Government policies currently emphasise the need to support those with dementia at home, and family carers are increasingly advised to engage their relative in daily activities. Knowledge about family carers involvement in the activity needs of individuals living with dementia is fragmented. This study explored carers' decision making related to their engagement with their relative in everyday activities at home. Following research governance and ethical approval, 30 in-depth interviews (initial and follow-up) were carried out with 15 resident-carers who were recruited via local community mental health teams. Then five focus groups were conducted through carer support groups. The majority of carers were spouses, three were daughters and one a female friend. Both the interviews and focus groups explored the experiences of involving relatives in daily activities and highlighted the carers' strategies, feelings and reflections. Themes were identified which formed a temporal model consisting of five activity patterns. These were the usual, recognisable, illogical, irresponsible and dispossessed patterns. The model illustrated the complexity and long-term nature of family carers activity-related decisions. Over the passage of time carers attempted to recapture the past self of their relative through engaging them in beneficial activity. The findings provided deeper insight in the understanding of the processes by which carers negotiated strategies; and how such processes challenged the carers' own sense of self. The model offers a new approach for occupational therapists and other healthcare professionals to guide home-based activity programmes in which carers' perspectives are taken into account. Practitioners could gain a more complete understanding of the caregiving situation, so that they can, more effectively, support the family member and hence the person with dementia more effectively. Further research will focus on developing a toolkit to enable practitioners to recognise the complexities, uncertainties and conflicting values which confront carers in their decision-making and so enhance partnership working.

This research considers job satisfaction among female head teachers in Saudi Arabian secondary schools in the city of Abha using a qualitative methodology. The subjects of the study were female head teachers in five secondary schools in the city; all the deputy heads and some of the teachers were also included. The research identifies the main factors that influence female head teacher satisfaction. It is based on interviews as the main method, and documents and observation as supporting methods. This study groups job satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors into six major themes: educational administration, school conditions, supervision, nature of the work, personal variables, and social relationships with students, parents, deputies and teachers. The study found that female secondary school head teachers‟ overall attitudes to their job in the five schools were negative. Unfortunately, factors of dissatisfaction outnumbered factors of job satisfaction. Achievement, helping students, and salary were the chief sources of satisfaction, while factors of dissatisfaction were linked to educational administration by the education authorities outside the school, including lack of cooperation and inconsistent decisions (e.g. in the application of regulations), lack of delegated authority, constrained budgets, limited training and development opportunities, poor supervision, and high workload and, to some extent, poor school infrastructure, including a lack of maintenance, poor facilities, and challenges because of school location. The study is important from the point of view of the head teachers, because their performance depends on satisfaction in the role, which in turn affects the whole school and the community. The study concludes with a number of recommendations for local and national education authorities in Saudi Arabia.

This thesis examines the representation of left-wing political violence in Italian and German films from 2000 to 2010 drawing on postmodernism theory, film genre, memory studies and gender theory. It considers filmic texts and paratexts, historiography and political discourses to offer a comparative analysis of the mnemonic dynamics in new millennial Italy and Germany. This thesis looks at why the experience of revolutionary terrorism in the 1970s reappears at the turn of the new millennium in a cluster of fiction films, which innovate and sometimes challenge previous paradigms. It reads this revival in connection with industrial trends and historical events, such as the end of old ideologies, the early release of former terrorists and 9/11. The memory of left-wing terrorism has found new lifeblood in the new millennium because there are ample resonances with contemporary social issues, such as political activism and global fears of international terrorism. Focusing on eight case studies, I argue that the memory of left-wing terrorism unfolds beyond and across temporal and spatial boundaries, reactivated by present-day occurrences and through contacts with other traumatic memories. The notion of ‘interconnected memory’ is fundamentally conceived as a nexus of multiple meanings, the fruit of past recollections, and movements between different socio-historical dimensions and generational memories. Representational strategies and narrative trends are also explored to shed light on crossnational forms of memorialising political violence and its legacy. The first part analyses how postmillennial films deal with the possibility of forgiveness, here interpreted as an approach to normalise the past through narratives of pacification or exclusion. It highlights the figure of the teenager as a metaphor for the changing memory of terrorism, generational conflicts and the implications of 1970s violence for young generations. Moreover, it discusses the depiction of female terrorists and the containment strategies adopted to mitigate the anxiety for terrorist acts perpetrated by violent women. The second part of this thesis is concerned with the risks of forgetting and more precisely on an aesthetic normalisation of the terrorist discourse through popular genres and a more commercial style. It comments on the hyper-authenticity and retro aesthetics in biopics about notorious terrorist groups, and the spectacularisation of violence via the thriller and heritage film genre. It also investigates how contemporary comedies satirise the phenomenon of anarchist revolts and political kidnappings to reflect on present-day social problems.

Childhood sleep problems are highly prevalent and the importance of adequate sleep quantity and quality in child development has been well documented. The most common area of difficulty associated with young school-age children is bedtime resistance, where the child typically refuses to go to bed or attempts to delay bedtime with repeated requests. Current behavioural approaches used to address such difficulties typically involve the use of extinction techniques, which aim to minimise parental attention after bedtime. Research has shown that these techniques have led to a reduction in problem behaviours, but the emotional difficulties that parents face during the initial phase of the intervention have led to the exploration of alternative techniques. This review explored the potential use of a Social Story™ intervention (a short personalised story designed to teach a child how to manage their own behaviour during a specific situation) to help children with their bedtime problems. Current literature has shown that Social Story™ interventions have a good level of treatment acceptability, with supporting evidence provided for their use with both typically developing children and those with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Only 2 studies however have investigated the use of Social Stories™ within the specific area of children’s bedtime problems (Burke, Kuhn & Peterson, 2004; Moore, 2004). The empirical paper reports a study that investigated the use of a Social Story™ intervention with a community sample of 6 children who found it difficult to settle at bedtime. Results replicated previous findings, demonstrating a reduction in the frequency of disruptive bedtime behaviours for all 6 children associated with the introduction of the Social Story™. Treatment effects, however, were not maintained on all measures at the 6-month follow-up and results from an objective measure of sleep behaviours (actigraphy) produced mixed findings.

Poorly nourished women are more likely to give birth to smaller babies, as nutrients supplied to the fetus determine growth and development of key organs and systems. Children born to poor and disadvantaged women are particularly at risk, as these women are themselves born less able to nourish their babies in utero and are more likely to be eating unbalanced diets. The literature supports the hypothesis that the inadequate supply of nutrients to the fetus and in early infancy will increase the risk of ill health in later life. The Southampton Women’s Survey (SWS) found that education was the strongest predictor of consuming a diet in line with current government recommendations. Women of lower educational attainment ate the poorest quality diets. The current study aimed to understand why women of lower educational attainment have less balanced diets than women of higher educational attainment, and how we can use this knowledge to develop an intervention to improve their diets. Three phases of data collection were undertaken. First, a focus group study showed that a range of psychological and social factors influenced young women’s food choices, with differences emerging between women of lower and higher educational attainment. Social cognitive theory structured the interpretation of the findings. Women of lower educational attainment had lower perceived control over food choices; fewer appropriate mastery and vicarious experiences to provide them with food management, preparation and cooking skills; more negative affect; more impediments to eating healthily; less social support for eating healthily; and ambivalent views about the diet-disease relationship. Some women of lower educational attainment managed the food choices for themselves and their families better than others. In phase two a survey quantified the relationship between diet and these psychological and social factors in Southampton women. Questionnaire development was guided by findings from the focus group study and social cognitive theory. Eating a poor diet was associated with four factors: lower perceived control over life, fewer positive outcome expectancies, less social support for healthy eating and lower food involvement. Bandura’s construct of self-efficacy was less important than perceived control in predicting quality of diet. In phase three an expert panel focus group gauged the views of practitioners working with our target population on how to improve the diets of disadvantaged women. Three themes emerged from the discussion: trust, meeting needs, and barriers to change. The practitioners gave us insight into the challenges they face, the barriers to changing women’s dietary behaviour and what their role might be in bringing about change. This research has increased our understanding of what influences women’s food choices and what we need to do in order to improve the diets of young women with lower educational attainment. Increasing a woman’s sense of control over her life may be the key to empowering her to improve her own and her family’s diets. The next step is to work with key personnel in the City to develop an intervention for Sure Start Children’s Centre staff, who already engage with the most vulnerable populations, and are thus best placed to support women to improve their diets

This thesis adopts an interdisciplinary approach to consider how so-called ‘problem families’ were conceptualised by the welfare state in post war Britain through an examination of fiction and non-fiction texts. The 1945-75 period has been recognised as the era of the ‘classic welfare state’, during which successive governments made interventions in the British economy to maintain full employment. Preventing wide-scale unemployment was key to classic welfare state ideology, which relied the assumption that workers would make contributions which were equal in value to the benefits they received. Problem families were perceived as either unable or unwilling to participate in this reciprocal relationship due to their failure to achieve or aspire to ‘normal’ levels of productivity and financial independence. In order to gain insight into the manner in which these families were conceptualised by the welfare state, this thesis focuses upon three key areas: psychiatry, housing and family planning. It also draws upon theoretical perspectives offered by Michel Foucault and Zygmunt Bauman to consider how the conceptualisations from each of these served the purposes of state governance and the enforcement of social norms through biopolitical means. Investigating the manner in which the term ‘problem family’ was deployed in the post-war period provides insight into how the welfare state legitimised its attempts to change behaviours closely associated with the poorest members of British society. By shaping policy to encourage the reform of problem family behaviour through biopolitical means, the post-war welfare state played an important governance role by ensuring that as many people as possible existed in a reciprocal relationship with the state.

This study investigates whether there is an association between economic activity in women and union dissolution in the UK. This study looks at both individual-level and aggregate-level trends by posing a number of research questions. Using a series of Cox Proportional Hazard and Piecewise Constant models to analyse individual-level data from the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society surveys, this study has found only weak and inconsistent evidence of an association between women’s economic activity and union dissolution. Examining these data for separate union cohorts, this study has found some initial evidence that the relationship between economic activity and union dissolution may be changing over time. The final stage of the analysis in this study looked at aggregate trends in economic activity and divorce and found some evidence of an association at the aggregate level, although due to data restrictions this was not conclusive. Following a discussion of the changing status of women and the changing legal, social and cultural context within which unions are formed and dissolved, this study concluded more evidence is found for an association at the aggregate level, leading to the hypothesis that economic activity is contributing to wider social changes and that these social changes are influencing the risk of union dissolution.

This study investigates the role of social-problem solving and social support as mediators and moderators of the relationship between stressful life events and adjustment, experienced by young students in Saudi Arabia. The study sample involved 630 college students and 390 high school students. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used. Semi-structured interviews (Chapter 4) conducted with twelve university students showed that the chief problems that the students experienced were mainly interpersonal and personal. Students reported that they used a rational problem solving style and avoidance; rather than other styles. Translation and modification of original western cultural measures, testing psychometric properties and finding new factors of the translated scales was undertaken (Chapter 5 and 6). Reliability and validity for all the scales were acceptable. The Life Satisfaction of Young Saudi Women scale was specifically developed for the current study, and proved a reliable and valid means of assessing the populations. The empirical investigation contained two related studies (Chapter 7 and 8), using self-completion questionnaires administered to both populations. They showed that dysfunctional social-problem solving dimensions partially mediated the stress-distress relationship in both samples. Social support was found to partially mediate stress-life satisfaction only in university students. However it was found to partially mediate stress-distress relationships in the school sample. In terms of moderating effects, path analysis results showed that the path representing dysfunctional socialproblem solving dimensions significantly interacted with stress to predict a high level of distress. Results also indicated that social support moderated the relation between stress and distress in both samples. In Chapter Nine, several avenues for implication and future research are suggested in the areas of theory, measurement and applied research

Aims: To examine the interaction of maternal factors (body composition, physical activity, diet and cigarette consumption) with childhood factors (body composition, diet & physical activity) in the determination of bone mineral accrual by aged 6 years, assessed by a) bone densitometry b) hip structural analysis c) pQCT measurement of the tibia in children born to mothers from the Southampton Women‟s Survey. Methods: Children were recruited at 6 years old from the Southampton Women's Survey. Their mothers‟ diet, lifestyle and anthropometry had previously been characterised before and during pregnancy. The children underwent measurement of bone mass by DXA, including hip structure analysis (HSA), and by pQCT at the tibia. Physical activity was assessed by accelerometry (Actiheart) for 7 continuous days. Diet was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire and detailed anthropometric data was also collected. Results: There were 530 children who attended for a DXA scan. Of these, 148 also underwent pQCT assessment. Increased childhood height, weight and milk intake were associated with increased measures of bone size; increased physical activity levels and greater lean mass were positively associated with increased volumetric BMD. Fat mass was negatively associated with volumetric BMD. Whilst maternal height, weight, exercise in late pregnancy and pre pregnancy calcium intake were associated with increased bone size in the offspring, this association was removed after adjusting for childhood factors suggesting that maternal body composition and lifestyle may predict the child‟s body composition and lifestyle. On assessment of growth patterns in this cohort, children were who born small tended to remain small at aged 6 years. Increased catch up growth was associated with increased maternal height and total milk intake at aged 3 years. Rapid weight gain during childhood was associated with maternal smoking during pregnancy. Conclusions: We have demonstrated that maternal and childhood factors influence bone mineral accrual and bone strength, in the developing child. Whilst many important maternal determinants measured (such as physical activity levels) were shown to influence the corresponding determinants in the offspring, other factors such as maternal cigarette smoking were shown to have persistent independent effects on post-natal growth and body composition.

The Assert programme (Gardner 2006) is A Semi-Structured Empowering Reflective Therapy for unpaid carers. It is based on Butler’s (1963; 1974) life review therapy and incorporates Pennebaker’s (1990) narrative writing paradigm. This single-subject study (Sinclair 1962; MacIntyre 1985; Erben 2000) sought to determine whether Assert was safe and effective in an individual setting and whether mirroring (Winnicott 1971) was effective as an educative and therapeutic strategy for a carer on a one-to-one basis. Underpinned by humanistic, person-centred principles (Rogers 1951; 1961), fortnightly life review sessions alternated with opportunities for narrative writing during the sixmonth programme. ‘John’, the participant, aimed to reduce his stress and ‘put the past in the past’. An additional aim of the study was to ascertain whether engaging in the Assert life review process improved John’s childhood autobiographical memory recall. Qualitative data analysis employed verstehen hermeneutics (Dilthey 1976) with grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss 1967; Patton 2002) and biographical research methods (Erben 1998). The most noticeable outcome was a positive shift in John’s biographical reflective focus indicating increased psychological congruence together with some startling improvements in his sense of selfhood. Conversation analysis (Sacks, et al. 1974) also revealed a change in John’s interaction style. John achieved his personal aims but retrieved no ‘new’ memories; however his narrative assumed greater coherence. It was concluded that the Assert programme was safe and effective and that mirroring was effective as an educative and therapeutic strategy on a one-to-one basis with a carer. To compare the programme’s long-term effectiveness with other conventional therapies a randomised control trial is recommended with pre- and post-programme brainscanning of participants to detect any change in neural activity. Potential applications for the Assert programme are more wide-ranging than originally envisaged, including the amelioration of burnout in what is termed in this study as the ‘unpaid carer’s syndrome’.