Infant feeding choices: experience, self-identity and lifestyle

In England 78% of mothers initiate breastfeeding and in the UK less than 1% exclusively breastfeed until 6 months, despite WHO recommendations to do so. This study investigated women’s infant feeding choices using in-depth interviews with 12 mothers of infants aged 7-18 weeks. Using content analysis, four themes emerged: (1) Information, Knowledge and Decision Making, (2) Physical Capability, (3) Family and Social Influences, (4) Lifestyle, Independence and Self-Identity. Whilst women were aware of the ‘Breast is Best’ message, some expressed distrust in this information if they had not been breastfed themselves. Women felt their own infant feeding choice was influenced by the perceived norm amongst family and friends. Women described how breastfeeding hindered their ability to retain their self-identities beyond motherhood as it limited their independence. Several second-time mothers felt they lacked support from health professionals when breastfeeding their second baby, even if they had previously encountered breastfeeding difficulties. The study indicates that experience of breastfeeding, and belief in the health benefits associated with it are important factors for initiation of breastfeeding, whilst decreased independence and self-identity may influence duration of breastfeeding. Intervention and support schemes should tackle all mothers, not just first-time mothers.

"To strive for economic and social justice": welfare, sexuality, and party politics in San Francisco in the 1960s

This article explores how liberal politicians like Phil Burton of San Francisco joined with welfare rights lobbyists and bureaucrats to embrace late twntieth-century notions of sexual equality through a broader reconception of economic equality brought about by the expansion of the California welfare state in the early 1960s.

Religious and spiritual identity and citizenship education in the UK

If education is to be about ‘human flourishing’ (De Ruyter, 2004) as well as preparation for adulthood and work, then religious and citizenship education would seem to have a key contribution towards this goal, both offering opportunities for the exploration and development of a robust sense of identity. However, despite the opposition of most religious educators, religious education has been treated by successive UK governments simply as a form of inculcation into a homogenous notion of citizenship based on nominal church attendance. Moreover, the teaching of the relatively new subject of citizenship education, whilst recognising that the sense of identity and allegiance is complex, has not regularly included faith perspectives. I argue that the concept of ‘spiritual development’, which centres on an existential sense of identity, offers a justification for combining lessons in both religious and citizenship education. I conclude on a cautionary note, arguing that pupils need to be given a critical awareness of ways in which such identities can be provided for them by default, particularly since consumer culture increasingly makes use of ‘spiritual’ language and imagery.

Social politics in a transoceanic world in the early Cold War years

This article argues that those termed 'liberals' in the United States had the opportunity in the late 1940's to use overseas case studies to reshape the ramshackle political agenda of the New Deal along more specifically social democratic lines, but hat they found it impossible to match interest in the wider world with a concrete programme to overcome tension between left-wing politics and the emerging anti-totalitarianism of the Cold War. The American right, by contrast, conducted a highly organised publicity drive to provide new meaning for their anti-statist ideology in a post-New Deal, post-isolationist United States by using perceived failures of welfare states overseas as domestic propaganda. The examples of Labour Britain after 1945 and Labour New Zealand both provided important case studies for American liberals and conservatives, but in the Cold War it was the American right who would benefit most from an ideologically driven repackaging of overseas social policy for an American audience.

Participation of future pharmacists in a professional development certificate scheme; the paradox of personal identity

The white paper ‘Pharmacy in England’ advocates establishing a new pharmacy regulator, building leadership and integrating undergraduate education.[1] Students must morph into competent pharmacists with the skills, expertise and confidence to lead the profession to 2020 and beyond.[2] One way individuals are encouraged to ‘professionalise’ is through participation in personal/professional development schemes. The British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA) and the College of Pharmacy Practice have operated a professional development certificate (PDC) scheme since 2001. The scheme rewards students with a joint certificate for evidence of participation in five accredited activities in one academic year. Although the scheme is relevant to development of students, less than 2% of BPSA members take part annually. We wanted to understand the reasons for the low uptake. Our primary objectives were to examine the portrayal of the scheme and to investigate what it signifies to individuals. We describe our attempts to apply social marketing techniques[3] to the PDC, and we use ‘logical levels of change’[4] to highlight a paradox with personal identity.