Talking about the genes for cancer. A study of lay and professional knowledge of cancer genetics

This paper is concerned with the ways in which people who work in and use a cancer genetics clinic in the UK talk about the ‘gene for cancer’. By conceptualising such a gene as a boundary object, and using empirical data derived from clinic consultations, observations in a genetics laboratory and interviews with patients, the author seeks to illustrate how the various parties involved adopt different discursive strategies to appropriate, describe and understand what is apparently the ‘same’ thing. The consequent focus on the ways in which the rhetorical and syntactical features of lay and professional talk interlink and diverge, illustrates not merely how our contemporary knowledge of genes and genetics is structured, but also how different publics position themselves with respect to the biochemistry of life.

Shaping the Future of Mental Health Policy and Legislation in Northern Ireland: The Impact of Service User and Professional Social Work Discourses

This paper explores the complex interrelationship between service user and professional social work discourses and provides a critical commentary on their respective contributions to the recent review of mental health policy and legislation in Northern Ireland. The analysis indicates that dominant trends in mental health care, as mediated through service structures and institutional identities, have tended to prioritize the more coercive aspects of the social work role and reinforce existing power inequalities with service users. It is argued that such developments underline the need for a ‘refocusing’ debate in mental health social work to consider how a more appropriate balance can be achieved between its participatory/empowering and regulatory/coercive functions. Whilst highlighting both congruence and dissonance between respective discourses, the paper concludes that opportunities exist within the current change process for service users and social workers to build closer alliances in working together to reconstruct practice, safeguard human rights and develop innovative alternatives to a traditional bio-medical model of treatment.

Analysis of the admissions tests for teacher training in Spain and Finland: knowledge or competences

One of the most decisive factors in the quality of education and academic performance of students is quality, preparation and dedication of the teachers. The exquisite system of selecting candidates for teacher training programs is one of the fundamentals of success of the Finnish Education System. The responsibility of choosing the best students to convert them into teachers is a challenge that involves a significant reform of university admission. Achieving this goal involves the choice of strategies and educational tools in accordance to the complexity of the demands presented by the teaching profession in the digital age. This study describes, analyzes and compares the admission tests in the University of Spain (PAU) and Finland (VAKAVA), for those who wish to become professional educators, in order to understand the possible influence of these tests to select the most suitable candidates to develop into future teaching professionals. The results showed that in Spain, the entrance test to universities is developed in a general way for all the students that aspire to any field of knowledge, while in Finland, the test is specific and particular for students aspiring to the field of education. The results of this study can guide and encourage the necessary changes that have to be done in the admission tests to Spanish university in general and to teacher education faculties in particular.

Notes on the History of Social Work: An Examination of the Transition from Philanthropy to Professional Social Work in Ireland

The objective of the article is to examine the way in which social work in Ireland evolved from practices of philanthropy in the late 19th century to a distinct professional strategy in the present. Results: The results of archival research show that philanthropy in Ireland was provided almost exclusively by religious organizations and was constructed within a discourse of sectarianism and rivalry between the two main denominations, Catholic and Protestant, up to the 1960s. It is only in the past 30 years that social work has become firmly established as a secular strategy. Conclusions: It is concluded that although social work is now clearly distinct from voluntary and religious-based social work practices, some of its present principles and practices remain continuous with its historical antecedents.