Gary Spencer
Biographic Data
| ID | 192887 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gary Spencer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gary |
| FAMILY NAME | Spencer |
| SIGNATURE | SPENCER G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Anglia Ruskin University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6160-7776 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 71 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1973 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Co-authorship With Young People – Coercion or Collaboration? Examining the (Re)production of Power Through Publication
The increasing popularity of co-authorship with young people marks an important commitment towards acknowledging and harnessing young people’s ontologies and epistemologies within research outputs, including academic publications. Yet, the motivations and outcomes of co-authorship are rarely interrogated, including how ongoing negotiations of power shape the analytical and editorial stages of research. Such negotiations frame young people’s oppor…
Young migrants on the move
Qualitative forms of enquiry offer valuable opportunities to generate rich data that deepens our understandings of contemporary social issues, such as migration. Qualitative methods are often championed for enabling the engagement of so-called hard-to-reach or vulnerable groups in research and through using techniques that support the building of research relationships and rapport with participants. However, possibilities for building rapport can…
Rethinking Empowerment
Concepts of empowerment pervade popular discourses on youth and the term is often applied uncritically as a means to leverage young people's perspectives on matters that affect their lives. Despite such focus, little critical work exists that unpacks young people's own meanings of the term, or indeed considers the possible unintended consequences that may emerge from these framings. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with 59 young African mig…
Children and young people's perspectives on disasters – Mental health, agency and vulnerability
Disasters such as flooding, earthquakes and hurricanes can have devastating impacts on children and young people’s lives, with evidence highlighting significant social and mental health consequences lasting many years. Yet other research highlights how children and young people actively contribute to disaster responses, supporting their families and communities to manage and overcome such impacts. Despite this evidence, very little research has b…
Shifting Narratives of the Self - Students' Experiences of Chronicity and Multiplicity in the Management of Chronic Illness at University
Drawing on the chronic illness scholarship and identity theories, this article aims to deepen the understanding of the biographical disruptions experienced by undergraduate students living with a long-term health condition. Data are drawn from in-depth interviews with six undergraduate (female) students attending university in England. The analysis highlights the ways chronicity and multiplicity come together to shape students' health and social …
The mental health support needs of university students with long-term physical health conditions
Purpose Supporting the mental health of university students is a key priority for higher education. Students living with long-term health conditions are at increased risk of poor mental health; yet little work has focused on their particular mental health needs or indeed, the implications for health education in the university setting. This study sought to identify the mental health support needs of students with long-term conditions, including b…
The Health Experiences of Young Internal Migrants in Ghana—Identifying Priorities for Sustainable Health Promotion
The Sustainable Development Goals underscore the importance of migration to the achievement of health, and global migration presents both opportunities and challenges for the development of health promotion. Despite such recognition, very little work has focused on health promotion with young migrants, including how migration shapes opportunities for positive health. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that sought to advance know…
Promoting sustainable diets using eco-labelling and social nudges
This randomised online experiment aimed to investigate how eco-labelling and social nudging influenced sustainable food choice, as well as consider the effect of motivation to act sustainably. Participants were UK adults ≥18 years ( n = 1399). Participants were asked to choose a hypothetical meal (beef, chicken or vegetarian burrito) and were randomly allocated to one of three conditions varying in labelling: eco-labelling; social nudge or contro…
Coronavirus and its effect on Pilgrimage in Iran
The spread of Coronavirus disease in Iran, as an Islamic country, has brought about a large number of problematic issues. Some conflicts have emerged regarding the confrontation between adherence to hygienic measures and the performance of religious ceremonies, especially visit of Imam Reza shrine as the most important religious site in Iran. It seems that these conflicts have not been solved yet and are still at play. This survey study employs a…
Children's perspectives and experiences of the Covid‐19 pandemic and UK public health measures
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound impacts on how we live our lives; yet, the implications for children and the effects on children's everyday lives have been relatively underacknowledged. Understanding children's views on COVID-19 and related restrictions on their lives provides an important opportunity to understand how children have responded to the pandemic, including the impacts on their social and emotional well-being. OBJEC…
Understanding child and youth migrant wellbeing
One of the key social determinants of health that can impact children and young people is migration. Advances in health research have seen a shift away from a biomedical model of health to understanding health as a multifactorial, holistic state - mentally, physically, and socially. The aim of this article is to illustrate how different methods (i.e., adult-centric, child/youth-centered) and frameworks (i.e., biomedical, strengths-based) can impa…
Expectations and Assumptions
Risky play is challenging, exciting play with the possibility of physical, social, or emotional harm. Through risky play, children learn, develop, and experience wellbeing. Children with disabilities have fewer opportunities than their typically developing peers to engage in this beneficial type of play. Our team designed a novel, school-based intervention to address this disparity; however, our intervention yielded unexpected quantitative result…
Parents’ perspectives on managing risk in play for children with developmental disabilities
Parents are often concerned about managing risks for their children, particularly in the context of disability. This paper reports qualitative findings from an intervention study and examines how parents of children with developmental disabilities (mainly autism) manage risks during play. Interviews (n = 17) highlighted parents’ fears about their child’s safety, which were often exacerbated by concerns about the child’s (lack of) cognitive and in…
The agentic Self and uncontrollable body
Young people's experiences of living with a long-term health condition have been largely investigated from the perspective of developing autonomy and optimal self-management of treatment regimens. Little existing research explores how young people adjust to the experience of chronic illness within everyday social contexts. Drawing on sociocultural theories of healthism, in this article, we examine the everyday strategies students employed to mana…
The levels and factors associated with inconsistent condom use among young males with older, same-sex partners in South Africa
Condom use among females with older, male sexual partners is well documented in South Africa. To a far lesser extent, condom use among males with older same-sex partners is known. However, the sexual health of young males is of pivotal importance to social and economic development. The purpose of this study is to determine the association between age of older same-sex partner and the likelihood of condom use among young males in South Africa. In …
Privileges of Power
The widespread privileging of children's voices in recent times has triggered expansion of differing forms of qualitative enquiry that aim to 'give children a voice.' Engaging children in research and eliciting their voices on matters that affect them is often showcased as being a more 'authentic' way to capture children's lived realities and afford their agency. Yet, the uptake of voice in qualitative enquiry, and how it may contribute to the pr…
Sustainable development goals for health promotion
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lay the foundations for supporting global health and international development work for the next 15 years. Thirty years ago, the Ottawa Charter defined health promotion and outlined key principles for global action on health, including the importance of advocating, enabling and mediating for health equity. Advocacy underscores a human right to health and suggests political action to support its attainment.…
Lower parent tolerance of risk in play for children with disability than typically developing children
Becoming an autonomous adult includes understanding consequences associated with risks. The aim of this study was to compare parents of children with and without disability to identify any differences in promoting manageable risk-taking. Data were collected from parents of typically developing children and parents of children with developmental disability. Two groups were matched based on parent and child chronological ages for typically developi…
Uncertainty in the school playground
Recent theoretical debates highlight the competing risk logics and varying rationalities mobilised in response to dangers and approaches to risk management. Yet the concept of uncertainty, and how it informs perceived risks, is relatively less well understood. Debates of this kind are illuminated in contexts where risks are managed as part of everyday practice. The school setting provides an example of a context in which risks are continuously ne…
The Sydney playground project- levelling the playing field
Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registration Number ACTRN12614000549628 (registered 22/5/2014)
What Kind of Trouble? Meeting the Health Needs of ‘Troubled Families’ through Intensive Family Support
The policy rhetoric of the UK Coalition government's ‘Troubled Families’ initiative, and that of New Labour's earlier Respect Agenda, share an emphasis on families’ responsibilities, or rather their irresponsibility, and their financial costs to society. Giving children a chance of a better life coincides, in this framing, with reducing costs for the taxpayer. The research reported here was based on a national study of Family Intervention Project…
Examining concepts of power and agency in research with young people
Concepts of power and agency have become increasingly prominent in the youth studies literatures and related research. A focus of the research to date has been an examination of how a better understanding of young people's lived experiences can reveal possibilities for young people's agency to emerge. Despite increased interest in the term agency, much less has been said about how the concept is defined and recognized in research with young peopl…
Young people and health
In recent times, empowerment has become the focus of much work with young people amidst increasing concerns about their health. Empowerment is often offered as a 'solution' to such concerns, with the uncritical assumption being made that empowerment unproblematically results in positive health outcomes. While much of the health promotion literature advocates 'empowerment', it often does so without offering a clear conceptualisation of the word it…
Examining the Concept of Choice in Sexual Health Interventions for Young People
Concepts of choice are often drawn upon within sexual health promotion discourses to encourage young people to take 'responsibility' for and promote their own sexual health and reproductive control. A systematic literature search using predefined inclusion criteria identified peer-reviewed articles focusing on sexual health interventions for young people. Discourse analysis was used to interrogate how concepts of choice were articulated or inferr…
The ‘healthy self’ and ‘risky’ young Other
Concern about health-related risks dominates modern day public health discourses on young people's health. Based on ‘official’ notions of health, the public health risk-based approach not only downplays the potentially different meanings young people attach to concepts of health, but it also has a tendency to problematise and pathologise young people and their health. Drawing on findings from an ethnographic study with young people aged 15–16 yea…
Methodological Issues in the Study of Bureaucratic Elites
Privileges of Power
The widespread privileging of children's voices in recent times has triggered expansion of differing forms of qualitative enquiry that aim to 'give children a voice.' Engaging children in research and eliciting their voices on matters that affect them is often showcased as being a more 'authentic' way to capture children's lived realities and afford their agency. Yet, the uptake of voice in qualitative enquiry, and how it may contribute to the pr…
Ethical and Epistemological Insights
Debates over how to determine age of consent for youth to participate in research feature prominently in the practice of researchers, research ethics boards (REBs), and community decision makers working with youth. In particular, tensions can arise over how the ethical principles of beneficence, autonomy, and justice are interpreted and applied in research involving young people. We discuss our experiences obtaining ethical approval to conduct a …
What Kind of Trouble? Meeting the Health Needs of ‘Troubled Families’ through Intensive Family Support
The policy rhetoric of the UK Coalition government's ‘Troubled Families’ initiative, and that of New Labour's earlier Respect Agenda, share an emphasis on families’ responsibilities, or rather their irresponsibility, and their financial costs to society. Giving children a chance of a better life coincides, in this framing, with reducing costs for the taxpayer. The research reported here was based on a national study of Family Intervention Project…
Examining concepts of power and agency in research with young people
Concepts of power and agency have become increasingly prominent in the youth studies literatures and related research. A focus of the research to date has been an examination of how a better understanding of young people's lived experiences can reveal possibilities for young people's agency to emerge. Despite increased interest in the term agency, much less has been said about how the concept is defined and recognized in research with young peopl…
The agentic Self and uncontrollable body
Young people's experiences of living with a long-term health condition have been largely investigated from the perspective of developing autonomy and optimal self-management of treatment regimens. Little existing research explores how young people adjust to the experience of chronic illness within everyday social contexts. Drawing on sociocultural theories of healthism, in this article, we examine the everyday strategies students employed to mana…
Young people and health
In recent times, empowerment has become the focus of much work with young people amidst increasing concerns about their health. Empowerment is often offered as a 'solution' to such concerns, with the uncritical assumption being made that empowerment unproblematically results in positive health outcomes. While much of the health promotion literature advocates 'empowerment', it often does so without offering a clear conceptualisation of the word it…
Lower parent tolerance of risk in play for children with disability than typically developing children
Becoming an autonomous adult includes understanding consequences associated with risks. The aim of this study was to compare parents of children with and without disability to identify any differences in promoting manageable risk-taking. Data were collected from parents of typically developing children and parents of children with developmental disability. Two groups were matched based on parent and child chronological ages for typically developi…
Parents’ perspectives on managing risk in play for children with developmental disabilities
Parents are often concerned about managing risks for their children, particularly in the context of disability. This paper reports qualitative findings from an intervention study and examines how parents of children with developmental disabilities (mainly autism) manage risks during play. Interviews (n = 17) highlighted parents’ fears about their child’s safety, which were often exacerbated by concerns about the child’s (lack of) cognitive and in…
Examining the Concept of Choice in Sexual Health Interventions for Young People
Concepts of choice are often drawn upon within sexual health promotion discourses to encourage young people to take 'responsibility' for and promote their own sexual health and reproductive control. A systematic literature search using predefined inclusion criteria identified peer-reviewed articles focusing on sexual health interventions for young people. Discourse analysis was used to interrogate how concepts of choice were articulated or inferr…
Rethinking Empowerment
Concepts of empowerment pervade popular discourses on youth and the term is often applied uncritically as a means to leverage young people's perspectives on matters that affect their lives. Despite such focus, little critical work exists that unpacks young people's own meanings of the term, or indeed considers the possible unintended consequences that may emerge from these framings. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with 59 young African mig…
Shifting Narratives of the Self - Students' Experiences of Chronicity and Multiplicity in the Management of Chronic Illness at University
Drawing on the chronic illness scholarship and identity theories, this article aims to deepen the understanding of the biographical disruptions experienced by undergraduate students living with a long-term health condition. Data are drawn from in-depth interviews with six undergraduate (female) students attending university in England. The analysis highlights the ways chronicity and multiplicity come together to shape students' health and social …
Promoting sustainable diets using eco-labelling and social nudges
This randomised online experiment aimed to investigate how eco-labelling and social nudging influenced sustainable food choice, as well as consider the effect of motivation to act sustainably. Participants were UK adults ≥18 years ( n = 1399). Participants were asked to choose a hypothetical meal (beef, chicken or vegetarian burrito) and were randomly allocated to one of three conditions varying in labelling: eco-labelling; social nudge or contro…
Structure and Dynamics of Social Intervention
Methodological Issues in the Study of Bureaucratic Elites
An analysis of JAP-baiting humor on the college campus
DNA Hybridization
Biomolecular studies can provide an independent test of hominoid phylogeny from anatomical methods. One type of biomolecular approach to hominoid phylogeny will be discussed here, namely DNA hybridization This paper presents the reader with a critical evaluation of the development of biomolecular research in hominoid phylogeny; consequently, both the internal and external problems that plague this research are discussed. The implications of accep…
What does ‘empowerment’ mean in school‐based sex and relationships education
Policy and practice on sex and relationships education (SRE) in England often has the stated objectives of delaying sexual activity, reducing sexually transmitted infections and lowering rates of teenage conception. Underlying these objectives is the desire to support young people in making ‘informed choices’ and developing the skills that will enable them negotiate positive relationships. The concept of informed choice is often linked to the con…
Ethical and Epistemological Insights
Debates over how to determine age of consent for youth to participate in research feature prominently in the practice of researchers, research ethics boards (REBs), and community decision makers working with youth. In particular, tensions can arise over how the ethical principles of beneficence, autonomy, and justice are interpreted and applied in research involving young people. We discuss our experiences obtaining ethical approval to conduct a …
The ‘healthy self’ and ‘risky’ young Other
Concern about health-related risks dominates modern day public health discourses on young people's health. Based on ‘official’ notions of health, the public health risk-based approach not only downplays the potentially different meanings young people attach to concepts of health, but it also has a tendency to problematise and pathologise young people and their health. Drawing on findings from an ethnographic study with young people aged 15–16 yea…
Empowerment, Health Promotion and Young People
Globally, young people’s health is an increasing priority area for health practitioners, policy-makers and researchers, and concepts of empowerment feature strongly in international public health discourses on young people’s health. Yet the concept of empowerment remains under-theorized, and its relationship to young people’s health is not well understood. This innovative volume critically examines the concept of empowerment and its relationship …
Young people and health
In recent times, empowerment has become the focus of much work with young people amidst increasing concerns about their health. Empowerment is often offered as a 'solution' to such concerns, with the uncritical assumption being made that empowerment unproblematically results in positive health outcomes. While much of the health promotion literature advocates 'empowerment', it often does so without offering a clear conceptualisation of the word it…
Examining the Concept of Choice in Sexual Health Interventions for Young People
Concepts of choice are often drawn upon within sexual health promotion discourses to encourage young people to take 'responsibility' for and promote their own sexual health and reproductive control. A systematic literature search using predefined inclusion criteria identified peer-reviewed articles focusing on sexual health interventions for young people. Discourse analysis was used to interrogate how concepts of choice were articulated or inferr…
The Sydney playground project- levelling the playing field
Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registration Number ACTRN12614000549628 (registered 22/5/2014)
What Kind of Trouble? Meeting the Health Needs of ‘Troubled Families’ through Intensive Family Support
The policy rhetoric of the UK Coalition government's ‘Troubled Families’ initiative, and that of New Labour's earlier Respect Agenda, share an emphasis on families’ responsibilities, or rather their irresponsibility, and their financial costs to society. Giving children a chance of a better life coincides, in this framing, with reducing costs for the taxpayer. The research reported here was based on a national study of Family Intervention Project…
Examining concepts of power and agency in research with young people
Concepts of power and agency have become increasingly prominent in the youth studies literatures and related research. A focus of the research to date has been an examination of how a better understanding of young people's lived experiences can reveal possibilities for young people's agency to emerge. Despite increased interest in the term agency, much less has been said about how the concept is defined and recognized in research with young peopl…
Uncertainty in the school playground
Recent theoretical debates highlight the competing risk logics and varying rationalities mobilised in response to dangers and approaches to risk management. Yet the concept of uncertainty, and how it informs perceived risks, is relatively less well understood. Debates of this kind are illuminated in contexts where risks are managed as part of everyday practice. The school setting provides an example of a context in which risks are continuously ne…
Sustainable development goals for health promotion
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lay the foundations for supporting global health and international development work for the next 15 years. Thirty years ago, the Ottawa Charter defined health promotion and outlined key principles for global action on health, including the importance of advocating, enabling and mediating for health equity. Advocacy underscores a human right to health and suggests political action to support its attainment.…
Lower parent tolerance of risk in play for children with disability than typically developing children
Becoming an autonomous adult includes understanding consequences associated with risks. The aim of this study was to compare parents of children with and without disability to identify any differences in promoting manageable risk-taking. Data were collected from parents of typically developing children and parents of children with developmental disability. Two groups were matched based on parent and child chronological ages for typically developi…
The levels and factors associated with inconsistent condom use among young males with older, same-sex partners in South Africa
Condom use among females with older, male sexual partners is well documented in South Africa. To a far lesser extent, condom use among males with older same-sex partners is known. However, the sexual health of young males is of pivotal importance to social and economic development. The purpose of this study is to determine the association between age of older same-sex partner and the likelihood of condom use among young males in South Africa. In …
Privileges of Power
The widespread privileging of children's voices in recent times has triggered expansion of differing forms of qualitative enquiry that aim to 'give children a voice.' Engaging children in research and eliciting their voices on matters that affect them is often showcased as being a more 'authentic' way to capture children's lived realities and afford their agency. Yet, the uptake of voice in qualitative enquiry, and how it may contribute to the pr…
Coronavirus and its effect on Pilgrimage in Iran
The spread of Coronavirus disease in Iran, as an Islamic country, has brought about a large number of problematic issues. Some conflicts have emerged regarding the confrontation between adherence to hygienic measures and the performance of religious ceremonies, especially visit of Imam Reza shrine as the most important religious site in Iran. It seems that these conflicts have not been solved yet and are still at play. This survey study employs a…
Children's perspectives and experiences of the Covid‐19 pandemic and UK public health measures
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound impacts on how we live our lives; yet, the implications for children and the effects on children's everyday lives have been relatively underacknowledged. Understanding children's views on COVID-19 and related restrictions on their lives provides an important opportunity to understand how children have responded to the pandemic, including the impacts on their social and emotional well-being. OBJEC…
Understanding child and youth migrant wellbeing
One of the key social determinants of health that can impact children and young people is migration. Advances in health research have seen a shift away from a biomedical model of health to understanding health as a multifactorial, holistic state - mentally, physically, and socially. The aim of this article is to illustrate how different methods (i.e., adult-centric, child/youth-centered) and frameworks (i.e., biomedical, strengths-based) can impa…
Expectations and Assumptions
Risky play is challenging, exciting play with the possibility of physical, social, or emotional harm. Through risky play, children learn, develop, and experience wellbeing. Children with disabilities have fewer opportunities than their typically developing peers to engage in this beneficial type of play. Our team designed a novel, school-based intervention to address this disparity; however, our intervention yielded unexpected quantitative result…
Parents’ perspectives on managing risk in play for children with developmental disabilities
Parents are often concerned about managing risks for their children, particularly in the context of disability. This paper reports qualitative findings from an intervention study and examines how parents of children with developmental disabilities (mainly autism) manage risks during play. Interviews (n = 17) highlighted parents’ fears about their child’s safety, which were often exacerbated by concerns about the child’s (lack of) cognitive and in…
The agentic Self and uncontrollable body
Young people's experiences of living with a long-term health condition have been largely investigated from the perspective of developing autonomy and optimal self-management of treatment regimens. Little existing research explores how young people adjust to the experience of chronic illness within everyday social contexts. Drawing on sociocultural theories of healthism, in this article, we examine the everyday strategies students employed to mana…
The mental health support needs of university students with long-term physical health conditions
Purpose Supporting the mental health of university students is a key priority for higher education. Students living with long-term health conditions are at increased risk of poor mental health; yet little work has focused on their particular mental health needs or indeed, the implications for health education in the university setting. This study sought to identify the mental health support needs of students with long-term conditions, including b…
Psychology (23 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Medicine (17 works) · Political science (16 works) · Social Psychology (15 works) · Nursing (9 works) · Developmental psychology (8 works) · Public health (8 works) · Social science (8 works) · Children's Rights and Participation (7 works)