Bradford Scholars
Bradford Scholars is the University of Bradford online research archive. Access is free to anyone interested in research being conducted at Bradford. In the repository you will find a range of materials from journal articles and conference papers to research reports and theses.
Contact the repository team via openaccess@bradford.ac.uk with any queries about Open Access or how to deposit your research papers.
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Publication Gender issues in post-war contexts: A review of analysis and experience, and implications for policies(2007)This book is concerned with what happens to women when wars officially end. Along with several other volumes it recognises that women face particular difficulties at such ¿aftermath¿ moments which often have very strong continuities with what happened during wars, and with the nature of gender relations in society prior to armed conflict. At the international level remarkable progress has been made; in establishing women¿s legal rights; in the identification of sexual violence as a potential war crime, and even progress in some women¿s abilities to access such legal frameworks. Nonetheless, when faced with a post-war backlash from men and the state, women in highly varied cultural contexts tend to face distinct difficulties as they seek justice for crimes committed against them during and after wars; when they attempt to participate in ¿truth and reconciliation¿ endeavours, and when they attempt to re-build their lives. This book explores how far we have come both through international frameworks and in particular countries, and examines the ways in which the endings of war still often bring highly gendered challenges for women which are themselves often violent.Publication 'What is wrong with men?': Revisiting violence against women in conflict and peacebuilding(2016)Much has been written about the high rates of rape and other forms of violence against ‘enemy’ women in wartime, and sustained violences against women in post-war contexts. Research on violence against women, recognised as a problem for peace and development and even a threat to international security, has begun to identify and explain contrasts between different locations. The explanations focus on men, their behaviour and ‘masculinities’, some of which, and even some military codes, may even proscribe such violence. By contrast, research on the mental health of male former combatants, and possibly other male survivors of war trauma, suggests that there is a strong risk of them perpetrating violence specifically against women, even in cases where the highest standard of veteran care is expected, but without much explanation. This article considers what potential there is in this topic for lessons in peacebuilding policy and identifies areas for future research.Publication Beyond dichotomies. The quest for justice and reconciliation and the politics of national identity building in post-genocide Rwanda.(2011-05-26)Justice and reconciliation are both highly complex concepts that are often described as incompatible alternatives in the aftermath of violent conflicts, despite the fact that both are fundamental to peacebuilding in societies divided by the legacies of political violence, oppression and exclusion. This thesis examines the relationship between justice and reconciliation, pursued as essential ingredients of peacebuilding. After advancing an inclusive working conceptual framework in which seemingly competing conceptions regarding justice and reconciliation are reconceived to work compatibly for building peace, the thesis presents the results of an in-depth case study of Rwanda¿s post-genocide justice and reconciliation endeavour. The thesis focuses on Rwanda¿s justice and reconciliation efforts and their relationship to the ongoing challenge of reformulating Rwandans¿ social identities. A field research conducted for this study revealed that issues of victimhood, justice and reconciliation were highly contested among individuals and groups with varied experiences of the country¿s violent history. Resolving these conflicting narratives so that each Rwandan¿s narrative/identity is dissociated from the negation of the other¿s victimhood emerged as a paramount challenge in Rwanda¿s quest for justice and reconciliation. Rwanda¿s approach to justice and reconciliation can be seen as an innovative both/and approach that seeks to overcome dichotomous thinking by addressing various justice and reconciliation concerns in compatible ways. However, by limiting its efforts to the issues that arose from crimes committed under the former regimes, the justice and reconciliation endeavour of the Rwandan government fails to reconcile people¿s conflicting narratives of victimhood, which will be essential to transform the existing racialised and politicised ethnic identities of Rwandan people.Publication A Narrative Study Carried Out With Older Women With Dementia Who Live Alone: Storytelling About Their Living Arrangements and Wishes For The FutureThis study sets out to explore the significance of gender as an element in the experience of older women living alone at the time of a diagnosis of dementia. It places particular emphasis on power, voice and in/visibility in both research practice and co-production. Older women who live alone may experience difficulties after diagnosis in adapting to their environments. There is not a clear picture of support networks, such as the roles within broader families, neighbours or friends and access to services. Fewer studies focus on women and dementia from a gendered perspective and more on dementia and caregivers. As such, questions about gender, dementia and ageing are not being raised as interrelated and the voices of these women are silent. The study was informed by feminist theory and the concept of intersectionality which become the principal way to theorise the relations between systems of oppression and privilege. This provided a lens with which to expose and examine gendered assumptions within dementia. The design was a qualitative study, and the approach was narrative research. The approach that was taken to collect the data was storytelling, which was analysed by re-storying the stories, and developing themes, in a chronology order. The thesis also discusses my positionality as a Black British female researcher, including experiences of racism, both within the academia and in the research field.Publication The influence of psychological and social factors on the lived experience of ageing with co-existent frailty and cognitive impairmentGlobal policy has recognised the need to promote healthy ageing. Risk of frailty with co-existent cognitive impairment increases with age and is associated with adverse outcomes, which services may struggle to support. Understanding life experiences which could contribute to, or promote the self-management of, co-existent frailty and cognitive impairment would enable identification of those at risk and target services appropriately. This thesis aimed to understand how past and present, psychological, and social factors, may influence the experience of ageing with co-existent frailty and cognitive impairment and explore how services support those living with this co-existent decline. This thesis involved two research studies. Older people living with co-existent frailty and cognitive impairment took part in participant-led life-history interviews. Health and social care professionals were also interviewed. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse and explore patterns in the data. Findings indicate that a range of psychological and social factors, throughout life, may contribute to decline. Physical decline was associated with ageing and accepted, whilst cognitive impairment was feared. Wealth, social networks, and lifelong psychological resilience were seen to promote coping and the management of age associated decline. Future dependency was a source of apprehension. The relative importance of factors is complex, as the impact of experiences and circumstances accumulate and interact. A need to implement preventative measures across the life-course is implied. Professionals require training to understand how best to approach individualised care for those living with co-existent frailty and cognitive impairment, to promote independence and support dependency in old age.