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Following recent high-profile audit failures, concern has been expressed that auditors are not demonstrating sufficient skepticism when exercising professional judgment. In particular, client assumptions and estimations relating to hypothetical valuations in financial reporting are not being challenged. This paper seeks to address the issue by advancing a decision-making framework aimed at guiding auditors beyond regulatory reductionist thinking towards an enhanced understanding of the cognitive processes which shape professional judgment in forming a reliable audit opinion.

Drawing on the normative philosophical and theological teachings of Bernard Lonergan, the authors' decision-making framework embodies reflective thinking and the data of consciousness to highlight the central role played by enquiry in the dynamics of understanding, judgment and decision-making. Such enquiry elicits challenge of the management bias inherent in hypothetical valuations.

Auditing through a Lonerganian lens allows auditors to reflect on their approach to objective decision-making by offering a set of cognitive tools to enhance the enquiry essential for nurturing professional skepticism.

This paper contributes to the literature by developing the somewhat neglected discourse on the cognitive processes essential for professional skepticism and audit judgment. The authors demonstrate how Lonerganian self-appropriation intensifies an awareness of the recursive cognitive activities pertinent to objective judgment and decision-making. This awakened consciousness has the potential not only to change how auditors question evidence to make informed judgments and decisions, but also to normalize the practice of challenge.

Understanding and preventing prison-based violence remains a challenge for both prison professionals and academic researchers. Alongside the rising tide of prison violence, the contemporary researcher views prison violence as a social problem and something that needs to be understood from an ecological viewpoint before violence prevention strategies can be implemented. The purpose of this study was to present an exploratory investigation into the causes of violence within a Category B UK prison, its impact and the factors that contribute to violence prevention.

Adopting an ethnographic, qualitative methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six prisoners to gather their individual perspectives on prison violence. Interview transcripts were analysed by the researcher using grounded theory analysis.

Results revealed that participants perceived debt as a catalyst for violence and associated a sense of “loss” with emotional violent outbursts. Furthermore, participants placed responsibility on other prisoners and staff to facilitate violence prevention outcomes by making positive changes (prisoners) and being honest, and moral within the workplace (staff). Emphasis was placed on cultural maintenance factors that appeared to promote, reinforce and maintain a violent cultural environment.

Including the prisoner voice in prison violence research is fundamental to understanding the complexity of the problem. Understanding the cultural environment within which violence occurs strengthens the ecological perspective. Violence prevention strategies identified in this research requires change from prisoners, staff and ultimately the wider prison system if it is to succeed in preventing violence.

Results are discussed considering their implications for future policy and practice in the context of violence prevention.

Since the 1970s and 1980s, subsequent waves of so-called ‘new immigration’ have arrived in the United States and Europe. In the United States, this immigration started with the arrival of immigrants and asylum-seekers from Mexico, Central America and Asia. In Europe, the trend began with the influx of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants and continues today with the ongoing refugee crisis. Anti-immigrant politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have adopted exclusionary and often xenophobic rhetoric to further their policies, arguing that these new immigrants and their children cannot assimilate into Western society. A literature review reveals why the classical linear theory of second-generation assimilation is no longer relevant and proposes the contemporary segmented assimilation and comparative integration context theories developed by US and European researchers. A presentation of the findings of two state-of-the-art studies – the CILS project for the United States context and the TIES project for the European context – provides empirical evidence that, despite undeniable obstacles, the new second generation can assimilate into Western education systems and labour markets. Nonetheless, gaps in the existing literature also suggest the need for further research to create a more generalisable theory of second-generation assimilation before appropriate policy measures can be implemented.

Bipolar disorder is associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes, and therefore, it is crucial to research and develop effective interventions for this population (Grande et al., 2016). Unfortunately, research on the efficacy of current interventions shows only small improvements in symptoms and quality of life (Oud et al., 2016). Additionally, individuals with bipolar disorder face barriers to accessing care like social stigma, isolation and financial constraints (Blixen et al., 2016). This paper aims to introduce and examine the effectiveness of an accessible, peer-led group program, Mood Lifters (Votta and Deldin, 2022), in those who completed the program and also self-reported a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Mood Lifters is a 15-week, peer-led group program that approaches mental wellness from a biopsychosocial framework using strategies from a variety of evidence-based treatment methods (e.g. cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, etc.). Participants meet once a week for 1 hour to review various mental health topics, including behavioral changes and insight into mood patterns. Individuals who participated in nonacademic groups in a company setting and self-reported a bipolar diagnosis were surveyed at the beginning and end of their program to measure various aspects of psychological functioning.

Results suggest that these individuals experienced significant improvements in depression, anxiety, social functioning and perceived stress, along with flourishing and positive and negative affect.

These findings are promising, given that bipolar disorder is historically difficult to treat (Grande et al., 2016). Based on this preliminary evidence, the authors have developed a Mood Lifters program specifically for individuals with bipolar disorder and are launching a randomized control clinical trial.

In 2014, the Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland published its Safeguarding National Policy and Procedures (HSE, 2014). Under this policy, all agencies providing services through the social care directorate must ensure a robust culture of safeguarding is in place. Concurrent to this has been a move in social policy, practice and research to include the voice of the service user, both in terms of planning and reviewing services. (e.g. HIQA, 2012; Flanagan, 2020) This article examines whether service users with intellectual disabilities want to be involved in safeguarding plans and, if so, how that can be supported. Using focus groups service users demonstrated their knowledge of safeguarding as a concept, how they felt about the issues raised, and, crucially what they felt they would like to see happen next in addressing a safeguarding incident or concern. The focus groups took place in a large organisation providing residential services, day services, independent living supports and clinical supports. Engaging service users in planning and responding to safeguarding concerns is a fundamental principle of human rights legislation, both nationally and internationally. This study aims to highlight that it is both possible and desirable to engage fully with service users using a range of simple communication tools. For this to be implemented as routine practice in services providing support for people with intellectual disabilities, authentic leadership is required. Services will need to devote time, human resources and will need champions to get on board with the necessary culture shift.

Qualitative research examined peoples’ “lived experiences” and knowledge of safeguarding. Focus groups were used with thematic analysis highlighting common themes throughout, as guided by Braun and Clarke (2006). There were two objectives: Objective 1: measuring participant’s understanding of the safeguarding process. Objective 2: compare the potential differences between safeguarding plans devised by the participants in the focus groups, versus plans devised by trained designated officers responsible for safeguarding within the service.

Four principal themes emerged – 1. participants understanding of safeguarding; 2. restorative justice; 3. consent; and 4. high levels of emotional intelligence and compassion. Participants demonstrated that they could and did want to be involved in safeguarding planning and showed little variation in the plans compared to those completed by trained staff.

The study was completed with a small sample size in a single service in one area. It may not represent the lived experiences and knowledge of safeguarding in other services and indeed other countries. The video may have led to some priming; for instance, the Gardai in the footage being called may have resulted in the participants stating that contacting Gardai should be part of the plan. After the video was shown, there was a heightened awareness of safeguarding. This may indicate that participants are aware of safeguarding but unsure of the terminology or how to discuss it out of context.

For this to be implemented as routine practice in services providing support for people with intellectual disabilities, authentic leadership is required. Services will need to devote time and human resources and will need champions in the safeguarding arena to get on board with the shift in culture required.

While there did not appear to be many barriers to listening to participants, to progress this as a standard practice a very real shift in culture will be needed. It is important for practitioners to ask: Is the vulnerable person aware that this concern has been raised? What is known of the vulnerable person’s wishes in relation to the concern? To truly engage with service users in safeguarding plans these questions need to be more than a “tick box” exercise. This process needs to be fully embedded into a culture that promotes a person-centred, rights-based, inclusive approach as a standard rather than a one-off project. Some structural changes will be needed regarding the time given to designated officers, and what resources they can access (such as speech and language therapy). However, the real difference will be made by services operating authentic leadership that champions engagement on this scale, to fully answer the question posed by the researchers at the beginning of this report, “Whose safeguarding is it anyway?”

There appears to be little evidence of service user engagement in terms of planning and processing safeguarding responses, either in research or anecdotally.

This paper aims to describe the development, implementation and evolution of a multi-media educational tool to improve health profession students’ knowledge and awareness of stigma and ageism on the treatment of older adults with substance use disorder (SUD). In addition, this paper outlines the relationship between mental health and SUD and the impact of health provider stigmatization of older adults with behavioral health needs and the relationship between SUD and mental illness.

A literature review was conducted and initial project outlines was developed. Ten interviews were completed with content experts. The draft video was reviewed and minor revisions were incorporated. The facilitator guide accompanying the video was developed. A draft of the facilitator guide was shared with several interprofessional university faculty and the older adults with SUD. The video was presented to groups of health professions students, and following each video viewing, discussion content was used to provide additional edits.

The educational resources created for this project are appropriate for health professions curriculums related to older adults. Interprofessional health professions students are developing a basic foundation of knowledge on SUD through their standard coursework. More compassionate vocabulary is slowly being incorporated into health provider. Knowledge related to treatments and resources to treat SUD is lacking. In addition, health professions students need more education focused on assessment and interventions for individuals suspected of problematic substance use.

This paper fulfills an identified need to facilitate discussion and education around SUD for health professions students.

In this article, we offer a contribution to the ongoing study of food by advancing a conceptual framework and interdisciplinary research agenda – what we term “food system resilience”. In recent years, the concept of resilience has been extensively used in a variety of fields, but not always consistently or holistically. Here we aim to theorise systematically resilience as an analytical concept as it applies to food systems research. To do this, we engage with and seek to extend current understandings of resilience across different disciplines. Accordingly, we begin by exploring the different ways in which the concept of resilience is understood and used in current academic and practitioner literatures – both as a general concept and as applied specifically to food systems research. We show that the social-ecological perspective, rooted in an appreciation of the complexity of systems, carries significant analytical potential. We first underline what we mean by the food system and relate our understanding of this term to those commonly found in the extant food studies literature. We then apply our conception to the specific case of the UK. Here we distinguish between four subsystems at which our “resilient food systems” can be applied. These are, namely, the agro-food system; the value chain; the retail-consumption nexus; and the governance and regulatory framework. On the basis of this conceptualisation we provide an interdisciplinary research agenda, using the case of the UK to illustrate the sorts of research questions and innovative methodologies that our food systems resilience approach is designed to promote.

This study aims to analyse the self-perception of future secondary school teachers (FTs) of biology about their education for sustainable development (ESD) competencies and evaluate the competence profile they develop in their educational proposals.

A mixed methodological approach was used to analyse 162 FTs’ ESD action competencies as proposed by UNECE. Firstly, a six-point Likert-type scale questionnaire is used to explore their self-perception of the level of acquisition of these competencies. Then, a rubric is applied to analyse the competence profile when designing educational proposals to address socio-environmental issues related to consumption and waste generation. Besides descriptive analysis, inferential statistics were used to assess the significance of the differences detected between the competencies.

FTs self-perceive a partial acquisition of ESD action competencies, in line with their competence profile. Where they recognise and show significant difficulties is in assessing learning outcomes in terms of changes and achievements. Similarly, their best perception and competence profile is achieved in the approach to contextualised situations in the students’ lives. There are also some discrepancies between their perception and their profile. In particular, FTs regard themselves as very competent in considering different dimensions and perspectives of the issues, but this is precisely where they reveal a lower competence profile.

This study applies a fully replicable rubric for the assessment of teachers’ ESD competencies when designing proposals to address socio-environmental issues. This assessment allows one to approach the sustainability competencies that they will promote in their classrooms.

Senior travelers are an attractive market segment and increasingly participate in an internet-mediated society. This chapter examines the profile of senior tourists who booked their trip to the Azores using online travel agencies. The purpose is to analyze their motivation factors based on the travel motivation scale for senior tourists, using 17 items related to the motivations for visiting the destination, and to ascertain whether there are different groups of senior tourists based on sociodemographic characteristics, travel motivations, and experiences performed. Using a structured questionnaire and a sample of senior tourists, three distinct clusters are obtained.