This study’s central thesis is based upon a qualitative research project which captured and analysed the focus group conversations of fifty-two Black British Pentecostal women of African - Caribbean heritage as they discuss their lived experience in terms of Christian spirituality. Practical Theology as a theologically normative discipline provides the lens through which to study this experience. This thesis states that the lived experience of Black British Pentecostal women develops and informs Pentecostal spirituality as part of a conscious and integrated lifestyle facilitates growth in a woman’s relationship with God. Pentecostal spirituality as lived experience is deduced as an aspect of African-Caribbean Christian Consciousness and the 'language of resistance'. Both constructs enabled the participants in a British context to redefine their social experience on their own terms. Further, Black British Pentecostal women’s experience fills a gap in womanist and feminist literature on the subject of women’s spirituality. This thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by its exploration of the spirituality of Black Caribbean Pentecostal women in Britain through empirical theological research methods. Its focus on Pentecostal spirituality as lived experience moves the discussion beyond the analysis of crisis events and the study of Pentecostal congregational worship.

This study focuses on the experiences of young girls, who were aged between four and twenty-one when the Occupation began, growing up in Occupied France during World War II. Although youth and gender have been researched independently, this has been in terms of the policies that were implemented by the Vichy regime. Similarly studies on public opinion focus on the population as a whole rather than on a specific category of people. Using archival documents and published testimonies, my research explores the complexities surrounding the formation of opinions towards the Germans in young girls’ minds and how these opinions reflect their age and gender. An important factor in this interplay is that the Germans were often not much older than these young girls so in peacetime the two would have belonged to similar peer groups. In contrast to adults who could make conscious decisions about how to behave towards the enemy, young girls tended to react more naturally and instinctively. The thesis therefore argues that their accounts provide a deeper and more nuanced insight into public opinion at this time.

My thesis offers the first full exploration of the literature and art associated with the Genoese noblewoman Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci (1453-1476). Simonetta has gone down in legend as a model of Sandro Botticelli, and most scholarly discussions of her significance are principally concerned with either proving or disproving this theory. My point of departure, rather, is the series of vernacular poems that were written about Simonetta just before and shortly after her early death. I use them to tell a new story, that of the transformation of the historical manna Simonetta into a cultural icon, a literary and visual construct who served the political, aesthetic and pecuniary agendas of her poets and artists. It is an account of the Florentine circles that used women to forge a collective sense of identity, of the emergence of Simonetta and her equally idealised peers as touchstones in contemporary debates regarding beauty and love, and of their corresponding lack of importance as 'real' women in the conservative republic in which they lived. In doing this, my thesis makes an important contribution to our understanding of how and why female beauty was commodified in the poetry and art of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Florence.

Literature Review: The effectiveness of attachment-based interventions when used with maltreating families. This systematic review explores the effectiveness of attachment-based interventions when used with maltreating families. A literature search identified eleven papers testing attachment-based interventions. The results suggest that attachment-based interventions are effective at increasing parental sensitivity, enhancing attachment security and reducing rates of maltreatment, more so than non-attachment-based interventions. Strengths and weaknesses of the reviewed papers are considered and the implications of the findings are presented, in addition to suggestions for future research. Empirical Paper: Exploring the interplay between social workers' personal and professional experiences when discussing the competence of parents with intellectual disabilities. Parents with intellectual disabilities are over-represented in child care proceedings and it has been suggested professionals' assessments can be influenced by personal experiences. Ten social workers watched a video of parents with intellectual disabilities and were interviewed regarding their reactions to the video, to explore how they were influenced by their personal and professional experiences. Foucauldian Discourse Analysis revealed that participants drew on their experiences in a number of different ways, which are described in detail. The strengths and limitations of the research are discussed. Clinical implications and future research are suggested and recommendations offered.

The research examines the way gender relations affect land management and the perception and experience of degradation in two communities in rural Kano, northern Nigeria. Gender plays a central role in the organisation of northern Nigerian society, not least because of the prevalence of wife seclusion and the strict separation of male and female space. The Nigerian government considers desertification and land degradation to be the main environmental issue affecting northern Nigerian communities and links it to poverty and food insecurity, and considerable sums are targeted towards it. Agriculture is the mainstay of rural economies in the region, but women farmers are a minority of the public workforce in agricultural production and the extent of their involvement decreases with increasing seclusion. The study focuses on this minority and examines the interaction of 2 groups of women with natural resources, one secluded and the other non-secluded, their perception of and response to land degradation and their land management practices. The study finds that though gender is an important differentiation, both men’s and women’s views are influenced by their socio-economic positions. The study finds that the women’s land management practices are mediated by their relationships with men and with other women. Men act as a cushion to certain aspects of land degradation such as food insecurity, but other important aspects of women’s lives such as their social net-works and their economic independence are vulnerable. The study also uncovers the centrality of faith in people’s experience of and response to environmental change.

This is a study of class and gender in everyday life on a housing estate in the Midlands. Based on extensive ethnographic research in a pub on the estate, it looks at how identities are constructed in the negotiation of work, relationships, children, and local ‘officials’. It considers how social and cultural capital is formed against the odds and against a widespread pathologising of those struggling to get by. It presents a detailed and contextual understanding of (white) working class identities in the context of neo-liberalism. In doing so, it questions standard sociological accounts of class as well as the official discourse of public policy which represents disadvantage in terms of ‘responsibility’ and ‘aspirations’, while ignoring structural disadvantage.

‘Early diagnosis’ of Autism Spectrum Conditions (‘ASC’ hereafter) is often promoted as universally beneficial. Despite research identifying the earliest possible reliable diagnoses (at 14-24 months), many are diagnosed later in childhood, adolescence or adulthood. This study aims to: (i) explore the reasons for later diagnoses of ASC; and (ii) understand the impact of this on parents. Narrative methodology (including narrative interviews), afforded the unique benefit of keeping individual, chronological stories intact. This allowed exploration of both explanatory narratives (reasons for later diagnosis) and descriptive narratives (impact of later diagnosis) of two parents of young people who had received a ‘later’ diagnosis of ASC (aged 12 years and 16 years). Findings suggest that later diagnoses were interpreted to have arisen from a complex and highly individualised web of interacting factors. There were considerable differences in parental perceptions of the most beneficial time for the diagnosis, in hindsight. I advocate, therefore, an interactionist conceptualisation of ASC across the lifespan, and suggest that ‘early’ diagnosis is not always possible, necessary or beneficial. I invite further research to build upon these findings, with the ultimate aim of improving experiences and outcomes for children, young people and adults with autism and their families.

This review aims to critically evaluate the recent literature on the impact of living alone on the well-being of older adults. A literature search was completed in order to identify relevant peer reviewed articles. Fifteen studies were reviewed, forming a heterogeneous group which included: comparing well-being and loneliness in older adults living alone with those living with others, exploring the experiences of older women living alone, predictors of quality of life in those living alone, investigating gender differences, comparing rural with urban living, the impact of social networks and illness on well-being, and the impact of being house-bound on sense of self. Conflicting evidence emerges. In general, living alone appears to have a negative impact on well-being, though not exclusively. Further research is suggested to explore the personal experiences and meanings of their lives to individuals who live alone.

This thesis examines exile in contemporary autobiographical narratives written in French by women from across the Francophone world. The analysis focuses on work by Nina Bouraoui (Algeria), Gisele Pineau (Guadeloupe), Veronique Tadjo (Cote d'Ivoire), and Kim Lefevre (Vietnam), and investigates how the French colonial project has shaped female articulations of mobility and identity in the present. This comparative, cross-cultural, and cross-generational study engages with postcolonial theory, gender theory, and autobiographical theory in order to create a new framework with which to interpret women's experiences and expressions of displacement across the Francosphere. The thesis posits that existing models of exile do not fully explain the complex situations of the four authors, who do not have a well-defined 'home' and 'host' country. Although marginalised by their gender, they are economically privileged and have chosen to live a rootless existence, which nonetheless renders them alienated and 'out of place'. The thesis thus argues that women's narratives of exile challenge and complicate existing paradigms of exile which have a male, patriarchal focus. By turning our attention to these women and their specific postcolonial gendered narratives, a more nuanced understanding of exile emerges: exile is experienced as a sexual, gendered, racial, and/or linguistic otherness.

This thesis aims to further academic understanding of intimate partner violence (IPV) treatment and wider practice issues across the lifespan. Chapter one provides a background to the issues pertinent to IPV interventions among adolescents and adults. A systematic literature review is presented in Chapter two examining the association between attitudes condoning violence and adolescent IPV (AIPV). Significant yet modest associations were found although methodological differences impeded firm conclusions. Implications of the findings pertaining to gender differences, acceptability of AIPV-supportive attitudes, prevention and intervention are discussed. The empirical study in Chapter three investigated the effectiveness of an IPV intervention programme among a community sample of male perpetrators (N=259). Results show positive effect in relation to self-reported psychological change. The behavioural outcome measure of recidivism yielded more complex results relating to risk level, avoidant attachment, jealousy and age. Chapter four provides an in-depth critique of Spielberger’s (1999) STAXI-2; a standardised tool measuring an individual’s assessed experience and expression of anger. A discussion is presented regarding its’ general psychometric properties and utility amongst adolescent and adult IPV offenders. Chapter five draws the thesis together through considering the implications in light of identified limitations and future directions.