The paper explores policy developments in the Republic of Ireland in relation to child protection and argues that they are in danger of replicating some of the mistakes made in England under New Labour. It is argued that a focus on standardisinf processes and procedures is misguided, diverting attention from the importance of attending to the complexities of communication sharing and decision-making in a very difficult area of work. Moreover, the issues that have emerged from abuse cases in Ireland will not be satisfactorily addressed by standardisation.
{"title":"Ireland's Opportunity to Learn from England's Difficulties? Auditing Uncertainty in Child Protection","authors":"B. Featherstone, Sue White, D. Wastell","doi":"10.21427/D7RQ89","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7RQ89","url":null,"abstract":"The paper explores policy developments in the Republic of Ireland in relation to child protection and argues that they are in danger of replicating some of the mistakes made in England under New Labour. It is argued that a focus on standardisinf processes and procedures is misguided, diverting attention from the importance of attending to the complexities of communication sharing and decision-making in a very difficult area of work. Moreover, the issues that have emerged from abuse cases in Ireland will not be satisfactorily addressed by standardisation.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"12 1","pages":"5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67748370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church: Gender, Power and Organizational Culture","authors":"Rosaleen McElvaney","doi":"10.21427/D7072C","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7072C","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"12 1","pages":"9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68641269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
F. Houghton, N. Keane, N. Murphy, S. Houghton, C. Dunne
An examination of student mental health was conducted using the five item Mental Health Index (MHI), a subscale of the widely used SF-36 (Short Form Health Survey). Results support the use of the MHI, which was found to be to be a valid and reliable measure of mental health in Irish third-level students. As anticipated, females reported significantly higher levels of symptoms than males on the MHI. It was also noted that final year students report significantly worse mental health than other students. Comparison with a general population mean for a corresponding age group indicate significantly lower mental health status being recorded by the students in this study. Suggestions for further research are made.
{"title":"Tertiary Level Students and the Mental Health Index (MHI-5) in Ireland","authors":"F. Houghton, N. Keane, N. Murphy, S. Houghton, C. Dunne","doi":"10.21427/D75Q81","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D75Q81","url":null,"abstract":"An examination of student mental health was conducted using the five item Mental Health Index (MHI), a subscale of the widely used SF-36 (Short Form Health Survey). Results support the use of the MHI, which was found to be to be a valid and reliable measure of mental health in Irish third-level students. As anticipated, females reported significantly higher levels of symptoms than males on the MHI. It was also noted that final year students report significantly worse mental health than other students. Comparison with a general population mean for a corresponding age group indicate significantly lower mental health status being recorded by the students in this study. Suggestions for further research are made.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"10 1","pages":"6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68644596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Despite consistent efforts to counteract those attitudes and practices that give rise to it, most putatively modern Western nations continue to experience the concrete effects of racial discrimination. This essay argues that nationality is all too easily conflated with ‘race’ or ethnicity, such that a seeming essence or givenness is manifested amongst all those within a particular geographic boundary. It is suggested that on the contrary, there is nothing natural about nationality as commonly understood; this being so, it must be continually shored up and reconstituted through social, linguistic and material practices. For modern nations in the West, this has often entailed the marking or identification - racialisation - of non-nationals and non-white ‘Others’. A logic of inside/outside subtends the concept of nation wherein such Others are the ‘constitutive outside’ that invisibly clarifies and reinforces the status of those within. Nation, then, tacitly asserts and valorises its own putative qualities through the explicit identification and denigration of what it is not . It is argued that such a logic militates against the openness that might ground compassionate and empathetic relations between those ‘inside’ the nation and its new arrivals. This article first outlines its theoretical position: that nation is a ‘fictive ethnicity’ maintained through the continual (re)inscription of unequal power relations, and that nations and their ‘people’ are hybridities without originary ontological status. It summarises thereafter the historic constitution of national identities within both Northern Ireland and Ireland. Finally, it considers the experience of three groups of ‘Others’ on the island of Ireland, namely Jews, Travellers and asylum seekers, and how such Otherness has been represented in order to bolster the identity of the nation. This idea of nation and the exclusions it instates are interrogated throughout, with the conclusion that any policies aimed at eliminating institutional and individual racism, however well-meant, will ultimately fall short until nation itself - and the identities it is involved in constituting - are rethought.
{"title":"'Race', Nation and Belonging in Ireland","authors":"Jonathan Mitchell","doi":"10.21427/D7VD9H","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7VD9H","url":null,"abstract":"Despite consistent efforts to counteract those attitudes and practices that give rise to it, most putatively modern Western nations continue to experience the concrete effects of racial discrimination. This essay argues that nationality is all too easily conflated with ‘race’ or ethnicity, such that a seeming essence or givenness is manifested amongst all those within a particular geographic boundary. It is suggested that on the contrary, there is nothing natural about nationality as commonly understood; this being so, it must be continually shored up and reconstituted through social, linguistic and material practices. For modern nations in the West, this has often entailed the marking or identification - racialisation - of non-nationals and non-white ‘Others’. A logic of inside/outside subtends the concept of nation wherein such Others are the ‘constitutive outside’ that invisibly clarifies and reinforces the status of those within. Nation, then, tacitly asserts and valorises its own putative qualities through the explicit identification and denigration of what it is not . It is argued that such a logic militates against the openness that might ground compassionate and empathetic relations between those ‘inside’ the nation and its new arrivals. This article first outlines its theoretical position: that nation is a ‘fictive ethnicity’ maintained through the continual (re)inscription of unequal power relations, and that nations and their ‘people’ are hybridities without originary ontological status. It summarises thereafter the historic constitution of national identities within both Northern Ireland and Ireland. Finally, it considers the experience of three groups of ‘Others’ on the island of Ireland, namely Jews, Travellers and asylum seekers, and how such Otherness has been represented in order to bolster the identity of the nation. This idea of nation and the exclusions it instates are interrogated throughout, with the conclusion that any policies aimed at eliminating institutional and individual racism, however well-meant, will ultimately fall short until nation itself - and the identities it is involved in constituting - are rethought.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"11 1","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67750036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Kerr, Jessica Breen, M. Delaney, Claire Kelly, K. Miller
Teacher stress has received scant attention in Ireland. This study examines teachers’ perceptions of their daily stresses and how they attempt to cope with such situations. Interviews were conducted with fifteen secondary teachers from a variety of school types in eastern Ireland. The teachers showed great concern for their students, with some being prepared to ignore school guidelines in order to deal with their pupils’ needs. Several particularly stressful factors were identified, including the maintenance of boundaries (especially when dealing with students with personal problems), dealing with disruptive student behaviour, and the heavy workload. These stresses closely mirrored those described in international literature. Levels of stress and methods of dealing with stress varied widely among the sample, with primary support coming from their colleagues. One strong finding was the lack of suitable training and preparation felt by the participants, particularly in methods of dealing with sensitive and stressful situations in pupils, and in appropriate means of reaction to student misbehaviour. It is recommended that teachertraining courses include explicit training in dealing with such situations.
{"title":"A qualitative study of workplace stress and coping in secondary teachers in Ireland","authors":"R. Kerr, Jessica Breen, M. Delaney, Claire Kelly, K. Miller","doi":"10.21427/D7G72Q","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7G72Q","url":null,"abstract":"Teacher stress has received scant attention in Ireland. This study examines teachers’ perceptions of their daily stresses and how they attempt to cope with such situations. Interviews were conducted with fifteen secondary teachers from a variety of school types in eastern Ireland. The teachers showed great concern for their students, with some being prepared to ignore school guidelines in order to deal with their pupils’ needs. Several particularly stressful factors were identified, including the maintenance of boundaries (especially when dealing with students with personal problems), dealing with disruptive student behaviour, and the heavy workload. These stresses closely mirrored those described in international literature. Levels of stress and methods of dealing with stress varied widely among the sample, with primary support coming from their colleagues. One strong finding was the lack of suitable training and preparation felt by the participants, particularly in methods of dealing with sensitive and stressful situations in pupils, and in appropriate means of reaction to student misbehaviour. It is recommended that teachertraining courses include explicit training in dealing with such situations.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"11 1","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68649166","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article explores the experiences of a sample of residential social care staff working with young people who self injure. Initially, a phone survey was conducted with residential centres caring for young people aged between 12-18 years located in Dublin, to identify centres where self injury had occurred within the twelve months prior to data collection in February 2008. Questionnaires were then sent to the centres where confirmed self injury had occurred and follow up interviews were thereafter conducted with ten residential social care workers. Each of the workers interviewed had been involved in managing the most recent incident of self injury in their centres. The article highlights important issues that are relevant to social care workers and other professionals who work with young people who engage in self injurious behaviour. The study suggests the need for specialised training on self injury to be provided to residential social care workers. The study also highlights the importance of supportive supervision and incident debriefing to reduce the personal and professional impact on workers of managing incidents of self injury in their work. Finally the study indicates that staff with different career experience seem to respond differently in managing incidents of self injury which, in turn, can impact upon how they meet the needs of young people in their care exhibiting self injurious behaviour.
{"title":"Self Injury and the Challenges of Responding to Young People in Care:The Experiences of a Sample of Social Care Workers","authors":"Dave Williams, R. Gilligan","doi":"10.21427/D7KX62","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7KX62","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the experiences of a sample of residential social care staff working with young people who self injure. Initially, a phone survey was conducted with residential centres caring for young people aged between 12-18 years located in Dublin, to identify centres where self injury had occurred within the twelve months prior to data collection in February 2008. Questionnaires were then sent to the centres where confirmed self injury had occurred and follow up interviews were thereafter conducted with ten residential social care workers. Each of the workers interviewed had been involved in managing the most recent incident of self injury in their centres. The article highlights important issues that are relevant to social care workers and other professionals who work with young people who engage in self injurious behaviour. The study suggests the need for specialised training on self injury to be provided to residential social care workers. The study also highlights the importance of supportive supervision and incident debriefing to reduce the personal and professional impact on workers of managing incidents of self injury in their work. Finally the study indicates that staff with different career experience seem to respond differently in managing incidents of self injury which, in turn, can impact upon how they meet the needs of young people in their care exhibiting self injurious behaviour.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"11 1","pages":"2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67744626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article examines the role of the guardian ad litem service in Ireland within the context of public law proceedings. In the first part, the role of the guardian ad litem in Irish courts is outlined and this is followed by a discussion of the broader legal context informing the right of children to be heard in Irish courts. The article discusses some of the concerns about the lack of statutory regulation, standards and structure in the Irish guardian ad litem system. The tension inherent in expressing the wishes and views of children while making recommendations regarding their welfare and best interests is also considered. The article concludes with the view that giving children a statutory right to be heard which is not supported with adequate resources and proper frameworks is of limited value.
{"title":"There Isn't Anything Like a GAL: The Guardian Ad Litem Service in Ireland","authors":"A. McWilliams, C. Hamilton","doi":"10.21427/D79J0H","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D79J0H","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the role of the guardian ad litem service in Ireland within the context of public law proceedings. In the first part, the role of the guardian ad litem in Irish courts is outlined and this is followed by a discussion of the broader legal context informing the right of children to be heard in Irish courts. The article discusses some of the concerns about the lack of statutory regulation, standards and structure in the Irish guardian ad litem system. The tension inherent in expressing the wishes and views of children while making recommendations regarding their welfare and best interests is also considered. The article concludes with the view that giving children a statutory right to be heard which is not supported with adequate resources and proper frameworks is of limited value.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"10 1","pages":"5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68646529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ireland of the Illusions: A Sociological Chronicle 2007-2008 (Share, P. & Corcoran, M.P. (Eds.) 2010): Book Review","authors":"L. O’dowd","doi":"10.21427/D7K13Z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7K13Z","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"10 1","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67744102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pilar Bujia-Couso, A.M.T. O'Rourke, M. Cerezo, A.M.T. O'Rourke
The Parent Child Psychological Support Program (PCPS) was established in an area of South West Dublin in 2001. Since then until May 2008 it has offered its services to over 700 children and their parents. This preventative, parenting support service is available to all parents of children aged 3 to 18 months within its catchment area. During periodical visits, the infant’s development and growth are measured and parents receive specific information about their child’s progress. Parents are empowered in their parenting practices, thus promoting consistency and synchrony in parent-child interaction. Between 2001 and 2006, 538 parents and their infants participated in the Program. Out of these cases, 130 (24.16%) were considered to require additional support and were included in the Monthly Meeting Case Review (MM) based on initial concerns The aims of this study were: 1. to review the first five years of MM cases and to explore the socio-demographic profile of the MM cases in comparison to those not in need of additional support (non-MM) and 2. To illustrate an approach to refining the case review process which will inform practice and provides the service providers with better understanding of the early detection of parent-child relation difficulties. In pursuing this goal the cases screened over five years of practice were analyzed to explore the structure of the different factors by using statistical techniques of data reduction, i.e. factor analysis. The results showed that the MM group differed on several socio-demographic dimensions from the non-MM group and there was a four factor structure underlying the case review decision process. Implications of this research are discussed.
{"title":"Criteria Based Case Review: The Parent Child Psychological Support Program","authors":"Pilar Bujia-Couso, A.M.T. O'Rourke, M. Cerezo, A.M.T. O'Rourke","doi":"10.21427/D7Z722","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7Z722","url":null,"abstract":"The Parent Child Psychological Support Program (PCPS) was established in an area of South West Dublin in 2001. Since then until May 2008 it has offered its services to over 700 children and their parents. This preventative, parenting support service is available to all parents of children aged 3 to 18 months within its catchment area. During periodical visits, the infant’s development and growth are measured and parents receive specific information about their child’s progress. Parents are empowered in their parenting practices, thus promoting consistency and synchrony in parent-child interaction. Between 2001 and 2006, 538 parents and their infants participated in the Program. Out of these cases, 130 (24.16%) were considered to require additional support and were included in the Monthly Meeting Case Review (MM) based on initial concerns The aims of this study were: 1. to review the first five years of MM cases and to explore the socio-demographic profile of the MM cases in comparison to those not in need of additional support (non-MM) and 2. To illustrate an approach to refining the case review process which will inform practice and provides the service providers with better understanding of the early detection of parent-child relation difficulties. In pursuing this goal the cases screened over five years of practice were analyzed to explore the structure of the different factors by using statistical techniques of data reduction, i.e. factor analysis. The results showed that the MM group differed on several socio-demographic dimensions from the non-MM group and there was a four factor structure underlying the case review decision process. Implications of this research are discussed.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"10 1","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67752528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Famines in the main are man-made and not merely caused by the occurrences of food shortages, due to natural disasters. This article discusses the theories of famine in relation to food entitlement and adverse government policy. In the first part the focus is on the introduction of theories of famine, where it is examined in what way the entitlement and distribution of food, rather than food shortage, is often the underlying cause for famines. Famines are strongly enmeshed in either direct or indirect political decisions. Consequently, political systems have often intentionally created famine conditions and used starvation as a mechanism of repression. This fact makes these government officials some of history's worst criminals. In the second part, this article examines the case of Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-33 and illustrates that not only political economy and forced collectivisation, but the intentional faminogenic behaviour of Stalin and a small group of his government officials, caused devastating starvation and the deaths of millions of people. This case moves the study of famine into the field of international law, in which Ukraine's quest for UN recognition of Holodomor not only as a crime against humanity, but also as genocide, could be regarded as justified.
{"title":"Holodomor, Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933: A Crime against Humanity or Genocide?","authors":"R. Stark","doi":"10.21427/D7PQ8P","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7PQ8P","url":null,"abstract":"Famines in the main are man-made and not merely caused by the occurrences of food shortages, due to natural disasters. This article discusses the theories of famine in relation to food entitlement and adverse government policy. In the first part the focus is on the introduction of theories of famine, where it is examined in what way the entitlement and distribution of food, rather than food shortage, is often the underlying cause for famines. Famines are strongly enmeshed in either direct or indirect political decisions. Consequently, political systems have often intentionally created famine conditions and used starvation as a mechanism of repression. This fact makes these government officials some of history's worst criminals. In the second part, this article examines the case of Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-33 and illustrates that not only political economy and forced collectivisation, but the intentional faminogenic behaviour of Stalin and a small group of his government officials, caused devastating starvation and the deaths of millions of people. This case moves the study of famine into the field of international law, in which Ukraine's quest for UN recognition of Holodomor not only as a crime against humanity, but also as genocide, could be regarded as justified.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":"17 1","pages":"2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67747457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}