Researching vulnerable groups has long been a subject of academic work and has been subject to rigorous ethical approvals for conducting face-to-face interviews. With new technologies come new challenges. Groups of people come together on online forums and have anonymous discussions about anything and everything; this often includes the source of their vulnerabilities. In the discussed research, the focus of these community support forums is mental health. It is difficult to shift the focus of researching vulnerable adults away from face-toface to online, particularly as there are no physical cues to give meaning to the language used. The value therefore must be contained in the written word, and there are "unique characteristics" in the data due to this. There is something quite refreshing about focusing on the text rather than body language, and there are many suggestions on how to conduct this type of research. My research focuses on using virtual ethnography of online focus groups, which has been fraught with issues, but has proved a useful learning experience. Learning Outcomes By the end of this case, students should be able to Recognize the limitations within their own research design and be able to defend their use of a particular methodology Critically evaluate the use of virtual ethnography Understand how virtual ethnography can inform the study of qualitative data sets from online environments Project Overview and Context There is an increasing amount of research focusing on online communities, and although there appears to be a plethora of research into support forums for users with health issues, there is a gap in the research market when it comes to specialist community support forums (Salzmann-Erikson and Eriksson, 2012). Online community forums for people with mental health issues are plentiful, and they are also incredibly accessible, particularly if you use open-access forums such as Reddit. Gatekeepers such as forum moderators control most of the closed access sites (where you must sign up and log in using a password each time), and some request that you fill out lengthy forms, proving who you are and what your intentions are, along with a copy of your ethical approval. This is cumbersome; however, once you have gone through this process, the gatekeepers can be very helpful. Extra time should be factored in for this process, and you are generally only able to complete this if ethical approval has already been granted (Witney, Hendricks, & Cope, 2016).

In response to the lack of universal agreement about what works in probation supervision (Trotter, 2013) we undertook a Rapid Evidence Assessment of the empirical literature. Our analysis of research into the effect of probation supervision reducing reoffending included 13 studies, all of which employed robust research designs, originating in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia, published between 2006 and 2016. We describe the papers included in our review, and the metaanalyses of their findings. Overall we found that the likelihood of reoffending was shown to be lower for offenders who had been exposed to some type of supervision. This finding should be interpreted cautiously however, given the heterogeneity of the studies. We suggest future research and methodological considerations to develop the evidence base concerning the effectiveness of probation supervision.

This research project specifically examines the experience of online community support groups as reported by users. The project began out of concern that healthcare providers in the Global North are directing people with mental health problems to online services, without seemingly understanding the impact that this may have on the individuals. The research findings will be of particular interest to mental health practitioners and service providers in the UK and elsewhere in the Global North, and aims to influence decisions made for policies around developing new online mental health services.

Girls from single-parent households in South Africa (90 percent of whom are Black African or coloured) have significantly lower educational outcomes than other demographics. Through a methodology of life-history interviews, we explore the experiences of 30 women in single-headed households who have been successful in their educational endeavours as university students or graduates. Results show that pressures on girls from single-headed households to look after the family and domestic sphere and to protect their bodies from sexual abuse leave many girls depleted of the time, energy, and mental capacity required to study. Despite these challenges, these participants have escaped the perceived weight of their female burden in a post-apartheid, patriarchal society and reclaim their bodies and sense of agency through educational success.

This article considers how minoritisation features in Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) in England and Wales and identifies critical learning in relation to addressing minoritisation. Five themes were identified: i) the invisibility of race, culture and ethnicity; ii) perceptions and experiences of services; iii) use of stereotypes and the culturalisation of domestic violence and abuse (DVA); iv) lack of interpreters; and v) DHR recommendations. Our analysis illustrates that statutory sector services should strengthen their responses to Black and minoritised victims by ensuring proper recording of cultural background is used to inform practice; engage professionally trained interpreters with an awareness of DVA; resist framing DVA as endemic to minoritised cultures; and enhance trust and confidence in public services within minoritised communities. The best examples of DHRs challenged service narratives and usually sought expertise from a specialist Black/minoritised DVA service or community organisation (frequently minoritised women's rights organisations).