Search

Paid carers play an important role in helping older adults with care needs to remain living in their own homes. This paper examines changes in the home care field, specifically the emergence of self‐employed care entrepreneurs ('microentrepreneurs'). To do this, it employs Bourdieu's concepts of field, capital and habitus. Drawing on 105 semi‐structured interviews with stakeholders working in home care, the paper describes how the interaction of changes to field structures, and altered practices of care have challenged the taken‐for‐granted acceptance of traditional, transactional forms of care provision. This process has been highly dependent on local state actors, their ability to mobilise relevant forms of capital and the factors which shaped their habitus. It should be seen within the context of changes to local field structures and the hierarchical classification processes which underpin them. These changes threaten the distribution of capital in the home care field in ways that are beneficial to microentrepreneurs. Bourdieu might categorise these developments as 'partial revolutions', which do not challenge the fundamental axioms of the field. However, for care entrepreneurs, formerly employed as low‐paid home‐care workers, a revolution that is only partial may be better than none at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England and Wales, fee-charging independent schools can be legally classified as charities and, therefore, receive associated benefits, the most obvious being taxation advantages. The high fees charged by many of these schools create financial exclusivity, which, it will be seen, confers significant social and cultural capital to those who can meet the economic barrier to entry. High fees lead to increased wealth for the schools, which is augmented by their charitable fiscal benefits. In exchange for receiving these charitable benefits, one might expect charity law to place significant social contribution requirements on these schools. However, this paper will argue that this is not the case: the law, in fact, requires very little from charitable independent schools. In practice, charity law cannot mitigate inequalities within elite education nor justify their taxation advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between public houses or pubs, and crime rates in England and Wales. The impact of pubs on local communities is generally studied and investigated within the context of third places, thus physical places that facilitate the accumulation of social capital within communities. We estimate Poisson Fixed-Effects (PFE) and a frontier Spatial Autoregressive (SAR) model on a unique panel dataset for 375 local authorities in England and Wales between 2003 and 2018. Results from the analysis indicate that the presence of pubs progressively relates to a higher incidence of major crimes when transitioning from rural to urban areas, mainly due to weaker level of community cohesion and a lack of resources to support formal policing in more urbanized centres. These findings highlight the importance of place-based strategies in tackling rising incidences of crimes, indicating that recent pub closures may have contributed to severing community ties that act as a deterrent to crime in certain areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a time of global crisis, existing systems are rigorously tested and placed under significant and abnormal strain. This paper uses Welsh case studies to explore how food producers in Wales have collaborated to protect livelihoods while also providing accessible food to the nation. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the food and drink supply chain in Wales contributed £22.1bn in annual turnover to the national economy and supported over 200,000 jobs. The coronavirus pandemic however has put the food and drink industry, which is considered a priority sector in Wales, at significant risk. The hospitality sector, which turned over £3 billion in 2019 and is a key end destination for Welsh produce from small businesses, faced months of near total closure, with no certainty of when the sector may be allowed to resume trading as normal. This in turn has significant and long-lasting effects on the country's food producers, facing a decimated sector they once relied upon to bring their produce to market though stable and established supply chains and procurement relationships. This paper explores how both producer-led and organisation-led producer collaboration in Wales has provided new and innovative routes to market for Wales' food producers as a result of the lockdown imposed by Welsh and British government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The challenges faced by these newly established collaborations are discussed alongside the opportunities for longer term collaboration generated by these organisations which emerged to fill a specifically identified void in this unprecedented crisis. Two innovative, in depth, regional level case studies that have responded to this increased demand for accessible food are discussed. Users range from those choosing to buy local produce contact free, through an online click and collect service, to those most vulnerable, wholly reliant on a food box delivery scheme developed through cross sector collaboration at the outbreak of the crisis. This paper concludes that long term producer cooperation in the region is likely to be established following on from the short-term measures implemented as a direct result of the development of social capital during the Coronavirus lockdown, and further concludes that a crisis of this magnitude can stretch the current centralised and remotely controlled food system to breaking point. A number of lessons are highlighted which are pertinent for actions to integrate policy to support societal change and resilience, in order to prevent catastrophic food (in)access in the future. • Wales' food producers have experienced extreme stresses during the COVID-19 crisis. • Innovative producer collaborations demonstrate opportunities for risk mitigation. • COVID-19 is likely to lead to long term collaboration between food producers. • The benefits of a producer or organisation led model will suit different producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social capital has become a core component of our understanding of desistance in recent years. Some of this work, however, seems to present social capital as inherently positive, suggesting that increasing stocks in social capital is fundamental to the desistance process. Knowledge surrounding exactly how social capital is utilized within the desistance process, with the exception of acquiring social capital as a social good, remains underexplored. Through an analysis of the desistance narratives of young adult men serving community orders under the supervision of the probation service in England and Wales, this article argues that, instead of being considered to be inherently good, social capital is perhaps better thought of as value neutral, consisting of both positive and negative aspects (some of which occur simultaneously). Desistance, then, is not simply about obtaining social capital (because many people with convictions possess stocks of social capital that supported their offending); rather it is about reorienting the type of capital available to them at any given time, from relationships that imbue 'anti-social capital' to those that imbue 'pro-social capital'. This distinction has significant theoretical and policy interventions, arguing that it is pro-social capital that the literature makes reference to in terms of supporting desistance efforts. The article concludes by offering some tentative suggestions for future research, along with ways in which this distinction can further support how we operationalize desistance within criminal justice policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that the financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath were associated with an increase in mental health problems, but there has been little research into potential protective factors. Ecological social capital is a plausible candidate given evidence of its protective status following natural disasters. Pre‐crisis area‐level estimates of generalized trust and sense of belonging were computed from the 2004 to 2006 waves of the Living in Wales survey (N = 43,473) for 413 neighbourhoods in Wales, using multilevel regression with post‐stratification, a technique for disaggregating survey data into small area estimates. Area estimates and the planned analysis were preregistered using Open Science Framework. Data (N = 180,462) from the Welsh Health Survey (2003–2015) were then used to model whether social capital was protective against depression in general and whether it moderated the increase in depression prevalence, associated with the financial crisis. Depression rates increased post‐crisis (odds ratio [OR] = 1.271), and trust was a protective factor against depression (OR = 0.775). The hypothesized interaction, however, was not significant (OR = 1.033), nor was sense of belonging (OR = 0.934) or its interaction with the crisis (OR = 1.024). Although ecological generalized trust appears to be a protective factor against depression, it did not buffer against the mental health impact of the financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores social capital in the shrinking old industrial area of Blaenau Gwent, Wales. The results indicate that economic change has impacted the social capital in unfavourable ways, leading to mistrust, a negative image of the area, low empowerment and low participation. Tradition appears to have played a strong role in disabling the transformation of the area, but new paths for social development are emerging slowly. Changes in social capital can be observed through the actions of entrepreneurs. Finally, trust between actors and flexibility in handling available resources are identified as key requirements for social transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding is a major threat to the local communities in the UK, and the risks are increasing due to climate change. Encouraging homeowners to prepare for the consequences of catastrophic flooding is imperative. This study aims to examine the ways in which individuals' risk perceptions and socio-cultural characteristics co-determine the preparedness for flood hazards. It is based on a social survey about household arrangements that can reduce the economic losses arising from flooding and enhance community resilience. A total of 485 responses were solicited from homeowners in England and Wales. Results confirm that the intention to act is socially motivated. This indicates the need for addressing the role of social networks and engagement with local community in enhancing community resilience to flooding. On the other hand, the effect of risk-related considerations is complicated. Perceived severity of flood damage is associated with intended actions, whereas risk characteristics are not. This implies that although providing relevant risk information to the public is crucial, appealing to the feelings of fears and uncertainties is less likely to be effective in driving actions for managing flood risks than has been usually assumed. The findings have practical implications for policy-making and climate risk communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher Education (HE) is in a state of transformation, with the economic recession leading to an even greater emphasis on graduate outcomes. Despite a proliferation of literature relating to under-represented groups 'getting ready for', 'getting into' and 'staying in' HE, less attention has been devoted to how they 'get on', post graduation, particularly in the long term. Existing UK research suggests that graduate opportunities are influenced by pre-entry characteristics, institution attended and subject studied. However it is noted that the majority of studies focus on first destinations (six months after graduation). This reflects the first six months after graduation and single outcomes. As a result this ESRC-funded study investigated graduates' long term trajectories up to four years after graduation. The mixed methods study focused on graduates from three different types of degree awarding institutions in North Wales and on three specific subjects -- chosen for contrast and convenience. Half of the sample self identified as being non-traditional students. The study revealed that those graduates who defined themselves as being non-traditional students were more likely to have multiple outcomes or be in temporary employment, to have disrupted trajectories and lack social networks. This has serious implications for wider issues of social justice within education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]