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The subject of adoption is an important one affecting numerous children, those who adopt and the society at large. It is important to understand the ways in which adopted children (adoptees) are portrayed in the media as media portrayals may impact public perceptions of adoptees and the willingness to adopt. There is a paucity of research literature on the media portrayal of adoptees and adoption in the UK. The subject has been researched more fully in the US where the findings reveal a negative bias towards adoption. The research literature on adoption highlights the significance of attachment and trauma for adoptees. The aims of this study were to analyse the portrayal of adopted children in the British written media using content analysis. The coding categories were drawn from research literature on the portrayal of adoption in the media and the research literature on attachment theory. A total of 75 news items published between November 2009 and May 2012 were sampled. The content analysis focused on the portrayal of adoptees, the early experiences of adoptees and the effects of these early experiences. Results indicate that adoptees were portrayed sympathetically as having problems, needing support and being vulnerable. Also, there was evidence of positive portrayal of adoptees. In addition, the news items portrayed adoptees as having several negative early experiences, including, abuse, neglect and trauma. The portrayal of the effects of their early experiences identified a range of problems, including, emotional problems and attachment problems. It was concluded that the British news items samples provided a relevant but incomplete coverage of the social reality of adoption and the problems facing adopted children

Purpose – The aims of this study are to examine the influence of offender age, offender abuse history,\ud crime outcome and attributions for crime on judgments about young offenders.\ud Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 240 British undergraduates was asked to respond to a scenario about a young person who committed a crime, recommend a sentence, and rate the young offender’s criminal accountability and legal understandings. Their attributions for crime were measured using the CDS-II, adapted for observer attributions. The age of the young offender (ten years, 14 years,or 17 years), abuse history (abused or not abused) and crime outcome (victim death or injury) were varied systematically.\ud Findings – Internal attributions predicted participants’ beliefs about punishment and sentencing recommendations. Although participants considered the youngest offenders to be less criminally accountable and unlikely to understand the legal process, this did not affect recommended punishment. Attributions of personal control were influenced by abuse history; the behavior of offenders with a history\ud of abuse was considered less within the offender’s personal control.\ud Originality/value – The results demonstrate the types of attributions and information that influence the opinions of jury-eligible British adults when asked to make decisions about serious offences committed by young offenders

This evaluation study concerned the modules of communication skills training in the second, third and fourth years of an undergraduate programme of study in an honours degree course in physiotherapy. Questionnaires were administered to the students to ascertain their attitudes to the training programme. Lecturers in physiotherapy who were not involved in the training programme were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the importance of this communication skills training. The results show a positive attitude towards the skills training, and the important relationship with good clinical practice was emphasized.