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The present study is an empirical investigation of the social organisation of a West Indian settlement in an urban area of Britain. It is concerned, in particular, with participation in formal and informal voluntary associations within that settlement. It seeks to explain the dearth of communal associations---especially the paucity and ephemerality of political associations of a formal character---among West Indians. Its findings are used as a basis for suggesting further directions which research in this area might fruitfully take in the future. Chapter 1, briefly outlines the structure of West Indian societies and the nature of the social organisation of various groups within them. Particular emphasis is placed on the nature of political association and leadership in the Caribbean. A detailed analysis of data drawn from a sample of West Indian respondents in Easton, a Midlands city, is presented in Chapter 2. This material relates to numerous facets of the life situation of these respondents in Britain and to their previous situations in the Caribbean. Chapter 3, is concerned with an examination of those formal associations, recreational and/or non-recreational, which West Indians have established in Easton. Subsequently Chapters 4 and 5 examine the family and household organisation of the sample, and patterns of religious association among the latter. Chapter 5, explores the connections between West Indian membership and participation in various forms of religious association and the formation of other types of voluntary association. In Chapter 6, a number of points are made, based on the preceding data, which serve to describe the dynamics of West Indian activism in Easton. Particular attention is given to the nature of West Indian associational activity and to those 'explanations' of the ephemerality and paucity of West Indian formal associations mentioned earlier in the thesis. Finally, a brief Conclusion is presented, concerned with re-assessing some of the problems and intentions which are described in earlier chapters.

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In this dissertation I focus on the political integration of the people of migrant-origin from Morocco. The main objective is to explore how contextual factors shape the political engagement of this group. In addition, the varying migration trajectories and histories of settlement in Europe of this large, heterogeneous, stigmatised, and understudied group are made visible. I begin by advancing my own conception of political integration, adding to work that seeks to fill a gap in the literature on migrant integration, which has predominantly focused on the social and economic aspects. Using this concept, I analyse the attitudinal and behavioural forms of political engagement expressed by the members of the Moroccan-origin communities residing in Brussels, Lyon, Turin, Barcelona, and Madrid. I use survey data from the LOCALMULTIDEM project, a sister project, and an original survey in Turin that I designed and conducted. I investigated how contextual factors—the presence of local voting rights in favour of non-European nationals and the strength of the anti-discrimination policies implemented in the countries of residence—can shape the way Moroccan-origin individuals engage in their countries of residence. I conducted a series of multivariate analyses whilst controlling for the influence of individual attributes, like gender, age, and education. The results produced do not provide evidence in support of the argument that the extension of local voting rights in favour of migrant-origin individuals can stimulate their political engagement. The Moroccan-origin individuals residing in Brussels, the only city where non-European nationals can take part in local elections, do not have a higher chance to be engaged in politics. However, the findings suggest that the Moroccan-origin communities residing in countries implementing stronger and intermediate anti-discrimination policies (Belgium, France, and Italy) can express their voice through a wider set of political acts.

Evidence based practice (EBP) has asserted itself as the best way to respond to risk and uncertainty in child and family social work, a relatively new profession with a constantly shifting knowledge base. Informed by a social constructionist approach, the thesis asks: (1) what types of knowledge do social workers use and what meanings do they attach to these; and (2) what strategies do they use when sharing knowledge within their epistemic community? Based on semi-structured interviews and research diaries with child and family social workers, I detect two types of knowledge the participants reported using, namely gut feeling and evidence. I identify the social element of gut feeling and that it is central to the response to uncertainty. I also reveal that the knowledge social workers associated with evidence is narrower than the EBP approach. I argue that these findings show that there is a gap between research and practice, and that the extent to which social workers are ‘comfortable’ with uncertainty is related to how they conceptualise the fact/ value distinction. I also identify two knowledge sharing strategies, conceptualised as (1) standard knowledge filtering (SKF) and (2) dynamic knowledge filtering (DKF). Users of SKF aimed to render gut feeling and the associated uncertainty invisible, whilst users of DKF aimed to keep uncertainty visible and share gut feeling with others. The thesis reveals why some types of knowledge are shared and others are not, the differences between social workers, as well as the causes of frictions and frustrations associated with knowledge sharing. The dominance of EBP, however, conceals such complex processes and differences. By uncovering and conceptualising them effectively, the thesis makes an original contribution to a better understandings of gut feeling, evidence, fact and value which are central components of constructing and translating social work to co-workers.

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Initial child mental health assessment appointments are an under researched area of interaction. Within the appointment, parents and children work to present a case to the clinicians of the child’s difficulties which situates their cause as legitimate, doctorable, and as requiring specialist services. The clinicians establish the reason for the child’s attendance, build an understanding of the difficulties the child is facing, and formulate and communicate a decision about whether there is a mental health related concern. The objective of this research was to explore the sequences of interaction between clinicians, parents, and the children in order to understand the social actions that are being accomplished through the participants talk. A conversation analytic framework was utilised to explore the interactions at a child and adolescent mental health service within 15 video recorded initial assessment appointments. Access to mental health services is organised through the construction of each participant’s turns in the interaction. Clinician’s question design elicits certain responses from the child, which then further orient to their perceived right to knowledge. Parents work to build a case for their child’s difficulties using a variety of rhetorical devices such as extreme case formulations and contrast devices that legitimise their need for specialist intervention. Clinicians deliver their decision about the child’s difficulties in such a way that asserts their authority and accountability in the relationship, whilst parents’ responses maintains this asymmetry. In conclusion, through their turns at talk, all parties in the interaction perform and accomplish different tasks which impact on the shape of the remainder of the appointment as well as the clinician-patient relationship and the child centeredness of the interaction. Conversation analysis proves a valuable and appropriate resource for researching child mental health appointments; a communication centred methodology for a communication based service.

This PhD-thesis considers how living in prolonged displacement in the Global South is a mediated experience. I connect literature situated in the fields Forced Migration Studies and Non-media-centric Media Studies to comprehend how forced migrants can be understood as connected migrants. There has been valuable research on the intersections of migration and mediation. Little attention has been given however to situated and mediated experiences of forced migrants, for whom uncertainty is often the norm. I consider how the interaction between mediated and situated practices constitute everyday experiences of living in legal and social uncertainty. I draw upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted from January to September 2015 on the mediated practices of Iraqi refugees, living in Jordan’s capital Amman. Refugee protection in Jordan is formalised as temporary and restricts the rights to work and to integrate further into Jordan’s society. Among the Iraqi refugees in Jordan, this reinforces the experience of waiting. Experiences of waiting also relates to limited opportunities for legalised onwards travelling and to ongoing warfare in Iraq. Forced migrants are digitally connected migrants. In the case of Iraqi refugees in Jordan, perpetual uncertainty about one’s legal and social place in the world seems to reinforce the need for connections to places and people elsewhere. Living in uncertainty is a deeply affective terrain that is continuously (re)constituted through situated and mediated interactions and practices. There are major structural barriers that prohibit 'progress' in the lives of Iraqi refugees in Jordan. The use and interplay of media and technologies enables some efforts to overcome these and perform important social and subjective functions for the aspirations, identity-construction and home-making practices of refugees, especially since their place in the world continues to be uncertain.

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Using published work and popular culture, but primarily through a series of forty eight in-depth interviews with participants, this study seeks to chart the contours of mass, non-elite road running in Britain. It considers those involved both in terms of age, sex, ethnic and social class characteristics as well as the distinctions participants make of one another in terms of ability, commitment and motivation. These latter differences give rise to discernable groups within the practice that I, and the participants refer to as 'athletes', 'runners' and 'joggers'. It focuses on the 'runners' as the group who comprise the bulk of the field in most events, yet have no readily apparent reason for their involvement since they race and train at levels far above those necessary for basic physical fitness, yet are never going to win any race. The virtually unique (amongst physically demanding sports) composition of the field, in that middle class men over thirty predominate, is then linked to the motivations of those involved. Using recent work on 'bodies' and highlighting the importance of gender to identity the study maps more recent social changes (as parts of longer term trends) that may have undermined some of the traditional grounds (some more recent 'traditions' than others) upon which masculine identities have been established. It considers the way these changes may have worked to the relative disadvantage of middle class men the 'wrong' side of thirty more than many. The thesis advanced is that at the heart of the 'urge to do it on a Sunday morning' for many, is an attempt to 'reclaim' masculinity through a particularly public demonstration of physical prowess, through and from which runners feel they derive the 'respect' and 'admiration' of others. Respect, that is, for attributes traditionally associated with the male of the species.