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Police recruitment and retention:the UK crisis
No full textThe evolving landscape of law enforcement in the UK faces a significant challenge in recruiting and retaining police officers. This concern focuses on whether the expectations of long-term service, reminiscent of past norms where officers served for 30 years or more, remain viable in today's rapidly changing societal and professional contexts. Such expectations are rooted in the profession's history, yet they now confront a reality where the dynamics of work and life have fundamentally shifted
Desistance through participatory practice:involving children in decision-making processes in youth justice
No full textThe purpose of this chapter is to explore children’s involvement in the design and delivery of youth justice services, which offers insight into how practitioners can promote children’s voices to enable desistance. The chapter will critically discuss how and why an increased focus on participatory practices in youth justice has prompted efforts to challenge power inequalities and tokenistic practices between children and professionals. Crucially, it is argued that children need to occupy a level of influence over the agenda-setting and decision-making within youth justice service processes. The chapter then proceeds to offer insight into the purpose and key features of peer support and mentorship as a form of participation which can enable desistance. This involves young people being recruited and trained to undertake peer support roles in which they can motivate, inspire, educate and advise others by sharing their lived experiences of system contact. The authors of this chapter draw on desistance literature when offering insight into how peer-led practice can be viewed as a type of pro-social approach. Following this, the chapter explores the extent to which peer-led participatory practices can be a useful mechanism to facilitate processes of desistance
Teachers’ experiences of transformational professional learning through Master’s level study:becoming, being and belonging as a teacher and researcher
No full textTeachers’ engagement in critical intellectual and research work in England has been challenged in recent years under hegemonic policies and practices in teacher education. Since 2019, centralisation, standardisation and accountability in teacher education have intensified, along with explicit criticism of university involvement. Some describe teaching in England as a ‘semi-profession’ where teachers are positioned as technicians and their engagement in wider ethical, moral and intellectual endeavours are discouraged. Within this challenging policy and practice context, this paper argues that there is a need to reconsider the space of professional learning over professional development for teachers, and that Master’s level qualifications can be site for potentially transformative learning experiences for teachers. An empirical research project is reported, where teachers’ lived experiences of engaging in critical intellectual and research work through part-time MA Education were systematically mapped and interrogated. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and video diaries. Analysis of significant episodes of each teacher’s narrative unlocked an understanding of their shared journeys as ‘becoming’, ‘being’ and ‘belonging’ as a teacher and a researcher. Conclusions and recommendations are presented which challenge current reductive policies and practices along with a call to prioritise teachers’ critical and intellectual knowledge and research work
Improving the management of hospital waiting lists by using nudges in letters:a randomised controlled trial
No full textObjectiveA commonly adopted intervention to help to reduce wait times for hospital treatment is administrative validation, where administrators write to patients to check if a procedure is still required. The did not return (DNR) rate to validation letters is substantial. We tested whether the DNR rate was reduced by introducing nudges to validation letters.MethodsParticipants from eight public hospitals (N = 2855; in 2017) in Ireland were randomized to receive an existing (control group) or a redesigned validation letter including nudges (intervention group).ResultsParticipants in the intervention group were less likely not to return it than those in the control group, OR = .756, SE = .069, p = .002. Control and intervention group DNR rates were 23.97% and 19.24%. This is equivalent to 1 in 5 non-responders changing their behaviour because of the redesigned letter.ConclusionsThe redesigned letter increased patient compliance with the validation process. The redesign has subsequently been adopted by public hospitals in Ireland
Understanding Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Assessment and Review Team experiences to improve and inform special educational needs and disabilities systems in England
No full textThe Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan has been published for England and includes a recommendation for SEND Assessment and Review Teams guidance. These teams co-ordinate and monitor the statutory Education, Health and Care Plans detailing the needs and provision for children with SEND, but their views on this responsibility are absent from the literature and are essential to inform the proposed guidance. This study gathered the views of 58 SEND officers within a region. They completed an online survey with a mixture of both qualitative and quantitative items. SEND officers wish to work collaboratively with families but struggled with the capacity to be able to do this. Increasing numbers of assessment requests, reported experiences of abusive interactions and lack of clarity in their role contributed to the high turnover of SEND officers. They predominantly receive ‘on the job’ training for their role, contributing to inconsistencies both within and between local authorities. The study concludes by sharing the recommendations from the SEND officers on the improvements needed to support these teams and in turn provide a supportive and responsive service for families
Effects of long-term Ashtanga yoga practice on psychological well-being
Get PDFPurposeIn recent years, Yoga practice has seen a rapid rise in popularity with many positive consequences, both physical and mental attributed to its practice. Ashtanga Yoga has been less wellresearched in this area and is the specific focus on this work. The aim of this study is to investigate the possible positive impact of long-term Ashtanga Yoga on psychological well-being.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 213 long-term Ashtanga Yoga practitioners were asked to complete the positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment (PERMA) 23 scale (Butler and Kern, 2016) which measures psychological well-being. The values given by these individuals were then compared against a larger sample of 31,966 representative of the general population.FindingsScores were then compared with a PERMA data set representative of the general population (see Butler and Kern, 2016), primarily using a test of difference to compare samples. Secondly, thecausal relationship between time spent in practice upon well-being scores.Research limitations/implicationsFindings indicated that those individuals engaged in long-termAshtanga Yoga practice significantly outperformed the control group on all dimensions of psychologicalwell-being. Practical implicationsThis work has demonstrated specific benefits to the practice of Ashtanga Yoga on psychological well-being. Yoga is a form of exercise that is now widely available across the globe, andas such, represents an accessible form of physical practice, which has important psychological benefits.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work investigating differences in psychological well-being profiles using PERMA, as a function of Yoga practice
Bridging the gap:building and sustaining recovery capital in the transition from prison to recovery residences
No full textThe transition from jail to community is a high-risk time for individuals experiencing substance use disorders (SUD), with elevated risks of overdose and other substance-related harms, as well as high recidivism rates and re-incarceration. Gains made from successful treatment in prison are often lost in this transition. The current paper evaluates this process for one justice programme, Chesterfield HARP, a Therapeutic Community based in the Chesterfield County jail that continues supporting former inmates through their release by examining engagement and retention rates and changes in recovery capital among incarcerated individuals before incarceration and after transition to recovery housing in the community. Adult prisoners (both male and female) who engaged in the Chesterfield HARP programme completed an assessment of recovery capital (REC-CAP instrument) while in prison and following their transitions to one of a number of local recovery residences with strong links to the prison programme (ensuring continuity of care and support). The results suggest successful bridging with positive growth across multiple recovery capital domains. The study provides further evidence for the importance of continuity of care and integrated models of strength-building and recovery-focused interventions in successfully bridging the transition from prison to the community for offenders with a SUD history
Putting psychological well-being center stage:a qualitative examination of performance leaders and managers within sport organizations
No full textOrganizational sport psychology researchers have frequently recognized the impact of leadership on performance, health, and turnover intentions (e.g., Clarkson et al., 2020; Simpson et al., 2021). Yet despite their acknowledged importance (Fletcher & Arnold, 2011), fewer researchers have explored the psychological well-being (PWB) of performance leaders and managers (PLMs) and how these experiences influence their support of performers and staff. This study longitudinally examined (1) how PLMs experience PWB and (2) how PLMs support the PWB of their performers and employees. Two semi-structured interviews and weekly audio-recorded diaries were completed by 15 PLMs over four weeks. Data were analyzed using thematic narrative analysis. Narrative themes denoted that belonging to a sense of “us,” family as healers and preservers, self-care and recovery, the nature of the role, and vertical and horizontal work relationships were integral to shaping PWB. Narrative themes relating to going above and beyond; cultivating supportive environments; leading through change, conflict, and challenge; perspective-changing experiences; and resourcing and supporting were integral to the PWB of PLMs’ employees and crossed over with their own PWB experiences (e.g., self-care and recovery informing PLMs’ ability to go above and beyond). We centralize the necessity for scientist-practitioners to extend understanding of intersubjective experiences among PLMs and their work relationships, whilst delving deeper into the factors (e.g., loneliness of command) that threaten PWB. Practitioners could consider initiatives that strengthen work relationships, manage PWB spillover between people and their work and personal contexts, and optimize self-care for PLMs. Stakeholders and decision-makers should further explore investment in PLMs (e.g., funded performance and lifestyle support), whilst bolstering the capabilities of PLMs to support employee PWB (e.g., through perspective-building activities that reflect on regret and harness curiosity) in the organizational environment
'Eventless' horizons? The future for T. E. Brown and 'minor' Victorian writers
No full textIn this paper I will consider what the future looks like for the study of ‘minor’ Victorian writers. Digital archiving gives us unprecedented access to their published works, but if no-one else reads, knows or values them, is it sustainable for individual scholars to continue to research and discuss their works, or to try to edit and curate their legacies?I will explore these questions through a case study of the poet T. E. Brown (1830-1897), focussing particularly on three events in Brown’s life and afterlife: the event of Brown’s death in 1897, which was followed quite quickly by publication of his collected poems and letters in 1900; the events of his centenary in 1930, which was extensively celebrated on the Isle of Man, his birthplace, leading to his recognition as the ‘national poet’ of the island; and the future event of his bicentenary in 2030. Brown would seem to be in a better position than many relatively unknown Victorian writers, since he potentially connects with two different audiences: originally, a ‘literary’ audience of influential academic friends and admirers in England; and subsequently a ‘national’ audience on the Isle of Man. These two connections came together productively for Brown’s 1930 centenary but, a hundred years on, questions about who knows Brown’s works, how he should be celebrated, and what he should be celebrated for, will not be so straightforward to answer. A related question is whether the outdated 1900 texts, in the absence of any modern editions, will remain the standard source for references to Brown’s writings in 2030 and beyond – and what form any new edition could take. <br/