329 research outputs found
Using a prisoner advisory group to develop diversity research in a maximum-security prison
This paper addresses groupwork processes with a group of prisoners advising a research project in a maximum-security prison in England. The research project (Appreciative Inquiry into the Diversity Strategy of HMP Wakefield. RES-000-22-3441) was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and lasted 9 months. The research explored the experiences of prisoners in diverse minority groupings and the strategies of the prison to accommodate the complex needs of these groups. The Prisoner Advisory Group (PAG) was made up of representatives from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) prisoners; older prisoners (over 60s); Disabled prisoners (with physical disabilities, learning difficulties; and mental health problems); Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender prisoners; and prisoners affiliated to Faith groups. It met regularly during the research. The paper considers the forming norming and performing aspects of establishing an effective participant voice in a prison-based project. It considers the contribution of the PAG to developing a research strategy that engaged prisoners in the research. It reflects on the nature of ‘participative research’ in general and whether such research is possible within a high-security prison environment
Intense Electromagnetic Outbursts from Collapsing Hypermassive Neutron Stars
We study the gravitational collapse of a magnetized neutron star using a
novel numerical approach able to capture both the dynamics of the star and the
behavior of the surrounding plasma. In this approach, a fully general
relativistic magnetohydrodynamics implementation models the collapse of the
star and provides appropriate boundary conditions to a force-free model which
describes the stellar exterior. We validate this strategy by comparing with
known results for the rotating monopole and aligned rotator solutions and then
apply it to study both rotating and non-rotating stellar collapse scenarios,
and contrast the behavior with what is obtained when employing the
electrovacuum approximation outside the star. The non-rotating electrovacuum
collapse is shown to agree qualitatively with a Newtonian model of the
electromagnetic field outside a collapsing star. We illustrate and discuss a
fundamental difference between the force-free and electrovacuum solutions,
involving the appearance of large zones of electric-dominated field in the
vacuum case. This provides a clear demonstration of how dissipative
singularities appear generically in the non-linear time-evolution of force-free
fluids. In both the rotating and non-rotating cases, our simulations indicate
that the collapse induces a strong electromagnetic transient. In the case of
sub-millisecond rotation, the magnetic field experiences strong winding and the
transient carries much more energy. This result has important implications for
models of gamma-ray bursts.Comment: 28 pages, 20 figures (quality lowered to reduce sizes). Improved
initial data and matching condition results in a lower, but still important,
energy emission. Added appendix with a discussion on effects of transition
laye
Black Hole Critical Phenomena Without Black Holes
Studying the threshold of black hole formation via numerical evolution has
led to the discovery of fascinating nonlinear phenomena. Power-law mass
scaling, aspects of universality, and self-similarity have now been found for a
large variety of models. However, questions remain. Here I briefly review
critical phenomena, discuss some recent results, and describe a model which
demonstrates similar phenomena without gravity.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures; Submission for the proceedings of ICGC 2000 in
the journal Preman
Researching trust in the police and trust in justice: a UK perspective
This paper describes the immediate and more distant origins of a programme of comparative research that is examining cross-national variations in public trust in justice and in the police. The programme is built around a module of the fifth European Social Survey, and evolved from a study funded by the European Commission. The paper describes the conceptual framework within which we are operating – developed in large measure from theories of procedural justice. It reviews some of the methodological issues raised by the use of sample surveys to research issues of public trust in the police, public perceptions of institutional legitimacy and compliance with the law. Finally it gives a flavour of some of the early findings emerging from the programme
Criticality in the collapse of spherically symmetric massless scalar fields in semi-classical loop quantum gravity
In a recent paper we showed that the collapse to a black hole in
one-parameter families of initial data for massless, minimally coupled scalar
fields in spherically symmetric semi-classical loop quantum gravity exhibited a
universal mass scaling similar to the one in classical general relativity. In
particular, no evidence of a mass gap appeared as had been suggested by
previous studies. The lack of a mass gap indicated the possible existence of a
self-similar critical solution as in general relativity. Here we provide
further evidence for its existence. Using an adaptive mesh refinement code, we
show that "echoes" arise as a result of the discrete self-similarity in
space-time. We also show the existence of "wiggles" in the mass scaling
relation, as in the classical theory. The results from the semi-classical
theory agree well with those of classical general relativity unless one takes
unrealistically large values for the polymerization parameter.Comment: 7 pages, RevTe
Barriers to positive mental health in a young offenders institution: A qualitative study
Objective: To explore the barriers to positive mental health in a group of young offenders.
Design A qualitative approach was used to provide insight into the ways in which mental health for young offenders is experienced and managed. Setting A Young Offenders Institute (YOI) accommodating males aged between 18 and 21 years.
Method: Participants were recruited voluntarily using posters. Twelve offenders participated in focus groups and an additional three interviews were carried out with individuals who felt uncomfortable in the focus group situation.
Results: Participants stressed that feelings in a YOI could not be shared due to the masculine ethos that had been created on the wings. Listener services were reported to be ineffective for support because using them would show weakness and vulnerability to other prisoners. Visiting time was the main highlight in the routine for most young offenders; however, leaving family and friends was difficult. In dealing with these emotions young offenders would use coping mechanisms, including acts of aggression to vent built-up frustrations. The issue of prison staff and their effect on mental health was raised by all offenders involved in the research. Unanimously, it was suggested that there are both excellent prison officers who engage with the prisoners, and staff who abuse their power and treat prisoners disrespectfully.
Conclusion: Promoting mental health is not the principle business of a YOI. However, this research has generated some issues for consideration for governors and those working within this setting
Phases of massive scalar field collapse
We study critical behavior in the collapse of massive spherically symmetric
scalar fields. We observe two distinct types of phase transition at the
threshold of black hole formation. Type II phase transitions occur when the
radial extent of the initial pulse is less than the Compton
wavelength () of the scalar field. The critical solution is that
found by Choptuik in the collapse of massless scalar fields. Type I phase
transitions, where the black hole formation turns on at finite mass, occur when
. The critical solutions are unstable soliton stars with
masses \alt 0.6 \mu^{-1}. Our results in combination with those obtained for
the collapse of a Yang-Mills field~{[M.~W. Choptuik, T. Chmaj, and P. Bizon,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 424 (1996)]} suggest that unstable, confined solutions to
the Einstein-matter equations may be relevant to the critical point of other
matter models.Comment: 5 pages, RevTex, 4 postscript figures included using psfi
Pregnancy and childbirth in English prisons : institutional ignominy and the pains of imprisonment
© 2020 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for SHIL.With a prison population of approximately 9000 women in England, it is estimated that approximately 600 pregnancies and 100 births occur annually. Despite an extensive literature on the sociology of reproduction, pregnancy and childbirth among women prisoners is under‐researched. This article reports an ethnographic study in three English prisons undertaken in 2015‐2016, including interviews with 22 prisoners, six women released from prison and 10 staff members. Pregnant prisoners experience numerous additional difficulties in prison including the ambiguous status of a pregnant prisoner, physical aspects of pregnancy and the degradation of the handcuffed or chained prisoner during visits to the more public setting of hospital. This article draws on Erving Goffman's concepts of closed institutions, dramaturgy and mortification of self, Crewe et al.'s work on the gendered pains of imprisonment and Crawley's notion of ‘institutional thoughtlessness’, and proposes a new concept of institutional ignominy to understand the embodied situation of the pregnant prisoner.Peer reviewe
Induced scalarization in boson stars and scalar gravitational radiation
The dynamical evolution of boson stars in scalar-tensor theories of gravity
is considered in the physical (Jordan) frame. We focus on the study of
spontaneous and induced scalarization, for which we take as initial data
configurations on the well-known S-branch of a single boson star in general
relativity. We show that during the scalarization process a strong emission of
scalar radiation occurs. The new stable configurations (S-branch) of a single
boson star within a particular scalar-tensor theory are also presented.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures. Minor changes to match the published versio
Binary black holes' effects on electromagnetic fields
In addition to producing gravitational waves (GW), the dynamics of a binary
black hole system could induce emission of electromagnetic (EM) radiation by
affecting the behavior of plasmas and electromagnetic fields in their vicinity.
We here study how the electromagnetic fields are affected by a pair of orbiting
black holes through the merger. In particular, we show how the binary's
dynamics induce a variability in possible electromagnetically induced emissions
as well as a possible enhancement of electromagnetic fields during the
late-merge and merger epochs. These time dependent features will likely leave
their imprint in processes generating detectable emissions and can be exploited
in the detection of electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational waves.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Updated to coincide with PRL versio
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