Cyberstalking in the United Kingdom: an analysis of the ECHO Pilot Survey

An Analysis of the ECHO Pilot SurveyNetwork for Surviving Stalking is internationally recognised as the leading Registered Charity in the United Kingdom dedicated to supporting victims of stalking, free of cost or commercial gain. It aims to provide support to victims, potential victims and others affected by stalking or harassment throughout the UK, to raise awareness of the subject and to provide information about stalking and harassment to professionals, relevant agencies and the public. As we have moved into an age of electronic information and communication, stalkers have found new, more effective and efficient means to perpetrate their malicious acts; stalkers have become Cyberstalkers. Cyberstalking has become somewhat of an epidemic stretching across the globe. Network for Surviving Stalking began to notice that an increasing number of people searching for support were being stalked or harassed online, making the charity concerned as to the prevalence, nature and impact of cyberstalking. The charity commissioned a team of researchers and together developed an online questionnaire to establish answers to these questions. This report provides an analysis of the responses to the questionnaire

'As a matter of fact I've just about had enough'; : battle weariness and the 2nd New Zealand division during the Italian campaign, 1943-45 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

By the time that the 2nd New Zealand Division reached Italy in late 1943, many of the soldiers within it had been overseas since early 1941. Most had fought across North Africa during 1942/43 – some had even seen combat earlier, in Greece and Crete in 1941. The strain of combat was beginning to show, a fact recognised by the division’s commanding officer, Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg. Freyberg used the term ‘battle weary’ to describe both the division and the men within it on a number of occasions throughout 1944, suggesting at one stage the New Zealanders be withdrawn from operations completely. This study examines key factors that drove battle weariness within the division: issues around manpower, the operational difficulties faced by the division in Italy, the skill and tenacity of their German opponent, and the realities of modern combat. Critical to understanding the links between these factors and the weariness that manifested itself within the division are the words of the participating soldiers themselves. Three key outcomes of battle weariness are examined in some detail. Exposure to long periods of combat meant that a large number of the New Zealanders were at risk of becoming psychological casualties. Indeed, casualties diagnosed and recorded as exhaustion and neurosis, consistently reached over 20% of those wounded during the period in Italy. Declining morale became an issue for the leadership of 2nd New Zealand Division. Internal censorship of outgoing letters within the division was summarised at the time and these summaries provide an insight into a widespread gloomy outlook that featured throughout 1944. Not only did the letter writers reflect on the poor conditions they faced in Italy, but news from home appears as a significant driver of frontline morale. Lack of discipline – both in and out of the line – caused real concern to senior officers, and at times reached levels that appear to have become institutionalised. Three topics are explored: looting, the use of alcohol, and cases of combat refusal. This work then examines how the underlying issues driving weariness were addressed through the restructuring of the division, the replacement of long serving men, the use of new technologies, and a period of relief out of the line with an extensive training programme. Finally, the division’s performance during the final offensive in Italy in April 1945, is examined, to gauge the success of the changes made

Psychotherapeutic approaches to the elderly: Part Two

It is not easy to come to terms with retirement, failing bodily functions, increased vulnerability, potential institutionalisation and inevitable death. For some this is a stage of life tinged with difficult memories of being cared for when they were younger. It is not uncommon to see some older adults with a past history of childhood trauma and adversity develop new onset relationship problems having lost the containment of a career or a loved one. Older people can derive huge benefit from psychotherapeutic approaches. Personal transformation may enable them to go on to enjoy meaningful and fruitful old and new relationships whether in the community or in a care home

Crossing the Threshold: Students' Experiences of the Transition from Student to Staff Nurse

Current policy in the health services emphasises nursing students’ fitness to practice at the point of registration. There has also been some suggestion that pre-registration education has not equipped them with the necessary knowledge and skills. Other research findings have indicated that students can find this transition stressful. Due to the massive investment in nurse education and the need to retain nurses in the workforce, we wanted to understand the factors that might better support this transition. Using telephone interviews with former students of The Open University part-time, distance learning, pre-registration nursing programme, we explored nurses’ experiences of their first 3-6 months of qualified practice. A number of recurring themes emerged which were then exposed to theoretical analysis using Van Gennep’s theory of transition and Bridges’ work on organisational change. In at the deep end Here students talked of their feelings associated with their increased accountability and of their anxiety in those early days following qualification. Changing identities As sponsored Health Care Assistants (HCAs), OU nursing students regularly juggle the transition from HCA to student but then make a further transition to staff nurse. Many talked about the impact of this on former HCA colleagues and the significance of the uniform as a symbol defining their new identity. Coming together In this theme, participants talked of how things started to come together, their growing confidence and their satisfaction of being able to apply their knowledge in practice. Scaffolding This was the name given to the formal and informal support structures participants described as useful during their transition. These included their educational preparation, organisational support and the individual support of mentors and family

A Community-Focused Health & Work Service (HWS)

We recommend establishment of a community-focused Health & Work Service (HWS) dedicated to responding rapidly to new health-related work absence among working people due to potentially disabling conditions. The first few days and weeks after onset are an especially critical period during which the likelihood of a good long-term outcome is being influenced, either favorably or unfavorably, by some simple things that either do or do not happen during that interval. It is the optimal window of opportunity to improve outcomes by simultaneously attending to the worker’s basic needs and concerns as well as coordinating the medical, functional restoration, and occupational aspects of the situation in a coordinated fashion

Towards a New Psychoanalytic Theory of Abandonment: A Feminist Intervention Via Myth

Summary of early research which led to the current study of the myths Clinical background to the current research on myths My work as an academic and my private clinical practice offered me the opportunity to attend female students and patients who in some way had experienced abandonment due to migration. While listening to them I was often forced to question the clinical strategies I was employing and to interrogate the psychoanalytic approaches that established abandonment as a paradigm of mental catastrophe. Why? Because in the different testimonies of these women there seemed to be no trace of severely damaged or perturbed psychic processes. This female experience while traversed and shaped by a male sexual desertion that, although negative in itself, was neither impairing nor psychopathologic – as the classic psychoanalytic theory of loss, abandonment and mourning had established. Quite surprisingly to me this specific form of abandonment, which is essentially centred on the ambiguous status of being and not being in a relationship, stimulated in these women very interesting unconscious process which led them to start breaking into traditional patriarchal social moulds and gender patterns. These women seemed to have become emancipated and thereby in command of many decisions which offered them a greater sense of independence and self-awareness while leading them to redefine aspects of their subjectivity which were before solidly linked to the prescriptions of their male partners. In very simple terms, these women did not consider themselves as victims. In order to tackle the unconscious vicissitudes underlying this form of female subjectivity, and since I did not usually keep written or taped records of my patients, I considered the implementation of clinical group work outside the context of my consulting room and office at the University. The Clinical Work Group 2003-2004 With the support of the Instituto Michoacano de la Mujer (The Michoacan Women's Institute) in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico and the Universidad Michocana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo (UMNSH) the clinical work group was set up and it took place throughout eight sessions from November 21, 2003 to February 6, 2004 with the participation of five women and a colleague of mine in the role of observer. Theoretical Background My study case was organised as an operative group following the approach of the Argentinean socio-psychoanalyst Enrique Pichon-Riviere who made important contributions to the study of group dynamics and their role in society. As he himself describes it, “the technique of these groups is centred on the task, where theory and practice are resolved in a permanent and concrete praxis of the ‘here and now’ of each indicated field.” The two main hypotheses guiding the operative group technique were: 1) The pre-existence within each subject of ECROS (Conceptual Referential Operative Schema) which are stereotyped structures of thought that achieve a certain unity through group work and later stimulate the group’s operative referential scheme. 2) There is an essential similarity between the processes of teaching and learning, on the one hand, and of therapy, on the other. This kind of group was therefore centred on the participants’ pursuit of a rational learning task and not an explicitly therapeutic one. This means that participants were not labelled as patients requiring a therapeutic process but as individuals (women) who were invited to join a group learning experience. On the other hand, the group experience itself was conceived and conducted in relation to British psychoanalyst W.R. Bion’s basic assumptions concerning group theory, which means the application of a theoretical understanding of the psychoanalytic principles of group psychotherapy. In general terms, what Bion postulates is that there is a group mentality, -the unanimous expression of the will of the group that presents difficulties for the individual in the pursuit of their aims -, which can be understood in the light of three basic assumptions, or three recurrent patterns of behaviour: pair, fight-flight and dependence. Approach to the group The task undertaken in this case consisted of the reading of short stories which I selected on the basis of their themes which needed to be relevant to aspects of the research topic, and thus included stories about the separation of lovers, abandonment, marriage problems and ordeals, female sexuality and the role of women in Michoacán’s migrant communities. The titles of the stories were as follows: 1) “La Tejedora” (“The Spinner”) 2) “El Hombre de Hierro” (“The Iron Man”) 3) “Gracias a la Vida” (“Thanks to Life”) 4) “Underwood” 5) “El Esposo” (“The Husband”) 6) “Una Yunta” (“A Yoke”) 7) “Los Ciclos de la Vida” (“Life Cycles”) Outcomes The group work revealed that abandoned women by migrant men were not psychologically damaged. Further details An extensive account of the methodology, theory and development of the group work experience is offered at: [site details to be supplied during April 2009

Prison? A question instead of a statement

The study concerns the prison space and tries to investigate the main issues related to the detention space and concerning the social, philosophical, territorial, spatial and sensorial aspects of prison