Recent
Report of an independent assessment
Two years ago, in the Children's Plan, the DCSF committed itself to commission an independent assessment of the impact of the commercial world on children's wellbeing. That assessment, led by Professor David Buckingham, is now complete. As part of the process SIRC was commissioned to undertake two major reviews: Children and Family Life: Socio-Demographic Changes and The Ecology of Family Life. more
Psychological impact & the lessons of recession
There can be very few people in Britain who are unaware that we have been living in times of recession…It is clear that people — even those unaffected directly — are worried, especially about their future financial security. But are there some positive lessons to be learnt? more
The role and citizen impact of Public Service Broadcasting
As a complement to the extensive work contributed by other players on the rapid advances in technology and consumer behaviour, the work is designed to review and present the available data on broader social trends which may impact on PSB in the future…more
Passion, emotion and the 'beautiful game'
The Football Passions report summarises extensive sociological research across 18 countries in Europe. The objectives of the study were to capture the emotions of being a football fan and to compare the feelings, expressions and behaviour of fans associated with support of their football teams…more.
Media and government duped by slimming industry
The £2bn UK slimming industry has yet again obtained many pages of free advertising from our more gullible newspapers – and despite cynical exploitation of the anxieties of young women about their weight, will not be held to account at Tessa Jowell's summit on eating disorders.
A Slimming Magazine survey generated the sort of headlines the diet industry loves, such as "Being fat makes us miserable and ruins our sex lives" in the Express, followed by uncritical reports which failed to make any mention of the vested interest Slimming Magazine (which also runs a chain of lucrative slimming clubs) might have in hyping the miseries of being overweight and the benefits of slimming.
Meanwhile, Tessa Jowell has invited representatives of the fashion and modelling industries to be scolded at a Downing Street 'summit' about their role in promoting the thin ideal that leads to eating disorders. The slimming industry, which uses the health establishment's own favoured methods of moralising and scare-tactics to promote weight-obsession and dieting, is not implicated in this process and clearly has the tacit support of the government.
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