School of Applied Social Sciences

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Professional experiences on use of the mental health act in ethnically diverse populations: a photovoice study
(BMJ, 2025-02-08) Bhui, Kamaldeep; Mooney, Roisin; Joseph, Doreen; McCabe, Rose; Newbigging, Karen; McCrone, Paul; Raghavan, Raghu; Keating, Frank; Husain, Nusrat
Background There are long-standing ethnic and racial inequalities in experiences and outcomes of severe mental illness, including compulsory admission and treatment (CAT). Aims: To gather professional experiences about (1) remedies for ethnic inequalities in the use of the Mental Health Act ((MHA) 1983 and 2007) and (2) recommendations for improving care experiences and for reducing ethnic inequalities. Method: We undertook a participatory research process using photovoice to gather experience data. Photographs were assembled and narrated by 17 professionals from a variety of disciplines. We undertook a thematic analysis. Results: Ineffective communications between inpatient and community services, insufficient staff capacity, a lack of continuity of care and language and cultural constraints meant MHA assessments were lacking information, leading to elevated perceptions of risk. Practitioners felt helpless at times of staff shortages and often felt CAT could have been prevented. They felt voiceless and powerless and unable to challenge stereotypes and poor practice, especially if they were from a similar demographic (ethnicity) as a patient. Interdisciplinary disagreements and mistrust led to more risk-aversive practices. The legislation created an inflexible, risk-averse and defensive process in care. Police involvement added to concerns about criminalisation and stigma. There were more risk-averse practices when team members and families disagreed on care plans. More rehabilitation and recovery-orientated care are needed. Legislative compliance in a crisis conflicted with supportive and recovery-orientated care. Conclusion: Clear standards are needed, including specific protocols for MHA assessment, police interactions, alternatives to admission, early intervention and continuity of care.
Open Access
Uncovering climate obstruction actors and discourses in Argentina and Brazil
(Climate Social Science Network, 2025-03-21) Edwards, Guy; Milani, Carlos; Gutierrez, R, A; McKie, Ruth E.; Christel, L; Pinto, J. B
Embargo
Assessing legal socialisation in a youth sample: procedural justice, legitimacy, and popular discontent in Nigeria
(Springer, 2025-03-11) Akinlabi, Oluwagbenga Michael; Amagnya, Moses Agaawena; Bello, Paul Oluwatosin
Several studies have indicated that the experiences of young people with the police, judicial systems, and other legal entities, whether through direct or vicarious means, often establish the basis for their perceptions of the law and legal authorities in their later years. As a concept, the process of legal socialisation pertains to the development of a conscious relationship with the law, wherein individuals acquire law related values and attitudes, regardless of their demographic characteristics. While legal socialisation has received significant academic attention in developed West, it remains largely underexplored in Nigeria, and by extension other developing contexts. Using cross-sectional survey data obtained from a sample of young people in Southern Nigeria, this study examines whether young people’s legal socialisation influences their perceptions and attitudes towards police institutions and officials. The findings indicate that young people are more inclined to report legal cynicism and lower ratings of police legitimacy they perceive the police to be abusing their power, procedurally unfair, and corrupt. The results suggest that several factors that can enhance the relationship between police officers and young people, with the manner in which police treat young people during interactions being a critical component. Thus, the police may not be able to regulate the prevalence of criminal activities or have sufficient resources available to help deal with crime and satisfy community demands, they possess the power to determine the quality of interactions with young people within their community. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Open Access
Engaging South Asian Communities in the United Kingdom to Explore Infant Feeding Practices and Inform Intervention Development: Application of the REPLACE Approach
(Wiley, 2025-02-20) Kwah, Kayleigh; Sharps, Maxine; Bartle, Naomi; Choudhry, Kubra; Blissett, Jacqueline; Brown, Katherine
Breastfeeding in UK Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities is positively and negatively influenced by cultural beliefs and practices. The LIFT (Learning about Infant Feeding Together) project aimed to understand the determinants of infant feeding in these target communities and to engage them in the development of a culturally specific and acceptable infant feeding intervention to support breastfeeding. Reported here is phase one of the LIFT project guided by the REPLACE approach (a framework for the development of community-based interventions). The project involved an initial lengthy period of engagement with the target communities, using methods such as a community outreach event and identification of community peer group champions to help build trust. This was followed by iterative community workshops used to explore and build an understanding of infant feeding practices and the social norms and beliefs underlying these, and to assess community readiness to change. Consistent with previous research, the six key practices and beliefs identified from the workshops were: (1) Disparities between personal views vs cultural and normative barriers, (2) Family relationships and the influence on infant feeding decisions, (3) Pardah (modesty) and being unable to breastfeed in front of others, (4) Discarding colostrum (first breast milk), (5) Pre-lacteal feeds (feeds within a few hours of birth and before any breast or formula milk has been given) and complementary feeding before the baby is six months old and, (6) The belief that bigger babies are better and that formula helps babies to grow. Participants perceived that Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities would be amenable to intervention that aimed to change some but not all of the infant feeding behaviours identified. Findings informed the co-development of a culturally appropriate intervention toolkit to optimise infant feeding behaviour.
Embargo
A Matter of Facts: Officers’ Belief Systems About Corruption in Ghana’s Police and Criminal Justice System
(Springer, 2025-03-01) Amagnya, Moses Agaawena; Karstedt, Susanne
Police forces represent the outer face of criminal justice systems and the first point of contact for citizens. Corruption is often a major issue in police-citizen encounters, creating distrust and impeding the fair delivery of justice. Police leaders hardly admit to the presence and scope of corruption in their forces. However, lower ranks in the force might be keenly aware of corrupt exchanges and proceedings. This study explores Ghanaian police officers’ experiences, perceptions, and attitudes toward corruption in their organization based on the conceptual framework of ‘belief systems’ (Converse 1964/2006). We examine officers’ perceptions of the frequency and seriousness of corrupt behaviors and expected reactions, how they perceive their peers’ assessments of misconduct, and what they see as causes of corruption. We surveyed police officers in three regions of Ghana, urban as well as rural. The questionnaire included a scenario study, which presented respondents with two common incidents of corruption in the police force differing in terms of seriousness and involvement of lower and higher ranks. Results of the study show a pattern that we describe as a ‘realistic perspective’ on corruption within a police force where corruption is widespread, particularly regarding control of and reactions to corruption. While police officers’ belief systems were mostly consistent across the two incidents, important differences were found for expected sanctions. Police officers expected more severe reactions for the less serious lower-level incident and related impunity for high-ranking officers to a general culture of corruption within the police. These patterns, as well as differences between higher and lower ranks in perceptions of corruption, signal a level of distrust in leadership and its guardianship. We conclude that control and prevention of corruption need to harvest the experiences and knowledge of rank-and-file officers.
Open Access
Exploring the generational ordering of kinship through decisions about DNA testing and gamete donor conception: What’s the right age to know your donor relatives?
(The Sociological Review, 2025-01-17) Gilman, Leah; Nordqvist, Peta; Hudson, Nicky; Frith, Lucy
The development of direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTCGT), in conjunction with social media, has had profound consequences for the management of information about donor conception. One outcome is that it is now possible to circumvent formal age-restrictions on accessing information about people related through donor conception. Consequently, many donor conceived people and their parents face questions regarding what is the ‘right age’ to seek out such connections with ‘donor relatives’. In this article, we share findings from 20 interviews with UK-based parents through donor conception, exploring how they grapple with such questions and possibilities. This involves parents reflecting on the meaning of childhood and its significance in processes of kinship. We identify three ontologies of childhood in participants’ reasoning: children as kinship catalysts, children as vulnerable to kinship risk and children as emerging kinship agents. We discuss what our findings tell us about the generational ordering of kinship. We show that processes through which genetic relatedness is made to matter (or not) are understood to operate differently according to the generational position of those involved due to culturally-specific understandings of childhood. These ontologies of childhood, and their relationship to kinship, are (re)produced in and through parent–child relationships.
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Disabled Clients
(Sage, 2014) Nthakomwa-Cassidy, Kathleen
Disability issues have increasingly become a subject for discussion in the last few decades. In this article, the term disabled clients refers to people who access services within a variety of health and social care organizations and come into contact with a diverse range of staff at different points in their lives. Critical to this discussion of disabled clients are a definition of disability and an understanding of the three key models of disability, namely the medical model, the social model, and the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF). Further, a discussion of the potential impact of having a disability is explored, and key developments such as technological changes, media coverage of disability, and development of equality legislation and health promotion are examined in relation to their impact on disabled clients. The discussion concludes with some suggestions for the future to improve the lives of disabled clients. At this point, however, it is critically important to examine the complex and diverse nature of disability, as any narrow understanding of the issue may be limiting at best and may overlook the diversity within disability.
Open Access
Community resilience to flooding in the UK : A study of Matlock, Derbyshire
(Elsevier, 2025-02-15) McKie, Ruth E.; Aitken, Adam
The United Kingdom has faced recurring floods since 2019, with 5.2 million homes at risk. This has prompted the UK government to prioritise resilience planning in flood prone areas. This study focuses on community resilience in Matlock, Derbyshire, which has experienced intensified flooding since 2018. Using qualitative interviews and a focus group, the research examines evidence of community resilience and the barriers to its development by focusing on community activities during flooding incidents, if and how these were collective efforts and relationships, and what are the perceived challenges to community resilience building. Our findings revealed that residents of Matlock used local action groups and social media, community led warning systems and promotion and engagement in civic participation to foster and enhance community resilience. While bonding and bridging capital were critical to support community resilience building, there were significant barriers to linking social capital, such as the disconnect between community members and formal institutions (i.e. government organisations) that left participants disheartened and frustrated. In conclusion, the study argues that further fostering of linking social capital through policy recommendations and developments such as regular community, small grants for community initiatives and integrating local knowledge into policy frameworks will bridge the gap between communities and these external stakeholders. In doing so, activities that aim to enhance Matlock's flood resilience may inform broader strategies for place-based and devolved policies addressing environmental challenges in a wider context.
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Personality Psychology
(McGraw Hill, 2025) Larsen, Randy; Buss, David; Song, John; Jeronimus, Bertus; van den Berg, Stephanie; Sagoe, Dominic
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Symptomatic associations and sexual differences in depression and communication
(Nature, 2024-11-30) Wilson, Amanda; Jin, Yu; Fan, Yinjie; He, Jian; Li, Ye; Li, Jiaqi; Bu, Yajun; Wang, Yuanyuan
Previous studies have explored the associations between parental and offspring’s depression and parent-child communication. However, few studies have investigated their symptomatic associations and potential sex differences. Therefore, this study aims to examine their associations and sex differences in parents and offspring. Based on the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS)-2020 study, depressive symptoms and parent-child communication were measured by the 8-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-8) and independent questions, respectively. Network analysis was used to investigate the associations and to compare the sex differences of parents and offspring. A total of 1710 adolescents were included after cleaning process (N = 28,530). There were significantly stronger associations in boys’ “anhedonia” and “arguments with parents”, and in girls’ “happiness” and parents’ “joyfulness”. Furthermore, there were same-sex depression associations between children and parents (e.g., boys’ “despair”–fathers’ “joyfulness”; girls’ “anhedonia”–mothers’ “loneliness”). These results would help us to better understand the in depression and communication nuanced associations and to develop effective strategies for improving parental and offspring’s mental health.
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“Navigating Risk and Responsibility?”: A Mixed-Methods Study Addressing Stigma and Well-Being Among Men Who Have ‘Sex on Chems’ with Other Men in the English Midlands
(MDPI, 2024-12-08) Wilson, Amanda; Williamson, I. R.
Background: Most research on ‘Chemsex’ has been conducted with gay, bi-sexual, and men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in large cities with well-established infrastructures. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the ‘Chemsex’ risks and responsibilities of GBMSM who lived outside of the queer metropolis. This study also aimed to understand how stigma and mental health present in the absence of a well-established community infrastructure. Methods: This study utilized mixed methods in Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland, a location in the East Midlands of England. The quantitative component consisted of a survey. The qualitative component comprised three case studies based on in-depth interviews, using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Of the 123 survey respondents, 86% engaged in riskier sex during sessions and 35% no longer enjoyed sober sex. In the interviews, the three men balanced risk management and personal responsibility, positioning themselves as mature, considerate, and well-educated users. All were alienated by the term ‘Chemsex’. The findings are considered using theoretical frameworks, or how discourses of ‘moral threat’ operate within the micro-politics of regulating GBMSM’s pleasure and stigma. Conclusions: The complexities of understanding this practice for researchers and practitioners are discussed and recommendations are made for reframing education and support services for GBMSM.
Open Access
Sleep supports consolidation of newly learned mathematical concepts.
(Sage, 2025-01-23) Bisson, M. J.; Shaw, J. J.
Within mathematical cognition the development of conceptual knowledge is seen as critical to developing understanding. Sleep has been well established to play a role in the consolidation of newly learned information and schema-based information but has yet to be explored within mathematical cognition. Across three experiments participants (N = 167) were assigned to a sleep or wake group and then viewed lectures on either p-values, t-test, or z-scores. The sleep group watched the lecture at 9pm, completed an immediate recall task to explain the concept, then a second recall task 12h later at 9am. The wake groups watched the lecture at 9am, and completed an immediate recall task then a second recall task 12h later at 9pm. Written responses were then assessed using a comparative judgement task by subject experts. Across all three experiments, results showed that participants in the sleep group retained their knowledge from the immediate recall to 12 hours later, while in the wake group, participants’ knowledge declined significantly between sessions. These results suggest that sleep may be involved in an important process of maintaining the information learned from statistical concepts.
Open Access
Managing Jewish Identity in Arguments Over Jewish Support for Palestine
(Wiley, 2025-01-08) Goodman, Simon
The Israel/Palestine conflict has led to intragroup conflict amongst diaspora Jews that do and do not support Israel's actions. This paper addresses that conflict, which is shown to not just be one of differing opinions but of exactly what it means to be Jewish; it is therefore a social psychological study of contested and conflicting identities. Context to intra-Jewish conflict and the concept of the ‘self-hating Jew’ is discussed alongside the discursive approach to identity. The research question is: How is British Jewish identity managed and policed in a debate about Jewish support for Palestine? A critical discursive analysis is conducted on a Facebook discussion initiated by the British Jewish pro-Palestinian organisation ‘Na'amod’, which contains over 300 interactions. The analysis shows that there is both support and criticism of Na'amod, with a major feature being the construction, by Jews, of what it means to be a Jew, including (1) supporting Israel and (2) attending a controversial march against antisemitism; together these actions constitute appropriate ‘Jewish ethics’ so that not doing these places a Jew as deficient because of self-hate and/or stupidity. The analysis therefore shows how Jewish identity is constructed in such a way as to police Jewish people's behaviour and ensure support for Israel.
Open Access
Learning from Genocide: A Pedagogy for Social Change
(2024-10-29) Sadique, K.
The research focuses on learning about difficult knowledge, that which causes us discomfort and challenges our view of and our being in the world – the example here is genocide. The research explored guiding experiences in memorial museums situated in former sites of mass atrocities (Auschwitz and Srebrenica) from both educator and learner perspectives. The work demonstrates the opportunities for Research-Informed Teaching to move beyond the confines of our own subject areas, the wider institution and to become income-generating Knowledge Exchange.
Open Access
Learning the Lessons: Education as Genocide Prevention
(2024-12-09) Sadique, K.
After the Holocaust we said ‘Never Again’ but with each subsequent genocide (Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia) we seem to have failed to learn any lessons. This paper therefore discusses what we have learned (to do genocide better), what lessons we could learn (and how) addressing the educative process itself. Focusing on the ‘Lessons from Srebrenica’ it considers the recently adopted UN Resolution on the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide and argues that a robust UN outreach programme and educational curricula should be developed using the model A Pedagogy for Social Change (Sadique, 2024) to support work towards the prevention of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Open Access
From Evidentiary Epistemologies to Empowered Solidarities – A Pedagogy for Social Change in Genocide Education
(2024-12-03) Sadique, K.
Encounters with ‘difficult knowledge’ (Britzman, 1998), that which is uncomfortable or unsettling, such as anti-racist, settler-colonial, or genocide education, have the potential for affective disempowerment of learners (Worsham, 2001) or can be the platform for encouraging radical action. Exploring educational experiences in memorial museums at sites of mass atrocities (Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and Srebrenica Memorial Centre) from the perspective of both educators and learners, this paper presents a Pedagogy for Social Change in Genocide Education (Sadique, 2024). The model addresses intergenerational learning from past injustices through education that promotes the building or maintaining of sustainable peace, and is delivered outside of the classroom (Bajaj, 2016). It argues that genocide education requires evidence, affectivity, memory formation, reflection and empowerment for learners to be moved from the less radical ‘Never Forget’ to a more action-oriented position (Zembylas, 2014). Further it proposes that learners need to try out the ‘skills’ of taking action to build confidence to stand with others in ‘empowered solidarity’, thereby working towards creating a more just society where ‘Never Again’ is a possibility.
Open Access
Walsall: From ‘Report to Support’. A Borough-Wide Study of Experiences and Responses to Hate.
(2023-11-01) Sadique, K.
Embargo
Antiracist Education: A Pedagogy for Social Change using a virtual Bosnian Genocide platform
(Cardiff and Vale College, 2025-01-08) Sadique, K.
This chapter considers mass atrocity crimes and specifically the crime of genocide and how we can apply the lessons from such crimes to build and deliver an anti-racist pedagogy that is activist-focused. Understanding the complex legal position of the crime of genocide and the events which demonstrate its manifestation, the settings in which genocide education occurs and the pedagogical models used to deliver such education is of paramount importance. Educators need to be equipped to address the demand on learners to move from a passive position of ‘Never Forget’ to work towards ‘Never Again’.
Open Access
Digitalising corrections
(Sage, 2024-10-18) Knight, Victoria; Ross, Stuart; Wood, Mark
This special issue of the Journal of Criminology examines how this digital transformation is shaping prison and probation services, and what needs to be done to ensure that these developments yield beneficial outcomes for all those involved. We are particularly concerned with examining the values, theories, policies, and design principles that shape how services are translated into digital forms, and how, in turn, these services generate benefits and harms experienced by users. We are also interested in how technologies adopted as specific solutions to immediate problems can rapidly bring about more fundamental changes in operating systems and practices. Our goal is to speak to both academics and practitioners by presenting articles that are grounded in theory and evidence, but where the implications of the research are readily accessible to non-academic readers.
Open Access
Mapping Corruption Hotspots in Ghana’s Criminal Justice System and Processes
(Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd, 2024-12-03) Amagnya, Moses Agaawena
‘Corruption’ may be defined as the use or misuse of entrusted power for private, institutional or third-party gain. It is a serious global problem, particularly in developing countries. Corruption becomes more dangerous when criminal justice institutions and officials, who are usually the last resort to address conflicts and grievances, are affected by corruption. Unfortunately, research shows that criminal justice systems are often perceived as among the most corrupt public institutions in the world. One of the ways to help address corruption in criminal justice systems and institutions is to map out areas, procedures and processes that are prone to corruption – corruption hotspots. This paper maps out corruption hotspots in Ghana’s criminal justice system. It does this by examining the institutions, processes and procedures that members of the public navigate when accessing justice services in Ghana. The analysis reveals that entry points to the criminal justice system and/or institutions, particularly those that are complex and difficult for the public to understand, are significant hotspots for corruption. This paper also discusses the implications of these findings for corruption prevention in Ghana and beyond.

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