service provision.
Design/methodology/approach
Mixed methods were used to gain perceptions of QoL from 20 individuals referred to their local diagnostic service. Individuals completed questionnaires and participated in in-depth interviews which were thematically analysed.
Findings
Subjective wellbeing scores were lower than those found in previous research. Social interaction was raised extensively with participants describing both positive and negative perceptions. The need for tailored social support and the value of individual control over environment were raised.
Research limitations/implications
The study was small in scale and limited to subjects who had been referred for a diagnostic service. The study identified the need for further investigation, particularly in relation to the social relationships domain of QoL, and the impact of stress and anxiety.
Originality/value
This study demonstrated that it is possible to access views from this group and that these views are nuanced. It suggests differences between reported QoL in people with learning disabilities who are and who are not autistic. Service design and individual approaches could be improved by a better understanding of these differences.
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The purpose of this paper is to present a case for reflective practice with an intersectional focus in supporting practitioners working with gender-based violence (GBV). It is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a case for reflective practice with an intersectional focus in supporting practitioners working with gender-based violence (GBV). It is argued that GBV increases women’s experiences of social exclusion requiring support systems that are inclusive and alert to intersecting forms of oppression. Some challenges to inclusive practice are identified and some supportive practices are suggested.
Design/methodology/approach
Reflective practice examples are drawn from UK-based advocacy and therapeutic work involving women experiencing GBV.
Findings
Three critical challenges to inclusivity are identified: poor knowledge of intersectionality, misuse of power and over-reliance on the scope of empathy.
Research limitations/implications
These themes are drawn from case examples gained from work-based practice with services in London and the southeast of England. The findings have limited scope but could be used to stimulate further research.
Practical implications
If health and social care services are to achieve a more inclusive response to women who experience GBV then reflective practice needs to shift the focus to a broader inquiry into women’s experiences. Whilst reflective practice cannot overturn the power invested in the health and social care sector it can help individual practitioners to respond to the inequalities they observe.
Social implications
It is argued that providing a regular reflective space is an effective mechanism for fostering inclusive practice responses to women experiencing GBV.
Originality/value
Intersectionality, power and empathy are identified as central themes for improving practitioner responses to GBV. How these themes apply to interactions between practitioners and abused women is demonstrated through examples from reflective practice sessions.
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This paper relates migration and home through the experiences of belonging negotiated by both newcomers and established residents in a South London caff. My account emerges out of…
Abstract
This paper relates migration and home through the experiences of belonging negotiated by both newcomers and established residents in a South London caff. My account emerges out of an ethnographic exploration of Nick's Caff, a small meeting place off a multi-ethnic, inner city Street. Urban change and social diversity are exemplified in the Walworth Road: a place from which one can hear the chimes of Big Ben and catch glimpses of the London Eye, but which remains curiously detached from the image of a prestigious city; where remnants of white working-class culture juxtapose with a variety of cultures brought from across the globalising world; and where emergent cultures are forged across the difficulties and possibilities of cultural difference. Nick's Caff situates the day-to-day and face-to-face experiences of belonging within a shared space in the contemporary city. This paper explores how different individuals reconstitute conventional understandings of ‘home’ and ‘family’ through inhabiting their regular tables in the Caff. I expand on ‘belonging’ as a mode of social interaction through three key ideas: social space, practice and sociability. I analyse the social and spatial dimensions of everyday interactions in the Caff, and examine whether intermingling within the Caff produces alternative understandings of belonging, beyond the binaries of insider/outsider or local/foreigner.
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The pupose of this paper is to present an overview of the main conceptual and methodological issues that underlie our current understanding of benchmarking initiatives in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The pupose of this paper is to present an overview of the main conceptual and methodological issues that underlie our current understanding of benchmarking initiatives in the field of health.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a pragmatic review of the literature and policy reports. It outlines some of the major conceptual problems associated with the use of benchmarking indicators and discusses how health policy research and practice is evolving to address the challenges raised, drawing examples from national and international benchmarking initiatives.
Findings
Benchmarking has become an intrinsic part of most developed health care systems, yet the impact of benchmarking initiatives on improvements in system performance and their integration within existing policy processes still need to be elucidated. Several methodological challenges remain in the field of benchmarking, many of them related to the selection and quality of indicators used to make comparisons both within and between health care systems. Further research and applications are needed to ensure that benchmarking in health fulfils its objective, namely to further our understanding of where to focus policy efforts in order to improve the performance of health care systems.
Originality/value
This paper poses the timely question of whether benchmarking initiatives are in fact guiding health policy towards the improvement of health care system performance. It draws from the policy literature and existing frameworks to offer an outline for the future evaluation of benchmarking initiatives by policy‐makers.
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Zulkfli Sapeciay, Suzanne Wilkinson and Seosamh B. Costello
This paper aims to explore New Zealand construction practitioners’ approaches to organisational resilience practice in built environment discipline, based on survey and interview…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore New Zealand construction practitioners’ approaches to organisational resilience practice in built environment discipline, based on survey and interview results. The objective was to explore the resilience practice within the construction sector with the intention of developing a resilient assessment tool specifically for construction organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review was conducted to gather information on assessment tools for measuring organisational resilience, their characteristics and indicators. Subsequently, a set of questions was formulated to collate opinions from construction practitioners in New Zealand, using a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews.
Findings
This paper concludes by showing that the construction industry lacks resilience practice, especially from an organisational perspective. The findings suggest that the industry would benefit from a resilience assessment tool to help improve resilience. The adoption of such a tool could potentially enhance organisational capacity to recover quickly from crises and disasters.
Practical implications
Improving the resilience of construction organisations to natural disasters not only minimises the negative consequences to their organisations post-disaster and enhances their organisational performance during business as usual but also helps to improve community resilience.
Originality/value
Improving the resilience of construction organisations also helps to improve community resilience and overall post-disaster recovery. However, at present, little research has been conducted on how construction organisations deal with the risk of natural disasters.
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Suzanne J. Peterson, Christopher S. Reina, David A. Waldman and William J. Becker
The application of physiological methods to the study of psychological phenomena has garnered considerable interest in recent years. These methods have proved especially useful to…
Abstract
The application of physiological methods to the study of psychological phenomena has garnered considerable interest in recent years. These methods have proved especially useful to the study of emotions, since evidence suggests that validly measuring a person’s emotional state using traditional, psychometric methods such as surveys or observation is considerably more difficult than once thought. The present chapter reviews the challenges associated with measuring emotions from a purely psychological perspective, and suggests that the study of emotions in organizations can benefit from the use of physiological measurement to complement traditional assessment methods. We review more established approaches to physiological measurement, including those related to hormone secretion, cardiovascular activity, and skin conductance. We then highlight somewhat more recent attempts to use neurological scanning. A theme of this chapter is that both psychological and physiological measures are relevant to understanding and assessing emotions in organizations. Accordingly, we propose a multi-method approach involving both types of assessment. Finally, we discuss the practical and ethical implications of employing various forms of physiological measurement in the study of emotions, specifically in the context of organizations.