Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

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  ‘Helping me find my own way’: sexually exploited young people’s involvement in decision-making about their care

  Warrington, Camille (University of BedfordshireUniversity of Bedfordshire, 2013-03-22)

  This thesis explores the role and relevance of the concepts of participation and service user involvement for work with sexually exploited children and young people. The central research questions are: how do young people at risk of, or affected by sexual exploitation, experience their rights to involvement in decision-making processes about their care? What is the meaning and value of the concept of participation from service users’ own perspectives? And what are the gains of involving these young people in decision-making processes about their care? The research involved in-depth qualitative interviews with twenty young service users and ten practitioners. Three theoretical frameworks underpin the study; a constructivist approach to childhood; sociological approaches to agency, and discourses of children’s participation rights. The analysis of data was informed by both narrative and grounded theory approaches. The thesis argues that young people’s perspectives on professional welfare, though rarely recorded or allowed to inform policy and best practice, shed new insight onto the efficacy and limitations of existing child protection practice with adolescents at risk of sexual exploitation. Consideration is given to how young people experience and respond to services, including their decisions about disengaging from or circumventing professional support. The thesis concludes that these demonstrations of agency and power, though often interpreted as deviant, are essentially rational and often protective. Through this lens young people’s agency is recognised as a resource rather than a problem. The thesis concludes by arguing that the ability of support services to protect young people affected by sexual exploitation is contingent on the degree to which they involve young people in decision-making about their care. Rather than standing in opposition to paternalistic approaches to protection, the narratives suggest that participation and empowerment are necessary conditions of a protective service, especially for those considered most marginalized or vulnerable.
• Using grid for data sharing to support intelligence in decision making

  Bessis, Nik; French, Tim; Burakova-Lorgnier, M.; Huang, Wei; University of Bedfordshire; University of Reading; Université Montesquieu - Bordeaux IV, France (IGI Global, 2007)

  This chapter is about conceptualizing the applicability of grid related technologies for supporting intelligence in decision-making. It aims to discuss how the open grid service architecture—data, access integration (OGSA-DAI) can facilitate the discovery of and controlled access to vast data-sets, to assist intelligence in decision making. Trust is also identified as one of the main challenges for intelligence in decision-making. On this basis, the implications and challenges of using grid technologies to serve this purpose are also discussed. To further the explanation of the concepts and practices associated with the process of intelligence in decision-making using grid technologies, a minicase is employed incorporating a scenario. That is to say, “Synergy Financial Solutions Ltd” is presented as the minicase, so as to provide the reader with a central and continuous point of reference.
• Ignoring necessity: the court’s decision to impose an ASBO on a child

  Bateman, Tim (Jordan Publishing Limited, 2007-11-09)

  The anti-social behavior order has proved to be one of the more controversial elements of the Government’s agenda for law and order. On the face of it, however, little of that controversy is reflected in the court process, where the ‘success rate’ of applications for such orders is extremely high. Drawing on recent research on the use of ASBOs against children, this article aims to explore some of the factors that determine whether an application against a young person below the age of 18 years is granted. It is argued that while courts generally require strong evidence to establish the young person’s involvement in anti-social behavior, less attention is paid to the issue of whether an ASBO is necessary to prevent further incidence of misconduct. It is further contended that necessity is overlooked, in part, because magistrates and district judges (and defence solicitors) tend to assume, sometimes erroneously, that applications for ASBOs against children are only initiated where other measures have been tried and failed.