Voice against violence : young people's experiences of domestic abuse policy-making in Scotland

This study, undertaken from a feminist and children’s rights perspective, emerged from the growing body of literature on children’s experiences of domestic abuse, the challenges of childhood studies and the opportunities arising out of the changed socio-political landscape of Scotland since devolution. It examines, with children and young people experiencing domestic abuse, their own solutions to improve help for children and young people, their perspectives on real and tokenistic participation in Scotland’s policy-making and, their self-defined ethical and participatory standards to make sustained participation possible. Combining innovation in methodology and co-production of new knowledge with children and young people, the researcher contributes the three E’s of Enjoyment, Empowerment and Emancipation to ethical principles focussing on safety, and recommends a new ethical approach to consent that recognises children’s agency in their own lives and in deciding their own best interests. A Participatory Action Research Process over five years with 9 of the 48 young people, resulted in young people themselves becoming change agents to begin to tackle the issues that emerged from the wider study’s qualitative first part, also action-orientated through children’s political activism. For example, the lack of help, awareness and stigma attached to domestic abuse was tackled through their production of a public online awareness raising campaign and film; their critique of the previously most revered of services, Women's Aid specialist support, resulted in a multi-million fund and their analysis became the conditions of grant; the lack of respect for and inclusion of young people in policy-making they challenged through defining their terms of engagement which are explored here, sanctioned and legitimised by their emerging 'critical friendship' with Ministers. Unusually the young people participating in the study made a significant impact on Scotland’s domestic abuse policy and practice, as well as repositioning children and young people in the democratic process

Juvenility, Puberty and Adolescence Among Bangladeshi and British Youth

The ABBY (Adolescence among Bangladeshi and British Youth) Project explores the relationship between migration and growing up from a biocultural perspective. Based on evolutionary hypotheses, it tests for facultative adaptation to different developmental environments during the transition from child to adolescent using contrasting conditions within ethnicity, ecology, and migration. I explore the relationship between these variables and the timing and tempo of adrenarche, thelarche, pubarche and menarche through comparisons of biological and cultural markers of development among 488 girls, aged 5–16, belonging to the following groups: Sylheti, first generation British-Bangladeshi, second generation British-Bangladeshi and white British. This project supports evidence that the timing, tempo and experience of juvenile and pubertal development vary across populations with possible lasting implications for the strategic allocation of reproductive effort. Specifically, adrenarche occurred two years earlier in first generation migrant girls to Britain, suggesting that change in ecological factors results in more rapid juvenile onset. Thelarche occurred earlier with increasing individual and ancestral generations lived in the UK, suggesting that local ecological factors result in earlier pubertal onset. Contrary to predictions, menarcheal timing and oestrogen levels did not differ significantly among groups. Acculturation did not account for differences in behaviours during juvenile and pubertal development between groups. Instead, the stages of practising to being dedicated to hijab (which occur during juvenility and after puberty, respectively) better reflect the social process of growing-up as Bangladeshi girls in East London. Growing up here may be uniquely stressful among first generation migrants. Psychosocial stress may interact with other ecological factors resulting in an overall slower tempo of juvenile development. The extended period of plasticity during juvenility among girls who experienced a change in socio-ecological factors may be an adaptive response to ensure a better tracking of current socio-ecological conditions and also a better prediction of later ones

Consultation with children and young people with experience of domestic abuse on Scottish Government National Domestic Abuse Delivery Group draft proposals : main report

Findings and Conclusions: Major Themes • There was support in principle from young people for all of the proposals • Young people gave careful consideration to the proposals and to how they might operate in practice; they expressed some caution about supporting them unreservedly until it was demonstrated they would work in practice • In relation to all of the proposals young people had concerns about confidentiality and privacy, about to the ability to control the flow of personal information, and there were concerns about trust • Participants expressed the importance of the proposals contributing to young people being and feeling safe

Children's human rights in the contexts of domestic abuse and COVID-19

Domestic abuse is a simultaneous attack on children’s and women’s human rights. Research underlines the relationality of domestic abuse, unveiling the entwined experiences of children and women. While these experiences may be connected, their rights are distinct and there are risks in viewing mothers as proxies for their children. Policy measures introduced to address COVID-19 had profound impacts on the lives of children and women experiencing domestic abuse. Drawing on an independent Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) in Scotland, the article explores the impacts such policy measures had on children’s human rights in the context of domestic abuse. It offers insight on the opportunities and limitations of CRIAs when considering the issue of domestic abuse. CRIAs make visible and prioritise children’s human rights; however, they risk masking the relationality of rights and therefore the implementation of children’s human rights. By integrating human rights instruments – the UNCRC and the Istanbul Convention – the article offers ways to recognise children as victims of domestic abuse, while supporting connections between their rights and the women’s rights. It concludes that a Joint Protocol between the UNCRC and the Istanbul Convention is needed to integrate children’s human rights with the relationality of domestic abuse.Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Onlin

Diffusion Modelling Reveals the Decision Making Processes Underlying Negative Judgement Bias in Rats:Modelling Decision Making during Negative Affect

Human decision making is modified by emotional state. Rodents exhibit similar biases during interpretation of ambiguous cues that can be altered by affective state manipulations. In this study, the impact of negative affective state on judgement bias in rats was measured using an ambiguous-cue interpretation task. Acute treatment with an anxiogenic drug (FG7142), and chronic restraint stress and social isolation both induced a bias towards more negative interpretation of the ambiguous cue. The diffusion model was fit to behavioural data to allow further analysis of the underlying decision making processes. To uncover the way in which parameters vary together in relation to affective state manipulations, independent component analysis was conducted on rate of information accumulation and distances to decision threshold parameters for control data. Results from this analysis were applied to parameters from negative affective state manipulations. These projected components were compared to control components to reveal the changes in decision making processes that are due to affective state manipulations. Negative affective bias in rodents induced by either FG7142 or chronic stress is due to a combination of more negative interpretation of the ambiguous cue, reduced anticipation of the high reward and increased anticipation of the low reward