Institute for Social Sciences in the 21st Century (ISS21) - Reports
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Item Learning disrupted: Young people with disabilities’ access to and experiences of learning and workplace-based training during COVID-19. Easy-read summary.(University College Cork, 2022-05) Edwards, Claire; Harold, Gill; Irish Research CouncilWe carried out research to find out what it was like for young people with disabilities to learn and do work experience during COVID-19. We wanted to know what some of the positive things were about having to learn from home, but also the difficulties. The research was carried out by researchers at University College Cork, with the National Learning Network. We spoke to four groups of people: Young people with disabilities who go to the National Learning Network; Family members; National Learning Network staff; Employers who give work placements to young people.Item Learning disrupted: Young people with disabilities’ access to and experiences of learning and workplace-based training during COVID-19(University College Cork, 2022-05) Edwards, Claire; Harold, Gill; Irish Research Council; Kelly; National Learning Network CorkIt has been widely acknowledged that people with disabilities have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, having faced significant restrictions in their access to services and supports, with consequences for social networks and participation in society. Opportunities to access training and employment services as a route to inclusion are one area that has been recognised as adversely affected. This study, conducted in partnership with the National Learning Network (NLN), explores some of the impacts and challenges faced by young people with disabilities aged 18-30 (including people with intellectual disabilities (ID), autism and mental health difficulties) attending learning and vocational training during COVID-19. It also investigates how alternative learning pathways and models of work placement might be promoted as we continue to grapple with the long-term effects of the pandemic. The research is based on a small-scale qualitative study of 11 young people with disabilities aged 18-30 participating in a skills and vocational training programme at NLN during the first stage of the pandemic. It also includes interviews with family members and focus groups with NLN staff and employers who provide work placements to young people.Item Addressing masculinities to tackle violence against women in Ireland: Findings from the PositivMasc Study(University College Cork, 2023) Edwards, Claire; Bolton, Robert; Ó Súilleabháin, Fiachra; Leane, Máire; Fennell, Caroline; Irish Research Council; Horizon 2020Despite decades of policy intervention, violence against women (VAW) remains an intractable societal problem with deleterious effects. Concerns are increasingly being raised about the extent to which VAW is being experienced at younger ages. A survey carried out across the European Union found that one in three women in Europe has experienced physical and/or sexual violence since age 15 (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights [FRA], 2014). The same survey found that 26% of the Irish sample had experienced physical and/or sexual violence by any partner and/or non-partner since age 15 (FRA, 2014). It is widely recognised that a key factor in explaining the prevalence and experience of VAW lies in the attitudes and beliefs that young people hold about the acceptability of, or tolerance for, VAW. Understandings of gender norms - that is, the socially constructed ideas that circulate in a society about what is considered appropriate behaviour and roles for men and women - are central in shaping these attitudes. Multiple studies show that men who hold gender inequitable beliefs based around what we might term ‘traditional’ ideas of masculinity are more likely to perpetrate VAW (Flood and Pease, 2009; Salazar et al., 2020). It is therefore vital that we know more about how young people’s constructions of gender and masculinities underpin their understandings and perceptions of VAW, in order to challenge societal attitudes and structures which contribute to the continued tolerance of VAW.Item CareVisions: Re-envisioning a care-centred society in Ireland beyond COVID-19. Short easy-read report.(Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century, University College Cork, 2023-12) Edwards, Claire; Daly, Felicity; Kelleher, Carol; Loughnane , Cliona; O’Riordan, JacquiCare is something that is very important in everyone's lives. It can mean lots of different things. Care can be love and support that we give and receive in close relationships - with family, friends, neighbours and other people in our communities. Care also means services that we might receive to support us in everyday life, for example, healthcare or disability services. Care can also be a type of work. For example, some people work as care workers, looking after and supporting children, or older people. Care can be a hard word because while it should be good, care can be associate with bad experiences. For example, disabled and older people have sometimes experienced violence and abuse from people who were supposed to be caring for them. During COVID-19, there were lots of problems with care. Older people and disabled people were more likely to get sick with and die from COVID-19. Many people did not get good care. People working in care also had to work in hard conditions. The CareVisions research project wanted to see what lessons we could learn about care from COVID-19. We wanted to know about people's experiences of care and to imagine what good care could look like in the future.Item CareVisions: Re-envisioning a care-centred society in Ireland beyond COVID-19(Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21), University College Cork, 2023-12) Edwards, Claire; Daly, Felicity; Kelleher, Carol; Loughnane , Cliona; O’Riordan, JacquiThe COVID-19 pandemic and current social, economic, and environmental crises have brought the significant deficits and inequalities in current care practices and policies in Ireland and globally into sharp focus. The challenges exposed by these crises suggest that there is an urgent need to re-evaluate and re-envision the significance of care relations, policies, and practices in contemporary society (Fine and Tronto, 2020). Despite the ‘carelessness’ witnessed during the pandemic (Chatzidakis et al., 2020), COVID-19 also provided glimpses of alternative ways of care and caring, revealing interdependencies within and between communities and between those giving and receiving care. This report presents findings from a three year (2020-23), interdisciplinary, participatory research project entitled CareVisions, based in the Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21) at University College Cork, which explored care experiences during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic to re-imagine future care relations, practices, and policies in Ireland and internationally. Core to the project is a recognition that we need to rethink how we conceptualise the term care itself. The project aims to advance knowledge about the meaning of care in people’s lives and stimulate critical public debate about how we can envision alternative care futures. CareVisions Aims and Objectives: The key aim of the CareVisions project is to reflect on care experiences during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic to explore and reimagine how we might envision future care relations, practices and policies in Ireland. Its objectives are: To re-imagine and envision future care relations, practices and policies drawing on and developing a feminist ethics of care approach; To explore the social, political, and ethical implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for future care relations, practices, and policies in Ireland; To build a collaborative, interdisciplinary network of scholars, policymakers and community/voluntary organisations committed to advancing knowledge, theory and public policy debate about the ethics and practice of care within and beyond Ireland.