RSS 1.0Social and Political Science
There is a strong culture of research activity in the Department of Social and Political Science which informs academic teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Staff are engaged in research of both national and international significance and are also involved in publication, peer review, professional practice, postgraduate training and Knowledge Transfer activities. A number of PhD students supervised by Social Studies and Counselling staff also contribute to the vibrant research culture of the department and are usually offered both teaching and publication opportunities. There is an active research culture in the department with regular research seminars at which staff and postgraduate research students present their most recent work. Research and scholarship has developed and flourished around a number of key areas in the department: Criminology; Sociology, Health and Social Policy; International Development; Political Communications; Counselling and Trauma.
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Recent Submissions
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Exploring the 'talk' of suicide: Using discourse-informed approaches in exploring suicide riskThis chapter considers how discourse-based approaches can help facilitate mental health work with clients/patients who present at risk of suicide. This is discussed in the context of a predominant and traditional risk assessment questionnaire approach, increasingly acknowledged as having low predictive quality.
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The impacts of the drop in staffing provision in the transition between the youth custody estate and young adult/adult estateThis article offers a critical view of the differences in staffing provision between the YCE and young adult/adult estate. The data outlines the issues associated with the cliff-edge of staffing training and provision for young adults which is seemingly an accepted aspect of the young adult/adult estate. The accounts of staff and young people demonstrates how their experiences of diminished resources through to the young adult/adult estate are insufficient to provide the level of support required. It is argued that there should be greater numbers of suitably trained prison officers within institutions holding young adults to work effectively with this distinct population.
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Becoming an Urban Cycling SpacePeter Cox shows how the rapid transformations of many city spaces during the covid-19 pandemic has dramatically altered both perceptions of the spaces in which cyclists ride the city and the possibilities of becoming an urban cyclist. This chapter first looks back in a wider historic context to show the double process of cyclists adapting to existing European cities and how, in turn, cyclists’ presence has changed the cities themselves. It then examines some of the adaptations produced in response to the pandemic and the ways in which this has made cities appear different spaces for cycling. Finally, it examines some of the emergent policy frameworks produced during this time and their implications for future relations between cyclists and other forms of urban mobility.
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Vélomobility as Autonomobility: prefigurative cycling imaginariesAt the end of the nineteenth century, the autonomous mobility provided by bicycles and tricycles created a mobile imaginary that paved the way for automobility. Through the course of the twentieth century, the growth and decline of cycling mobilities was inseparably entangled with the rise of a range of motor-mobilities (two and four wheeled). Yet cycling persists and is championed widely as a contender for future mobility in post-growth societies. However, the hegemonic position reached by automobility as a dominant system has led to closure of political non-car mobility imaginaries. United In Science, the high-level synthesis report to the UN Climate Action Summit 2019, notes that the nationally determined contributions to carbon reduction made in the Paris agreement need to be tripled to reach target CO2 reduction levels: this will entail dramatic transformation of mobilityscapes. This paper consequently explores the possibilities and problems inherent in formulating vélomobility as a system of autonomobility, paying special attention to its alignment with the range of radical alternatives clustered around degrowth (D’Alisa et al 2014) and the pluriverse (Kothari et al 2019, Escobar 2020) as promising ways to think and act beyond the unsustainable carbon economy. It does so in three parts: first it examines the challenges of imagining vélomobility not just as a set of practices but cognitively, through its conceptual construction not as an inverse of automobility but as a system that also challenges the political underpinnings of automobility. Second, it considers vélomobility through a set of propositions and briefly explores through examples the complexities involved in reimagining mobility regimes as well as the resources from political theory that may be important to it. Finally, the last section reverses the gaze and asks what the reconsideration of vélomobility as described previously can bring to the broader discussion of autonomobility.
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Finding my voice: A qualitative exploration into the perceived impact of person-centred counsellor training upon counsellors who were adopted as a baby.This small‐scale qualitative study explored how qualified person‐centred counsellors who were adopted as a baby perceived the impact of their person‐centred counselling training. The study focused on the adoptees’ experiences of adoption and how these influenced their experience of person‐centred counselling training. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis to gain insight into how the participants made sense of their lived experience. The findings supported the difficulties associated with adoption, which not only are present in existing literature and research but also placed an emphasis on the particular vulnerabilities associated with being adopted as a baby. The findings further highlighted the positive impact of person‐centred counselling training on the participants’ personal development, which included the following: increased self‐awareness, self‐acceptance, identity development and ‘having a voice’. The findings confer implications for clinical practice in understanding the experience of adoptees who were adopted as a baby and for trainers in the planning and provision of person‐centred training. The research also identifies the healing aspects of person‐centred counselling training, which facilitated the participants’ positive self‐development. In addition, unique opportunities for counsellors who were also adopted as a baby are suggested and the need for the Adoption Support Fund to be extended to allow an adoptee of any age to access therapeutic support is also identified. The links made between adoption and person‐centred training are an original area of research and are worthy of further exploration.
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Transformation hidden in the sand; a pluralistic theoretical framework using sand-tray with adult clientsJungian sandplay predominates the existing literature on sand-tray therapy. Although there is a small volume of literature on alternative approaches of using sand-tray with adults, most primarily focuses on children and adolescents. The study aimed to establish a sand-tray therapy framework to be utilized by practitioners who are not Jungian trained and intend to use this intervention with adult clients. The grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1990, 1998) multiple case study involved six client-participants receiving six sand-tray therapy sessions. The pluralistic model established incorporates inter-relational and intra-psychic dimensions. Concepts include phenomenological shift and two sand-tray specific mechanisms of phenomenological anchor and phenomenological hook, aiding ‘edge of awareness’ and unconscious processing. In this study, pluralistic sand-tray therapy was deemed successful based on improved CORE-10 clinical scores and the various participant feedback collected.
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Violence, control and restraint: The harms to young adults particularly upon transitionThe transition into the young adult/adult estate at age 18 years is marked by a significant loss of provision and shift in institutional treatment. One of the many harms endured is the change in restraint which is harmful and damaging yet prevailing. The data presented here shows how the distinct needs of this vulnerable population are widely overlooked. This article extends the literature regarding young adults and argues that there should be greater exploration and understanding of their behaviour and the impacts of transitions. This in turn leads to recommendations for changes to practices within the young adult/adult estate.
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Counselling the 'other'.This chapter explores the problems of race, ethnicity and culture within counselling. It challenges the counselling world's neoliberal march towards manualised and standardised biomedical paradigms, which are not helpful for working culturally. They reinforce attitudes which are oppressive. Using an autoethnographic approach the author draws on their own experience of coming from two different cultures calling for the counselling world to challenge the binary , hegemonic and colonial thinking which underpins the biomedical approach taken. The author also brings awareness to the new growing demographic of mixed people who do not neatly fit into cultural boxes ascribed to them.
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STOP-sexual violence: evaluation of a community based nightlife worker awareness raising bystander training programmeBackground Preventing sexual violence in nightlife environments is a pervasive issue across many countries. This study explored the associated impact of a nightlife worker sexual violence awareness raising/bystander training programme (STOP-SV) on trainees’ sexual violence myth acceptance and readiness and confidence to intervene. Methods : Pre- and post-test (n = 118), and 3-month follow-up (n = 38) trainee surveys were implemented across three countries (Czech Republic, Portugal and Spain). Paired-sample tests examined changes across time-periods in participants’ myth acceptance (e.g. unwanted sexual advances are a normal part of a night out), and readiness and confidence to intervene. Multi-nominal regression was used to examine the relationship between the change in pre-to-post-training scores and trainee characteristics. Results Compared to pre-training, post-training participants were significantly (P < 0.01) less likely to agree with sexual violence myths, and more likely to be ready and confident to intervene. In bi-variate and multi-variate analyses, we found no significant associations between the change in pre-to-post-training scores and trainee characteristics. Analyses of the small follow-up sub-sample illustrated some positive changes at the post-training and follow-up time-periods (i.e. reduction in sexual violence myth acceptance). Conclusion This exploratory study suggests that the STOP-SV training programme was associated with a decrease in trainees’ acceptance of sexual violence myths, and an increase in their readiness and confidence to intervene. Our findings support the case for further implementation and evaluation of awareness raising/bystander programmes for nightlife workers that aim to prevent and respond to sexual violence.
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Reforming masculinity: the politics of gender, race, militarism and security sector reform in the DRCConflict-related sexual violence has become an increasingly visible issue for feminists as well as various international actors. One of the ways global policy makers have tried to tackle this violence is through addressing the violent masculinity of security sector forces. While such efforts have their roots in feminist analyses of militarized masculinity, this article seeks to contribute to the critical discourse on ‘gender-sensitive security sector reform’ (GSSR). There are three dimensions to my critical reading of GSSR. Firstly, I ask what gendered and racialized power relations are reproduced through efforts to educate male security agents about the wrongs of sexual violence. Secondly, I offer a critique of how GSSR normalizes military solutions to addressing sexual violence and strengthens the global standing of military actors. Finally, I bring these themes together in an analysis of the United States-led military training mission Operation Olympic Chase in the DRC. Here, I reveal the limitations of attempting to address sexual violence within the security sector without more radically confronting how gender, race and militarism often work together to form the conditions for this violence. I conclude with some reflections on feminist complicity in upholding military power and the possibilities for developing global solidarity.
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Lockdown ScrapbookThe Covid-19 lockdown in England began on 23rd March 2020, when people were told to stay at home and only go out for essential purposes, which included an hour’s daily exercise. These measures were originally scheduled to last for three weeks, but were then extended for a further three weeks. On 17th April, shortly after the three week extension began, I started to record my daily walks. For just over a month I chose a word which signified the current moment in some way and took photos related to my chosen theme. I posted four pictures per day, most days, on Twitter (@drjuliabennett). This is a description of the photos, the walks and news media during this period.
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Impact Assessment of Holiday Provision in Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Wirral – Summer 2020: Assessment of Provision and Coordination under Covid19This report is an evaluation of the activities undertaken by Edsential and Partners during the summer of 2020. Edsential and its consortium were one of ten providers awarded funding by the Department of Education to coordinate activities and food provision in England, receiving £1.8 million of the £9 million allocated for 2020. Compared to the summer of 2019, the area of the provision under the care of Edsential has significantly increased, including Cheshire West and Chester, Wirral and Halton. The provision was organised through Partnership Boards created for each local area, and this report not only provides an impact assessment of the holiday food and activity provision, but also an evaluation of the partnerships and their functioning. The context of the provision has been affected by the Covid19 pandemic, and as such, researchers have also analysed how Covid19 has affected families, particularly during lockdown restriction periods, and the provision of activities.
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(Custodial) spaces to grow? Adolescent development during custodial transitionsDrawing on empirical data from two individual research projects, this paper extends the literature on child and youth incarceration and offers a previously unexplored analysis of experiences and transitions through institutional environments for young people. Different penal environments have different operational practices and treatment according to arbitrary age-determined constructions of childhood, youth and young adulthood, evidenced by decreasing safeguards. This article demonstrates the reduction of operative and supportive investment in those held, and the shifting perception from children that require ‘training’ to young people and young adults who are managed and whose particular needs are neglected. The arbitrary nature of transitions presents a paradox between developmental maturity as an individualistic ongoing process and arbitrary age-determined transitions. As such, it is argued that there should be a more developmental approach to caring for young people across penal environments which accounts for their ongoing maturity and complex needs.
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Managing Risk OnlineThis article considers the professional considerations in working with clients at risk of suicide in an online therapeutic environment.
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Trauma and CrisisThis chapter seeks to understand the nature of crisis and trauma in the context of mental health delivery and offers some key practice indicators for counsellors in the field.
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Political Management. The Dance of Government and PoliticsA book review of Jennifer Lees-Marshment's book 'Political Management. A Dance of Government and Politics.'
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Rethinking Public Relations. Persuasion, Democracy and SocietyA book review of Kevin Moloney and Conor McGrath's book 'Rethinking Public Relations. Persuasion, Democracy and Society.'
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Philosophy and public administration: An introduction ( second edition) By Edoardo Ongaro: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020. 334 pages. Hardback. £85.00. ISBN: 9781839100338A book review of Edoardo Ongaro's book 'Philosophy and Public Administration: An Introduction'
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Building a voice of influence: Supporting social science doctoral students with disabilitiesThis chapter draws together experience from two supervisors on the subject of supporting social science doctoral students with disabilities. Our aims here are to illuminate the structural obstacles that students may encounter, and how supervisors might assist their students in navigating the terrain of ‘poor listeners’, unsubstantiated criticism, and views that are expressed that serve to suppress the voice and influence of the doctoral scholar. It is not our intention here to render the doctoral student as a powerless individual whose identity is one of deficit, on the contrary; rather in identifying structural and disciplinary barriers, supervisors, and their students may better prepare from what they may experience.
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Prospective study on a fast-track training in psychiatry for medical students: the psychiatric hat gameAbstract: Background: While medical students are losing interest in lectures in favor of other educational materials, many studies suggest the benefit of active learning, combined with gamified educational tools. The authors developed a psychiatric adaptation of the « Hat Game ». It was hypothesised that this game would increase both knowledge and motivation in medical students toward psychiatric semiology. The aim of the study was to assess the benefit of a Psychiatric Hat Game session for learning psychiatric symptoms in third-year medical students. Student performance was also evaluated at 3 months. Methods: This gamified fast-track training consists of two teams and each team has to guess as many psychiatric semiology terms as possible using different techniques (i.e. speech, mime). The study involved a pre- and post-evaluation of knowledge (Multiple Choice Questions) and a satisfaction survey. Baseline, post-immediate, and three-months scores were compared by using Friedman analysis for paired samples. Comparisons of mean scores at two different times were performed by using Wilcoxon test for paired samples. Results: One hundred and sixty-six students were proposed to take part in the study. Among them 129 completed the whole program (response rate = 77.7%). Mean scores measured at the three points in time were significantly different (p < 0.001, N = 129). Knowledge mean scores were significantly higher after the game than before (+ 28.6%, p < 0.001). Improvement was maintained 3 months after the game (+ 18.9%, p < 0.001). Satisfaction survey items highlighted that students enjoyed and would recommend this type of gamified training. Conclusions: The Psychiatric Hat Game improved knowledge of psychiatric semiology in medical students. Results suggest that it is a promising and efficient tool to playfully teach medical semiology, with transferable features, utility and acceptability from one medical field to another. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge advocating for serious games and gamified training in medical education.
