Powerful Threat Research Articles

UK Labour Party Leaders' Attitudes to Conventional Threats to National Security, 2023-2024

Introduction. The article focuses on the securitisation of power threats in the public speeches of the UK Labour Party leaders (Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Defence Minister John Healey and Foreign Secretary David Lammy) during the 2023-2024 election campaign. An attempt has been made to highlight the commonalities and peculiarities in the approach of the current and previous British governments to countering the main threats to national security. Materials and methods. The paper combines qualitative and quantitative approaches: a critical content analysis of sources and discourse analysis in an electoral context (using data from sociological surveys) are conducted, while the frequency of word usage in the public speeches of the Minister of Foreign Affairs is analysed using the tools of quantitative analysis of big data (R programming language). The methodological basis of the work is the theory of securitisation proposed by the Copenhagen School of the theory of international relations.Research results. It is concluded that the main change in London's foreign policy after Labour's victory in the 2024 parliamentary elections will be the prioritisation of security cooperation with European states. Labour Party leaders do not question the need for ‘dual containment’ of Russia and China, but they give the ‘China threat’ secondary importance: there are noticeable differences within the party on this issue. On the other hand, Labour's position on the ‘special relationship’ with the United States is characterised by a steady continuity with the Conservative government's approach. The need to deepen cooperation in Euro-Atlantic security structures (primarily NATO) and continental formats (EI2, JEF) is stated.Discussion and conclusion. On the basis of qualitative examination of policy documents and statements of the Labour Party leaders, as well as quantitative analysis of big data, conclusions are drawn about the key elements of potential continuity and variability in the foreign policy of London before and after the parliamentary elections on July 4, 2024. The results of the work can be useful in forecasting changes in the foreign policy of Great Britain after the victory of Labour in the parliamentary elections of 2024. The theoretical importance of the work lies in the fact that the article proposes a new methodology for quantitative analysis of the foreign policy of the UK.

Beyond delinquency and drug use: Links of peer pressure to long-term adolescent psychosocial development.

This study examined the predictors and sequelae of exposure to peer pressure from close friends in adolescence. Adolescents (99 female; 85 male) were followed from age 13 to 24 utilizing peer, parent, and romantic partner reports and observational data. Participants who were exposed to high levels of peer pressure as teens were more likely to experience higher levels of coercive behavior from romantic partners (as reported by those partners), as well as lower levels of parent-reported functional independence. All findings held even after accounting for baseline levels of teen assertiveness. Adolescents at risk for increasing exposure to peer pressure were characterized by poor-quality parent and peer relationships, as well as baseline deficits in ability to assert autonomy. Results suggest that exposure to peer pressure, aside from its potential effects on deviant or risky behavior, may reflect a powerful threat to the autonomy development process as adolescents transition from parents to peers as primary sources of support and interaction.

A preliminary exploration of using the power threat meaning framework with individuals currently serving IPP sentences in custody

A preliminary exploration of using the power threat meaning framework with individuals currently serving IPP sentences in custody

How Attribution Theory Helps to Explain Psychiatric Nosology

By exposing the assumptions made about dysfunctional behaviors, treatment options can be better understood. Belief in the cause of a disorder determines what is done to alleviate it. By applying attribution theory to psychiatric nosology—categorization of psychiatry dysfunctions—attributional bias of clinicians can be shown. Primarily clinicians are biased to diagnose a patient’s dysfunction as internal, stable and uncontrollable. In reality most dysfunctions are periodic/cyclical and therefore unstable and through behavioral therapy, most are controllable. By changing the attributions, a different meaning of mental illness emerges. Historical evidence illustrates how the attribution of aberrant behaviors has changed which consequently resulted in different theories and treatments. From ‘spirits that invade the body’ of the Middle Ages to the ‘imbalance in the nervous energy’ of the Enlightenment, beliefs dictated how people were treated. From the punitive treatments of the Middle Ages to the ‘Moral Treatment’ of the Enlightenment. With the attribution of biological determinism, a new age of psychopharmacology was ushered in. All these treatment fads rely on different attributions rather than on scientific evidence. With Mad Studies promoting the perspective of the patients who use the mental health care system, the attribution of disease changes again, and a greater emphasis is placed on the external, unstable, and controllable aspects of madness. According to the theory ‘Power Threat Meaning Framework,’ madness is a mental strategy that has become mismatched with its current context. The context determines the expression of dysfunction. Future treatment requires a population-based approach that offers social prescribing, short-term respite programs, and broad community-based cognitive-behavioral therapies. The objective is to focus on alleviating the anxiety and distress experienced by the individual and to aim for personal and functional recovery rather than to aim for a purely clinical recovery.

Exploring LGBTQ+ teacher professional identity through the power threat meaning framework

Exploring LGBTQ+ teacher professional identity through the power threat meaning framework

Voted in, standing out: Public response to immigrants' political accession

AbstractHow do dominant‐group natives react to immigrants' political integration? We argue that ethnic minority immigrants winning political office makes natives feel threatened, triggering animosity. We test this dynamic across the 2010–2019 UK general elections, using hate crime police records, public opinion data, and text data from over 500,000 regional and local newspaper articles. While past work has not established a causal relationship between minorities' political power gains and dominant‐group animosity, we identify natives' hostile reactions with a regression discontinuity design that leverages close election results between immigrant‐origin ethnic minority and dominant‐group candidates. We find that minority victories increase hate crimes by 67%, exclusionary attitudes by 66%, and negative media coverage of immigrant groups by 110%. Consistent with power threat and social identity theories, these findings demonstrate a strong and widespread negative reaction—encompassing a violence‐prone fringe and the mass public—against ethnic minority immigrants' integration into majority settings.

Parenting a child with an intellectual disability: mapping experiences onto the power threat meaning framework

This paper is the first to explore experiences parenting a child with intellectual disabilities in the UK through the lens of the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF). Typically, parents’ responses are medicalised, pathologised and problematised by services and systems that are underpinned by neoliberal-ableist social policies. Repeat interviews were undertaken with seven parents of children with intellectual disability diagnoses to co-construct PTMF narratives. Utilising template analysis, parents’ experiences readily fitted within the PTMF elements: Power; Threat; Meaning; Threat Responses; and Strengths. Results were synthesised to offer a provisional PTMF pattern concerning parenting a child with ID within ableist societies. Findings emphasised how the threats endured by parents were interlinked with those encountered by their children. It is hoped the resultant pattern and theme content will support parents in developing non-pathologising understandings of their own experiences.

The Power Threat Meaning Framework: a qualitative study of depression in adolescents and young adults.

Depression constitutes one of our largest global health concerns and current treatment strategies lack convincing evidence of effectiveness in youth. We suggest that this is partly due to inherent limitations of the present diagnostic paradigm that may group fundamentally different conditions together without sufficient consideration of etiology, developmental aspects, or context. Alternatives that complement the diagnostic system are available yet understudied. The Power Threat and Meaning Framework (PTMF) is one option, developed for explanatory and practical purposes. While based on scientific evidence, empirical research on the framework itself is still lacking. This qualitative study was performed to explore the experiences of adolescents and young adults with depression from the perspective of the PTMF. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 Swedish individuals aged 15- 22 years, mainly female, currently enrolled in a clinical trial for major depressive disorder. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with framework analysis informed by the PTMF. A complex multitude of adversities preceding the onset of depression was described, with a rich variety of effects, interpretations, and reactions. In total, 17 themes were identified in the four dimensions of the PTMF, highlighting the explanatory power of the framework in this context. Not all participants were able to formulate coherent narratives. The PTMF provides a framework for understanding the complexities, common themes, and lived experiences of young individuals with depression. This may be essential for the development of new interventions with increased precision and effectiveness in the young.

Exploring Subjective Experiences of Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) for Psychosis - a Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) Informed Narrative Inquiry

An extensive body of evidence supports the association between life adversity and experiences such as hearing voices and holding beliefs that others may find unusual. Emerging evidence suggests Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) may be an effective intervention for reducing the emotional impact of trauma memories in the context of psychosis and, as a result, may lessen the impact of unusual experiences. Despite this, there has been limited research into clients’ subjective experiences of EMDR for psychosis with existing research predominantly focused on its ability to resolve what are viewed as ‘comorbid symptoms’ of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The theoretical assumptions of the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) suggest that unusual experiences can be understood as trauma related distress. In line with this perspective, the aims of the current study were to explore what focusing therapeutically on traumatic experiences in the context of psychosis might reveal about the link between adversity and psychosis and, furthermore, to explore what clients’ depict as important when engaging with EMDR for psychosis. Participants recruited from specialist psychosis community mental health services were interviewed and a qualitative narrative analysis methodology employed. Within the narratives, trauma-derived personal meanings were common and could be linked to the content of unusual experiences. Participants consistently positioned themselves as advocates of EMDR for psychosis, citing improved relationships and feeling calmer amongst positive changes. In reflecting on their experiences of EMDR, participants more commonly cited the importance of a trusting therapeutic relationship than specific EMDR techniques. A number of clinical implications are raised, including recommendations for care resourcing and planning.

The power threat meaning framework 5 years on - A scoping review of the emergent empirical literature.

Since its release the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) has received considerable interest and uptake. However, there have not yet been any attempts to review the scope of this emergent literature. This scoping review aimed to identify and synthesize: (1) all empirical research which utilized the PTMF in their methodologies, (2) the characteristics of these studies, (3) the different ways in which these studies utilized the PTMF, and (4) the key findings of these studies. This review was conducted in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) scoping review extension (PRISMA-ScR). Following systematic searches of academic databases and grey literature, 17 studies meeting eligibility criteria were included. These papers were subject to critical appraisal, data charting, and narrative synthesis. This review identified four uses of the PTMF: (1) PTMF-informed data collection, (2) PTMF-informed data analysis, (3) Experiences of/views on the PTMF, and (4) PTMF-informed psychological practices. This evidence-base demonstrated the merits of utilizing the PTMF across a range of disciplines, settings, and populations. This heterogeneity also presents challenges for evidence synthesis. Implications for research (e.g. importance of the coherent and consistent approach to research) and practice/policy (e.g. professional training, collaboration, service-level barriers) are considered.

An Antidote to the Pathologizing of Grief: Applying the Power–Threat–Meaning Framework

Emerging theories of grief over the last 30 years have represented a shift from the healing of pathology to a focus on the adaptation to loss. Recently, however, there has been an alarming resurgence for a medicalized model of grief, most saliently evident in the removal of the bereavement exclusion from the diagnosis of major depressive disorder in theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(5th ed.;DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) and the inclusion of prolonged grief disorder in theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision(DSM-5-TR; APA, 2022). These have predictably opened up opportunities for the pursuit of pharmacological treatment including antidepressants and medication usually offered for recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. A pathologizing approach to grief can have a significant and detrimental impact on individuals and compromises the core humanistic values that underpin my professional identity as a counselling psychologist. I propose that we need a radically different lens, and the power–threat–meaning framework (PTMF), an alternative to psychiatric diagnosis developed by psychologists in the United Kingdom, offers us such an opportunity. Consideration is given to how the PTMF may be applied to grief therapy where it can embrace the uniqueness of grief responses and reframe it as an entirely understandable response to trauma and loss.

Applying the power threat meaning framework to the UK education system

ABSTRACT The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF; Johnstone & Boyle, 2018a, 2018b) has fundamentally changed both the practice of clinical psychology and the understanding of mental health since its conception in 2018. However, to date the PTMF (Johnstone & Boyle, 2018a, 2018b) has had little application to other contexts, despite being of clear relevance. Once such absence of application is to the educational context. The context of power within education has been outlined before by philosophers such as Michel Foucault, however, the PTMF (Johnstone & Boyle, 2018a, 2018b) elaborates further about how negative power operations create threat and therefore lead to responses of psychological distress. Thus, the PTMF (Johnstone & Boyle, 2018a, 2018b) could elaborate on Foucault’s theories and offer more understanding on the role of power and psychological distress in the field of education. Therefore, this paper will seek to outline the PTMF (Johnstone & Boyle, 2018a, 2018b) and highlight the ways in which the PTMF can apply to education through reference to the school structure, teachers, parents and students.

‘Violence is all he knew, and it seemed to work’: using the power threat meaning framework to explore prison officers’ understandings of violence in Irish prisons

ABSTRACT In 2018 the Irish Prison Service (IPS) opened the National Violence Reduction Unit (NVRU), becoming home to all prisoners managed under the Violently Disruptive Prisoner (VDP) policy, who were repeatedly engaged in serious violence in prison. Embedded in the NVRU is a joint operational-psychological approach, aiming to understanding the violence of these prisoners, and work with them to reduce it. This study explored NVRU prison officers’ understandings of the origins, experiences and expressions of the violence of NVRU prisoners, through the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF). Prison officers (n = 13) participated in semi-structured interviews at two time-points: 6 months after the NVRU opening (n = 13), and 12 months after the NVRU opening (n = 11). From these aggregated transcripts (n = 24), 6 themes were identified: (1) power, (2) threat, (3) meaning, (4) threat response, (5) function of threat response, and (6) moderating factors. Prison officers confirmed many a priori elements of the existing provisional PTMF, whilst also contributing novel elements related to their subjective understandings of this specific cohort. These findings are interpreted in the context of existing empirical research. Implications for future research, and policy and practice within and beyond the NVRU, are suggested.

Optimizing Message Response Time in IoT Security Using DenseNet and Fusion Techniques for Enhanced Real-Time Threat Detection

As IoT devices increase, accuracy and data security become increasingly crucial. This research recommends a powerful threat detection system that accelerates message responses to improve IoT security. The recommended strategy finds dangers in using many data sources. Our deep learning system is DenseNet. It groups photographs nicely. We show how the approach works using real-world experiments. It has few false positives and negatives and is effective at recognizing items. Through ablation research, we examine how design and component selections impact technique performance. This clarifies the method's fundamentals. The research reveals that feature selection, fusion, and DenseNet design improve the technique. We discuss the need for fine-tuning hyperparameters to improve approaches and monitor more individuals. The strategy makes IoT communities safer and more robust by laying the groundwork for threat detection and response. This approach solves message transmission delay concerns, making the IoT safer. These discoveries may benefit hacking specialists. They improve and speed up IoT security.

Editorial: Valuing Indigenous Voices Despite the “No” Vote

Despite only 39.9% of “yes” votes in the October 2023 voice to parliament referendum, almost nine in 10 Australians (87%) believe that First Nations peoples should have a voice in matters influencing them, according to a comprehensive post-referendum survey (Biddle et al., 2023). Over three-quarters of “no” voters (76%) support this view. Reflecting the survey findings, two articles (Carmody, 2023; Latham et al., 2023) in the December 2023 issue of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia advocate for valuing the cultural skills, experiences, and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in therapy and therapist education. Another article (O’Hara, 2023a) explores how the counselling and psychotherapy profession defines itself, an important concept given the forthcoming two-year review of national standards by the Federal Government. An attachment-based model for supervision (Soliman, 2023), a literature review on dog-assisted therapy for children with anxiety (Wu & Wei, 2023), a conversation analysis of silence in psychotherapy (Berger & Rae, 2023), and the Power Threat Meaning Framework and self-discrepancy theory (O’Hara, 2023b) are also featured. This issue is the first to showcase new sections called Practice Reflections and Viewpoints.

Designing and Evaluating a Psychological Intervention for Individuals with Multiple Complex Needs

The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) has been designed by its authors to take disempowerment in psychological suffering into account and provide a narrative to make sense of experiences and regain a sense of personal agency. This research aimed to design a brief intervention using a workbook based on the PTMF and explore the outcomes, utility and feasibility with adults experiencing Multiple Complex Needs (MCN). A brief PTMF-based intervention was systematically designed and evaluated using a single exploratory case study. Thematic Analysis was used to support the construction of themes from the participant’s transformed narrative using data from process measures, session recordings and a change interview. Descriptive data was obtained from quantitative measures. One measure was analyzed using reliable change. A number of helpful therapeutic events were identified in the analysis. Qualitative data indicated shifts in empowerment and agency. There were no significant changes pre/post in the quantitative data. It is suggested the PTMF can be translated into an acceptable intervention for those experiencing MCN. Unhelpful events and feedback were used to make changes to the workbook and enhance its feasibility. Future research would benefit from replicating the current study with an increased number of participants and robust assessment of outcomes.

The power threat meaning framework and people with learning disabilities: Psychological professionals’ perspectives

The systematic review aimed to identify whether changes in adaptive behaviour occur as people with Down Syndrome (DS) age, and if so, when and how these changes occur. Both longitudinal and cross-sectional observational studies were included, if they reported on how adaptive behaviour outcomes change with age, for DS participants older than 30. In 2022, a search of three databases (Pubmed, Web of Science, PsycInfo), a database for unpublished theses (ERIC) and reference lists, found 26 eligible studies. Quality assessment revealed considerable bias in at least 5 studies. Given the extensive heterogeneity amongst studies, thematic synthesis was chosen to synthesise the study findings. Tentative results -reveal that declines occur for adaptive behaviour skills after the mid-40s, akin to dementia neuropathology and cognitive declines, with motor skills and receptive language declining first. However, both intra- and inter-individual differences were found, which supports the evidence that dementia in DS is not a normative process and baseline assessments should be utilised to support diagnoses. Other factors such as comorbidities and residential status did not appear to affect declines. Adaptive behaviour assessments should aim to be specific and sensitive to individual baseline functions to avoid ‘floor’ effects, however such measures may be superior to cognitive tests in supporting early detection of dementia in more profoundly intellectually disabled (ID) groups. More research is required to further these findings.

Parenting a child with an intellectual disability: Mapping experiences onto the power threat meaning framework

This paper is the first to explore the experiences of parenting a child with intellectual disabilities through the lens of the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF). Typically, parents’ responses are medicalised, pathologised and problematised by services and systems that are underpinned by neoliberal-ableist social policies. Repeat interviews were undertaken with seven parents of children with intellectual disability diagnoses to co-construct PTMF narratives. Utilising template analysis, parents’ experiences readily fitted within the PTMF elements: Power; Threat; Meaning; Threat Responses; and Strengths. Results were synthesised to offer a provisional PTMF pattern concerning parenting a child with ID within ableist societies. Findings emphasised how the threats endured by parents were interlinked with those encountered by their child. It is hoped the resultant pattern and theme content will support parents in developing non-pathologising understandings of their own experiences.

The PTM Framework and parents of children with intellectual disability diagnoses: Experiences of narrative creation

It is recognised that parents of children diagnosed with ‘intellectual disability’ (ID) are marginalised through ableist social structures. This study was the first to explore if parents of diagnosed with ID found developing a Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) narrative useful for making sense of their experiences in non-pathologising ways. Data from repeated interviews with seven parents were synthesised using reflexive thematic analysis. Three superordinate themes were generated: Altered worldview, capturing how the PTMF supported parents to develop new insights; Reflections on the PTMF as an approach, outlining parents’ critiques of the Framework; The applicability of the PTMF to parents and ID services, highlighting how the PTMF is implemented within services needs careful consideration. Overall, participants found the PTMF to be a helpful approach which they thought could support development of less pathologising and more empowering understandings of parenting experiences.

‘Readiness as opposed to eligibility’- preliminary consensus amongst professionals regarding gender identity assessments employing the DELPHI methodology

PurposeGender identity assessments (GIAs) have been criticized by practitioners and trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals alike. With the practice of exploring individuals’ gender identity for treatment pathway purposes being potentially invasive and inappropriate, the current study aims to explore explicit standards.Design/methodology/approachThe current study used the Delphi methodology to survey practitioners familiar with GIA. Over three rounds, 14 international participants rated their agreement about six areas relating to the assessment: purpose; content; approach; forensic application; psychometric instruments; and wider issues. Statements that reached an 80% cut-off among participants were viewed as a sufficient level of agreement, while the remaining items were fed back for repeated ratings. Furthermore, participants had the opportunity to suggest additional items that the group could rate.FindingsOverall, a consensus across 23 items was achieved. The findings indicate a practice emphasizing collaboration between clinician and client to facilitate an informed decision. Furthermore, participants advocated for a non-pathologizing version of the GIA. This is a departure from diagnoses like gender dysphoria toward an approach which encapsulates also positive aspects of the trans experience, for example, resilience and future plans.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include sampling biases due to participants’ high specialization and challenges in recruiting TGNC individuals. Furthermore, findings appear restricted to adult services.Originality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this pilot is a first step to making current practice transparent and comparable, with the hopes to improve trans care. Furthermore, it is contextualized with the previously suggested application of the power threat meaning framework to GIA.