Andy Phippen

Posing fundamental questions around the worth of knowledge creation and the social value of in-depth research, this volume offers a novel approach by exploring why impact is important in academic research, rather than explaining how it should be conducted. Using qualitative data to unpack what research impact really constitutes, this book foregrounds the practicalities of achieving impactful, high-quality academic research, and argues for the importance of best practice in instilling public and reputational value of research for wider societal gain. Chapters unpack the concept of impact, and discuss how it can be made more tangible and realisable, particularly in the context of theoretical or pure research where research outcomes are often obscure. Calling for greater clarity in how to articulate the value of impact within research strategies, the book will ultimately argue for the central role of impact in core research processes and support the development of career researchers in their practical roles and identity formation. The book will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students involved with research methods, research policy, and higher education more broadly. Despite the predominantly UK-based context of the research, the volume will have resonance in countries where knowledge economy concepts have impacted on higher education policy and practice, and so research managers and higher education policy advisors may also find the book of interest.

This book explores the online behavior and safeguarding of children with special education needs (SEN) in the digital world. Founded in research which evidences key stakeholder perspectives, this book informs and guides stakeholders towards sensibly balancing risk and opportunities online with an understanding that SEN children may face some unique challenges that can place them at greater risk. To develop a child-centered approach, the authors employ an ecosystems theory approach which considers child development as a system of interrelated relationships affected by multiple levels of surrounding environment, drawing upon Bronfenbrenner's seminal work and positioning the research within the field of education.

This book evidences the cyclical failures of online safety policy and challenge conventional policy and educational approaches to tackling online harms, and provide a robust argument for a critical, evidence-based approaches which align with the needs of those we claim to wish to protect. It argues for a move away from knee jerk, headline grabbing and subjective policy development. In drawing parallels from the drug policy world, contrasting the increasingly progressive and evidence based policy making in this space compared to prejudiced, emotive developments in online harms.

Posing fundamental questions around the worth of knowledge creation and the social value of in-depth research, this volume offers a novel approach by exploring why impact is important in academic research, rather than explaining how it should be conducted. Using qualitative data to unpack what research impact really constitutes, this book foregrounds the practicalities of achieving impactful, high-quality academic research, and argues for the importance of best practice in instilling public and reputational value of research for wider societal gain. Chapters unpack the concept of impact, and discuss how it can be made more tangible and realisable, particularly in the context of theoretical or pure research where research outcomes are often obscure. Calling for greater clarity in how to articulate the value of impact within research strategies, the book will ultimately argue for the central role of impact in core research processes and support the development of career researchers in their practical roles and identity formation. The book will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students involved with research methods, research policy, and higher education more broadly. Despite the predominantly UK-based context of the research, the volume will have resonance in countries where knowledge economy concepts have impacted on higher education policy and practice, and so research managers and higher education policy advisors may also find the book of interest.

This book explores the policing response to teen sexting – the digital exchange, both consensual and non-consensual, of intimate images among youth peers. With a particular focus in England and Wales, it also considers other international responses and the challenges faced in policing youth practices with legislation being applied beyond its intended scope. It uses the police responses in England and Wales as a case study of the challenges of policy evolving the digital cultural phenomenon and the tensions between enforcing the law, while knowing it’s not fit for purpose, and supporting vulnerable minors. It explores the policy responses that have developed from the problematic legislation and whether these policy interventions have helped or hindered the policing process. It draws in parallels with drugs policy and policing, and brings in progressive, harm reduction approaches in contrast to traditional solutions.

This book considers the rapidly evolving, both legally and socially, nature of image-based abuse, for both minors and adults. Drawing mainly from UK data, legislation and case studies, it presents a thesis that the law is, at best, struggling to keep up with some fundamental issues around image based abuse, such as the sexual nature of the crimes and the long term impact on victims, and at worst, in the case of supporting minors, not fit for purpose. It shows, through empirical and legislative analysis, that the dearth of education around this topic, coupled with cultural norms, creates a victim blaming culture that extends into adulthood. It proposes both legislative developments and need for wider stakeholder engagement to understand and support victims, and the impact the non-consensual sharing of intimate images can have on their long-term mental health and life in general. The book is of interest to scholar of law, criminology, sociology, police and socio-technical studies, and is also to those who practice law, law enforcement or wider social care role in both child and adult safeguarding.

This much-needed volume fills an overlooked gap in adult safeguarding – the digital arena – in providing a comprehensive overview of policy and practice in supporting vulnerable adults online. Providing an essential analysis illustrated by recent court rulings and case studies, the authors advocate for the effective support of adults with learning disabilities and/or mental capacity issues in their digital lives without compromising their privacy and participation rights. The text balances a theoretical exploration of the tensions between participation and protection, legislation, human rights, professional biases and social wrongs. It encourages a critical approach in adopting both a practical and realistic understanding for policy makers, professionals and students in social work, law and adult social care.

This much-needed volume fills an overlooked gap in adult safeguarding – the digital arena – in providing a comprehensive overview of policy and practice in supporting vulnerable adults online. Providing an essential analysis illustrated by recent court rulings and case studies, the authors advocate for the effective support of adults with learning disabilities and/or mental capacity issues in their digital lives without compromising their privacy and participation rights. The text balances a theoretical exploration of the tensions between participation and protection, legislation, human rights, professional biases and social wrongs. It encourages a critical approach in adopting both a practical and realistic understanding for policy makers, professionals and students in social work, law and adult social care.

This book explores, through a children’s rights-based perspective, the emergence of a safeguarding dystopia in child online protection that has emerged from a tension between an over-reliance in technical solutions and a lack of understanding around code and algorithm capabilities. The text argues that a safeguarding dystopia results in docile children, rather than safe ones, and that we should stop seeing technology as the sole solution to online safeguarding. The reader will, through reading this book, gain a deeper understanding of the current policy arena in online safeguarding, what causes children to beocme upset online, and the doomed nature of safeguarding solutions. The book also features a detailed analysis of issues surrounding content filtering, access monitoring, surveillance, image recognition, and tracking. This book is aimed at legal practitioners, law students, and those interested in child safeguarding and technology.

This book explores online resilience and safety from a new perspective, by drawing extensively upon the youth voice. While “online safety” as a concept has now existed for well over ten years, the majority of policy and narrative is driven by preventative and adultist views of ensuring safety from harm. Underpinned by extensive empirical work, this book argues that safety, or freedom from harm, is not an achievable goal and we should refocus upon harm reduction and risk mitigation. Fundamental to this argument is that the youth voice clearly states that they will not disclose, or ask adults for support, because they do not believe they will get help or worse, will be punished as a result of disclosure. The research shows that professionals often bring their own digital value biases into safeguarding decisions, and feel that they should be white knights to young people, rather than listening to them and supporting them in a non-judgemental way. The book will be of great value to researchers and students as well as practitioners, teachers and parents interested in digital resilience and safeguarding, internet security and youth online behaviour and wellbeing.

The digital world is a place where even the most informed parents and teachers can feel one pace behind children. Bombarded with scare stories about the risks of everyday Internet interactions for young people, those caring for them are frequently left to navigate online minefields more or less on their own. This book is here to help. Two leading experts on digital childhoods, Dr Sandra Leaton Gray and Professor Andy Phippen, explore the realities of growing up online in the 21st century. They provide an informative and accessible guide to the issues young people face today, based on the latest research and scholarship. They also expose the many ways the child safeguarding industry means well, but often gets things very wrong. The authors explain the latest research on topics such as biometrics, encryption, cyphertext and sexting, and analyse their relevance to the next generation. They raise a number of key questions about the contemporary lives of young people, including their relationship with digital technologies such as games, social media, surveillance and tracking devices. They also challenge conventional thinking on these issues. Rather than relying on technology, they argue we should instead focus on the quality of relationships between children, their peers, their parents and with adults generally. Then we can build a healthy digital future for society as a whole.

This book considers the rapidly evolving, both legally and socially, nature of image-based abuse, for both minors and adults. Drawing mainly from UK data, legislation and case studies, it presents a thesis that the law is, at best, struggling to keep up with some fundamental issues around image based abuse, such as the sexual nature of the crimes and the long term impact on victims, and at worst, in the case of supporting minors, not fit for purpose. It shows, through empirical and legislative analysis, that the dearth of education around this topic, coupled with cultural norms, creates a victim blaming culture that extends into adulthood. It proposes both legislative developments and need for wider stakeholder engagement to understand and support victims, and the impact the non-consensual sharing of intimate images can have on their long-term mental health and life in general. The book is of interest to scholar of law, criminology, sociology, police and socio-technical studies, and is also to those who practice law, law enforcement or wider social care role in both child and adult safeguarding.

This book explores the use of technology in young people’s social lives against a backdrop of “online safety measures” put in place by the UK government to ensure safe and risk free engagement with online services. The UK landscape is used as a case study to compare the grass roots of digital behaviours with attempts by policy makers to control access and prohibit “bad” behaviours. In conducting an analysis of current UK policy positions and media perspectives against ethnographic research in areas such as gaming and sexting, the book highlights the flaws in approaching the control of disruptive social behaviours using prohibitive approaches. It also highlights the gulf between the experiences of young people and the capabilities of the school system to deliver effective education around safe online behaviours. The author illustrates the complex relationship young people have with technology, as active engagers rather than passive consumers, and looks at the ways in which their needs for effective education and resilience are currently not being met. Furthermore, he demonstrates how, in an effort to make them safe, stakeholders are eroding children’s fundamental rights. Children’s Online Behaviour and Safety will be of interest to scholars, practitioners and students researching and practicing in education, sociology, children’s law, children’s digital rights and social policy.

This book explores the growing phenomenon of the social media storm in the context of educational establishments. With a methodological approach that draws on aspects of virtual and offline ethnography, the text presents a series of case studies of public online risk-related incidents. Our ethnographic methodology adopts the use of unobtrusive data collection approaches, to explore publicly available data from online interactive behaviours. Drawing on a range of methods from internet mediated research (IMR) to inform our ethnographic account, the book provides an in-depth exploration of the public and organisational discourses arising from four short, clear high-profile internet risk case studies in the education sector ranging from early year to higher education. It considers the social construction of a new ‘risk’ culture arising computer-mediated social interactions and its impact on, and response by, the organisations and society.

This book explores, through a children’s rights-based perspective, the emergence of a safeguarding dystopia in child online protection that has emerged from a tension between an over-reliance in technical solutions and a lack of understanding around code and algorithm capabilities. The text argues that a safeguarding dystopia results in docile children, rather than safe ones, and that we should stop seeing technology as the sole solution to online safeguarding. The reader will, through reading this book, gain a deeper understanding of the current policy arena in online safeguarding, what causes children to beocme upset online, and the doomed nature of safeguarding solutions. The book also features a detailed analysis of issues surrounding content filtering, access monitoring, surveillance, image recognition, and tracking. This book is aimed at legal practitioners, law students, and those interested in child safeguarding and technology.

Drawing on research conducted over the last 3 years in Cornwall, UK, this new book explores the impact of the EU/BT funded introduction of fibre broadband on rural SMEs. Including a qualitative methodology and in depth focus groups with over 200 companies, The Impact of Fibre Connectivity on SMEs provides a detailed, in depth, analysis to challenge conventionally held beliefs in the value of subsidy and policy pressure in the deployment of such projects. With focus on regional development in the UK as well as exploration of the wider EU context, the book presents a genuine insight into the technology adoption and technology provision.

Drawing on research conducted over the last 3 years in Cornwall, UK, this new book explores the impact of the EU/BT funded introduction of fibre broadband on rural SMEs. Including a qualitative methodology and in depth focus groups with over 200 companies, The Impact of Fibre Connectivity on SMEs provides a detailed, in depth, analysis to challenge conventionally held beliefs in the value of subsidy and policy pressure in the deployment of such projects. With focus on regional development in the UK as well as exploration of the wider EU context, the book presents a genuine insight into the technology adoption and technology provision.

This book explores the use of technology in young people’s social lives against a backdrop of “online safety measures” put in place by the UK government to ensure safe and risk free engagement with online services. The UK landscape is used as a case study to compare the grass roots of digital behaviours with attempts by policy makers to control access and prohibit “bad” behaviours. In conducting an analysis of current UK policy positions and media perspectives against ethnographic research in areas such as gaming and sexting, the book highlights the flaws in approaching the control of disruptive social behaviours using prohibitive approaches. It also highlights the gulf between the experiences of young people and the capabilities of the school system to deliver effective education around safe online behaviours. The author illustrates the complex relationship young people have with technology, as active engagers rather than passive consumers, and looks at the ways in which their needs for effective education and resilience are currently not being met. Furthermore, he demonstrates how, in an effort to make them safe, stakeholders are eroding children’s fundamental rights. Children’s Online Behaviour and Safety will be of interest to scholars, practitioners and students researching and practicing in education, sociology, children’s law, children’s digital rights and social policy.