George Chowdharay-Best: a bibliography

Until his death in April 2000, George Chowdharay-Best was a familiar figure in the reading rooms of the British Library. For many years he was on the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary, rising to be a Senior Assistant Editor. While most of his scholarly work was subsumed in this great collaborative enterprise, he produced papers on many subjects for a range of journals and was also a frequent letter writer to the press. A summary of his life and career is followed by a complete bibliography of his writings

Crossing Conceptual Boundaries XI, Winter 2021

ISSN: 2041-9090 Crossing Conceptual Boundaries PhD Annual Yearbook New Series Volume XI A peer-reviewed graduate publication, School of Social Sciences, UEL, U

Beneficence in psycho-social research and the role of containment

Within the context of research ethics beneficence consistently receives less attention than non-maleficence and research ‘benefits’ are predominantly understood in tangible, intentional terms. Scanter attention has been given to the more subtle aspects of the research process that elicit less tangible, and often unexpected, benefits for research participants. Drawing on a study conducted with social workers in two childcare social work settings, this article outlines how psycho-social approaches to research – and specifically the concept of containment – can provide fruitful theoretical and conceptual frameworks for the development of more complex understandings of beneficence in the research process. The article concludes by proposing that there is scope to enhance the experience and quality of research if, from the outset, attention to containment is embedded within the research process. Realizing ‘containing’ research involves firstly, recognizing the capacity of researchers to retain an observational stance of ‘negative capability’ that attends to research processes and secondly, understanding the importance of social researchers being contained through appropriate support systems that help to manage the anxiety inherent in social work research contexts specifically, and human relations research, more broadly

Neoliberal policy and the meaning of counterintuitive middle-class school choices

This article considers how the nature and effects of neoliberal policy in education are illuminated by the outcomes of a study of white middle-class families choosing ordinary state secondary schools in England. Having described the main features of the study and some of its findings, consideration is given to specific 'global' dimensions - one in terms of parental perceptions and the other drawing upon analysis of the global effects of neoliberalism, an example of which is illustrated with reference to an influential UK policy. The article concludes that the conditions so generated not only provide advantages to those making conventional choices in keeping with a marketized service, but that they may also bring advantages to middle-class families making 'counterintuitive' choices as well

Conservation and human behaviour: lessons from social psychology

Despite increased effort from non-governmental organisations, academics and governments over recent decades, several threats continue to cause species declines and even extinctions. Resource use by a growing human population is a significant driver of biodiversity loss, so conservation scientists need to be interested in the factors that motivate human behaviour. Economic models have been applied to human decision making for many years; however, humans are not financially rational beings and other characteristics of the decision maker (including attitude) and the pressure that people perceive to behave in a certain way (subjective norms) may influence decision making; these are characteristics considered by social psychologists interested in human decision making.Wereview social-psychology theories of behaviour and how they have been used in the context of conservation and natural-resource management.Many studies focus on general attitudes towards conservation rather than attitudes towards specific behaviours of relevance to conservation and thus have limited value in designing interventions to change specific behaviours (e.g. reduce hunting of a threatened species). By more specifically defining the behaviour of interest, and investigating attitude in the context of other social-psychological predictors of behaviour (e.g. subjective norms, the presence of facilitating factors and moral obligation), behaviours that have an impact on conservation goals will be better understood, allowing for the improved design of interventions to influence them