News

Jenny Hamilton has a new paper in the Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Journal, published this week:  Hamilton, J. (2023). Movies on the couch: The MOVIE model of film therapy. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 00, 1– 5. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12658 ...

Over the last few decades, research has largely focused on the processes and practices that act against women in male-dominated industries and the effect this has on their career progression. However, men’s careers are under analysed. This paper flips the gaze, applying a feminist institutionalist lens to examine the practices and rules that shape and enable men’s career progression. This is critical if we are to understand how men’s power in organizations is maintained and perpetuated, arguably at the expense of women’s careers. It draws on data from a rapid ethnographic study of the Australian construction industry, specifically of construction professionals working in two multinational Australian construction companies. The paper finds that men’s career progression routinely operates through homosociality, instrumentally and expressively, via a “sponsor-mobility” principle whereby selected individuals receive higher levels of guidance, access to opportunities and advocacy from their managers....

Stone tools are the result of goal-oriented actions involving cognitive processes. Because visual attention is a requirement in accurate tool-making, visual exploration can provide information about the relationship between perception and technological evolution. The purpose of this study is to analyse visual behaviour while an expert knapper produces different stone tools, using a portable eye tracking device. To understand where gaze was directed moment by moment, different areas of interest were defined. The preliminary results show that the most observed areas were the middle region, the knapped surface, the first face of the tool being struck and the next point of percussion. There were differences in visual exploration between choppers and handaxes during knapping. The distal position, upper region, cortex and the first face of the tool being struck were more explored in choppers, while the base, knapped surface and first tool’s face knapped were more viewed for handaxes. These areas can be considered to be the most salient features needed to control knapping, hence constituting action affordances for the successful production of stone tools....

Having left the European Union, the UK Fisheries Act (hereafter referred to as the Act) provides a framework that may advance sustainable marine resource management. This requires the bias towards social-economic concerns to be recognised, and greater emphasis to be placed on securing the natural capital to support fisheries. A Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) to be published in 2022 by the UK’s devolved fisheries authorities will set out how the objectives of the Act will be achieved. While recognising the value of principles of the Act, this article challenges the current management framework in light of the wider challenges in fisheries practice. It argues for more emphasis on ecological and fisheries regeneration, and maximising societal benefits rather than yields. Three recommendations are provided: (1) an integrated and more holistic Fisheries-Energy-Environment Nexus resource management approach would better utilise systems thinking to optimise trade-offs and synergies between competing domains to achieve fisheries, conservation and other environmental goals (e.g. delivering the national net zero strategy); (2) the use of best available technologies as is reasonably practicable to monitor compliance and facilitate enforcement should be a regulatory requirement under the JFS; (3) the fisheries and marine conservation science community should work with other stakeholders to change the media narrative, public opinion, and political direction away from a “business-as-usual” model that risks long-term degradation of the marine fisheries resource....

There are many definitions of recovery in mental health. Community Rehabilitation Teams (CRTs) aim to support the mental health recovery of people. The Individual Recovery Outcomes Counter (I.ROC) is a way to measure recovery. To determine if being supported by a CRT helps mental health recovery for people transitioning from an inpatient service to the community. Individual reliable and clinically meaningful change indices were calculated for a total of 31 people. Two I.ROC questionnaires were completed by 31 people. Of these 31 people, 14 people had three completed I.ROC questionnaires. Of the 31 people, 17 showed a positive reliable change and three people made a clinically meaningful change. Of the 14 people, one had a positive reliable change, two had a negative reliable change, and no-one had a clinically meaningful change. The I.ROC shows the CRT to successfully support recovery in people with mental health difficulties....

Helping students to become more resilient to online misinformation is widely recognised as an essential task for education in a rapidly digitalising world. Students need both scientific knowledge and epistemic insight to navigate online spaces containing sensationalised reports of scientific and technological developments. Epistemic insight involves epistemic curiosity and the ability to think critically about the nature, application and communication of knowledge. This includes developing an understanding of the power and limitations of science and a curiosity regarding its relationship with other disciplines. We present a workshop designed for school students aged 16–18 titled ‘Can science and technology cure loneliness?’, designed to develop students' epistemic insight through investigating loneliness through a multidisciplinary perspective. We discuss how the design and pedagogy of this workshop might help students to build epistemic humility—the recognition that no single disciplinary perspective can complete our knowledge about a given topic. As part of a broader programme, epistemic insight-based pedagogies have the potential to develop students' resistance to science- and technology-related misinformation and prepare them for their potential role in shaping our scientific and technological future....

Stone tools are the result of goal-oriented actions involving cognitive processes. Because visual attention is a requirement in accurate tool-making, visual exploration can provide information about the relationship between perception and technological evolution. The purpose of this study is to analyse visual behaviour while an expert knapper produces different stone tools, using a portable eye tracking device. To understand where gaze was directed moment by moment, different areas of interest were defined. The preliminary results show that the most observed areas were the middle region, the knapped surface, the first face of the tool being struck and the next point of percussion. There were differences in visual exploration between choppers and handaxes during knapping. The distal position, upper region, cortex and the first face of the tool being struck were more explored in choppers, while the base, knapped surface and first tool’s face knapped were more viewed for handaxes. These areas can be considered to be the most salient features needed to control knapping, hence constituting action affordances for the successful production of stone tools....

EU enlargement after 2004 was a major factor in increasing Eastern European migration to the UK. This population requires access to high quality public services generally, and ambulance services more specifically. To understand how Eastern European migrants use ambulance care, this study explored the perceptions and experiences of ambulance staff and the Eastern European patients themselves. We undertook qualitative semi-structured interviews across Lincolnshire. Purposive and maximum variation sampling ensured that participants were knowledgeable about Eastern European patients’ use of ambulance care and were demographically diverse. Data were analysed using framework analysis....

A forthcoming edited collection lead by the Following Young Fathers Further team will be published on 30th December 2022:  ‘Men and Welfare’, edited by Professor Anna Tarrant, Dr Linzi Ladlow and Dr Laura Way. It is inspired by themes examined in ‘Men, Gender Divisions and Welfare’, an edited collection published in 1998 by Popay, Hearn, and Edwards. While international policy agendas reflect a growing commitment to critically addressing the relations between men, masculinities, and policy, in policy and popular discussions, societies continue to grapple with the question of ‘what to do with men?’ This question reflects an ongoing tension between the persistence of men’s power and control over welfare and policy development, alongside their ostensible avoidance of welfare services. The collection constitutes an up-to-date account of the gendered and social implications of policy andpractice change for men, and their inherent contradictions and complexities, tracing stability andchange over the past 25 years. Across nineteen chapters, the book considers diverse themes including young men and masculinities; parenting, fathering and grandfathering; men’s engagements with formal and informal welfare contexts; and ageing, belonging and loneliness. Jeff Hearn and Jennie Popay also provide a Foreword to the text, reflecting on how debates have evolved since they edited their 1998 collection....

The present demand for child and adolescent mental health services exceeds the capacity for service provision. Greater research is required to understand the utility of accessible self-help interventions, such as mobile apps. This study sought to investigate whether use of a mental health app, underpinned by CBT, led to changes in psychological distress amongst adolescents. Mechanisms of change were examined, specifically whether changes are attributable to cognitive strategies. This study utilised a multiple-baseline single-case experimental design, tracking variables across baseline and intervention phases. Surveys assessing participant experience were also administered....

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Our contribution draws upon a collaborative project called ‘Diverse Dads’, which ran between October 2020 and April 2021, during the 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic. The team comprised members of the North East Young Dads and Lads (NEYDL) Project, advisors from support organisations that champion inclusivity, and the Following Young Fathers Further (FYFF) research team. ‘Diverse Dads’ sought to identify and address gaps in service provision for young minoritised dads in the North East, and to promote cross-sector conversations concerning inclusive support for young dads from diverse communities. With support provided remotely by the FYFF team, peer research was undertaken by three young men from NEYDL. Our work highlights how methods of coproduction and cocreation were achieved during the pandemic. NEYDL is also embarking on an ambitious new digital service journey with partners DigiDAD, producing digital outputs that are made by and for young fathers. Working collaboratively, the peer research team and DigiDAD produced a set of videos designed to support training for professionals in mainstream, family, and statutory services. Showcasing one of these creative outputs, our contribution will discuss the continued value of coproduction and cocreation with young people and using creative, digital methods to support productive discussions between young fathers, professionals, and researchers....

Patient activation is defined as a patient’s confidence and perceived ability to manage their own health. Patient activation has been a consistent predictor of long-term health and care costs, particularly for people with multiple long-term health conditions. However, there is currently no means of measuring patient activation from what is said in health care consultations. This may be particularly important for psychological therapy because most current methods for evaluating therapy content cannot be used routinely due to time and cost restraints. Natural language processing (NLP) has been used increasingly to classify and evaluate the contents of psychological therapy. This aims to make the routine, systematic evaluation of psychological therapy contents more accessible in terms of time and cost restraints. However, comparatively little attention has been paid to algorithmic trust and interpretability, with few studies in the field involving end users or stakeholders in algorithm development....

This article offers a critical forecast on violent crime as the UK begins to emerge from the global Covid-19 pandemic. The article is structured into three thematic sections that separately address three key issues related to the issue of violence contemporarily. Firstly, the article places in context the rise in serious forms of violent crime across England and Wales that occurred in the years preceding the arrival of Covid-19. Secondly, it considers, briefly, the pandemic’s impact upon violence, specifically the effect of lockdown upon patterns of violence. Thirdly, and finally, the article provides a critical forecast, which draws together some of the points identified in the preceding two sections. This final section suggest that serious violence may become a more significant issue in the UK’s post-pandemic context of inequality, austerity legacy, the harms of lockdown to vulnerable groups, and the cost-of-living crisis....

Having left the European Union, the UK Fisheries Act (hereafter referred to as the Act) provides a framework that may advance sustainable marine resource management. This requires the bias towards social-economic concerns to be recognised, and greater emphasis to be placed on securing the natural capital to support fisheries. A Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) to be published in 2022 by the UK’s devolved fisheries authorities will set out how the objectives of the Act will be achieved. While recognising the value of principles of the Act, this article challenges the current management framework in light of the wider challenges in fisheries practice. It argues for more emphasis on ecological and fisheries regeneration, and maximising societal benefits rather than yields. Three recommendations are provided: (1) an integrated and more holistic Fisheries-Energy-Environment Nexus resource management approach would better utilise systems thinking to optimise trade-offs and synergies between competing domains to achieve fisheries, conservation and other environmental goals (e.g. delivering the national net zero strategy); (2) the use of best available technologies as is reasonably practicable to monitor compliance and facilitate enforcement should be a regulatory requirement under the JFS; (3) the fisheries and marine conservation science community should work with other stakeholders to change the media narrative, public opinion, and political direction away from a “business-as-usual” model that risks long-term degradation of the marine fisheries resource....

The project DV_Support is a European Union Horizon 2020 – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action to carry out the first-ever study of domestic abuse amongst Polish women living in the UK or any EU country. It draws on an inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration between Dr Iwona Zielińska (Principal Investigator), EDAN Lincs – the main domestic abuse organisation in Lincolnshire (Host Organisation) and a team of senior researchers at the University of Lincoln (UoL – Secondment). There are three main goals of the project: Understand the nature of domestic violence experienced by Polish women in the UK, including the cultural, transnational, migration, family and socio-economic factors that influence it. Identify barriers to and enablers of help-seeking, leaving and recovering from abusive relationships by Polish women living in the UK Make recommendations about how domestic violence services in the UK, Poland and EU countries can better respond to the specific needs of Polish migrant women.[wmd-buttons-button label="View More" link="https://dvsupport.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/research/"/]...

NHS ambulance service staff are at risk of poor physical and mental wellbeing because of the likelihood of encountering stressful and traumatic incidents. While reducing sickness absence and improving wellbeing support to ambulance staff is a key NHS priority, few studies have empirically documented a national picture to inform policy and service re-design. The study aimed to understand how ambulance service trusts in England deal with staff health and wellbeing, as well as how the staff perceive and use wellbeing services. To achieve our aim, we undertook semi-structured telephone interviews with health and wellbeing leads and patient-facing ambulance staff, as well as undertaking documentary analysis of ambulance trust policies on wellbeing. The study was conducted both before and during the UK first COVID-19 pandemic wave. The University of Lincoln ethics committee and the Health Research Authority (HRA) granted ethical approval. Overall, we analysed 57 staff wellbeing policy documents across all Trusts. Additionally, we interviewed a Health and Wellbeing Lead in eight Trusts as well as 25 ambulance and control room staff across three Trusts....

This research investigated the implications that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the menstrual cycle and any contributing factors to these changes. A questionnaire was completed by 559 eumenorrheic participants, capturing detail on menstrual cycle symptoms and characteristics prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. Over half of all participants reported to have experienced lack of motivation (61.5%), focus (54.7%) and concentration (57.8%). 52.8% of participants reported an increase in cycle length. Specifically, there was an increase in the median cycle length reported of 5 days (minimum 2 days, maximum 32 days), with a median decrease of 3 days (minimum 2 days and maximum 17 days). A lack of focus was significantly associated with a change in menstrual cycle length (p = 0.038) reported to have increased by 61% of participants. Changes to eating patterns of white meat (increase p = 0.035, decrease p = 0.003) and processed meat (increase p = 0.002 and decrease p = 0.001) were significantly associated with a change in menstrual cycle length. It is important that females and practitioners become aware of implications of environmental stressors and the possible long-term effects on fertility. Future research should continue to investigate any long-lasting changes in symptoms, as well as providing education and support for females undergoing any life stressors that may implicate their menstrual cycle and/or symptoms....

Retirement is a life event that can influence physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) and can be used as an opportunity to promote positive lifestyle choices. The aims of this study were to (a) to identify changes in PA and SB resulting from retirement and (b) to explore predictors of any changes in PA and SB following retirement in Maltese civil servants. (2) Methods: a hybrid mixed-method (MM) study, using first quantitative followed by qualitative methods, of civil servants aged ≥60 years, who were followed during their retirement transition for two years. A proportion of the research participants in the MM study retired while the others remained employed. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. (3) Results: there were no changes in total PA and sitting behaviour with retirement in Maltese civil servants. People who retired carried out more domestic PA compared to when they were in employment, which resulted in more moderate-intensity PA behaviour. People perceived that their sitting time increased with retirement in the qualitative interviews, but this was not observed in the quantitative data. Past PA behaviour was an important predictor of future PA behaviour, but not for SB. (4) Conclusions: A change in PA occurs with the retirement transition. However, the uptake of exercise is a personal choice that is dependent on previous experience. Increasing SB is perceived as part of the retirement plan but is not necessarily seen in the measured quantitative data....

In advanced industrial applications, computational visual attention models (CVAMs) could predict visual attention very similarly to actual human attention allocation. This has been used as a very important component of technology in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Given that the biological inspiration of the driving-related CVAMs could be obtained from skilled drivers in complex driving conditions, in which the driver’s attention is constantly directed at various salient and informative visual stimuli by alternating the eye fixations via saccades to drive safely, this paper proposes a saccade recommendation strategy to enhance the driving safety under urban road environment, particularly when the driver’s vision is often impaired by the visual crowding. The altered and directed saccades are collected and optimized by extracting four innate features from human dynamic vision. A neural network isdesigned to classify preferable saccades to reduce perceptual blindness due to visual crowding under urban scenes. A state-of-the-art CVAM is firstly adopted to localize the predicted eye fixation locations (EFLs) in driving video clips. Besides, human subjects’ gaze at the recommended EFLs is measured via an eye-tracker. The time delays between the predicted EFLs and drivers’ EFLs are analyzed under different driving conditions, followed by the time delays between the predicted EFLs and the driver’s hand control. The visually safe margin is then measured by mediating the driving speed and the total delay. Experimental results demonstrate that the recommended saccades can effectively reduce the amount of perceptual blindness, which is known to be of help to further improve road driving safety....

It is remarkable that after a series of U-turns on key policy announcements and the resignation of two senior members of her Cabinet, the event which may well have precipitated the Prime Minister’s resignation was a parliamentary vote on an opposition motion which the Government actually won. To be sure, many would argue that the Prime Minister’s position was already untenable before Wednesday evening but any hopes of retaining office went downhill quickly following the chaotic mismanagement of a vote on a Labour motion on fracking. While the Labour Party may take some pleasure in contributing to PM’s downfall, much of the damage was self-inflicted. [wmd-buttons-button label="View Article on ParliLinc" link="https://parlilinc.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/2022/10/21/who-runs-britain/"/]...

Social inequalities fuel a debate about the meaning of political equality. Formal procedural equality is criticised for reproducing discriminatory outcomes against disadvantaged groups but affirmative action, particularly in the form of group quotas, is also contested. When opposing conceptions of substantive equality support divergent views about which procedural rule genuinely respects political equality, democracies cannot identify a standard or rule of procedural fairness to be widely accepted as fair. This dispute over procedural fairness can carry on indefinitely and could challenge democracy’s legitimacy claim. I argue that democracies can renew their legitimacy claim by embracing this debate and by accommodating it through constitutional deliberation that must be as impartial and meaningful as possible. Impartiality ideally requires the presence of every citizen in this process because each of them has a unique and evolving experience of inequality. Meaningful deliberation is about offering periodic opportunities for constitutional reform, allowing for continuous feedback, reflection, and learning....

Technological and economic globalisation has been suggested as a cause of increasing rates of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders globally, especially as regards the impact of mass media on internalised body ideals. This process is rarely observed in action, however. The current work investigates multiple aspects of body ideals, body image, sociocultural attitudes and eating attitudes in 62 Creole and Mestizo women living in communities at differing stages of technological development on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. In Study 1, women used 3D avatar software to create their own ‘ideal’ body without the constraints of ready-made stimuli. Analyses of resulting avatars showed that components of the ideal body shape (upper and lower body curvaceousness) but not body size (body mass) were associated with levels of film and television consumption. In Study 2, women completed measures of variables in the sociocultural model of eating disorder risk. As expected, body dissatisfaction mediated the relationship between internalisation of sociocultural body ideals and pathological eating attitudes. In contrast, body appreciation reduced pathological eating attitudes, via reduced body dissatisfaction. Finally, Study 3 measured sociocultural influences, body image and eating attitudes at 2 or 3 timepoints per woman; body dissatisfaction covaried with pathological eating attitudes across time. Ethnicity varied in its effects across studies....

This study aimed to investigate the reliability of surface electromyography (EMG) assessed at seven muscles during three repeated 2000 m rowing ergometer sessions. Twelve male well-trained rowers participated in a repeated measures design, performing three 2000 m rowing ergometer sessions interspersed by 3–7 days (S1, S2, S3). Surface electrodes were attached to the gastrocnemius, biceps femoris, gluteus maximus, erector spinae, vastus medialis, rectus abdominis and latissimus dorsi for EMG analysis. No differences existed between 2000 m sessions for EMG amplitude for any of the seven muscles (p = 0.146–0.979). Mean coefficient of variation of EMG for 6 of 7 muscles was ‘acceptable’ (12.3–18.6%), although classed as ‘weak’ for gastrocnemius (28.6%). Mean intra-class correlation coefficient values across muscles ranged from ‘moderate’ to ‘very large’ (0.31–0.89). Within-session EMG activation rates of vastus medialis were greater during 0–500 m and 1500–2000 m segments, compared with 500–1000 m and 1000–1500 m (p < 0.05). Values for biceps femoris and gluteus maximus were significantly higher during 1500–2000 m compared to 500–1000 m and 1000–1500 m (p < 0.05). The general pattern was for higher activation rates during 0–500 m and 1500–2000 m compared to 500–1000 m and 1000–1500 m. However, there were no between-sessions differences in EMG for any of the 500 m segments (p > 0.05)....

Despite increasing academic focus on intimate relationships as positive influences on desistance, research has yet to examine the experience and impact of support provision for women who are intimate partners of desisters. This exploratory study draws on six in-depth interviews with partners of desisters to elucidate their experiences of support provision and the impact of desistance. This paper finds that women provide resources to their desisting partners, and that identities and agency can be strained through this provision. The desistance process entails an investment of emotional work and capital from intimate partners which is conceptualised in this paper as Desistance Emotional Work (DEW). Desistance research has not yet acknowledged the support needs of women who invest in their partner’s desistance, and so DEW should be considered further both theoretically and in policy and practice....

Objective: To explore the effect of rural–urban residence on the self-reported health status of UK cancer survivors following primary treatment. Design: A post-positivist approach utilizing a cross-sectional survey that collected data on demographics, postcode and self-reported health status. Methods: An independent samples t test was used to detect differences in health status between rural and urban respondents. Pearson’s χ2 was used to control for confounding variables and a multivariate analysis was conducted using Stepwise linear regression. Setting: East Midlands of England. Participants: Adult cancer survivors who had undergone primary treatment in the last five years. Participants were excluded if they had recurrence or metastatic spread, started active oncology treatment in the last twelve months, and/or were in receipt of palliative or end-of-life care. Main outcome: Residence was measured using the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) RUC2011 Rural–Urban Classifications and Health Status via the UK ONS self-reported health status measure. Ethics: The study was reviewed and approved (Ref: 17/WS/0054) by an NHS Research Ethics Committee and the Health Research Authority (HRA) prior to recruitment and data collection taking place. Results: 227 respondents returned a questionnaire (response rate 27%). Forty-five percent (n = 103) were resident in a rural area and fifty-three percent (n = 120) in an urban area. Rural (4.11 ± 0.85) respondents had significantly (p < 0.001) higher self-reported health statuses compared to urban (3.65 ± 0.93) respondents (MD 0.47; 95% CI 0.23, 0.70). Conclusion: It is hoped that the results will stimulate further work in this area and that researchers will be encouraged to collect data on rural–urban residency where appropriate....

Upskirting’ – the non-consensual taking and/or dissemination of intimate images taken surreptitiously up a skirt – is a relatively new addition to the repertoire of men’s violence against women and girls. Recently, it has received considerable media and public attention in many countries and some academic scrutiny. This systematic review explicates how scholars construct upskirting as a matter for academic inquiry and a social problem that requires remedy. Four research sub-questions address how scholarship constructs: the problem of upskirting; perpetrators of upskirting; victims of upskirting, and remedies. Five bibliographical databases were searched, yielding 26 sources that met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies (16) and most of the earlier work are from the discipline of Law. Other studies come from a combination of Criminology, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Psychology, Social Work, Sociology, and Computing. The predominance of legal scholarship has created a framing of upskirting which constructs it as an individual sexual act, for purposes of sexual gratification, as gender-neutral, as the act of aberrant individuals, and scrutinises the act of taking the photograph. By contrast, scholarship from other disciplines is more likely to locate upskirting as highly gendered behaviour in the context of gendered relations of power, and of violence against women and girls, and to consider both the act of taking the photograph and its dissemination online. We argue that future research ought to: approach upskirting as a form of violence against women and girls; be empirical and intersectional, and engage with victims and perpetrators....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/12.-Sport-and-Exercise-Science.pptx"/] Performance Research Group The goal of the Performance Research Group is to conduct research to explore fundamental and applied sport science topics for enhancing sport performance. The complexity of living beings lends itself to multi- and inter-disciplinary research to investigate how humans and other living organisms are able to achieve and improve their performance. Consequently, we conduct research from a range of perspectives on topics including: Biomechanical feedback in sport; Physiology of the female athlete; Professional practice issues and interventions in sport psychology, and; Psychological states underlying excellent performance in sport....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/11.-Lincoln-Law-School.pptx"/] Following a period of significant staffing changes, we decided to organise our research around five thematic clusters in areas of recognised research strength: international law, human rights, criminal justice, environmental law, and corporate/ commercial law. Our aim is to stimulate grassroots research in line with the plans and career stage of researchers in the School, with experienced researchers providing mentoring and peer support. Opportunities for engagement in cross cutting research is enabled through the use of international and external research networks like the Lincoln Centre for Environmental Justice, East Midland Police Academic Network, and the Earth Systems Law network. Leads of Research Units, Groups and Centres: Richard Barnes (Director of Research); Andra Le Roux Kemp (Director of Post-Graduate Studies) Cluster leads: Nicolas Kang Riou (Human Rights); Max Brookman-Byrne (International Law); Richard Barnes (Environmental Law); Karen Harrison (Criminal Justice); Nkechi Azinge (Commercial/Corporate)...

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/10.-School-of-Education.pptx"/] Lincolnshire Learning Lab (LLL) was established to improve the learning of all children and the working environments for teachers within Lincolnshire. The purpose is to bring academic rigour and evidence-based research into the classroom by engaging the three key stakeholders – teachers, academics and anyone involved/interested in the education system (parents/educational consultants etc.). The LLL is so called to enable research to be carried out in schools in a rigorous and innovative manner ensuring that time is spent productively on research that will benefit all (staff/children/families) whilst offering teachers the opportunity to work with academics to ensure that research is effective for all. The group was established by the School of Education at the University of Lincoln in February 2021. The main aims are to: 1. Provide opportunity to work innovatively within the ‘lab’ style approach with a range of educational professionals to provide opportunity for research to become embedded in practice. 2. Devise, lead and carry out research projects that will provide evidence for educational innovation. 3. Provide all teachers, academics and other educational stakeholders the opportunity to develop practice across the county to engage all in improving educational outcomes for all children....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/9.-School-of-Psychology.pptx"/] The presentation will begin with an overview of the diverse domains of expertise and specialism in the School of Psychology by showcasing our principal research groups (Cognitive Psychology Research Group; Development and Behaviour Research Group; Forensic and Crime Research Group; Psychological Health & Wellbeing (PheW); Social Psychology Research Group) and research centres (Autism Research Innovation Centre and Lincoln Sleep Research Centre). It will then showcase three different areas within our groups to give examples of research underpinning some impact case studies. The School of Psychology scored highly on impact in the recent REF. The first example will showcase work on the conservation of the Barbary Macaque, which has led to changes in international trade laws, an updated assessment of conservation status and greater public awareness with regard to eco-tourism. The second will showcase OnlinePROTECT which aims to improve practitioner approaches to online child sexual exploitation. The work has been integrated into staff training within Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Services, which has been rolled out across England and Wales Probation Services. The final example will document some of the negative consequences and harms experienced by disordered gamblers, specifically work that was carried out to investigate the relationship between gambling and violence in nationally and internationally representative samples. This research was cited in Parliamentary briefing papers and influenced the introduction of gambling harm minimisation measures, including the introduction of an amendment to gaming machine legislation to limit fixed odds betting terminal stake size....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/8.-School-of-Health-and-Social-Care.pptx"/] Mental Health, Health and Social Care Research Group (MH2aSC), Prof Ros Kane, Professor of Nursing and Public Health and Director of Research: Mental Health, Health and Social Care Research Group...

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/7.-Alex-and-Ana.pptx"/] The ‘Suicide in/as Politics’ project is a three-year, interdisciplinary, and qualitative research project (funded by Leverhulme Trust), which examines the ways in which suicide is constructed within public and political discourses. Our project recognises that suicide is complex and is shaped by social, cultural, and political factors which are not reducible to individual mental health problems. Situated between sociology and political studies ‘Suicide in/as Politics’ is generating new knowledge on suicide. We have investigated the ways in which suicide is constructed and employed in formal political discourse and policy documents, an area where there has been very limited academic attention. We did this by analysing all UK suicide prevention documents in use in all four nations of the UK between 2009 and 2019, by examining debates on suicide in all four UK legislatures and by exploring third sector campaigns which address suicide. In the next phase of the project, we are reaching out to and engaging with diverse publics in England and Scotland to share our research and explore public understandings of suicide. Through innovative and collaborative arts-based research workshops we will investigate how community members respond to, and make sense of, political and policy meanings and uses of suicide....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/6.-KailiZhang.pptx"/] This study examined the three indicators of subjective well-being among low-income single mothers of young children with disabilities: sense of hope, life meaning, and satisfaction with life. Qualitative analysis of 12 semi-structured interviews with single mothers of young children with special needs were carried out. Findings showed keeping a sense of hope and meaning played a significant role in contributing to their well-being. In addition, the majority (67%; n=8/12) of the participants in the study indicated that they found their lives to be meaningful and that helping their children with disabilities gave them a sense of purpose in life. In contrast, only about 33% (n=4/12) interviewees were generally satisfied with their personal and professional lives. This paper concludes with implications for future research and practices....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/5.-Nima-Moghaddam.pptx"/] Through their diverse effects on the nervous system, neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis and dementia can lead to a range of difficulties with profound impacts on everyday life. For people living with these conditions, cognitive difficulties (including problems with attention, planning, and problem-solving) are a common and particularly debilitating and distressing consequence. Cognitive rehabilitation is not routinely offered in the NHS – and, when it is offered, largely focuses on teaching people to compensate for deficits (e.g., using memory aids) rather than retraining cognitive skills. Moreover, the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation remains unclear, leaving a need to establish suitable evidence-based treatment options....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/4.-David-Nelson-and-Mark-Gussy.pptx"/] The health and well-being of coastal communities in England was highlighted as an important and enduring challenge in the Chief Medical Officers 2021 annual report. Like rural communities, coastal communities exhibit significant variation in historic, physical, economic and social makeup. It is these characteristics of coastal places that can make them vulnerable to changes in socio-demographics and the broader economic and fiscal policy climate. Some coastal communities have experienced major shifts in economies and industries resulting in damaging social change while others have been insulated by large core populations or have been able to diversify and adapt. Lincolnshire’s coastal communities, particularly the towns of Mablethorpe and Skegness in the district of East Lindsey, are amongst the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country and its citizens experience high levels of ill health and social disadvantage. Conversely people who live there have good access to green and blue spaces and there are examples of local innovations to support the wellbeing of local people....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/3.-Rebecca-Hawkins.pptx"/] The SMART acronym (e.g., Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timebound) is widely used for setting goals in physical activity, including my leading health organisations and exercise practitioners. Despite its widespread use, there has been little research that has critically examined the scientific underpinnings of the SMART acronym and its application to physical activity promotion. Given concerns surrounding levels of physical inactivity in society, such a critical examination is important as goal setting is one of the most widely used behaviour change strategies in research and practice. This talk will draw on a narrative review and empirical research by the research team to critically examine the scientific basis for SMART goals in the context of physical activity promotion. We will highlight some of the issues and misconceptions with SMART goals and identify some important implications for research and practice....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/2.-Laure-Smith-and-Karen-Harrison.pptx"/] In 2021, a multi-disciplinary team of researchers at the University of Lincoln were commissionsed by the Prison Governors Association to evaluate the state of their members’ health and wellbeing, with this being particulary pertinent following the immense pressure experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on semi-structured interviews with 63 prison governors and senior managers, two members of the team will discuss our findings and talk about the next steps in terms of how we hope these will impact on policy and practice. Key themes of our research include not feeling valued, impact on mental and physical health, frustration over lack of autonomy and fears for the future. Our recommendations for a more positive way forward will also be included....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/1.-Niro-Siriwardena.pptx"/] The COVID-19 pandemic has led to rapid realignment of research priorities towards the shortterm effects of Covid, the national response to the pandemic and long Covid. The Community and Health Research Unit (CaHRU) has been working with collaborators at the University of Lincoln and other institutions on a number of pandemic studies including a major study of long Covid, the LISTEN (Long Covid Personalised Self-managemenT support- co-design and EvaluatioN) study with Kingston, Cardiff, Swansea Universities and Kings College London. The study aims to work in partnership with individuals living with long Covid to design and evaluate a package of self-management support personalised to their needs. The presentation will discuss the LISTEN study and also touch on other pandemic studies in progress or completed....

[wmd-buttons-button label="Presentation Slides" link="https://uolcollegeofsocialscienceresearch.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2022/07/14.-Frank-Tanser.pptx"/] The Lincoln International Institute for Rural Health (LIIRH) conducts interdisciplinary research to address the most important health issues facing rural communities locally, nationally, and internationally. The institute aims to ‘shine a light’ on the unacceptable health inequities that exist across the rural-urban divide and to find innovative ways of reducing or ideally eliminating that inequality. The institute brings together world-leading specialists, conducting research across a range of rural health related concerns, ranging from infectious disease epidemiology, HIV, oral health, and emergent response analysis through to sustainable remote health care delivery solutions, metagovernance approaches, and m-health technological innovation. LIIRH is supported by generous grants from the Wolfson Foundation, and the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership. Our research benefits from strong links with members of CAHRU, the School of Psychology, the School of Health and Social Care, the School of Computer Science and research groups within Life Sciences, particularly the Diabetes Research Group. Nationally, the institute has strong links to researchers at University College London and is a key partner of the National Centre for Rural Health and Care. LIIRH’s strong global health portfolio of research is supported by a network of academic partners located in Germany, Canada, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, South Africa, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Australia....

Digital space has provided an important platform for women by enabling them to defy religious and patriarchal values while rendering their demands more visible in the public sphere. By analyzing the stories of 3349 murdered women, consulting 57 activist-published materials, studying 37 protest-focused videos, and using digital ethnography, this article explores Turkish women's struggles against femicide. I propose the emancipatory and democratizing counterpublics as an analytical concept to demonstrate how women challenge epistemic injustice and male violence. To this end, I investigate the struggles of women by studying their use of digital space as a means of breaking the silence on femicide, creating data, disseminating knowledge, and seeking justice. This article highlights the essential role of new media technologies in empowering vulnerable groups through the generation of new forms of knowledge, the formation of collective memory, and the elimination of epistemic injustice in opposition to the ruling authorities. The present study contributes to our knowledge of the sociology of epistemic injustice by demonstrating how digital space plays a limited but critical role in the efforts of activists living under authoritarian regimes to defend their fundamental rights to survive and prevent femicide, which has a devastating impact on the lives of millions of women....