Commercial and sexual exploitation of children and young people in the UK: a review

This paper reviews recent information and data relevant to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young people in the UK. Three main aspects of exploitation are addressed: abuse through prostitution; abuse through pornography; and the trafficking of children and young people to and through the UK for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Most published research in this area relates to young people exploited through prostitution. The review explores the range of vulnerability factors, the processes used to engage young people in prostitution and the types of support strategies for those being exploited. Rather less information is currently available on the scale of child pornography, or the links between the use of pornography and other forms of sexual abuse. The internet as a modern technology for proliferating child pornography is discussed, alongside its role in providing opportunities for paedophiles to access and 'groom' children for sexual purposes. Finally, the review provides a summary of research on trafficking of children to and through the UK for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and demonstrates the limited knowledge about this topic. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Promoting the emotional wellbeing and mental health of unaccompanied young people seeking asylum in the UK - Research Summary

This research summary provides an overview of findings from an 18-month, in-depth research project: The social functioning, emotional wellbeing and mental health of unaccompanied young people seeking asylum in the UK. The research was conducted by the Thomas Coram Research Unit, at the Institute of Education, University of London. It was commissioned and funded by the Department of Health, although the views expressed in this summary do not necessarily reflect those of the Department. The key findings from the study are presented and some of the specific implications for policy and practice for those working with unaccompanied children and young people in a range of health, social care, education, immigration and legal settings are discussed

Effects of Mentoring on the Personal Career Development, Attendance, and Retention of Teen Mothers in a Job Training Program

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a mentoring program on the personal career development, attendance, and retention of students of the 1991 Teen-Age Parent Program of Skillbuilding (TAPPS). The study was conducted in Chesapeake, Virginia, within the Chesapeake Public Schools Adult Continuing Education Department. The students were matched and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group (N = 15) received a program of mentoring over and above the regular support services of TAPPS. The control group (N = 15) received only the regular support services. Students in both groups were pretested on personal career development in the fall of 1990 and posttested in the spring of 1991. Data on student attendance and retention were also compiled. Findings revealed no significant difference with regard to personal career development, attendance, or retention. The study provided quantitative information regarding the use of mentoring in programs for at-risk groups such as teen mothers in a job training program. The results of the study indicate that administrators should not automatically assume that mentoring will be an effective tool in programs for teen mothers. Benefits did accrue to a number of students, however. Positive outcomes for some students suggest that, with careful planning and experimentation, variations on traditional mentoring could provide the means for capitalizing on the expertise and resources of community volunteers to assist parenting adolescents

Adding to the shame of poverty: the public, politicians and the media

The denigration of people in poverty is not new. It has been evident since at least the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII when the Tudor state assumed de facto responsibility for the care of ‘paupers’, and the terms ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ were coined. The words used have changed and the vehemence of the language has ebbed and flowed, but the divisive, self-justifying distinction between the workless, rogues, idlers and scroungers on the one hand and the hardworking, law-abiding, responsible, ‘middle class’, taxpayer has not. Robert Walker and Elaine Chase draw on their recent research to highlight how recent welfare reforms continue our long tradition of shaming people who live in poverty

Evaluating school-based health services to inform future practice: lessons from 'Teen Talk' at Kidbrooke School in Greenwich

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe the process and lessons learned from an evaluation of "Teen Talk", a health drop in service at Kidbrooke, a state secondary school in Greenwich. Design/methodology/approach - A multi-pronged approach was adopted for the evaluation. This included a questionnaire survey of a sample of 180 pupils within the school; in-depth discussions with 12 young people who had used the service; interviews with health and education professionals and parents; desk research including an analysis of costs and discussions with senior staff in other schools in Greenwich to determine the feasibility of replicating the "Teen Talk" model elsewhere in the borough. Findings - "Teen Talk" is greatly valued by pupils and staff at the Kidbrooke and was seen to provide a unique service. The overall perception is that it provides good value for money. However, the evaluation identified important lessons in setting up and managing the project which can help refine the service and which have relevance for local and national contexts. Research limitations/implications - This paper illustrates the advantages of embedding evaluation research in health service design and implementation, particularly when there is the potential of replicating service delivery models in other school settings. Originality/value - Creating safe and confidential spaces for young people to access help and advice on a range of health issues is by now well recognized as good practice. School-based health facilities are a relatively new approach to young people's health promotion. Although the benefits of this type of provision are largely undisputed, to date, few such services have been evaluated. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Childhood Wellbeing: A brief overview

The aim of this briefing paper is to provide an overview of recent evidence in the field of childhood wellbeing. Relevant material was identified through literature and web searching during March/ April 2010, and selected for its potential to illustrate how childhood wellbeing has been defined and understood. The paper provides a summary of how wellbeing is conceptualised; the domains and measures employed to assess child wellbeing within the UK and internationally; how the views of children and young people are incorporated into work on child wellbeing; and some conclusions from key studies relevant to the wellbeing of children and young people in the UK. It concludes by highlighting some of the issues and challenges in taking this work forward. What is wellbeing? Wellbeing is generally understood as the quality of people's lives. It is a dynamic state that is enhanced when people can fulfil their personal and social goals. It is understood both in relation to objective measures, such as household income, educational resources and health status; and subjective indicators such as happiness, perceptions of quality of life and life satisfaction. Domains and measures of childhood wellbeing Childhood wellbeing is defined in many different ways. A wide variety of domains and measures are used to assess levels of childhood wellbeing. The different domains and measures employed make it difficult to make meaningful comparisons of childhood wellbeing across different studies and different contexts. The different foci of wellbeing initiatives (for example on needs, poverty, quality of life, social exclusion or children's rights) has implications for the type of policies and programmes that are supported. There is some emerging consensus that childhood wellbeing is multi-dimensional, should include dimensions of physical, emotional and social wellbeing; should focus on the immediate lives of children but also consider their future lives; and should incorporate some subjective as well as objective measures. Children and young people's views on wellbeing There has been a gradual shift in the last few years away from being over reliant on objective measures of child wellbeing towards engaging children and young people in defining the parameters around what constitutes wellbeing. This move has revealed some important differences in how adults and children define wellbeing and the aspects of wellbeing that children prioritise compared to adults. Conclusions from current research relevant to childhood wellbeing in the UK The UK performs poorly in some international 'league tables' of children's wellbeing discussed in this paper, although the limitations of such de-contextualised comparisons need to be borne in mind, as well as differences in definitions and in data availability that may penalise those countries (like the UK) with more data available for comparison. International comparisons indicate that wellbeing is negatively associated with income inequality and positively associated with spending on family benefits and services. There is no direct association between poor childhood wellbeing and the prevalence of 'broken families'. There is a close association between childhood wellbeing and positive family relationships. 3 Issues and challenges Wellbeing and childhood wellbeing in particular, are widely used concepts but have a weak theoretical basis. There are currently limited data on child wellbeing and particularly a lack of data which is disaggregated according to age, gender, disability, ethnicity, sexuality or by wider socio-economic or inclusion markers such as migrant status. Cultural and class implications of wellbeing are not well understood. There are evident difficulties in making comparisons in child wellbeing using indicators across widely variable contexts. Future work From the literature reviewed, improvements in theorising and operationalising childhood wellbeing are likely to emerge from a shared understanding that childhood wellbeing: Pays attention to culture, gender, age and other personal characteristics and how these factors may influence feelings of wellbeing as well as objective child wellbeing outcomes Is not overly focused on mainstream contexts of young people's lives -such as home and school -but also considers the wellbeing of young people who are excluded from these environments, and differences across contexts.

More than Knowledge Transfer? Alumni Perspectives on the Value of Postgraduate Study for International Development

This article considers findings from the ‘More Than Knowledge Transfer’ research project, which was concerned with understanding the personal and professional trajectories of alumni from postgraduate programmes in education and international development. The article reflects on qualitative data to explore four key questions: what alumni value about their postgraduate study; the perceived usefulness of different types of learnings; how these are seen as connected to, or disconnected from, development practice; and how they are shaped by the expectations that students bring with them to the programme and their existing experiences in the international development field. The article suggests a need to problematize assumed dichotomies between ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ or ‘skills’ and ‘criticality’ and instead consider how these relationships may be shaped by students’ own backgrounds and positionalities. It argues that supporting students to engage critically with, and move and build connections between, different spaces of learning and practice is key for engendering and sustaining critical and reflective approaches as they complete their studies and develop their careers in the development sector