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Gender, Sexuality and Social Sustainability in UK Schools: The Role of Language
Get PDFThis article explores the relationship between language, gender, sexuality and social sustainability in UK schools. Social sustainability in education focuses around enabling every individual to develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary for shaping a sustainable future (UNESCO, 2016). Key principles in socially sustainable education include equity, collaboration and participatory parity between individuals and groups. The recognition and participatory parity dimensions of social sustainability have particular relevance to issues around gender and sexuality equality and diversity. It is well-documented that, despite progressive legal changes in the UK, gender and sexual minorities (GSM) continue to experience disadvantage, social exclusion and marginalization in schools. But there has so far only been a relatively small body of research which has examined the role played by language in processes of school exclusion and marginalization for GSM students. This article explores some of the ways in which language is central to achieving or preventing recognition and participatory parity in relation to gender and sexuality in UK schools. I examine how language is more often experienced by students and teachers as an obstacle to, rather than a facilitator of, social sustainability. I consider linguistic interventions that could be useful for breaking down some of the existing barriers to gender- and sexuality-related social sustainability in schoo
Artificial intelligence in tobacco control: A systematic scoping review of applications, challenges, and ethical implications.
Get PDFTobacco use remains a significant global health challenge, contributing substantially to preventable morbidity and mortality. Despite established interventions, outcomes vary due to scalability issues, resource constraints, and limited reach. To systematically explore current artificial intelligence (AI) applications within tobacco control, highlighting their usefulness, benefits, limitations, and ethical implications. This scoping review followed the Arksey and O'Malley framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Five major databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, and PsycINFO) were searched for articles published between January 2010 and March 2025. From 1,172 initial records, 57 studies met inclusion criteria after screening. AI-driven tools, including machine learning and natural language processing, effectively monitor social media for emerging tobacco trends and personalize smoking cessation interventions. Applications were predominantly focused on predictive modelling (using algorithms like XGBoost and SVM to predict e-cigarette use and relapse risk), cessation support (employing chatbots and reinforcement learning to improve accessibility), and social media surveillance (detecting synthetic nicotine promotions and analysing vaping trends). Approximately 22% of studies aligned with WHO FCTC Article 13 (tobacco advertising regulation), while 45% supported Article 14 (cessation services). However, tobacco industry interference remains a critical challenge, with AI technologies exploited to undermine public health initiatives, target vulnerable populations, and manipulate policy discussions. Critical issues including algorithmic bias, privacy concerns, interpretability challenges, and data quality must be addressed to ensure positive impact. AI holds considerable promise for extending tobacco control if implemented ethically, transparently, and collaboratively. Future directions emphasize explainable AI development, integration of real-time intervention systems, global data inclusion, and robust cross-sector collaboration. While the current landscape shows a laudable start, it reflects the need for more diverse skill sets to fully harness AI's extensive prospects for tobacco control and achieving tobacco endgame goals. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The CASES Expert Statement on Measuring Perfectionism in Sport and Exercise
Get PDFThe pursuit of perfection is pervasive in sport and exercise domains. It is encouraged, praised, and often considered necessary for success at the highest levels. When manifested as a personality trait, perfectionism is defined as a combination of excessively high standards and overly critical self-evaluations (Frost et al., 1990). It is a complex trait that is potentially both a significant energising factor and destructive force for athletes and exercisers. To study it, and provide appropriate support and guidance where needed, sport and exercise scientists need valid and reliable measures of perfectionism. However, there is currently an abundance of measures available, which poses a significant barrier for those unfamiliar with the area. Our expert statement aims to remove this barrier by offering clear recommendations on how best to measure perfectionism in sport and exercise
Psychological Temperament and Augustinian Prayer and Spirituality: A Replication Study
Get PDFDrawing on data provided by 1476 newly ordained Anglican clergy from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales who completed the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and an 80-item battery of type-related prayer preference items, this study tested the thesis advanced by Michael and Norrisey that the Apollonian (NF) temperament is associated with a distinctive emphasis in prayer and spirituality. The analysis identified seventeen prayer preference items that were rated significantly more highly by NF participants. These items produced a revised Scale of Apollonian Prayer Preferences with an alpha of .79 (offering internal consistency reliability), recorded significantly higher scores among NF participants (offering construct validity), and resonated with characteristics of Augustinian prayer and spirituality (offering content validity). These data replicate previously reported findings in support of a link between the NF temperament and Augustinian prayer preferences. Our findings have implications for NF clergy both in their own prayers and in their ministry with others
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, It Will Be Tweeted!
No full textThe #MeToo movement is considered the most significant women's movement in recent history, profoundly influencing the public sphere on the topic of sexual harassment. The movement employed communication tactics that were both similar to and different from previous social movements. The purpose of this chapter is to further recent arguments regarding X platform formerly Twitter as a new public sphere, specifically focusing on the #MeToo movement as a social movement.
One crucial aspect of the #MeToo movement's protest repertoire was its utilization of X as a platform to challenge and protest against modes of domination, racism, and sexism embedded in everyday life. While it is acknowledged that the #MeToo movement initially gained popularity through the involvement of affluent and well-known individuals, both accusers and accused, it represents a significant milestone in women's online activism, as it propelled discussions of sexual harassment into mainstream conversation.
This chapter situates the #MeToo movement within the historical context of women's ongoing resistance against domination, patriarchy, racism, and sexism, drawing connections to previous movements such as the suffragette movement, women's liberation movement, and Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp. The chapter explores how these movements shaped the public sphere during their respective times and examines the subsequent development of the public sphere.
The chapter begins by defining and describing social movements and their nature, followed by a discussion on how social movements influence the public sphere. It then delves into three impactful social movements, examining the tactics employed in these movements. Finally, it explores how the historical tactics used in these movements provide insights for future research on sexual harassment
Artificial barriers and estuarine squeeze: A novel assessment of estuarine vulnerability to climate change and sea level rise
Get PDFEstuarine ecosystems are threatened globally by changes in climate and catchment land use, with upper estuarine tidal freshwater and low-salinity zones being particularly vulnerable, yet the most poorly understood. These zones play a pivotal role in estuarine structure and functioning but are overlooked in assessments of vulnerability to sea-level rise and climate change. Commonly the tidal limits or landward boundaries of these zones are defined by in-stream barriers, such as weirs and sluices. These barriers restrict the natural inland migration of estuaries, intensifying the risk of saline intrusion as sea levels rise and summer river flows decline – a phenomenon known as ‘estuarine squeeze’. This study provides the first estuarine squeeze vulnerability assessment for mainland England and Wales. Using an extensive dataset of salinity and electrical conductivity measurements, we delineate for the first time, tidal freshwater, oligohaline, brackish and marine zones across 85 estuaries. Of these, 59 (69%) are constrained by in-stream barriers, and 45 (53%) contain tidal freshwater and oligohaline zones. Nineteen of these 45 estuaries are bound by barriers at their tidal limits, making them susceptible to estuarine squeeze. These estuaries account for 64% of all tidal fresh and oligohaline waters in mainland England and Wales. The Medway, Exe and Ouse estuaries in the south of England are identified as being most at risk. These zones are vital gateways, supplying and exchanging energy, matter, and organisms to the lower brackish estuary and upper non-tidal freshwater river. Their loss underscores the urgent need for their assessment, monitoring and management. However, it also presents an opportunity to compensate for their loss through for habitat creation, such as tidal freshwater marshes, offering ecosystem benefits and bolstering resilience against climate and other human-induced changes
Outcomes, clinical benefits and cost savings of recurrent care services in the UK: a literature review of the evidence
Get PDFSummary
“Recurrent care,” where parents repeatedly appear in care proceedings and have multiple children removed from their care, carries a high cost in both human and financial terms. The objective of this literature review was to identify the evidence of their impact, cost savings generated, and outcomes produced for birth parents. Searches were undertaken to identify evaluations of recurrent care services involving cost savings calculations. Thirteen articles or reports in total were found, all using mixed methods approaches. Four of these were excluded due to duplication. Participants across the 9 studies totaled 844 birth parents.
Findings
This first-ever review of the effectiveness of different services to support recurrent care experienced parents found that these services can generate significant cost savings through avoiding care proceedings and placements of children taken into care. In addition, the parents working with these services have a range of positive outcomes as well as some areas (mental health needs) where more support would be required.
Applications
If regional or national funding is not provided for recurrent care services, then local authorities should seriously consider doing so themselves to benefit from the substantial savings they can achieve. More targeted psychological support is required once mothers have been enabled to meet their basic needs and re-establish trust with professionals
Extended Reality-Enhanced Mental Health Consultation Training: Quantitative Evaluation Study.
Get PDFThe use of extended reality (XR) technologies in health care can potentially address some of the significant resource and time constraints related to delivering training for health care professionals. While substantial progress in realizing this potential has been made across several domains, including surgery, anatomy, and rehabilitation, the implementation of XR in mental health training, where nuanced humanistic interactions are central, has lagged. Given the growing societal and health care service need for trained mental health and care workers, coupled with the heterogeneity of exposure during training and the shortage of placement opportunities, we explored the feasibility and utility of a novel XR tool for mental health consultation training. Specifically, we set out to evaluate a training simulation created through collaboration among software developers, clinicians, and learning technologists, in which users interact with a virtual patient, "Stacey," through a virtual reality or augmented reality head-mounted display. The tool was designed to provide trainee health care professionals with an immersive experience of a consultation with a patient presenting with perinatal mental health symptoms. Users verbally interacted with the patient, and a human instructor selected responses from a repository of prerecorded voice-acted clips. In a pilot experiment, we confirmed the face validity and usability of this platform for perinatal and primary care training with subject-matter experts. In our follow-up experiment, we delivered personalized 1-hour training sessions to 123 participants, comprising mental health nursing trainees, general practitioner doctors in training, and students in psychology and medicine. This phase involved a comprehensive evaluation focusing on usability, validity, and both cognitive and affective learning outcomes. We found significant enhancements in learning metrics across all participant groups. Notably, there was a marked increase in understanding (P<.001) and motivation (P<.001), coupled with decreased anxiety related to mental health consultations (P<.001). There were also significant improvements to considerations toward careers in perinatal mental health (P<.001). Our findings show, for the first time, that XR can be used to provide an effective, standardized, and reproducible tool for trainees to develop their mental health consultation skills. We suggest that XR could provide a solution to overcoming the current resource challenges associated with equipping current and future health care professionals, which are likely to be exacerbated by workforce expansion plans. [Abstract copyright: ©Katherine Hiley, Zanib Bi-Mohammad, Luke Taylor, Rebecca Burgess-Dawson, Dominic Patterson, Devon Puttick-Whiteman, Christopher Gay, Janette Hiscoe, Chris Munsch, Sally Richardson, Mark Knowles-Lee, Celia Beecham, Neil Ralph, Arunangsu Chatterjee, Ryan Mathew, Faisal Mushtaq. Originally published in JMIR Medical Education (https://mededu.jmir.org), 02.04.2025.
