Like many of my fellow bloggers,
I am intrigued by words and how words are used. I touched upon the relative
importance of words in communicating emotions and attitudes in my blog post
last week. I'm also interested in the etymology of words. Etymologies are not
definitions of particular words, but can provide explanations of what our words
meant and how they might have sounded from as far back as 2000 years ago.
Last week I was looking for the origins
of the word ‘portfolio’ (it was a temporary distraction from actually constructing
my research portfolio) – and the word ‘portfolio’ comes from the Italian
portafogli, as in portare ‘carry’ and foglio ‘leaf’. What I didn’t know until I
searched was that ‘portfolio’ was one of 60 words introduced into the English
language in 1713. Here are a couple of sentences containing some of the others
– Dr T was a self-devoted sparkler of a man, with a horselaugh and a fuzzy
beard. He had built a machinelike clothespress thinking he was creating an
orrery, which although a great piece of work would not be going into his
portfolio!
However, I did come across 2 news
items last week that absolutely sat within my research portfolio. The first of which was
the research published by the Centre for Mental Health. This showed that mental
health problems experienced by the UK workforce had cost employers some £35Bn
last year. This equates to £1300 for every employee in the UK
economy. At any one time 1 in 5 working people will have a mental health
difficulty, but the issues are not straightforward as they might first seem. A
large proportion of the £35Bn cost comes from the reduced productivity caused
by people continuing to go to work when they are mentally unwell. Such behaviour costs businesses’ twice as much as paying for sickness absence arising
from mental health problems.
Sadly some people will never get any
help and some will lose their job because of mental health problems. For
others, being at work can be an important part of their recovery journey. The
good news is that many organisations are now taking the mental health and
wellbeing of their employees seriously. In my University, we have long had in
place support for our students who may be experiencing mental health problems,
and over time have extended this focus to staff as well. From my own recent
experience of mental health problems. I know the current approach is on
prevention, promoting a healthy workplace as well as being appropriately
supportive when such measures are not quite enough. However, whilst mental
health issues are increasingly talked about more generally, there is still a
degree of stigma attached to those experiencing a mental health problem. The result
can be some individuals being reluctant to ask for help or speak about their
experiences. The sound of silence can be very damaging.
Shattering the silence really
encapsulates the issues in the 2nd portfolio item to capture my
attention last week. Last Friday was #PurpleFriday, a day to raise awareness of
both Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). Although closely
entwined, there is a difference. CSE involves exploitative situations, contexts
and relationship where young people (or a 3rd person) receives
something (money, alcohol, gifts, affection) as a consequence of them
performing and/or another or others performing in them, sexual activities. CSA
involves forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, whether
or not the child is aware of what is happening. Sexual abuse is not always perpetrated only by males, women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other
children and young people.
The NSPCC recently reported a contemporaneous
(and somewhat disturbing) evidence base of the prevalence of cases of CSE and
CSA in the UK. Although comprehensive, it is an evidence base likely to be
incomplete in terms of capturing and understating the prevalence of the both
issues, because for example, the way in which cases get reported and the hidden
nature of the abuse. Despite this lack of incomplete data, we do know that
number of recorded sexual offences against under 16 years olds in 2015/16 was
37,778, a figure that has doubled over the last 10 years. It is not just sexual
abuse or exploitation that should concern us. The impact on a child of
emotional abuse or neglect is also likely to be significant.
In the UK, there has been a rise
of the number of children being on a child protection plan or register for
emotional abuse, a rise from 23% in 2006 to 35% in 2016. As devastating as
these statistics are, the increased number of children on such plans and
register’s might also reflect an increased awareness of the importance of ‘breaking
the silence’ and reporting concerns to professionals. The NSPCC report provides
evidence that the wider public have a growing understanding of the ways in
which abuse can be prevented. Their research showed that 56% of those asked
believed that abuse and neglect could be prevented. The belief that abuse can
be prevented is likely to be the critical first step to all of us taking action
and saving a child from experiencing and living with abuse in any of its forms.
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