Working with boys and girls

Whilst most people who come into contact with boys and girls in any capacity wouldattest to some differences in the ways they behave and in how they are respondedto, the whole area of gender difference is not one that has been developed much insocial work thinking. Part of the reason for this is understandable from an ideologicalstandpoint.Effective child care requires that practitioners work with the equal but differentneeds of boys and girls. In this, a balance must be struck between understandingdifference (in order to help) and perpetuating stereotypes. Staff need to consider theindividual needs and preferences of young people rather than responding to themsolely as boys or girls

Hold on: physical restraint in residential child care

Guidance for developing best practice, policy and improved outcomes for children and young people in residential child care. Children in residential care can exhibit disturbed and violent behaviour which can result in them being aggressive to themselves and to others. Over many years practitioners, managers and policy-makers have tried to find ways of dealing with children whose behaviour is dangerous with a range of interventions such as crisis intervention and crisis de-escalation, as well as the use of sanctions such as restricting leisure activities and control of pocket money. There has also been some debate about the use of physical restraint by residential child care staff when the child or those around him or her need to be protected from the child's aggression without hurting or humiliating the child

Young people's experiences of physical restraint in residential care: subtlety and complexity in policy and practice

Children and young people in residential care are some of the most vulnerable in our society. They may have experienced violence and physical, sexual or emotional abuse. They may be involved in offending or the misuse of drugs and alcohol. They are separated from their families and have to cope with living in a group situation with other young people and staff members. Children and young people in residential care also possess strengths, competencies and resilience. We have much to learn from their experiences and perspectives, both generally and surrounding their time in care. This paper will address the ethical issues which arise from gaining the views of children and young people in residential care

Care ethics and physical restraint in residential child care

When social care workers must respond to behaviour which poses serious, imminent danger, the response can sometimes take the form of physical restraint. Physical restraint has long been the subject of serious concern in social care, as well as other areas, such as law enforcement and psychiatry. This chapter focuses on physical restraint in residential child care. It is one of the most complex and ethically fraught areas of practice, yet there is almost no dedicated literature that applies itself to the ethical dimensions of this practice in this field. The chapter starts with discussion of the context of practice in residential child care. A tentative explanation for and critique of the lack of ethically dedicated attention to the subject of physical restraint in residential child care is then provided, with an argument for the transformative potential of care ethics to develop related thinking and practice. The chapter goes on to draw from a large-scale, qualitative study of physical restraint in residential child care in Scotland

Motion-induced Wind Forces On Chimneys And Tall Buildings

This thesis describes the development of a Pivot Mode Activator System (PMA) for the measurement of motion-induced forces on wind tunnel models of tall structures. The impetus for this was the desire to refine the established base balance wind tunnel technique of predicting wind loads. The system developed forces a sinusoidal oscillation of the test model in a pivoting mode about its base at controlled amplitude and frequency. The wind forces acting on the model are measured, and the motion-induced forces are extracted by correlating the total force with the motion. In this way, both the in-phase and out-of-phase components of the motion-induced forces are distinguished. These quantities are denoted by a complex aerodynamic impedance whose real and imaginary parts correspond to aerodynamic stiffness and damping parameters.;As a demonstration of the use of the system, two substantial experimental studies have been carried out. The first is a comprehensive study of a square prism. This study provides extensive data on the aerodynamic impedance for tip oscillation amplitudes less than about 15% of the model width. The effects of varying the turbulence intensity of the wind and the aspect ratio of the model are also investigated. To complement these results, additional experiments have been carried out for the same model shape. These include forced oscillation experiments on a pressure model which provide information about the spatial and spectral distribution of the forces, as well as free oscillation experiments on several aeroelastic model structures. Rms response predictions based on base balance data, augmented with the measured data on motion-induced forces, are found to agree very well with the corresponding results from an aeroelastic model test.;The second experimental study involved base balance experiments and PMA experiments on various cross-sectional shapes. This study provides a large data set, which along with some judicious interpolation, is expected to be of valuable use to designers of tall chimneys.;The Pivot Mode Activator System has surpassed the initial design expectations. The aerodynamic impedance for a model can be measured with a high degree of resolution. It is hoped that the system will provide a means for expediting fundamental research into motion-induced force models as well as contributing to practical wind tunnel studies

Agrarian Change and Peasant Prospects in Haiti

Haiti is one of the poorest and most severely hunger-stricken countries in the world (GHI 2013). Its contradictions are jarring: although Haiti has the largest relative agrarian population in the Western Hemisphere and relatively less land inequality than the rest of the region (Smucker et al. 2000; Wiens and Sobrado 1998), it is extremely food insecure. Almost 90 percent of the rural population lives below the poverty line (FAO 2014; IFAD 2014), and Haiti relies on food imports for 60 percent of national consumption (OXFAM 2010). Some scholars argue that the spread of commodity relations, persistent rural class differentiation, and dispossession mean that most peasants can no longer reproduce themselves outside of markets, having been transformed into petty commodity producers with many households depending upon some degree of off-farm earnings (Bernstein 2001; Araghi 1995). Others, however, claim that ‘de-peasantization’ is far from inevitable, and stress that peasants continue to persist with varying relations to markets, still constitute a large share of humanity, and are actively fighting to defend their livelihoods (Ploeg 2009; Borras and Edelman 2008; McMichael 2006). At the broadest level, this dissertation explores contemporary struggles facing Haitian peasants in the belief that while they face extremely adverse circumstances, their continuing decline is far from inevitable. On the contrary, this dissertation is premised on the conviction that improving the livelihoods of peasant farmers is fundamental to reducing poverty and food insecurity in Haiti. More specifically, the papers in this dissertation explore various key aspects of Haiti’s agriculture and food system, including dietary aspirations, an intensifying agro-export push, and competing visions for rural development in the wake of the disastrous 2010 earthquake. Individually and collectively, considerable attention is given to some of the enduring legacies of the colonial period, and the interconnections between race, class, and food, while being sure to situate the cultural dimensions of peasant problems in their political economic context. This includes focusing heavily on the role played by dominant ‘development’ actors in Haiti (the foreign donor community; NGOs; the state; transnational corporations; domestic agribusinesses and merchant elites) and their relations with peasants in the post-earthquake period. The foundation of this dissertation is extensive field research conducted between November 2010 and July 2013 in a commune in Haiti’s Artibonite Department, the most important food producing part of the country. Field research involved a range of qualitative methods, including interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. My hope is that this dissertation offers a rich, deeply grounded contribution into some of the most crucial issues influencing agrarian change and food security in Haiti today, and provides valuable insights into agrarian change and peasant livelihoods and struggles in Haiti and beyond

Holding safely : guidance for residential child care practitioners and managers about physically restraining children and young people

Residential child care is intensive and at times very diffificult work. Staff in residential childcare, therefore, need training, advice, supervision and support in undertaking this demanding work, since they are often doing the hardest of social care jobs. This good practice guidance has been commissioned to assist practitioners in working out policies and practices for restraining children and young people where no other appropriate options are available