The control of social attention from 1 to 4 months

The control of social attention during early infancy was investigated in two studies. In both studies, an adult turned towards one of two targets within the infant's immediate visual field. We tested: (a) whether infants were able to follow the direction of the adult's head turn; and (b) whether following a head turn was accompanied by further gaze shifts between experimenter and target. In the first study, 1-month-olds did not demonstrate attention following at the group level. In addition, those infants who turned towards the same target remained fixed on it and did not shift attention again. In Study 2, we tested infants longitudinally at 2-4 months. At the group level, infants followed the adult's head turn at 3 and 4 months but not at 2 months. Those infants who turned towards the same target at 3 and 4 months also shifted gaze back and forth between experimenter and target. By 3 months, infants seem able to capitalize on the social environment to disengage and distribute attention more flexibly. The results support the claim that the control of social attention begins in early infancy, and are consistent with the hypothesis that following the attention of other people is dependent on the development of disengagement skills.

Methadone as Social Control: Institutionalized Stigma and the Prospect of Recovery

Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is an intervention used to treat opioid (heroin) dependence. Several investigators have found that MMT is effective in reducing heroin use and other behaviors; however, a disproportionate number of MMT clients leave treatment prematurely. Moreover, MMT outcome variables are often limited in terms of their measurement. Utilizing an integrated theoretical framework of social control and stigma, we focused on the experiences of methadone maintenance from the perspective of clients. We pooled interview data from four qualitative studies in two jurisdictions and found linkages between social control and institutional stigma that serve to reinforce "addict" identities, expose undeserving customers to the public gaze, and encourage clients to be passive recipients of treatment. We discuss the implications for recovery and suggest recommendations for change.

THE ROLE OF SENSE OF CONTROL AND SOCIAL SUPPORT IN MEDIATING THE IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS - A TEST OF THE HYPOTHESIS OF FUNCTIONAL SUBSTITUTION

The purpose of this paper is to examine the manner in which beliefs relating to sense of control and perceived social support mediate the impact of objective circumstances on psychological distress. In particular it focuses on the nature of the interaction between such variables. The results provide no evidence favouring the displacement hypothesis whereby the benefits of social support involve costs in terms of independence. Consistent support, however, is found for the functional substitution hypothesis. The conclusion is unaffected by the introduction of distinctions relating to types of support and types of power.

Collective Participation Impacts Social Identity::A Longitudinal Study with Control Data

How does participation in collective activity affect our social identifications and behavior? We investigate this question in a longitudinal questionnaire study conducted at one of the world’s largest collective events – the Magh Mela (a month-long Hindu religious festival in north India). Data gathered from pilgrims and comparable others who did not attend the event show that one month after this mass gathering was over, those who had participated (but not controls) exhibited a heightened social identification as Hindu and increased levels of religious activity (e.g., performing prayer rituals). Additional data gathered from the pilgrim respondents during the festival show that the pilgrims’ perceptions of sharing a common identity with other pilgrims, and of being able to enact their social identity in this event, predicted these outcomes.

A qualitative study of psychological, social and behavioral barriers to appropriate food portion size control

Background: Given the worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity, there is a clear need for meaningful practical healthy eating advice - not only in relation to food choice, but also on appropriate food portion sizes. As the majority of portion size research to date has been overwhelmingly quantitative in design, there is a clear need to qualitatively explore consumers’ views in order to fully understand how food portion size decisions are made. Using qualitative methodology this present study aimed to explore consumers’ views about factors influencing their portion size selection and consumption and to identify barriers to appropriate portion size control.

Methods: Ten focus groups with four to nine participants in each were formed with a total of 66 persons (aged 19–64 years) living on the island of Ireland. The semi-structured discussions elicited participants’ perceptions of suggested serving size guidance and explored the influence of personal, social and environmental factors on their food portion size consumption. Audiotapes of the discussions were professionally transcribed verbatim, loaded into NVivo 9, and analysed using an inductive thematic analysis procedure.
Results: The rich descriptive data derived from participants highlight that unhealthy portion size behaviors emanate from various psychological, social and behavioral factors. These bypass reflective and deliberative control, and converge to constitute significant barriers to healthy portion size control. Seven significant barriers to healthy portion size control were apparent: (1) lack of clarity and irrelevance of suggested serving size guidance; (2) guiltless eating; (3) lack of self-control over food cues; (4) distracted eating; (5) social pressures; (6) emotional eating rewards;
and (7) quantification habits ingrained from childhood.

Conclusions: Portion size control strategies should empower consumers to overcome these effects so that the consumption of appropriate food portion sizes becomes automatic and habitual.
Keywords: Food portion size, Barriers, Obesity, Consumers, Qualitative study. © 2013 Spence et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Beyond Criminal Justice: An anthology of abolitionist papers presented to conferences of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control over the past decade

Beyond Criminal Justice presents a vision of a future without brutal, authoritarian and repressive penal regimes. Many of the papers brought together here have been unavailable for more than two decades. Their republication indicates not only their continuing theoretical importance to abolitionist studies but also how they provide important insights into the nature and legitimacy of criminal processes in the here and now. Contributors highlight the human consequences of the harms of imprisonment, evidencing the hurt, injury and damage of penal incarceration across a number of different countries in Europe. Focusing on penal power and prisoner contestation to such power, the moral and political crises of imprisonment are laid bare. The contributors to Beyond Criminal Justice explore the urgent need for a coherent, rational and morally and politically sophisticated theoretical basis for penal abolitionism. Advocating a utopian imagination and at the same time practical solutions already implemented in countries around Europe - alongside grappling with controversial debates such as abolitionist responses to rape and sexual violence - the book steps outside of common sense assumptions regarding 'crime', punishment and 'criminal justice'. Beyond Criminal Justice will be of interest to students of criminology, zemiology, sociology, penology and critical legal studies as well as anyone interested in rethinking the problem of 'crime' and challenging the logic of the penal rationale.

Recent policy initiatives in early childhood and the challenges for the social work profession

The Labour Government in the UK has announced, as part of its launch of The Children's Plan, that it 'wants to make this country the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up' in. This latest Plan is further evidence of the surge of interest that there has been in children (and, in particular, early childhood) over the last ten years in the UK and indeed elsewhere. Many of the recent policy and practice initiatives have implications for social workers working with young children. Yet, social work as a profession, in comparison with education, has remained relatively silent on these initiatives and it is hard to find any critical analysis of these developments in terms of either their underlying discourses or their implications for social workers. This article sets out to address these gaps by providing a critical analysis of: what types of knowledge regarding the early years have gained political currency; why and how this is the case; and what the implications are for the role and practices of social workers. The article proposes that discourses of 'need' and 'provision' mask more powerful discourses of economics, social control and risk avoidance, and it concludes by advocating more critically reflexive social work practice with young children and their families.