Paul Bellaby

Communication and miscommunication of risk: understanding UK parents' attitudes to combined MMR vaccination

In this article on the public perception of risks Paul Bellaby considers three examples of risks to children in the UK–an insignificant risk (autism caused by MMR vaccine), a real but probably small risk (vCJD from BSE), and a real and demonstrably larger risk (injuries from road crashes) and contrasts the perceptions of the risks by parents Science cannot prove a negative, but, where their children are concerned, parents want to be assured that risk is zero. Would establishing a comprehensive “Richter scale” of risks remove that misunderstanding? If not, then what accounts for miscommunication of risk and how might it be overcome? In this article I try to provide answers by considering public perception of three risks, each of a different order, all involving children: In 1998 Wakefield was the first to make the claim that autism and the MMR vaccine are linked.1 It is based on a dozen clinical cases of gastrointestinal disorders with which developmental regression seemed to be linked. They arose in previously normal children. His team found that eight of the 12 parents attributed the onset to the MMR vaccination. On a population level, diagnoses of autism increased rapidly from 1988, when MMR was introduced, and through the 1990s, not only in Britain but also in North America. Yet epidemiological studies have found no link between increasing numbers of diagnoses of autism and the introduction of MMR vaccine.2 3 The weight of scientific opinion is that the risk is insignificant. By contrast, there is both laboratory and epidemiological evidence for the transmission of BSE from cattle to humans. Consumption …

Risk and the Public Acceptance of New Technologies

Our everyday world is constantly changing. Economic growth, globalisation and the continuous development of technology ensure that in all aspects of our lives — foodstuffs, energy, clothing, transport, health, employment, leisure, etc — established practices and equipment rapidly become obsolete and there are relentless pressures to innovate and ‘modernise’. In the majority of cases, these processes are driven by the capitalist market, as producers seek to shape consumer demand and as entrepreneurs champion new products and services. Part of the in-built dynamic of modern capitalism is that it is a profit-driven ‘growth machine’ characterised by perpetual technological innovation (Saunders, 1995). Such innovation consists of attempts to minimise or avoid technical problems with current machines and systems, and/or to increase cost efficiency, and/or to achieve radical breakthroughs to introduce completely new devices and methods. The shifts from coal to steam power, the availability of electricity, the evolution of motor vehicles and then air transport, the adoption of nuclear energy, the advance of computers and digital telecommunications, and new biotechnology industries are only a few illustrations of the fundamental transformations which have occurred in a relatively short historical period.

Approaches to the risk of riding motorcycles: reflections on the problem of reconciling statistical risk assessment and motorcyclists’ own reasons for riding

The manners in which motorcyclists and road safety experts assess motorcycling diverge widely. Experts view it as an extremely risky venture and imply that only the foolhardy would engage in it. Our own survey research appears to support this view. And yet, motorcyclists disagree with this assessment and construct their own theory of risk. One in which blame is laid at the door of the car culture and accidents something that can be overcome by road skills. The view of the experts concern with their risk taking becomes redefined as the attempted imposition of social regulation. We attempt to show how these different approaches to risk can be theoretically reconciled. We argue that motorcycling accidents need to be seen as real physical events, the understanding of which is socially contested.

The ‘value-action gap’ in public attitudes towards sustainable energy: the case of hydrogen energy

There is now increasing evidence that the public has become much more aware of global warming, climate change and environmental risks. This has been repeatedly demonstrated in a number of official surveys and other research. However, the salience of these issues varies; for some social groups, there are other more significant problems and urgent priorities. It has also been found that while expressing strong beliefs about the negative consequences of global warming, or dependence on fossil fuels, or more positive approval of alternative and renewable energy sources, people do not seem to have translated those opinions into practical actions to limit their energy use in their domestic consumption, lifestyles, or travel patterns, for example. It is this apparent ‘discrepancy’ between stated beliefs (and values) and behaviour, which comprises the so-called ‘value-action gap’. Various writers have observed this in different contexts previously, as will be discussed below. In this chapter, we examine the importance of the value-action gap in relation to hydrogen energy and the emerging hydrogen economy. Qualitative and quantitative data are presented from a series of focus groups and a telephone questionnaire survey of selected samples in seven different areas of England and Wales. The chapter first gives a very brief outline of the nature of hydrogen energy and its potential uses as an innovative technology. Secondly, it reviews selected literature about public attitudes towards environmental and energy issues and the apparent valueaction gap. Findings from our recent research are then discussed. Finally, some general conclusions are offered to account for the ambivalence revealed in this case of hydrogen energy, and the disjunction between people’s awareness of an energy crisis and their reluctance to change behaviour.

Environmental citizenship and public attitudes to hydrogen energy technologies

Some of the principal arguments in the debate about environmental citizenship are examined with reference to the development of hydrogen energy systems. In particular, qualitative evidence is drawn from a study of public attitudes towards hydrogen energy technologies and their perceived risks and benefits. Using data from focus groups in three areas of the UK, it is argued that while there is awareness of the importance of energy issues, opinions about innovation using hydrogen are generally neutral, and there is little indication of the collective and solidaristic values said to characterise environmental citizenship.

Tackling the digital divide: exploring the impact of ICT on managing heart conditions in a deprived area

The Internet is increasingly used to communicate health knowledge and there is growing belief that it can help transform both personal and public health. There is no lack of information on healthy lifestyles, but the manner of communication of risk and the level of support for lifestyle change need improvement, especially among deprived populations. Assisting vulnerable persons to increase their health knowledge could help them to be more responsible for maintaining their health. The Internet offers potential for interactivity by providing a dynamic medium for influencing learning and behaviour change, especially in so far as it enables inter-subjective communication among peers. This paper examines how the Internet might help tackle health inequalities by improving communication of risk and providing support for those who are most susceptible to changing their behaviour. The authors provide a descriptive account of whether facilitated access to the Internet may improve the capacity of older men to manage their heart conditions. Nine men aged 50 to 74 living in multiply deprived areas of Salford were given computers, Internet access and training for six months. Interviews and qualitative data were collected to assess the influence the Internet had on the management of their heart conditions before they were given the computers, after six months and three years after they were introduced to the Internet. The study was exploratory but its results suggest that interactive learning is worthwhile because it can help strengthen social support and influence behaviour change. Home access to the Internet via their own personal computer had a beneficial influence in building confidence and facilitating healthy behaviour change. Although less than half of the participants had ever used the Internet before the study, the majority of them reported using the Internet and email regularly after their involvement in the project.

Stakeholders’ and Publics’ Perceptions of Hydrogen Energy Technologies

Hydrogen energy is not new science but remains a prospective technology. It is relatively unknown to the public. It might substitute for petroleum and natural gas in powering transport and in heating houses, offices, factories and public buildings. How might potential end-users react to its introduction? How do those who already have a stake in developing the technology at local level envisage its future?

The transition to hydrogen‐based energy: combining technology and risk assessments and lay perspectives

Purpose – The paper attempts to highlight and discuss the limitations of the current discourse around the role of hydrogen‐based energy in a more sustainable future.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon preliminary findings from qualitative fieldwork in three case studies. Focus groups were conducted with members of the public in three different areas of the UK where hydrogen projects are being planned and/or developed. Findings are connected to evidence gathered in other similar studies addressing the relationship between publics and new technologies.Findings – In the case of hydrogen energy and its role in a future economy, questions about safety were present but did not dominate the debate. Participants in our focus groups were not only concerned about the technical and economic aspects of hydrogen technologies, but they also wanted to understand what hydrogen as an energy carrier and fuel would mean for them and in their daily lives; whether it would deliver the promise of realising a bet...

Social Inclusion at Different Scales in the Urban Environment: Locating the Community to Empower

As area-based initiatives emphasise community empowerment and social inclusion programmes focus on place, this article compares participation in two ICT programmes in UK cities which sought to empower communities at different scales. Recruitment was better in a neighbourhood-scale project, a scale that enabled access to settings of public familiarity and helping/coping networks. However, the factors that promoted social inclusion during recruitment favour defensive collective action. A city-wide project facilitated transformative social learning by relocalising community more widely as a problem-oriented operational network. The two approaches could be combined, starting at neighbourhood level and then rescaling to reveal different affordances of social networks and stimulate different dimensions of technology appropriation.

Has the UK government lost the battle over MMR

Possibly, but the war can still be won by openness and communication Since the World Health Organization introduced its Expanded Programme on Immunization in 1974, multiple vaccinations—such as for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)—have been used to help eradicate childhood diseases that cause death and disability worldwide. Smallpox has already been eradicated. The United Kingdom has provided DTP since the 1950s and MMR since 1988. Lowered prevalence rates of disease, serological surveys, and treatment specific trials have lent support to this policy.1 2 In short, evidence already exists. Unfortunately not all countries have the infrastructure that is required to put the evidence into practice. This deficiency is greatest in infancy, when the window of opportunity between maternally derived immunity and susceptibility to infection is narrowest and childhood diseases kill and disable most.3 In Ethiopia in 1974, the World Health Organization reached only 12% of its child targets. By contrast, in the United Kingdom in 1998 the …