Ian Gibbs

Bullying, sexual harassment and happiness in residential children's homes

Much is now known about bullying and, to some extent, sexual harassment in settings such as schools. In residential childrens homes, however, the two remain disturbing features of institutional life. This is a particular cause for concern as many of the residents in these homes, given their troubled backgrounds, are at greater risk of becoming victims of perpetrators. This article looks at the incidence and effects of these related maladies within the context of a wider study involving 223 children in 48 residential homes in five local authorities. The study found that fellow residents, rather than staff, were the main sources of physical and sexual abuse. Both bullying and harassment (actual and attempted) were strongly associated with the widespread misery reported by many residents. Copyright

‘A Life More Ordinary’: What Children Want from Foster Placements

Based on findings from their recent study, Ian Sinclair, Kate Wilson and Ian Gibbs discuss the criteria which foster care needs to meet if it is to fulfill the requirements of looked after children. Analysis of 150 postal questionnaires from foster children showed five main preoccupations: the care they received from their foster families; the relationship between their feelings for their foster and their birth families; their contact with and prospects of return to their birth families; the predictability of their care careers and their own say in them; and the ‘ordinariness’ or lack of it of their lives. Despite these common preoccupations, the children varied widely in what they wanted (eg whether they wanted to return home).

Kinship and Stranger Foster Carers: How do they Compare?:

US research suggests that kinship foster carers are a valued resource but less well supported than carers who are strangers. Jennifer Sykes, Ian Sinclair, Ian Gibbs and Kate Wilson draw on data from their own large-scale study of foster carers to see if similar issues arise in England. The study suggests that kinship carers are a heterogeneous group. Some want to be treated as carers entitled to similar levels of financial reward, and in need of training. Others may see support from social services as ‘intrusive’ and regard themselves as qualified by experience to care as they do. On average fostering appeared to have a greater impact on the financial and housing situations of these carers than it did on those of others, and many of them reported conflicts with the birth families. Despite these difficulties they received on average less training, lower levels of financial reward and less back-up than other carers. The authors conclude that, in at least some authorities, more use could be made of kinship foster care but that it is not always an appropriate choice and more thought should be given to its support.

Housing Benefit and Income Redistribution

This paper examines the effect of Housing Benefit on income distribution on the basis of data contained in the 1988 Family Expenditure Survey. Household income has been adjusted by means of equivalence scales so that like is compared with like. The results indicate that, though Housing Benefit makes a relatively small impact overall, it has a significant role in reducing income inequality among renters.

Measuring the turbulence of English Children's Homes

Abstract A study of 48 English Childrens Homes found wide variations in the way they were perceived by their residents and staff and in the degree to which their residents ran away or got into trouble with the police. Multivariate analysis suggested that the differences in behaviour between homes were not fully explained by intake and provided a measure of the degree to which the residents in a home were behaving in a more delinquent way than might be expected. This measure was associated with the way staff and residents perceived the home and both perceptions and behaviour were included in an overall measure of the homes ‘turbulence’. The article describes the way this measure was developed and some of its properties.

Residential Care for Elderly People: The Correlates of Quality

Given the vulnerability of elderly people living in long-term hospitals and in other forms of institutional provision, it is essential that the quality of their care is as high as possible. This observation, moreover, has widespread relevance irrespective of variations in the structure of health and social care provision in different countries. In pursuit of this objective the newly established ‘arms length’ inspection units in Britain will be responsible for setting and also safeguarding standards in homes. The article, based on research commissioned by the Social Services Inspectorate, uses a global measure of quality derived from the inspection of residential care homes, examines the correlates of this measure in a sample of local authority and independent homes in Britain and discusses the implications of the findings for policy and further research.

Approaches to Teaching in Colleges of Higher Education.

Abstract The article outlines, and then discusses the implications of, student reaction to different approaches to teaching and instruction in former colleges of education. The research, commissioned by the Combined Colleges Research Group, presents a series of snapshots clustered around subject groupings, courses and teaching techniques. With increasing pressure on staff student ratios, higher education, and the colleges in particular, have been forced to place greater emphasis on lecture based teaching. For the former colleges of education this is especially unfortunate at a time when so many of their BEd and BA graduates wilt teach in schools and would benefit from good models. In addition, there is an urgent need for the colleges to offer their students new approaches to learning as part of the attempt to develop a more distinctive profile.

The Emergence of the Colleges of Higher Education.

Summary In March 1976, when the above study began, the colleges of education in Britain were awaiting details of the planned reduction in the number of students they could accept for teacher training. The three colleges in this study were amongst the first to implement plans which offered a greater diversity of courses and programmes of study. However, what sort of student and how many of them would enrol on such diversified programmes was a matter for speculation. The sharing of some courses between the different degree programmes was not only untried in this country but the attractiveness of such an arrangement to students was unknown. Whether the colleges, with their roots in teacher training, would attract students different from the traditional intake was a further source of uncertainty. This paper provides an outline of the historical background, the constraints upon diversfication and the changes which took place in college organization. An account is also given of those aspects of the study which ...

Income, Capital and the Cost of Care in Old Age

According to ‘conventional wisdom’ older people are now relatively well off and, as a result, many are in a position to pay for their own care and housing needs in old age. In reviewing the evidence for this latter proposition the article provides a brief overview for the UK population and the implications of an ageing society for the care services. A summary of the main sources of income available to older people is undertaken, including home ownership and ways of releasing equity which might be employed to generate extra income. On the basis that it is also important to match information about financial resources available to older people to the cost of different services, the article reviews the likely costs of residential and nursing home care and the little that is known about the costs of domiciliary services. In short, the article presents a summary of the relevant background information and examines the issue of whether elderly people could (but not necessarily ‘should’) finance their housing and care needs in old age.

Private nursing homes: Providing good value?

The well‐documented expansion in the supply of residential and nursing home care over the past decade has been fuelled by public funds. About half of the patients receiving care in private homes are receiving income support towards their fees. There is now growing concern that the substantial amounts involved should represent value for money.