Child sexual abuse: private trouble or public issue?

Since November 16th, when ex-footballer Andy Woodward revealed to The Guardian that he had been systematically sexually abused by his football coach at Crew Alexandra, a number of other players have spoken publically about their own experiences of sexual abuse (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38107544). Once again British society is ‘rocked’ by revelations of the systematic sexual abuse of children by high-status men in positions trust and authority. Once again, we ask how this could happen on such a massive scale and without any interventions from the institutions that are supposed to protect children or from the communities in which they live

National self-injury awareness day: social justice, user-led interventions and challenging stigma

Self-injury – or self-harm as it is commonly known – is a coping mechanism whereby someone causes direct pain and/or injury to their own body. It is stereotypically associated with many of the following: ‘mental illness’, adolescent girls, Emos/youth subcultures, ‘personality disorder’, suicide, attention-seeking and sometimes violence or danger towards others. However, none of these accurately reflect the experience: self-injury is usually a private and secret experience, it is a means of staying alive rather than attempting to die, it is self-directed not other-directed, and it is not specific to any one group of people

Who is “us” in “nothing about us without us”? Rethinking the politics of disability research

Disability research (and disability studies) emerged from the activism of disabled people who not only challenged oppressive legal and social structures, but also the ways in which research was used to legitimate that oppression. At the forefront of this challenge in the UK was Paul Hunt (Stone and Priestly, 1996). Hunt (1981) discredited the work of formerly esteemed researchers Eric Miller and Geraldina Gwynne by highlighting the ableist and unethical basis of their work. Miller and Gwynne had been commissioned to research the experiences of disabled people who were confined to institutional living following agitation by The Union of Impaired People Against Segregation (UIPAS). However, Miller and Gwynne's findings focused on improving the lot of practitioners rather than the quality of life and rights of disabled people. Hunt (1981) challenged Miller and Gwynne's claim to objective findings by demonstrating that they had prioritised the perspective of practitioners over disabled people and reiterated wider social prejudices about disability. For example, Miller and Gwynne argued that in residential care, "the essential task to be carried out is to help the inmates to make their transition from a social death [e.g. being/becoming disabled] to physical death" (1981:10). Miller and Gwynne's depiction of disabled people throughout their work was discriminatory and inflammatory, positioning disabled people as burdens and parasites. Hunt, however, subverted their discourse: "Miller and Gwynne make various references to residents as parasites and see us as essentially feeding off society not only economically but emotionally as well … The real parasites are those like Miller and Gwynne who grow fat by feeding on others miseries" (1981: 11). Hunt's analysis of the power and politics of research laid the foundations of disability research. He highlighted the politics of objectivity and accountability, exploitation and oppression and mandated that disability research should benefit disabled people

Feminism, embodiment and self-harm: interview with Dr Kay Inckle (1 of 2)

Part I of interview by Ronda Daniel Kay is currently the lecturer and teacher for the course SO211: The Sociology of Health and Medicine, covering for Carrie Friese. She also lectures on other courses, including SO100 (social theory) SO201 (sociological analysis) SO401 (qualitative research methods)

Discussing PREVENT with Dr Kay Inckle (2 of 2)

Part II of interview with Kay Inckle by Ronda Daniel This discussion surrounded both the current political climate, as well as the current state of sociology, in the discussion of Prevent, ‘The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act’, implemented in 2015

Disabled sporting bodies as sexual beings: Reflections and challenges

In general, disabled people’s sexualities have been ignored, controlled, denied and treated (Shakespeare et al, 1996). Disabled bodies have been conceptualised as asexual, unruly, monstrous and unattractive to such an extent that such bodies constitute a sexually challenging idea (Goodley, 2011). According to Shuttleworth and Grove (2008),where sexuality and disability have been focused upon the tendency has been to over-emphasise psychosexual (mal) functioning; explore men’s sexuality rather than women’s; place a lot of store on medical rehabilitation and therapeutic interventions; and implicitly assume heterosexual encounters. Shildrick (2007: 27) notes, however, that in recent years , disability studies, particularly those working with queer and feminist theory, “have increasingly problematized the conventional parameters of sexuality, in order to explore non-normative constructions of sexual identities, pleasures and agency that more adequately encompass multifarious forms of embodied difference.” Set against this backdrop, in this chapter we explore the complex dynamics of disability, sexuality, and gender in sport by providing vignettes of individual narratives in wheelchair sport. These are used to illustrate (1) how the experiences of each are framed by heteronormativity, compulsory heterosexuality and able-bodiness, and (2) how the very ‘queerness’ of their bodies provides a corporeal resource for subverting disabled sexualities in sport. Finally, some reflections are offered regarding future research in terms an embodied sociology that draws on Disability Studies, Feminist Theory, and Queer Theory

‘It's a part of me’: An ethnographic exploration of becoming a disabled sporting cyborg following spinal cord injury.

In much research dealing with sport technologies and the process of cyborgification there is a significant lack of attention given to the experiences of athletes themselves. This is particularly so for disabled athletes. Against this backdrop of neglect, we draw on data generated from a 4-year ethnographic study that explored the experiences and meanings of disability sport for those who became involved in it following a spinal cord injury, and here we focus specifically on the process of becoming a disabled sporting cyborg. Our analysis reveals the following phases in this process: from taken-forgranted to techno-survival cyborgs; rehabilitation centres and becoming a technically competent cyborg; everyday life as an embodied cyborg; becoming a disabled sporting cyborg. The dynamics of each phase, how they relate to each other, and how they shape body-self-technology relationships over time are considered in detail. In closing we offer some reflections on the consequences of cyborgification and the implications of this process for constructions of ability and disability. We also raise questions regarding the structural and ethical implications of cyborgification, particularly in terms of the validation of certain kinds of bodies at the expense of others and therole of technology in reproducing social inequalities

What activities might facilitate personal recovery for adults who continue to self-harm? A meta-synthesis employing the connectedness/hope and optimism/identity/meaning/empowerment framework

© 2017 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc. Self-harm is an international concern. While treatment in health care focusses on methods to reduce the act, there is less exploration in how to assist adults who are unable to minimize their self-harm. In order to aid these people, in the present systematic review, we employed a qualitative meta-synthesis to explore the lived experience of what activities might facilitate personal recovery for adults who continue to self-harm. Findings were interpreted by drawing on the CHIME framework; a taxonomy of personal recovery comprising of connectedness, hope and optimism, identity, meaning and purpose, and empowerment. The located activities in the review converged on different support groups, and although face-to-face groups were discovered, the majority highlighted the benefits of Internet forums where mutuality and reciprocity were key to promoting personal recovery. Adults desired time to share accounts of themselves, to develop connection and identity. Furthermore, hope was established by group members accepting that self-harm has a role, while congregating with others who did not judge the act. Helping relationships also promoted hope by having a balance between goals and protection against disappointment. The nature of writing online seemingly had cathartic properties fostering meaning, alongside empowerment being facilitated by adults controlling the narrative of their self-harm. It is hoped that these insights might guide self-harm research to develop beyond the confines of minimizing self-injury in health care

Inviting pain? Pain, dualism and embodiment in narratives of self-injury

The role of pain in the practice of self-injury is not straightforward. Existing accounts suggest that self-injury does not cause 'physical' pain, however self-injury is also said to alleviate 'emotional' pain by inflicting 'physical' pain. This article explores these tensions using sociological theories regarding the socio-cultural and subjective nature of pain. Analysis derives from in-depth, life-story interviews carried out in the UK with people who had self-injured. Findings contribute to on-going debates within social science regarding the nature of pain. Participants' narratives about pain and self-injury both drew on and challenged dualistic models of embodiment. I suggest that self-injury offers a unique case on which to extend existing theoretical work, which has tended to focus on pain as an unwanted and uninvited entity. In contrast, accounts of self-injury can feature pain as a central aspect of the practice, voluntarily invited into lived experience. © 2013 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2013 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Narrating the self-injured body

Illness narratives have traditionally been used as a conceptual tool for exploring experiences of chronic illness or disease. In this paper, I suggest that Frank's typology of illness narratives (chaos, restitution and quest) also offers an illuminating approach to analysing accounts of self-injury, demonstrating the diverse ways in which self-injury is practiced, experienced and narrated. Drawing on 24 narrative interviews with 12 people who had self-injured, I focus on participants' accounts of their self-injured bodies. The approach is phenomenological, and concerned with talk about the experience of living with and in a body that has been marked by self-injury. Thus, the act of self-injury is not the sole focus, and particular attention is paid to accounts of the bodily aftermath: scars, marks and wounds. Scars left by selfinjury can be seen as communicative, and the analysis developed here demonstrates some of the various ways that these marks may be read. Attending to these diverse narratives can contribute to the provision of compassionate, non-judgemental care for patients who have self-injured. Further, highlighting the existence of different ways of narrating the self-injured body may offer an optimistic resource for people who have self-injured. © 2014, BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved