Negotiating 'Normal': the Management of Feminine Identities in Rural Britain

This paper examines the management of feminine identities in a women\'s rugby team in a rural British community. In so doing, the issue of new, and potentially problematic, forms of femininity are explored, with their attendant social consequences. The team, known as the Jesters, is situated in a social context which is dominantly masculine and heterosexist, with rigidly enforced gender roles. Due to their participation in rugby, a \'man\'s game\', the Jesters are threatened with marginalisation for their apparent failure to conform to, and potential disruption of, established gender norms. This threat is managed through the performance of certain \'inauthentic\' feminine identities (hyper-femininity and heterosexuality) on the part of the entire team. It is this \'team identity\' which lies at the heart of this paper. This paper therefore examines the group dynamics of identity performance and negotiation. In negotiating \'normal\' the Jesters are forced to confront changing gender norms and social contexts within the team itself. This paper also examines the difficulties faced by individuals when their own interests are opposed to the interests of the group of which they are a part. Although largely uncaring about the private lives of team members, the heterosexual members of the Jesters refuse to tolerate the performance of alternative versions of femininity when it may result in the exclusion of the team as a whole. This paper therefore examines the differing interests of heterosexual and lesbian femininities within a potentially marginalised group and some of the coping mechanisms adopted by both groups to develop a coherent team image.Normal, Identity, Gender, Sexuality, Performance

It's a man's game : managing identities in ambiguous contexts

This research examines the ways in which people manage ambiguous or problematic identities. I argue that the strategies of identity-management used are based on the ways in which different identities are performed in particular contexts. A case study of a women's rugby team located in Bordertown, on the English-Scottish border, is used to examine this. These women possess two ambiguous identities. First, by playing a 'man's game', they find themselves both integrated into and excluded from a masculine context. Second, by virtue of their location, they belong to and are rejected from both the English and Scottish national communities. The gender ambiguity is found to be irreconcilable. They are, however, able to reconcile their national ambiguity by asserting their membership of a recognisable third group - their local community. By asserting the shared bond of problematic nationality, they diminish the marginalisation caused by their gender ambiguity, and distract observers from their problematic gender identity. The performance of an ambiguous national identity, then, masks the continuing difficulties caused by the gender ambiguity. Thus strategies of identity management are found to be dependent on the social context of the individuals and identities involved, and their ability to use the interactions between different social contexts and identities to mask the ambiguity. As a result of this research, a greater understanding of the ways identity is formed and performed is reached

A process of developing a national practice assessment document

This paper will share how one country within the United Kingdom (UK) collaborated on a national partnership approach in developing a consistent pre-registration undergraduate nursing practice learning assessment document. In 2011 the Scottish Heads of Academic Nursing and Allied Health Professionals (SHANAHP, now Council of Deans Scotland, CoDS) agreed to support the development of a Scottish national approach to practice learning assessment document (the “Scottish Ongoing Achievement Record”). Whilst no direct funding was received to support this work, each HEI agreed that this work would be recognised via the release of staff time to enable completion. Utilising a communities of practice approach to collaborative working, the national group incorporated the collective knowledge and experience of representatives from all Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Scotland that provided undergraduate pre-registration nurse education. The work of the group will be described in four phases, Mapping of Influential Drivers; Guiding Principles and Good Practice; Document development; and Implementation. Appraisal of the advantages of this approach in light of international literature will be considered alongside challenges encountered during development and implementation

Integrating a sense of coherence into the neonatal environment

Background: Family centred care (FCC) is currently a valued philosophy within neonatal care; an approach that places the parents at the heart of all decision-making and engagement in the care of their infant. However, to date, there is a lack of clarity regarding the definition of FCC and limited evidence of FCCs effectiveness in relation to parental, infant or staff outcomes. Discussion: In this paper we present a new perspective to neonatal care based on Aaron Antonovksy’s Sense of Coherence (SOC) theory of well-being and positive health. Whilst the SOC was originally conceptualised as a psychological-based construct, the SOCs three underpinning concepts of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness provide a theoretical lens through which to consider and reflect upon meaningful care provision in this particular care environment. By drawing on available FCC research, we consider how the SOC concepts considered from both a parental and professional perspective need to be addressed. The debate offered in this paper is not presented to reduce the importance or significance of FCC within neonatal care, but, rather, how consideration of the SOC offers the basis through which meaningful and effective FCC may be delivered. Practice based implications contextualised within the SOC constructs are also detailed. Summary: Consideration of the SOC constructs from both a parental and professional perspective need to be addressed in FCC provision. Service delivery and care practices need to be comprehensible, meaningful and manageable in order to achieve and promote positive well-being and health for all concerned

Embedding information skills training on student learning: making a difference

This article was first published in the Wolverhampton Intellectual Repository and E-Theses (WIRE). There is no printed version.This embedding project builds on one that was delivered in 2001, headed by Oliver Pritchard, Dudley Learning Centre Manager, leading a research team with staff working from different Learning Centres in the University. In the 2001 project, sessions on information skills were run in three differing subject areas for second and third years and their impact on student learning was assessed using questionnaires and focus groups for students and in-depth interviews with academic staff. Findings were encouraging. Skills and experience gained within the sessions were taken on and applied within assignment work to good effect. Within this small study there is evidence of a progression in student awareness, confidence and skills and Information Skills sessions bring a longer-term, practical and tangible element to the learning experience and are a valuable part of helping students to become more effective learners

A novel, resistance-linked ovine PrP variant and its equivalent mouse variant modulate the in vitro cell-free conversion of rPrP to PrPres

Prion diseases are associated with the conversion of the normal cellular prion protein, PrPc, to the abnormal, disease-associated form, PrPSc. This conversion can be mimicked in vitro by using a cell-free conversion assay. It has recently been shown that this assay can be modified to use bacterial recombinant PrP as substrate and mimic the in vivo transmission characteristics of rodent scrapie. Here, it is demonstrated that the assay replicates the ovine polymorphism barriers of scrapie transmission. In addition, the recently identified ovine PrP variant ARL168Q, which is associated with resistance of sheep to experimental BSE, modulates the cell-free conversion of ovine recombinant PrP to PrPres by three different types of PrPSc, reducing conversion efficiencies to levels similar to those of the ovine resistance-associated ARR variant. Also, the equivalent variant in mice (L164) is resistant to conversion by 87V scrapie. Together, these results suggest a significant role for this position and/or amino acid in conversion

Putting the Puzzle Together – Using Mass in the Reassociation of Commingled Human Remains

One of the ongoing challenges faced by physical and forensic anthropologists when called to sites where remains are commingled is accurately and efficiently re-associating body parts. This is an essential task, which allows for analysis of trauma, potential identification of individuals, and the eventual return of the bodies to their families and communities. However, the conditions in the field, often characterised by a lack of political and economic resources, or the poor condition of the remains themselves, precludes the use of techniques such as DNA analysis. As such, anthropologists rely on more basic re-association techniques. This research examines the potential for mass to be used as one of the variables in the reassociation of commingled human remains, and specifically paired elements; matched humeri and femora. Using two different statistical models from Byrd and Adams (2003, 2009) and Thomas, Ubelaker and Byrd (2013), mass is tested in comparison to more regularly used osteometric measurements in accuracy of pair-matching and exclusionary power. The results demonstrated that mass has significant potential in simplifying and making more efficient some methods of pair-matching. The results for the femora proved to be more consistent, demonstrating potentially greater bi-lateral symmetry in those elements in comparison to the humeri. More testing is needed to confirm and expand these results with a larger sample set, and the expansion of appropriate reference data sets

What has social mobility got to do with careers work?

What is social mobility anyway? The concept assumes that there are strata in society and that individuals can move within these, up as well as down. Relating this to employability, the term then suggests that being socially mobile might allow movement into another stratum in order to find more fulfilling and/or well-paid work. It is worth asking then whether, and how, social mobility might contribute to social justice and the opportunity for ‘decent work’ for all, not just the lucky few, e.g. those who manage to break into elite universities/professions. Social justice has become a popular concept in careers literature and the International Labour Organization (ILO) identified ‘decent work’ as critical to worldwide economic growth. However, back in the UK and higher education (HE) policy context, ‘social mobility’ regularly hits the headlines. It has its own Commission, which has given it traction, so let’s stay with this as a term