Representing the riots: the (mis)use of statistics to sustain ideological explanation

This paper analyses the way that figures were used to support two kinds of accounts of the riots of August 2011 prevalent in media coverage and in pronouncements by government ministers. The first of these accounts suggested that the rioters were typically characterised by uncivilized predispositions. The second kind of account suggested that damage to property was typically irrational or indiscriminate. These accounts echo discredited ‘convergence’ and ‘submergence’ explanations in early crowd psychology. We show that the ‘convergence’ explanation – that the rioters were typically ‘career criminals’ or gang-members – was based on arrest figures, treating as unproblematic the circular way that such data was produced (with those already known to the police most likely to be identified and arrested). The ‘submergence account – the suggestion that violence was typically indiscriminate or irrational – was based in part on grouping together attacks on properties in different districts; those areas where 'anyone and anything' was attacked were affluent districts where the target was the rich district itself. Like their academic counterparts, the two types of accounts of the riots of August 2011 are profoundly ideological, for they serve to render the riots marginal and meaningless rather than indicative of wider problems in society

Placing large group relations into pedestrian dynamics: psychological crowds in counterflow

Understanding influences on pedestrian movement is important to accurately simulate crowd behaviour, yet little research has explored the psychological factors that influence interactions between large groups in counterflow scenarios. Research from social psychology has demonstrated that social identities can influence the micro-level pedestrian movement of a psychological crowd, yet this has not been extended to explore behaviour when two large psychological groups are co-present. This study investigates how the presence of large groups with different social identities can affect pedestrian behaviour when walking in counterflow. Participants (N = 54) were divided into two groups and primed to have identities as either ‘team A’ or ‘team B’. The trajectories of all participants were tracked to compare the movement of team A when walking alone to when walking in counterflow with team B, based on their i) speed of movement and distance walked, and ii) proximity between participants. In comparison to walking alone, the presence of another group influenced team A to collectively self-organise to reduce their speed and distance walked in order to walk closely together with ingroup members. We discuss the importance of incorporating social identities into pedestrian group dynamics for empirically validated simulations of counterflow scenarios

Impeded nursing care: nurses' lived experiences

This phenomenological study describes the lived experience of ten registered nurses who provided a standard of nursing care that they perceived to be impeded because of their negative reactions to their patient's condition. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit participants via an advertisement in a local nursing organisation's newsletter. In-depth interviews generated data about the nurses' personal and professional experiences. Data analysis incorporated the qualitative methods of Huserrlian (descriptive) phenomenology and Colaizzi's method of data analysis. Findings revealed that during some stage of the nurses' careers they had reacted negatively to a patient's condition. These negative reactions included frustration, annoyance, nurses fearing for their own safety, revulsion, sadness and feelings of guilt that impeded care had been provided. These reactions translated into behaviours that were associated with providing nursing care to the patient that the nurses themselves perceived to be of impeded quality. Behaviours included not being there or spending less time with the patient, not communicating well and having less rapport with the patient, not meeting the patient's psychological and social needs and not meeting the patient's spiritual needs. The nurses found their awareness that this had occurred disturbing and they devised strategies to cope personally and also to ensure that a better quality of care was provided in subsequent situations. Strategies included discussions with colleagues, arranging for colleagues to provide care for the patient, mental preparation, and using individual coping strategies.There was a pattern of contextual factors impeding the provision of good care. These factors included an existing poor rapport with the patient, a bad experience with a patient with similar characteristics, time pressures and a lack of autonomy, chronic work stress, low staffing levels, a lack of clinical experience, negative reactions to the patient's condition by other staff members, a lack of visits by the patient's significant others and disagreement with the patient's medical treatment

Nucleophilic substitution and cyclisation reactions of some polyfluoro-heteroaromatic and polyfluoroaromatic compounds

This thesis describes the reactions of some highly fluorinated aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds, in particular derivatives of naphthalene, quinoline and isoquinoline. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to the preparation, reactions and applications of fluorine containing organic materials. Chapter 2 describes the reactions of some quinoline- and isoquinoline- thiolates with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate in an attempt to form six membered heterocycles. Chapter 3 describes nucleophilic substitution reactions of heptafluoro- quinoline and -isoquinoline with sulphur and oxygen nucleophiles. The sulphur nucleophiles are found to attack the 6- site in the isoquinoline and the 4- site in the quinoline. The oxygen nucleophiles attack the 1- site in the isoquinoline and 2- and 4- sites in the quinoline. Chapter 4 describes competition experiments of heptafluoro-quinoline and -isoquinoline with nucleophiles. Relative rates of attack at the 1- position and 6- position in the isoquinoline are determined for a variety of nucleophiles. The relative rates of two nucleophiles are determined for 4- attack in the quinoline. The relative reactivities of the two heterocycles are determined for two different nucleophiles. Chapter 5 describes the pyrolysis of heptafluoro-2-naphtiiyl propynoate which yield two difluoro-butenone derivatives. These decarbonylate under further pyrolysis to yield a 1,1-difluorocyclopropene. All the products were identified by X-ray crystallography. Chapter 6 gives experimental details for Chapter 2 to Chapter 5

Data report: late Miocene to early Pliocene coccolithophore and foraminiferal preservation at Site U1338 from scanning electron microscopy

The late Miocene to early Pliocene carbonate-rich sediments recovered at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1338 during the Expedition 320/321 Pacific Equatorial Age Transect (PEAT) program contain abundant calcareous nanno- and microfossils. Geochemical proxies from benthic and planktonic foraminiferal and coccolithophore calcite could be very useful at this location; however, good preservation of the calcite is crucial for the proxies to be robust. Here, we evaluate the preservation of specific benthic and planktonic foraminifer species and coccolithophores in fine fraction sediment at Site U1338 using backscattered electron (topography mode) scanning electron microscopy (BSE-TOPO SEM). Both investigated foraminiferal species, Cibicidoides mundulus and Globigerinoides sacculifer, have undergone some alteration. The C. mundulus show minor evidence for dissolution, and only some specimens show evidence of overgrowth. The Gs. sacculifer show definite signs of alteration and exhibit variable preservation, ranging from fair to poor; some specimens show minor overgrowth and internal recrystallization but retain original features such as pores, spine pits, and internal testwall growth structure, whereas in other specimens the recrystallization and overgrowth disguise many of the original features. Secondary electron and BSE-TOPO SEM images show that coccolith calcite preservation is moderate or moderate to poor. Slight to moderate etching has removed central heterococcolith features, and a small amount of secondary overgrowth is also visible. Energy dispersive spectroscopy analyses indicate that the main sedimentary components of the fine fraction sediment are biogenic CaCO3 and SiO2, with some marine barite. Based on the investigations in this data report, geochemical analyses on benthic foraminifers are unlikely to be affected by preservation, although geochemical analyses on the planktonic foraminifers should be treated cautiously because of the fair to poor and highly variable preservation

A typology of secondary stressors among refugees of conflict in the Middle East: the case of Syrian refugees in Jordan

Introduction: As the years of displacement accumulate, the burden of secondary stressors (i.e., stressors not directly related to war) increase on the shoulders of millions of refugees, who do not have the option of either returning home due to war or having a sustainable livelihood in the host countries. This paper aims to shed light on the overlooked importance of secondary stressors among refugees of conflict in developing countries; it will do this by highlighting the experience of Syrian refugees in Jordan, and developing a typology of these stressors. Methods: We approached this issue using two levels of exploration. In study 1, we used participant observation and 15 in-depth interviews in Irbid, Jordan. Data were analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis to explore the different types of stressors. In study 2, a questionnaire survey among Syrian refugees in Jordan (n = 305) was used to collect data about a wide range of stressors. Responses were subjected to factor analysis to examine the extent to which the stressors could be organized into different factors. Results: The thematic analysis suggested three different types of secondary stressors: financial (money related), environmental (exile structures and feelings created by it), and social (directly related to social relations). The factor analysis of the survey data produced a similar typology, where secondary stressors were found to be grouped into four main factors (financial, services, safety, and relations with out-groups). The final result is a typology of 33 secondary stressors organised in three main themes. Discussion: Syrian refugees in Jordan suffer the most from financial stressors, due to loss of income and high living expenses. Environmental stressors arise from exile and are either circumstantial (e.g., services and legal requirements) or created by this environment (e.g., instability and lack of familiarity). Social stressors were observed among a considerable section of refugees, varying from stressors due to being targeted as a refugee by the locals (e.g., discrimination) to more traumatic stressors that came from both locals and other refugees (e.g., assault). The typology of secondary stressors suggested by the present analysis needs to be investigated in a larger sample of refugees of conflict in other countries in the Middle East, in order to determine its generality. We suggest that it is a basis for a framework for practitioners and academics working with refugees in the region

Including political context in the psychological analysis of collective action: development and validation of a measurement scale for subjective political openness

Sociological and Political Science research has argued that political conditions affect both the occurrence of protests and the actions protesters choose. However, an approach that considers people’s perceptions on these conditions is still absent in the social psychological literature. Subjective Political Openness (SPO) is a new construct which fills this gap by incorporating features of political context into the psychological analysis of protests. We propose that SPO comprises perceptions relating to three dimensions: government actions to allow/restrict protests, police measures to actively prevent them, and the extent that public opinion legitimizes protests. We conducted two studies in the UK and Chile to validate scales created for each proposed dimension, test their measurement invariance, establish SPO’s configuration, and demonstrate its convergent validity. Participants in Study 1 were university students (n UK = 203; n Chile = 237), whereas in Study 2 a general population sample from both countries was included (n UK = 377; n Chile = 309) with the purpose of generalizing the results. Both studies consistently showed that SPO is a multidimensional construct configured as a bifactor model comprising the dimensions associated with perceptions of the government and police actions to confront protests. Although we tested two different measurement scales for the perceived legitimacy given by public opinion to protests, results demonstrated this dimension is not part of SPO. The SPO configuration has implications for both our understanding of collective action and how we study it

Psychosocial support among refugees of conflict in developing countries: a critical literature review

The aim of this paper is to examine the psychosocial needs and stressors among refugees of conflicts in developing countries, and their group-based social support mechanisms. A systematic literature search of peer reviewed journal articles (n = 60 articles) was carried out using the following factors: type (refugee); cause (conflicts); location (developing countries). As refugees move towards a prolonged urban displacement phase, needs and stressors become different than those of the acute phase. Daily stressors affect far more people than are affected by PTSD, but many psychosocial support interventions focus simply on the latter. Positive effects of social support on the mental health of displaced people are established; the process is not clear, yet group processes and identities seem to be important. We therefore suggest that the social identity approach can be applied to understand the emergence of a common refugee identity and its role in empowerment through activating social support networks

“It’s the Secret to the Universe”: The Communicative Constitution and Routinization of a Dominant Authoritative Text within a UK Cosmetics Company

A gap in Organization and Management Theory exists regarding how, as a relational phenomenon, authority routinely makes a difference to the daily functioning of organization. A ‘Communication as Constitutive of Organization’ (CCO; e.g. Cooren et al., 2011) view of text (e.g. Taylor et al., 1996) is identified as holding unrealized potential to address this omission. A nine-month ethnography of a UK cosmetics company, followed by an abductive analysis (Alvesson and Kärreman, 2007, 2011) of fieldwork material focusing on ventriloquism (e.g. Cooren, 2012), aesthetics (e.g. Hancock, 2005) and practice theory (e.g. Schatzki, 2006), provides original insight into how authority routinely acts. The thesis’s main contribution to knowledge is the crafting of ‘dominant text’ which is defined as; a series of orchestrated texts which simultaneously exercise authority by routinizing the daily workings of organization. To elaborate, actors are instructed and taught to make sure a ventriloqual text routinely directs clients’ attention toward a particular course of action. At the same time, interventions are made to ensure aesthetic and practice texts routinely remind actors to represent a collective identity and disciplines how they act. While CCO studies show how texts periodically exercise authority (Fauré et al., 2010; Güney and Creswell, 2012; Holm and Fairhurst, 2017; Jordan et al., 2013; Koschmann, 2012; Spee and Jarzabkowski, 2011), a dominant text enhances knowledge about how authority routinely organizes activities which constitute and characterize organization. Theoretical insights are also generated that extend the CCO project of developing a communicational interpretation of organizing and organization