155 research outputs found
Care-leaver activism and criminogenic welfare: An Australian case study
No full textThis article discusses the failings of Out-Of-Home Care (OOHC) in Australia, focussing on 20th century OOHC systems’ construction of non-offending minors as “problems” while exposing them to high-risk environments defined here as “crime scenes”. Governments are deemed culpable for the inherent criminality of the system and its institutions. Juxtaposed to this is the development of care-leaver activist groups since the 1990s, and their fight to make governments and institutions accountable and to advocate in legal and bureaucratic forums for care-leavers and those currently in care. The discussion benefits from the insights of the article's lead author, herself a former state ward and a long-time care-leaver activist. The article identifies obstacles militating against activist successes, including institutional resistance and the historical reluctance of academics, especially criminologists, to engage with the problem
The Child Who Repeatedly Visits the School Health Nurse in Parochial Elementary Schools: The Child's Perception of Well-being in School
No full textDegree awarded: Ph.D. Nursing. The Catholic University of AmericaThe child who repeatedly visits the school health nurse in parochial elementary schools: The child's perception of well-being in schoolCynthia Ann Leaver, PhD, MSN, RN, FNP-BCDirector: Dr. Mary Paterson, PhD, MSN, RNThere exists the phenomenon of the child who repeatedly visits the school health nurse three times or more within a four-week time frame, with vague physiological complaints and without a history of chronic illness. (Stamler & Palmer, 1971; Sweeney, 1999; Sweeney & Sweeney, 2000). With this unmet need for care, the child persists with a threat to the optimal outcome of their education (Lewis & Lewis, 1989; Symons, et al., 1997).The purpose of this research study is to answer the question: How much association in the behavior of visiting the school health registered nurse of the parochial elementary school child in grades four, five, and six can be explained by the four factors of well-being: health status, school environment, social relationships, and school as a means of self-fulfillment? Considering the model: Y is a function of x1 + x2 + x 3+ x4+ error; the hypothesis tested was H0: ßx1 = 0, and ßx2 = 0, and ßx3 = 0, and ßx4 = 0.The descriptive correlation study design was used. The sample population was comprised of 320 parochial elementary school children in grades four, five, and six, from a diocese in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The survey instrument was theSchool Well-being Profile: Survey of Student Subjective Well-being, American English© a translation and adaptation of School Well-being Assessment Profile (Konu, Alanen, et al., 2002).Logistic regression analysis rejected the null hypothesis; the number of visits to the school health clinic was revealed to be a function of the well-being factors. The factor health status demonstrates the most significant predictive value for a variable in the equation with a level of significance (.026) and Exp[B] = (2.174). Knowing the visits to the school health clinic to be a function of the four factors of well being, the refinement of the role of the school health nurse in the parochial elementary schools can be accomplished.Made available in DSpace on 2011-02-24T20:47:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1
Leaver_cua_0043A_10132display.pdf: 62030 bytes, checksum: eba6e3248e43e2c35fe58537e7d93399 (MD5
The impact of the liturgical and charismatic movements on hymns and songs in contemporary worship, with special reference to the parish church of St Nicholas, Durham.
No full textMusic is a subject which has always been the cause of much debate within the church. The last century in particular has seen a considerable amount of change, in both the musical styles that have emerged and the place that congregational song has been given in worship. There have been a number of reasons for such changes, many of which relate to the liturgical reforms of the twentieth century. In this thesis1 investigate both the musical changes and the liturgical reforms which have led to them. I do this by considering these developments within the context of the Church of England, and by examining the effects that they have had upon one specific church, namely St Nicholas', Durham. The thesis begins with an introduction to the three components of my research, namely the liturgical reforms of the last century, the musical changes which have, to a great extent, occurred as a direct result of such reforms, and the specific case of St Nicholas', Durham. In each of the three following chapters I begin by examining the developments and issues to be discussed in the context of the Church of England. 1 then consider these developments and issues in relation to St Nicholas'. In Chapter 1 I discuss the liturgical reforms of the last century, focussing particularly on the characteristics of the Liturgical Movement and the changes made in terms of Anglican liturgy. I also examine the Charismatic Movement. In Chapter 2 I examine the effects that the Liturgical and Charismatic Movements have had upon music in the church. In Chapter 3 I consider the role congregational song plays in worship and its implications. I conclude by summarising the main issues, showing how the more general issues facing the church have had significant consequences for music in the church
Posthumous Performance and Digital Resurrection: From Science Fiction to Startups
No full textTechnology enabling resurrection and reanimation of the dead has long been a theme in popular culture, and in science fiction (SF) in particular. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1823), generally considered the beginning of SF as a genre (Freedman, 2000), tells the tale of a scientist who harnesses technology and electricity to reanimate an entity stitched together from the remains of the recent dead. However, it is telling that Victor Frankenstein is now generally considered a metaphor for the arrogance of scientists who fail to consider the harmful potential of their work. While rarely as dramatic as stories of resurrection, Tony Walter (Walter, 2015) has convincingly argued that for thousands of years every communication technology, from etching in stone and cave paintings onward, has been used to communicate with the dead in some fashion. It comes as no surprise, then, that technology start-ups and entrepreneurs are attempting to harness digital technologies, social media, and networked communication not just to speak to the dead but also to use their digital residues to seemingly offer both resurrection and immortality.
This chapter examines the promotional discourse deployed by three of these futuristic start-up companies – LivesOn (LivesOn, 2013), Eterni.me (“Eterni.me - Virtual Immortality,” 2016) and Humai (Humai, 2016) – and compares these with several notable SF texts which explore the underlying presumptions and broader cultural and social ramifications of these companies succeeding in achieving digital resurrection. The episode ‘Be Right Back’ of the dystopian television series Black Mirror (Harris, 2013) imagines a world where someone could be reconstituted from the detailed record of their lives left behind across various social media accounts, but with clear echoes of Frankenstein. The series returns to these themes in a more endearing fashion in the upbeat ‘San Junipero’ (Harris, 2016) which features a digital afterlife fashioned after the nineteen eighties. Australian hard SF author and computer scientist Greg Egan also explores this terrain in great detail; his short story ‘Learning to be Me’ (Egan, 1995) and novel Permutation City (Egan, 1994) reveal many of the philosophical presumptions and potential outcomes of a digitised afterlife (Leaver, 2004). In comparing these technology companies and SF texts, this chapter operates on two levels: the first, being to ask what presumptions are being made about contemporary personhood, culture and death; and secondly, mapping what future issues might the success of these start-ups actually provoke
A Phenomenological Approach to Care Leavers’ Transition to Higher Education
No full textPrevious research conducted in the UK has highlighted issues with the educational experiences of care leavers in general and has suggested that life transitions affect care leavers’ later experiences. However, the participation and achievement of care leavers in education particularly care leavers’ experiences of transitions in education, remains under-researched. This research investigated the educational experiences of nine care leavers studying in their first or second year, at universities across the Greater Manchester and Yorkshire areas of Northern England. Each participant took part in a semi-structured interview relating to their transition to university. Adopting a phenomenological approach, interview transcripts were analysed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three main themes emerged; ‘care leaver identity’, ‘lack of positive care leaver role models’, and ‘corporate versus normal parenting’. The first theme ‘care leaver identity’, investigates what impact being a care leaver has on the participant personally and within their education. The second theme ‘lack of positive care leaver role models’ explores, what effect role models have on care leavers within their educational pursuits, and the final theme ‘corporate versus normal parenting’, investigates care leavers’ perception of what ‘parenting’ means and the nature of the parenting they receive
ChatGPT Isn't Magic
No full textAuthor Arthur C. Clarke famously argued that in science fiction literature “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” (Clarke). On 30 November 2022, technology company OpenAI publicly released their Large Language Model (LLM)-based chatbot ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer), and instantly it was hailed as world-changing. Initial media stories about ChatGPT highlighted the speed with which it generated new material as evidence that this tool might be both genuinely creative and actually intelligent, in both exciting and disturbing ways. Indeed, ChatGPT is part of a larger pool of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools that can very quickly generate seemingly novel outputs in a variety of media formats based on text prompts written by users. Yet, claims that AI has become sentient, or has even reached a recognisable level of general intelligence, remain in the realm of science fiction, for now at least (Leaver). That has not stopped technology companies, scientists, and others from suggesting that super-smart AI is just around the corner. Exemplifying this, the same people creating generative AI are also vocal signatories of public letters that ostensibly call for a temporary halt in AI development, but these letters are simultaneously feeding the myth that these tools are so powerful that they are the early form of imminent super-intelligent machines.
For many people, the combination of AI technologies and media hype means generative AIs are basically magical insomuch as their workings seem impenetrable, and their existence could ostensibly change the world. This article explores how the hype around ChatGPT and generative AI was deployed across the first six months of 2023, and how these technologies were positioned as either utopian or dystopian, always seemingly magical, but never banal. We look at some initial responses to generative AI, ranging from schools in Australia to picket lines in Hollywood. We offer a critique of the utopian/dystopian binary positioning of generative AI, aligning with critics who rightly argue that focussing on these extremes displaces the more grounded and immediate challenges generative AI bring that need urgent answers. Finally, we loop back to the role of schools and educators in repositioning generative AI as something to be tested, examined, scrutinised, and played with both to ground understandings of generative AI, while also preparing today’s students for a future where these tools will be part of their work and cultural landscapes
Welfare recipiency, job separation outcomes, and postseparation earnings: insight from linked personnel and state administrative data
No full textThis paper uses a unique personnel data set and state administrative data to follow welfare and nonwelfare hires who separate from similar jobs with the same firm. Welfare hires are more likely to separate from their job and are more likely to be on welfare after separation compared with similarly low-skilled nonwelfare hires. Those not returning to welfare, however, are no more or less likely to have moved on to a lower- or higher-paying job than nonwelfare hires.
Tomorrow's Great Pageant
No full textTomorrow’s Great Pageant is a socially charged project that re-imagined the iconic Suffrage play, A Pageant of Great Women, for a 21st Century non-binary context. Workshops and participatory events with Bedford’s LGBTQIA+ community performed active ways of debating and co-writing to generate new dialogue and form a network of contemporary voices to comment on issues of gender and freedom.
The project launched during The Place Theatre, Bedford’s LGBTQIA+ season in February 2019 with a collective brainstorming event. Guest writers, critics and community activists joined an audience to revisit the structure and message of the historic play and discuss how it could be updated to represent the values and ideals of a diverse 21st century LGBTQIA+ community.
Using collective creation, improvisation and debate, Bedford’s local community were then invited to co-author the new play. Workshops led by Ray Filar, Claudia Jefferies and Emma Frankland brought together Q:Youth Bedford, students and local performers over a period of six weeks to debate the original play’s premise and characters, transforming their ideas into a new dialogue and updated script.
A final performative event, presented a first sharing of the script at The Place Theatre, Bedford on 6 April 2019. Subsequent sharing’s took place at Goldsmith’s, University of London, and Eastside Projects, Birmingham
The role of music and musicians in current English parish church worship : the attitudes of clergy and organists.
No full textOne of the many issues currently confronting the Church of England
is the role of music in worship. It is not a new debate, but has been
brought into sharper focus in recent years in the wake of liturgical
change.
After examining the fundamental issues of the debate, the author
considers them in the context of the present day. Other current
matters of concern will also be discussed. The effects of liturgical
change are then considered.
The discussion is then widened to include:
- a review of current hymnals and psalters;
- a survey of the courses and qualifications in church music
available in Great Britain;
- three case studies demonstrating the problems that can arise
when clergy and church musicians are in conflict;
- a review of surveys in church music undertaken since 1950.
The main work comprises a detailed survey by questionnaire to the
priest-in-charge and organist at almost half the churches in a large
diocese (that of Oxford). This yields an overall picture of:
- respondents' personal backgrounds and general attitudes;
- respondents' perceptions, both objective and subjective, of the
situation at their church, and of each other.
From these varied strands are drawn certain conclusions for
improving clergy-organist relationships, and suggestions for further
research in the subject
- …
