Biologising parenting:neuroscience discourse, English social and public health policy and understandings of the child

In recent years, claims about children's developing brains have become central to the formation of child health and welfare policies in England. While these policies assert that they are based on neuro-scientific discoveries, their relationship to neuroscience itself has been debated. However, what is clear is that they portray a particular understanding of children and childhood, one that is marked by a lack of acknowledgment of child personhood. Using an analysis of key government-commissioned reports and additional advocacy documents, this article illustrates the ways that the mind of the child is reduced to the brain, and this brain comes to represent the child. It is argued that a highly reductionist and limiting construction of the child is produced, alongside the idea that parenting is the main factor in child development. It is concluded that this focus on children's brains, with its accompanying deterministic perspective on parenting, overlooks children's embodied lives and this has implications for the design of children's health and welfare services.

Biologising parenting:neuroscience discourse, English social and public health policy and understandings of the child

In recent years, claims about children's developing brains have become central to the formation of child health and welfare policies in England. While these policies assert that they are based on neuro-scientific discoveries, their relationship to neuroscience itself has been debated. However what is clear is that they portray a particular understanding of children and childhood, one that is marked by a lack of acknowledgment of child personhood. Using an analysis of key government-commissioned reports and additional advocacy documents, this chapter illustrates the ways that the mind of the child is reduced to the brain, and this brain comes to represent the child. It is argued that a highly reductionist and limiting construction of the child is produced, alongside the idea that parenting is the main factor in child development. It is concluded that this focus on children's brains, with its accompanying deterministic perspective on parenting, overlooks children's embodied lives and this has implications for the design of children's health and welfare services.

'Forced to Friendship'? Russian (mis-)understandings of soft power and the implications for audience attraction in Ukraine

This article argues that for all its efforts to implement soft power techniques, the Kremlin still fails to grasp the subtle, voluntaristic essence of soft power. This is reflected in a style of public interaction that has practical implications for how Russian soft power overtures are received by the audience. This is demonstrated through the findings of mixed-method empirical research from four Ukrainian regions. Thus, while surveys show that the worldview promoted by Russian public diplomacy resonates to some extent, insights from focus groups indicate that potential attraction is nevertheless limited by Russia's 'hard' and obtrusive approach to cultural influence.

Bringing hope to crisis: critical thinking, ethical action and social change

This paper departs from this point to consider whether and how crisis thinking contributes to practices of affirmative critique and transformative social action in late-capitalist societies. I argue that different deployments of crisis thinking have different ‘affect-effects’ and consequences for ethical and political practice. Some work to mobilize political action through articulating a politics of fear, assuming that people take most responsibility for the future when they fear the alternatives. Other forms of crisis thinking work to heighten critical awareness by disrupting existential certainty, asserting an ‘ethics of ambiguity’ which assumes that the continuous production of uncertain futures is a fundamental part of the human condition (de Beauvoir, 2000). In this paper, I hope to illustrate that the first deployment of crisis thinking can easily justify the closing down of political debate, discouraging radical experimentation and critique for the sake of resolving problems in a timely and decisive way. The second approach to crisis thinking, on the other hand, has greater potential to enable intellectual and political alterity in everyday life—but one that poses considerable challenges for our understandings of and responses to climate change...

Contextualising accounts of illness:Notions of responsibility and blame in white and South Asian respondents' accounts of diabetes causation

We undertook a secondary analysis of in-depth interviews with white (n = 32) and Pakistani and Indian (n = 32) respondents who had type 2 diabetes, which explored their perceptions and understandings of disease causation. We observed subtle, but important, differences in the ways in which these respondent groups attributed responsibility and blame for developing the disease. Whereas Pakistani and Indian respondents tended to externalise responsibility, highlighting their life circumstances in general and/or their experiences of migrating to Britain in accounting for their diabetes (or the behaviours they saw as giving rise to it), white respondents, by contrast, tended to emphasise the role of their own lifestyle 'choices' and 'personal failings'. In seeking to understand these differences, we argue for a conceptual and analytical approach which embraces both micro- (i.e. everyday) and macro- (i.e. cultural) contextual factors and experiences. In so doing, we provide a critique of social scientific studies of lay accounts/understandings of health and illness. We suggest that greater attention needs to be paid to the research encounter (that is, to who is looking at whom and in what circumstances) to understand the different kinds of contexts researchers have highlighted in presenting and interpreting their data. © 2007 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Taking the biscuit? A discursive approach to managing diet in type 2 diabetes

Adopting and maintaining a healthy diet is pivotal to diabetic regimens. Behavioural research has focused on strategies to modify/maintain healthy behaviours; thus 'compliance' and 'non-compliance' are operationalized by researchers. In contrast, discursive psychology focuses on the actions different accounts accomplish-in this case regarding diets. Using thematic discourse analysis, we examine dietary management talk in repeat-interviews with 40 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients. Women in our study tended to construct dietary practices as an individual concern, while men presented food consumption as a family matter. Participants accounted for 'cheating' in complex ways that aim to accomplish, for instance, a compliant identity. Discursive psychology may facilitate fluidity in our understandings of dietary management, and challenge fixed notions of 'compliant' and 'non-compliant' diabetes patients. Copyright © 2005 SAGE Publications.

'Urine testing is a waste of time': newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes patients' perceptions of self-monitoring

Aims To date, there is no convincing evidence that non-insulin treated patients who undertake self-blood glucose monitoring (SBGM) have better glycaemic control than those who test their urine. This has led to a recommendation that non-insulin dependent patients undertake urine testing, which is the cheaper option. This recommendation does not take account of patients' experiences and views. This study explores the respective merits of urine testing and SBGM from the perspectives of newly diagnosed patients with Type 2 diabetes. Methods Qualitative study using repeat in-depth interviews with 40 patients. Patients were interviewed three times at 6-monthly intervals over 1 year. Patients were recruited from hospital clinics and general practices in Lothian, Scotland. The study was informed by grounded theory, which involves concurrent data collection and analysis. Results Patients reported strongly negative views of urine testing, particularly when they compared it with SBGM. Patients perceived urine testing as less convenient, less hygienic and less accurate than SBGM. Most patients assumed that blood glucose meters were given to those with a more advanced or serious form of diabetes. This could have implications for how they thought about their own disease. Patients often interpreted negative urine results as indicating that they could not have diabetes. Conclusions Professionals should be aware of the meanings and understandings patients attach to the receipt and use of different types of self-monitoring equipment. Guidelines that promote the use of consistent criteria for equipment allocation are required. The manner in which negative urine results are conveyed needs to be reconsidered.

Mundane heterosexism: understanding incidents of the everyday

In this article, discourse analysis, combined with lesbian feminist politics, are used to explore subtle forms of heterosexism in language, a social phenomenon that I have termed "mundane heterosexism," because of its everyday nature. Drawing on feminist understandings of subtle sexism and discursive psychology I analyse three forms of mundane heterosexism derived from (predominantly) tape-recorded antiheterosexism training session data: (1) prejudice against the heterosexual, (2) nonheterosexuality as a deficit and (3) refusing diversity. Two levels for challenging mundane heterosexism are discussed. interactional counterarguments, and broader societal campaigns. I conclude by advocating the necessity of further detailed analyses of the construction of mundane heterosexism, and stress the importance of heterosexism for feminist research. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The nature of an object-oriented program:how do practitioners understand the nature of what they are creating?

Object-oriented programming is seen as a difficult skill to master. There is considerable debate about the most appropriate way to introduce novice programmers to object-oriented concepts. Is it possible to uncover what the critical aspects or features are that enhance the learning of object-oriented programming? Practitioners have differing understandings of the nature of an object-oriented program. Uncovering these different ways of understanding leads to agreater understanding of the critical aspects and their relationship tothe structure of the program produced. A phenomenographic studywas conducted to uncover practitioner understandings of the nature of an object-oriented program. The study identified five levels of understanding and three dimensions of variation within these levels. These levels and dimensions of variation provide a framework for fostering conceptual change with respect to the nature of an object-oriented program.

The genius of Erasmus Darwin

The Genius of Erasmus Darwin provides insight into the full extent of Erasmus Darwin's exceptional intellect. He is shown to be a major creative thinker and innovator, one of the minds behind the late eighteenth-century industrial revolution, and one of the first, if not the first, to perceive the living world (including humans) as part of a unified evolutionary scenario. The contributions here provide contextual understandings of Erasmus Darwin's thought, as well as studies of particular works and accounts of the later reception of his writings. In this way it is possible to see why the young Samuel Taylor Coleridge was moved to describe Darwin as 'the first literary character in Europe, and the most original-minded man'. Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather, was one of the leading intellectuals of eighteenth-century England. He was a man with an extraordinary range of interests and activities: he was a doctor, biologist, inventor, poet, linguist, and botanist. He was also a founding member of the Lunar Society, an intellectual community that included such eminent men as James Watt and Josiah Wedgwood. Contents: Introduction; Setting the scene, Jonathan Powers; Prologue 'Catching up with Erasmus Darwin in the New Century', Desmond King-Hele. Section 1: Medicine: Physicians and physic in 17th and 18th century Lichfield, Dennis Gibbs; Dr Erasmus Darwin MD FRS (1731–1802): England's greatest physician?, Gordon Cook; William Pale (1743–1805) and James Parkinson (1755–1824): two peri-Erasmatic thinkers (and several others), Christopher Gardner-Thorpe; The vertiginous philosophers: Erasmus Darwin and William Charles Wells on vertigo, Nicholas Wade. Section 2: Biology: The Antipodes and Erasmus Darwin: the place of Erasmus Darwin in the heritage of Australian literature and biology, John Pearn; Erasmus Darwin on human reproductive generation: placing heredity within historical and Zoonomian contexts, Philip Wilson; All from fibres: Erasmus Darwin's evolutionary psychobiology, C.U.M. Smith; Two special doctors: Erasmus Darwin and Luigi Galvani, Rafaella Simili. Section 3: Education: But what about the women? The lunar society's attitude to women and science and to the education of girls, Jenny Uglow; The Derbyshire 'Darwinians': the persistence of Erasmus Darwin's influence on a British provincial literary and scientific community, c.1780–1850, Paul Elliot. Section 4: Technology: Designing better steering for carriages (and cars); with a glance at other inventions, Desmond King-Hele; Mama and papa: the ancestors of modern-day speech science, Philip Jackson; Negative and positive images: Erasmus Darwin, Tom Wedgwood and the origins of photography, Alan Barnes; Section 5: Environment: Erasmus Darwin's contributions to the geological sciences, Hugh Torrens; The air man, Desmond King-Hele; Erasmus Darwin, work and health, Tim Carter; Section 6: Literature: The progress of society: Darwin's early drafts for the temple of nature, Martin Priestman; The poet as pathologist: myth and medicine in Erasmus Darwin's epic poetry, Stuart Harris; 'Another and the same': nature and human beings in Erasmus Darwin's doctrines of love and imagination, Maurizio Valsania. Epilogue: 'One great slaughter-house the warring world': living in revolutionary times, David Knight; Coda: Midlands memorabilia, Nick Redman; Appendix: The Creation of the Erasmus Darwin Foundation and Erasmus Darwin House, Tony Barnard; Index.

Greening operations management:an online sustainable procurement course for practitioners

In the Operations Management field, sustainable procurement has emerged as a way to green the purchasing and supply process. This paper explores issues in sustainable procurement training. The authors formed an interdisciplinary team to design, deliver and evaluate a training programme to promote and develop sustainable procurement in the United Kingdom health sector. Particular features of the project were its engagement with evolving and contested understandings of sustainable procurement and of the underlying concept of sustainable development and its recognition that relevant knowledge in the field is both incomplete and widely diffused through the procurement community. Eight practitioner groups worked together on themes to develop their understanding of sustainable procurement using the Blackboard virtual learning environment. Group interviews were conducted upon completion of the course and again three months later to explore qualitatively participants' experience of learning and implementing sustainable procurement. Although the course was delivered to practitioners, it might be modified for undergraduate and graduate students as it comprised the use of online activities in virtual learning environments, case studies and a broad range of literature. The course was also particularly significant in the context of contemporary policy moves in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to promote the role of higher education institutions in delivering workplace-based, high-skills education consistent with strategic policy considerations (see, for example, DIUS, 2008).

An exploratory study of the role of trust in medication management within mental health services

Objective - To develop understandings of the nature and influence of trust in the safe management of medication within mental health services. Setting - Mental health services in the UK. Method - Qualitative methods were applied through focus groups across three different categories of service user—older adult, adults living in the community and forensic services. An inductive thematic analysis was carried out, using the method of constant comparison derived from grounded theory. Main Outcome - Measure Participants’ views on the key factors influencing trust and the role of trust in safe medication management. Results - The salient factors impacting trust were: the therapeutic relationship; uncertainty and vulnerability; and social control. Users of mental health services may be particularly vulnerable to adverse events and these can damage trust. Conclusion - Safe management of medication is facilitated by trust. However, this trust may be difficult to develop and maintain, exposing service users to adverse events and worsening adherence. Practice and policy should be oriented towards developing trust.

Communities, centres, connections, disconnections:some reflections on the riots in Birmingham

This paper presents key ideas from fieldwork conducted in Birmingham between 2009 and 2011. This work examined identity in 'white' neighbourhoods, and attitudes to politics and understandings of poverty in more mixed ones. This work revealed that many Birmingham residents were concerned about a perceived loss of values, the impact of 'unrespectable' households and individuals in their areas and the apparent disconnect between political representatives and local residents. In the aftermath of the disturbances of August 2011 across England, including in Birmingham, we revisit these themes and examine the implications for understanding disorder in the city of Birmingham.

Shifting accountability:a longitudinal qualitative study of diabetes causation accounts

We undertook a longitudinal qualitative study involving of 20 patients from Scotland who had type 2 diabetes. We looked at their perceptions and understandings of why they had developed diabetes and how, and why, their causation accounts had changed or remained stable over time. Respondents, all of whom were white, were interviewed four times over a 4-year period (at baseline, 6, 12 and 48 months). Their causation accounts often shifted, sometimes subtly, sometimes radically, over the 4 years. The experiential dimensions of living with, observing, and managing their disease over time were central to understanding the continuities and changes we observed. We also highlight how, through a process of removing, adding and/or de-emphasising explanatory factors, causation accounts could be used as “resources” to justify or enable present treatment choices. We use our work to support critiques of social cognition theories, with their emphasis upon beliefs being antecedent to behaviours. We also provide reflections upon the implications of our findings for qualitative research designs and sampling strategies.