Suchergebnisse

The paper draws on a PhD study to explore some methodological dilemmas associated with the execution of qualitative research when framed within positivist study design. The PhD was linked to an externally funded research project which evaluated the implementation of a custody-based intervention in the secure estate. While the PhD was conceived as a qualitative study, informed by interpretivist methodology and associated epistemology, the wider funded study was informed by positivist tradition and used a quantitative method. This led to dilemmas of both practical and methodological nature. The author revisits her study's methodological position to review issues raised by the research design and suggests an alternative proposal informed methodologically by critical realism which may better serve the study's interests. In doing so, the paper suggests how revisiting previous research may assist us in gaining methodological understanding and allow us to reframe our future endeavours to more useful end.

Drawing upon recent literature and a small-scale survey that explored the perceptions and experiences of front line workers and incarcerated girls1 from North Wales, this article examines the needs and experiences of girls who commit crime in Wales but are subsequently 'exported' to England to serve their sentence. While not literally sent to Coventry, these indigenous girls from Wales are forced to reside in the secure estate in England and metaphorically 'sent to Coventry'. This article considers important emerging issues including: human rights, discrimination, identity, linguistic need, family contact and resettlement.

Purpose
Notwithstanding heightened awareness of the issues faced by homeless people, the notion that homelessness is the result of individual failings and weaknesses persists. The purpose of this paper is to challenge that perception by giving voice to this marginalised group and exploring the mechanisms through which they made and remade as homeless and may be protected.


Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews (n=23) were carried out with a sample of homeless people who had accessed a range of homelessness services in the study area.


Findings
It is argued that largely deprived of the private sphere, which arguably renders them in most need of public space, homeless people find themselves most subject to scrutiny, surveillance, social disapprobation and exclusion.


Research limitations/implications
The authors reiterate that rather than simply being associated with rooflessness, homelessness is as a function of ongoing geographical marginalisation and social alienation.


Practical implications
The authors suggest that dedicated spaces for homeless people to occupy during the day continue to be in need of development because, whilst not unproblematic, they can disrupt processes associated with homelessness.


Social implications
Further resources should be directed towards homelessness and the issues that arise during daytime for homeless people.


Originality/value
The paper supports the literature which highlights the spatial practices by which stigmatised groups come to be separated from mainstream society.

Purpose– Drawing on the approach of Bourdieu (1977, 1986), and using language as an exemplar, the purpose of this paper is to engage in a "dangerous conversation" to explore how and why issues of diversity were mobilised, ignored and leveraged in one particular service context.Design/methodology/approach– Qualitative research exploring the language choices of 25 service users who had been processed through the criminal Justice System in Wales in the last five years.Findings– The argument is made that in some service contexts, a habitus obtains that renders reflexivity about diversity issues problematic and predicates against the critical reflection necessary to promote anti-oppressive practice.Research limitations/implications– Small sample size, not generalisable.Practical implications– The authors intend the paper to encourage greater reflection on instances when diversity issues are raised and to render simplistic any attempt to invalidate claims of discrimination.Social implications– Encourage dialogue about claims of discrimination and greater reflection by service providers about the legitimacy of such claims.Originality/value– Anti-oppressive theorising has, for the most part, constructed minority group members as passive victims within hierarchical power relationships. While acknowledging how power is unequally distributed, the paper challenges hierarchical models which designate minority group members as bereft of power.

Community disposals, which are privileged over custody as a response to young offenders, incorporate both punitive and rehabilitative elements in order to punish, deter and rehabilitate. Failure to comply with them has serious implications for young people, in both the short and longer term. In the literature a clear distinction is made between short term formal compliance with requirements of community orders, and more substantive (less measurable) engagement with the spirit of the endeavour to help young people turn away from crime. The article draws on a small qualitative study of young people in receipt of community orders and YOT workers, to explore aspects of supervision of young people in receipt of community disposals. In particular it focuses on ways in which YOT workers support young people to achieve compliance, how this support is received by young people and the implications for their longer term outcomes. The article suggests that while driven by an imperative to avoid breach among young people, levels and type of support provided may not necessarily enable young people to realize the longer term objective of desistance from crime.

In this article we engage in a critical examination of how local authority Housing Solutions staff, newly placed centre stage in preventing homelessness amongst prison leavers in Wales, understand and go about their work. Drawing on Carlen's concept of 'imaginary penalities' and Ugelvik's notion of 'legitimation work' we suggest practice with this group can be ritualistic and underpinned by a focus on prison leavers' responsibilities over their rights, and public protection over promoting resettlement. In response we advocate for less-punitive justice and housing policies, underpinned by the right to permanent housing for all prison leavers and wherein stable accommodation is understood as the starting point for resettlement. The analysis presented in this article provides insights to how homelessness policies could play out in jurisdictions where more joint working between housing and criminal justice agencies are being pursued and/or preventative approaches to managing homelessness are being considered.