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ABSTRACT The present paper argues for a discourse analytic approach to social psychological peace research and demonstrates the potential of such an approach through a re-specification of the concept of attitudes to war. This is illustrated through an analysis of a series of televised debates broadcast in the UK in February-March 2003 in the build-up to the formal outbreak of the Iraq War. Analysis draws attention to the importance of rhetorical context and function, the inseparability of attitude object and evaluation and the formulation of evaluations as specific or general. Findings are discussed in the context of recent calls for methodological pluralism in social psychological peace research with a suggestion that matters of epistemology stand prior to methodology. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation in the structure and delivery of services for children and young people in the UK Children Act (Department for Education & Skills, 2004. The Children Act. London: HMSO) initiated new alliances between statutory, public and voluntary agencies. Traditional relationships and notions of partnership have been extended, necessitating an innovative approach to dialogue and multiple perspectives. Hudson's assertion that although the 'rhetoric on partnering remains strong, the real policy thrust is now about choice and contestability' (2006, Journal of Integrated Care, 14(1), 13-21) exemplifies the dynamic policy context around notions of partnership and the rationale for collaborative advantage. This paper explores the experiences of practitioners working in a relatively new multi-agency context - the common assessment framework (CAF). Envisaged as a standardized approach to the assessment of need and as a tool to facilitate integrated working, the CAF is utilized by practitioners in the UK to improve outcomes for children and young people. We present data from a study that employed an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach and gathered semi-structured interviews with 20 practitioners. Interviews drew upon their experiences of interprofessional working in which diversity, partnership working, and competing aims and objectives emerged as significant themes. The insights that were gained are discussed in terms of their potential impact on service delivery in the UK and their contribution toward responsive practice across dynamic professional boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is now good evidence that some religious ideas and perspectives have an influence on their adherents’ ability to cope with life stresses. However, there have been few attempts to explain this effect by recourse to experimentally-tested models of human cognition. In the present paper, the author argues that this shortfall both limits the usefulness of statistically-based studies and impedes the acceptance of religious or spiritual care as part of healthcare practice. A model based on that developed by cognitive psychologists of religion is subjected to initial, inductive testing in terms of its ability to explain some of the essential features and counter-intuitive results from the research literature on religious coping. The author concludes that, in the particular context represented by an individual in hospital, the model has significant explanatory potential and clarifies some recurring themes in the literature on coping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives. This paper explores how emergency nurses manage the emotional impact of death and dying in emergency work and presents a model for developing expertise in end-of-life care delivery. Background. Care of the dying, the deceased and the bereaved is largely conducted by nurses and nowhere is this more demanding than at the front door of the hospital, the Emergency Department. Whilst some nurses find end-of-life care a rewarding aspect of their role, others avoid opportunities to develop a relationship with the dying and bereaved because of the intense and exhausting nature of the associated emotional labour. Design. Qualitative study using unstructured observations of practice and semistructured interviews. Methods. Observation was conducted in a large Emergency Department over 12 months. We also conducted 28 in-depth interviews with emergency staff, patients with terminal illnesses and their relatives. Results. Emergency nurses develop expertise in end-of-life care giving by progressing through three stages of development: (1) investment of the self in the nurse-patient relationship, (2) management of emotional labour and (3) development of emotional intelligence. Barriers that prevent the transition to expertise contribute to occupational stress and can lead to burnout and withdrawal from practice. Conclusions. Despite the emotional impact of emergency deaths, nurses who invest their therapeutic self into the nurse-patient relationship are able to manage the emotional labour of caring for the dying and their relatives through the development of emotional intelligence. They find reward in end-of-life care that ultimately creates a more positive experience for patients and their relatives. Relevance to clinical practice. The emergency nurse caring for the dying patient is placed in a unique and privileged position to make a considerable impact on the care of the patient and the experience for their family. This model can build awareness in managing the emotive aspects involved in care delivery and develop fundamental skills of nursing patients near the end of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how work psychologists define 'good' qualitative research in the work psychology domain. In addressing the assessment of quality in work psychology research, we draw on 22 in-depth interviews with work psychologists about their current practices and expectations around qualitative research. Using narrative analysis, the various plots and narratives that constitute how interviewees understand good qualitative research are identified. The implications of the use of these narratives for both how quality is understood and the use of qualitative research in this area are addressed. Drawing on Weick's concept of sensemaking as a theoretical framework, it is argued that the narratives identified enable the construction of a hegemonic understanding of what is good methodological practice within the work psychology discipline. The implications of this for the work psychology field and the methodological practices of work psychologists are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper seeks to report upon psychiatric trainees' experience of providing psychodynamic therapy for the first time and their experience of group supervision.Design/methodology/approach - A total of five trainees, undertaking training in psychodynamic therapies, were interviewed on multiple occasions over an 18-month period - before, during, and after undertaking their first case of psychodynamic therapy. A semi-structured, qualitative interview approach was used to explore providing psychodynamic psychotherapy and participating in psychodynamic supervision groups. Interviews were transcribed in full and data analysed following the conventions of thematic analysis.Findings - Trainees' anxieties about working psychodynamically and their concerns for developing new competencies are recognised. Personal and professional challenges associated with this therapeutic approach are identified and the importance of "looking after" trainees is stressed; the role of trainee supervision groups in this is advocated. The potential challenges of integrating psychodynamic thinking into general psychiatric practice are discussed and suggestions to address these difficulties are proposed.Research limitations/implications - The small sample size reflects the total number of trainees participating in training at the time of the study; for future work, a larger sample drawn from multiple training centres would be recommended.Originality/value - Training in psychotherapy is now mandatory for all trainee psychiatrists and this is something which many trainees find daunting; training in psychodynamic techniques is particularly challenging. A fuller awareness and understanding of trainees' experiences is important in nurturing clinicians who are competent in psychodynamic thinking, and who might consequently apply these skills clinically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout most of the twentieth century psychoanalysis regarded same-sex desire as a pathological or arrested condition. As people became less hostile to homosexuality in the late twentieth century, so did the psychoanalysts, only more slowly. In this paper the author briefly traces the evolution of psychoanalytic ideas on homosexuality, before examining how today's psychoanalytical practitioners and their patients regard treatment of same-sex desire, focusing mainly on research conducted over the past 15 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current UK health-care policy suggests that good end-of-life care Includes choosing a place for death. This paper examines the extent to which patients' preferred place of death (PPD) is Identified, documented, and reviewed in one UK hospice. Method: A total of 150 case notes were audited using a data capture form. Case notes of patients who died in January 2008 (n=50), January 2009 (n=50), and January 2010 (n=50) were accessed during September-November 2010. The data are presented using descriptive statistics. Results: PPD was documented in 28 cases (18.6%), conversations about end-of-life preferences were documented in 16 cases (10.6%), and preferences were reviewed in 6 cases (4%). Of the 28 patients whose preferences were documented, 25 (89.2%) died in their stated place of choice. Conclusions: Rates of PPD identification, documentation, and review were low at this hospice. This raises further research questions about how and why end-of-life choices are being made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint geriatric/psychiatric wards are a potential solution to improving care of older patients with both psychiatric and medical illnesses in acute hospitals. A literature search using Medline, PsycINFO, Embase and CINAHL between 1980 and 2010 was carried out for information about joint wards for older people. Thirteen relevant papers were identified. These wards share common characteristics and there is evidence that they may reduce length of stay and be cost-effective, but there are no high-quality randomised controlled trials. Further research is needed, particularly regarding cost-effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way that anthropologists understand the Oedipus complex, in particular, is a good example of how they understand psychoanalysis in general. Indeed, it has crystallized a set of reactions marked by ignorance, misunderstanding, distortion and screening out and at the same time has provoked suspicion among anthropologists as to psychoanalysis, according to the preconceptions of the various schools of thought and authors implied, and this from the very first contacts up to nowadays. In what way did the psychoanalysts contribute to this and what representation did they, in turn, elaborate of anthropology? The purpose of this paper is to expose the epistemological and historical conditions of the emergence of this debate, and then to develop it by following chronology up to the 1950s and 1960s, while differentiating three major cultural areas, Great Britain, the USA and France, in order to get a clearer picture. From that point on, we will try to diversify our inquiry and to formulate some interpretative hypotheses. In particular, we think that a traumatic event may have inaugurated and organized the history of the relationship between the two disciplines, producing a situation of acculturation with multiple impacts, if we identify them with two cultures coming into contact: what is at stake here is Totem and Taboo in which Freud carries through the first major psychoanalytical approach of the interpretation of ethnographic facts, that leads him to transplant the universality of the Oedipus complex to the very root of the first social institutions and to pinpoint the presence of unconscious processes in their genesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Vulnerability and protection are key concepts within the literature relating to systemic therapy for people with an intellectual disability ((ID)). This paper explores the processes by which these concepts were discussed in systemic therapy sessions. Method Four videotapes of systemic therapy sessions were evaluated using a qualitative design, incorporating thematic and conversation analysis. The videotapes were drawn from systemic therapy sessions with 3 families with an adult with ID. Results Vulnerability and protection themes were identified within the content of therapeutic conversations, including protection from the disability and its consequences; protection from peers, siblings, and the world at large; and protection from emotionally sensitive topics. Protective strategies were also used by all system members through the process of therapy. Key strategies were topic switch and reversals. Conclusions Protection is a key issue. Clinical practice could be enhanced if therapists reflect on the strategies they employ in addressing protection effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers a number of issues facing those involved in counselling and psychotherapy training within United Kingdom Higher Education Institutes. It is proposed that the increasing professionalisation of counselling and psychotherapy has significant implications for lecturers and trainers. The article will explore the tension between the Higher Education Institute's responsibility to maintain an ethical position when the market driven work place into which trainees enter is calling for greater specification and standardisation in practice. Finally, the paper draws from the work of Paulo Freire and calls for a radical alternative pedagogy in response to the increasing standardisation of counselling and psychotherapy education. The proposed alternative explores the role and position that the lecturer-trainer might adopt when delivering and developing psychotherapy curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent research study found that being more directly involved in medical abortion places greater demands on the nurses. The demands required by nurses working in abortion care may be increased by the stigma attached to such an antisocial action. This paper presents an application of stigma theory, as espoused by Goffman, based on a qualitative research study on abortion. It is argued that women attending for abortion are stigmatised and nurses, although 'wise', have an affiliate stigma through their close association with the procedure. It is proposed that the situation can be ameliorated by addressing stigma at policy, local and personal levels. Examples from other areas of practice are outlined for possible application to practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poole and Higgo's strongly worded opinion piece deserves a thoughtful response. This paper presents some background to the formation and activities of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group, together with opinions of the author based on the idea that a new holistic or 'psycho-spiritual' paradigm has been under development since the 1980s, extending beyond psychology and psychiatry into the workplace and elsewhere. The new paradigm acknowledges that faith development continues throughout life, and explains why at some stages people find change particularly challenging. A drive to conform is opposed by a drive to be independent. The author concludes that it is important to discuss spirituality with people (including patients). It is also right to seek both scientific knowledge and spiritual wisdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ARANDA K and JONES A. Nursing Inquiry 2010; 17: 248–256 Dignity in health-care: a critical exploration using feminism and theories of recognition Growing concerns over undignified health-care has meant the concept of dignity is currently much discussed in the British National Health Service. This has led to a number of policies attempting to reinstate dignity as a core ethical value governing nursing practice and health-care provision. Yet these initiatives continue to draw upon a concept of dignity which remains reliant upon a depoliticised, ahistorical and decontexualised subject. In this paper, we argue the need to revise the dignity debate through the lens of feminism and theories of recognition. Postmodern feminist theories provide major challenges to what remain dominant liberal approaches as they pay attention to the contingent, reflexive, and affective aspects of care work. Theories of recognition provide a further critical resource for understanding how moral obligations and responsibilities towards others and our public and private responses to difference arise. This re-situates dignity as a highly contested and politicised concept involving complex moral deliberations and diverse political claims of recognition. The dignity debate is thus moved beyond simplistic rational injunctions to care, or to care more, and towards critical discussions of complex politicised, moral practices infused with power that involve the recognition of difference in health-care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a three-stage Delphi study examining the current level of consensus among 24 professionals in the United Kingdom regarding definitions of and distinctions between normal, inappropriate and sexually abusive behaviours in children under 10 years, as well as factors influencing their views. Although firm conclusions cannot be drawn, findings indicate high consensus that children should not be called “sex offenders/abusers” and that behaviours which use force or resemble adult sexual behaviours are concerning. Watching pornography was rated similarly. A high consensus regarding acceptable sexual behaviours was obtained on a couple of items. Divergent views existed regarding various sexual behaviours, and no consensus was reached on what terminology should be used. Professionals agreed that their views were influenced to some extent by professional and personal experiences, and values. Implications for clinical work and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Young men are often considered to be at particular risk of suicide, but such claims are partial and potentially misleading. Drawing on official statistics and an innovative, qualitatively driven, mixed method sociological autopsy of individual suicides, the authors of this paper argue that the vulnerability of ‘young’ men to suicide is often exaggerated and that insufficient attention is paid to the diverse social circumstances of suicidal men and women across the life course. Detailed analysis of 100 case files selected from a single coroner''s office in the UK reveals that patterns of suicide can be seen to map on to conventional features of a socially structured life course, with young people in crisis, mid-life gendered patterns of work and family and older people in decline. Particular attention is drawn to suicide among those in mid-life and to the role of the social bond, especially in the form of attachment. Relationship breakdown is considered in some detail because it is central to understanding the demography of suicide and the significance of social bonds. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Pharmaceuticals are not permitted on to the market unless they are granted regulatory approval. The regulatory process is, therefore, crucial in whether or not a drug is widely prescribed. Regulatory agencies have developed standards of performance that pharmaceuticals are supposed to meet before entering the market. Regulation of technologies is often discussed by reference to the precautionary principle. In contrast, this paper develops the concept of the 'permissive principle' as a way of understanding the departure of regulators' practices from standards of drug efficacy to which regulatory agencies themselves subscribe. By taking a case study of antidepressant regulation in the UK and the USA, the mechanisms of permissive regulatory practices are examined. An STS methodology of both spatial (international) and temporal comparisons of regulatory practices with regulatory standards is employed to identify the nature and extent of the permissive regulation. It is found that the permissive principle was adopted by drug regulators in the UK and the USA, but more so by the former than the latter. Evidently, permissive regulation, which favours the commercial interests of the drug manufacturer, but is contrary to the interests of patients, may penetrate to the heart of regulatory science. On the other hand, permissive regulation of specific drugs should not be regarded as an inevitable result of marketing strategies and concomitant networks deployed by powerful pharmaceutical companies, because the extent of permissive regulation may vary according to the intra-institutional normative commitments of regulators to uphold their technical standards against the commercial interests of the manufacturer. Likely sociological factors that can account for such permissive regulatory practices are 'corporate bias', secrecy and excessive regulatory trust in the pharmaceutical industry in the UK, political expediency and ideological capture in the USA, combined in both countries with some regulatory deference to the clinical autonomy of the psychiatry profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally believed that the work of Bowlby and Robertson was new and decisive in changing the hospital conditions for young children. The fact that parents in the UK and other European countries can now visit their sick child at any time they wish or even room-in is attributed to an acquaintance with Bowlby's findings and Robertson's well-known films about the potentially detrimental effects of hospital stays for young children. In this paper we shall argue that this picture is incomplete and that, historically, things were rather more intricate. Bowlby and Robertson were neither the first nor the only researchers who tried to change hospital policies. Moreover, the older hospital policies were not uniformly bad. Long before Bowlby and Robertson began their plea for reforms, several individuals and hospitals had already introduced conditions that we now still regard as exemplary. The whole change towards more liberal, flexible, and humane practices in children's wards took place over several decades and was fuelled by both worried medical doctors, pressure groups of parents, sympathetic editors of medical journals, and emerging new research findings such as those provided by Bowlby and Robertson. In that societal debate, the voices of Bowlby and Robertson were influential but not necessarily new or decisive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new evidence obtained from an empirical study which used three distinct groups of professionals engaged in the attempt to “brainstorm” reasons for pupils' non-attendance. The evidence suggests that the “causes” of pupils' non-attendance can be sub-divided into three main fields: pupils who dislike coming to school; those who experience home difficulties; and, those with psychological problems. The roles of society and of the government are considered. Key issues which need to be resolved in order to improve school attendance are examined and ideas for further research postulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of dental anxiety among a representative sample of children in the UK was determined in the Children's Dental Health survey of 2003. Aims: This paper is concerned with the extent to which children in the United Kingdom are judged by a parent or carer to be behaviourally affected by dental anxiety and the factors associated with this. Method: The information was gathered by self-completion questionnaire distributed to the parents of half of the sample of children who were also clinically examined in the dental survey. Results: Dental anxiety that was sufficient to disrupt dental attendance was reported for around 3-4% of the four age groups surveyed (5, 8, 12 and 15 years of age). Children's dental anxiety was associated with parental dental anxiety; a greater experience of invasive dental treatment and general anaesthetic; receipt of free school meals and social class. Conclusions: Whilst these findings do not necessarily indicate causal relationships, they do confirm a number of co-factors associated with dental anxiety perhaps most importantly that of anxiety with the experience of general anaesthetic for tooth extractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section presents abstracts of papers that will be presented at the second joint European and UK Health Psychology Conference of the Division of Health Psychology of the British Psychological Society and the European Health Psychology Society in Bath, England, in 2008, which cover a variety of topics including stress, the psychology of appearance and chronic fatigue syndrome.

The teaching of qualitative methods is now a required element of degree courses in the UK which seek to gain professional accreditation. This paper reports the work of a network group focused on enhancing the teaching of qualitative methods at the undergraduate level. Following a brief summary of the results of a survey into current teaching practices we indicate potential areas of resource support with linked references to examples produced by the network group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an empirical study concerning educational professionals' understandings of self-harm in primary school children. There is little research available about self-harm in primary-school aged children, and literature searches for the current study have revealed no research on primary school professionals' understandings of self-harm in their pupils. This is remarkable given the role that such professionals play in pastoral care. The present qualitative research involved interviewing 15 staff members of six schools in the North of England and analysing transcribed data using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings of this exploratory study suggest a cyclical relationship between the experience, understanding and awareness of self-harm as described by primary school professionals. This research is presented as a springboard for improving understandings of how self-harm is experienced and managed in primary schools. It is hoped that the findings might contribute to a long term goal of working with school communities to develop system-level interventions that cultivate existing resources for addressing self-harm in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the adaptation experiences of East Asian masters students in the UK in dealing with western academic norms of critical thinking and debate. Through in-depth interviewing, students' perceptions of their learning experiences were explored, and stages in this adaptation process were identified, with various entry and exit routes. It was found that the majority of the students opt for a 'middle way' which synergizes their own cultural approach to critical thinking with those aspects of western-style critical thinking and debate that are culturally acceptable to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is considerable interest today in shared decision-making (SDM), defined as a decision-making process jointly shared by patients and their health care provider. However, the data show that SDM has not been broadly adopted yet. Consequently, the main goal of this proposal is to bring together the resources and the expertise needed to develop an interdisciplinary and international research team on the implementation of SDM in clinical practice using a theory-based dyadic perspective. Methods: Participants include researchers from Canada, US, UK, and Netherlands, representing medicine, nursing, psychology, community health and epidemiology. In order to develop a collaborative research network that takes advantage of the expertise of the team members, the following research activities are planned: 1) establish networking and on-going communication through internet-based forum, conference calls, and a bi-weekly e-bulletin; 2) hold a two-day workshop with two key experts (one in theoretical underpinnings of behavioral change, and a second in dyadic data analysis), and invite all investigators to present their views on the challenges related to the implementation of SDM in clinical practices; 3) conduct a secondary analyses of existing dyadic datasets to ensure that discussion among team members is grounded in empirical data; 4) build capacity with involvement of graduate students in the workshop and online forum; and 5) elaborate a position paper and an international multi-site study protocol. Discussion: This study protocol aims to inform researchers, educators, and clinicians interested in improving their understanding of effective strategies to implement shared decision-making in clinical practice using a theory-based dyadic perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viewing the reception of psychoanalysis in Britain from Cambridge, the paper examines the intertwining histories of the post-War British Psychological Society and the founding of the British Psycho-Analytical Society, following the initiatives of the two principal psychological entrepreneurs of the era, Charles Myers and Ernest Jones. Reforms in Cambridge in which psychoanalysis played a significant part are analysed, including the foundation of a Clinic for Nervous Diseases and the establishment of a separate Department of Experimental Psychology. The career of J.T. MacCurdy, Jones's student and Lecturer in Psychopathology at Cambridge, is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study of the religious, spiritual and philosophical responses to spouse bereavement. Twenty-five bereaved spouses aged 60 or more years living in the south of England and from Christian backgrounds were followed from the first to the second anniversary of the loss. The participants expressed a range of attitudes, from devout religious belief to well-articulated secular conceptions of the meaning of life, but the largest group had moderate spiritual beliefs that were characterised by doubts as much as hopes. Uncertain faith was more often associated with depressive symptoms and low levels of experienced meaning. Nine case studies are presented that illustrate different levels of adjustment to bereavement and both changing and stable expressions of faith across the one year of observation. Attention is drawn to the importance of both secular agencies and religious organisations developing a better understanding of older people's spiritual responses to loss. Although to many British older people, practise of the Christian faith may be less evident now than in their childhood, quality of life assessment should not ignore sources of spiritual satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Moreover, previous and especially early-life religious experiences provide useful points of reference for understanding present religious and spiritual attitudes. The study suggests that there may be a substantial need for pastoral counselling among today's older people, especially those of uncertain or conflicted belief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the Transforming Learning Cultures in Further Education (TLC) project, questionnaire data were collected from three consecutive cohorts of students in a wide range of learning sites, initially four in each of four Further Education (FE) colleges in England. This paper focuses on changes in perceived learning environment as mapped by these questionnaire items and seeks to relate these changes to changes in the circumstances of the students and the site, as understood from the extensive qualitative data also collected by the project. Although we make no suggestion that there were simple causal relationships, there is evidence that students' perceptions of their learning environment may have been affected by student and tutor disposition, curriculum, resources, broad aspects of college policy and by details of the overall FE framework. We argue that change in perception is particularly likely where there is synergy amongst two or more of these aspects within a site. On the basis of these findings we suggest that although change can be within the control of the tutor, the degree of control available will be affected by the broader circumstances in which the tutor and their students operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I explore the emotional impact of inspection on the staff of a school in the two years between Ofsted1 inspections. Using data from one school undergoing inspection, I argue that the negative emotional impact of inspection of teachers goes beyond the oft-reported issues of stress and overwork. Teachers experience a loss of power and control, and the sense of being permanently under a disciplinary regime can lead to fear, anger and disaffection. This perhaps calls into question the whole issue of seeking school improvement by way of a system which creates such a negative emotional impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an analysis of Core Skill policy and practice in the UK. The author presents a conceptual basis for re-thinking generic Core Skills within educational approaches in teaching and learning. The discussion looks at whether universal notions of generic skills are appropriate when considering post-compulsory pedagogic approaches to the design of the curriculum. The arguments are framed within wider cross-disciplinary debates in linguistics, the psychology of work and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counselling is increasingly seen as a way of addressing the psychological needs of young people with emotional, behavioural and academic problems. This paper explores the existing counselling landscape regarding inclusion of young people with learning disabilities in counselling. The research findings are based on data collected from an empirical study ( n = 396) and a series of interviews ( n = 15) with counsellors. Findings identify inclusion in counselling as a process and highlight inclusive strategies, namely: creative counselling approaches, non‐verbal forms of communication and the use of simple adapted language. The most inclusive counsellors were highly qualified with greater knowledge and experience of this group of young people; awareness of disability issues; eclectic in practice; imaginative and creative; open‐minded, reflective, pragmatic; and proactive in promoting their services. Inclusive counselling practices adopt a person‐centred, psychodynamic or integrative therapeutic approach; take referrals through teachers, parents, carers, care managers and family doctors; have a welcoming attitude towards the young people, their parents and carers; are flexible regarding times and appointments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research in intergroup relations concerns the potential for interventions (e.g. intergroup contact) to reduce majorities' discrimination against minorities. In this paper we focus on how minority group members construe such interventions, especially as they affect their abilities to act in terms of their collective identity to realize social change. In addressing this issue, we focus on a minority's beliefs and theories concerning the intergroup dynamics lying behind their marginalization. Our data are qualitative and concern British Muslims' analyses of the dynamics of Islamophobia. Specifically, we explore two theorizations of Muslims' marginalization. Both share a concern with improving Muslims' collective position in Britain. However, they construe the dynamics to Islamophobia in very different ways, and this shapes their approach to intergroup contact and dialogue. Our analysis is informed by, and seeks to complement, social psychological theorizing on social change and intergroup contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empty spaces resulting from lateness or absence are not uncommon in groups. The meaning of empty spaces needs to be analyzed not only in and by the groups but also with reference to possible theoretical explanations. They may be understood as manifestations of the anti-group and by referring to notions of subjective emptiness described, for example, by Fairbairn, Kernberg, and Balint. Feeling ‘fuller’ may be experienced as threatening to individuals who are ‘empty of themselves’. However, the transitional space potentially provided by a psychotherapeutic group can provide a shared space in which the capacity to relate and feel emotionally nourished may develop. This paper analyzes how a developmental process in empty space groups may be apparent in those sessions in which the group is complete and why it is that the therapist should not collude with the group's avoidance of its members' capacity for fullness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how multifunctional teasing is used as a resource for the construction of linguistic identities, establishing a link between previous research on teasing and the field of language/discourse and identity. I draw on a corpus of 38 episodes of teasing contained in 80 minutes of spontaneous talk between five adolescent Bangladeshi girls who formed a friendship group at their comprehensive school in East London. The qualitative analysis of the data reveals that the teasing in this group can serve four main functions: an accomplishment of fun-based solidarity; a release of underlying tensions; a display of toughness; but also a display of respect for other speakers’ dispreference for taboo subjects. Building on Ochs’(1992) notion of indirect indexicality my discussion of the data will focus on the social meanings of these different functions of teasing which range from maintaining and managing friendship to (re)negotiating class and culture-related identities. I shall argue that the identity work achieved by and in the teasing needs to be seen in relation to stereotypical notions and ideologies about class, gender and culture-specific (language) practices which shape the girls’ construction of themselves as British Bangladeshi working-class adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first of two articles based on small-scale empirical research involving several hundred Muslim university students in Britain that was conducted between December 2003 and April 2004. In this paper first I will explain how the data was collected: a written survey concentrating on the West/Muslim world dialectic, followed by in-depth interviews with some of the survey respondents. Second, I delineate three strategies undertaken by British Muslims to express their religio-political identities: turning away from Islam by assimilating entirely into British society; subscribing to a culturally transcendental form of Islam by arguing that British cultural outputs are alien and threatening to Islam; and accepting that Islam is practiced differently in different contexts, and that British Muslims must understand their religion in light of their context. Finally, I discuss competing claims on the students' political loyalty: from the Muslim ummah and the British state. Part II of the research to be published in the next issue of the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs , Volume 25, Number 3, will present the major survey findings including students' views of the events of September 11, 2001 and the influence of these events on the lives of Muslims in Britain as well as an analysis of their views of the West/Muslim world dialectic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines through a psycho-social perspective constructions of whiteness in contemporary Britain. In particular with reference to the Other of our imagination and the changing nature of what we term asylum in the UK. It is a tentative theoretical discussion of the subject of a 3-year ESRC-funded research project and outlines some of the key questions and research methods before offering some theoretical ideas about difference, home and belonging.Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society (2005) 10, 197–206. doi:10.1057/palgrave.pcs.2100048 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the supernatural beliefs of najar (evil eye) and bhut (ghost) and their roles in illness causation in Gujarati families in Britain today. The data arose unexpectedly in an ethnography of child rearing patterns carried out in Harrow, North West London and a short period of observation in Ahmedabad, India. I used anthropological methods of participant observation and unstructured interviews, which were transcribed using pseudonyms. The study group involved 70 Hindu and Jain Gujarati households with children and the fieldwork was conducted over a period of four years. Many of the individuals studied had migrated from India to East Africa before coming to the UK in the 1970s, but maintain links with both countries through kinship ties, marriage and rituals. I set out to study the continuity of women's roles in the transmission of religious and moral values, the rituals of childhood, views about infant feeding, and parenting relationships within joint families. The beliefs of najar and bhut in poor, rural settings in India have been described, but these Gujarati beliefs in Britain have not been well documented. This study indicates that najar and bhut continue to be a concern of women in most Gujarati families in Britain today and across all socio-economic groups, not confined to those on the ‘bread-line’, as have been previously suggested. These beliefs align themselves with Hindu ideas of the soul and reincarnation: powerful forces residing outside the body. An understanding of these beliefs could be informative to health professionals working with Gujarati communities in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I outline some of the ways in which I believe the psychoanalytic traditions in North America and in Great Britain are influencing each other. I identify points of convergence and divergence at this moment in the evolution of psychoanalytic theory and technique. I then point out some of the implications of relational perspectives in child psychotherapy as this perspective is developing in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the importance of character placed with regard to citizenship, education and psychology in Great Britain from 1880 to 1914. Late Victorians and Edwardians thought much more critically about character than is often implied in accounts of its role in the culture of turn of the century in England. A number of recent studies have rightly emphasized the significant role of character in the culture of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This paper seeks to point out some of the limitations of conceiving of character in this way and to highlight some of the alternative contemporary readings of character.

This paper describes a systematic approach to generating practice-based evidence in a United Kingdom adult psychological therapies service. Routine clinical outcomes using standardized measures at referral, assessment, the beginning of therapy, discharge and 6-month follow-up are reported. The system is integrated into the clinical service in many ways including contributing to risk assessment and feeding back clinical outcome data to the therapists. A number of issues related to such an approach are discussed in the light of the clinical governance and clinical effectiveness agendas in the UK NHS. These include practical constraints, the costs, getting staff on board, attrition from such services and service user involvement. Such an approach provides a framework for routine, systematic and integrated service evaluation that can be fed back to therapists. It contributes to the evidence for the effectiveness of psychological therapies in routine clinical settings and also provides opportunities to link evidence with practice in more creative ways to enhance therapists' reflection on their practice. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly to investigate whether the association between childhood and adult psychosocial adjustment can be explained by socio-economic adversity experienced during childhood, and secondly to explore the role of family socio-economic disadvantage and psychological development in explaining adult social inequality in psychological well-being. A developmental-contextual perspective is adopted to analyse the pathways linking childhood experiences to adult functioning in a changing socio-historical context. The study draws on longitudinal data collected for two cohorts of about 30,000 individuals born in Great Britain 12 years apart. Structural equation modelling is used to assess the long-term influence of socio-economic adversity on psychosocial adjustment, and to compare different explanatory models of health inequalities. The results reject a simple selection or social causation argument, suggesting that both dynamics operate in life course development. The effects of social risk cumulate throughout the life course, influencing both behaviour adjustment during childhood and adult psychosocial functioning. It is concluded that the explanation of health differences in adult life must account for the reciprocal interaction between individual behaviour and social circumstances. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Discusses articles published in the British journal "Asylum: The Magazine for Democratic Psychiatry". Trotsky's 1910 article on intelligentsia and socialism; Blackwell's paper on psychoanalysis; Haavind's article on the democratizing process in the character of narrative and deconstructionist approaches to therapy.

This article analyzes the perception of Kaiser Wilhelm II by the British foreign policy élite from the mid-1880s to 1914. Drawing on regular diplomatic reporting by Britain's representatives abroad as well as a wide range of private papers, it examines a series of seemingly minor incidents, which nevertheless played a significant role in shaping British establishment views of the last German Emperor. One of the key elements of British élite perceptions was the Kaiser's assumed, rumoured, and frequently commentedupon mental instability. The article seeks to demonstrate that Wilhelm's idiosyncrasies were of greater significance in the formulation of British policy towards Germany than has been previously acknowledged. British concerns about the Kaiser's flawed personality did not arise sporadically in response to his better known “outbursts” but were constantly present. As such they did not simply mirror the manifold problems with which Anglo-German relations were increasingly fraught after the turn of the century. On the contrary, the Kaiser's perceived public and private persona was one of these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews some of the specific difficulties faced by South Asian (referred to in the text as Asians) girls in British secondary schools. These include tension and anxiety, mainly caused by the differences in values and belief systems of home and school, psychosomatic illnesses, vocational aspirations, scholastic attainment and progression to higher education. In light of this review, some suggestions are offered which might alleviate these difficulties and thereby improve the equality of opportunity for Asian girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counselling psychology is a relatively recent arrival on the professional psychological scene in Britain. This paper examines the ways in which this new branch of professional psychology has been constructed by the counselling psychology community. Articles which embodied this construction process from the 1990 and 1996 volumes of the journal Counselling Psychology Review were subjected to discourse analysis. The main themes of the 1990 articles concerned the construction of identity and legitimation, achieved largely through representations of similarity with and difference from related professions at a general level, whereas in the 1996 articles, the emphasis was on more fine-grained constructions of similarity and difference. Implications for the future construction of counselling psychology are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘The Awful Rowing Toward God’: therapeutic conversations with a woman following major surgery ¶ Listening is a complex event requiring skills and competencies that encompass the personhood of the listener. This paper explores a clinical conversation with a woman experiencing serious illness. The ideas of Klein offer the theoretical means for understanding exchanges. Reflexivity is addressed through exploring the writer’s thoughts and feelings in response to significant events. The benefits of supervision, as support and guidance, are discussed in context. The discussion concludes with the suggestion that although many layers of interpretation are possible, and can be informed by various ways of knowing, the act of listening offers potential benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With recent increases in the number of students attending universities without a proportional increase in resources, it is likely that there has been a decrease in the quality of life students experience and an increase in the stress they feel. This is of course added to by tuition fees and the need to take out student loans. The writers review research into student stress and highlight the fact that many researchers have noted the need for stress-reduction courses, though this has been a recommendation that has not generally been taken up. A specific stress-reduction programme for school pupils and university students is described. This programme was tested with first-year undergraduates. The students involved all felt that the programme had been valuable. Apart from its clear relevance to the support of university students, this paper raises issues which are of importance to those working with sixth-form students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies carried out in Scandinavia and the UK have identified name-calling as highly problematic for young people. The research described in this paper, conducted by Peer and School Counsellors, examines name-calling behaviour through the personal accounts of first-year pupils in a secondary school. Moving on from anonymous questionnaires, discourse analysis of individual interviews is shown to reveal the dilemma for those most vulnerable. Parental advice and primary school experience affect the repertoire of pupils' responses adopted, with varying degrees of success, in secondary school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Outcome measurement in the NHS remains more an aspiration than a practical reality. reviews the key features required of a modern outcome system and describes the CORE outcomes initiative, designed to evaluate health, social and quality of life outcomes of mental health services, from both clinician and user perspectives. This paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]