21,790 research outputs found

    Identifying and responding to people with mild learning disabilities in the probation service

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    It has long been recognised that, like many other individuals, people with learningdisabilities find their way into the criminal justice system. This fact is not disputed. Whathas been disputed, however, is the extent to which those with learning disabilities arerepresented within the various agencies of the criminal justice system and the ways inwhich the criminal justice system (and society) should address this. Recently, social andlegislative confusion over the best way to deal with offenders with learning disabilities andmental health problems has meant that the waters have become even more muddied.Despite current government uncertainty concerning the best way to support offenders withlearning disabilities, the probation service is likely to continue to play a key role in thesupervision of such offenders. The three studies contained herein aim to clarify the extentto which those with learning disabilities are represented in the probation service, toexamine the effectiveness of probation for them and to explore some of the ways in whichprobation could be adapted to fit their needs.Study 1 and study 2 showed that around 10% of offenders on probation in Kent appearedto have an IQ below 75, putting them in the bottom 5% of the general population. Study 3was designed to assess some of the support needs of those with learning disabilities in theprobation service, finding that many of the materials used by the probation service arelikely to be too complex for those with learning disabilities to use effectively. To addressthis, a model for service provision is tentatively suggested. This is based on the findings ofthe three studies and a pragmatic assessment of what the probation service is likely to becapable of achieving in the near future

    Elite perceptions of the Victorian and Edwardian past in inter-war England

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    It is often argued by historians that members of the cultivated Elite after 1918 rejected the pre-war past. or at least subjected it to severe denigration. This thesis sets out to challenge such a view. Above all, it argues that inter-war critics of the Victorian and Edwardian past were unable to reject it even if that was what they felt inclined to do. This was because they were tied to those periods by the affective links of memory, family, and the continually unfolding consequences of the past in the present. Even the severest critics of the pre-war world, such as Lytton Strachey, were less frequently dismissive of history than ambivalent towards it. This ambivalence, it is argued, helped to keep the past alive and often to humanise it. The thesis also explores more positive estimation of Victorian and Edwardian history between the wars. It examines nostalgia for the past, as well as instances of continuity of practice and attitude. It explores the way in which inter-war society drew upon aspects of Victorian and Edwardian history both as illuminating parallels to contemporary affairs and to understand directly why the present was shaped as it was. Again, this testifies to the enduring power of the past after 1918. There are three parts to this thesis. Part One outlines the cultural context in which writers contemplated the Victorian and Edwardian past. Part Two explores some of the ways in which history was written about and used by inter-war society. Part Three examines the ways in which biographical depictions of eminent Victorians after 1918 encouraged emotional negotiation with the pas

    The temporality of rhetoric: the spatialization of time in modern criticism

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    Every conception of criticism conceals a notion of time which informs the manner in which the critic conceives of history, representation and criticism itself. This thesis reveals the philosophies of time inherent in certain key modern critical concepts: allegory, irony and the sublime. Each concept opens a breach in time, a disruption of chronology. In each case this gap or aporia is emphatically closed, elided or denied. Taking the philosophy of time elaborated by Giorgio Agamben as an introductory proposition, my argument turns in Chapter One to the allegorical temporality which Walter Benjamin sees as the time of photography. The second chapter examines the aesthetics of the sublime as melancholic or mournful untimeliness. In Chapter Three, Paul de Man's conception of irony provides an exemplary instance of the denial of this troubling temporal predicament. In opposition to the foreclosure of the disturbing temporalities of criticism, history and representation, the thesis proposes a fundamental rethinking of the philosophy of time as it relates to these categories of reflection. In a reading of an inaugural meditation on the nature of time, and in examining certain key contemporary philosophical and critical texts, I argue for a critical attendance to that which eludes those modes of thought that attempt to map time as a recognizable and essentially spatial field. The Confessions of Augustine provide, in the fourth chapter, a model for thinking through the problems set up earlier: Augustine affords us, precisely, a means of conceiving of the gap or the interim. In the final chapter, this concept is developed with reference to the criticism of Arnold and Eliot, the fiction of Virginia Woolf and the philosophy of cinema derived from Deleuze and Lyotard. In conclusion, the philosophical implications of the thesis are placed in relation to a conception of the untimeliness of death

    Biocontrol as a key component to manage brown rot on cherry

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    Brown rot, caused by Monilinia spp., is one of the most important diseases in stone fruits worldwide. Brown rot can cause blossom wilts and fruit rots in the orchard as well as latent infections of fruit, leading to post-harvest fruit decaying. Current control methods rely on scheduled spraying of fungicides. However, the continuing pressure to reduce fungicide use has seen an increase in research into alternative management methods, such as biological control. NIAB EMR recently identified two microbes that significantly reduced sporulation of Monilinia laxa under laboratory conditions. These two isolates were a bacterial species Bacillus subtilis (B91) and yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium pullulans (Y126) and are currently being formulated into commercial products. We are investigating how to optimise the use of these two potential biocontrol products in practice, in terms of suppressing Monilinia sporulation on overwintered mummies and preventing infection of blossoms and fruits. When applied to mummified fruits in winter Y126’s population was stable through the winter but at a low concentration. The B91 survived a little longer with the population reaching that of the control group by week 4. Neither Biological control (BCA) treatments had an affected the population of M. laxa when compared to the control treatment of sterile distilled water. The interaction time between the BCAs and M. laxa showed the longer the interaction time the lower the spore count of M. laxa. Another study was performed looking into the ability of our BCAs to colonise and survive on blossoms. B91 did not survive well on blossoms but could survive on fruits. However, its antagonistic compounds need to be in relatively high concentration to be effective against M. laxa. Therefore, it is best used as a fungicide, ensuring the antagonistic compounds are at a high concentration when applied in the field. Y126 can persist throughout the season and was marginally, though not statistically significantly, more effective at long term reduction in M. laxa. This could be because Y126 works through competition, therefore the interaction time with the pathogen could be important for efficacy and something worth investigating further. The difference between the BCAs highlights the need to understand each BCA’s ecology to ensure maximum efficacy. In a latent infection experiment, we inoculated trees with M. laxa and then treated them with the two biocontrol isolates two weeks before harvest. Post-harvest disease development was assessed after four days of storage in 2019 and two weeks in 2020. There was a significant reduction in rot incidence (p < 0.001) of 29% (Y126) and 27% (B91) in 2019 and 62 % (Y126) and 80 % (B91) in 2020 when the harvested fruit was stored at cold store levels. With new products to be introduced into the environment, it's important to understand the effects they may have on the plant's microbiome. Using next-generation sequencing techniques, we looked at the impact B91 and Y126 has on the blossom and cherry microbiomes. There was a treatment effect in both the bacterial and fungal communities on the blossom and ripe cherry. But the biggest variability was between blocks (Geographical effect) and between the years in which we experimented (p < 0.0001). This research will assist in the development of management strategies, especially spray timings for brown rot on stone fruit, integrating BCAs with other management practices

    Factors shaping future use and design of academic library space

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    COVID is having immediate and long-term impacts on the use of libraries. But these changes will probably not alter the importance of the academic library as a space. In the decade pre COVID libraries saw a growing number of visits, despite the increasing availability of material digitally. The first part of the paper offers an analysis of the factors driving this growth, such as changing pedagogies, diversification in the student body, new technologies plus tighter estates management. Barriers to change such as academic staff readiness, cost, and slow decision making are also presented. Then, the main body of the paper discusses emerging factors which are likely to further shape the use of library space, namely: concerns with student well-being; sustainability; equality, diversity and inclusion, and decolonisation; increasing co-design with students; and new technologies. A final model captures the inter-related factors shaping use and design of library space post COVID

    A Small Price to Pay: National Narcissism Predicts Readiness to Sacrifice In-Group Members to Defend the In-Group’s Image

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    Collective narcissism is a belief in one’s in-group greatness that is underappreciated by others. Across three studies conducted in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we found that collective narcissism, measured with respect to the national group, was related to support of policies that protect the national image at the expense of in-group members’ health. In Study 1, British national narcissism was related to opposing cooperation with the European Union (EU) on medical equipment. In Study 2, American national narcissism predicted opposition to COVID-19 testing to downplay the number of cases. In Study 3, American national narcissism was related to support for releasing an untested COVID-19 vaccine, to beat other countries to the punch. These relationships were mediated by concern about the country’s reputation. Our studies shed light on collective narcissism as a group-based ego-enhancement strategy in which a strong image of the group is prioritized over members’ well-being

    Development and evaluation of a treatment package for men with an intellectual disability who sexually offend

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    Sex offending in the general population has been a focus of interest for some time due to the damaging nature of the behaviour, and the need to reduce recidivism. Theoretical and clinical advances (Finke1hor, 1986; HM Prison Service, 1996; Marshall, Anderson, & Fernandez, 1999; Serran & Marshall, 2010) in treatment for sex offenders in the general population have been extended to men with an intellectual disability at risk of sexual offending (Lindsay, 2009). The purpose of this project is to develop and evaluate the SOTSEC-ID version cftrus model. Participants are adult males from 15 different locations across England and Wales, with an intellectual disability or borderline cognitive functioning and who have committed sexual offences. A pilot study clarified assessments and procedures, and individual data over several years is presented. A qualitative study using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (JP A) illustrates the 'meaning making' of participants' treatment experience through six major themes. A reliability and validity study assesses the four main quantitative measures, QACSO, SAKA, SOSAS, and VESA, finding limited support for criterion validity for the SOSAS and SAKA, excellent inter-rater reli"ability for all four main measures, and good to excellent inter-rater reliability on all but the SAKA Finally, a quantitative study, in collaboration with the wider SOTSEC-ID group, uses a repeated measures design to compare the QACSO, SOSAS and SAKA across pre-group, post-group and follow. up. Significant main effects and post-hoc comparisons were in the predicted direction for all measures. A range of information on demographic, clinical and criminogenic factors including offending during treatment or follow-up are also presented. A recidivism rate of 12.3% over a year was calculated for the sample. The treatment model and collaborative framework is recommended for wider adoption

    In her own words: exploring the subjectivity of Freud’s ‘teacher’ Anna von Lieben

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    This project is inspired by Roy Porter (1985), who draws attention to the patient-shaped gap in medical history, and Rita Charon (2006), who emphasises the need to bring the patient’s narrative to the fore in the practice of medicine. The principal aim was to devise a means of accessing the lived experience of a patient who is no longer alive in order to gain an understanding of her narrative. Anna von Lieben was identified as a suitable subject as she wrote a substantial quantity of autopathographical poetry suitable for analysis and her status as Freud’s patient makes her a person of significant interest to the history of medicine. The poems were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), an idiographic and inductive method of qualitative research, based on Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology, which explores the lived experience of individuals and is committed to understanding the first-person perspective from the third-person position. The main findings from the IPA study reveal that Anna experienced a prolonged period of malaise, starting in late adolescence which she believed to result, at least partly, from a traumatic experience which occurred at that time. The analysis also indicates that Anna suffered from deep and lasting feelings of guilt and shame. The discovery of additional family documentation enabled me to contextualise and add substance to the findings of the IPA study. Anna’s husband’s diaries in particular reveal that Anna: • had a severe and longstanding gynaecological disorder • suffered from severe morphinism • did not benefit from Freud’s treatment which seemed neither to ease her symptoms nor identify any cause • was treated in Paris, not by Jean-Martin Charcot as previously supposed, but by a French hydrotherapist, Theodore Keller, who appears to have become a person of considerable significance in her life. The above findings led me to investigate Anna’s comorbidities (gynaecological disease and morphinism) and to show how those could be responsible for much of the symptomatology identified by Freud as ‘hysteria’. I then explore the possibility that her psychotic-like experiences could have been iatrogenically induced by her treatment first by Keller and then by Freud. Finally, I propose a fourfold set of hypotheses as an alternative to Freud’s diagnosis of hysteria
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