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According to the Department of Health (2000) social workers are eight times more likely than any other professional to be attacked at work. Research suggests that there is underreporting of violence and a passive approach to risk management by employers. In the last thirty years only seven studies examining violence towards child protection workers have been published. There is a danger then that old figures, statistics and research findings, dating back to the 1980s, are still being used to represent everyday practice, years after the research was conducted. This study presents a current analysis of the personal and professional impact of violence and abuse in practice. Therefore, the key objective is to offer an original and contemporary analysis of the form, frequency, experience, affect and management of violence and abuse perpetrated against child protection workers. The study examined the problem form a variety of theoretical perspectives, however it utilises concepts developed by Ulrich Beck in the 'risk society' to theoretically underpin the thesis. To gather both a statistical and qualitative set of findings a mixed method approach was employed. Seventy-one social workers from two local authorities based in England took part in the study. The policies from each council were analysed to provide a contextual framework to the empirical findings. An online questionnaire encompassing the four central aims of the thesis was sent to a sample group of one hundred and thirty child protection workers. The questionnaire was then used to filter participants who had experienced violence for the semistructured interviews, providing a sample group of twenty-six child protection workers. The findings demonstrate that violence and abuse are accepted as part of the job by child protection staff, management and the organisation. Interview data found that certain child protection tasks often carry greater risks than others. Workers reported that they had 'no faith' in current policy and procedure, describing them as fundamentally ineffective. In turn, workers admitted to withdrawing services or changing their decisions as a reaction to violent or abusive episodes. The majority of staff stated that they would not report verbal or physical abuse. Overall, it was concluded that the impact of violence and abuse towards child protection workers has three key contributory factors: the worker, the team and the organisation. Each factor in some way contributes to the assessment, prevention, production and management of violence and abuse in practice.

A growing body of research suggests that the respiratory system may be limited in its ability to meet the demands of increased ventilitory work. This is supported by studies reporting altered contractile properties of the diaphragm in response to increased ventilations. In order to determine if expiratory muscle function is affected by increased ventilitory demand, this study evaluated maximal expiratory pressure, PeMax, in response to two separate short-term, high-intensity exercise trials. Males (n=7) and females (n=5) not currently in active physical training underwent a VO₂ max test and a constant workload of 90% of VO₂ max. PeMax was measured at rest, immediately post exercise, and at one two and five minutes into recovery for both exercise trials. PeMax values were found to decrease 12% and 17% in response to graded and constant workload conditions respectively (P