The primary objective of this paper is to present a computerized method for the extraction of phase shifts from an angular distribution. This was accomplished using a least squares curve fitting routine.

Counterfactual thinking typically follows an unexpected event and involves the mental simulation of an alternative outcome which can be either better or worse than the original one. In general, exceptional and controllable events are selected for change over those that are routine and uncontrollable, and actions are likely to be changed over inactions. Importantly an individual’s social role is thought to be critical in determining what is changed and how. Counterfactual thoughts have been associated with causal thinking and more recently with missed opportunities to prevent an unwanted outcome. Accidents at work are unwanted outcomes and are likely to generate counterfactual thoughts. As slips and trips continue to cause a significant number of injuries they are the focus of this research. Safety Professionals, Managers and Accident Subjects are most commonly involved in accident investigations and the study asks whether their different social roles or the type of accident influences how they use counterfactual, prevention and causal thoughts. 612 respondents were recruited representing Safety Professionals, Managers and Accident Subjects. After reading a slip or trip scenario they completed a counterfactual, prevention and causal sentence and these were analysed against 14 structural dimensions, seven of which were used for the first time in this study. The respondent’s job group and the type of accident were found to influence certain structural dimensions of the counterfactual, prevention and causal thoughts more than others. The respondent’s job group strongly influenced counterfactual direction, and the addition or subtraction of antecedents based on actions or inactions, whilst the type of accident strongly influenced the temporal location of the antecedent. Norm Theory (Kahneman & Miller, 1986) proposed that exceptional antecedents were selected for counterfactual change and a categorisation of types of exceptional events has been developed and applied in this study. The implications of these types of thoughts by Safety Professionals, Managers and Accident Subjects are considered.

Despite alcohol consumption being prohibited within the Sikh community for religious reasons, it is well documented that this ruling is regularly transgressed. There is also now a rising body of evidence that suggests that there is an increase in consumption levels within this community (Wilsnack, Vogeltanz, Wilsnack and Harris, 2000; Heim, Hunter, Ross, Bakshi, Davies, Flatley and Meer, 2004; Brar and Moneta, 2009; Pannu, Zaman, Bhala, Zaman, 2009; Motune, 2011). It has been reported that female alcohol consumption has increased within the general population, with the Office of National Statistics (2011) reporting a 7.7% increase in alcohol unit consumption per week for women since 2008. There are also concerns about increased consumption amongst Sikh females and the prevalence of secret drinking behaviour amongst second generation British Sikh females (Bayley and Hurcombe, 2010; Motune, 2011). Increased consumption amongst females remains a cause for concern with the Institute of Alcohol Studies (2013) reporting that female drinking behaviour remains at historically high levels especially amongst young females. This research study aimed to explore the experiences of British Sikh women with alcohol. In the current research 6 British born Sikh women were interviewed and the interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Semi structured interviews were used to explore the young women’s experiences with alcohol; the methodological approach of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) allowed for a rich and detailed exploration of a taboo subject. Themes emerged relating to the nature of secret drinking behaviour including details of the lengths young women go in order to hide their drinking behaviour from their families. The interviews highlighted the participants’ experiences of being British and fitting in with society whilst maintaining their cultural identity as Sikh women. The interviews also revealed a major element of upholding a public image to wider society as well hiding their drinking behaviour from parents and other family members. The participants engaged in constant renegotiating between what is traditional and what is modern: "who am I?" vs. "who am I supposed to be?" The findings from this research can contribute to the development of culturally sensitive alcohol assessment measures and development of culturally sensitive alcohol treatment programmes.

Independent advocacy to support children and young people undertaking a Family Group Conference (FGC) is commonplace in England and Wales. This approach is viewed as good practice when working with young people in promoting their rights, agency, and participation in statutory social work meetings and processes where decisions are being undertaken that directly affect them. FGC provides a forum that allows statutory social workers to work in partnership with children and families where there are identified welfare concerns. However, the use of advocacy approaches within the FGC model researched in this study differs from the successful original processes developed in New Zealand. The study uses interviews with FGC participants, both users and practitioners, and an analysis of legislative and policy documents. It suggests that adapting the FGC model by changing its core processes of advocacy and coordination has had a variety of consequences, many unforeseen and negative as well as positive and affirming for young people and their families. The study found that empowerment, collaboration, and participation, all major precepts and objectives for FGC and advocacy approaches, were at times disrupted and diffused. This undermined rather than enhanced the experiences and the outcomes for service users with many feeling disempowered rather than empowered through the process. Hence the exercise of power through the processes of FGC Advocacy is held up to critical scrutiny and its impact both positive and negative on the FGC participants is discussed in depth.

Background: In the UK alone it is estimated that there are 2.1 million adult electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) users (Action on Smoking and Health, 2014). Introduced to the UK in 2006, ecigarette use has grown rapidly from 700,000 users in 2012 (Kmietowicz, 2014). Given that smoking initiation begins for the most part during adolescence, it is debatable as to whether the e-cigarette could be a gateway into addiction for adolescent non-smokers. This study examined awareness and use of the e-cigarette amongst adolescents, exploring factors that could lead to willingness to try the e-cigarette and susceptibility to smoking conventional cigarettes. Method: Using a between-participants survey design, power analysis calculated a sample size of at least 103 for medium effect. Exceeding this, 256 adolescent pupils aged 16 to 19 years consented to take part in the study. Survey data was collected in November 2013, during a series of 45-minute workshops held during school time. Data was analysed using chi-squared analysis and hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: Nearly all participants had heard of the e-cigarette (94.5%), with friends/family (49.2%) being the most frequently named source of information, followed by television (35.2%). Of the sample 14.5% had used an e-cigarette. Participants were more willing to try flavoured as opposed to the unflavoured version. Smoking status significantly predicted over a third of the variance of willingness to try an e-cigarette (F(1,254) = 141.81, p < .05) and a further 7.8% of the variance was significantly predicted by a positive prototype of a smoker and a negative prototype of an e-cigarette user (R² change = .078, F (8,246) = 4.27, p < 0.05). Willingness to try an e-cigarette was a significant predictor of susceptibility to use of an e-cigarette in the next year (F (1,253) = 174.71, p < .05) and smoking in the next year, in non-smokers (F(1,190) = 60.34, p < .05). Conclusion: Findings illustrated high levels of e-cigarette awareness among adolescents in a London, UK population. Use, whilst at low levels, had increased from the 10% reported in 2012 by Action on Smoking and Health (2014). Willingness to try an e-cigarette was associated with use susceptibility in the next year for both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes. This could be interpreted as a gateway effect, in terms of adolescents inclined to use e-cigarettes and then switch to conventional cigarettes (Bell and Keane, 2014). Future research using longitudinal methodologies would enable researchers to track the trend in e-cigarette use over time, observing whether e-cigarettes are truly serving as a gateway to addiction for other forms of nicotine products. Furthermore, prevention efforts to minimise smoking in youths should educate them about e-cigarette use as a cessation aid for smokers.

Despite its stated importance to outcome evaluations, ‘programme integrity’ has long been lamented as a lacuna in the literature, especially in relation to domestic violence perpetrator programmes (DVPPs). Indeed, the literature reveals a lack of clarity regarding programme integrity in any context, although a baseline definition recognises its role as being to ensure programmes are delivered as intended and with a high level of efficacy. A ‘dominant definition’ emerges which is premised on programmes being subject to experimental models of development and evaluation and thus requiring strict adherence to a manual. This study draws on interviews with British DVPP pioneers, current practitioners and a case study, to explore how programme integrity is understood and practised in British DVPPs. The study finds that the dominant definition is inadequate to capture the practise of DVPPs due to their ‘process-driven’ approach which relies upon a high level of reflexivity, responsivity, and innovation. Furthermore, DVPPs require a concept of programme integrity – directly related to group-work delivery – which is embedded within a wider ‘service integrity’ which recognises the ways in which all aspects of the DVPP service contribute to integrity. The Respect Accreditation Standard requires that the work of the whole service is taken into account but this ‘whole service approach’ has not always translated into a ‘whole service ethos’ since the men’s group-work aspect of the service is often given prominence in terms of resources and status. Thus, a concept of ‘service integrity’ is presented which builds on the Accreditation Standard and encourages a culture, or ‘whole service ethos’, that properly recognises and addresses the contributions of the whole service to achieve an intervention which is effective and innovative, and has ‘integrity’.

The aim of this body of work has been to explore the anti-social behaviour and criminality of disaffected young people. In particular, my focus has been on how the perception of young offenders as ‘youth at risk’ needing guidance has metamorphosed into one of ‘gang’ membership requiring a punitive response. My work examines how community agencies and the criminal justice system have responded to this shift and focuses on the consequences for young people. Theoretically, this body of work has been influenced by a constructionist epistemology and incorporates a feminist methodology. The research work upon which this body of work rests consists mainly of qualitative research with marginalised young people, family members and practitioners working with them. My findings, detailed in various publications, have challenged assumptions about anti-social youngsters, the nature of collective offending by young people and the role the family plays in ‘gang-related’ offending. Most notably, they have sought to shape academic and political discourse in Britain by adopting a critical position against the prevailing view that ‘gang-related’ offending is the primary driver for the rise in violent offences. The work has contributed to the conceptualisation of ‘gang’ groups as they exist in contemporary Britain. It has influenced public policy on the gang, particularly in relation to defining the gang, on crime control and it has rerouted the debate about the involvement of girls and young women in street-based groups.

Public order policing is about power and control. The preservation and maintenance of order is a defining characteristic of the sovereign power. It is a highly political activity which is also emotive, controversial and reflects national culture and identity. Public order policing asks serious questions of the police and represents the most contentious policing activity in modern democratic states. The purpose of this study is to increase and improve current knowledge of public order policing by comparing the policing of disorder in Britain and Spain. It reviews two high profile incidents, the 2011 London Riots and the 2014 "22M" Protests in Madrid, using a fusion of Waddington’s "Flashpoints Model" and Herbert’s "Normative Orders" to comparatively analyse the incidents. The study is supported by a comprehensive literature review and interviews with experienced police public order commanders. This thesis concludes that British public order policing is in need of considerable reform to improve operational effectiveness, efficiency and professionalism. It identifies several key themes which contributed to the inability of the Metropolitan Police to respond effectively to the serious disorder and criminality which proliferated across 22 of London’s 32 boroughs in August 2011. These include the need to review British public order tactics, invest in the training of specialist public order units and improve the understanding of crowd psychology. Practical recommendations are suggested which would refine, enhance and improve the ability of the British public order policing model to respond to the challenges of serious disorder in the twenty first century.

In light of recent emphasis on achieving Universal Health Coverage through social health insurance in low income countries, this thesis examined how the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana impacts on equity of access to healthcare in Tamale District of northern Ghana. Using mainly a qualitative approach, the thesis specifically examined whether the NHIS promotes equity in health insurance coverage and whether insured members are able to access healthcare equitably. Against this background, four broad findings were identified. Firstly, even though the NHIS improved insurance coverage in the Tamale District, enrolment was largely inequitable because most socially disadvantaged groups/individuals were less able to insure. This was mainly because such groups were predisposed to developing low willingness and low ability to enrol in the NHIS as a result of their individual and community characteristics as well as NHIS and healthcare system factors. Secondly, the NHIS improved the affordability of healthcare services and reduced the risk of catastrophic healthcare expenditure among insured members, particularly insured low income households. Thirdly, while the NHIS improved the financial resources of healthcare providers and the availability of medicines and medical supplies, it adversely impacted on the general quality of healthcare services mainly because the supply of healthcare resources failed to keep up with a high demand for healthcare services by insured members. Fourthly, the NHIS also improved the use of formal care, particularly among insured low income households due to their greater healthcare needs and previous inability to afford the cost of healthcare services. However, due to long waiting times associated with accessing NHIS healthcare, the improvement in financial access to healthcare by the NHIS failed to eradicate the use of ‘informal’ forms of care (e.g. drugstore, herbal/traditional medicine) among insured members. Based on these findings, this thesis concludes that the NHIS could enhance equity in access to care if there are opportunities created to enable socially disadvantaged groups to enrol in the scheme as well as improve the availability and quality of healthcare services for insured members.

Child protection has progressively developed into a significant priority for the UAE culminating in a range of strategies and measures to protect vulnerable children and at-risk groups. In recent years the UAE has formed a national Committee for Child Protection, acceded to key international conventions protecting the human rights of children, and legislated for new police powers to enhance child protection. This study addresses the lack of research in the Gulf and UAE on the relationship between relevant risk factors and juvenile delinquency. It is envisaged that identifying core needs of those exposed to early childhood trauma may support the design of appropriate policies on child protection. The study aimed to present a significant theoretical insight on how multiple risk factors and/or negative exposure predict or contribute to offending and re-offending behaviour. The research undertook a qualitative mixed methods approach to investigate the association between childhood risk factors (early child-parent separation, neglect and abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma of sexual abuse, maternal deprivation and family discord) and juvenile delinquency. Data collection was based on four samples of juvenile delinquents remanded in various rehabilitation care centres in the UAE. Findings indicate that in relation to maltreatment 46.7% of juvenile delinquents (n=107) had experienced physical abuse by older adults. A further 20.6% had been subjected to sexual or attempted sexual abuse and 31.8% experienced familial neglect in relation to care. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were acutely manifested among 36.5% of the sample (n=114) with an additional 14.8% suffering chronic PTSD reactions. Delayed PTSD onset was suffered by 5.2% of the sample while 43.5% were found to be PTSD negative. In relation to parental attachment, juvenile delinquents (n=111) indicated a marginally stronger attachment to their mother than to their father. An examination of the link and legacy impacts of early physical and sexual abuse on behaviour, attitudes and feelings of young offenders (n=45) found that 44.44% had experienced sexual abuse in childhood in the majority of cases by familiar adults. These experiences incurred residual feelings of sadness, shame, anger and distrust of others. Most of these victims further demonstrate low self-esteem and suffer anxiety and nightmares in addition to other trauma reactions such as violent behaviour, stealing and use of drugs.