Ethnic variations in the experiences of mental health service users in England: results of a national patient survey programme

Background: Minority ethnic groups in the UK are reported to have a poor experience of mental health services, but comparative information is scarce. Aims: To examine ethnic differences in patients’ experience of community mental health services. Method: Trusts providing mental health services in England conducted surveys in 2004 and 2005 of users of community mental health services. Multiple regression was used to examine ethnic differences in responses. Results: About 27 000 patients responded to each of the surveys, of whom 10% were of minority ethnic origin. In the 2004 survey, age, living alone, the 2004 survey, age, living alone, detention and hospital admissions were stronger predictors of patient experience than ethnicity. Self-reported mental health status had the strongest explanatory effect. In the 2005 survey, the main negative differences relative to the White British were for Asians. Conclusions: Ethnicity had a smaller effect on patient experience than other variables. Relative to the White British, the Black group did not report negative experiences whereas the Asian group were most likely to respond negatively. However, there is a need for improvements in services for minority ethnic groups, including access to talking therapies and better recording of ethnicity.

Studies On Benzo[A]Pyrene Mono-Oxygenase In The Shore Crab Carcinus-Maenas

A cytochrome P-450-dependent benzo[a]pyrene mono-oxygenase enzyme system (BPM) has been identified and partially characterized in males of the shore crab Carcinus maenas (L.). Apparent Km values obtained at 30 °C using microsomal preparations from the antennary glands of animals collected during summer were in the range 1.61–2.11 µM. The cytochrome P-450 content was 0·022 nmol/mg microsomal protein when BPM activity in the same preparation was 0·085 nmol/mg protein/min.

The religious content of ethnic identities

The religious dimensions of ethnic identities have been under-theorized. In contemporary industrial societies there is a tendency to characterize religiously demarcated groups as 'really' ethnic.This article suggests that the religious content of ethnic boundaries may be more important than might initially be assumed. A religious identification may have specific religious content and assumptions that may cause it to operate in different ways from other identities. Even if identities do not seem primarily religious per se, they may have latent religious dimensions that can become reactivated. Whilst identity conflicts and other social struggles may stimulate the return of the religious, once reactivated, the religious dimensions of identity may take on a logic of their own.Therefore, the article argues that in many contexts there is a two-way relationship between religion and ethnicity. Each can stimulate the other, rather than religion simply playing a supporting role to the ethnic centrepiece.

Racist harassment in the white hinterlands: minority ethnic children and parents' experiences in schools in Northern Ireland

This article explores the nature and extent of racist harassment in predominantly white areas. It is based upon a case study of Northern Ireland and draws upon data from indepth interviews with a total of 32 children and 43 parents drawn from the four largest minority ethnic groups in the region: Chinese, Irish Travellers, South Asians and Black Africans. The article demonstrates that racist harassment is a significant problem in schools in Northern Ireland and highlights the varied forms that it can take from overt acts of physical and verbal abuse to more covert and subtle forms of teasing and 'friendly' banter. Following a consideration of the differing responses that schools have made to racist incidents reported to them by children and/or parents, the article concludes by considering the implications of the findings and re-affirming the argument that anti-racist strategies are as relevant and necessary for schools in predominantly white regions as they are in multi-ethnic areas.

The Masculine Habitus as 'Distributed Cognition': A Case Study of 5- to 6-Year-Old Boys in an English Inner-City, Multi-Ethnic Primary School

This article provides a case study demonstrating the active role that 5- to 6-year-old boys in an English inner-city, multi-ethnic primary school play in the appropriation and reproduction of their masculine identities. It is argued that the emphasis on physicality, violence and racism found among the boys cannot be understood without reference to the immediate contexts of the local community and the school within which they are located. In making this argument the article draws upon and applies the concept of the habitus and develops this with the notion of 'distributed cognition' as proposed in sociocultural theory. Some of the implications of this analysis for working with boys in early years settings are discussed in the conclusion.

Ethnic conflict: geography of

Much ethnic conflict is territorially based. From a geographical perspective, ethnic conflict can be viewed at three scales—the inter-state, the intra-state and the micro, predominantly urban level. However conflicts at the three scales are intimately connected and interact with each other. The outcomes of conflict can produce secession, or at least some degree of separation of the groups concerned. Again, this can be viewed across a range of scale levels. A number of territorially based solutions or at least means of regulating ethnic conflict can be delineated—territoriality, dominance, and mutuality.