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To hear people talk about willpower you would think it was some mystical power that we all have to varying degrees. Those with a lot of will power are able to do difficult things like give up smoking or lose weight, while – or so it would seem – those with a low level of willpower are doomed to continue smoking or continue to be overweight. The reality is not so simple. As human beings we are complex creatures, and part of that complexity is facing conflicting desires. I want to lose weight, but I also want that extra portion of potatoes and a piece of cake to follow it. I can’t have it both ways, so what happens? Well,…

History was made ... as the top human rights body at the United Nations voted to create the world’s first global-level envoy position focused on the human rights of LGBTQ people. In a resolution passed ... a plurality of members of the U.N. Human Rights Council voted to establish the position of independent expert with a groundbreaking mandate to combat violence and discrimination against LGBTQ people around the world. While this resolution is the third passed by the council concerning sexual orientation and gender identity since 2011, it is the first to create such a position and institutionalize this mandate. Click here to read more

Social scientists have long known that women working in numerically male-dominated occupations like physics and firefighting report experiencing workplace stress, but men who work in numerically female-dominated occupations like nursing and child care do not. But why? Is it something about women or something about the workplace? A study by an Indiana University sociologist suggests it's the latter. Click here to read more

It’s been 15 years in the making but the Babayagas’ House, a name taken from Slavic mythology meaning “witch”, has just been inaugurated in Montreuil, on the east side of Paris. It’s a self-managed social housing project devised and run by a community of dynamic female senior citizens who want to keep their independence, but live communally. “To live long is a good thing but to age well is better,” says 85 year old Thérèse Clerc who dreamt up the project back in 1999. “Growing old is not an illness,” says the elegant, feisty Clerc. “We want to change the way people see old age,” and that means “learning to live differently.” Click here to read more

Every day, we change. We move (slowly) toward the person we'll end up being. Not just us, but our organizations. Our political systems. Our culture. Are you more generous than the you of five or ten years ago? More confident? More willing to explore? Have you become more brittle? Selfish? Afraid? ... Click here to read more

The sixth edition of the bestselling textbook Anti-Discriminatory Practice has now been published and the second edition of The Professional Social Worker  Anti-discriminatory Practice The Professional Social Worker Other titles by Neil Thompson are available from here Neil Thompson Amazon author page

Having little or no sense of control is a key factor in stress. People who are under immense pressure will often not get stressed while they have some degree of control over those pressures. At the same time, some people can face fairly modest levels of pressure, but be highly stressed because they have little sense of control over the circumstances they are in. Control, or our sense of control, will often be the difference between being stressed and not. A vicious circle can easily develop in which feeling stressed affects our coping abilities and then we feel that we have less control. Our sense of control goes down and down. Similarly, control is a factor in anxiety. People who…

Public spaces can be overwhelming for an autistic person trying to deal with too much information. Many autistic people and their families give up using shops, restaurants and other high street outlets because they do not find them accessible, and their worlds shrink. These are places other people might expect to visit without a second thought. We found out that: 79% of autistic people feel socially isolated 70% of families living with autism feel socially isolated. The British Retail Consortium represents over 80% of the UK’s high street. We’re asking them to work with their membership, which include some of the country’s biggest retailers, to make the high street autism-friendly. Show your support for a high street accessible to all – sign…

Realistic workloads and ongoing emotional support are essential if social workers are to manage stress and perform their job effectively, according to new research. The study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence -- the ability to identify and manage emotions in oneself and others -- stress, burnout and social work practice. It also assessed whether emotional intelligence training for social workers would reduce their burnout rates over time. Click here to read more

Race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust launch new report on Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) population's attitudes Ethnic minorities in Britain have very different views on immigration and Europe, according to a new report by the Runnymede Trust. The report (called 'This is Still About Us') uses high-sample surveys and focus groups across several areas to explore BME opinion. Click here to read more