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This paper aims to explore how social work students can support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning (LGBTQ+) young people in schools. Drawing on the reflective practice portfolio documents of four students who worked with LGBTQ+ young people in a school as part of a social workers in school (SWIS) student placement project, the article uses thematic analysis to identify how the students were able to support young people identifying as LGBTQ+. The article subscribes to a poststructuralist theoretical framework which sees gender and sexual identities as multiple, fragmented and constructed in relation to others and within the systems of knowledge and power that exist in schools. The article demonstrates the benefit to schools of having social work students on practice placement. The students' own reflections critically contemplate the way in which they were able to spend more prolonged periods of time with young people than the teachers could, both with individuals and LGBTQ+ groups. The students' reflective portfolios show the value of the school placements to their own development of knowledge and skills [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers in Lady Agatha's Boarding School (Lady Agatha's) find teaching Sex and Relationships Education (RSE) uncomfortable. This paper investigates one aspect of the discomfort that they feel, namely the impact RSE has on their professional status as teachers. I use focus group data to reflect on the professional and personal location of teachers at Lady Agatha's and to explore their understanding of RSE through the recurring themes of professionalism and professional reputation as symbolic capital; deprofessionalisation and risk as symbolic violence; and the connects and disconnects between the doxa and illusio of the school. Findings suggest that by interrogating the sites of symbolic violence which generate RSE discomfort, we can start to unpick the fabric which creates discomfort about RSE, allowing both for a deeper understanding of RSE discomfort in teachers and an opportunity to address this discomfort as a barrier to RSE delivery at Lady Agatha's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of researchers are trying to provide explanations for continuity and change in drug policy in different contexts. Such research predominantly falls in the pluralist realm of public policy where various actors compete to have their policy proposals accepted. Using a critical framework called Policy Constellations (PC), developed by Stevens and Zampini, this paper attempts to explain reactions of the British Government to Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) between 2008 – 2016. Qualitative data comes from in-depth interviews with stakeholders (N = 15), including NGO workers, a former Home Secretary, drugs ministers, governmental advisors, a former senior police officer, former Deputy Drug Coordinator, and a former Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) member. Two 'constellations' competed in British NPS policy setting. The PC framework illustrates power imbalances between these competing stakeholders. Abstinence orientated actors (the conservative constellation) enjoyed strategic advantages and media power which allowed them to create a favourable policy setting. These advantages were not enjoyed by the liberal constellation who struggled to access the policy setting and influence policy developments. The prohibitive nature of the policy used to counter NPS can be explained with the domination of actors whose values align with the conservative constellation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a key driving force in adult social care policy in both the United Kingdom and internationally personalisation has wide-ranging implications for the social work profession. Yet its meaning can be elusive and is often contested. This article explores findings from a doctoral study which sought to explore the current meanings associated with the notion of personalisation, by asking those with lived experience how it is experienced by them. Unique features of the study's participatory and psychosocial research design, which placed lived experience at its centre, are outlined. Original findings from the study explored in this paper include a range of themes related to dependence, independence and interdependence, depersonalisation and reciprocity. Risks associated with contemporary practice models in adult social work, including strengths-based approaches are explored. Based on the findings a reorientation towards 'contribution-focused practice' within a relationship-based practice model is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing professional identity is a key aim of social work education. This paper argues that the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) – a holistic, capability approach to student assessment used in England’s social work education programmes – is ideally placed to promote the development of students’ professional identities. The paper discusses two research studies, each of which was stimulated by significant policy changes in England’s social work profession. The author draws out the implications of both studies for supporting social work students to develop their professional identities. It is concluded that the PCF is valued by practice educators as an assessment and teaching tool, while acknowledging that its future is uncertain due to the lack of continuity impacting on England’s social work profession. This paper is equally of relevance for social work educators outside the UK who may be developing and evaluating their assessment approaches and also for those experiencing the impact of rapid policy changes in their own countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the association between workforce retention and related staffing measures and the quality of English care homes using a national database of social care providers' staffing. The analysis finds significant correlations between quality and the levels of staffing vacancies and retention of both residential and nursing homes, but no association was found between quality and the use of temporary contract workers nor the resident to staff ratio. Only for staff vacancy rates was there a significant difference in the size of these relationships between types of home. The findings suggest that quality could change for the average care home with a relatively small alteration in staffing circumstance. Long-term care is a labor-intensive industry and many countries face relatively high levels of staff turnover and job vacancy rates. These findings are therefore of interest for policy internationally and for England in particular, where the development of social care recruitment and retention strategies are ongoing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that intimate relationship violence and coercive control are prevalent in young people's relationships. Furthermore, young people often fail to recognise such behaviour as abuse. While such findings indicate the normalisation of controlling and coercive behaviours amongst young people, there is little focus on how these behaviours are normalised. This paper presents findings from a study exploring young people's experiences and expectations of intimate relationships. Focus groups were conducted with young people (aged 13 to 18 years) in schools in the West Midlands, England. Young people talked of navigating precarious and competitive heterosexual relationships. Their expectations and negotiations of these relationships often upheld and reinforced gender double standards around dating practices. Young people's discussion also highlighted how they came to accept and rationalise controlling and coercive behaviours as 'love', 'care' and 'protection', legitimising these practices as reasonable. Heteronormativity remains a dominant discourse shaping young people's experiences and expectations of relationships with coercion and control being defining features of this discourse. Supporting young people to critically examine constructs of heterosexuality and gender norms should be a key component of England's forthcoming statutory Relationship and Sex Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ‘coming out’ decisions at work of four lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) teachers in England. It argues that such decisions are complicated by heteronormative discursive practices within schools that render LGB sexualities silent while simultaneously demanding that they are spoken. This double bind for LGB teachers as well as the professional and personal implications of choosing to come out or not to come out within the workplace is examined. The paper demonstrates that three choices dominate participants' experiences of coming out at work: to speak to no one at work about the private world, to come out to colleagues and to come out to colleagues and students. The paper posits, however, that the narrative devices deployed within coming out (at work) stories are limited by linguistic techniques that constrain the telling of sexual selves to the binary categories of straight or gay/lesbian. The possibilities for teachers whose lives and experiences interrupted the dominant heteronormative discourse are also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to fill an important gap in cross-national comparison conducted by a solo-researcher through an example of a three-nation study of the long-term care of older people, in order to make transparent some of the key issues—time and space, comparability, culture and language—involved in the practical implementation of cross-national qualitative research. It is argued that cross-national comparison is very demanding in terms of language skills, cultural understanding, resources and time to provide a rigorous comparative instrument and outcome. Key approaches that address challenges for solo-researchers are: careful attention to geographical location and flexibility in timetable and programmes for gathering data; employment of multi-disciplinary knowledge to address the complexity of the research topic; application of a multi-method and multi-layer approach in data collection and analysis; recognition of the caring culture; and sensitivity of national as well as local language. In contrast to the challenges, the paper concludes with an analysis of the added value of solo-researcher activity in cross-national research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foster care research and social work practice tend to focus on how women look after children living in foster care. This focus has limited our understanding of what it is that men do within foster caring families and they are automatically assigned secondary or breadwinning roles. Families who foster involve some form of renegotiation of roles to care for children they foster. While foster caring arrangements are internationally diverse, foster carers often work with social workers. It would therefore seem important for social workers to understand how foster carers negotiate their parenting roles. This paper reports findings from seven main caring foster-fathers who took part in a wider study involving twentythree foster-fathers. The evidence provided by these foster-fathers demonstrate they are highly motivated to care for children and, alongside delivering traditional parenting roles, they negotiate new, non-traditional parenting roles as foster-fathers. These new roles, taken on by foster-fathers, often challenge stereotyped masculinity while they also concurrently enact parenting norms. This study applied Judith Butler's work on performing gender to foster caring families to theorise on the process whereby foster-fathers negotiate diverse masculinities and continue to reproduce gendered relations in foster caring families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of migrant social workers are employed in the UK social work sector. This article explores the acculturative integration experiences of a small group of migrant social workers. We critically observe that research on migrant professionals' trajectories should adopt theories that emphasise people's empowerment and potential for agency. We use a framework drawing on liberation psychology for analysing the autobiographical narratives of a sample of migrant social workers employed in England. Findings indicate that the participants perceived prejudice on a number of occasions and circumstances. Even though in their narrative of survival they talked about activating several psychosocial resources, they were skeptical about their professional development and dissatisfied at work. The paper discusses the emerging findings while highlighting the framework's relevance for understanding these experiences from an empowering acculturation perspective and suggesting ways of improving migrant social workers' acculturative integration by addressing systemic barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sample of women ( n = 5) participated in a qualitative service evaluation concerning an open-ended, therapeutic group for women only. Data analysis followed suggestions by Halcomb and Davidson (2006). Main themes derived from the evaluation included: 'Groups are different from individual work', 'Belonging/ not being alone', 'Performance in the group', 'The group as a safety net', 'Life improvements and hope for the future' and 'The extent of emotional despair felt'. In this paper, several sub-themes within the main themes and relevant theories and implications for theory and service provision are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people are at a high risk of developing mental health disorders or illnesses. Mental health promotion (MHP) interventions can reduce this risk. Using the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for the development and evaluation of complex interventions, this study designed and acceptability tested a methodologically robust school-based mental health promotion intervention. A scoping review and focus groups with stakeholders were conducted during the development phase of the MRC framework. The scoping review involved identifying evidence for effective school-based MHP interventions. Focus groups were then used to determine the acceptability of components identified by the scoping review and to clarify the target or goal of taking part in the intervention. A logic model, showing the theory of change underpinning an intervention designed on the basis of this development phase, was subsequently developed. The scoping review established that MHP interventions typically focus on stigma and stereotypes, mental health literacy and knowledge and help-seeking, and use these foci to determine impact. Common intervention components include group discussion, videos, presentations, storytelling and handouts. Testing of these commonly occurring components targeting knowledge and attitudes towards mental health and stigma and stereotypes suggested all were acceptable to stakeholders. Using the MRC framework to guide the development and test the acceptability of a MHP intervention, this study has produced a complex evidence-based health promotion intervention using interactive activities and videos. Further phases will involve a process evaluation of the intervention fidelity and feasibility testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Good Lives Model (GLM) is a strengths-based approach that conceptualises sexually harmful behaviour as an individual's inappropriate means to meet their core personal and social needs. It promotes managing potential risk through acknowledging the individual's needs, goals and aspirations and working towards meeting these in safe and positive ways. As a specialist organisation working with adolescents who sexually harm, G-map has adapted the GLM for its client group and employs it as a framework for problem formulation and intervention planning. Using a single case-study design, this paper illustrates how the GLM can be used as a framework for therapeutic practice. The case study involves an adolescent male who sexually assaulted an adult female. G-map's experience of the clinical utility and strengths of the Good Lives Model are discussed, alongside an acknowledgement that the dearth of outcome research relating to this model is a limitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a theoretical analysis of the place of substance use within social work education and workforce development in England. Using ecological systems theory as its theoretical framework, it explores the relationship between social work education and practice, and wider systemic and situational constraints which have helped or hindered social work’s engagement with substance use issues. Furthermore, it suggests that the current direct government intervention in social work education and practice, in addition to the cuts in budgets and its privatisation agenda, has been unhelpful in supporting change and professional development in relation to substance use. It will draw on the limited international data that show similar challenges for social work in relation to substance use beyond England and the UK. It will conclude with an argument for strengthening the social work voice in relation to substance use education and practice in spite of the systemic pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is now widely accepted that context matters in evaluations of the health inequalities impact of community-based social initiatives. Systems thinking offers a lens for uncovering the dynamic relationship between such initiatives and their social contexts. However, there are very few examples that show how a systems approach can be applied in practice and what kinds of evidence are produced when this happens. In this paper, we use data from ethnographic fieldwork embedded within a multi-site mixed method evaluation to demonstrate how a systems approach can be applied in practice to evaluate the early stages of an area-based empowerment initiative – Big Local (funded by the Big Lottery Fund and delivered by Local Trust). Taking place in 150 different local areas in England and underpinned by an ethos of resident-led collective action, Big Local offers an illustration of the applicability of a systems approach to better understand the change processes that emerge as social initiatives embed and co-evolve within a series of local contexts. Findings reveal which parts of the social system are likely to be changed, by what mechanisms, and with what implications. They also raise some salient considerations for knowledge generation and methods development in public health evaluation, particularly for the evaluation of social initiatives where change does not necessarily happen in linear or predictable ways. We suggest future evaluations of such initiatives require the use of more flexible designs, encompassing qualitative approaches capable of capturing the complexity of relational systems processes, alongside more traditional quantitative methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper develops a typology of people using social care services’ preferences for care workers and satisfaction with social care services from a large multimethod study that explored international recruitment to the English social care sector (home and health care, including residential homes). We developed this typology with two questions in mind: (a) what led to satisfaction of care and (b) what led to preference and satisfaction with workers? Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with 35 people who were using social care services and carers (2007–2009) and these data were used to develop the typology. Using the theoretical concept of homophily, we explored contentions that people might prefer to receive care and support from individuals resembling themselves. We observed that preferences for care workers and satisfaction with social care services may be linked, but highlighted that the concept of meeting a preference is personal to the individual. The implications of users’ preferences for certain care workers at a time where policy is promoting greater consumer-led care or self-directed support are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Munro review of child protection explains in depth the contemporary challenges in delivering statutory child protection services. It notes that complexity, uncertainty and emotional challenges inherent in social work are contemporary issues not resolved through new national guidance or more bureaucratic procedures. Rather, practice needs reforming at the local level. Tragedies in practice have tended to usher in more and more bureaucratic responses alongside an unabated blame culture for practitioners. There is no doubt that practice reforms are needed to address this; however these are neither straightforward nor easily achieved. Busy and overloaded offices of child welfare, managers and workers wedded to pre-existing frameworks, and an ever anxious political system and public can unwittingly act against the development and reforming of social work practice. While challenges exist that need overcoming, this paper describes one such initiative, the new practice framework for assessments, developed and implemented in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, as part of the Munro review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to explore how education for innovation of our young people may help develop an innovative mindset. The article develops the theoretical justification of a skills set which, it is argued, is fundamental for the development of an innovative mindset of young people, and consequently their personal development. We focus here on the qualitative work - focus groups and interviews with teaching staff and students aged 14-19 years - that informed our understanding of the five characteristics of this mindset; leadership, creativity, self-efficacy, energy and risk-propensity. The research attempted to capture the differences in context, constraints and school types and ethos that potentially shaped behavioural expression. Case studies based on types of school revealed detailed differences in context - regional, local and personal - that shaped students' engagement and their innovative behaviour in particular. The paper also reflects on teaching style, extracurricular opportunities for skills' development and student motivation to acquire an innovation skills set. The paper reflects on practical and policy implications of this work and identifies areas for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although major events can have 'spillover' effects on surrounding areas, their benefits are normally spatially concentrated. This automatically privileges certain neighbourhoods. Such outcomes may be difficult to justify politically, as resources to stage events are usually obtained from different public and private agencies that may be reluctant to favour a confined geographical area. This paper analyses opportunities for more diffuse spatial dissemination. Recognition of 'intangible' benefits means that event initiatives can be pursued even where there is no permanent physical legacy from an event, or where that legacy is concentrated elsewhere. In this paper, existing literature is reviewed and framed within a conceptual structure that highlights the three main ways peripheral areas can benefit from events for which they are not the principal host. These are: through 'incidental' effects, via the 'partial dislocation' of an event and by deploying various forms of 'leverage'. The paper then discusses three UK cases to illustrate this framework: the 2012 Olympic Games, the 2007 Tour de France and the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The paper concludes that the potential for considerable benefits for both core hosts and peripheral areas means stakeholders at both scales should be encouraged to make policy interventions to disperse event effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This small-scale qualitative study, involving commissioners of carers' services, contextualized in academic and other literature, adds to an understanding of groupwork for carers within the context of an English legal framework. Five commissioners, from different parts of England, participated in an online focus group. The dataset was analyzed thematically using a reflexive Thematic Analysis approach. Three themes were developed from the data. One theme indicated that differing understandings of the purpose of group activities for carers co-existed in each area and another that system-wide blocks meant that the choice of provider depends on factors like ability to risk-manage the contract value rather than skills needed to serve whole populations. This led to a third theme of commissioners attempting to "engineer" the development of successful groupwork. The findings suggest that Community Social Work is likely to be successful in working with carers but may face challenges within a quasi-market approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a paucity of published statistical information regarding women who are in relationships with men who pose a sexual risk to children. Women non-offending partners (NOPS) fulfil various important roles such as mother, stepmother, carer and supervisor, and need individual psychological formulations and programmes of therapeutic intervention to help increase their abilities to protect their children from sexual harm. This paper provides a description of an innovative service for NOPs with an emphasis upon exploring the sociopolitical context and developing a psychological understanding of the needs of this marginalised client group. We conclude that as part of a public health approach to sexual violence, academic researchers, professionals and clinicians need to work collaboratively to address the unique needs of NOPs. If, as a society, we place paramount importance, and prioritise, safeguarding children, there needs to be acknowledgement and increased resources and appropriate services, including psychological intervention for non-offending partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The majority of deaths in the UK occur in acute hospitals, and older people have the highest hospital death rates. Improved palliative care for older people has been identified as an international priority, yet little is known about the profile of older patients with palliative care needs in hospitals. Objective To describe the profile of older hospital inpatients (≥85 years), and to explore the prevalence and nature of palliative care needs among this group. Methods A cross-sectional survey of palliative care need in older people was undertaken in two UK acute hospitals. Hospital case notes were examined for evidence of palliative care need according to Gold Standards Framework (GSF) prognostic indicator criteria. Patients (or consultees) completed assessments of palliative care need. Subjects Data were collected for 654 consenting patients/consultees. This paper describes data from 110 patients aged ≥85 years. Results Forty per cent of the older patients were identified as having palliative care needs according to GSF criteria. Frailty was the most common indicator of palliative care need (16.7%). The most common reason for admission to hospital was general frailty (25.5%). Conclusions While this study is limited by its small sample size, the results suggest that older people with frailty conditions constitute a substantial proportion of hospital inpatients with palliative care needs. However, it is unclear whether a specialist palliative care framework is the most appropriate model for this group. The care provided to older people at the end of life may best be provided by generalists such as geriatricians, as part of a comprehensive generalist-led palliative care framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses data from a focus group conducted with a group of female pupils aged 13–14 to re-examine the assumption that pupils' negative assessments of sex and relationship education (SRE) should be understood only as a reflection of inadequate teaching. Focusing on the emotional aspects of their accounts, and the inconsistencies in their efforts to present a collective story of SRE, findings suggest that there are other ways in which such accounts can be read. Drawing on insights from psychoanalytic theory concerning the emotional aspects of learning and the teacher–pupil relationship, it is suggested that these accounts can also be understood as a result of transference. Using psychoanalytic understandings of the role of sexual learning in adolescence, findings reveal that pupils' relationships to SRE are complex and need to be understood as being tied up with internal struggles and anxieties about their own sexual development. This reading is presented as an additional perspective for teachers and is one that would benefit from further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper addresses the question of benefits of education from a life course perspective. Using data from a study of 1600 students (response rate 48%) on an open access program at a London University college, it explores educational activity within the framework of a transitions model. In addition to the quantitative evidence, the article uses material from interviews to illustrate how different aspects of educational activity help individuals cope with transitions. This approach, while clearly not covering all possible education contexts, offers a way of adding to our understanding of the benefits of study in mid- and later-life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

New medicines represent exciting possibilities to individual patients for improved futures through reduced morbidity, as well as the potential for disappointment where promised outcomes are not forthcoming. For healthcare systems these technologies can enable enhanced effectiveness as well as spiralling costs, depending on value-for-money offered. Amidst uncertainty over efficacy and pricing, institutions such as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have been set up to regulate the cost-effectiveness of new products. The increased transparency of this new regulation, combined with inescapable uncertainties, leads to the heightened politicisation of decision-making and an insidious subjectivity beneath a veneer of rational-bureaucracy. This paper develops a theoretical framework for understanding the influence of hope within such contexts. Conceptualised here as ideological, affective and prone to lapsing into trust, hope is considered to shape the lifeworld-background of regulatory decisions and mask uncertainty around effectiveness. These processes challenge regulator legitimacy and effectiveness within polycentric regimes, through the distortion of communication and the manipulation of blame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a qualitative study of UK mental health practitioners' experiences of working with the contested condition, dangerous and severe personality disorder (DSPD). Our interviews focused on the issues of treatability, risk assessment and decision-making in multi-disciplinary teams. We discuss the approach of values-based medicine (VBM) as a useful framework for interpreting the data: respondents cited both explicit values (based on occupational training) and implicit values (based on personal beliefs and subjective perceptions). There was evidence of conflicting values -- within individuals, between occupational groups, and between individuals in occupational groups -- which led to widespread uncertainty and caution about whether and how those with 'dangerous' personality disorders could be treated. These disputes were resolved by a 'slide to pragmatism', whereby practitioners, reluctantly acknowledging their own empowerment in the process, sought to make whichever choice was least risky for their own professional reputation, and most pragmatic, given the resources available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By often taking as its focus the experience of illness in itself, medical anthropology has sometimes neglected the meanings that patients may assign to the diagnostic procedures that they are expected to undergo. This paper puts into anthropological perspective the author's experiences working as an assistant psychologist in two British memory clinics for the detection and treatment of dementia, using comments by patients to illustrate the significance that one aspect of these procedures - cognitive testing - had for them. These comments suggest that the meanings that patients construct with regard to such testing are complex and cannot be understood if one persists in seeing it as a neutral diagnostic tool without broader implications. It is argued that a strong association made by many patients between the cognitive tests and their childhood school experiences informs their reactions for better or worse. It is important to acknowledge the implications of this active interpretation of medical procedures if the memory clinic experience is not to become an alienating and infantilising one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factors that contribute to sexual decision-making among young people are varied, and several determinants have been identified as contributing to the process. However, the influential role of music preference has been sidelined both in the literature and by sex and relationships educators. The research outlined in this paper explores the normative impact of music preference, and highlights the importance of influences drawn from teen culture. A preliminary study had indicated that representations of sex and relationships within lyrics were found to be genre specific. The main study comprised six single-sex focus group discussions on music and sex with young people aged between 14 and 19 years. Thematic analysis revealed that preferred genre and artists were found to be associated with all aspects of participants' lives and culture generally, with music functioning specifically as an educational tool for adult relationships. The findings from these studies indicate that the norms portrayed by young people's preferred genres reinforce (oftentimes inappropriate) beliefs about sex and adult relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore how Norwegian female employees experience work-related alcohol use in British working life using cultural analysis. Explorative design with strategic population; in-depth interviews with eight female Norwegian employees working in London, in addition to field observation in two typical 'after-work' pubs in London. The data was analysed through bricolage: themes and subthemes were identified and Hall's theory of high- and low-context cultures and Bourdieu's concepts of capital and field were applied. The pub appeared to be a significant arena for Norwegian female employees in London to adapt to British working culture and work-related drinking. Four main themes emerged: (1) Breaking the code in communication at work, (2) Adjusting to English office 'etiquette' through pub visits, (3) Adhering to pub rules and developing strategies, and (4) Balancing after-work pub culture and family obligations. Navigating British pub culture demands cultural awareness to maintain one's work-related position and career progress, including balancing gender-specific expectations and contextual drinking culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preference within the perceiving process (sensing or intuition) is one of the main features within psychological type theory that differentiates clergy serving within different streams of the Christian Church. Previous research has identified a higher proportion of intuitive types among Church of England clergy than among clergy serving within the Free Churches (Baptist, Methodist, Salvation Army). New data from 93 ministers serving within the United Reformed Church suggest that this denomination may occupy a position between the Church of England and other Free Churches, with 55% of male ministers, and 53% of female ministers preferring intuition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have focused on the gendered differences amongst Polish migrants in their use of alcohol or access to treatment services. This study explored the divergent pathways through alcohol use, misuse and treatment access in a group of Polish migrants in London. Using an intersectionality framework we examine the ways that social attitudes toward gender in both communities and access to services related to migrant status and class are experienced. With a view to informing treatment services we discuss how a better understanding of these pathways, and the factors likely to influence them, can be used to address challenges experienced by Polish migrant women with problematic alcohol use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-monitoring may represent a mechanism to enhance physical activity among people with multiple sclerosis. To optimise activity monitoring as a behavioural tool to increase physical activity, user experience must be understood. This study evaluated user experience of the Yamax SW-200 Digi-walker pedometer in a group of people with MS. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 adults who participated in a 12-week pedometer-supported behavioural change intervention, the iStep-MS trial. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using the Framework Method. An overarching theme Pedometers, the frustrating motivators captures the complex and often contradictory experience of the pedometer. Sub-themes include: Increasing activity awareness, which describes the pedometer's utility in raising activity consciousness; Numeric motivation provides insight into dual motivating and demotivating experiences of using an objective feedback device; (Un) usability focuses on practical concerns encountered in the day-to-day use of the monitor. The Yamax SW-200 Digi-walker raised awareness and enhanced participant motivation to engage in physical activity. Accuracy and usability concerns highlighted warrant consideration in the selection of this pedometer within a population with multiple sclerosis. Changing physical activity behaviour in people with MS: the iStep-MS trial; ISRCTN15343862; Use of self-monitoring tools such as pedometers can enhance physical activity awareness. Objective, numeric step count feedback is an effective motivational tool for physical activity. Accuracy and usability concerns may limit the value of the Yamax SW-200 Digiwalker for people with MS. Identification of individualised, reliable, usable and acceptable tools is important to ensure engagement with self-monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine the ways transitions are constructed and represented within healthcare settings vis-à-vis lived experiences. Drawing on in-depth interviews with transgender people and data from a document analysis, we examine how transgender peoples' experiences fit within conceptualisations of transition(s) in healthcare guidance documents used in England. We take up Pearce's ([2018]. Understanding trans health. Bristol: Policy Press) suggestion to (re)think trans beyond 'condition', and rather as 'movement', to view being trans as a social identity rather than a defect. Our findings show how trans people and transitions are imagined through often linear narratives of movement in/out of transition. Through this framing, fluidity and gender liminal spaces are made invisible, where health care is imagined for certain transitions but not others. Our analysis attends to tensions that emerge in the complexity of transition(s) as well as the intricate ways in which transgender people are responding to often restrictive ontologies of medical transition. As a conceptual tool, 'trans as movement' can be used to create space for more expansive ontologies of gender that confront the harms and restrictions imposed by the gender binary, and offer alternative ways of (re)imagining multiplicity in transition trajectories and futures for both those in healthcare delivery, and for trans patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the concept and adoption of practice frameworks and how these are becoming a key feature of many English local authorities in social work practice with children and families. A practice framework or model either drives practice or groups together various approaches. The article draws on data drawn from an evaluation of Signs of Safety, supplemented by a later survey, and a roundtable discussion with practitioners, researchers and social work educationalists held in 2018 on the nature and function of practice frameworks. It draws together data from these sources to provide an overview what is in place in local authorities, as well as what is being defined as a practice framework. These are discussed in relation to implementation and consistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many schools are taking action to become inclusive of gender and sexual diversity, however, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer teachers (LGBTQ) continue to exist at the margins of both schools and research. This study reports on interviews with a group of self-identifying LGB teachers in England. Subsequent thematic analysis examined the subject positions that are available, particularly around being 'out' (or not) in school. Findings suggest that LGB teachers take on complex identity work to maintain their status both as LGB and as exemplary teachers. For many, their desire was to become 'authentic' LGB teachers, which for them involved being out in school. However, this is arduous work for people who can be too easily positioned as 'failing'. There are ways to navigate this, which principally involve becoming the agent of dominant discourses rather than their subject. Overall, there is pressure on the LGB teacher to exist, not because it is a discrete identity, but because of its marked absence from dominant discourses in schools. This is particularly relevant to the neoliberal context in which teachers are caught between performances of heteronormativity and diversity, and where sexuality is intimately related to authenticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Using a theory-led action research process test applicability of humanizing care theory to better understand what matters to people and assess how the process can improve human dimensions of health care services. Consideration of the value of this process to guide enhancements in humanly sensitive care and investigate transferable benefits of the participatory strategy for improving human dimensions of health care services. Methods: Action research with service users, practitioners and academics, with participatory processes led through the application of theory via a novel Humanizing Care Framework in two diverse clinical settings. Results: Participants engaged in a theory-led participatory process, understood and valued the framework seeing how it relates to own experiences. Comparative analysis of settings identified transferable processes with potential to enhance human dimensions of care more generally. We offer transferable strategy with contextualized practical details of humanizing processes and outcomes that can contribute to portable pathways to enhance dignity in care through application of humanizing care theory in practice. Conclusion: The theoretical framework is a feasible and effective guide to enhance human dimensions of care. Our rigorous participative process facilitates sharing of patient and staff experience, sensitizing practitioners' understandings and helping develop new ways of providing theoretically robust person-centred care based on lifeworld approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the government-commissioned Rose Report (2009) on provision and support for dyslexic learners in England called for the deployment of more specialist dyslexia teachers in mainstream schools, the reality seems to be that the job of teaching literacy to children with dyslexia is falling to teaching assistants (TAs). As a result, specialist training courses for TAs have been developed in England. Using the Coldwell and Simkins Training Impact Framework, the present study examines TAs participants’ perceptions of the impact of two such local authority-based training programmes, not just in terms of the impact upon their individual practice, but also in terms of their perceptions of the wider impact of their status as a trained ‘expert’ upon their schools’ policies, culture and practice. ‘Enabling’ and ‘blocking’ factors influencing this wider impact are identified, and implications for the deployment of specialist TAs and the design of their training courses are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite previous research suggesting that social class influences experiences of and attitudes to abortion, there is a dearth of research which studies the intersection of abortion and social class in England. Across the UK, abortion rates and experiences differ by region and socio-economic status, reflecting broader health inequalities. Contemporary austerity in the UK creates an imperative for new research which contextualises the experience of abortion within this socio-historical moment, and the worsening inequalities which have accompanied it. Whilst work on abortion and social inequality exists, it has often approached class as an a priori category. I argue that contemporary post-structural work on class provides a framework to go beyond this approach by examining how these social classifications occur; who has the power to classify; and how these classifications might be resisted. This framework is demonstrated with emerging findings from a life history study of abortion experiences in England. The applications of this to the work on abortion are potentially rich, because the act of ending a pregnancy invites classification from many quarters, from the legal (legal/illegal) to the medical (early/late) to the moral (deserved/undeserved). This work, therefore, speaks to public health concerns about access to and stigma around abortion and social inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decision-making is located at the heart of social work as a core professional activity, because much of what social workers do concerns decisions about future courses of action. Drawing on elements of the learning together systems model and Falkov's Systemic Family Model, this study investigated social worker's perceptions regarding how child protection decisions are made. Evidence was drawn from a constructivist--interpretivist qualitative research design, involving 16 semi-structured interviews with qualified and experienced social workers and 20 direct, non-participant observations of child protection meetings. Evidence from the study suggests that professionals and family members do not rely entirely on the guidance on the threshold criterion of the likelihood and significance of risk of harm when making decisions. Instead, they use discretionary intuition and analytical judgement, involving multidimensional criteria which includes consensus between professionals and with family members; individual professional's state of mind; other agencies and professional's priorities as well as external factors such as the availability of resources. Conclusion can be drawn that existing guidance on decision-making is inadequate, hence the discretionary use of a combination of intuitive heuristics and analytical thinking in a complementary manner. This study, therefore, contributes to considerable conceptual clarity regarding the complex child protection decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since 1990, health policy in England has stressed the importance of user involvement in shaping and delivering services. Aims: To explore mental health service user-led organisations (ULOs) in England, as they interact with decision-makers to bring about change desired by them with a focus on institutional norms behaviour and specialised knowledge impacting service users' relationships with services. Method: An ethnography of five ULOs in two provider organisations (NHS Trusts) including observing their meetings and interactions with decision-makers, conducting in-depth interviews and collecting reflective diaries kept by two members of each group. Results: During the study, one group ceased to operate. This was a group which refused to adopt the institutional rules and norms of managerial discourse. The other four groups survived by navigating the changing environment which existed at the time of the study, although often at some cost. Themes of autonomy and leadership were also identified. Conclusion: The current environment is one of the organisational complexity and change and the place of ULOs is an ambiguous one as they strive to maintain autonomy whilst at the same time being an acceptable voice to managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:Much is known about the factors making caring for a spouse with dementia burdensome. However, relatively little is known about factors that help some spouses become resilient. We define resilience as ‘the process of negotiating, managing and adapting to significant sources of stress or trauma’. We aimed to assess whether spousal dementia carers can achieve resilience and to highlight which assets and resources they draw on to facilitate or hinder resilience, using an ecological framework . Method:Twenty in-depth qualitative interviews with spousal carers from two carer support groups and a care home in North West England. Results:Eight participants were resilient and 12 were not. A resilient carer was characterised as someone who stays positive and actively maintained their relationship and loved one's former self. Resilient carers were knowledgeable and well supported by family but especially friends, with whom they shared this knowledge. They were more actively engaged with services such as respite care. Conclusion:There is a need to move towards more ecological models of resilience. We propose that access to assets and resources is not always sufficient to facilitate resilience. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Currently, there is no theoretically justified, evidence-based metric for evaluating segmental and prosodic components of multisyllabic words (MSWs). A pilot study evaluated a MSW metric embedded in non-linear phonological- and language-processing frameworks. Six MSWs were analyzed in 10 Canadian English-speaking 5-year-olds with typically developing speech, and eight French-speaking children, ages 3–4 years, with protracted phonological development (PPD). Mismatches were tallied (with and without vowels), with totals ranked by word and participant, then compared with ranks from Phonological Mean Length of Utterance (PMLU) and Percent Consonants Correct (PCC) tallies. For both groups, the number of different ranks was significant in comparisons of MSW metrics with PMLU and PCC. Rank orderings were systematically higher for English-speaking children using the MSW metric, with/without vowels, and for French-speaking children using the MSW metric with vowels. Overall, the MSW metric was particularly suitable for fine-grained differentiation of phonological accuracy in MSW production. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most people, school teachers and children included, are altogether too sure about what gender is: there are two ‘opposite’ sexes, man and woman, and gender is the inevitable categorical expression of natural sex. Like all commonsense views, however, the gender binary has been socially constructed through normalising discourses that frame certain ways of thinking and doing as ‘commonsense’ and thus unassailable. As Judith Butler points out, resisting these constructed norms requires a conscious effort to deconstruct our understandings, to ‘lose our expertise’. Drawing upon data collected as part of a broader study addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equalities in English primary schools, this analysis involves a deep interrogation of sex and gender with the aim to help teachers and children understand how sex/gender categories are policed and to recognise and question our complicity in maintaining commonsense understandings of sex and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study employs psychological-type theory to compare the psychological profile of 144 clergywomen serving in ordained local ministry in the Church of England alongside the established profile of 237 professional mobile clergywomen serving in the Church of England published by Francis, Craig, Whinney, Tilley, and Slater. The data found no significant differences between these two groups of clergywomen in terms of orientations (introversion and extraversion) or in terms of the judging process (thinking and feeling). In terms of the perceiving process, there was a significantly higher proportion of sensing types among those serving in ordained local ministry (70% compared with 35%). In terms of the attitudes, there was a significantly higher proportion of judging types among those serving in ordained local ministry (83% compared with 65%). The combined sensing judging (SJ) temperament accounted for 65% of the clergywomen serving in ordained local ministry, compared with 29% of the clergywomen serving in professional mobile ministry in the earlier study. It is argued that the SJ temperament characterises a custodian style of ministry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents findings on 4 themes associated with the personalization of social care for older people: integration of health and social care services; initiatives that prevent the need for more costly interventions; services to maintain people at home; and systems that promote choice, control, and flexibility. The quantitative study utilized data from a national postal survey conducted in England. Findings suggest variable progress regarding the range and style of support available to older people. These are discussed in the context of service integration, community-based services, and consumer-directed care. Implications for service development and future research are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]