Vulnerability and child sexual exploitation: Towards an approach grounded in life experiences

an article by Kate Brown (University of York, England) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 39 Issue 4 (November 2019)

Abstract

As child sexual exploitation (CSE) has risen towards the top of the UK’s political agenda, the concept of vulnerability has become a central frame through which to understand and address the issue.

This article analyses problems with the concept of vulnerability as it is commonly understood in relation to CSE, taking first steps towards developing an empirically-grounded account of the notion which is more sensitive to the lived realities of victimhood for sexually exploited young people.

Drawing on data from participatory qualitative research into life stories of ‘moving on’ from CSE in a large Northern city in England, the article illustrates how vulnerability is shaped through individual factors, situational dynamics and structural forces, connected by human agency through time. It argues that to respond effectively to vulnerability within the field of CSE, we need to move beyond discussion of ‘risk factors’ and denial of agency, towards an understanding of intersectional social divisions, social marginality, ‘critical moments’ and how these shape the investments and actions of vulnerable young people.

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Antipsychotics for Amphetamine Psychosis. A Systematic Review

an article by  Dimy Fluyau (Emory University, Atlanta, USA), Paroma Mitra (NYU, New York, USA) and Kervens Lorthe (Miami Regional University, Miami Springs, USA) published in frontiers in Psychiatry (15 October 2019)

Background

Among individuals experiencing amphetamine psychosis, it may be difficult to rule out schizophrenia.
The use of antipsychotics for the treatment of amphetamine psychosis is sparse due to possible side effects.
Some arguments disfavor their use, stating that the psychotic episode is self-limited.
Without treatment, some individuals may not fully recover from the psychosis and may develop full-blown psychosis, emotional, and cognitive disturbance.
This review aims to investigate the clinical benefits and risks of antipsychotics for the treatment of amphetamine psychosis.

Methods

Electronic search on trials on antipsychotic drugs for amphetamine psychosis from their inception to November 2018 was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Cochrane Review Database, Medline Ovid, and EMBASE following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines.
The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool assessed the risk of bias, the methodological quality of individual trials was assessed by the Oxford Quality Scoring System, and the quality of evidence for recommendations was judged by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE).
The results were synthesized qualitatively and quantitatively.

Results

The investigation of six randomized controlled trials of 314 participants showed that aripiprazole, haloperidol, quetiapine, olanzapine, and risperidone were able to reduce or control the psychotic episode (positive and negative symptoms) induced by amphetamine use with no adverse event.
Although the side-effect profile of these agents varied, no drug was clinically superior to others.

Conclusions

This review suggests that antipsychotics seem to be efficacious for amphetamine psychosis on both positive and negative symptoms.
Practitioners need to tailor their use based on risks for side effects individually.

Full text (PDF 14pp)

Please note:
This source produces information for practitioners but sometimes, as now, contains something which I think is of more general interest.

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An empirical study of purchase behaviour on social platforms

an article by Vladlena Benson and Chris Hand (Kingston Business School, UK) and Jean-Noel Ezingeard (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) published in Information Technology & People Volume 32 Issue 4 (2019)

Abstract

Purpose
Social media users’ purchasing behaviour is yet to be fully understood by research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how purchase intention is affected by social media user traits, cognitive factors (such as perceived control and trust) and individual beliefs, such as risk propensity and trustworthiness.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors propose and empirically test a model of purchase intention on social platforms. The study of over 500 active social media users finds the links between risk propensity, trust, technical efficacy and perceived control and explores the moderating effect of age and gender.

Findings
Purchase intention on social platforms is influenced by demographic factors, cognitive factors and beliefs. Both age and gender moderate the effects of beliefs and cognitive factors: age is a determinant of purchase intention for men, while beliefs are significant for younger women and cognitive factors are significant for older women.

Research limitations/implications
This study involved a cross-sectional design via online survey of social networking users. Gender differences in purchase intentions are found which are, in turn, influenced by age. Further empirical testing of social purchase intention could include less experienced users or non-users.

Practical implications
The results of this study provide guidance for SNS providers and technology developers in social networking commerce in terms of the different drivers of purchase intention.

Originality/value
Social media users’ purchasing behaviour is yet to be fully understood. The study shows that purchase intention antecedents vary between genders and age groups of users. The identified connection between users’ perceptions of social networking sites (SNS) usage of personal information and purchase behaviour has an impact on the likelihood of user engagement in social transactions.

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The dissonance of the short and long term

a column by Jon Danielsson and Robert Macrae for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

The type of risk we most care about is long-term, what happens over years or decades, but we tend to manage that risk over short periods.

This column argues that the dissonance of risk is that we measure and manage what we don't care about and ignore what we do.

Continue reading

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What option prices tell us about the ECB's unconventional monetary policies

a column by Stan Olijslagers, Annelie Petersen, Nander de Vette,and Sweder Van Wijnbergen for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

The decade since the Global Crisis has seen central banks employ a range of monetary policy tools.

This column draws two lessons from the unconventional monetary policy measures employed during the European sovereign debt crisis.

First, central banks should communicate clearly – and with sufficient detail – in times of heightened market stress to lower tail risk perceptions in financial markets.

Second, policies aimed at changing the relative supply within different asset classes have an impact on perceived crash risk, while measures aimed at easing financing costs of commercial banks do not.

Continue reading

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The wealth effect: The middle class and the changing politics of banking crises

a column by Jeffrey Chwieroth and Andrew Walter for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

The accumulation of mass financialised wealth has transformed the politics of banking crises.

This column shows that the rising wealth of the middle classes has generated great expectations that their wealth will be protected by the government. As a result, democracies perform more financial sector bailouts and are also more financially fragile and politically unstable.

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‘We always torment different people, so by definition, we are no bullies’: The problem of definitions in cyber-bullying research

an article by Jette Kofoed (Aarhus University, Denmark) and Elisabeth Staksrud (University of Oslo, Norway) published in New Media & Society Volume 21 Issue 4 (April 2019)

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the power of prevailing definitions within the research field of cyber-bullying. We address how these definitions, mostly deriving from developmental psychology, have had a problematic influence on the way researchers, policymakers, practitioners working with interventions, and children and young people themselves approach the challenge of understanding and preventing cyber-bullying and its consequences.

We analyse how the definition of cyber-bullying stemming from developmental psychology is inadequate in addressing the complexities of technologically mediated exclusionary processes in educational- and peer-group settings.

The dominant research paradigm has suppressed such complexity by deeming irrelevant the extensive experience with cyber-bullying of many children and young people. Thus, we argue that it is necessary for the research field to refine definitional work.

Research on cyberbullying needs to draw on a broad spectrum of empirical data and incorporate multiple and diverse theoretical perspectives.

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Banking integration in the EMU: Let's get real!

a column by Mathias Hoffmann, Egor Maslov, Bent Sørensen and Iryna Stewen for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

Bank-to-bank lending in the euro area has increased, direct cross-border lending has not.

The column shows that dependence on domestic banks reduces risk-sharing in a crisis, reducing GDP growth in affected country-sectors. Benefits from banking integration are only robust to global shocks if banking integration takes the form of cross-border lending to firms and households.

Continue reading\

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Attracting young people to the mining industry: six recommendations

an article by Jan Johansson, Bo Johansson, Joel Lööw, Magnus Nygren and Lena Abrahamsson (Luleå University of Technology, Sweden) published in International Journal of Mining and Mineral Engineering Volume 9 Number 2 (2018)

Abstract

The present workforce in the mining industry is ageing, and mining companies have difficulties recruiting young people who are not particularly interested in working in the industry. Simultaneously, mining companies tend to rely on contractors that offer volume flexibility and expertise, often in a combination that is economically appealing.

This makes recruitment and development of the whole of the mining workforce complex.

To recruit the right workforce, mining companies and their contractors need to cooperate and improve their knowledge about both attractive and repelling work features so that they can make wiser strategic decisions based on facts.

On the basis of a Swedish context, we discuss different aspects of attractive workplaces and summarise our 'lessons learned' in six recommendations dealing with general health and safety issues, work organisation, competence development, gender equality, social responsibility and outsourcing.

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Housing policy: Learning from the past and looking to the future

a column by David Miles for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

The housing market faces major challenges in both the short and long run in terms of affordability, price variability, ownership structures, financing, and their impacts upon wider macroeconomic stability. This column summarises a conference on lessons for the future of housing, jointly organised by the Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis at Imperial College Business School and CEPR.

Continue reading

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A Study into Breaches of Youth Justice Orders and the Young People Who Breach Them

an article by Laurie D. Grandi (Middlesex University, London, UK) and Joanna R. Adler (affiliation(s) unknown) published in Youth Justice Volume 16 Issue 3 (2016)

Abstract

This study concerns the incidence and aetiology of breach of youth community sentences.

A between-groups archival study compared those who breached with those who did not, on socio-demographic and criminogenic factors. Breachers were a minority, likely to breach repeatedly and were similar to those who re-offended.

Whether they breach or re-offend may depend on something other than the characteristics of the Order and the young person’s situation. Youth Justice Professionals should be mindful of the identified areas of need and responsivity when considering compliance.

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Educating for food security in the UK: Planning for an uncertain future

an article by Howard Lee (Hadlow College, UK) published in Local Economy Volume 30 Number 3 (May 2015)

Abstract

The pressures affecting the UK’s food production infrastructure are reviewed, with a conclusion that security of supply is currently unsafe.

Planning ahead to improve security of supply is argued as key, especially as we try to cope with an uncertain future.

The challenge of planning for uncertainty of food supply leads to a consideration of recent research on risk and the ideas of Taleb about antifragility.

This investigation is in the context of Higher Education delivery for the next generation of agriculture and commercial horticulture graduates: the impacts of resource restrictions and opportunities of novel modes of teaching are reviewed as we learn to work with greater uncertainty.

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Whose choice? Young people, career choices and reflexivity re-examined

an article by Jacqueline Laughland-Booÿ and Zlatko Skrbiš (Monash University, Australia) and Margery Mayall (The University of Queensland, Australia) published in Current Sociology Volume 63 Number 4 (July 2015)

Abstract

Young people making future career choices are doing so in an environment that often highlights the benefits supposedly wrought by individualisation and reflexive choice. It is argued that those who demonstrate reflexivity in their decision-making would have an advantage in the negotiation of future risks.

The authors of this article agree with theorists who note that career choices are still strongly influenced by a person’s location in the class structure. However, unlike some writers who suggest youth from more privileged socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to evaluate risk and demonstrate reflexivity, the authors suggest the opposite.

Interviews were conducted with young people aged 16–17 who are participating in an ongoing project designed to follow a cohort of young Australians from adolescence into later life. Our findings suggest that while a more privileged location may afford young people security from many potential risks and problems, this may in fact encourage a non-reflexive perspective and they may choose careers based on social norms rather than ability.

Instead, we argue that it is young people from less privileged backgrounds who tend to demonstrate reflexivity in their career planning.

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Tracking devices: On the reception of a novel security good

an article by Angélica Thumala (Catholic University of Chile), Benjamin Goold (University of British Columbia, Canada) and Ian Loader (University of Oxford, UK) published in Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume 15 Number 1 (February 2015)

Abstract

In this article, we describe and make sense of the reception of a novel security good: namely, the personal GPS tracking device.

There is nothing new about tracking. Electronic monitoring is an established technology with many taken-for-granted uses. Against this backdrop, we focus on a particular juncture in the ‘social life’ of tracking, the moment at which personal trackers were novel goods in the early stages of being brought to market and promoted as protective devices.

Using data generated in a wider study of security consumption, our concern is to understand how this extension of tracking technology into everyday routines and social relations was received by its intended consumers and users.

How do potential buyers or users respond to these novel protective devices?
What is seductive or repulsive about keeping track of those towards whom one has a duty or relationship of care?
How do new tracking technologies intersect with – challenge, reshape or get pushed back by – existing social practices and norms, most obviously around questions of risk, responsibility, trust, autonomy and privacy?

This article sets out to answer these questions and to consider what the reception of this novel commodity can tell us about the meaning and future of security.

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Individual Choice and Risk: The Case of Higher Education

an article by Malcolm Brynin (University of Essex, UK) published in Sociology Volume 47 Number 2 (April 2013)

Abstract

The expansion of higher education raises the risk environment for school-leavers as more occupations become partially graduate with the result that occupational signals are fuzzy.

This makes the educational decision more difficult and more risky, especially with more of the cost of higher education being transferred to the individual.

After a discussion of the nature of risk, derived from Beck, and of the role of government policy and of economics in obscuring this, the analysis uses simple quantitative techniques, based on British Labour Force Survey data, to demonstrate the increased fuzziness of graduate work.

It is also shown that a rising proportion of graduates receive only average pay, thus raising the risks associated with educational investments even further.

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Risk, responsibilities and rights: Reassessing the ‘economic causes of crime’ thesis in a recession

an article by Ross Fergusson (Open University, Milton Keynes, UK) published in Youth Justice Volume 13 Number 1 (April 2013)

Abstract

This article explores competing accounts of an apparent inversion of the previously prevailing relationship between young people’s unemployment and the incidence of youth offending at a time of economic recession.

It begins by highlighting the faltering association between unemployment and offending, and considers the paradoxical implications for risk-based methodologies in youth justice practice. The article then assesses explanations for the changing relationship that suggest that youth justice policies have successfully broken the unemployment–offending link; and alternatively that delayed effects of recession have yet to materialise, by reference to the work of four inter-governmental organisations and to youth protests beyond the UK.

In place of ever more intensive risk analyses, the article then focuses on the adverse effects of unemployment on social cohesion, and proposes a rights-based approach to youth justice that recognizes the growing disjuncture between the rights afforded to young people and the responsibilities expected of them.

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An independent review of British health and safety regulation? From common sense to non-sense

an article by Phil James (Oxford Brookes University, UK), Steve Tombs (Liverpool John Moores University, UK) and David Whyte (University of Liverpool, UK) published in Policy Studies Volume 34 Issue 1 (2013)

Abstract

The view that regulatory provisions protecting the employment conditions of workers need to be minimised in order to protect the business needs of employers has been an ongoing theme in British governmental policy discourse over the past three decades.

For the present Coalition government, the assumption that current levels of regulation are unduly burdensome on employers and hence harmful to the economy has continued to be enthusiastically voiced, most notably in respect of the regulation of workplace health and safety.

Against this backcloth, this paper develops a critical examination of the conclusions of an ‘independent’ review of health and safety regulations commissioned by the present UK Government to shed light on the way in which a deregulatory policy agenda is being furthered.

The paper commences by locating the recent review of health and safety regulations, the ‘Löfstedt review’, in the context of other recent government initiatives aimed at alleviating the burden of health and safety regulation from the shoulders of employers.

It then moves on to outline the nature of this review and its main conclusions and recommendations, before considering in turn its use of evidence, deployment of the notion of ‘low risk’ and lack of attention to the issue of enforcement.

Finally, a concluding section draws together the key points to emerge from the preceding analysis and highlights how the Löfstedt review can be seen to form an integral part of a misleading deregulatory discourse that threatens to engender the wholesale undermining of workplace health and safety protections.

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Risk Aversion and Anxiety in Scottish Criminal Justice Social Work: Can Desistance and Human Rights Agendas Have an Impact?

an article by Jane Fenton (University of Dundee) published in The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume 52 Issue 1 (February 2013)

Abstract

This article explores the difficulty that criminal justice social work (CJSW) might have in implementing a desistance approach to work with offenders.

Supporting desistance requires responsive, autonomous social workers and this article questions whether criminal justice agencies, characterised by risk aversion and managerialism, would be able to tolerate the anxiety this would inevitably, and properly, generate.

Suggestions are made regarding the place of desistance work within a positive human rights framework, which might provide a force against the corrosive progression of popular punitivism – a major factor in the persistence of risk averse, managerial practice.

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Representing and Preventing Youth Crime and Disorder: Intended and Unintended Consequences of Targeted Youth Programmes in England

an article by Laura Kelly (School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University) published in Youth Justice Volume 12 Number 2 (August 2012)

Abstract

Drawing on a qualitative study conducted in England, this article argues that targeted youth projects often benefit participants, but over-stating their ability to prevent crime and ‘anti-social behaviour’ can be problematic.

Voluntary services with limited resources ultimately focus on receptive young people, but pressure to justify funding encourages practitioners, programme managers and policy-makers to highlight the ‘riskiness’ of participants and publicise the most striking successes.

Such practices can serve to consolidate negative representations of the risk posed by young people (or ‘define deviance up’) and give credence to the notions of choice and intractability that underpin punitive policies. Meanwhile, alternative justifications for youth provision are silenced.

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