Narratives of the Past and Present: Young Refugees' Construction of a Family Identity in Exile

Little attention has been given to the ‘refugee experience’of children who follow their parents in escaping violence. Thisstudy examines how the experiences of violence become importantevents in the lives of a group of young refugees who were bornin the Middle East, but escaped with their parents to Denmarkten years ago. On the basis of a narrative analysis the studyshows that the adolescents' experience of being a refugee isgreatly influenced by the stories of the past narrated aboutthe family, and the internal relations and conflicts withinthe families. Adolescent refugees who have grown up with violencein their family relations experience greater difficulties increating new homes in exile than adolescents whose memoriesof violence are connected with a narrative of the historicalpersecution and suffering of their family and people.     

Health and social care staff responses to working with people with a learning disability who display sexual offending type behaviours

Abstract

This study found that 59% of social care staff were currently supporting a client with a learning disability who had offended or displayed an offending type behaviour. The range of behaviours was similar to that displayed by clients in a secure health facility and included rape, sexual assault and exposure. Only 22.9% of social care staff had received training in this area, while none of the health staff had. Both groups expressed low levels of confidence in supporting this client group. The areas of difficulty were common to both groups and included personal attitudes and attitudes of others to the behaviour, and concerns over risk, responsibility and safety. In respect of attitudes, social care staff were found to be significantly more likely to hold negative attitudes towards the person's behaviour, while health staff were significantly more likely to feel negatively towards the person. Health staff were significantly more likely to identify training as a means of further support, while social care staff identified professional input. Both groups identified the need for theoretical training about working with this client group. Despite this no significant differences were found between those who had and had not received training and confidence, attitudes and the need for further support.     

The persisting challenge of age-for-grade non-compliance in post-free primary education in Kenya

This article examines the prevalence of non-compliance on the age-for-grade policy in the post-free primary education system in Kenya. We utilised data from the 2009 cohort of enrolled primary schoolchildren. The analysis revealed non-compliance to be a persisting concern in the school system, characterised by both under-age and over-age enrolment at the age-for-grade level of analysis in spite of the introduction of free primary education in 2003. Irrespective of the nature of non-compliance, overcrowding in the lower grades is more prevalent, with potential for adverse compromises in quality of learning and the attendant added dimension of the mismatched grade-for-age curricula.     

'Cheese for Thought' for the European Court of First Instance

The name ‘grana’ is not generic and the existenceof the protected designation of origin (PDO) for the ‘GranaPadano’ cheese precludes the registration of the trademark GRANA BIRAGHI for related products.     

COMMUNICATION IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: THE NEED FOR SKILL-BASED EDUCATION

This article notes the tremendous significance of communication skills for public administrators with the authors examining the attention that has been given to teaching these skills in MPA programs. The authors hold that basic communication skills are the essential building blocks on which more advanced skills (i.e., qualitative skills and computer skills) are constructed. This article considers the various skills of communication that are most essential to public administrators and the manner in which courses addressing these skills are handled in MPA curriculum. In concluding the article, the authors offer several options for teaching communication skills to students of the discipline.