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Long-Term Effects of Childhood Exposure to War on Domestic ViolenceThis paper highlights the scarring effects of early life exposure to civil war, by examining the impact of exposure to conflict in childhood on the incidence of domestic violence in adulthood among married women. To estimate these effects, we use a difference-in-differences model which exploits variation in exposure to Nigeria’s 30-month-long civil war by year of birth and ethnicity. Our results, based on the 2008 Nigerian Demographic Health Survey, show that women exposed to the war during childhood are more likely to be victims of domestic violence in adulthood compared to those not exposed to the war, with larger effects observed for those exposed at younger ages. Additionally, we explore the mechanisms through which exposure to civil war might affect domestic violence, and find some support for both the normalisation of violence and weakened bargaining power hypotheses. Understanding the root causes of domestic violence is important given the high prevalence in developing countries and the deleterious consequences for women and their children.
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Exploring how mobile money adoption affects nutrition and household food securityThis paper explores how using mobile money services affects food security and nutritional status of households in Tanzania. This study uses data obtained from three waves of the Tanzanian National Panel Surveys and the instrumental variable (IV) approach. The evidence from this paper shows that using mobile money services resulted in household's enhanced nutritional and food security status. Households' receipt of remittances is the main pathway in which using mobile money services influences the food security and nutritional outcomes among households in Tanzania.
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Food expenditure, income, and mental health: outcomes from the UK Household Longitudinal SurveyThe incidence of mental health problems is increasing in the United Kingdom and may be associated with lower dietary quality. Food expenditure is a marker of food insecurity with potential implications for mental health. This analysis considers data collected as part of the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Survey (UKHLS), also known as ‘Understanding Society’ (2009-2021) (N=388,944) to determine the extent to which food expenditure within and outside the household, is associated with mental health, whilst controlling for demographic factors. Mental health was measured using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) for which responses were on a 4-point scale and reverse-scored so that a higher score represented more favourable mental health. Household food expenditure and food expenditure outside the home were the outcomes. Controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors, fixed-effects models indicated that better mental health was associated with greater household food expenditure and with greater food expenditure outside the home and that this association persisted post-lockdown. Among those on lower incomes better mental health was associated with lower food expenditure. When people who identified as white and non-white were modelled separately, better mental health was associated with lower food expenditure within and beyond the household only in those who identified as white. These findings imply that the mental health of people residing in the UK, particularly those on lower incomes and those who identify as white, may benefit from spending less of the household budget on food. In achieving United Nations General Assembly (2012) Sustainable Development Goals related to poverty, hunger and in promoting mental health, policies are needed to render food more affordable and to reduce other aspects of expenditure that impact upon food budgeting.
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Mission to Survive: Hungarian Historian Gyula Szekfü as Agent and DiplomatThis study assesses the wartime intelligence activities of the leading Hungarian historian Gyula Szekfű, and the controversial diplomatic role he played in Moscow after the Second World War. It is argued that the scholar-turned-diplomat nurtured the forlorn hope of mitigating the impact of military defeat by securing Soviet benevolence towards Hungary. Szekfű’s deep anxiety for his country, inextricably entwined with his own existential fears and a powerful motive of self-preservation, contributed to his complete political metamorphosis. Instead of justifying or condemning his inconsistencies and moral choices, this article traces the elements of continuity in his thinking and in Hungarian foreign policy.
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Power-informed practice in social workSummary: This article reviews the existing literature on power within a social work context and extends the analysis to broader sociological understandings through which to rethink the ways in which social work professionals understand and work with power within everyday practice. Findings: The review argues that prevailing dichotomies, which feature so centrally in theoretical conceptualisations of power, offering binary positions of power as ‘good or bad’, ‘positive or negative’ and ‘productive or limiting’ are limiting in themselves. It is argued that power must also be recognised as a construct which operates in a synchronous way; whereby it can impact in limiting and productive ways at the same time. Applications: To support this position, the Power-informed Practice (PiP) framework, which recognises power at the individual, professional and structural levels is offered. The utility of the framework in providing a clearer understanding of power is then presented in relation to working with children who have experienced abuse. As a tool, the framework enables social workers to structure their analysis of power within all areas of contemporary social work practice, in order to promote and support processes of empowerment.
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From campus dig to community impact: reflections from an armchair noviceThe University of Bradford was constructed in the 1960s, following the demolition of Victorian streets, houses, and local community buildings. An on-campus archaeological excavation took place in 2021 as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. Using a variety of archive sources, the results of the Dig led to an armchair exploration of both former Victorian residents and also the social history of the former community. This reflective piece documents the archive journey taken by someone who is not an archaeologist and touches upon the experiences of heritage attachment.
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The zone of playful proximal developmentIn this chapter, I will interpret the Zone of Proximal Development from the perspective of chronotope or time-space configuration. From here, I will explore the ‘zone of playful proximal development’ and contrast it with a zone of serious proximal development. At the heart of the playful I suggest is the possibility of joint, spontaneous improvisation.
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Regional economic inequalities; migration and community response, with special reference to YugoslaviaAfter a general introduction to the problems of regional imbalance, this paper proceeds to an analysis of the background and causes of regional economic inequalities in Yugoslavia. Demographic factors are outlined with reference to Yugoslav statistical sources, and the policies being adopted for those areas defined as being in need of special assistance are examined. The author concludes by indicating some lessons to be drawn from Yugoslavia's experience of migration and especially of its workers abroad.
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Dear Prime Minister, Mr Musk and Mr Zuckerberg!: The challenge of social media and platformed racism in the English premier league and football leagueThis paper draws on original research from a larger study of racism and Islamophobia online around football, particularly a set of interviews with staff at English football clubs whose responsibility is to manage social media. We use that information alongside our reflections on “platformed racism” to appraise how expressions of racism on social media differ from those in and around the grounds, and how clubs and others in football contest them. This involves a consideration of three themes commonly identified by those speaking on behalf of the clubs: The triggers that ignite racist posts; the partnerships necessary to counter them; and their proposed solutions. Hence this is not just a cue for a collective wringing of hands, but an effort to point the way forward.
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Games and Learning: Consolidating and Expanding the Potential of Analogue and Digital GamesFor a long time, Games Research suffered from what Jaakko Stenros and Annika Waern classified as the Digital Fallacy – the tendency to regard analog games as a subset of digital games rather than the other way around. Where boardgames were once associated with the past of games and learning and digital games with the future, there are now fresh insights and applications for boardgames in learning – alongside with their renaissance as games for entertainment. Even as boardgames found new relevance in learning, the already-recognized possibilities in digital games for learning have continued to expand, with more flexible and ubiquitous tools and platforms allowing for a greater variety of avenues of learning research and practice to be explored. Augmented and mixed reality as well as virtual reality are frontiers in learning that beg for further exploration.
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A registered report survey of open research practices in psychology departments in the UK and IrelandOpen research practices seek to enhance the transparency and reproducibility of research. Whilst there is evidence of increased uptake in these practices, such as study preregistration and open data, facilitated by new infrastructure and policies, little research has assessed general uptake of such practices across psychology university researchers. The current study estimates psychologists’ level of engagement in open research practices across universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland, while also assessing possible explanatory factors that may impact their engagement. Data were collected from 602 psychology researchers in the UK and Ireland on the extent to which they have implemented various practices (e.g., use of preprints, preregistration, open data, open materials). Here we present the summarised descriptive results, as well as considering differences between various categories of researcher (e.g., career stage, subdiscipline, methodology), and examining the relationship between researcher’s practices and their self-reported capability, opportunity, and motivation (COM-B) to engage in open research practices. Results show that while there is considerable variability in engagement of open research practices, differences across career stage and subdiscipline of psychology are small by comparison. We observed consistent differences according to respondent’s research methodology and based on the presence of institutional support for open research. COM-B dimensions were collectively significant predictors of engagement in open research, with automatic motivation emerging as a consistently strong predictor. We discuss these findings, outline some of the challenges experienced in this study, and offer suggestions and recommendations for future research. Estimating the prevalence of responsible research practices is important to assess sustained behaviour change in research reform, tailor educational training initiatives, and to understand potential factors that might impact engagement.
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Dying 2 Talk: Generating a more compassion community for young peoplePeople in the Global North often have a problem talking about — and processing — the inevitability of death. This can be because death and care of the dying has been professionalised, with encounters of death within our families and communities no longer being ‘normal and routine’ (Kellehear 2005). Young people are particularly excluded from these conversations, with implications for future mental health and wellbeing (Ainsley-Green 2017). Working in Wolverhampton and Bradford, the Dying 2 Talk (D2T) project aimed to build young people’s future resilience around this challenging topic. We recruited over 20 young people as project ambassadors to co-produce resources that would encourage talk about death, dying and bereavement. The resources were used as the basis of ‘Festivals of the Dead’ which were taken to schools to engage wider audiences of young people (aged 11 +). The project aimed to use alternative ‘ways in’ to open discussion, beginning with archaeology, and ultimately using gaming, dance, creative writing and other creative outputs to facilitate discussion, encourage compassionate relationships and build resilience. The resources succeeded in engaging young people from ages 11–19 years, facilitating a comfortable and supportive environment for these vital conversations. Project evaluations and observations revealed that the Festivals, and the activities co-created by the young ambassadors helped to facilitate spontaneous conversations about death, dying and bereavement amongst young people by providing a comfortable and supportive environment. The project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/V008609/1), building on a pilot project funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund at the University of Bradford.
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Teaching the Teachers: Reflections from two Graduate Teaching AssistantsThis paper offers a critical reflection on the experience of two former Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) - the authors - who were tasked with creating a digital learning program during the first UK national lockdown in 2020. The program drew from an emerging body of literature that seeks to employ Freirian pedagogies in the digital classroom and was designed to equip both new and established members of faculty with the skills needed for online teaching. While taking on this challenge, however, the experienced GTAs found that their pedagogical instincts and practices were challenged by their positionalities as young Early Career Researchers (ECRs) from underrepresented groups in British Academia. The aim of this paper is thus to scrutinise the potential for online learning to democratise and shift perceived hierarchies within academia, not only for students, but for ECRs navigating the structures of university teaching in the current employment climate.
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A ‘New Gambia’? Managing political crisis and change in an African small stateThe Gambia has experienced three significant political crises in its history: the attempted coup of 1981, the successful coup of 1994, and the latest events in 2016-17 when President Yahya Jammeh, having exercised semi-authoritarian power since 1994, was defeated at the ballot box but refused to step down until he was finally forced to do so. Using academic, media, social media and interview material, this article examines all three processes and their aftermaths, in particular the latter, through the lens of ‘small state’ politics. The article demonstrates that the small size of the population, elite, and landmass indeed matters in driving Gambian political processes. In 2023, several post-2017 processes, including constitutional change, transitional justice and elections, are playing out within the confines of the small state. This article then assesses to what extent a ‘New Gambia’, to use current President Adama Barrow’s phrase, has emerged.
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Effects of age on behavioural and eye gaze on Theory of Mind using Movie for Social CognitionEvidence has shown that older adults have lower accuracy in Theory-of-Mind (ToM) tasks compared to young adults, but we are still unclear whether the difficulty in decoding mental states in older adults stems from not looking at the critical areas, and more so from the ageing Asian population. Most ToM studies use static images or short vignettes to measure ToM but these stimuli are dissimilar to everyday social interactions. We investigated this question using a dynamic task that measured both accuracy and error types, and examined the links between accuracy and error types to eye gaze fixation at critical areas (e.g. eyes, mouth, body). A total of 82 participants (38 older, 44 young adults) completed the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition task on the eye tracker. Results showed that older adults had a lower overall accuracy with more errors in the ipo-ToM (under-mentalising) and no-ToM (lack of mentalisation) conditions compared to young adults. We analysed the eye gaze data using principal components analysis and found that increasing age and looking less at the face were related to lower MASC accuracy in our participants. Our findings suggest that ageing deficits in ToM are linked to a visual attention deficit specific to the perception of socially relevant nonverbal cues.
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An exploratory study on virtual reality and in-person effects on lonelinessMost studies investigated the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) for healthcare and educational purposes, but little is known on the effectiveness of VR in social interaction. Our aim was to examine whether VR would be similar to in-person interaction in reducing loneliness. A total of 73 participants participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to in-person or VR condition and interacted for 15 minutes about a tourist landmark. Participants completed a set of questions that measured belonging – acceptance and exclusion, positive and negative affect, wellbeing, trust, and mood before and after the interaction. Results showed that in both conditions, loneliness was significantly lower, with higher wellbeing, higher positive and lower negative affect, feeling happier and had more fun post task. Trust was higher in the VR condition post task but not for in-person. Our regression analyses showed that having higher wellbeing was a significant predictor in reducing loneliness for in-person condition and that being older and higher belonging – acceptance were significant predictors on feeling lonelier for the VR condition. In sum, our results demonstrated some success in reducing loneliness in VR but may not be sufficient to develop lasting friendship.
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Hindu nationalist statecraft, dog-whistle legislation, and the vigilante state in contemporary IndiaThe ideology and politics of Hindu nationalism has always been predicated on an antagonistic discursive construction of ‘dangerous others,’ notably Muslims but also Christians. This construct has served to define India as first and foremost a Hindu nation, thereby de facto relegating religious minorities to the status of not properly belonging to the nation. However, under the leadership of the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Hindu nationalism has acquired an unprecedented political force. A key consequence of this has been that the discursive construction of dangerous others is now increasingly being written into law, through a process of Hindu nationalist statecraft. The result is, we argue, not just a de facto but increasingly also a de jure marginalization and stigmatization of religious minorities. We substantiate this argument by analysing the intent and effect of recent pieces of legislation in two Indian states regulating, among other things, religious conversions, inter-faith relationships, and population growth. Conceiving of such laws as dog-whistle legislation, we argue that they are, in fact, geared towards the legal consolidation of India as a Hindu state. We also analyse the intimate entanglement between these laws and the collective violence of vigilante groups against those minorities that Hindu nationalists frame as dangerous, anti-national others.
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Applying the Non-adoption, Abandonment, Scale-up, Spread and Sustainability (NASSS) Framework to evaluate automated evidence synthesis in health behaviour changeAutomated tools to speed up the process of evidence synthesis are increasingly apparent within health behaviour research, however, frameworks to evaluate the development and implementation of such tools are not routinely used. This commentary explores the potential of the Non-adoption, Abandonment, Scale-up, Spread and Sustainability framework (NASSS; Greenhalgh et al., 2017) for supporting automated evidence synthesis in health behaviour change by applying it to the ongoing Human Behaviour-Change Project, which aims to revolutionise evidence synthesis within behaviour change intervention research. To increase the relevance of NASSS for health behaviour change, we recommend i) terminology changes (‘condition’ to ‘behaviour’ and ‘patient’ to ‘end user’) and ii) a that it is used prospectively so that complexities can be addressed iteratively. We draw three conclusions about i) the need to specify the organisations that will use the technology, ii) identifying what to do if interdependencies fail and iii) even though we have focused on automated evidence synthesis, NASSS would arguably be beneficial for technology developments in health behaviour change more generally, particularly for invention development (e.g. for a behaviour change app).
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Mood shapes the impact of reward on perceived fatigue from listeningKnowledge of the underlying mechanisms of effortful listening could help to reduce cases of social withdrawal and mitigate fatigue, especially in older adults. However, the relationship between transient effort and longer-term fatigue is likely to be more complex than originally thought. Here, we manipulated the presence/absence of monetary reward to examine the role of motivation and mood state in governing changes in perceived effort and fatigue from listening. In an online study, 185 participants were randomly assigned to either a ‘reward’ (n = 91) or ‘no-reward’ (n = 94) group and completed a dichotic listening task along with a series of questionnaires assessing changes over time in perceived effort, mood, and fatigue. Effort ratings were higher overall in the reward group, yet fatigue ratings in that group showed a shallower linear increase over time. Mediation analysis revealed an indirect effect of reward on fatigue ratings via perceived mood state; reward induced a more positive mood state which was associated with reduced fatigue. These results suggest that: (a) listening conditions rated as more ‘effortful’ may be less fatiguing if the effort is deemed worthwhile, and (b) alterations to one’s mood state represents a potential mechanism by which fatigue may be elicited during unrewarding listening situations.
