Politics (Page 498)

Yuganov Konstantin/Shutterstock The question of whether it is ever acceptable to smack a child – hitting them with the flat inside of the hand with the aim of achieving compliance – is still highly controversial. In England, this controversy was recently reignited by the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, who hasContinue Reading

More than any individual failings, failures in child protection services are a systemic problem. Sharomka | Shutterstock The recent cases of seven-year-old Hakeem Hussain, 16-month-old Star Hobson and six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, all of whom died as a result of horrific abuse and neglect, have rightly led to questions as toContinue Reading

Golden_Hind / Shutterstock The government has lifted restrictions on stop and search powers in an effort to combat knife crime. This approach focuses on people who are already carrying weapons. My research, published late last year, can help explain what happens in young people’s lives before they start carrying aContinue Reading

Lebanese voters are signalling a desire for change, with Hezbollah and its allies losing ground across the country in a parliamentary election. Just as the recent election in Northern Ireland brought a boost for the non-sectarian Alliance Party, Lebanon’s election saw significant gains for political representatives untethered to sectarian politics.Continue Reading

shutterstock Inheritance gone wrong is a popular theme in fiction. In the recent German miniseries The Funeral, the one-sided will of the family patriarch unhinges the entire ceremony, and long-held hostilities are aired at the grave. In our research, we tried to understand why families go to court to fightContinue Reading

Shutterstock In all the chaos that characterises the administration of Boris Johnson, it’s sometimes difficult to understand why the prime minister behaves the way he does. Why does he never really apologise or admit mistakes? Most recently, Johnson continues to insist that he did not know he was breaking anyContinue Reading

Nadya Eugene / Shutterstock The word “grooming” has become synonymous with sexual abuse of children. High-profile cases such as the allegations by cyclist Bradley Wiggins have raised public awareness of how grooming can go unnoticed. To stop grooming before it takes place, we have to fully understand what it isContinue Reading

The parents of two-year-old Santina Cawley have spoken of the immense pain and suffering they have endured since their daughter was murdered by Karen Harrington, who was today jailed for life. Father Michael Cawley, in a victim impact statement delivered via a family liaison officer, said that his beloved daughterContinue Reading