‘Widening cross-disciplinary research for mental health’: what is missing from the Research Councils UK mental health agenda?

This current issues article is a brief critical examination of the recent Research Councils UK agenda and call for cross-disciplinary research in mental health. Our argument is based on the fact that patient and public involvement (PPI) is the only involvement and influencing strategy for service users and survivors in the agenda. Service user and survivor research as a discipline in itself remains unacknowledged. We conclude that service user and survivor research is distinct and is different to PPI, and should be recognised in any mental health research agenda.     

Survey mode effects on measured income inequality

We study the effect of interview modes on estimates of economic inequality which are based on survey data. We exploit variation in interview modes in the Austrian EU-SILC panel, where between 2007 and 2008 the interview mode was switched from personal interviews to telephone interviews for some but not all participants. We combine methods from the program evaluation literature with methods from the distributional decomposition literature to obtain causal estimates of the effect of interview mode on estimated inequality. We find that the interview mode has a large effect on estimated inequality, where telephone interviews lead to a larger downward bias. The effect of the mode is much smaller for robust inequality measures such as interquantile ranges, as these are not sensitive to the tails of the distribution. The magnitude of effects we find are of a similar order as the differences in many international and intertemporal comparisons of inequality.     

The Long Road: Rural Youth,Farming and Agroecological Formación in Central America

Across the globe, the countryside faces the “generation problem”: Who will grow food when the current generation of aging small farmers and peasants disappears? A combination of objective and subjective factors effectively discourages young people from assuming the continuity of peasant and family farming, especially in countries that have experienced significant neoliberal dismantling of rural infrastructure and education. Rural social movements are increasingly building educational processes linked with small-scale, ecological farming in the hopes of reinforcing the development of identities and skills for peasant futures and cadre in the struggle for popular land reform, agroecology, and food sovereignty.     

Self-identified strengths among youth offenders charged with assault against a non-intimate family member

Youth involved in the criminal justice system are particularly vulnerable to increased risk for continuing offending behaviors since aggressive and/or violent behavior compromise developmental growth. The present study seeks to build on the current literature related to youth offenders by using an exploratory qualitative approach to analyze strength-based asset interviews completed by youth referred to a diversion program. Results revealed four distinctive themes: 1) hardiness, 2) grit, 3) social competence, and 4) empathy. Broadening the scope of research focusing on youth offenders, the present study offers a number of implications for social work practice.     

Challenging the techno-politics of anonymity: the case of cryptomarket users

Anonymity is treated as a problem of governance that can be subject to technical resolution. We use the example of the darknet to critically examine this approach. We explore the background assumptions that have been made about anonymity as a quality of social life. We conceive of anonymity as a way of engaging and maintaining social relationships in an anonymous mode. We draw on a study of darknet ‘cryptomarket’ users who mainly use the darknet to buy and sell illicit drugs, discuss drug quality and share information on safe and effective use. We identify the personal satisfaction that comes from interacting anonymously online, the challenges this represents for maintaining trusted interactions and how they are overcome, and the combination of technology and action involved in maintaining anonymity. We argue that attempts to promote de-anonymising norms and technology are based on an erroneous understanding of what anonymity is.     

Former ses travailleurs seniors pour ne pas les perdre? Illustration par le cas allemand

Une vague de départs à la retraite s'annonce en Allemagne, qui privera les entreprises d'une main‐d'?uvre parfois difficile à remplacer. Dans ce contexte, les auteurs s'intéressent à l'apport de la formation en entreprise, recherchant une corrélation entre formation, salaire et probabilité de départ. Ils montrent que cette probabilité diminue lorsque l'établissement propose des programmes de formation spécifiques pour les seniors mais seulement au sein des effectifs féminins – et surtout parmi les bas salaires –, sans doute sous l'effet de la progression salariale. Les formations ciblées pourraient donc encourager les femmes faiblement rémunérées à rester actives plus longtemps, améliorant ainsi leurs perspectives de carrière.     

Ray Watching: The Highly Protected,British Prison Experience of Martin Luther King’s Killer

The arrest of James Earl Ray at London Airport on 8 June 1968 marked the final stage of an international manhunt that had begun with the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. on 4 April. Arrested for travelling on a false passport and with an unlicensed firearm, Ray faced extradition to the US to face charges of murder. While in prison in Britain, the US Government feared that he might escape, commit suicide or be himself assassinated. Each of these outcomes risked reigniting the African-American anger that had wracked major US cities in April. Accordingly the UK Government was requested to take special security measures and complied. Was this a supine response from a Labour government anxious to placate a disgruntled superpower ally or did it also reflect contemporaneous UK anxieties about the tense state of race relations at home? Drawing on Home Office records, this article examines these questions.