Invisible from View: Leaving and Aftercare Provision in the Republic Of Ireland

The adequacy of provisions for young people leaving care and in aftercare in the Republic of Ireland have been the subject of recent policy attention. A landmark report, the Ryan Report (2009), into historic abuse in state institutions recommended strengthening provisions in this area. However, the legislative basis for aftercare remains relatively weak and services for young people leaving care remain ad hoc and regionally variable. This article outlines the current context of leaving and aftercare provision in the Republic of Ireland and traces some of the recent policy debates and recommendations in this area. A genealogical analysis of leaving care and aftercare provision highlights that this issue has historically only emerged as a concern in the context in which young people leaving the care system are perceived as a ‘threat’ to social order. It is argued that the failure to adequately reform leaving and aftercare provision is reflective of wider social inequality and of a context in which young people in care are largely invisible from view.

Young people's self-reported experiences of sexual exploitation and sexual violence: a view from Northern Ireland

The issue of young people’s experiences of sexual exploitation and sexual violence has received increasing political and media attention within recent years. However, whilst many studies have identified this to be an emerging issue of concern, the collation of prevalence data on the extent of these issues is still very much in its infancy. In this article we report on the findings of a large-scale project on the sexual exploitation of young people, undertaken in Northern Ireland from 2009 to 2011. The article primarily explores young people’s self-reported experiences of sexual violence and exploitation, collated from their responses to a module of questions placed in the 2010 Young Life and Times Survey. The quantitative dataset from the survey covers both prevalence of sexually exploitative experiences and young people’s reports about the type of individuals perpetrating these incidents. This dataset is illustrated and contextualised with reference to the qualitative findings from interviews with young people and professionals conducted as part of the wider sexual exploitation study. The article concludes with a consideration of the implications of the findings, with particular reference to the need for further preventative work in this field.

Medical Education Podcast: The view from over there: reframing the OSCE through the experience of standardised patient raters

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A unified view on the effect of fibers and loading on sfrc creep through linear projection to latent structures

Creep of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) under flexural loads in the cracked state and to what extent different factors determine creep behaviour are quite understudied topics within the general field of SFRC mechanical properties. A series of prismatic specimens have been produced and subjected to sustained flexural loads. The effect of a number of variables (fiber length and slenderness, fiber content, and concrete compressive strength) has been studied in a comprehensive fashion. Twelve response variables (creep parameters measured at different times) have been retained as descriptive of flexural creep behaviour. Multivariate techniques have been used: the experimental results have been projected to their latent structure by means of Principal Components Analysis (PCA), so that all the information has been reduced to a set of three latent variables. They have been related to the variables considered and statistical significance of their effects on creep behaviour has been assessed. The result is a unified view on the effects of the different variables considered upon creep behaviour: fiber content and fiber slenderness have been detected to clearly modify the effect that load ratio has on flexural creep behaviour.

Principal Component Analysis of Wide Area Phasor Measurements for Islanding Detection – A Geometric View

This paper presents a new technique for the detectionof islanding conditions in electrical power systems. This problem isespecially prevalent in systems with significant penetrations of distributedrenewable generation. The proposed technique is based onthe application of principal component analysis (PCA) to data setsof wide-area frequency measurements, recorded by phasor measurementunits. The PCA approach was able to detect islandingaccurately and quickly when compared with conventional RoCoFtechniques, as well as with the frequency difference and change-ofangledifference methods recently proposed in the literature. Thereliability and accuracy of the proposed PCA approach is demonstratedby using a number of test cases, which consider islandingand nonislanding events. The test cases are based on real data,recorded from several phasor measurement units located in theU.K. power system.

Contaminants in surface water and sediments around the Tynagh Mine, Galway, Ireland.

A former silver mine in Tynagh, Co. Galway, Ireland is one of the most contaminated mine sites in Europe with maximum concentrations of Zn, As, Pb, Mn, Ni, Cu, and Cd far exceeding guideline values for water and sediment. The aims of this research were to 1) further assess the contamination, particularly metals, in surface water and sediment around the site, and 2) determine if the contamination has increased 10 years after the Environmental Protection Agency Ireland (EPAI) identified off-site contamination. Site pH is alkaline to neutral because CaCO3-rich sediment and rock material buffer the exposed acid generating sulphide-rich ore. When this study was compared to the previous EPAI study conducted 10 years earlier, it appeared that further weathering of exposed surface sediment had increased concentrations of As and other potentially toxic elements. Water samples from the tailings ponds and adjacent Barnacullia Stream had concentrations of Al, Cd, Mn, Zn and Pb above guideline values. Lead and Zn concentrations from the tailings pond sediment were 16 and 5 times higher, respectively, than concentrations reported 10 years earlier. Pb and Zn levels in most sediment samples exceeded the Expert Group (EGS) guidelines of 1000 and 5000 mg/kg, respectively. Arsenic concentrations were as high as 6238 mg/kg in the tailings ponds sediment, which is 62 and 862 times greater than the EGS and Canadian Soil Quality Guidelines (CSQG), respectively. Cadmium, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn concentrations in water and sediment were above guideline values downstream of the site. Additionally, Fe, Mn and organic matter (OM) were strongly correlated and correlated to Zn, Pb, As, Cd, Cu and Ni in stream sediment. Therefore, the nearby Barnacullia Stream is also a significant pathway for contaminant transport to downstream areas. Further rehabilitation of the site may decrease the contamination around the area.

Harmful transgressions qua moral transgressions: A deflationary view

One important issue in moral psychology concerns the proper characterization of the folk understanding of the relationship between harmful transgressions and moral transgressions. Psychologist Elliot Turiel and associates have claimed with a broad range of supporting evidence that harmful transgressions are understood as transgressions that are authority independent and general in scope, which, according to them, characterizes these transgressions as moral transgressions. Recently, many researchers questioned the position advocated by the Turiel tradition with some new evidence. We entered this debate proposing an original, deflationary view in which perceptions of basic-rights violation and injustice are fundamental for the folk understanding of harmful transgressions as moral transgressions in Turiel’s sense. In this article, we elaborate and refine our deflationary view, while reviewing the debate, addressing various criticisms raised against our perspective, showing how our perspective explains the existent evidence, and suggesting new lines of inquiry.