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Generative justice: Beyond crime and punishment.
Get PDFThis is a post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of a chapter published in Generative justice: Beyond crime and punishment. The definitive publisher-authenticated version [Murray, E., Arias, L., Buck, G., Ryan, K., & Ryan, N. (2026). Generative justice in hindsight: On knowing, doing, and sharing participatory arts-based research with criminal justice-impacted communities. In F. McNeill, M. Corcoran, & B. Weaver (Eds.), Generative justice: Beyond crime and punishment. BUP.] is available online at: [DOI available on publication].This chapter re-examines two very different participatory arts-based projects within the justice sector through the lens of Generative Justice (hereafter GJ), an emerging concept-praxis that integrates prefigurative (seed-planting) community practices with criminal justice-impacted individuals to reimagine relationships based on solidarity rather than exclusion (McNeill, 2022; McNeill, Corcoran and Weaver, 2023). GJ constitutes a disruptive social change effort, which, like participatory arts-based projects, involves ‘shifting communities and networks’ working toward localised social transformation (Frödén, 2023: 104). In fact, ‘arts-based interventions have played a key role in enriching and mobilising prefigurative movements all over the world’ (Frödén, 2023: 105). As authors, we have been involved in participatory arts-based research and praxis that aims to challenge and transform power structures by leveraging community-driven creativity. Each of our works were designed to place lived experience of criminal justice systems at the centre of knowledge production, working with imagination to create diverse research communities based on solidarity, hope and systemic change (McNeill, 2022). Despite differences between our two projects, both align with GJ, sharing interests in reciprocity, generativity, active participation, and collective action.UKRI FLF MR/Y017110/
Extrinsic goals benefit capitalism but not well-being. Rethinking the economy’s goal for a healthier future
Get PDF© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press.The dramatic rise in non-communicable diseases around the world but notably in high-income countries like the UK is a manifestation of a global economic system—capitalism—that prioritizes wealth over health. A decade ago, the former WHO Director-General, Margaret Chan highlighted how ‘efforts to prevent non-communicable diseases go against the business interests of powerful economic operators’ [United Nations. (2013) Take Action for the Sustainable Development Goals. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/ (last accessed 16 February 2024)]. While there is a growing literature on how politics and economics influence population health—for better or worse—less attention has been given to exploring how economic systems like capitalism influence people’s psychological well-being. To fill this gap, the following article examines how the continued pursuit of economic growth under capitalism (neoliberal free-market forms especially) impacts well-being through challenging basic psychological needs for security, autonomy, competence and relatedness. In doing so, I hope to shed important light on the sources and possible solutions to our growing health and social problems, and stimulate a conversation on how to achieve a healthier future for us all.Unfunde
Accumulation of perceived discrimination over time and likelihood of probable mental health problems in UK adults: A longitudinal cohort study
Get PDF© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.BACKGROUND: Limited research has examined whether accumulation of discrimination over time is associated with worse mental health and whether such experiences are related to socioeconomic status (SES). METHODS: A sample of UK adults with self-reported discrimination experiences (n = 3863) was taken from three waves of the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2015–2020). Multinomial logistic regression assessed associations between SES (income, education, occupation) and cumulative discrimination (number of timepoints discrimination was reported). Logistic regression models assessed prospective associations between cumulative discrimination and probable mental health problems (GHQ-12; 4+ threshold). RESULTS: Those with lower income were more likely to report discrimination at one timepoint (vs. none). No SES measures were associated with experiencing discrimination at multiple timepoints. Participants who reported one timepoint of discrimination (vs. no experiences) were significantly more likely to report probable mental health problems (OR = 1.47, p < .001, 95% CI 1.20–1.80). Moreover, compared to those experiencing one timepoint, participants reporting multiple timepoints of discrimination were significantly more likely to report probable mental health problems (OR = 1.46, p = .002, 95% CI 1.15–1.86), indicating a cumulative association between discrimination and mental health. There was limited evidence that SES moderated this cumulative association. LIMITATIONS: Mental health measures were based on self-report questionnaires and not a clinical diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Amongst a sample of UK adults, perceiving discrimination at multiple timepoints increased the likelihood of experiencing probable mental health problems. There was limited evidence that this cumulative association differed by SES. National measures designed to reduce discrimination may benefit mental health.This work is conducted as part of the RMM's PhD, which is funded by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) NWSSDTP case studentship [grant number: ES/P000665/1]. The funding source had no involvement in study design, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the report, and in the decision to submit the article for publication
Adventures in the Play-Ritual Continuum
No full textThe junctions between play and ritual are many and complex. Play is for fun and joy, but it also demands a total commitment and serious respect for rules.Unfunde
Exploring the reasons why former physics teachers in Scotland left teaching
No full textDespite significant effort, recruitment of physics teachers in Scotland has fallen short of Scottish Government targets for many years, but there is little data on the retention of teachers, or what factors influence teachers to leave the profession. This study examines the experiences of 11 former physics teachers in Scotland. Data were gathered using an online survey and a semi-structured interview with each participant.
Factors emerging from the data included a lack of career progression routes, excessive workload, poor pupil behaviour, a lack of flexible working, and school leadership often driven by accountability pressures in the education system.Unfunde
Knowledge and Skills Partnerships in Youth Justice
Get PDFThis is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in [Knowledge and Skills Partnerships in Youth Justice] on [07/08/2024], available online: http://www.routledge.com/Knowledge-and-Skills-Partnerships-in-Youth-Justice/Price-Creaney/p/book/9781032There are different types of knowledge relevant and applicable to the youth justice context that can be developed or acquired through engagement in academic study/scholarship and mastered through professional practice. Evidence-based practice, defined in different ways, is informed and guided by empirical research, theoretical insights, young people’s narratives and professional knowledge/expertise (Baker et al., 2011). The focus of this edited collection is on forms of knowledge exchange (transfer) between professionals and academics in the youth justice context. The phrase ‘Knowledge and Skills Partnerships’ is invoked, and covers a spectrum of meanings, employed as an umbrella term that encompasses the exchange and transfer of knowledge between stakeholders and translation of theory/evidence into practice. This emphasis on the construction and dissemination of knowledge in youth justice was the theme of an event on Wednesday 8 June 2022. Dr Jayne Price, Dr Sean Creaney and Gareth Jones chaired a one-day online conference 1 about ‘Knowledge Transfer Partnerships’ between youth justice practice and academia. The event was hosted by Cheshire Youth Justice Services, Edge Hill University and the University of Chester, and focused on knowledge/evidence production and utilisation in youth justice practice. The catalyst for the event was HM Inspectorate of Probation’s (2021:6) report on Cheshire Youth Justice Services: We were impressed with the [Youth Justice Service] YJS’s use of evidence and academic research to inform and develop practice and services. This is some of the strongest we have seen. The inspectorate alluded to the benefits of a well-established knowledge and skills partnership and how evidence is used to inform practice. It was heartening to see such value placed on research-informed and evidence-based practice, highlighted in the final inspection report that was then published online (HM Inspectorate of Probation, 2021). It is important to emphasise the opportunity which this conference and book presents of drawing together other expertise in this area. This includes creating a space to disseminate achievements (including proactive knowledge exchange strategies), engage academic/practice experts and heighten the importance of knowledge and skills partnerships by creating a space for professionals to reflect upon their own beliefs and values, including principles that underpin meaningful knowledge exchange activity. Understanding the environments within which practitioners operate is of paramount importance, (re)attaching value to ‘knowledge from practice, or practice wisdom’ (Gibson, Vaswani and Dyer, 2024), when seeking to nurture the development of evidence-based policy and practice within organisations.Unfunde
Developing and validating attention bias tools for assessing trait and state affect in animals: A worked example with Macaca mulatta
Get PDFAttention bias is a new approach to assessing animal affect that has shown promising results in several animal species. It describes a tendency to preferentially attend to emotional compared to neutral cues and is influenced by underlying affect. It is important in the early days of this new field that we develop widely utilisable methods and incorporate lessons from the human literature from which tasks are adapted. This fundamental knowledge is critical to the development of standardised and sensitive tools, and the validation of experimental protocols to ensure best practice. Here, we describe protocols for two preferential-looking attention bias tasks. Study 1 involved a manual task using freely available low-cost materials. Study 2 used an automated task requiring specialist equipment and programming, but presumably less prone to noisy data. Tasks were tested with 109 socially housed rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta, who had been trained to sit by a target, but received no other training. Tasks involved showing animals emotional face pairs (threat-neutral), and subsequent blind coding of video for duration of looking at either face. Three measures of social attention were examined: time spent looking at the threat face (THR), total time looking at the threat-neutral face pair overall (TL), and attention bias difference score (ABD) calculated as time spent looking at the neutral face subtracted from time spent looking at the threat face. Based on the human literature and early primate work, the influence of five potential confounding factors on attention was assessed: trial number, stimulus ID, previous testing experience, time of day and visual field to which the threat face was presented; as were several life history factors: sex, age, and social rank. Both tasks revealed stable individual differences in baseline social attention (THR and TL: effect sizes = 0.15−0.31; repeatabilities = 0.12−0.26; suggesting sensitivity to trait affect), but not ABD (which may be more sensitive to brief shifts in emotion state). All potential confounding factors had a significant effect on at least one measure of social attention. For a subset of monkeys who took part in both Study 1 and Study 2 several years apart (n = 18), there was significant reproducibility between tasks for all three measures (R = 0.15−0.63), supporting an argument for stable individual differences in baseline attention bias, and validating the two tasks for measuring the same trait. The attention bias method shows promise for further development of standardised protocols with animals. We provide framework and recommendations for future method development.This research was supported by NC3Rs grantNC/L000539/1to EJ Bethell. ERI Howarth was supported by an LJMU PhD studentshi
Children’s rights in social work practice: Theory, protection, participation and provision
No full textThis is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in [Children’s rights in social work practice: Theory, protection, participation and provision] on [date of publication], available online: http://www.routledge.com/[BOOK ISBN URL]In child protection social work, children and their circumstances are unique, often lacking in clarity and requiring a subjective view. For social workers, the dominant discourse is safeguarding and, in certain circumstances, identifying, predicting and analysing risk of harm may be straightforward. Once established, social workers can offer appropriate support, money and access to services for the child and family. However, whilst social workers regularly assign ‘risk of harm’ as the dominant discourse, the deeper layers and lived experiences of children and families create alternative, competing discourses from a service user perspective, leading to a false clarity. With children and their parents often excluded from iterative participatory processes, their progression in the field of child protection is curtailed and their experiences and opinions unheard. Lack of clarity is then evident in what children and families do not know about their own child protection planning. Using Bourdieu’s (1990) concepts of social space (field) and illusio, this chapter will explore how ‘common sense’ and ‘clarity’ practice for social workers and related actors may be new and confusing to children and parents with no previous experience of social work. For children who may already have a ‘feel for the game’ (illusio), the “rhetoric of participation does not sit easily within statutory child protection services, particularly when the child is an involuntary high-risk client” (Dillon, Greenop and Hills, 2016:75). This chapter will therefore suggest creative ways in which children can gain clarity and meaningfully participate in their own child protection planning.unfunde
Does measuring social attention lead to changes in behavior? A preliminary investigation into the implications of attention bias trials on behavior in Rhesus Macaques
Get PDF© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.A welfare assessment tool in development must satisfy several criteria before it is considered ready for general use. Some tools that meet many of these criteria have been criticized for their negative effect on welfare. We conducted a preliminary assessment of the impact of attention bias (AB) trials using threat-neutral conspecific face pairs followed by presumed neutral-positive filler stimuli on the behavior of 21 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta; 15 female). Behavioral observations were conducted following AB trials and repeated two weeks later when no AB trials had occurred (no trial: NT). The association between observation period and behavior was assessed using linear mixed-effects models in R. Trials did not impact any observed behavior except for fear, which was displayed by five monkeys over six trials (four NT). For this sample, there was a significant reduction in fear behavior following AB trials. We, therefore, found no evidence suggesting that AB trials negatively affect behaviour. AB protocols may be suitable for continued development for primate welfare assessment and we encourage researchers to include assessing test impact on welfare in their AB protocols.ERI Howarth was supported by an LJMU PhD studentship. CL Witham and the Centre for Macaques are funded by the Medical Research Council
Laboratory and microcosm experiments reveal contrasted adaptive responses to ammonia and water mineralisation in aquatic stages of the sibling species Anopheles gambiae (sensu stricto) and Anopheles coluzzii
Get PDF© The Author(s) 2021Background: The sibling species of the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae (sensu stricto) and Anopheles coluzzii co-exist in many parts of West Africa and are thought to have recently diverged through a process of ecological speciation with gene flow. Divergent larval ecological adaptations, resulting in Genotype-by-Environment (G × E) interactions, have been proposed as important drivers of speciation in these species. In West Africa, An. coluzzii tends to be associated with permanent man-made larval habitats such as irrigated rice fields, which are typically more eutrophic and mineral and ammonia-rich than the temporary rain pools exploited by An. gambiae (s.s.).
Methods: To highlight G × E interactions at the larval stage and their possible role in ecological speciation of these species, we first investigated the effect of exposure to ammonium hydroxide and water mineralisation on larval developmental success. Mosquito larvae were exposed to two water sources and increasing ammonia concentrations in small containers until adult emergence. In a second experiment, larval developmental success was compared across two contrasted microcosms to highlight G × E interactions under conditions such as those found in the natural environment.
Results: The first experiment revealed significant G × E interactions in developmental success and phenotypic quality for both species in response to increasing ammonia concentrations and water mineralisation. The An. coluzzii strain outperformed the An. gambiae (s.s.) strain under limited conditions that were closer to more eutrophic habitats. The second experiment revealed divergent crisscrossing reaction norms in the developmental success of the sibling species in the two contrasted larval environments. As expected, An. coluzzii had higher emergence rates in the rice paddy environment with emerging adults of superior phenotypic quality compared to An. gambiae (s.s.), and vice versa, in the rain puddle environment.
Conclusions: Evidence for such G × E interactions lends support to the hypothesis that divergent larval adaptations to the environmental conditions found in man-made habitats such as rice fields in An. coluzzii may have been an important driver of its ecological speciation.This work was funded by a PhD scholarship from Faculty for the Future fellowship, Schlumberger Foundation, The Hague, The Netherlands, and Niger Delta Development Commission, Nigeria, to N.O.A
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