Editor's note
Author: Erik Blair (University of West London)
Keywords:
How to Cite: Blair, E. (2020) “Let us not stop asking questions”, New Vistas. 6(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.36828/newvistas.119
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has changed the world and has changed the way that many in the world relate to facts and figures. Throughout this new era, we have had an abundance of data – most of it sadly representing illness and death, and much of it representing governmental incompetence – and this data has been fed to us from all corners of the world on a constant news cycle. This data has given us power to ask questions.
Whether we are dealing with COVID-19, climate change, sub-standard trade talks, racial injustice, corruption, incompetence or scandal – we need to start by asking questions. Each of us needs to look at our own corner of the world and ask what we can do to make it better. It is tricky for any of us to change the entire world but we can each find a niche that needs our attention. As individuals that is where we can all start – we can start to ask questions of the world around us, each of us involved in our own micro-revolution, until, like straws upon a camel’s back, our micro-revolutions converge into a macro-revolutionary force that will break the back of injustice. Revolutions do not start with protest, guns, bombs or barricades – revolutions start with questions.
This edition’s micro-revolutionary forays open with a series of articles where the concept of ‘care’ is front and centre. Ventouris et al open by investigating the vicarious traumatisation of Mental Health Psychology Practitioners who have worked to support their clients’ wellbeing throughout the pandemic. Our second article also deals with concepts of care and ethics as Teixeira explores an intervention that uses documentary film to promote reflection amongst critical care nursing students. Another aspect of care is then discussed in Garlick’s exploration of the decision by the British Red Cross to withdraw from the event medical sector. And in our fourth article centred around the concept of care, Sampson examines how the Family Group Conferencing model might be used to alleviate tensions between social workers’ dual responsibility of child protection and family support. From explorations on the concept of care, our authors then move to explorations on people. Online teaching has been a key feature of Higher Education during lockdown and, in our fifth article, Olsen explores the impact of camera angles on students’ perceptions of teaching excellence and emotional connectedness. This is followed by a timely discussion by Pavlova that moves us beyond the deficit model of migration and, instead, looks at migration in terms of lifestyle mobilities. Our final article then takes a different perspective but ultimately highlights how facts can be contorted, as Hagger examines the physiology of the enduring myth of the highwayman, Dick Turpin. Finally, we close with a profile of PhD student, Ori Igwe, whose PhD research explored the perceptions of police officers and prosecutors on the barriers to successful investigation and prosecution of cyberstalkers
As ever, I am so pleased with the work presented here. By exploring their own specific niches, our authors each seek the truth in their own way. This is a very human trait – we want to know answers. Let us not stop asking questions.