17 research outputs found
Does Policy Matter? On Governments’ Attempts to Control Unwanted Migration
No full textPublic policy making on asylum takes place in an environment of intense public scrutiny, strong institutional constraints and international collective action problems. By assessing the relative importance of key pull factors of international migration, this article explains why, even when controlling for their differences in size, some states receive a much larger number of asylum seekers than others. The analysis of 20 OECD countries for the period 1985-1999 further shows that some of the most high profile public policy measures—safe third country provisions, dispersal and voucher schemes—aimed, at least in part, at deterring unwanted migration and at addressing the highly unequal distribution of asylum burdens have often been ineffective. This is because the key determinants of an asylum seeker’s choice of host country are historical, economic and reputational factors that largely lie beyond the reach of asylum policy makers. Finally, the paper argues that the effectiveness of unilateral policy measures will be further undermined by multilateral attempts to harmonise restrictive policies and that current efforts such as those by the European Union will consolidate, rather than effectively address, existing disparities in the distribution of asylum burdens.public policy effectiveness, asylum, migration pull factors, deterrence, burden sharing, collective action problems, international co-operation, European Union
Reform of the EU Sugar Regime: Impacts on Sugar Production in Ireland
No full textThe EU Common Market Organisation has remained largely unchanged since its inception nearly 40 years ago. Reform has become inevitable due to changes to other sectors in the Common Agriculture Policy and pressure arising from international commitments. The current system provides sufficient support for all Member States to produce sugar, regardless of their efficiency. The proposed reform will therefore affect the least efficient producing regions most strongly. This paper examines the case of Ireland in light of the competitive position of its sugar sector in the EU context. Calculation of the likely impact on sugar beet gross margins and farm income suggest that many producers will want to exit sugar beet production. In light of this, the implications and possible strategies for growers and Irish Sugar are discussed.EU sugar policy, Irish agriculture, farm income
Bridging the Gap between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy (PharMIbridge) Project: Public Summary
No full textIn the Bridging the Gap Between Physical and Mental Illness in Community Pharmacy (PharMIbridge) project, pharmacists worked with people living with severe and persistent mental health conditions (such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), over 6 months to review medicines and health concerns. By working with each person, problems with physical and mental wellbeing, lifestyle, nutrition, and other health-related issues were identified. Goals were set, and strategies were discussed to try and address these health and lifestyle concerns. The project demonstrated that community pharmacists providing a person-centred, flexible, and goaloriented support service significantly reduced psychological distress and improved the quality of life for people living with mental health conditions. Additionally, people used their medicines to better manage their long-term physical health conditions (such as diabetes and blood pressure). The service was found to be good value for money, demonstrating that trained community pharmacists can play an important role in improving the mental health and overall wellbeing of people living with severe and persistent mental health conditions in the community.Full Tex
How does one do a Practice-Based PhD in Filmmaking?
No full textThis paper seeks to explore the issues raised by the process of engaging in a practice-based PhD in Filmmaking. As a sole practitioner the screenwriting doctoral student is able to explore her practice through the development of a screenplay, but what of the potential doctoral students who may wish to explore their specialist and professional filmmaking practices but who are unable to operate as sole practitioners, because of the collaborative requirements of the professional filmmaking model. Using the experience of the screenwriting doctoral investigation, and particularly the exploration of the relationship between methodology, exegesis and the creative artefact, we explore a potential model that would enable all filmmaking specialists to engage in doctoral research. Art students engaging in practice-based doctoral research do so in an environment formed by Government requirements that demand cultural, environmental and economic impacts as well as a methodology that to a large extent is formed by social science measures of value. Using this framework as a starting point we attempted to identify a suitable model that would enable filmmakers to undertake practice-based doctoral research
‘Music is my Oxygen’: an Exploration of Bioecological Influences on Pathways to University Music Study in Australia
No full textInformed by the perspectives of the participants, this study explores the influences on students’ decision to study music at university in Australia, and the music pathway learning experiences that facilitate that choice. Students’ interest in music, and what that means to them in terms of types of motivation, bio/social systems or ecologies comprised of intra- and interpersonal influences, and self-efficacy are a focus. By exploring students’ perspectives of these systems, sub-systems and their related social interfaces, I identify the enabling influences or factors that have shaped their music development journeys prior to their university music study. Consideration of the relevant literature through a policy enactment theory lens (Ball, Maguire & Braun 2012), prompted a re-conceptualisation of the bioecological systems model (Bronfenbrenner and Ceci 1994) and later social interface model (Pettigrew, Segrott, Ray & Littlecott 2018) to produce a new research model. The model positions a hierarchy of enabling influences, as revealed by the investigation, within respondents’ individual music identity, music culture and human bioecological systems conceptual framework. Exploration of participants’ enabling influences on their interest in music and their music pathways experiences were investigated using quantitative, Likert-scale data, with participants’ enabling influences regarding their decision to study music at university investigated using qualitative, open-ended data sourced from semi-structured survey and interview questions. The findings of the study were conclusive in that the most enabling influences identified by the respondents’ perspectives regarding music pathway experiences, decision to study music at university and interest in music, were ‘school music experience,’ ‘identity/passion for/love of music’ and ‘school music learning’ respectively. These were conceptually situated in the music microculture. The next most enabling influences revealed for pathways/decision/interest were ‘private music tuition,’ ‘music teachers’ and ‘listening to music at home’ respectively, and situated in the music exoculture. The third most enabling influences revealed for pathways/decision/interest were ‘private music experiences,’ ‘ambition to improve as a musician’ and ‘private music tuition’ respectively, situated in the music macroculture. Based on the findings of this phenomenological, mixed-methods study, it is intended that the active bioecological agents involved in the students’ pre-university systems will benefit from the identification of enabling influences with regard to music educational curriculum, pedagogy, and structural and policy decision-making to support those pathways. The findings of the study have major implications regarding the provision of Music education in schools across Australia. Similarly, the findings reveal important implications for the implementation of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects in schools, or more cogently, the implementation of an authentically integrated Arts STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) as a more effective means of securing increased student engagement in learning, improved learning outcomes, and the realisation of broader national social and economic policy imperatives. The potential transferability of the model for use in other micro-, exo- and macro-cultural contexts within human bioecological systems, as discovered and defined in the study, was also explored and is recommended for consideration regarding further research.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Education, 202
A realistic evaluation : the case of protocol-based care
No full textBackground
'Protocol based care' was envisioned by policy makers as a mechanism for delivering on the service improvement agenda in England. Realistic evaluation is an increasingly popular approach, but few published examples exist, particularly in implementation research. To fill this gap, within this paper we describe the application of a realistic evaluation approach to the study of protocol-based care, whilst sharing findings of relevance about standardising care through the use of protocols, guidelines, and pathways.
Methods
Situated between positivism and relativism, realistic evaluation is concerned with the identification of underlying causal mechanisms, how they work, and under what conditions. Fundamentally it focuses attention on finding out what works, for whom, how, and in what circumstances.
Results
In this research, we were interested in understanding the relationships between the type and nature of particular approaches to protocol-based care (mechanisms), within different clinical settings (context), and what impacts this resulted in (outcomes). An evidence review using the principles of realist synthesis resulted in a number of propositions, i.e., context, mechanism, and outcome threads (CMOs). These propositions were then 'tested' through multiple case studies, using multiple methods including non-participant observation, interviews, and document analysis through an iterative analysis process. The initial propositions (conjectured CMOs) only partially corresponded to the findings that emerged during analysis. From the iterative analysis process of scrutinising mechanisms, context, and outcomes we were able to draw out some theoretically generalisable features about what works, for whom, how, and what circumstances in relation to the use of standardised care approaches (refined CMOs).
Conclusions
As one of the first studies to apply realistic evaluation in implementation research, it was a good fit, particularly given the growing emphasis on understanding how context influences evidence-based practice. The strengths and limitations of the approach are considered, including how to operationalise it and some of the challenges. This approach provided a useful interpretive framework with which to make sense of the multiple factors that were simultaneously at play and being observed through various data sources, and for developing explanatory theory about using standardised care approaches in practice
Looking for alternatives risk, reflexivity and complementary Therapies
No full textThis thesis explores individuals' motivations for using complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). More specifically, the thesis explores the relationship between the use of CAM and wider social and cultural changes which have altered individuals’ expectations about their health and their understanding of risk and embodiment. The thesis draws on data from 24 in-depth interviews with individuals using a range of complementary and alternative health practices. Building on previous literature in this field this thesis not only explores individuals' initial motivations for using CAM, but also the reasons why they remain engaged with such practices and how their motives change over the course of time. I argue that the use of complementary and alternative medicines should be understood in terms of a career. As individuals progress along the CAM career trajectory their motives for using any given therapy not only change, but they also acquire further justifications and rationalizations for using CAM. One of the main motivations for using complementary therapies, amongst the participants of this study, was because of concerns over the safety of Western medicines, which were associated with potential risks to the health of the body. In contrast, so-called 'natural' remedies or other types of complementary therapies were seen to represent a relatively 'risk-free’ alternative. In this sense I argue that complementary therapies are adopted as part of a strategy of risk avoidance and as a means of coping with the anxieties associated with caring for health and body within late modem society. The thesis also explores individuals' use of complementary and alternative medicines for self-care purposes. I argue that such practices should be viewed as a form of resistance to medical control and an attempt to regain control over the self. The thesis not only adds to our current understanding of complementary therapies within contemporary society, but also makes a significant contribution to key sociological debates
The review of migration decisions — a story of borders and orders
No full textIn the last decade in Australia and the United Kingdom, the review of
immigration decisions in tribunals and courts has been marked by constitutional
conflict between the executive and the judiciary; a crisis of confidence; and continual
change. This thesis explores what this tumultuous story of immigration review tells us
about the law — as a social practice, as an institution, and as a linguistic genre — in
these jurisdictions, in these times.
This thesis argues that the story of immigration review is explained best not
through the conventional story of a battle between the executive and the judiciary,
but rather as a story of the fundamental challenges immigration poses to the social,
institutional, ideological and linguistic dimensions of law, and of the attempt by
judges and the legal community to defend their different conceptions of the
legitimacy of the law from those challenges, in different ways.
Four fundamental challenges are identified. First, immigration challenges the
coherence of the legal framework, as it exposes tensions within and between the
different legal regimes. Second, the more reductive language used in legal contexts
competes badly with more complex, and more socially powerful, discourses about
immigration. Third, immigration challenges the capacity of law to perform the
functions of resolving disputes and regulating behaviour. Fourth, immigration
challenges our deepest concepts of legality.
The thesis examines these challenges, and the responses they provoke, by
drawing on the insights of migration studies, contemporary political philosophy,
language and the law, and regulatory theory, as well as examining important case law
in detail. In doing so, it aims both to capture the story of immigration review more
fully, and to illuminate some of the complexities of, and limits to, the contemporary
social practice of law
Somali Refugee Women’s Perception of Access to Services in the UK
No full textAbstract
My research explores Somali refugee women’s reported experiences of access to public services in the UK. Since the majority of women in the Somali community are illiterate, I conducted qualitative research involving 50 interviews, (some repeat), between May and July 2010, with 26 Somali refugee women who came to Britain between 1990 and 2009. In this thesis, my analysis roughly follows the chronology of refugee women’s entry into the UK. Therefore I start with access to immigration services. My key finding here is that people who have little experience of the public sphere due to their gender, find themselves in difficult situations when dealing with officials when they arrive in their new environment. The women‘s access to services was strongly impaired, partly due to discrepancies between regulations around immigration and the lived experiences the women had. This was also evident in the context of education services, the topic of my second chapter. Here two key issues emerged. One was the importance of language skills. The other was the contradictory demand of learning about the culture into which the women had moved and being required to hunt for jobs at the same time. Ultimately, only very few women participated in education and employment. However, these are resources that facilitate effective integration, and lacking them had a detrimental effect on my participants. My analysis of the women’s access to housing, the third area I researched, revealed that their preferred social model of congregation had consequences for their settlement. They defied government policies on housing and abandoned their given accommodation to move near relatives and community members. As a result they lost access to services such as education and support towards employment. My discussion of the women’s access to health services demonstrated that cross-cultural issues impacted on that access. Not having previously engaged with first-world style infrastructures, the women had difficulty understanding the UK’s public service system and how it operates. This was complicated by the policy demand of eligibility, which can create confusion and this affected their ability to take advantage of services. Throughout their years in the UK most of the women struggled in their use of services and in their everyday routines and relied heavily on mediation. Such dependency continued to subjugate them and situated them as vulnerable to subordination. In this thesis I argue that lack of education and communication skills create a situation of unequal access to public service utilisation, and this functions to exclude certain minority women in our society.
Green plants in the red : a baseline global assessment for the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants
No full textPlants provide fundamental support systems for life on Earth and are the basis for all terrestrial ecosystems; a decline in plant diversity will be detrimental to all other groups of organisms including humans. Decline in plant diversity has been hard to quantify, due to the huge numbers of known and yet to be discovered species and the lack of an adequate baseline assessment of extinction risk against which to track changes. The biodiversity of many remote parts of the world remains poorly known, and the rate of new assessments of extinction risk for individual plant species approximates the rate at which new plant species are described. Thus the question 'How threatened are plants?' is still very difficult to answer accurately. While completing assessments for each species of plant remains a distant prospect, by assessing a randomly selected sample of species the Sampled Red List Index for Plants gives, for the first time, an accurate view of how threatened plants are across the world. It represents the first key phase of ongoing efforts to monitor the status of the world's plants. More than 20% of plant species assessed are threatened with extinction, and the habitat with the most threatened species is overwhelmingly tropical rain forest, where the greatest threat to plants is anthropogenic habitat conversion, for arable and livestock agriculture, and harvesting of natural resources. Gymnosperms (e.g. conifers and cycads) are the most threatened group, while a third of plant species included in this study have yet to receive an assessment or are so poorly known that we cannot yet ascertain whether they are threatened or not. This study provides a baseline assessment from which trends in the status of plant biodiversity can be measured and periodically reassessed.Peer reviewe
