This thesis examines the role of the probation system in the social reintegration of offenders in NWFP, Pakistan. Probation is the punishment most widely associated with rehabilitation and helping offenders to lead law-abiding lives. The probation system in Pakistan has a colonial origin. The Probation Ordinance of 1960 has its origins in the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 (Amended 1923) passed into law by the British Colonial government. The passing of the probation law in 1960 was part of General Ayub Khan's attempt to modernise Pakistan. The central argument of this thesis is that the meaning of punishment changes when it is taken out of its cultural setting. The punishment of probation has no equivalent in Pakistani culture. Throughout this study, it was found that probation was perceived differently by the probation officers in the Reclamation and Probation Department (RPD) of NWFP Pakistan, the judicial magistrates who are empowered to grant probation orders and the offenders placed on probation. The result is a deluded system which was founded upon the rehabilitation ideal but which tries to offer an 'advice, assist and befriend' service. The empirical data showed that even that support was not provided. Probation officers measured their success in terms of how many people they were able to persuade judicial magistrates to release to them on probation. This made their job resemble that of the 19th century missionaries in England – 'saving souls'. It is argued that the problems of the RPD are due to lack of political support for the probation service in Pakistan, evidenced by its lack of identity and infrastructure. This has meant that the RPD has not 'evolved' enough to be able to meet its goals of rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders.

This work presents a study of identity formation in migrants of Japanese and Okinawan descent who relocate from countries of South America to mainland Japan and to the island prefecture of Okinawa, initially to seek economic advantage. The migrants, called Nikkeijin, are predominantly progeny of earlier migrants from Japan to South America. In a cross-generational sense, they are return migrants. The ethnographic study, based on field research conducted in two sites on the mainland and in Okinawa, compares Nikkeijin experience and attitudes as they interact with native Japanese. Because of their Japanese background, Nikkeijin benefit from privileged visa status; nonetheless, in Japan they are treated as foreigners, and their identity diversifies. Nikkeijin are found to construct simultaneous social fields in both the country of departure and the new environment. This situation may be recognized through the concept of transnationalism. I argue that Nikkeijin self-identity can be multiple and flexible, and does not necessarily coincide with social identity. An increasing and officially promoted diasporic consciousness among migrants of Okinawan descent would seem to produce a different ethnic response to any on the mainland and a greater potential for integration. My thesis should contribute to the understanding of identity in Nikkeijin return migration.

This study addresses the issue of the nature of contemporary kinship relationships among the Cham Muslim community of migrants from Cambodia, now settled in Malaysia. The study was conducted in 2006 in Pulau Keladi Village, a Cham settlement on the East Coast of peninsula Malaysia, and employed an ethnographic research approach combining traditional participant observation with simple survey techniques. The study is primarily concerned with how modernization has affected kinship relations among the Cham. Modernization is used here to designate the processes of involvement in the commercial relations of a market-based society. In the case of the Cham, the transition to such relations was intertwined with the process of movement from their country of origin, i.e. Cambodia, to another country. With the process of movement and resettlement, this community confronted real challenges and had to develop new ways of life in a new milieu. From traditional forms of farming and fishing, which had been their main sources of economic support in Cambodia, these people utilized a similar physical environment to develop commercially-oriented economic activities in their new settlement. The degree of cooperation in the village helps producers to produce and market larger quantities than if everyone operated as an isolated unit. The spirit of mutual help which pervades this community, and which is interrelated with kinship, is an important aspect of this study. Through the way in which they responded to their new milieu and the cultural challenges which it provided, the Cham managed to re-establish strong kinship networks and to assemble a large group of kin in a single place. Through examining the kinship structure and ideology of the Cham, their marriage patterns, relations between parents, adult children and adult siblings, the role of kinship in life course transitions and ceremonies, the utilisation of kinship in economic activities and the interplay of migration, ethnic identity and kinship, the study identifies the significance of kinship to Cham social organisation and explores the elements of continuity and change. Over the last three decades, these people have undergone significant transformation due to the modernization process and resettlement. The data of this study suggests that changes have taken place in some aspects of their lives. However, compared to western communities, the resilience of kinship ties is clearly transparent. While there are more elements of freedom for the younger generation in many areas of life, they still accept considerable guidance from older family members, and the range of kin who are recognised and who meet regularly to celebrate family events, the preference for working with kin, the patterns of financial and emotional assistance, the relatively high levels of arranged marriages and of cousin marriage, the exceptionally low rates of divorce and remarriage, and the close relations between parents and adult children and between adult siblings, all illustrate the importance that the Cham attach to the bonds of kinship and their efforts to protect kinship from the eroding influence of modernisation. Finally, the study suggests that important contributing factors to the continuing strength of kinship are the historical and contemporary efforts of a minority group to maintain their identity, persecution under the Khmer Rouge and the subsequent migration and resettlement, which have all both accentuated the importance of kinship as protection and resource, and deepened the attachment of the Chain to a collective identity - now in the form of Orang Kemboja - which kinship plays an important role in maintaining.

This study examines the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK and France. The need for such a study arises from the apparent contradiction between, on the one hand, the commitment of EU states to give protection to people fleeing persecution (they are all signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention) and, on the other, the increasingly restrictive policies on asylum adopted by those same states. In order to understand asylum-seeker perspectives I interviewed asylum seekers in the UK, though not in France due to my increasing deafness, and I interviewed stakeholders in both countries who could give me both official and asylum-seeker perspectives. Documentation was provided by asylum seekers and their supporters, NGOs in the field and government sources. I find that the restrictive agenda of the two states has undermined their commitment to the Refugee Convention as they place asylum policy in the context of immigration controls rather than of protection. Consequently, in both countries a discourse develops, laws are made and practices arise which undermine the right to asylum and deny protection to many who need it.

This thesis examines some of the issues surrounding extensive gender inequalities operating within the school, family and the wider society which affect girls’ rights to education. It reveals that institutional culture within the home, community and school reinforces gender inequality and continue to limit girls’ access to school and in performing equally to boys, especially in science and mathematics subjects. It is based on interviews, focus group discussions, observations and life history interviews I conducted with students (girls and boys between the ages of 15 and 22), school dropouts, teachers, parents and education officials in a secondary school in Ghana. Following a brief review of the literature on the construction of gender in general and femininity in particular, as well as literature on gender and education, focusing mainly on factors and causes of girls’ unequal access to, and performance in schooling in Ghana and Africa in general, I analyse the differential experiences of schoolgirls and how these gendered experiences impact on their performance, achievements, choice of subject and future aspirations from a gendered perspective, using the social construction of gender as a theoretical framework. It explores the ways in which teachers’ and parents’ attitudes discriminate against girls on gender lines and help to perpetuate particular perceptions and expectations about the appropriate education of boys and girls. This thesis also examines the factors and situations which contribute to the incidence of high dropout rates among girls in the study area with an emphasis on household factors such as poverty, pregnancy and gendered cultural practices. It analyzes how leaving school without adequate skills and qualifications impacts negatively on the career prospects of school dropouts, especially girls. It evaluates the successes and challenges of Girls’ Education Unit (GEU) and government policies at improving girls’ educational attainment and opportunities with emphasis on how educational officials perceive government policies in achieving gender equality in the study area and suggests gender sensitive strategies and policies that would help bridge the gender gap as well as provide guidance for educational policy makers in the Ghanaian education system.

The overall aim of this research project is to investigate the impact of government policy, professional practice and social attitudes on the experiences of the older person leaving acute hospital care and returning to their own home. The project aims are summarised as below: *To develop an understanding of individuals' experiences within discharge preparation and planned support while they are preparing for home, getting home and being home. *To explore older people's experiences of co-production in the definition of needs and planning support to meet these needs. *To investigate the 'appropriateness' of the discharge package (plan or pathway) as seen by the individual once home. *To develop a model that allows a structured comparison between individual experiences and policy aims.

Crime and community have been inextricably linked since New Labour came to power in 1997. The relationship between high crime and community decline is not new and there is a wide range, of criminological theory that explores the link between disadvantage, urban decay and crime rates. Yet under New Labour, community decline has been reframed as moral breakdown. This has led to a battery of rhetoric and policy, designed to instil moral and social responsibility. This thesis explores the intellectual and normative roots of this standpoint and its impact on strategies of crime and disorder. A critique of this approach is constructed by exploring the influence of Amitai Etzioni’s (1995) ideas on New Labour. This critique draws on sociological, research about both community and late-modernity to argue that the moral community is at odds with contemporary social conditions. Drawing on theoretical perspectives about late-modernity, this critique is extended to debunk the notion that criminality can be understood in terms of immorality. Instead, a psychosocial model based on Anthony Giddens’ (1991) work on identity and Stephen Lyng’s (1990) concept of ‘edgework’ is formulated. This framework considers how the risk-taking ingredient of rulebreaking provides emotional highs that give individuals a sense of connection with, and control over the anxiety-provoking and unpredictable conditions of late-modernity. When looked at in this way, crime can be understood in terms of the social and cultural conditions that shape human relations. The search for self-identity is at the heart of contemporary social theories about how people both experience, and adapt to the conditions of late-modernity. This thesis concludes that intimacy is therefore a more appropriate concept than community for understanding and responding to crime.

Women's participation in export-oriented industries has been one of the most dominant features in many developing countries since the 1970s. Employment in waged jobs has often been viewed as a means of women's integration into development processes. Research showed that development efforts in Third World countries negatively affected women and displaced them from their productive activities. As such, there was an increasing demand from liberal feminists and women development practitioners to integrate women into development processes through employment generation. They stressed the need for women's access to resources as the way to emancipate them from subordination. Although generation of employment through the establishment of export-oriented industries has given women access to economic resources, their participation in waged labour has given rise to a persistent debate in literature in relation to the issue of their emancipation/exploitation. This ethnographic research examines the implications of waged employment for women participating in export-oriented garment factories in Bangladesh.Within a feminist and broader social science research methodology, this study employs both qualitative and quantitative research approaches and analyses the experiences of women as factory workers, as members of the household and as members of society actively involved in day-to-day interactions with other societal members. The findings of this study reveal that the implications of waged employment for Bangladeshi women are complex and contradictory. Analysis of women's perceptions as factory workers shows that they are exploited on the factory floor in different ways and experience new forms of patriarchal domination beyond their family. Exploration of their perceptions as household members shows that earnings improve their position within the family. Although they often do not control their wages and frequently bear the double burden of productive and reproductive activities, they enjoy autonomy and freedom from familial patriarchal domination to a certain degree. In addition, women's participation in the labour market and their constant presence in the male dominated spaces are incessantly contesting the traditional notions of gender practices and meanings in Bangladeshi society. This situation also influences women to challenge male authority to an extent. Even though the challenges are not widespread, these may create new possibilities for women in society.

This study explores the nature and extent of social change within Saudi Arabia since 1970, focusing on the 'Utaiba tribe living in Al-Duwadmi province. The research examines continuity and change in al'Urf (traditional customary law), the economic system, family structure and function, and social solidarity. Differences in attitudes, values and behaviour between younger and older generations are also investigated. A structural functional approach is adopted, which describes systems in terms of structures, mechanism, processes and functions. Particular attention is given to mechanisms of exchange by which social relationships are established and maintained. Participant observation, a questionnaire survey, and in-depth interviews were conducted in 316 households in Al-Duwadmi city and 8 of the surrounding villages, 4 agrarian and 4 semi-nomadic. The findings reveal many changes of lifestyle, though core values remain unchanged. Some al'Urf (traditional laws) continue to be observed, with modification, though there has been an erosion of the authority of tribal leaders, especially over the younger people. Social solidarity remains strong, the motive for exchange being religious as well as instrumental. The 'Utaiba have benefited from the wider occupational opportunities brought by settlement and development, though they still cling to camel breeding as a source of status and symbol of identity. Various traditional crafts are declining under competition from mass-produced products, but education is making wider opportunities available to them. Increased reliance on hired foreign workers brings new cultural influences. Despite changes in fashions and customs related to marriage and new forms of leisure, especially for the young, family solidarity and influence are essentially unchanged. Marriages are still mainly endogamous and residence patrilocal. Overall economic and technological development have changed many aspects of 'Utaiba life, but have not challenged their Islamic values, social solidarity or sense of Beduw (Bedouin) identity.

The research aim of this research is to identify and examine key resources, a conceptual framework drawing on the application of stochastic frontier models in obtaining measures of efficiency that enable a comparison of performance across industries and countries, explaining why, in the same country, some industries achieve superior efficiency performance. The important task is to relate efficiency to a number of factors that are likely to be determinants, and measure the extent to which they contribute to the presence of inefficiency. More specifically, the first step of this thesis is to review the literature concerned with techniques of efficiency estimation. This will facilitate an understanding of both the theoretical and application part of the research. The second step of this thesis is to highlight the pitfalls of the different relevant models and methodologies. The third and most important goal and contribution of this thesis is to suggest a concrete method to estimate industrial efficiency, avoiding the inherent problems. This thesis considers a European Union perspective efficiency analysis to increase the information base and derive broader conclusions about European Union productive performance within selected countries. This issue is of particular research relevance because empirical evidence shows that even though European Union industries are widely analyzed with respect to performance, yet little attention has been paid to the estimation of technical efficiency. Within this sample, it is of great importance to examine which determinants are significant, however, it is also important, to examine whether the interactions between technical progress, ICT investment, ICT investment share, R&D stock and economy openness, namely the process of the integration into the world economy, has any implications for technical efficiency. Special emphasis is given to the review of two of the main heterogeneity determining factors, namely innovation investments (as a proxy of knowledge creation) and economy openness (as a proxy of knowledge dissemination). In particular, this thesis explores whether the interactions between these factors have any implications for efficiency growth, and whether there are any complementarities between them and fostering technical efficiency growth. More specifically, this thesis aims to distinguish between the two main factors which affect total factor productivity, namely technical progress and technical efficiency, as well as what determines the production frontier itself and what determines the inefficiency term (both theoretically and empirically).