980 research outputs found
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The Nazi Intelligence Matrix: The Gestapo outside Germany, 1939-1945
No full textThe subject of Nazi foreign intelligence during the Second World War has until now remained the preserve of only a handful of notable historians. However, these works, produced during the late 1970s and 1980s, along with a small number of other studies published since, have only focused on individual organizations or sub-sections within them. This article, therefore, seeks to revive an earlier call made by Michael Geyer who stressed the need for a comprehensive study of Nazi intelligence, with particular attention paid to all of its components and the interrelationships that existed between them. This article offers a start by firstly reviewing the main foreign intelligence organizations such as the Abwehr and SD which under the umbrella of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office or RSHA) were pulled together forming a matrix structure. Secondly, this article endeavors to draw attention to the structure and organization of a lesser-known component of Nazi foreign intelligence: the Gestapo spy network. It is this article's contention that whilst the Gestapo proved of considerable use within a counterinsurgency role in Nazi-occupied Poland and Norway, when it came to engaging in rare examples of military espionage, it failed. Yet, it did succeed in strengthening its presence within the Nazi intelligence matrix
Public understanding of, and attitudes to, local hybrid energy systems: a study across rural Britain
No full textThis report is based on the research associated with work package two - community engagement - of the Rural Hybrid Energy Enterprise Systems (RHEES) project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (REF: EP/J000361/1)
Working with transgendered sex offenders: prison staff experiences
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the experiences of staff working with transgendered sex offenders in a prison setting. The study utilised a qualitative approach, with semi-structured interviews used to explore the experiences of staff working with transgendered sexual offenders (n=6). Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Three themes were identified in the data. The first relates to how staff become educated on transgender issues and the content of this information. The second describes situations in which boundaries are overstepped by both transgender offenders and others in the prison. The third relates to the ways in which staff manage change, such as tailoring treatment to specific needs and being mindful of what adaptations may be required.
Research limitations/implications – The main drawback of this research was the limited sample; female prison staff. Future research should expand this sample to encompass male staff and staff working in alternate category prisons.
The research illustrates the utility of staff collaboration with transgendered sex offenders on transgender issues but also suggests some additional guidance is required when it comes to determining the boundaries. Staff may also benefit from more education on the possible ways in which a transgendered identity can impact on criminogenic needs.
The present research offers insight into the current state of care and management of transgendered offenders in custody and the nature of interactions between staff and this minority group. At present, there is limited research in this area
Feeding back to feed forward: Formative assessment as a platform for effective learning
No full textStudents construct meaning through relevant learning activities (Biggs, 2003) which are largely determined by the type, amount, and timing of feedback (Carless, 2006). The aim of the present study was to develop a greater awareness and understanding of formative assessment and feedback practices and their relationship with learning. During 2011 five focus group discussions were undertaken with students and academic staff involved with a range of modules and degree pathways at a UK University. Three of the focus groups were with undergraduate students (one at each level of study), and one was with taught postgraduate students. Discussions focussed on integration of formative assessment and feedback into modules, as well as an exploration of the effectiveness of feedback on future learning. The findings revealed that in order to emphasise continuous learning – feeding back to feed forward (Rushton, 2005) – and to encourage self-regulated learning (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006), students need to have opportunities to make mistakes and to learn from them prior to summative assessment (through formative assessment and feedback). There was also firm evidence of different approaches to learning, emphasising in particular the transitional importance of the first year of study as the foundation upon which future achievement is built
The Orange Order: a religious institution or an expression of implicit religious spinning?
No full textImplicit Religion has long been utilized within academia, and religious studies in particular, as an analytical tool with which to examine and critique commonly held conceptions and iterations of what 'religion' is or could be. However, there is application potentiality outside of academia for Implicit Religion, and this article seeks to utilize the power of such an approach to expose the oversimplified use of traditional religious categories in regards to the Northern Irish Troubles. By applying the framework of Implicit Religion, as outlined by Edward Bailey, to the Orange Order this article seeks to demonstrate how it can provide key insights and understandings into a very complicated and confusing situation. It should be noted that this article is not arguing that the Orange Order is a form of Implicit Religion or should even be considered as a new religious movement. Instead this article is using the tools of Implicit Religion and shining them on to the Orange Order as an example of how those tools can better reveal what is actually going on under the surface
Qualitative Undergraduate Project Supervision in Psychology: Current Practices and Support Needs of Supervisors Across North East England and Scotland
No full textEarly medieval settlement and social power: the middle Anglo-Saxon ‘home farm’
No full textThe last two decades have witnessed a marked rise in middle Anglo-Saxon settlement research, as archaeologists have become increasingly aware of the way in which this transformative period in English history can be recognised through habitation sites. Though a period during which individuals and institutions seemingly wielded unprecedented new power, archaeologists have struggled to identify many of the processes or ‘motors’ by which such authority was articulated in the landscape. This paper concerns itself with understanding one such driver, demonstrating how early medieval kings shifted power from tribute-orientated regimes to ones rooted in agricultural exploitation. The Church was fundamental to this shift in authority, and was used as a means of consolidating new power relations. In order to sustain more permanent clerical communities, the Church developed core agricultural areas surrounding their centres, known as inland, upon which were established early types of ‘home farm’. In addition to their functional purpose middle Anglo-Saxon ‘home farms’ were subject to exceptionally high degrees of spatial ordering. Such definition of settlement space, which now included property plots and houses defined by boundaries of unprecedented permanence, allowed elites to shape and consolidate perceptions of social order in the landscape. Power was now being materialised, not only through agricultural production but also through the lived experience of rural communities, as a social hierarchy which considered the place of kings as divinely appointed became firmly established
Performativity, guilty knowledge, and ethnographic intervention
No full textThis paper applies Dennis’ [(2009). “What does it Mean when an Ethnographer Intervenes?” Ethnography and Education 4 (2): 131–146] modes of ethnographic intervention to a fieldwork experience of an observed secondary school lesson in England. Ethnographic research raises numerous ethical dilemmas, in the face of which ‘intervention’ is unavoidable. The observed lesson – in which a teacher was judged as ‘Requiring Improvement’ – left me with ‘guilty knowledge’. The performative nature of observed lessons constructs highly charged events. Drawing particular attention to the power imbalances between observer and observed, ethical deliberation about the event is considered, and subsequent ‘interpersonal’ and ‘administrative’ intervention is presented. As ethnographers, it is impossible to avoid intervening in some sense. I conclude that performativity raises ethical issues which may demand particular responses from ethnographic researchers, whose empathetic intention places them well to explore – and critically engage with – the workings and effects of performativity
The cultural politics of power in the Yorùbá dùndún drumming tradition
No full textIn every society, social values are constructed and monitored by those who have power and influence - kings, queens, politicians, media barons, etc. However, Michel Foucault, a social theorist, does not only see power as something that some people possess and some do not possess, but also as an effect of a particular social discourse. The discourse about the dùndún drum (talking drum), among the Yorùbá group in Nigeria, is represented through the myth that sees Àyàn Àganlú as the god of drumming. While the myth reinforces the power of the practitioners, it also undermines the power of women. Foucault also believes that power somehow inheres in institutions and not in the individuals that make those institutions function. As a result of the place of the gods within the Yorùbá belief system, both the practitioners and the dùndún drumming tradition are powerful. However, for the practitioners to exercise their power, they draw upon the discourse that allows their action to be considered acceptable. What part does religion play in the myth about the dùndún? How does power play out within the tradition? These and many more questions will be examined in this paper
Achieving inclusion by targeting children and families in hard to reach communities: innovations from Cambodia and the Philippines
No full textInclusion, like so many terms in education and child development, has diverse definitions and interpretations. Fortunately, inclusion is itself an inclusive term. In some countries, the term might be used to refer to the inclusion of students with special needs in school, family, and community life; in others, inclusive approaches are undertaken to ensure access to education by children from minority groups or those who are living in remote areas. In this article, the author discusses inclusion in terms of achieving universalization and equity in education. She uses case studies of non traditional early education delivery in Cambodia and the Philippines as examples of how nations and communities around the world can meet the need for inclusion in innovative ways, even in resource-constrained contexts