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A lot of the time it’s dealing with victims who don’t want to know, it’s all made up, or they’ve got mental health’: rape myths in a large English police force
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Despite an increase in the reporting of rape, convictions in England and Wales have fallen significantly in recent years. Previous research has found high rape myth acceptance among police officers. Given that the police act as gatekeepers to the criminal justice system, subscribing to rape myths may have significant effects upon victim attrition and conviction rates. This study explores police officers’ use of rape myths and how these may impact investigations and prosecutions. A total of 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted with police officers from a large English police force. The interview data were analysed using the qualitative method of thematic analysis. Although there were instances where officers demonstrated some awareness of the need to dispel or counter rape myths, rape myths were employed by most officers, with the most common relating to (1) victim fabrication (‘women lie’) and (2) victim precipitation (‘women ask for it’). Recommendations are made around screening and training for police officers
Knee extensor force control as a predictor of dynamic balance in healthy adults
Get PDFBackground
Previous research has demonstrated that force control in various muscles of the lower limb (measured according to the magnitude of force fluctuations) explains significant variance in static balance. Given the dynamic nature of many functional activities and sports, assessment of balance and its determinants under dynamic conditions is of importance.
Research question
Does muscle force control explain significant variance in dynamic balance, as measured using the Y balance test (YBT)?
Methods
YBT performance and knee extensor muscle force control were measured in 28 healthy participants. The YBT involved stance on the right leg and attempting maximal reach with the left leg in the anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral directions. Force control was assessed during isometric knee extension contractions of the right leg at 10%, 20% and 40% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and was quantified according to the magnitude (using the coefficient of variation [CV]), and the temporal structure (using sample entropy, SampEn; and detrended fluctuation analysis α), of force fluctuations.
Results
Significant correlations were observed for YBT anterior reach and muscle force CV (r = –0.44, P = 0.02) and SampEn (r = 0.47, P = 0.012) during contractions at 40% MVC. A subsequent regression model demonstrated that muscle force CV and SampEn at 40% MVC significantly explained 54% of variance in YBT anterior reach. Significant correlations were also observed for YBT posteromedial reach and MVC (r = 0.39, P = 0.043) and muscle force CV during contractions at 40% MVC (r = –0.51, P = 0.006). The regression model demonstrated that MVC and muscle force CV at 40% MVC significantly explained 53.9% of variance in YBT posteromedial reach.
Significance
These results are the first to indicate that a moderate amount of variance in dynamic balance can be explained by measures of isometric force control
Effects of upper and lower body conditioning activities on post-activation performance enhancement during sprinting and jumping tasks in female soccer players
No full textThis study aimed to investigate the post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) effects of “specific” (half back-squat) and “nonspecific” (bench press) conditioning activities on sprinting and jumping performances in female soccer players. Fourteen players (mean ± SD: age = 22.3 ± 4.0 years; body mass = 60.2 ± 7.8 kg; height = 164.1 ± 4.2 cm) competing at national level (1st League) participated in this within-subject crossover study. The players performed a warm-up protocol including 3 sets of 3 repetitions of half back-squat or bench press exercises at 90% 1RM, or a warm-up protocol without lifting weights (i.e., control condition). Forty-meter shuttle sprints (20 + 20 m with change of direction [COD-180°]), countermovement jump (CMJ), and horizontal jump (HJ) performances were recorded 6 min after the conditioning activities protocols or the control condition. Non-significant large positive effects were found for the HJ after the half back-squat (ES = 1.68; p > 0.05) and bench press (ES = 1.68; p > 0.05) protocols. Although non-significant, HJ changes (Δ = 0.07 m) were greater than the smallest worthwhile change (0.02 m) and standard error of measurement (0.03 m) following both conditioning activities. Moreover, no significant changes were found for sprint and CMJ performance after neither half back-squat nor bench press protocols (p > 0.05). In conclusion, both specific and nonspecific conditioning activities using heavy loads (i.e., 90% 1RM) may be suitable to enhance individual HJ. Finally, both conditioning activities are potentially ineffective for increasing sprint and CMJ performance in the context of this study
Biases, concerns and the erosion of rights: addressing digital issues with adopted and fostered children in a policy vacuum
Get PDFOnline harms, and resultant safeguarding approaches, are a key challenge to those working in the children’s workforce. However, safety narratives and a wish to prevent harm, rather than mitigate risk, have arguably caused a safeguarding environment that is neither mindful of childrens rights or in their best interests. When supporting adopted and looked after children, there are some specific challenges that can result in further caution in supporting children in their use of digital technology. Empirical data presents observations on a professional environment where, with a dearth of training or policy direction, professionals are left to bring their own biases and beliefs into safeguarding judgements and, in the rush to protect, often forget the importance of working across stakeholders, rather than trying to resolve issues independently
"The great source" microplastic abundance and characteristics along the river Thames.
Get PDFThis study focused on quantifying the abundance of microplastics within the surface water of the River Thames, UK. Ten sites in eight areas were sampled within the tidal Thames, starting from Teddington and ending at Southend-on-Sea. Three litres of water was collected monthly at high tide from land-based structures from each site from May 2019 to May 2021. Samples underwent visual analysis for microplastics categorised based on type, colour and size. 1041 pieces were tested using Fourier transform spectroscopy to identify chemical composition and polymer type. 6401 pieces of MP were found during sampling with an average MP of 12.27 pieces L along the river Thames. Results from this study show that microplastic abundance does not increase along the river. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Collaborative inquiry fuelled by reflexive learning: changing change
No full textIn this paper, we dig deeper into the reflexive learning that fuels collaborative inquiry by examining the unique ways in which changing itself takes place. We draw on two examples of collaborative inquiry, offering autoethnographic insights from our own lived experiences of changing change. These insights are underpinned by reflexive learning which we capture in textual form to show how learning in collaborative inquiry involves ‘impacting with’ rather than ‘impacting on’. Our analysis reveals that reflexivity is not a homogenous or static experience but consists of several dynamically changing entangled ‘dimensions’ of practice. Through dimensions relating to the process, content, and impact of reflexive learning, collaborators can arrive at a ‘stance’ – a fluid, loosely shared basis for action that enables organizational practices to be reconfigured or preserve key principles
Endurance performance adaptations between SSG and HIIT in soccer players: A meta-analysis
No full textThe objective of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to compare the endurance performance chronic adaptations induced by running-based high-intensity interval training (HIIT), small-sided games (SSGs), and combined HIIT+SSGs in male and female youth and adult soccer players. The studies included in this review followed the PICOS criteria: (i) healthy soccer players; (ii) interventions based on SSGs; (iii) comparators exposed to only HIIT or combined SSGs+HIIT; (iv) endurance performance variables. Studies were searched for in the following databases: (i) PubMed; (ii) Scopus; (iii) SPORTDiscus; (iv) Web of Science. After conducting an initial database search that retrieved a total of 5,389 records, a thorough screening process resulted in the inclusion of 20 articles that met the eligibility criteria. Sixteen studies reported outcomes related to endurance performance measured through field-based tests, while five studies provided results from direct measurements of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). Results showed a non-significant small-magnitude favoring effect for the HIIT groups compared to the SSG groups (ES=0.37, p=0.074) for endurance, while a non-significant small-magnitude favoring SSGs was observed (ES=–0.20, p=0.303) for VO2max. Despite the very low certainty of evidence, the findings suggest similar effects induced by both SSG and HIIT on improving endurance performance and VO2max
Introduction
No full textIn this introduction to our volume on growing up in Asian societies, we define the claim of this collection, explain the approach, and take stock of what it has been possible to achieve empirically and conceptually for the further global study of childhood and youth. Our aim was to understand and present the young generation in its intergenerational relations. The 16 studies, divided into four regional sections, show a broad spectrum of very different conditions in which this young generation lives, of expectations with which they are confronted, and of strategies for action that are open to them. And they show the overriding importance of the commitments and solidarities between different age groups across societies. We propose – in the sense of a theoretical conclusion – three concepts that should be central to the study of childhood and youth experiences: (inter)generational order, existential inequality, and voice. Whereby, the latter concept also has to take into account walls of silence. The three concepts have extended prior work of childhood and youth studies with new analytical power and empirical relevance, based on this most comprehensive collection to date on growing up in Asian societies
Section one – introduction childhood on a modern drive: growing up in East Asia
No full textIn what follows, I first unpack the context of East Asia where fast economic growth, demographic transition, shifting public policies, and historical legacies as well as emerging trends of family norms and practices jointly influence children's and youths' everyday lives and well-being. I show that albeit intraregional and intrasociety heterogeneities, childhood is part and parcel of the modernization project in this part of the world, which has attracted concerted efforts of intense investment from the state and the family, shaping a trajectory of childhood that is increasingly scholarized. I then sketch the landscape of childhood and youth studies in this region, calling for the intervention of childhood sociology as an approach to bring young people's own perspectives, voices, subjectivities, and actions to the fore. This is followed by an introduction to four compelling contributions that offer rich and nuanced insights into the pains and gains, pressures and perseverance of the growing up experiences of the young in rapidly changing East Asian societies
Guidelines for the recognition and enhancement of university teaching
Get PDFThis document intends to support universities in preparing actions for the qualification and enhancement of university teaching. The most recent international - and today also national - strategic directions reiterate, in fact, the need to strengthen teaching professionalism through dedicated structures, such as Teaching and Learning Centres, within systems for the promotion, recognition and valorisation of skills in the academy.
Traditionally, Italian university policies have primarily favoured research in the progression of career and in the recruitment policies of teaching staff, largely neglecting the weight of teaching. It is urgent to recognise the same value of teaching as research, promoting logics of virtuous rebalancing
among the different missions of the University. With respect to teaching, this implies a shared identification of profiles which constitute an ecological vision of teaching professionalism on which to direct the teaching in an integrated way quality promotion, development and monitoring actions at various levels, as happens in different realities
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