Blaming the victim, all over again: Waddell and Aylward's biopsychosocial (BPS) model of disability

The biopsychosocial (BPS) model of mental distress, originally conceived by the American psychiatrist George Engel in the 1970s and commonly used in psychiatry and psychology, has been adapted by Gordon Waddell and Mansell Aylward to form the theoretical basis for current UK Government thinking on disability. Most importantly, the Waddell and Aylward version of the BPS has played a key role as the Government has sought to reform spending on out-of- work disability benefits. This paper presents a critique of Waddell and Aylward’s model, examining its origins, its claims and the evidence it employs. We will argue that its potential for genuine inter-disciplinary cooperation and the holistic and humanistic benefits for disabled people as envisaged by Engel are not now, if they ever have been, fully realized. Any potential benefit it may have offered has been eclipsed by its role in Coalition/Conservative government social welfare policies that have blamed the victim and justified restriction of entitlements

The social library

This piece highlights some of perspectives from the session titled The Social Library at the 2013 BC Library Conference. The panelists balanced pragmatic suggestions with a dose of humour to remind everyone that social media can be daunting but that it is conquered through small, manageable steps

Radiations of Br82

A study of the radiations of Br82 was made using an intermediate-image spectrometer, a scintillation spectrometer, and directional correlation equipment;The end-point energy of the beta group was found to be 444 +/- 1 kev and its log ft value was 5.10. By consideration of the internal conversion electron spectrum, energies and relative intensities were found for the eight transitions observed. Coincidence measurements were made between conversion electrons and game rays that were selected by use of a scintillation spectrometer;The relative intensities of the eight gamma rays, that were detected in the scintillation spectrometer, were determined by consideration of the relative areas under the scintillation photopeaks and the relative efficiencies of the detector crystal. Coincidence measurements were made between selected gamma rays;A knowledge of the transition energies and coincidences between gamma rays and conversion electrons, and gamma rays with gamma rays, enabled an energy level, scheme to be presented. Possible ambiguities of this scheme were resolved by a consideration of published knowledge about the decay of Rb82 and the general properties of even-even nuclei;After knowing the energy level scheme it was possible to use the relative intensities of the conversion electrons and gamma rays, along with the number of events per unit time, obtained from the beta spectrum, to compute the K-shell internal conversion coefficients;Gamma-gamma directional correlation measurements were made between selected gamma radiations. The selection of gamma rays was wade by pulse height analysis;By use of the directional correlation information, internal conversion coefficients, and relative gamma-ray intensities it was possible to unambiguously assign parities to all of the five energy levels of Kr82 excited by the beta decay of Br82. Spins were unambiguously assigned to four of these levels while that for the fifth was limited to a choice of two values. The mixing ratios of quadruple to dipole components were measured for three of the gamma rays;It was possible to fit all of the information gained about the excited levels of even-even Kr82 into the pattern set by other nuclei in this region of isotopes. A possible interpretation of the experimental evidence is that the first excited level is vibrational in nature, the second and third levels are the result of the splitting of the degeneracy of the threefold degenerate second vibrational level, (the third part of the second level would not be expected to be observed in this work), the fourth excited level is a part of the fivefold degenerate third vibrational state, and the fifth excited level a single-particle excitation of the ground state configuration. This interpretation is certainly not unique but no contradictions are apparent. As the ground state configuration is so far removed from closed nucleon shells many possible recouplings and excitations could exist to yield the observed levels

Virginia\u27s Insanity Defense: Reform is Imperative

Virginia is no exception to the statement that a great deal of time and energy has been expended by writers in addressing the defense ofinsanity. Unfortunately, instead of generating some notable reform, this fact has served to desensitize the legislators, the legal profession, and the public in this controversial area. In view of the current knowledge in the field of psychiatry, the approach for implementing the insanity defense in Virginia courts is not satisfactory

Intellectual Freedom Takes the Bus: What do pro-Palestine ads on TransLink have to do with BC librarians?

When TransLink began displaying pro-Palestinian ads this summer, some people called the ads hate speech and wanted them removed. The authors posit that librarians who care about intellectual freedom need to be aware of these seemingly non-library-focused issues and be ready to talk about them with their communities