HaSS People & Society Research and Impact Bulletin- Volume 6, Spring 2020

The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin

PEOPLE & SOCIETY SPRING 2020 ISSUE NO.6

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Spotlight on Research

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Celebration

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Personal development

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Welcome

In this issue

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Spotlight on research

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Focus on children and young people

elcome to the Spring 2020 issue of People & Society Bulletin, the first issue we have written, edited and designed in lockdown.

As we all adapt to teaching and meeting online, navigating the complexities of home education and caring for family members present and at distance, while continuing to carry out our work virtually, keeping in touch with students and each other via what might seem like endless Zoom meetings, there’s no doubt that these are unprecedented times.

Change, even when positive, can be stressful and there is now evidence to show that video calls are much more tiring than face-to-face meetings, so if you’ve been feeling tired recently, you now know why. It has been heartening to see the University is recognizing the challenges we are facing, on a personal and professional level, and the time we have been given to rest and recuperate has been welcome. There’s an abundance of online resources emerging to help with the new ‘work from home’ normal, and in this context, you’ll see our Spring issue features several items which aim to help us cope better. Sometimes, we just need to admit that, in times like these, it’s OK not to be OK all the time.

09 Celebration

While we have had to learn to practice social distancing, it has been great to see us becoming, ironically perhaps, more connected. Personally, I find the ‘social distancing’ phrase unfortunate, as in times like this, we need to remain socially connected. And it’s been happening – communities coming together up and down the country, through spontaneous local groups helping those more vulnerable, online get-togethers, unprecedented levels of volunteering and actions to support frontline workers. Across all our Faculty’s Schools, initiatives such as virtual coffee mornings, book clubs and team quizzes have brought us together and helped many of us stay sane. We have a long way ahead by the look of it, so finding new ways to support each other virtually is key to our wellbeing and ability to continue to deliver our research and teaching. You’ll see the Bulletin is packed, like always, with an abundance of activities and successes – many of these have taken place before the lockdown, while others have been written in reflection to the ‘new normal’ we find ourselves in (recognizing there’s nothing normal about it).

We don’t know what the future holds and I expect our next Bulletin will reflect more acutely the difficult circumstances we’ll be working under for the next few months. There is already evidence emerging of the inequalities this pandemic will create in universities, in relation to unequal impact on women, staff and students who care for older parents, colleagues affected by illness themselves or bereavement. Some colleagues have lost family members and friends – and we are thinking of them at this tough time – these personal losses will take time to heal. These are tough times and our work will be challenging – but we can build on our incredible energy and collegiality, our dedication across all staff levels and our commitment to our students and partners we’ve been working with for many years from outside the university.

The good weather is here and this always brings a sense of hope and constancy – this too shall pass. Hang on to hope (some hopeful poetry on next page), kindness and the generosity of those around you.

Enjoy the issue!

Prof Daniela Sime, Associate Dean (Public Engagement & Impact) Follow us: @HaSSPEI

The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Spring 2020, Issue No.6 ]

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10

Prizes and fellowships

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Grant successes

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International collaborations

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New appointments

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Student successes

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Policy and practice impact

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Public engagement and media events

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Personal development

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HaSS Research Impact Awards

t: 0141 444 8410 e: hass-faculty-office@strath.ac.uk www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/

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Hope

by Anthony Horowitz

The town of Hope, near Aberdeen Is somewhere I have seldom been But then it’s not a tourist trap – It isn’t even on the map!

There’s certainly not much to see They’ve closed the local library Because they said there is no need When no-one in the town can read They’ve got a pub and a hotel But neither of them’s doing well The hotel isn’t quite the Ritz The beds have fleas: the staff have nits The only pub, “The Rose and Crown” Is easily the worst in town The one theatre’s sadly gone It burned down while a play was on (The critics thought the play so dire That all of them preferred the fire.)

The cinema is second rate The films are always out of date The last James Bond film that I saw Had Bond still played by Roger Moore.

The pavements are never clean Because the council’s far too mean To pay for cleaners – and the park Is only open after dark The grass is lumpy, full of weeds And dogs can only walk on leads There is a children’s playground but When school is finished, it is shut The Chief of Police is eighty-two He can’t catch crooks. He can’t catch flu!

The vicar surely won’t be missed Since he’s become an atheist The mayor sold his golden chain And then was never seen again The local paper isn’t bought Because there’s nothing to report.

The school is like a concrete bunker Matron’s drunk. The head is drunker.

Now, living here must really stink At least, that is what you might think But that is simply not the case There is no more delightful place

The fun and laughter never ends Everyone is best of friends.

And all the residents agree There’s nowhere else they’d rather be.

So if you’re feeling uninspired, Sleeping badly, waking tired If everything is going wrong.

The day feels dark, the night’s too long Remember all the people who Have found the following is true: It’s so much easier to cope If you decide to live in Hope. © Anthony Horowitz 2020, reproduced from ‘The Guardian’ See more hopeful poetry for adults and children here

Hope

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SPOTLIGHT ON RESEARCH Is a healthy social media possible? Keeping a positive mind-set about our bodies online and offline

As we spend endless days and weeks within the four walls of our homes in lockdown UK, with others or alone, with balconies or gardens or maybe just a window, many of us wonder how we’ll emerge from this isolation. “Divorced, broke, depressed, fat,” predicted one joke floating around Facebook recently. A beforeand-after lockdown photo showed Aquaman at quarantine day 1, who had turned into Rubeus Hagrid from Harry Potter by day 30. A meme shared by a friend showed a woman in lockdown making bread and mistaking her own protruding belly for the dough. My baking group had a posting of a Fitbit photo between the waffles and scones, so we don’t feel fat from looking at all the food photos.

Even amidst a deadly pandemic, we still manage to worry about how our bodies will look when they emerge from this crisis. All this isn’t entirely surprising though, as body image concerns are widespread and affect most of us even under normal circumstances. My research on female university students in America showed that 86% of participants wanted to lose weight; the difference between their real and ideal weight was close to 9 kilograms on average. That was despite the fact that the mean weight of the study sample aligned with the mean weight of 19-year-olds in the country. In other words, people of healthy weight can also have poor body image. Body dissatisfaction is a universal problem too. A 2017 research report by Dove on 10-17-year-old girls in 14 countries showed that “only 46% of girls globally had high body esteem”. Of the countries studied, the UK was in the bottom three and only China and Japan scored worse. In the UK, 39% of girls had good body image. The consequences from such poor attitudes are widespread and serious. Nine out of 10 girls in the UK with low body esteem reported skipping meals, avoiding meeting friends and family or trying out for a team, according to the report.

While poor body image is experienced by people of all ages, it remains in sharper focus among children and young people.

The frequent use of social media by this age group poses an additional challenge as researchers, educators and parents keep asking how these two factors intersect. The abovementioned research on American university students did in fact show a relationship between the two. More time spent on Facebook related to more body and weight comparisons, more attention to the physical appearance of others and more negative body attitudes after viewing posts and photos. For the young women who wanted to lose weight (the vast majority of the sample), more time on Facebook also related to stronger symptoms of disordered eating.

These results surprised many when they were first publicised in 2014 and sparked significant coverage and debate in mainstream media. But what I found surprising was the huge interest in the topic among young people, their parents and teachers. They were curious to learn more and eager to discuss how they engage with social media and how they felt about it.

This interest has inspired me to reach out to the public and to become more engaged in the debate about social media and its repercussions for mental health. Over the past five years, I have given talks at schools, universities, and public events, including via TEDx, and spoke to mental health professionals and advocates.

As social media has continued to develop over the years, the discussion of its benefits and drawbacks has also advanced.

Young people no longer wonder if spending long hours on

Poor body image can be a challenge across the lifespan.

Many middle-aged women face the same challenges of being dissatisfied with their bodies and placing too much importance on shape and weight for their self-concept. One study has reported that 54 is the age when the average woman is least satisfied with her body. Men aren’t immune to doubts either, as many worry not only about their body weight and shape, but also about hair loss and other image issues.

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Instagram affects them. They know that it does. Now, they’re looking into ways to address the drawbacks while preserving the social benefits. Nobody is talking about going back to the dark ages before social media (except maybe a few nostalgic souls from our generation!), but many are interested in creating a more rewarding experience there.

Societal thinking around policy has also changed. As social media companies are increasingly perceived as profiteers selling either content or our personal data, calls for regulation have intensified. Change in that direction is already evident – Instagram, for example, is starting to remove harmful content and the Adverting Standards Authority has requested influencers to tag promotional posts. I expect this trend to intensify in future.

#HealthySocialMedia event & report In spring 2019, together with the Mental Health Foundation (MHF), I organised an event as part of our Engage Week, where people from 15 different organisations in Scotland, including pupils, teachers, social media influencers, mental health charities, youth charities, NHS, etc. The aim of the event was to share personal experiences from social media interactions and discuss strategies for building a positive relationship between users and their digital lives. The event followed up last year’s Mental Health Awareness Week led by the MHF, which also focused on body image.

At the event, young people discussed their social media persona versus their offline persona. Online, they admitted to being “fake”, “brutal”, “exposed to hate”, “judgemental”, “critical of self”, “jealous”, and under “pressure to be liked”.

Other more nuanced descriptors included “filtered”, “guarded”, “self-aware” and “cautious”. Some positive descriptors of their social media persona did come through, such as “happy (too)”, “confident”, “invincible”, “ego/esteem boost”, “open for sharing emotions”. Offline though personalities were much more positive in comparison: “open”, “genuine”, “honest”, “less image conscious”, “more open – share more”, “trusting” etc. Young people also described themselves more often as

‘authentic’ in offline interactions and talked more often about deception in their online interactions.

When discussing their feelings and behaviours on social media, participants used negative descriptors twice more often than positive ones, which corresponds to prior research. The most common experience was witnessing others’ “perfect” lives or “perfect” bodies on social media. This tendency for “only posting good days” or for sharing only “perfect pictures, exciting experiences” was related to feelings of anger and frustration.

This “perfect” and competitive atmosphere also triggered judgement and criticism, participants said. They shared feeling “judged”, “judgemental”, “aware of criticism”, “unkind” and “very self-critical”. Gender differences were also highlighted, with comments such as “girls are more critical” and “girls are worse than boys about each other”. Other common themes were those of comparisons and pressure. Comparing to others in terms of photos or just life overall was a common experience.

For the full report from the event, which contains proposed strategies for a better social media experience and videos of the event speakers, visit our project website: http://www.healthysocialmedia.org/resources/

Scottish Government Advisory Group 2019 was the year for body image research and advocacy in many ways. It was also when the Scottish Government decided to form the Healthy Body Image for Children and Young People Advisory Group, which aimed to undertake a review of the issue and was lead by the MHF and Beat the Eating Disorders charity.

I was an invited member of the Advisory Group, and for six months, we listened to evidence from various groups of young people and their experiences of body image.

In March 2020, the Advisory Group has released a recommendation report, which proposes a revised definition of good body image and discusses the issue from various perspectives. The Report emphasizes that body image is not just an individual problem, but it is shaped by many outside influences: the media and advertising, policy and regulation,

Spotlight on Research

5 public health messaging (Remember Cancer Research UK’s obesity campaign?), and relevant professionals in young people’s lives, schools, parents and families.

Our recommendations call for bold changes in how we all see our own and other people’s bodies and how we talk about them in public and in private. Too often behaviour change is left to individuals who struggle to turn against the tide. Young people can feel pressurized by adverts telling them they need face creams, lip fillers and diets to become better. How can a 10-year old appreciate their body when parents and peers tease them daily about his weight? Young people cannot change until we change with them. The report recommendations lay out a road map for societal change in Scotland and hopefully beyond.

Do you want to see the Group’s vision for good body image for young people in Scotland? Read the report here.

The Scottish Government is expected to address these recommendations after the Covid-19 crisis is managed. We will all have to do our part too. For now, let’s just stay home, indulge in our favourite activities, exercise when we can, and be kinder to each other (and ourselves!) online and offline.

Perhaps timely, the theme for the MHF Mental Health Awareness Week 2020 is KINDNESS.

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Contact Dr Petya Eckler School of Humanities petya.eckler@strath.ac.uk Twitter: @DrPetyaEckler

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FOCUS ON CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Scotland’s national observatory of children’s human rights launched A collective of more than fifty children’s charities and experts call for urgent action to ensure the incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child into Scots law makes a genuine difference.

Scotland’s first national observatory of children’s rights was launched in Edinburgh on 28th February, with Professor Jennifer Davidson, Executive Director of Inspiring Children’s Futures and Executive Director of the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection, joining the Minister for Children Maree Todd, children, and observatory partners, for the launch. The Observatory is an inter-disciplinary collaborative of organisations including the Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde, Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), Children’s Parliament, Scottish Youth Parliament and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland. Alongside the launch of this new resource for Scotland, Together, the Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights, published the latest State of Children’s Rights progress report setting out the current status of children’s rights in Scotland.

In particular, the report highlights the importance of delivering a key government pledge to incorporate the UNCRC into Scots law by 2021.

At present, the Scottish Government plans to present a bill that directly incorporates the UNCRC provisions that fall within devolved powers, but experts say rapid progress is needed. In order for the UNCRC to be written into Scots law by 2021, the bill must be introduced to the Scottish Parliament within a matter of months to ensure children’s human rights are fully protected, supported and promoted.

Additionally, the report points to Britain’s exit from the European Union and the subsequent loss of human rights protections as a further reason for Scotland to incorporate the UNCRC into Scots law. It also highlights child poverty as the main indicator of Scotland’s long way to go to ensure children’s human rights are protected and enforced.

The Observatory aims to bring together children and experts from across Scotland to amplify the impact of research on policy debates, both nationally and internationally. It will work to improve the day to day lives and experiences of children and young people.

The State of Children’s Rights report plays an essential role in enabling the UN Committee to hold the Scottish and UK governments to account regarding implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It details a number of areas where substantial progress has been made in recent years, while also drawing attention to areas in which Scotland currently falls short of ensuring children’s rights are being met.

Focus on children and young people

7 Rights Respecting? Scotland’s approach to children in conflict with the law The Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice (CYCJ) has published a new report calling for ‘rights respecting’ reform to Scotland’s youth justice system, if the country is to uphold its commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Rights Respecting? Scotland’s approach to children in conflict with the law was launched on 30th January 2020 at the Kilbrandon Lecture on children’s services and the rights of children. The lecture was given by leading human rights lawyer, Professor Manfred Nowak, who led the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty.

This report is the first of its kind to translate the UNCRC into Scottish specific actions to improve policy, practice and experience in youth justice. The report was written by CYCJ’s director, Dr Claire Lightowler, who took a year’s sabbatical to dedicate herself to exploring the complex and often emotive issues around offending by children, based on CYCJ’s belief that youth justice in Scotland requires a reconfiguration on a scale not seen since Kilbrandon.

Dr Claire Lightowler said: “We saw the incorporation of UNCRC as a window of opportunity. There’s something fundamental about the challenge of levelling up between welfare and needs on one hand and control and punishment on the other, yet little thought has been given to this from a rights perspective.”

“If we are holding traumatised children solely responsible for their actions, putting them through processes they do not understand and putting barriers in the way of their loving and caring relationships, is this justice in the true meaning of the word? There is some truth in the focus on children as troubled, challenged, vulnerable and challenging, and it is often wellmeaning, but it can have negative unintended consequences for the most disadvantaged children.”

“At the heart of this report is an argument for a shift from viewing children in conflict with the law as troubled, challenging and vulnerable to children as rights holders. Rights are for all children, and it is worrying when we fail to fulfil our legal and moral obligations to the very children we are holding to account through the justice system.”

Bruce Adamson, Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, said: “This robust and impressive report is the first piece of work that comprehensively examines Scotland’s youth justice system from a rights based perspective. It demands that we look critically at our society and how we value children.”

Photo credited to Tammy Henderson on behalf of The Children’s Parliament

The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Spring 2020, Issue No.6 ]

8 Comic supports young people in dealing with bereavement A comic aimed at helping young people deal with grief and bereavement has been produced in a project involving the Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice (CYCJ) and the University of Strathclyde.

Teenagers from across Scotland shared their experiences of loss with academics from Strathclyde and project leaders at the University of Dundee. The result was a 40-page publication titled When People Die: Stories From Young People, with images, stories and insights that arose from a series of workshops held at HMP & YOI Polmont and the charities Richmond’s Hope, Barnardo’s Scotland and Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS).

The intention of the year-long project was to explore how comics can help generate reflective and confident life stories for young people who have experienced bereavement and help destigmatise conversations about loss and grief. In doing so, the comic will not only directly reach out to young people but will also enable parents, carers, teachers and peers to provide better support in the event of bereavement.

Nina Vaswani, CYCJ’s Research Fellow, was a partner in the project. She said: “I’m so pleased to see this important comic launched during National Grief Awareness Week. We know that bereavement is something that is experienced by many children as they grow up, and we also know that, with the right support from family, friends and professionals, many children can adapt to and learn

to live with their loss, without any significant long term negative effects. But we hear from parents, carers and teachers that, despite wanting to offer support, they often lack the confidence, knowledge or skills to talk about death, dying and bereavement with children. Understandably, it can be difficult for people to know what to say, or what to do, in a time of grief.

“We want to help normalise and support conversations with children about death, bereavement and grief, and that’s where this comic comes in. Comics are a great way to reach a wide audience, and are an important medium for communicating difficult or sensitive messages. When words might be hard to find, an image can tell the story instead.

“All of the stories in this comic have come from children and young people who have been bereaved themselves, and who wanted to share their experiences to help others. We hope that their honesty, courage, wisdom and creativity will help provide information and comfort to other children who have been bereaved, as well as being a resource for parents, carers and teachers of all children to help create discussion and dialogue.”

Dr. Christine Jones (SWSP) discusses sibling estrangement with BBC Scotland BBC Scotland featured a story on their flagship programme, The Nine, on 4th February about sibling estrangement when children enter into the care system.

The news piece will feature Dr Christine Jones, Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Work and Social Policy, about her research, which was conducted with Dr Gillian Henderson of Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration. The piece was timed to be broadcast on the release of the findings of the Independent Care Review led by Fiona Duncan. Drs Jones and Henderson have highlighted the high numbers of children in the care system who grow up apart from their brothers and sisters and lose touch. The research highlights the lack of good quality comprehensive national data and, as a result, the relative invisibility of this problem until now.

The issue of sibling estrangement is a key area of concern for the Independent Care Review and we await their recommendations in relation to this important area of policy and practice. The ICR findings are also launched at the same time that Scottish Parliament is proposing to strengthen the law to place a legal duty on local authorities to promote sibling relationships when children enter care.

Focus on children and young people

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CELEBRATION Speech and Language Therapy celebrates its 85th anniversary In 1919, Dr Anne McAllister, a founding member of the Speech and Language Therapy profession started teaching trainee speech therapists in Glasgow. This course was formally recognised in 1935 as the Glasgow School of Speech Therapy, which became part of Jordanhill College in 1968 and then the University of Strathclyde in 1994. Dr Anne McAllister was an inspirational woman of her era, setting up a clinic for speech difficulties in 1919 and becoming a pioneer of the Speech and Language Therapy Profession. Her legacy continues to this day, with the Speech and Language Therapy course at Strathclyde consistently ranked highly in the UK (1st and 2nd in recent years in the Good University Guide).

The course is now the longest established in Scotland and the second oldest in the UK. In its 85 year history, the course has evolved from awarding College of Speech Therapy Diplomas to BEd and BSc (Hons) degrees in addition to supervising qualified speech and languages therapists at MSc, MPhil and PhD level.

As part of the #StrathSLT85 celebrations the university’s School of Psychological Sciences and Health held a reception on the 4th February 2020. The reception was an opportunity for current and former staff, managers from the NHS, and representatives from the Scottish Government to meet and celebrate the growth, developments and achievements within speech and language therapy in Glasgow over the last 85 years.

Photo credits: University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections

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PRIZES AND FELLOWSHIPS Strathclyde English academic awarded Scottish Book of the Year prize The Saltire Society announced the winners of the 2019 Literary Awards at a glittering ceremony at the National Museum of Scotland on 30th of November 2019. Kirstie Blair, English Professor within the School of Humanities, received the prestigious Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award for her Working Verse in Victorian Scotland: Poetry, Press, Community (published by Oxford University Press).

As well as the prominent win for Scottish Book of the Year, Kirstie was also awarded The Saltire Scottish Research Book of the Year Award, supported by the National Library of Scotland.

Working Verse In Victorian Scotland: Poetry, Press, Community was selected as The Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year by a panel of judges from the winners of the five Literary Awards. The judges found its accessibility in subject and in its writing profound.

The fact that it is an important, significant piece of research did not discolour its enjoyability, with laugh out loud moments and fascinating facts. The judges felt a warmth from it and to it.

The National Library of Scotland support the Saltire Society Scottish Research Book of the Year, and The National Library of Scotland’s Associate Director of Collections and Research, Robin Smith said “It’s not every day the winner of the research category scoops the overall Saltire prize, which demonstrates just what a compelling and important read Ms Blair’s work is.

Research adds to our collective understanding of the world around us, and sharing the resultant knowledge is just as important as the activity itself. We encourage and promote research on every subject imaginable at the National Library, and we’re delighted to continue to support this award.”

Fellowship Prof Yvette Taylor, School of Education, has been elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. In total, 51 leading UK social scientists have been conferred the award of Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. All have been elected on the basis of their outstanding contributions to research and to the application of social science to policy, education, society and the economy.

The Academy’s Fellowship is made up of distinguished individuals from academic, public and private sectors, across the full breadth of the social sciences. Through leadership, applied research, policymaking and practice, they have worked to help understand and tackle some of the toughest challenges facing us in modern times.

Their work has contributed to the UK’s position as a world leader in the social sciences. See the full list of new Fellows here.

Prizes and fellowships

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GRANT SUCCESSES Researchers to investigate the role of charitable funding of health care in the NHS in a major new study A new four-year research project, awarded £1.4 million funding from the Wellcome Trust, will explore the past, present and future of charitable fundraising for health care.

The study, which will be led by the University of Birmingham, will look at how health policy has understood, and sought to influence, the role of charities in the NHS by looking at the amount and distribution of charitable fundraising for NHS charities over time.

In recent weeks, charitable fundraising to the NHS has been thrown into the spotlight through the efforts of Captain Tom Moore and many others raising money for the NHS to support staff and volunteers dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, and to support NHS patients during their recovery.

The project is a Wellcome Trust Collaborative Award in Humanities and Social Science, and the team comprises Professor John Mohan (University of Birmingham), Professor Bernard Harris (University of Strathclyde), Dr Ellen Stewart (University of Edinburgh) and Professor Martin Gorsky (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine).

The research will generate a new account of the effects – both positive and problematic – of charitable fundraising and charitable organisations in the UK health system. This will change our understanding of the NHS and inform discussions about the future of charities in the health service.”

The project will engage with non-academic audiences through witness seminars, public lectures and an annual conference, while individual work packages will actively involve external stakeholders. As well as a website, regular project briefing notes and articles, the project will generate a book, bringing together the main findings into a comprehensive reassessment of the complex relationships between charity and the NHS. Find out more about the Wellcome Trust award here: https:// wellcome.ac.uk/grant-funding/people-and-projects/grantsawarded/border-crossings-charity-and-voluntarism-britains

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Contact Prof Bernard Harris School of Social Work & Social Policy bernard.harris@strath.ac.uk

Professor John Mohan, Director of the Third Sector Research Centre at the University of Birmingham, comments: “During a national health crisis which affects all of us, it is unsurprising that citizens are voluntarily giving time and money to support the NHS on an apparently unprecedented scale. However, this is just the latest episode in a long and neglected history of charitable initiative in the NHS. In this project, we want to research that history, in order to put contemporary efforts in their proper context and enable evidence-based reflection on the relationship between charity and health care in the future”.

The NHS is famously a state-run health service, yet it has always made space for charitable activities. Some NHS hospital charities number amongst the country’s wealthiest charitable organisations. The boundaries between state-run and charitably-run activities have shifted over the decades and have often been politically controversial.

The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Spring 2020, Issue No.6 ]

12 Leverhulme Trust grant Dr Sarah Edwards from the School of Humanities, working with Dr Kathy Hamilton and Dr Juliette Wilson from the Department of Marketing in SBS, has been successful in achieving a Project Grant from the Leverhulme Trust. The 18-month project focuses on Glasgow Women’s Library and the ways in which libraries effect social and cultural transformations.

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Contact Dr Sarah Edwards School of Humanities sarah.edwards@strath.ac.uk

New study on social distancing A new study, funded by the Chief Scientist Office, led by Dr Lynn Williams, School of Psychological Sciences and Health, will examine the impact of social distancing on our well-being.

The study, entitled Has social distancing made us healthier?

Adoption, maintenance and sharing of positive changes in one of four studies awarded to Strathclyde- see the full list of funded projects here Social distancing has brought the biggest changes to everyday life in living memory. Although many of these changes make life worse, positive behaviours are emerging, for example, finding new ways to exercise at home, and offering help to neighbours. This project aims to capture these positive behaviours through surveys and interviews with the public in order to explore how and amongst whom this has happened, and if people can keep these health improvements going.

Working with relevant charities and organisations we will share our learning to help the public to initiate and maintain these positive changes during COVID-19 and beyond.

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Contact Dr Lynn Williams School of Psychological Sciences and Health lynn.williams@strath.ac.uk

Funding Granted for Mental Health Research Dr Nicola Cogan (School of Psychological Sciences and Health) and co-investigators Dr Xi Lui; Dr Steve Kelly; Dr Tony Anderson and Colin Flynn (Disability and Wellbeing Service) have been funded by SMaRteN to look at the distinct concerns Asian international students experience in terms of their mental health.

researchers with a range of expertise and key stakeholders across the Higher Education sector, its aim is to improve the understanding of student mental health.

This pilot project’s main objectives are to look at the distinct concerns Asian international students experience in terms of their mental health, issues in disclosing mental health problems and in seeking help for mental health within the University of Strathclyde. The team will be working with Disability and Wellbeing Service to develop, promote and consider future directions for service development within UoS.

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Contact Dr Nicola Cogan School of Psychological Sciences and Health nicola.cogan@strath.ac.uk

Psychology, Speech Therapy and Social Policy awarded ESRC PhD studentships Louise Brown Nicholls, Nicola Cogan, Anja Kuschmann and Anja Lowit from the School of Psychological Sciences and Health have been awarded two ESRC Collaborative PhD Studentships, while Daniela Sime and Bernard Harris in Social Work & Social Policy have also won an award. These awards are very competitive, with only 15 awards made in Social Sciences across Scotland.

The two awards in the School of Psychological Sciences and Health are: Ageing and communication: understanding the roles of cognition, speech production, and social participation (Dr Louise Brown Nicholls, Dr Anja Kuschmann, Prof Anja Lowit; Collaborating organisation: Scottish Older People’s Association) Mental health self-stigma and peer-victimisation in adolescence (Dr Nicola Cogan, Prof Simon Hunter, Prof Pat Corrigan- Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago; Collaborating organisation: The Mental Health Foundation) The award to the School of Social Work and Social Policy is for the project: What we do together: Associational life, volunteering and the benefits for well-being and health for younger and older volunteers (Supervisors: Daniela Sime, Prof Bernard Harris; Collaborating organization: Volunteer Scotland)

SMaRteN is a national research network funded by UK Research and Innovation, led by King’s College London, focusing on Student Mental Health in Higher Education. Working with

Grant successes

13 Celebrating grant successes These are some of the awards we have secured up to April 2020. Congratulations to all colleagues and teams involved.

Research funding Title

Award holder

School

Funder

Administrative Data Research Centres 2018 Fiona Mitchell

Centre For Excellence For Children’s Care And Protection

ESRC

Philosophising to support well-being

Claire Cassidy

Education

Barnardo’s

Cross-Border Queers: The Story of South Asian Migrants in the UK

Churnjeet Mahn

English

British Academy

Specialist support & TA to Managing & Certifying Authorities in updating 20142020 OPs

Laura Polverari

European Policies Research Centre

Consip

Irish Distillers oral history project (phase 2) Arthur McIvor

History

Irish Distillers Limited (Ireland)

Diageo Menstrie Project (2019)

History

Diageo Scotland Limited

Risky hormones, pregnant patients and the Jesse Olszynko-Gryn contested science of birth defects: the rise and fall of hormone pregnancy tests in the FRG and UK, 1950-81

History

AHRC

Accounting and scenario analyses to measuring and unlocking value to enable Just Transitions in the decarbonisation of UK industry clusters

Karen Turner

Politics

Bellona Foundation

The sectoral politics of climate policy: Patrick Bayer Domestic conflict and UK public support for ambitious climate action

Politics

Carnegie Trust

The mechanisms of national cyber capability development and their impact

Richard Johnson

Politics

Carnegie Trust

ORA (Round 5)The Nature of Political Representation in Times of Dealignment

Wolfgang Rüdig

Politics

ESRC

Non-adherence to hormonal therapy in breast cancer survivors: systematic review and qualitative analysis of the role of sleep disturbance

Leanne Fleming

Psychology

Chief Scientist’s Office

Improving sleep of adolescents- The Megan Crawford Strathclyde Sleep for ScHools (SSSH) project

Psychology

Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity

The understandings of distinctive experiences of mental health, disclosure and help seeking among Asian students

Nicola Cogan

Psychology

King’s College London

SPECTRUM: Shaping Public hEalth poliCies To Reduce IneqUalities and harM

Kat Smith

Social Work and Social Policy

MRC (Medical Research Council)

Evaluation Partner for Core Priority Programme Strategic Partnerships

Neil Quinn

Social Work and Social Policy

Barnardo’s

Arthur McIvor

Knowledge Exchange funding Restorative Justice

Fiona Dyer

CYCJ

Scottish Government

Engaging All Parents in their Children’s Education

Alastair Wilson

Education

Scottish Government

Training Services - extension

Douglas Brodie

Law

Clyde & Co Llp

Biodiversity as a human right

Elisa Morgera

Law

TEPSA

World Green Economy Organization Report

Elisa Morgera

Law

World Green Economy Organization

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14 Options for achieving a more diverse and productive pattern of landownership in Scotland

Malcolm Combe

Law

Scottish Land Commission

Gaelic Development Officer Extension

Fhiona Fisher

SCILT

Bord na Gaidhlig

EFT Level 4/Advanced Empathy

Robert Elliott

Counselling

ISEFT (China Institute)

EFT Level 1a Training

Robert Elliott

Counselling

NHS Lincolnshire Partnership

Disciplinary Literacy

Clare McAlister

Education

East Dunbartonshire Council

Disciplinary Literacy

Clare McAlister

Education

West Lothian Council

Disciplinary Literacy

Clare McAlister

Education

South Lanarkshire Council

Planning with the Young Child

Deirdre Grogan

Education

West Dunbartonshire Council

Training with Deirdre Grogan

Deirdre Grogan

Education

Netherthird ELC

Play

Deirdre Grogan

Education

Muirkirk Primary School

Early Level Pedagogy

Deirdre Grogan

Education

Shetland Islands

Enabling Environments/Documentation

Deirdre Grogan

Education

Dunbeth Family Learning Centre

Early Years conference Input

Deirdre Grogan

Education

East Renfrewshire Council

P2 Programme

Deirdre Grogan

Education

Falkirk Council

Play Based Learning - Training and Observation

Deirdre Grogan

Education

Heathery Knowe Primary School

Play

Deirdre Grogan

Education

St Mungo’s Primary School

Play

Deirdre Grogan

Education

St Charles Primary School

Learning Environments/Documentation

Deirdre Grogan

Education

Darvel ECC

Ferre Laevers Training

Deirdre Grogan

Education

East Dunbartonshire Council

Observations and Documentations

Deirdre Grogan

Education

West Johnstone ELCC

Play

Deirdre Grogan

Education

New Cumnock ECC

Play Based Learning Keynote

Deirdre Grogan

Education

South Lanarkshire Council

Learning through Play

Deirdre Grogan

Education

Cathkin Primary

Documentation/Planning

Deirdre Grogan

Education

West Dunbartonshire Council

Keynote Presentation

Deirdre Grogan

Education

Early Education - Aberdeen Branch

Learning through Play

Deirdre Grogan

Education

Highland Council

Research and Development Project: Practitioner Enquiry

Joan Mowat

Education

South Lanarkshire Council

Enquiry Approach/Learning Festival

Kate Wall

Education

Preston Lodge High School

Early Years Conference Input

Kate Wall

Education

Argyll & Bute Council

Workshop for Teacher Leadership Programme

Kate Wall

Education

SCEL

Enquiry Approach

Kate Wall

Education

Renfrew High School

Enquiry Approach

Kate Wall

Education

Arbroath Academy

Primary Teachers’ Conference

Kate Wall

Education

East Lothian Council

Research Academy for Teacher Practitioners

Kate Wall

Education

East Renfrewshire

Engaging in High Quality Observations

Nicky Shaw

Education

St Bartholomew’s Primary

Supporting Science Reasoning Skills in Primary

Robert Collins

Education

Stonehouse Primary School

Enquiry Approach/Learning Festival

Saima Salahjee

Education

Preston Lodge High School

Disciplinary Literacy

Sue Ellis

Education

West Lothian Council

Scotish Oral History Training

Arthur McIvor

History

Falkirk Community Trust

Scotish Oral History Training

Arthur McIvor

History

Inverclyde Council

Social Media and Body Image

Petya Eckler

Journalism

Young Scot

Trauma Training for the Rail Industry

Nicola Cogan

Psychology

STUC

Oral History Training

Arthur McIvor

Scottish Oral History Centre

Callander’s Landscape Oral History Project

DELE course

Lidia Acosta

Spanish

Participants

Ultrasound for Speech Therapy Training

Joanna Cleland

Speech & Language

Moorhouse School

Grant successes

15

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS Strathclyde English academic features in The Paris Review Dr Rodge Glass, Convener of the MLitt in Creative Writing, has authored an article for The Paris Review about the life, death and works of the great Glaswegian polymath Alasdair Gray.

The article was published in New York and made available online and has since been made a featured article this week, being widely read and shared worldwide. The Paris Review is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 and articles are now published in New York and made available online. Dr Rodge Glass authored Alasdair Gray’s biography, before his death in December 2019.

Photo: Strathclyde English academic

Franco-British Defence Cooperation Royal United Services Institute, London Dr Rogelia Pastor-Castro’s AHRC-funded project The Weight of the Past in Franco-British Relations aims to explore how conceptions of the past have impacted the evolution of FrancoBritish relations since 1815. It asks how French and British policy elites have used history to understand the past and anticipate the future. Additionally, it considers the extent to which subjective interpretations of the past have shaped the conceptual horizons of these policy-makers.

In November 2019, a Witness Seminar - UK, France and the Lancaster House Treaties - was the first in a series of project events that will bring academics and policy-makers together to consider these questions. Focusing on the Lancaster House Treaties that foster closer defence and security cooperation, it asked witnesses to consider the treaties through the context of historic Franco-British relations, challenges to sovereignty and visions and expectations for the future. Dr Pastor-Castro and Dr Rachel Utley (Leeds) opened the seminar by discussing the historical framework of the project. They highlighted the complexity of memory as both lived and historic. As a discursive tool, it has been mobilised to both facilitate and impede FrancoBritish cooperation. They also stressed the significance of this topic for contemporary Franco-British relations, which continue to evolve around different conceptions of European cooperation.

The seminar witnesses included Sir David Omand, who during his career in British government service held senior posts in security, intelligence, and defence. He was UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator in the Cabinet Office from 2002 to 2005. He was a Permanent Secretary of the Home Office from 1997 to 2000, and before that Director of GCHQ. Also speaking was Dame Mariot Leslie was head of the FCO’s Policy Planning

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16 Staff, ambassador to Norway, FCO Director General for Defence and Intelligence, a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee and UK Permanent Representative to NATO (2010-14). The French perspective was represented by Admiral Luc Pagès, Defence Attaché, French Embassy in London. Each participant brought a unique viewpoint to the discussions, drawing from their experiences in policy-making, diplomacy and security. All of the witnesses stressed the value of trust and interpersonal relationships in Franco-British relations.

However, these individual working relationships between career diplomats and civil servants could be impeded or held hostage by higher-level tensions between national leaders.

Several witnesses suggested that in this instance diplomats had the vital task of safeguarding Franco-British relations behind the scenes. Turning to post-Brexit Franco-British relations and the future of the Lancaster House Treaties, the panel offered cautious optimism and expressed their belief in the longevity of the agreements.

means that cities have to scale up their cooperation, seek new solutions, and develop a solid knowledge basis for bottom-up evidence-based policy-making.

These themes were the subject of a lecture by Peter Takacs, Policy Officer in the Inclusive Growth, Urban and Territorial Development Unit of the DG for Regional and Urban Policy. He provided an overview of EU Urban Development policies, ranging from the 1997 strategy ‘Towards an Urban Agenda’ to the mainstreaming of Sustainable Urban Development (SUD) in the current programming period. SUD in 2021-27 promises further increases in coherence and integration of EU support to cities, as well as territorial interventions targeting full functional urban areas.

After his presentation, two discussants raised thought-provoking questions, and the audience participated in the ensuing discussion. Verena Balz, Lecturer in Regional Planning at TU Delft and Cottbus University of Technology, highlighted the gaps that exist in SUD strategies and the dependency of their success on local planning systems. Martin Ferry, Senior Researcher at EPRC, raised the importance of monitoring and evaluation systems of the interventions, and of coordination with existing local strategies. Part of his intervention referred to his recent work on the performance of Integrated Territorial Development Strategies.

The event was part of a joint series ‘Contemporary challenges in European spatial development’, organised by the Spatial Planning & Strategy chair in Delft’s Urbanism Department and EPRC Delft. This third session in the series was moderated by EPRC Director John Bachtler and Marcin Dąbrowski, Assistant Professor in the Urbanism Department of TU Delft.

Discussing Sustainable Urban Development in Delft European cities are playing fields of intensifying contemporary challenges. Traffic congestion, air pollution, climate change effects, clean water and energy provision, jobs and skills issues, housing and social segregation largely concentrate in urban areas. Cities are also in the position to develop innovative solutions to these multiple challenges. Doing this effectively

As the EPRC base at the Technical University of Delft is built up, EPRC is developing its cooperation with Dutch government departments at different levels and with universities. The lecture by a representative of the European Commission, leading on European Sustainable Urban Development strategies, is an example of the new opportunities provided by our location in the Netherlands.

Follow EPRC and Spatial Planning & Strategy for updates, or get in touch.

International collaborations

17 The Visibility and Communication of Cohesion Policy in Online Media A new EPRC study on the Visibility and Communication of Cohesion Policy in Online Media has been published by the European Parliament. Led by EPRC’s Carlos Mendez and John Bachtler, and Vasiliki Triga at the Cyprus University of Technology, the study employs a mixed methods approach to investigate media coverage, representations and user perceptions of cohesion policy in online media. The research draws on an original dataset of over 60,000 news articles and 100,000 user-generated comments. It also analyses social media – over 11,000 Facebook posts and over five million tweets on Twitter – and 13,000 EU press releases. The key conclusion is that cohesion policy visibility is relatively low in online media. Policy recommendations are provided to improve cohesion policy visibility in the media, particularly through citizen engagement.

Click here to download the full report.

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NEW APPOINTMENTS New Faculty Manager for Humanities and Social Sciences The Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences is delighted to announce that Heather Lawrence has been appointed as the new HaSS Faculty Manager and will take up her post on Monday 23rd March.

Heather has worked at Strathclyde for over ten years, starting in the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC) which transitioned into the Centre for Excellence for Looked after Children in Scotland (CELCIS) in 2011. With a background in service and process design, she joined the University’s Business Improvement Team in 2013 and has been Head of Continuous Improvement since 2018.

Heather has been fortunate to have been involved in several transformative programmes and initiatives, including the Single Campus Project, transitioning from SIRCC to CELCIS, design of the business improvement approach at Strathclyde, Executive Team Strategic Projects, the early establishment of the Glasgow City Innovation District, and development of Strathclyde’s 2025 vision and strategy. Throughout her career at Strathclyde, Heather has studied part-time and has gained a BA in Business Management Studies with Distinction, an MBA with distinction and is currently undertaking a PhD in organisational strategy and delivery. She has co-authored two publications on benefits realisation management for higher education funded by the Leadership Foundation which has been recommended as ‘best practice’ by University’s Scotland and Office for Students in England. Heather is excited to return to HaSS and through working in partnership with colleagues, have the opportunity to make a bigger difference to the university and beyond.

Other appointments in the Faculty include an Associate Dean (Student Experience), Dr Michael Randall, School of Law and a new Head of the Graduate School, Dr Mark Ellis. Michael will be working with the Vice Dean (Academic) and the Associate Deans (Undergraduate, Joint Honours and PGT) to strengthen the Faculty’s approach to enhancing the overall student experience on campus and online and encourage the promotion of interdisciplinary learning and teaching. Dr Mark Ellis, as the new Head of Graduate School, will be working towards increasing recruitment of postgraduate research, considering new ways to promote postgraduate research study and engaging with external organisations.

New appointments

19

Professorial appointments The School of Psychological Sciences & Health are delighted to welcome two new Global Talent Attraction Platform (GTAP) Professorial Appointments within the school.

Building on his track record for qualitative and mixed methods research, Professor Paul Flowers was recently appointed as a GTAP Professor within the School. Paul is particularly interested in methods of improving health interventions by combining insights from behaviour change, implementation science, and systems perspectives. He currently has a portfolio of interdisciplinary awards that explore these issues in a series of innovative health areas, mostly within the infectious disease and drug treatment fields. These include for example, understanding insights from the implementation of PrEP as a major news means of HIV prevention across Scotland (PrEP is a pill that is taken once a day by people to avoid HIV transmission), the roll out of direct acting antivirals to drug users to eliminate Hepatitis C at the population level, or detailing transferable insights into the development and implementation of the UK’s first heroin assisted treatment service.

Paul also has international awards examining issues of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Australia and the provision of online sexual health services in British Columbia. Most recently, with colleagues at Glasgow Caledonian University and University College London, Paul has been awarded an NIHR five year programme grant Improving care for people with sexually transmitted infections within a digital NHS in which Paul leads work packages relating to qualitative methods, intervention optimisation, and stakeholder engagement.

Paul has various editorial roles for several health journals including being Associate Editor of both the ‘British Journal of Health Psychology’ and ‘Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine’. Paul has also worked in relation to making public health guidance and policy, for example, helping with Scottish Health Protection Network’s ‘Good Practice Guideline on HIV

Prevention in Men who have Sex with Men (MSM)’ and currently co-chairing a group making recommendations on behavioural interventions to reduce AMR as part of the UK’s new AMR strategy.

Professor Ben Jones was also appointed as a GTAP Professor in the School of Psychological Sciences & Health. Ben investigates the effects of physical appearance on person perception (i.e. how facial, body and vocal cues influence the first impressions we spontaneously form about other people) and how those influence social outcomes, such as romantic partner choice, hiring and voting decisions, and cooperation. Ben recently completed a five year ERC-funded project investigating how changes in hormone levels, such as those that occur over the menstrual cycle or following hormonal contraceptive use, influence heterosexual women’s sexual desire and judgements of men’s attractiveness. The results of this project, which involved tracking 600 young women’s desires and mate preferences over several months, challenged the common assumption that these hormonal changes dictate the extent to which women are attracted to masculine men as short-term sexual partners.

Ben is currently leading an international project involving over 200 researchers from all continents to establish how the links between facial appearance and first impressions differ between cultures. This project is the first to be run by the Psychological Science Accelerator, a distributed network of research groups who conduct democratically selected large scale studies to address the focus on European and North American participants’ behaviours in psychological research.

In summer 2020, Ben will start a new three year EPSRC-funded project to investigate the effects of gender-based stereotypes on interactions with conversational agents (dialogue systems that respond automatically using human language), in collaboration with researchers at Heriot-Watt (Computer Science) and Edinburgh (Education). The goal of this project is to create conversational agents that do not reinforce potentially harmful gendered stereotypes.

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STUDENT SUCCESSES School of Education: The Teaching of Two Worlds they hiked 2085 meters to the peak of Zomba Plateau; learned the local language, Chichewa; and put their language and negotiating skills to the test in the local markets. They also visited Mvuu National Park where they witnessed the breath-taking sights of African wildlife. To end their trip, they journeyed to Lake Malawi, where they snorkeled with the native fish – cichlids – and took a boat trip around Thumbi View.

In early 2019, a group of 3rd year primary education students, accompanied by two lecturers from the University of Strathclyde, travelled to Malawi to experience teaching and learning in a drastically different culture than can be expected in a Scottish classroom. Based in Blantyre, Malawi, the group of students engaged with a range of educational figures from primary schools, infant homes and teacher training colleges.

Over an intensive 3 weeks in late May 2019, the student teachers sought to develop their own professional practice, further develop relationships from previous years, share current teaching strategies from Scotland and embrace Malawian culture. The young group experienced the challenge of teaching in schools with very limited resources to over 100 children per class and for whom English is a second language.

The students’ main link was with Makokezi Primary School, a small, privately funded school near Chigamula in Blantyre. They were challenged with the task of teaching classes with children from ages 5 to 16. As the school is not government funded, and many students can’t afford tuition fees, the school struggles financially and lacks basic resources. As a result of this, the student teachers had to be innovative and flexible with their teaching tactics, whilst making maximum use of locally available resources to support learning.

As well as working with Makokezi, the students also spent time working with the Open Arms Infant Home and government funded Blantyre Girls’ School, where they played games and sung songs with the children, and developed relationships. They also built new relationships with Machinga Teacher Training College, where they shared current teaching practices and experiences with Malawian student teachers.

During their free time, the group immersed themselves in Malawian culture. They explored the former colonial capital, Zomba, where

The trip was largely self-funded, and benefited greatly from generous donations from Strathclyde Alumni Fund and the School of Education. The students raised over £2,000 through a bake sale and sponsored walk from the University to Blantyre, Scotland. Whilst in Malawi, they donated sustainable teaching and learning resources, sanitary products to combat period poverty, as well as financial support for teachers’ salaries. Following the return of the trip, a decision was made to allocate all remaining funds to Makokezi Primary School for exam standard desks and are continuing to fundraise.

Upon reflection, the students feel they have left with a better appreciation of the value and purpose of Malawian education and culture. Teaching with minimal resources has helped them appreciate the value in themselves and the children they work with as the most important resource. Working together has built friendships, confidence and competence in their teaching, all of which will inform their future practice.

Reflecting on the experience, one of the group, Susan Ireland, said: “The Malawi trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m so grateful to have experienced it. Teaching in a completely different culture and environment allowed me to develop a more innovative approach to my teaching and this will stick with me in future practice. The trip made me appreciate how lucky we are in Scotland with the education system we have, and how we can utilise it to create a better future for many of our kids”.

Benson Thungula, head teacher of Makokezi Primary School said: “First of all, let me thank the management of the University of Strathclyde for letting students come to Malawi, especially to Makokezi Primary School (…). I once again thank you for the kind donation you have gave to Makokezi School. We really appreciate it. We hope, next year, another team will come here or if you wish to return, you are most welcome. We really appreciate the services you have gave us both financially and materially. Thank you very much!”

Student successes

21 First cohort of PGCert Educational Issues Impact course graduates

delivery of face-to-face teaching input to the second cohort of this course, which provides an opportunity for professional reflection, development, and for teachers working at Crescent School.

The graduation of the first cohort of the PGCert Educational Issues & Impact course took place on Thursday 16 January 2020 at Crescent School in Lahore. The event was attended by Professor Matthew Smith, Vice-Dean of Research for the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Dr Ingeborg Birnie, course leader, and Angela de Britos, course tutor. The timing of the graduation coincided with the

This is the first cohort of a four-year long contract between Crescent School in Lahore and the School of Education of Strathclyde to support teachers’ professional development. It links to the University theme of global engagement and innovation and impact, creating opportunities for teachers in Lahore to engage with professional learning.

CSHHH Glasgow Wellcome Trust Master’s Programme Awards for MSc Health History

The Students’ Law Clinic nominated for award

The Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare Glasgow, a research collaboration between the University of Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian University, invites applications for fully-funded studentships on its MSc Health History programme. This is the outcome of an investment by the Wellcome Trust through its Master’s Programme Awards in Humanities and Social Science scheme and additional funding committed by the universities.

We are delighted to announce that The University of Strathclyde Law Clinic’s Initial Advice Clinics have been shortlisted as a finalist for “Best Contribution by a Team of Students” in the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards 2020.

Good luck at the awards!

Successful candidates will join the programme in September 2020 to study full-time for twelve months. Applicants must be strongly committed to building a research career relevant to the themes covered by the Wellcome Trust’s Humanities and Social Sciences schemes.

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POLICY AND PRACTICE IMPACT CYCJ calls for pioneering public health response to harmful sexual behaviour The Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice has been part of a report calling for Scotland to pioneer a public health response to harmful sexual behaviour among children and young people.

New briefing published to support supervisors in adult social care

The Expert Group on Preventing Sexual Offending Involving Children and Young People report calls for more preventative activity tailored for boys and young men, given that the majority of adolescents displaying harmful sexual behaviour are male.

Dr Trish Hafford-Letchfield, Professor of Social Work in the School of Social Work and Social Policy, has recently published a briefing paper commissioned by RiPfA - Research for Practice in Adults - a national organisation who bring together evidence from research, practitioner expertise and the experience of people accessing services to provide learning and development support for the health and social care sector.

As secretariat to the expert group, Fiona Dyer from the Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice welcome the publication of the report and the announcement that Scotland is developing a national strategy to tackle sexual offending by children and young people.

Fiona says: “The evidence shows that around 1/3 of sexual offences against children are committed by children and that sexual offending by children is on the increase in Scotland.

These statistics are concerning and coordinated support needs to be offered to already stretched services to address this behaviour, support those involved and provide appropriate assessments and interventions. I am confident that, if fully implemented, the recommendations of the expert group will start to address this issue to ensure our children and young people, families and professionals receive the help and support they need.”

The briefing, titled Leading with compassion: Supervisors’ Briefing, explores what is needed to support the development of compassionate leadership skills in both supervisors and those they directly supervise and work with. The briefing also provides some practical tools to support the development of compassionate leadership skills across organisations.

Alongside the briefing, Dr Hafford-Letchfield also ran a UK webinar hosted by RiPfA to discuss the evidence the briefing was based on.

Conference ‘Regional policy in Scotland after Brexit’ This Conference was organised by the Scottish Government in partnership with the Regional Studies Association (Scottish Branch), the European Policies Research Centre (University of Strathclyde) and the ESRC Centre on Constitutional Change (University of Edinburgh). The Conference took a fresh, evidence-based look at regional and local development in Scotland and the regional policy responses that are required.

The final agenda can be viewed here. The Conference was opened by Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal and ViceChancellor of the University of Strathclyde.

Policy and practice impact

23 Professor John Bachtler, European Policies Research Centre, opened the academic programme by providing an overview of regional inequality in Europe and the contribution of Structural Funds in Scotland between 1975 and 2020. His presentation ‘From cohesion to shared prosperity’ highlighted the lack of institutional stability in Scotland, and the implications of losing European Structural Funds. John discussed the recent trends in regional policy in the UK, namely the impact of the crisis on government interventions and the recent revival of thinking about subnational scales of economic development.

The aim was both to provide drivers with an understanding of trauma, its impact, practical strategies for coping, as well as advice as to when to seek professional help. Nicola and Liza are also in ongoing discussions with a view to looking at developing policies on workplace practices to reduce the likelihood of train drivers going on the develop more severe mental health difficulties following an incident (such as PTSD).

The subsequent Conference programme was structured under four headings: territorial challenges in Scotland and the United Kingdom; UK Government policymaking and shared prosperity in Scotland; the political economy of regional policy in Scotland; and the priorities and instruments of future policy - possibilities and limits.

Trauma Awareness Training in the Railway Industry Someone will attempt to take their life on the UK rail network every 31 hours. Dr Nicola Cogan and Dr Liza Morton from the School of Psychological Sciences and Health organised this event for train drivers in Scotland. The training was an initial pilot funded by Scottish Union Learning. ASLEF had identified a need to raise awareness of the latest evidence base for supporting people following a traumatic incident. Nicola and Liza, who are both HCPC registered practitioner psychologists, developed the training in collaboration and consultation with the railway industry. This included interviews with ‘experts by experience’, that being, railway drivers that have had lived experience of driving a train and experiencing ‘person under the train’. One of the MSc Research Methods in Psychology students, Hilary Harrison-Millan, also gained valuable work experience having helped with preparing for the event and on the day.

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24 Evaluating the contribution of CYCJ The Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice has published findings from an innovative evaluation exercise, which it undertook to better understand and strengthen its contribution to youth justice. The evaluation, conducted with independent evaluator Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin and jointly funded with the Scottish Government, took place from June to December 2019.

During this time, Catherine-Rose worked closely with CYCJ to better understand the Centre’s work. This involved conducting interviews with team members and stakeholders, and joining conversations, meetings and activities to assess the impact that CYCJ is having on those who work across youth justice in Scotland and on young people’s experiences/outcomes. Her resulting findings aim to support CYCJ in its mission to improve youth justice and continue to support Scotland to be the best place in the world for children to grow up.

Catherine-Rose’s work was shared at a CYCJ led event on February 6, alongside CYCJ director Claire Lightowler’s ‘Rights Respecting? Scotland’s approach to children in conflict with the law’ report, which was launched at the University of Strathclyde’s Kilbrandon Lecture.

Claire Lightowler and Fiona Dyer, CYCJ’s Director and Deputy Director, commented: “CYCJ has been in existence for the past six years and we were coming to the end of our organisational strategy, as well as Scotland’s national strategy for children and young people involved in offending. The time felt right to reflect on both where we go next as a youth justice sector and as an organization” CYCJ will now take this work forward by sharing findings with stakeholders and embedding the recommendations across its work plan going forward.

‘The Brokerage’- New Network of Knowledge Brokers launched by SPRE A new network of knowledge brokers at all of Scotland’s HEIs is being launched by the Scottish Policy and Research Exchange (SPRE), spanning all disciplines and subject areas, to help SPRE find the right expertise to inform policy in a more timely manner. Please consider joining.

Brokers might be active researchers or academic staff with oversight of research or KEI, or they might be knowledge exchange, public engagement, communications or public affairs professionals - or hold any number of other roles. What defines them is that they will have an overview of the research going on in their area and an interest in policy engagement. The service is simply called ‘The Brokerage’, it is free and open to anyone working in Scottish higher education and research.

Members of the network will receive: •

•

A weekly update of all new inquiries launched by the Scottish, UK, Welsh and Northern Irish legislatures and governments.

Urgent requests for expertise relating to policy in Scotland and notification of other opportunities for researchers to engage with policymakers.

Any knowledge brokers at Strathclyde or in your other networks are welcome to sign up: https://mailchi.mp/ spre.scot/thebrokerage

Policy and practice impact

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PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND MEDIA EVENTS English academic Andrew Meehan releases novel The publication of this essay came in advance of Andrew’s forthcoming appearance at the Aye Write Festival, where Andrew was due to read from and discuss the novel. However, due to the Covid-19, this event was cancelled for 2020.

Further to this, Andrew was interviewed again by The Herald Magazine in April 2020 to discuss the books and poetry that shaped him.

English and Creative Writing academic Andrew Meehan appeared on BBC Radio Scotland’s Afternoon Show to discuss the publication of his latest novel, The Mystery of Love, a witty re-imagining of the relationship between Oscar and Constance Wilde. The book was released on February 6th and has already been receiving some very impressive newspaper reviews.

The Mystery of Love, Andrew’s second novel, is a fictional account of the marriage of Oscar and Constance Wilde and was published by Head of Zeus Books.

In their review of the novel, The Independent wrote: “It would take an audacious writer not just to put words into the mouth of Ireland’s best-known wit, but also to reimagine the relationship between Oscar Wilde and his wife Constance. Andrew Meehan has already proved himself a brilliantly inventive writer with his 2017 debut, One Star Awake. [...] The story of Oscar and Constance has long been compelling: under Meehan’s astute eye, even more so. Yet even if The Mystery of Love wasn’t written about these two enchanting figures, it’s a wonderful read in its own right.”

The Herald magazine featured an essay from Strathclyde Creative Writing academic Andrew Meehan in their most recent edition on Saturday March 7th. In the essay, Andrew shared the emotional story that informed the writing of his new novel, The Mystery of Love.

BBC Horizon – The Great British Intelligence Test Have you ever wondered how intelligent you are, and whether it’s possible to boost your brain power? In February, Dr Louise Nicholls, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, was interviewed as part of an special episode of BBC Horizon, the BBC’s flagship science programme.

The BBC has asked the nation to complete a series of online tests, looking at how well we can process and remember different types of information, such as words and visual patterns. After completing the tests, which takes around 30 minutes, participants receive an overview of their performance, and how it stacks up relative to everyone else who took part.

In the programme, Louise explains working memory, which is our ability to process and temporarily retain information moment-tomoment, and crucial in everyday life. She describes spatial working memory in detail, the ability to take in and remember spatial locations and relationships. This ability is involved in a variety of daily activities, such as driving, or planning the best route to walk to a particular location, for example. Participants in the studio played a location memory game, which taps into this ability. They were shown a series of spatial locations, one after the other, and then asked to move around the locations in the same sequence. This is a task that always proves challenging!

The programme also addresses different mental training or lifestyle factors that can possibly benefit our brain power, such as the potential impacts of video gaming. Some evidence exists to suggest that video gaming can hone spatial working memory

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26 skills. However, there’s a lot still to learn on this topic, such as the precise source of any gaming benefits, and the optimal time spent on gaming so as not to deprive other skills and abilities. The programme considers a range of other interesting factors that can also influence intelligence test performance, including personality and age. It should make for an interesting watch!

economic support directly to people who have been most affected by the crisis. Watch Matt’s Faculty lecture on UBI or read his blog in the Conversation on how UBI could improve mental health.

To take the test, and for further information about the programme which aired on 4th May, please visit the programme website.

Glasgow Skeptics/Strathclyde Psychology Public Engagement Talk – Matt Dillahunty On 16th of December 2019, Glasgow Skeptics, in partnership with Strathclyde Psychology (Dr. David Robertson), hosted Matt Dillahunty for a public engagement talk on rational thinking, scepticism and some magic thrown in for good measure. It was a sell-out event with nearly 300 members of the general public in attendance. Matt regularly shares a stage with figures such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, and he gave an entertaining and thought provoking talk. It is hoped that the partnership with Glasgow Skeptics and Strathclyde can now be developed further.

Academics in the news discussing Covid Several colleagues were in the news, discussing the implications of the current lockdown situation for mental health, relationships and well-being for people and current policy decisions. Here’s a selection: •

•

• •

Dr Megan Crawford, Psychological Sciences & Health, discussed on BBC Women’s Hour (minute 00:35 ff) if people are dreaming more during lockdown Dr Nicola Cogan, Psychological Sciences & Health, was cited in an article about the impact of lockdown on our relationships, in the National Prof Matt Smith, Humanities, wrote a blog for the Conversation on how UBI could improve mental health.

Prof Kat Smith, Social Work & Social Policy, appeared on BBC Debate Night discussing Scottish Government’s current approach to lockdown

Universal basic income and mental health Since 2019, Matt Smith has given a series of public and invited lectures about universal basic income (UBI) and mental health. These have included two lectures for the mental health charity Mind’s leadership retreat, one for the Royal College of Psychiatrists of Scotland’s 25th anniversary conference, one for the University of Aberdeen’s Psychology Society and an inaugural lecture at TIC, which attracted over 450 registrants. Reflecting on insights from post-war social psychiatric research in North America, Smith argues that UBI could help prevent mental illness by reducing poverty, alleviating inequality and promoting social cohesion. Since the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, Smith has been actively promoting the potential benefits of UBI in providing

Public engagement and media events

27

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT ‘Lockdown days’ I’ve wanted to write about the lockdown since… well, since the lockdown began. (How long ago is it? Three weeks? Three years?

Three minutes?) But since it all began, my wife and I have been doing our respective jobs full-time from home – hunched over improvised work stations at either end of a not very large flat. We accidentally eavesdrop on each other’s online conferences. We print documents and scribble notes for ourselves and leave them scattered round the place. It feels as if work has spread into every crevice of our dwelling, like an item of home baking that won’t stop rising, even after it has been removed from the oven.

Meanwhile, we have ‘kettle’ rather than ‘water cooler’ chats in the kitchen and carefully monitor one another’s relationship with the fridge, to ensure than it remains a flirtation rather than evolving into a full-blown civil partnership. The radio murmurs in the background, kept low enough not to distract us but loud enough to stop the home atmosphere from becoming completely sepulchral. The only loud noises are emitted involuntarily when, having finished a Zoom or Skype call, one or other of us stands up to go to the loo, forgets that they’re still connected to their laptop by the headphones cord and nearly strangles themselves.

Seven pm, or thereabouts, is dinner time. Hurrah! If it’s not too cold, we open the French windows, which give onto a small iron balustrade and a ledge just wide enough for a few pot plants – or ‘the estate’ as I occasionally refer to it. We have three robust honeysuckle on the ledge and sometimes, if there’s a warm spell in summer and the wind is blowing the right way, they fill our east-facing living room with sublime fragrance. But it’s too early for all that, alas. Will we still be confined to quarters when the first blossoms appear?

We agree that the most surprising aspect of the lockdown so far is just how exhausting a normal working day is when you do it from home. Everything seems to take so much more concentration than normal; everything is heightened and intensified. The remote versions of the IT systems we use intermittently struggle, working at the approximate pace of a tortoise laden with heavy shopping. Our aching necks and backs sing a lament for our office work stations and those ‘ergonomic’ chairs we took for granted.

Most mysteriously of all, we both wake every morning with what feels like hangovers, in spite of the fact that neither of us is drinking at the moment and we’re able to sleep in a bit more than normal. I shamelessly suggest that if we have the hangovers anyway, we may

as well indulge in the other half of the equation the night before.

This idea is taken under consideration.

And every couple of days, we go out for Government-sanctioned exercise! We’ve had some great evening walks around Hyndland and Dowanhill. Three-paned bay windows are filled with the letters ‘N’, ‘H’ and ‘S’, accompanied by rainbows scribbled in crayon (and, in one case, beautifully rendered in coloured post-it notes.) Foxes skulk in the distance, but somehow look marginally less furtive than usual. ‘Only able to go out when no-one else is around?’ they seem to say. ‘Welcome to our world.’ (Colleagues report that their pets have started to fix them with a basilisk stare, as if to say, ‘Don’t you have to be somewhere?’)

We take our time when we’re out, savouring the fresh air, but meander and zigzag a lot, to maintain social distance from our fellow pedestrians. Traced on a map, our average route would resemble the itinerary of a drunk snail. The only challenge is to stay out of the invisible slipstream of suspect particles created by the laboured breathing of joggers as they bear down on us out of nowhere. Otherwise, the chance to see some plum blossom, crocuses and daffodils is a real tonic.

Back home, we have the brave new world of streaming TV to entertain us: lots of ‘prestige’ series, which, I’m told, are shot ‘flat’ on digital video then manipulated in post-production to reproduce the lustrous style that expert movie cinematographers once spent hours painstakingly creating for real with lights and filters. Maybe that explains why watching too many of them feels like being forcefed processed meals. Much better, all things considered, to curl up with a good book, glancing up occasionally to watch the pink super moon rising. What’s that? A pink gin too? I thought you’d never ask!

----------------------------------------------------------David Cunningham works in the Graduate School and he originally published this piece in Scottish Review. His short stories have appeared in a variety of magazines and have been broadcast on Radio 4. He has also published a novel for teenage readers- CloudWorld- with Faber & Faber.

The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Spring 2020, Issue No.6 ]

28 It’s OK not to be OK We all have mental health. It’s okay not to be okay.

You are likely to feel quite unsettled by what’s happening.

Routines have changed and there is a lot of uncertainty. You may be very anxious about loved ones who fall into the high-risk category or who are working in very difficult situations in the front line. You may feel you have lost control of your life.

Our day-to-day lives undoubtably have changed. Your feelings are a normal response to these exceptional times. Insomnia, for example, is a normal response. If your anxiety is overwhelming, there are breathing and other exercises you can do.

Grounding 5 things you see around you.

4 things you can touch around you.

3 things you hear.

2 things you can smell.

1 thing you can taste.

Consider how much caffeine you are having Too much caffeine can make you more anxious. Avoiding coffee, tea, energy drinks and fizzy drinks can help reduce your anxiety.

Stick to a regular bedtime and avoid screens just before bed. If your brain keeps you awake, try a body scan. Start at your head and find any tension in your body, e.g. your forehead, your jaws, your shoulders etc. and relax each part, right down to your toes.

Supporting school-aged children Maybe you have been sent a whole folder of work, with additional pieces coming via Glow or Google Classroom. However, transition is huge in children’s lives and this is a major transition. Children’s mental health has worsened since the Coronavirus pandemic. Just take the time to settle and reassure them that you are there for their support.

Let them talk about their feelings. Can they play outside or draw a picture or play a game with you? Do some school work if they are ready. Or focus on life skills. Why not try the See Me emoji jukebox: https://feelsfm.co.uk/?

When we return to ‘normal’, teachers will cover everything. You don’t need to feel guilty or the pressure to cover all the work.

(You may find that the work, e.g. Maths, has changed a bit since you were at school.) If you are looking for resources, the newly launched BBC Bitesize might help: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

Social media use Switch off from social media if you need to. Follow only reputable news sources. For example, Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director, Scottish Government, is a reputable and calming source for updates (@jasonleitch if you’re on Twitter).

Sources of support

Connections During this physical isolation, it is crucial to maintain connections with others. Know your tribe. Listen to each other.

SilverCloud - secure, confidential and immediate access to online CBT https://strathclydestaff.silvercloudhealth.com/signup/

Working from home

Mental health and wellbeing https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/

You’re at home, in a crisis, trying to do your work.

Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org/scotland/samaritans-in-scotland/

Physical and mental health are so closely linked. It’s important to get outside for daily exercise, e.g. walking (at a safe distance from others) (permitted at the time of writing) or inside, e.g.

YouTube videos, even if the dog tries to join in.

Routines are very important. On work days, try to get up at the same time, have your usual shower, get dressed etc. Perhaps your exercise could be done in the time you normally commute.

Take regular breaks from the screen. Stop and take notice, e.g. of signs of spring, listen carefully to the sounds around you. Be in the present and breathe deeply, exhaling for as long as you inhale.

Remember that this is temporary. In the meantime, these may be of help.

See Me https://www.seemescotland.org/about-see-me/ Mental Health Foundation Scotland https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/scotland Scottish Association for Mental Health https://www.samh.org.uk/ Mind For better mental health https://www.mind.org.uk/ Relate (relationship support) www.relate.org.uk How to support someone with a mental health problem: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/supportingsomeone-mental-health-problem

Personal development

29 Families with children Parentline Scotland https://www.children1st.org.uk/help-forfamilies/parentline-scotland BBC Bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize Childline https://www.childline.org.uk Young Minds www.youngminds.org.uk NSPCC www.nspcc.org.uk Women’s Aid www.womensaid.org.uk Refuge (for advice on domestic violence) www.refuge.org.uk

i

Catriona Robb Teaching Fellow in Children’s Mental Health School of Education

HASS IMPACT PRIZE AWARDS 2020 The new HaSS Impact Prize is an annual opportunity to recognise and reward the successes in our Faculty on projects which are making a difference and are achieving outstanding societal impacts. A prize of £100 is awarded to the winners of each category. The application is open to all staff, independent of stage of their career or contract type.

Outstanding Impact for Policy This prize will recognise research that has contributed to the development of public policy at the local, regional or national government level. This could include direct changes in policy, changes to how decision makers view issues, and the development of more effective and efficient practice by professionals or the users of public services.

Entries should be supported by evidence that the research has been taken up and used by policy makers and public service practitioners.

There are four prize categories:

Outstanding Impact for Society This prize will recognise research that has made a contribution benefitting a specific group within the public or society more widely. This could include impacts arising from working with local or community groups, charities or wider society.

Outstanding International Impact This prize will recognise research that has achieved impact at an international level across countries in business, policy or societal issues.

The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Spring 2020, Issue No.6 ]

Early Career Impact This prize will recognise social scientists at the beginning of their academic careers who have achieved or show potential in achieving outstanding impacts in any of the above categories. This includes current PhD students and early career academics in their first three years post-PhD. An application form is now available through RAKET’s Sharepoint site.

Closing deadline: 15th June 2020

Do you have a research story to feature in the next issue?

Submit a ‘New story’ through Sharepoint or email: hass-marketing@strath.ac.uk