Food insecurity in Scotland (2019-21)
Food insecurity has been a growing phenomenon across the UK. In late 2019, the Partnership started exploring the phenomenon with a focus on its gendered aspects. A first output was, in June 2020, a literature review. In 2021, a report was published which analysed how Covid-19 affected food insecurity on four specific groups – the homeless, asylum seeker, young carers, and the disabled.
On Target for 2030? An independent snapshot review of Scotland’s progress against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (2019)
Hartwig Pautz*, Oudai Tozan**, Paul Bradley ***(eds). (*University of the West of Scotland, **Oxfam Scotland, ***Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations)
In 2015, Scotland’s First Minister committed the country to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Four years on, governments everywhere are submitting reviews of their progress towards the seventeen Goals. The UWS-Oxfam Partnership, together with the SDG Network Scotland, has put together a ‘snapshot review’ of how these Goals are achieved in Scotland itself. Over twenty civil society organisations from across Scotland have contributed their views and assessments on what has been achieved and what needs to be done to be ‘on target for 2030’ and how. Find the report here.
Spiritual beliefs and mental health: a study of Muslim women in Glasgow (2016-2019)
Darryl Gunson and Lawrence Nuttal*, Adam Khan***, Ghizala Avan** and Linda Thomas* (*University of the West of Scotland, **AMINA – The Muslim Women’s Resource Centre, ***Social Work Glasgow South)
This project explored the nature of Muslim belief in phenomena such as ‘jinn’ (spiritual beings), spirit possession and black magic, and investigates whether such beliefs can have harmful consequences for the mental health of Muslim women in Glasgow.
The research objectives were to explore what such beliefs consisted of; to document what Muslim women themselves had to say about this; to investigate whether such beliefs might have an adverse impact on Muslim women’s mental health; and to assess the current level of professional understanding of issues surrounding female Muslim mental health and spiritual beliefs.
Findings revolve, inter alia, around the problem of mental illness and stigma; the strong belief amongst research participants that ‘spirit possession’ can cause illness and that appropriate help is not necessarily delivered through medical services; the ‘lack of fit’ between the language of spirit possession and the Western medical approach to mental illness and the adverse consequences of this lack of fit for Muslim women; and the need for a more culturally aware provision of mental health services. Find the report here.
‘Decent Work’ in Scotland (2015-18)
The UWS-Oxfam Partnership conducted, with support from the University of Warwick’s Institute for Employment Research, research on ‘decent work’. The objective of the project was to support and inform advocacy work around the policy objective of ‘decent work’. It did so by recording, documenting and analysing people’s opinions on what constitutes ‘decent work’ and by proposing what could be done to generate ‘more decent work’.
Five reports were published. The main report was ‘Decent Work for Scotland’s low-paid workers: a job to be done’. It was accompanied by a labour market assessment and articles in newspapers, campaign group blogs, magazines and academic outlets. Another four reports looked at what employers think about the concept of ‘decent work’, at the obstacles which people with criminal convictions face when looking for ‘decent work’, at the perceptions of young people of ‘decent work’, and at how ‘decent work’ is seen within Scottish local authorities.
Decent Work for Scotland’s low-paid workers: a job to be done
Decent Work: a job to be done. The full labour market assessment
What Scotland’s Future Workforce Think About ‘Decent Work’
‘Decent Work’: the Employers’ View
Exploring ‘Decent Work’ with People with Criminal Convictions
Decent Work in Scotland: Scotland’s local authorities: still ‘bastions of decent work’?
Austerity and Health (2014-16)
Chik Collins and John Connolly (UWS), Gerry McCartney (NHS), Mhairi Mackenzie (University of Glasgow) and Mick Doyle (Scottish Community Development Centre)
This project explored the impact on public health in two Ayrshire communities (Kilmarnock and Cumnock) of public service retrenchment and austerity policies, both in the 1980s and in the period since 2008. The project is linked to the problematic of the so-called ‘Scottish Effect’ in health – the excess mortality in Scotland as compared to the rest of Britain which is left ‘unexplained’ after accounting for deprivation. This study was conducted with the support of the UWS-Oxfam Partnership and involved researchers at UWS working in collaboration with Gerry McCartney from the Public Health Observatory at NHS Health Scotland, Mhairi MacKenzie from the University of Glasgow and Mick Doyle from the Scottish Community Development Centre.
The research was published early in 2016 by the academic journal Policy & Politics and the relevant article is free to view and download for the month of April 2016 here.
Based on the above, the article and its findings haves featured prominently in The Herald and in Discover Society.
Report says deprivation has driven decades of failure for health promotion campaigns (The Herald, 2 April 2016),
Struck by the story of ex-miner, John (The Herald, 4 April 2016) and
POLICY BRIEFING: How politics and power create poor health – ‘I think they’re trying to kill folk aff’ (Discover Society, 5 April 2016)
Tea in the Pot: A ‘Great Good Place’ in Govan (2014-15)
Maria Feeney and Chik Collins (UWS)
This project examined the role played by one of Oxfam’s Community Partner Organisations in Glasgow – the Tea in the Pot (TITP) Women’s Drop-in Centre and Support Service in Govan. Through a series of focus groups and one-to-one interviews, the project drew extensively on the views of the women who use the services provided by TITP. Employing Ray Oldenburg’s concept of ‘third place’ the research considered the role of TITP in facilitating and fostering social support and (creating) a sense of community for members beyond the home and workplace. Oldenburg identifies the ideal typical third place as an accessible, social space, away from home and workplace that provides a sense of belonging and community for those who frequent it. He regards third places as the ‘anchors’ of community, encouraging social interaction and civic engagement, helping reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness and playing an important role in civil society. He argues that voluntary groups cannot be regarded as third places because they are not open frequently enough and are most often issue-based. This research found, however, that especially in areas of multiple deprivation and in the face of the retrenchment of public services, voluntary organisations are often the only social spaces open to those on fixed and the low incomes. Listening to the women’s own voices, it has become apparent that TITP meets the criteria of a ‘third place’. Through this collaboration, TITP has been supported in the design and production of promotional materials. Click here for the report; click here to find a book chapter, published in 2018, on the project.
A Review of Local Social Co-operative Business Models and their Potential to Reduce Poverty (2013-2014)
Steve Talbot (UWS) and Geoff Whittam (GCU)
Given the size of the co-operative movement and its economic importance, co-operatives are uniquely placed to undertake the difficult and complex task of melding the interests of business with those of the wider community. This project supported Oxfam’s work by exploring the impacts of the co-operative business model in Scotland, and particularly its non-economic impacts such as improving social justice, reducing inequality and addressing poverty. This research contributes to the debate on the relative merits of the co-operative approach by examining a number of different co-operative models and how they appear to interact with their communities. This project led to further research on credit union corporate governance structures and on regulatory change in the financial services industry. The co-operative project was supported by the UWS-Oxfam Partnership and was led by Steve Talbot and Geoff Whittam from UWS. Click here for the report.
Receiving Refugees – What Works and Why? (2012-2014)
Duncan Sim and Kait Laughlin (UWS)
Existing research had indicated that a multi-agency approach adopted in Motherwell over a decade ago seemed to have led to effective joint working, helping refugees with employment, housing and education. This project assessed the legacy of this policy to ‘settle’ refugees in North Lanarkshire, and examined what lessons could be learned. It was conducted with the support of the UWS-Oxfam Partnership, by researchers from UWS and in dialogue with North Lanarkshire Council. Click here for the report.