“They might as well be walking around the inside of a biscuit tin”: Barriers to Employment and Reintegration for ‘Politically Motivated’ Former Prisoners in Northern Ireland

The prisoner provisions under the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement clearly emphasised the importance of the reintegration and civic inclusion of ‘politically motivated’ former prisoners; however, numerous barriers to full reintegration remain. Even though these prisoners were released as part of a peace process, based on principles of conflict transformation and reconciliation, there were still The prisoner provisions under the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement emphasised the importance of the reintegration and civic inclusion of ‘politically motivated’ former prisoners; however, numerous barriers to full reintegration remain. Notwithstanding the fact that these prisoners were released as part of a peace process, based on principles of conflict transformation and reconciliation, there were still numerous conditions placed upon them as part of their release process and they continued to hold a ‘criminal’ record upon release. As with ‘ordinary’ ex-prisoners, these ‘politically motivated’ former prisoners have subsequently faced numerous obstacles in their attempts to reintegrate back into society, particularly in the area of employment. Recognising that they needed to deal with the consequences of imprisonment, ‘politically motivated’ former prisoners formed numerous self-help organisations to assist in the reintegration process and have mobilised to lobby for protection against the discrimination and unequal treatment experienced by ex-prisoners seeking employment. This article explores the remaining barriers to employment for ‘politically motivated’ former prisoners and the consequences of these barriers. The article moves to assess how prisoner groups have subsequently used a ‘rights based’ discourse to engage local government in their struggle to overcome existing obstacles before finally concluding that any piecemeal attempt to remove barriers to full reintegration will only impede the longer term conflict transformation process in Northern Ireland.

Perceiving and Reenacting Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Walking Sounds

Many studies have examined the processes involved in recognizing types of human action through sound, but little is known about whether the physical characteristics of an action (such as kinetic and kinematic parameters) can be perceived and imitated from sound. Twelve young healthy adults listened to recordings of footsteps on a gravel path taken from walks of different stride lengths (SL) and cadences. In 1 protocol, participants performed a real-time reenactment of the walking action depicted in a sound sample. Second, participants listened to 2 different sound samples and discriminated differences in SL. In a 2nd experiment, these procedures were repeated using synthesized sounds derived from the kinetic interactions between the foot and walking surface. A 3rd experiment examined the influence of altered cadence on participants' ability to discriminate changes in SL. Participants significantly adapted their own SL and cadence according to those depicted in both real and synthesized sounds (p <.01). However, although participants accurately discriminated between large changes in SL, these perceptions were heavily influenced by temporal factors, that is, when cadence changed between samples. These findings show that spatial attributes of action sounds can be both mimicked and discriminated, even when only basic kinetic interactions present within the action are specified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

Brisk walking, fitness, and cardiovascular risk:a randomized controlled trial in primary care

To examine the effects of 30 min of self-paced, non-supervised, brisk walking, 5 days per week on the health and fitness of people aged 50-65 years.

Pedometer-driven walking for chronic low back pain:A feasibility randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the feasibility of an RCT of a pedometer-driven walking program and education/advice to remain active compared with education/advice only for treatment of chronic low back pain (CLBP). METHODS: Fifty-seven participants with CLBP recruited from primary care were randomly allocated to either: (1) education/advice (E, n=17) or (2) education/advice plus an 8-week pedometer-driven walking program (EWP, n=40). Step targets, actual daily step counts, and adverse events were recorded in a walking diary over the 8 weeks of intervention for the EWP group only. All other outcomes (eg, functional disability using the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (ODQ), pain scores, physical activity (PA) measurement etc.) were recorded at baseline, week 9 (immediately post-intervention), and 6 months in both groups. RESULTS: The recruitment rate was 22% and the dropout rate was lower than anticipated (13% to 18% at 6 mo). Adherence with the EWP was high, 93% (n=37/40) walked for =6 weeks, and increased their steps/day [mean absolute increase in steps/d, 2776, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1996-3557] by 59% (95% CI, 40.73%-76.25%) from baseline. Mean percentage adherence with weekly step targets was 70% (95% CI, 62%-77%). Eight (20%) minor-related adverse events were observed in 13% (5/40) of the participants. The EWP group participants demonstrated an 8.2% point improvement [95% CI, -13 to -3.4] on the ODQ at 6 months compared with 1.6% points [95% CI, -9.3 to 6.1) for the E group (between group d=0.44). There was also a larger mean improvement in pain (d=0.4) and a larger increase in PA (d=0.59) at 6 months in EWP. DISCUSSION: This preliminary study demonstrated that a main RCT is feasible. EWP was safe and produced a real increase in walking; CLBP function and pain improved, and participants perceived a greater improvement in their PA levels. These improvements require confirmation in a fully powered RCT.

Walking the Tightrope: Using Power and Authority in Child Welfare Supervision

Recognizing the importance of understanding the way in which supervisors in child welfare perceive their administrative responsibilities and use of power and authority, an exploratory study was conducted. Supervisors in child welfare agencies in urban and rural settings participated in focus groups and discussed the impact of macro and micro factors on their performance. Policy changes, including using new approaches to child welfare, and organizational culture had a major affect on the way they offered supervision. At the micro level, their use of power was related to elements in their relationships with frontline workers and their own professional development. Implications for child welfare practice and for new and experienced supervisors are presented.

Synthesis of Walking Sounds for Alleviating Gait Disturbances in Parkinson’s Disease

Managing gait disturbances in people with Parkinson’s disease is a pressing challenge, as symptoms can contribute to injury and morbidity through an increased risk of falls. While drug-based interventions have limited efficacy in alleviating gait impairments, certain non-pharmacological methods, such as cueing, can also induce transient improvements to gait. The approach adopted here is to use computationally-generated sounds to help guide and improve walking actions. The first method described uses recordings of force data taken from the steps of a healthy adult which in turn were used to synthesize realistic gravel-footstep sounds that represented different spatio-temporal parameters of gait, such as step duration and step length. The second method described involves a novel method of sonifying, in real time, the swing phase of gait using real-time motion-capture data to control a sound synthesis engine. Both approaches explore how simple but rich auditory representations of action based events can be used by people with Parkinson’s to guide and improve the quality of their walking, reducing the risk of falls and injury. Studies with Parkinson’s disease patients are reported which show positive results for both techniques in reducing step length variability. Potential future directions for how these sound approaches can be used to manage gait disturbances in Parkinson’s are also discussed.

Non-governmental Organizational Accountability: Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk?

Concern for NGO accountability has been intensified in recent years, following the growth in the size of NGOs and their power to influence global politics and curb the excesses of globalization. Questions have been raised about where the sector embraces the same standards of accountability that it demands from government and business. The objective of this paper is to examine one aspect of NGO accountability, its discharge through annual reporting. Using Habermas’ (1984; 1987) theory of communicative action, and specifically its validity claims, the research investigates whether NGOs use their annual reporting process to account to the host societies in which they operate or steer stakeholder actions toward their own self-interests. The results of the study indicate that efforts by organizations to account are characterized by communicative action through the provision of truthful disclosures, generally appropriate to the discharge of accountability and in a manner intended to improve their understandability. At the same time, however, some organizations exhibit strategically oriented behaviors in which the disclosure content is guided by the opportunity to present organizations in a particular light and there appears a lack of rhetor authenticity. The latter findings cast doubt on the ethical inspiration of NGOs and the values they demand from business communities, and questions arise as to why such practices exist and what lessons can be learnt from them.

Walking Exercise for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: To systematically review the evidence examining effects of walking interventions on pain and self-reported function in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain.
Data Sources: Six electronic databases (Medline, CINAHL, PsychINFO, PEDro, Sport Discus and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) were searched from January 1980 up to March 2014.
Study Selection: Randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials in adults with chronic low back pain, osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia comparing walking interventions to a non-exercise or non-walking exercise control group.
Data Extraction: Data were independently extracted using a standardized form. Methodological quality was assessed using the United States Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) system.
Data Synthesis: Twenty-six studies (2384 participants) were included and suitable data from 17 were pooled for meta-analysis with a random effects model used to calculate between group mean differences and 95% confidence intervals. Data were analyzed according to length of follow-up (short-term: ≤8 weeks post randomization; medium-term: >2 months - 12 months; long-term: > 12 months). Interventions were associated with small to moderate improvements in pain at short (mean difference (MD) -5.31, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) -8.06 to -2.56) and medium-term follow-up (MD -7.92, 95% CI -12.37 to -3.48). Improvements in function were observed at short (MD -6.47, 95% CI -12.00 to -0.95), medium (MD -9.31, 95% CI -14.00 to -4.61) and long-term follow-up (MD -5.22, 95% CI 7.21 to -3.23).
Conclusions: Evidence of fair methodological quality suggests that walking is associated with significant improvements in outcome compared to control interventions but longer-term effectiveness is uncertain. Using the USPSTF system, walking can be recommended as an effective form of exercise or activity for individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain but should be supplemented with strategies aimed at maintaining participation. Further work is also required examining effects on important health related outcomes in this population in robustly designed studies.