A sociological analysis in the Durkheimian tradition was employed in the construction of this thesis. Drawing upon the literature and specific cases this thesis explores the construction, deployment and enactment of these concepts in relation to the social unrest stimulated in Britain by the abuse and murder of children, in particular focusing on the anti-pedophile riots that took place in the year 2000. With the growth of material security in the West, the lives of children have become less fragile. However - as Durkheim and Weber showed -the material development of the West has gone hand in hand with a decline in the dominance of traditional religious forms. One consequence of this is a collapse in time-honoured modes of togetherness. However, the impulse towards religiosity does not disappear and following Durkheim what we need analytically to do is identify where the sacred/profane classifications presently operate. One such place is children; they have become classified as sacred and they: a) represent material security: b) provide meaning because they are aimed at the future, so to speak. However, in order for communities of togetherness to form around children they have to be identified as at risk. The risk, amplified by various media, comes from child abusers, especially, child murderers, who thus become the scapegoat around whose sacrifice the community is formed, and therefore the togethernesst hat was formerly established by traditional religion is once again possib"It is thus not lack of cleanliness or health that causes abjection but what disturbs identity, system, order. What does not respect borders, positions, rules. The inbetween, the ambiguous, the composite. The traitor, the liar, the criminal with good conscience, the shameless rapist, the killer who claims he is a saviour .... Any crime, because it draws attention to the fragility of the law, is abject, but premeditated crime, cunning murder, hypocritical revenge are even more so because they heighten the display of such fragility. He who denies morality is not abject, there can be grandeur in amorality and even in crime that flaunts its disrespect for the law - rebellious, liberating, and suicidal crime. Abjection on the other hand, is immoral, sinister, scheming and shady: a terror that dissembles, a hated that smiles, a passion that uses the body for barter instead of inflaming it, a debtor who sells you up, a friend who stabs you..... " Kristeva, Julia (Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, [1980] 1982: 4) "People fear sharks and yet it is the coconuts that present the real and present danger" Gully, Tim (Focus on the Child. In Ruch, Post Qualifying Child Care Social Work, 2009: 63) The Bloody

This research hinges around an ethnographic investigation of what have termed 'underclass' or 'excluded youth'. Located in' a physically isolated and multiply deprived estate - situated in a place deemed to be a prime underclass locale - it examines the extent to which the lived reality of young people's lives in poor places is reflected accurately in recent theories of such lives. Through periods of intensive observation, participant observation and in-depth qualitative interviews with 34 young people, it explores the key themes within these theories (namely attitudes, experiences and aspirations towards education, employment and work, the family, parenthood and independence and crime and community). Despite concerns that young people are detached or excluded from these areas of life, the thesis argues that young people remain attached to the world of work, that the family and parenting are held in high regard, that criminal behaviour is often transitory and that there is a strong attachment to community. In short, then, the research concludes that underclass theories fail to capture the intricacies and realities of the transitions and experiences of so-called underclass youth. Whilst social exclusion discourses do allow for greater understanding of the socioeconomic forces that work to constrain the agency of young people, they - like underclass theories - sometimes over-emphasise choice in the making of youth transitions. Additionally, social exclusion discourses can operate with a similar victimblaming ethos and overestimate the alleged social and moral detachment of young people. Finally, contrary to some of the more convincing social structural analyses of poverty and social exclusion in the US and UK, the thesis argues that in this context blocked opportunities do not generate socio-cultural responses that themselves were significant in generating exclusion. Rather, the ethnography emphasises continued attachment to older forms of working-class culture, life-style and aspirations.

This study explores constructions of mental health in Thailand by employing a bi-modal qualitative research design. In a nine month ethnographic study with 49 Thai women of different life and mental health backgrounds, I observed their day-to-day interactions with, and formulations of, mental health (Group One - the Emergency Home, a hostel for victims of rape, abuse and poverty, Group Two - the Family Link Association, a rehabilitation centre for people living with mental illness and Group Three - the everyday life setting). I also examined 121 mental health related articles in four Thai women's magazines by employing discourse analysis to explore the system of mass-mediated representations of mental health. This study responds to the need for complex analysis of mental health. The analysis shows that mental health is socially constructed and contested. In tum, there are a series of interactions, territories, voices and connected discourses behind these constructions. Thai women, this research concludes, are thus co-constructors of mental health in their interactions as media users with the complex representations of mental health in a dispersed media complex environment. Despite the representations of mental health being inadequate, misleading and biased in women's magazines (as well as other popular media), the mass media are a key resource of mental health information, blurring the borders between the public and private spheres of women's interests. Media literacy emerged as an enabling factor in building and generating respondents' mental health competencies and quality interaction in the recursive connection of mental health. Respondents from Group Two and Group Three drew on higher levels of media literacy in selecting, processing, filtering, criticising and challenging the mass-mediated mental health representations compared with Group One who had limited access to the diversity of mass media. This study also raises a concern as to the equality in women's access to different media and the question as to what extent women of different backgrounds can develop the media literacy skills to negotiate and utilise mediated contents to enhance mental health.

One key policy issue that currently dominates political debate in the developed world is that of immigrant and refugee integration. For refugees, central to all definitions and the implementation of successful refugee resettlement is employment, in particular the roles that refugees either play, or are allocated within the labour market. However, in light of the short term and <I>ad hoc</I> nature of refugee research, there is a dearth of studies documenting the structural progress which refugee groups make during the course of their long-term resettlement. Despite the absence of research of this nature, the British media currently portray Ugandan Asian refugees as a paragon ethnic minority who have achieved economic integration by ascending from 'rags to riches', since their resettlement in Britain in 1972. In light of the absence of academic evidence to corroborate this claim, this study employs multiple research methods to measure and confirm the extent to which the Ugandan Asians have achieved social mobility, over the decade 1981-1991. Reference to qualitative interview material provides an insight and understanding of the underlying attitudes and beliefs that have motivated the refugees, during the course of this social process. The study finds that the Ugandan Asian refugees have indeed achieved significant upward social mobility to the extent that their social class profile in 1991 favours white collar work, while the qualitative material reveal that this social mobility has been facilitated by key identities which yield human capital resources. The study also elucidates the discrepancies between the media stereotype and Ugandan Asian community perceptions of their success and it demonstrates that the social mobility of the Ugandan Asians best relates to the diacritical factors outlined by the model minority thesis.

This thesis explores the experiences of young people perinatally infected with HIV in the UK. Although advances in medical treatment have made a major difference to the life expectancy of these young people this may not be matched by their 'lived experience' insofar as they face the consequences of a stigmatised disease as well as an uncertain future. This is the first study to critically analyse young peoples' accounts of growing up with HIV in the UK. This thesis considers the experiences of twenty-eight young people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four recruited from a London hospital. Drawing on Bury's (1982) concept of 'biographical disruption' and the concept of 'critical moments' (Thomson et al. 2002), it explores how HIV affects a young person's biography. Findings from the study demonstrate that a diagnosis of HIV disrupts biography and this experience is interspersed by 'critical moments' that serve to bring into sharp relief difference and forces young people to continually re-evaluate and make sense of being HIV positive. Young people make sense of disruption in order to construct and maintain a new identity as they become adults; this process is influenced by the stigma attached to HIV as well as by the disease trajectory. They use a range of strategies to adjust to and manage living with a stigmatised identity. This study raises important questions about the impact of HIV on young people, their families and their relationships. It demonstrates that most young people learn to 'pass' (Goffman 1963) as uninfected and conceal their HIV status. They withdraw from social relationships which increases their isolation and loneliness and affects their well-being. Findings also reveal that young people report little support to help them manage the impact of HIV. The study also highlights the urgent need for future research focusing on young people with HIV.

Sport occupies a visible position within popular culture and appears to offer clear 'proof' of the differences between men and women. The segregation of sport along binary sex/gender lines reinforces commonsense belief in the 'naturalness' of such binary categories and renders all those who cannot be classified easily within such terms of reference culturally unintelligible, and thus excludes them from the practice of organised sport. This study explored the only Olympic-level sport which is not organised around segregation along binary sex/gender lines - equestrian sport - in order to consider the implications of abandoning such a restrictive, hierarchical framework. Drawing on the theories of Judith Butler, this study explored both the productive potential and the limitations of abandoning sex/gender binarism as a core organising principle within equestrian sport, and the potential this offers for expanding the terms of recognition and intelligibility to make sport a more open and inclusive practice. Thirty-three individual interviews with competitive riders, three focus groups and participant observation within the equestrian social world were employed to explore these issues. This study suggests that normative gender ideals have a pervasive influence on individual identities and subjectivities within equestrian sport subculture, but also indicates ways in which these norms can be destabilised and troubled. Although the possibility for subversion and transformation of gender norms is limited, the example of equestrian sport presented in this study suggests that abandoning the restrictive binary framework of sex/gender that characterises most sports may be an important first step in challenging gender norms and opening up sport to be more inclusive and welcoming to those currently excluded and devalued

This study on power and participation in post-conflict settings analyzes a rural development project in Mandimba District of Northern Mozambique. The purpose is to gain understanding of the dynamics and possibilities of participatory approaches for increasing the influence of previously excluded actors in decision-making processes. The methodology for this study reflects two broad yet intertwined approaches. For the first component, the Mozambique in-depth case study research, I draw on my role as a participant observer as well as other more traditional field research approaches. A variety of qualitative methods were used for the collection of the information, including review of documentary sources, participant observation, key informant and focus group interviews. The initial data collection lasted about eight months in different phases between 1998 and 1999. In Mozambique, but also in subsequent years, my approach drew upon principles of reflective practice, where I learned not only through the study of others, but through reflections on my work as a practitioner in conflict areas being studied. This latter approach was particularly important when triangulating and extending the findings from the Mozambique study to other war-torn settings in which I later worked in Kosovo, Pakistan and Chad and when reviewing documented experiences in participatory processes in Afghanistan and East Timor. A 'power over' and 'actor oriented' approach informed data collection and analysis of the information. The findings show that inclusive participatory approaches may fail if they do not address power. They may sideline power asymmetries and fail to set rules of involvement for actors within the project. In addition, structural and functional factors related to the project frame can enhance or constrain participation. The finding also shows that the inflexibility of the project frame constrains actor engagement in decision-making processes. The theoretical implication of this research calls for an approach to power rooted in the mix of conflict and consensual understanding of power. Practical implications point towards a greater emphasis on 'decision ruling', i.e. setting the 'rules of the game' for decision-making in participatory processes.

For more than a decade, I have been enthusiastically engaged in and around the issues of community development, women and the role of governmental (GOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). From my early school days, I started noticing that my grandmother, mother, sister and other women in and around my community have limited space and access in the public areas compared to the male members of the family and the community. Out of curiosity, I started considering and asking the question "why do all of these women have limited access and opportunities and no decisive role at all in both private and public spheres, even though they work harder and longer hours?" Since then, this question has been a major concern to me. It has become clear why my mother sent me to the community meetings/gatherings when my father was away from home. I wondered at the time why she could not go to the meetings herself. I had to go, even though I did not enjoy those gatherings of senior male members of the community (mostly the heads of households). My mother would remind me of my "manly" duty and responsibility. Later, I came to understand that the public sphere was not meant for women and that my mother, by not breaking the social norms, had tried to prove that she was a "good" woman. As a result of this experience, I have been interested in exploring the causes and consequences of different practices and treatment based on gender identity in Nepalese society and elsewhere in the world. Men generally occupy the highest position in power hierarchies, establishing themselves as provider and protector, a status that allows them to have control over the lives of women. Nepal is no exception to this rule where the roles of Nepalese women are underestimated and thus unrecognized. Based on this background, my attempt in this study has been to address the research question: Why are women in rural Nepal not able to stand up and participate in community development activities as men do even though in the official documents of both GOs and NGOs their roles are accepted and involvement is sought? In the Nepalese context, Civil Society Organizations such as NGOs are claiming that they are working for and with women to bring them into the mainstreaming development process, and GOs are accepting the fact that women are equally contributing to the household and community from economic as well as sociocultural standpoints. If that is the case, then for instance, what roles are NGOs playing to enhance women's active participation in the process of development practices? In this study, I have tried to establish answers by conducting one to one interviews with women in the community to national level activists, focus group discussions from local to policy level, and secondary level data both qualitative and quantitative. The preliminary findings indicate that women's real representation comes through community based organizations (CBOs) which are more effective than at the level of GOs and NGOs. This small level study has time and resource limitations, however the data provides an insight into how women are marginalized within all 'classes' (upper, middle & lower) as a second-classc itizens. In conclusion, I camet o find that men are still holding a decisive role from the house to nation and throughout a top-down system of development. Men are the breadwinners, decision makers and donors/givers - always at an advantage over women in developing countries like Nepal. The research concludes that CBOs such as Women's Forums and the Young Farmers' Group are examples of women raising women's collective voices in order to challenge the supremacy of patriarchal development practices. CBOs like these provide an alternative model of development where priorities go for consultation over monopoly, process over product and local cooperation over competition for sustainable development.

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