Some Useful books For Social Science Dissertations & Honours Projects

More on the Anthony Giddens Lecture

Anyone wishing to attend the FREE lecture by Anthony Giddens please note: There is a coach leaving from the Bedford campus at 11.30am. The lecture will begin at 1pm.

Please confirm your attendance with Helen Connolly at: helen.connolly@beds.ac.uk AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if you wish to attend.

Free Lecture By Leading Sociologist Anthony Giddens

Leading sociologist and advocate of the "Third Way", Anthony Giddens will be giving a free lecture about his forthcoming book "Off the Edge of History: the World in the 21st Century next Wednesday (17th April 2013). The lecture will take place at 1.00 pm in room G101, Luton Campus Centre.

The lecture is free to all students at the University of Bedfordshire. If you plan to attend please email Helen Connolly at: helen.connolly@beds.ac.uk

Social Workers Need Compulsory Substance Misuse Training Say Experts

Photograph by grant_loy

A report by the charity Adfam, revealed widespread fears that social workers are not given adequate training or effective managerial supervision on substance misuse and its impact on children and parenting.

Social work degrees should include compulsory training on substance misuse, drug charities have warned.

You can read the full article in Community Care here and also vote in their poll.

New Reports On Poverty From The Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Photograph by Ed Yourdon

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has recently published a series of reports looking at poverty in the UK. They are:

• The Links Between Housing & Poverty. A study looking at housing experience and its relationship to poverty and the role of housing in enabling people to take up employment.
• Measuring Child Poverty: A Consultation On Better MeasuresOf Child Poverty. JRF's response to the Department for Education on 'Measuring Child Poverty: a consultation on better measures of child poverty'.
• Poverty And Low Educational Achievement In Wales. Looks at the evidence and considers the best measures to improve educational achievement for children living in poverty in Wales.
• Poverty And Ethnicity In Northern Ireland. This study examines the evidence on how people across different ethnic groups in Northern Ireland experience poverty and how this affects their access to work and support, including key services.
• Monitoring Poverty And Social Exclusion in Scotland 2013. JRF's sixth study of poverty and social exclusion in Scotland highlights a huge rise in unemployment for under-25s, and stark and growing health inequalities.Using the latest Government data, it assesses a wide range of indicators including unemployment, education, and health.
• Monitoring Poverty And Sociual Exclusion 2012. Is tackling in-work poverty the key for anti-poverty initiatives?
  
  
  You can find even more reports on poverty by the JRF on their website here: http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications

New Free Film & Resources For Working With Older People

Age UK Brighton & Hove and the University of Brighton have produced a film and learning resources which aim to develop ethical practice in supporting people to make decisions in later life, and contribute to their well-being.

The resources were produced as part of an ESRC funded Knowledge Exchange project. It brought together social care practitioners, older people and university researchers to develop the resources which are based on participatory research carried out by Professor Marian Barnes and Dr Lizzie Ward from the University of Brighton working in partnership with Age UK Brighton & Hove and a team of older co-researchers.

The research was designed to enable older people to talk in their own terms about what well-being means to them, and how it is produced. So the resources are based not only on findings about older people and well-being, but learning from the process of working with older people and with practitioners to generate and apply knowledge for policy and practice.


You can access the film and the accompanying handbook by going to:


http://www.brighton.ac.uk/sass/older-people-wellbeing-and-participation/

Young Offenders Failed By Care System Says New Report

Photograph by Richard Masoner/Cycledelicious

An new report by HM Inspectorate of Probation "Looked After Children: An inspection of the work of Youth Offending Teams with children and young people who are looked after and placed away from home" reveals that children in care in England and Wales who've been in trouble with the law are being failed by youth offending teams.

The Inspectorate of Probation raised concerns about children placed far from home, and some youth offending team staff who thought little about the emotional impact of being in care.

The report looked at 60 children, from about 3,000 supervised by the teams. It found about a third of children were placed more than 100 miles away from home, and nearly two-thirds were placed 50 miles away.


Basic checks were not made when placing these "vulnerable and potentially dangerous" children into homes, the report said, adding that examples had been found of sex attackers being placed with abuse victims.

Youth offending teams and and other agencies did not "always work effectively together in the best interests of the children", and poor planning and assessment meant insufficient protection for two-thirds of the children.


You can read more on this story on the BBC News website here.

International Crackdown On Human Trafficking

Immigration Minister Mark Harper has joined with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to call on international partners to redouble efforts against human trafficking. He outlined work the government is undertaking to tackle this crime, both in the UK and overseas. This includes:

• work with embassies and high commissions of key source countries
• collaboration between the Metropolitan Police, the Romanian National Police and the Romanian Embassy to share intelligence
• work by Border Force officials to identify victims
• victim care under a contract run by the Salvation Army

Mark Harper said: 'Human trafficking is an atrocious crime that requires a strong and robust approach, both from within the UK and internationally.


'The government will continue to identify what further we can do to stop people from becoming victims in the first place and, if they do, how we can best support them to recover and recuperate from their terrible ordeal.

'Our aim is to build on our collective efforts with international partners so far to continue to support victims and to identify and punish perpetrators.'

The top five countries for trafficking, based on potential victims referred through the UK's victim care system, are Nigeria, Vietnam, Romania, China and Slovakia. The top ten countries accounted for more than 64% of all referrals in 2011.









 

100's Of Children With "No State" In The UK

The BBC has found that hundreds of children living rough in London and other cities may have no nationality. 

Inside Out London has uncovered stories of children who according to official records do not exist - some forced into sex work to eat.

Further research by the BBC suggests it is a UK-wide problem. Charities warn of stateless children in Birmingham, Leeds, Coventry, Nottingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Oxford and Cardiff.

"The problems caused by statelessness are by no means limited to London," Chris Nash, of charity Asylum Aid, said. Though, he acknowledges it is in the capital that the problem is most acute.

Many of London's stateless youths came to the UK legally, but were never officially registered. They cannot access education or apply for social housing. According to two respected youth charities contacted by the BBC, there are "hundreds" of them in the city.

Both Coram Children's Legal Centre and Peckham Project Safe 'n' Sound are calling for increased awareness of the problem.

Safe 'n' Sound's Jennifer Blake said: "To date, we've been approached by over 600 young people. It is a big issue."

Inside Out London is on BBC 1 tonight, (Monday 5th October) at 7.30 pm and on BBC iPlayer for a week afterwards. 

You can read more on this story on the BBC News website here.

On TV Next Week...

Coming up on TV next week:

• Britain on the brink: back to the 20s? - Panorama BBC1 8.30-9.00 pm, Monday 9th July. With Britain in its longest financial slump for decades, Adam Shaw investigates whether we can cope with a new age of austerity that might bring similar social and political upheaval to 1970s.
• Riots: the aftershock BBC3 9.00-10.00 pm, Monday 9th July. Gemma Cairney investigates how the riots in England last August changed the lives of those involved. Over nine months, cameras follow thre people who were arrested, as well as several victims of violent disturbances.
• The town that never retired (1/2) BBC1 9.00-10.00 pm, Wednesday 11th July.  In the first on two programmes (the second episode is at 9pm on Thursday 12th July) The Apprentice's Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford head up an experiment in Preston to see if men and women in their 70s can still cut it in the modern workplace. With life expectancy in the UK rising and the pension pot tight, the government is looking to raise the retirement age to reflect this societal change - and some would claim economic necessity. Part of the BBC's ageing season.
• June Brown: Respect your elders BBC1 10.35-11.25 pm, Thursday 12th July. Veteran Eastenders star, June Brown talks to older people about their varied experiences in the care system, including her former on-screen husband John Bardon, who had a stroke five years ago and now needs 24 hour care.

Unpaid carers being 'let down by failing social care'

The UK's "army of unpaid carers" is being "let down" by the failing social care system, campaigners warn.

Eight leading charities, including Age UK and Carers UK, have joined together to highlight the plight they face under the umbrella of Carers Week.

Feedback from 3,400 carers showed those providing the most intensive care often ended up with health problems themselves.

The government said there was now extra funding to allow carers' breaks. It is estimated that one in six carers either give up work or reduce their hours to look after elderly friends and relatives or younger adults with disabilities.

Read more on this story on the BBC News website here.

Sexually Exploited Children Are At Further Risk In Care Says Barnardo's

Children who have been sexually exploited and trafficked are being put in further danger because of a dire lack of trained foster carers, children's charity Barnardo's has warned.

The most vulnerable children are left in residential care or secure units where they are at greater risk from groomers and traffickers, according to the charity.

Taking action after nine men were jailed for grooming young girls for sex in Rochdale, the Department of Education has announced new funding for a specialist foster care scheme in an attempt to tackle the problem, but Barnardo's argues that more must be done.

"Without a doubt the system is completely failing children in residential care. This idea that you can gather large numbers of vulnerable children together in one place acts as a magnet to abusers – you might as well put up a neon sign saying get your most vulnerable children here," said Anne-Marie Carrie, chief executive of Barnardo's.

You can read more on this story on The Guardian's website here.

Social Mobility & Ethnicity in the UK

Dr Neil Smith, Research Fellow at the Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine has made a special blog post on the Inequalities blog in which he reviews the evidence, including his own on the links between ethnicity and life chances in the UK and why this matters in the drive to improve social mobility.

He has found:

In March 2012, we heard that over a half of the UK’s Black youths aged between 16 and 24 were unemployed – a finding that is indicative of the persistence of ethnic inequalities in the labour market.

The latest figures highlight the failure of recent attempts at sending equally qualified school leavers into the market to compete at the same levels, regardless of social or ethnic background But one criticism of the crude analysis of the ONS data above is the lack of information surrounding the social and economic backgrounds of the unemployed Black youths. Is it ethnicity that determines the labour market successes, or is it instead education and class background?


You can read the full blog post here: http://inequalitiesblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/social-mobility-and-ethnicity-in-the-uk/

Experts Warn Health Risks of Cannabis 'Underestimated'

Experts are warning that the public dangerously underestimates the health risks linked to smoking cannabis.

The British Lung Foundation carried out a survey of 1,000 adults and found a third wrongly believed cannabis did not harm health. And 88% incorrectly thought tobacco cigarettes were more harmful than cannabis ones - when the risk of lung cancer is actually 20 times higher.

Latest figures show that 30% of 16-59 year-olds in England and Wales have used cannabis in their lifetimes.

A new report from the BLF says there are established scientific links between smoking cannabis and tuberculosis, acute bronchitis and lung cancer. Part of the reason for this, say the experts, is that people smoking cannabis take deeper puffs and hold them for longer than when smoking tobacco cigarettes.

Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive of the BLF said: "It is alarming that, while new research continues to reveal the multiple health consequences of smoking cannabis, there is still a dangerous lack of public awareness of quite how harmful this drug can be.

"This is not a niche problem - cannabis is one of the most widely-used recreational drugs in the UK, with almost a third of the population having tried it.

"We therefore need a serious public health campaign - of the kind that has helped raise awareness of the dangers of eating fatty foods or smoking tobacco - to finally dispel the myth that smoking cannabis is somehow a safe pastime."

The BLF's report says there should be a public education programme to raise awareness of the impact of smoking cannabis and increased investment in research into the health consequences of its use.

The full report: The Impact of Cannabis on Your Lungs, which covers both the health risks and includes statistics on its use in the UK is freely available to download here.

Diamond Jubilee: You in '52

Here's an interesting little feature that I found on the BBC News site. Select whether you're male or female and click the tabs to find out what your life would have been like in early 1950s Britain. As you might expect options for women were extremely limited!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18152914

Report On Youth Offending Work In Bedfordshire

HM Institute of Probation has published an inspection report on youth offending services in Bedfordshire.

The report states: “We found a staff team committed to delivering quality interventions with children and young people, supported by effective partnership working. The areas for improvement are recognised by managers and attention is being paid to provide more consistent oversight of Risk of Harm work. As such, Bedfordshire YOS is in a strong position to build upon the strengths identified by this inspection.”

The report is available to read here: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/hmiprob/youth-inspection-reports/core-case/bedfordshire-cci.pdf

Girl's Attitudes & Role Models Explored

A new report by Girlguiding UK highlights a role model deficit among girls and young women, shedding light on how the narrow range of positive examples available to girls and young women aged 7 to 21 is linked to a limited range of aspirations for their futures.

The report, prepared from focus group research, says that girls who think it right to refrain from sex while still far below the legal age of consent are no more than “a significant minority”. Several of those surveyed admitted taking risks and pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone in order to feel accepted – drinking alcohol, partying and having underage sex. They justify their actions by referring to the abundance of TV shows that are seen to normalise such behaviour.

The full report is available here:
http://www.girlguiding.org.uk/pdf/GirlsAttitudesExploredRoleModels_FINAL.pdf [PDF 5.55MB]

Tyler Whelan Death: 'Agencies Missed Chances'

Peterborough Safeguarding Children Board has published its Serious Case Review into the death of Tyler Whelan. The report is available to download here: Peterborough Serious Case Reviews.

According to the BBC News Website's coverage the report shows that child protection agencies missed "numerous opportunities".The report examined the role of Peterborough Children's Services department, medical professionals, Cambridgeshire police and probation officers. It found an assessment of the family carried out by a social worker was "very poor" and had not met "procedural requirements".

The report identified "numerous missed opportunities when interventions should have been more rigorous and incisive or clear". But it said there was no evidence that the death could have been prevented.

Tyler died in hospital in March 2011 after collapsing at home in Peterborough. His mother, Stephanie Whelan, 27, was found guilty of allowing or causing the death of her son.Her former partner, Elvis Lee, 34, was convicted of the murder at Cambridge Crown Court.

Next Week On Radio 4: Children, Drugs & Alternatives To Custody

Next week on BBC Radio 4:

Monday 14th May, 8.00 pm The Trouble With Kane (1/2). Documentary about a 12 year old cannabis user, one of the first youngsters in Britain to be given intensive family therapy, coupled with intensive home drug-testing, as an alternative to custody.

You can listen to the programme on BBC Radio 4 online (once its been broadcast) at this address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01hq80p or by any other radio of course!

Social Determinants Of Health & Well-being Among Young People

The World Health Organisation has published a new report which looks at how health and well-being inschool-aged children in determined by their social circumstances.

The report gives the results of the 2009/2010 HBSC survey, covering 39 countries and regions across the European Region and North America. It collected data from 11, 13 and 15-year-olds on 60 topics related to their health and well-being, social environments and behaviour. Responding to the survey, the young people described their social context (relations with family, peers and school), physical health and satisfaction with life, health behaviours (patterns of eating, tooth brushing and physical activity) and risk behaviours (use of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis, sexual behaviour, fighting and bullying). Statistical analyses were carried out to identify meaningful differences in the prevalence of health and social indicators by gender, age group and levels of family affluence.

The report is available to view here: http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/Life-stages/child-and-adolescent-health/publications/2012/social-determinants-of-health-and-well-being-among-young-people.-health-behaviour-in-school-aged-children-hbsc-study