Achieving Cultural Normalisation of Mediation in Low Value Civil Justice: Lessons from British Columbia

This volume provides a contemporary and comprehensive critical analysis of the role and function of mediation within modern civil justice systems and its wider impact on access to justice, with a combined focus on how increasing digitisation of civil justice processes presents both challenges and opportunities for mediation’s formal inclusion. It brings together leading international scholars in the field of civil dispute resolution from a number of common and civil law jurisdictions, applying a range of methodologies to produce a variety of different perspectives on key issues such as whether mediation should form such an important part of the justice systems, whether litigants should be compelled to engage with mediation, what impact mediation has on litigants’ perceptions of justice, the role of mediators,  the role of mediation within an increasingly digitized civil justice system, whether mediation should be regulated, the impact of the Singapore Mediation Convention on the practice and mediation and the role of national courts, the impact of the EU Mediation Directive, and whether it is appropriate for policy makers and the courts to promote mediation over other forms of dispute resolution

Formation of lauoho o Pele (Pele’s hair) by extreme stretching of bubbly magma

Lauoho o Pele (often called Pele’s hair) is a common product of basaltic volcanism, produced during Hawaiian lava fountaining, gas jetting, and on the surface of flowing lava. The morphology—long thin strands of glass—indicates that these strands are formed through stretching of filaments of melt. The prevailing model is that they are formed by the action of jets of volcanic gas that “spin out” threads of melt, which quench as hairs. However, this mechanism does not explain the formation of lauoho o Pele on lava flows and lava lakes, or the occurrence of “hanks” of lauoho o Pele—bundles of hundreds to thousands of near-identical aligned strands. We propose and test an alternative mechanism: that lauoho o Pele can be formed by the extreme stretching of parcels of bubbly magma. We created pucks of synthetic bubbly magma using techniques derived from artistic hot-glass working, which we then stretched mechanically. This process produces bundles of filaments, similar to lauoho o Pele, via the stretching of the plateau borders where three bubbles meet; the number of filaments is determined by the abundance of bubbles in the molten glass. We find that lauoho o Pele forms at high vesicularity in our experiments, which is consistent with the interiors of high Hawaiian lava fountains, and the surfaces of lava lakes, and proximal and intubated lava flows

Intuitive Interspecies Communication With A Grub Reveals The Applied Arts Can No Longer Ignore Nonhuman-Animal Artisans

PURPOSE Currently, the organizational culture of Applied Arts’ spaces is bound by interlinked, oppressive/privileged systems using terms such as the ableist ‘handmade’. This article details using Intuitive Interspecies Communication, (IIC), to uncloak the proficient and multitudinous making skills of nonhuman-animals, from their own viewpoint. This simultaneously acknowledges individual nonhuman-animal artisanship and dismantles oppressive arts language. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH IIC is one of my innate skills. Using unstructured IIC interviews, nonhuman-animal artisans explain their making materials and modalities. Acting as transcriber and reflective/reflexive practitioner, I then create art jewellery to disseminate concepts from the interview data. FINDINGS Making as directed from the perspective of nonhuman-animal artisans reveals multiple oppressive/privileged biases ingrained in the Applied Arts, impacting how we attribute objects nonhuman-animals make and those created by humans with hands-free technology. The resulting non-bodycentric language provides an environment where all making is valid. ORIGINALITY/VALUE Centralising nonhuman-animal voices and reframing their ‘instinctually’-made objects as decisionmade recognises “universal multispecies creativity” (Gigliotti, 2022). This engenders compassion for fellow makers of all species oppressed by the Applied Arts’ kyriarchal systems

Prediction Bias for Physical Exertion in Chronic Fatigue: Evidence from an Observational Paradigm.

Many clinical conditions are associated with a high incidence of chronic fatigue. While some physiological causes for chronic fatigue are established, e.g., processes connected to inflammation, psychological factors may also contribute. The metacognitive theory of dyshomeostasis proposes that a mismatch between cognitive predictions and sensory evidence for actions undermines self-efficacy and perception of control, contributing to chronic fatigue. We aimed to investigate alterations in prediction for physical exertion in participants with chronic fatigue using a new paradigm based on observation, therefore avoiding sensory feedback from the periphery. Participants watched randomised sets of videos with people exercising at different physical exertion levels. Participants had to predict the rate of physical exertion (RPE) of the individuals observed in the videos. Additionally, questionnaires for chronic fatigue, disability, mood, clinical history and body characteristics were assessed. 49 complete data sets from participants with chronic fatigue and 74 data sets from control subjects were analysed in this study. Compared with the control group, participants with chronic fatigue predicted a significantly higher RPE for the observed exercising individuals across all exertion levels. Multiple linear regression models revealed that in the control group, the variance of the bias in the prediction of exertion was significantly explained by the characteristics of the individuals observed in the videos. However, in the chronic fatigue group, the variance of bias in the prediction of exertion was strongly explained by the characteristics of the observer, i.e. fatigue levels and disability. Outcomes revealed that participants with chronic fatigue predicted higher exertion levels during observations and that levels were strongly influenced by their clinical symptoms, suggesting a prediction bias for exertion being present even without performing physical tasks. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

‘It’s not just the here and now, it’s the near future’: The role of social workers as a temporal bridge when supporting older people in hospital

In the UK, around 20% of new requests for adult social care arise as a result of a hospital admission, and older people are the most likely demographic to be in need of social care support. This paper draws on interviews and surveys conducted with 108 members of hospital social work teams across the UK about their work supporting the discharge of older people from acute hospitals. We demonstrate that some of the unique contribution of hospital social workers can be framed using ecological systems theory. We focus on the way in which social workers act as a temporal bridge, highlighting the impact of chronosystems on the individual, and taking a holistic approach that includes consideration of the individual’s past, present, and future. Framing hospital social work using ecological systems theory can help articulate the value of social work in a hospital setting, especially as policy in the UK moves to favour shorter hospital admissions. Teaser Text Older people often need social care support when they are discharged from hospital, and this support is often arranged by a social worker, however we do not know much about the social work role in hospitals. This research involved 108 members of hospital social work teams. They told us that they support patients by identifying what is important to them - in their family and social circle, their history, and their future. Social workers felt that no other professionals in the hospital pay the same amount of attention to time, or the past and the future. They also felt that paying attention to the past and the future is important, because it helps patients and the professionals supporting them to make better decisions, for example about whether an older person’s needs might be best met in residential care or how they can be supported to go home from hospital

On the afterlives of incarceration: An interdisciplinary examination of narrative construction at Shrewsbury prison museum, UK

This exploratory paper uses cross-disciplinary expertise to interrogate the discourses used in a UK decommissioned prison functioning as a dark touristic destination in 2023: Shrewsbury prison. We use collective insights from media analysis, critical stylistics and criminology to ask how touristic prisons such as this construct true crime, and what place this construction has in the local/national community. In so doing, we highlight the need for spaces of this kind to make better connections between the past and the present, and raise more awareness relating to matters such as prisoner mental health, re-entry and desistance, the conditions of confinement, and its impact on families. Our findings demonstrate the value of an explicitly interdisciplinary approach to dark tourism. Approaching Shrewsbury collectively enabled us to see how narrative construction operates simultaneously at structural, cultural, and linguistic levels. It was only through shared discussion and collective documentation that the nuances of absence, framing, nostalgia, metaphor and agency became visible. Dark tourism sites such as Shrewsbury are not inert heritage spaces but active producers of meaning within contemporary debates about crime and punishment. We seek to encourage further academic involvement in order to improve the educational content that can be embedded and integrated into public-informing tourist provisions, and thus enhance such sites’ potential for visitor education and empowerment

Domesticating the UK 's Hostile Environment: Forced Migrants' Lived Experiences of Making ‘Home'

In this paper, we analyse the lived experiences of forced migrants in dispersal accommodation in the UK, contributing to understandings of the policies and politics of the hostile environment immigration regime in relation to the domestic sphere. More specifically, our research addresses the relative dearth of work exploring the intimate lived experiences of forced migrants by considering how the asylum regime shapes understandings of home and constrains processes of homemaking. We examine how material and social aspects of dispersal accommodation work to limit forced migrants' sense of home. We show how ‘out of place’ materialities, such as leaks, damp and infestations of insects, alongside broken and absent material fittings, such as decaying and missing furniture, undermine the making of a safe and comfortable home. We also illustrate how social relations within and around dispersal accommodation, including relationships and encounters with neighbours and flatmates, can undermine one's sense of home and belonging. By illustrating the interconnections of the material and social, we contribute to understandings of forced migrants' experiences of housing that are constituted through an assemblage of people, objects, relations, emotions and broader political policies. Whilst forced migrants respond to precarious housing through diverse coping strategies, this paper shows that within the context of a hostile UK asylum and migration system, the ability to make home is highly constrained

Keyworkers' Experiences of Leader Recognition During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study explores keyworkers' perceptions of managerial recognition during the COVID-19 crisis and examines how the quality of leader–member relationships shaped their motivation and well-being. Ten keyworkers were interviewed at the height of the pandemic, and thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo. Findings reveal substantial variation in how recognition was experienced across sectors, with perceptions closely tied to relational quality, fairness, and the presence or absence of bias. These results highlight that recognition functions not only as a relational exchange central to LMX theory but also as a morally meaningful practice that affirms dignity and fosters resilience during crisis. To minimise favouritism and strengthen equitable recognition, HR practitioners should implement standardised recognition systems and leader development initiatives. This study provides novel qualitative insight into manager–keyworker recognition and extends LMX scholarship by illustrating how recognition practices shaped employee outcomes in an extreme work context

The Impact of Stigma Following Migratory Marriage to the Uk: Challenges to the Racialisation of the Thai Bride

This chapter explores the social and cultural experiences of Thai women living in England following migratory marriage. Through an empirical study utilising 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews, the findings illuminate the barriers these women confront daily, predominantly due to their Thai identity and being women. Such barriers exacerbate a form of gender-based violence initiated through intersectional identity that postulates the process of stigma and racialisation. Societal perspectives of the ‘Thai bride’ or ‘mail order bride’ are underpinned through links to the sex tourism industry, resulting in sexual harassment and abuse, isolation and loneliness

Harold Arundel Moody (1882–1947)

Harold Arundel Moody was a Jamaican-born physician and one of Britain’s most influential early civil rights activists. After facing racial discrimination that barred him from hospital work, he established a medical practice in South London and turned his experiences into organised resistance. In 1931, he founded the League of Coloured Peoples, campaigning against racism in employment, housing, education, and immigration law. Moody worked tirelessly to challenge colonial injustice and support Black and Asian communities in Britain. Despite his impact, his contributions have been marginalised in British history. Remembering Moody exposes how racial justice movements have long shaped Britain’s social and political life