British sociology has been characterised as suffering from a 'quantitative deficit' originating from a shift towards qualitative methods in the discipline in the 1960s. Over the years, this has inspired a number of initiatives aimed at improving number work within the discipline, of which the Q-step programme is the most recent. These initiatives, and the work that supports them, primarily concern themselves with the curricula, attitudes, and output of students and academics within Higher Education. As such, the role that the substantive A level plays in post-16 quantitative education has been largely ignored. This thesis addresses this apparent gap in the literature, providing a study of the curriculum, with a particular focus on the quantitative method element therein. The thesis takes a mixed-method approach to curriculum research, encompassing the historical as well as the current, and the written as well as the practiced. The analysis is presented in a synoptic manner, interweaving data from across the methods used, in an attempt to provide an integrated and holistic account of A level Sociology. An overarching theme of marginalisation becomes apparent; not least with the subject itself, but also with quantitative methods positioned as problematic within the research methods element of the curriculum, which is itself bound and limited. The high-stakes exam culture is shown to dominate the behaviour of both teachers and students, regardless of their attitudes and understanding of the relevancy and/or importance of quantitative methods in the subject. Taken together, these findings imply a potential problem for recruitment into quantitative sociology, whilst offering an avenue by which this might be addressed. Linked to the high-stakes performativity culture, a novel conceptualisation of teachers' understandings of the relationship between their role, the curriculum, the discipline, and notions of powerful knowledge is offered.

In the current academic climate, the concept of dyslexia is being increasingly questioned. This thesis aims to contribute to this debate by focusing on the dyslexia label, how it is acquired and the real impact it can have on both the individual and those around them. It examines the various factors that may be involved in influencing a dyslexic individual by looking, not only at the individual, but also at the environment in which they are situated. Thus, the term 'dyslexic system' is defined to describe how the individual and their environment interact. The research involved the use of two datasets. Firstly, the Millennium Cohort Study was used to examine what socio-demographic and individual level factors influenced whether the cohort member had a diagnosis of dyslexia at ages 7, 11 and 14 in England and in Wales. Using this information, the impact of the dyslexia label on academic self-concept was then investigated. Secondly, primary survey data from teachers in England and Wales was used to investigate how teachers understood dyslexia. Logistic regression analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study showed that both individual and social demographic factors impacted whether a cohort member had been labelled with dyslexia. Sex, social class, parents' education, income, having an older sibling and age in year group were all significant predictors of dyslexia at varying ages. Furthermore, when dyslexic and non-dyslexic cohort members were matched on these characteristics using propensity score matching, those labelled with dyslexia had a lower academic self-concept than those without this label. Teachers and parents also held lower aspirations for children labelled with dyslexia, despite the groups being matched on ability. Results from the teacher survey showed that the majority of teachers surveyed did not show an understanding of the biological and cognitive aspects of dyslexia which have been found to be important for effective intervention. Furthermore, teachers reported poor teacher training on dyslexia. Factors seemingly unrelated to dyslexia influence whether a child is labelled as dyslexic in England and Wales. This suggests that that the label is not evenly distributed across the population and indicates that resources for support may not be being fairly allocated. Furthermore, the dyslexia label also negatively impacts the child's academic outlook and evokes a stereotypical understanding in teachers. These findings highlight the importance of looking at dyslexia as a system. The results foreground the need for change in the current system.

This research examines the drivers, barriers, enablers and benefits related to implementing Community Benefits (CBs) through public sector contracts. Typically, CBs include workforce and supply chain measures, community initiatives such as philanthropy or contributions to education and measures to reduce environmental impact. To date there have been few academic studies into CBs implementation. Through an in-depth cross-sectoral dyadic study of the issues faced by 29 organisations when implementing CBs, this research expands knowledge of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and socially responsible public procurement (SRPP). A multi-level conceptual model explores the relationship between external, organisational and individual level factors that influence the success of CBs implementation. The research makes a theoretical contribution by combining stakeholder theory, resource-dependence theory and the resource-based view to explain key findings. This research confirms many previous findings concerned with the drivers, barriers and enablers related to other forms of SSCM or SRPP in the literature. It extends academic knowledge by highlighting a number of novel findings, which may be specific to implementing CBs measures. Workforce measures and supply chain measures directed at including SMEs in the supply chain are most commonly employed but there is no "one size fits all" model for implementing CBs. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face more barriers than larger suppliers when providing socio-economic benefits to meet public sector requirements, particularly relating to workforce measures. Whilst many enablers have been suggested they are not always employed. By examining Community Benefits implementation through a dyadic study, this research enhances the understanding of academics and practitioners on how CBs may be maximised as a form of SRPP. Finally, this research has the capacity to positively influence future CBs implementation by providing key recommendations for policy-makers and practitioners and reporting results to participating organisations.

This conceptual and empirical exploration provides an in depth understanding of the impact of traumatic sexual violation and the impact on memory. This is with particular focus on how this might affect engagement with the giving of evidence and the response of the Criminal Justice System (CJS). The role of dissociation at the time of the trauma and the development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are pivotal to this study. The conceptualisation developed from the literature provides an informative tool to increase understanding of the different ways a victim may present when in the acute stages of traumatisation and how police and other professionals within the CJS can best support them. A number of strategies are suggested that can facilitate the victim in recalling their traumatic event in a coherent way that is sufficient to be used as evidence. The second part of the study provides findings from a number of interviews with police participants linked to the Cardiff and Vale Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) that looks at how police understand the impact on memory and how this is dealt with in practice within the CJS. Although police show a good understanding of some of the problems victims face when engaging with the criminal justice process, they suggested that there are still limitations with the current adversarial system that need addressing. This was a qualitative study utilising a cross-sectional research design by focusing on data collected at one point in time providing a focused lens on the current practice within the system and examined whether it was fit for purpose for traumatised individuals who have experienced a dissociative response and are at risk of developing PTSD or trauma related disorders.

There is an ongoing moral panic about 'the' juvenile delinquent in Trinidad and Tobago. The media present, with increasing regularity, stories about problematic youth-particularly young men-giving the impression that youth crime is spiralling out of control, when official statistical evidence suggests otherwise. Research into youth offending in Trinidad and Tobago has been mainly quantitative, considering the risks and protective factors associated with delinquency and desistance. The extant research also analyses and discusses the data uncovered within the framework of Western criminological theories. Little attempt is made to use, adapt, or develop theory in the Caribbean or Trinbagonian context in which the data was produced. The present study addresses the dearth of qualitative data on young offenders in Trinidad and Tobago by presenting the narratives of a census population of convicted juvenile offenders housed at the Youth Training Centre in Trinidad. These narratives are analysed and interpreted within the socio-economic, cultural and historical context in which these accounts were produced, taking up a 40-year-old call for the development of a 'Caribbean Criminology'. The main purpose of this project was to gain an understanding of the subjective lived experiences of incarcerated young men in Trinidad and Tobago; how they feel, think, act and make sense of the world. I discuss the implications of the narratives presented with regard to broader sociological-criminological questions about state legitimacy and procedural justice and within the context of the families and communities from which my participants come. My findings offer insight into stigmatised communities and suggest the need for a reconceptualisation of poverty as a structural deficit rather than an individual failing, and a need for state officials to recognise the social and cultural injustice that have blocked opportunities for a number of citizens.

Evidence suggests that for some families home visiting support can be effective for enabling parents in adverse situations to cope with their emotional well-being and other issues. However the circumstances in which home visiting is effective are less well understood. The administrative data from one home visiting organisation, Home-Start, was analysed to identify how the nature of support, adverse family situations and the interrelationship between them were related to changes in parental emotional well-being. The effects of adverse situations were explored by looking at individual risk factors, multiple risks, levels of need and life events that occur during support. Variables describing the average rate at which parental emotional well-being improves over the course of support were developed. Multiple linear regression models were then used to explore the relationships between the nature of support and the family's situation and that rate of improvement. Several aspects of the way support was provided were related to faster improvements; including more frequent visits, and support being provided by paid workers. Longer individual visits were associated with families improving more slowly. These different aspects of support affected families in different adverse situations differently. Paid worker support was particularly related to faster improvements in families with domestic abuse, disabled parents and multiple risks. However volunteer support seemed just as effective for families with disabled children and large families. Overall the family's situation was only very weakly associated with the rate at which emotional well-being improved. Though effects were small, families with more malleable risks were more likely to improve more quickly: Domestic abuse was associated with faster improvements whereas large family sizes, disabled parents and parental mental health problems were associated with slower improvements. Bereavements occurring during the course of support also slow down the rate of improvement.

This thesis charts the rise and fall of women's structures in the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) from their introduction in 1985 to their demise in 2005. It explores the factors leading to the establishments of the Women in USDAW structures, analyses the achievements and challenges, and seeks to explain why they were disbanded. The research is set in the context of what happened in the trade union and wider labour movement and the women's movement in that period. The thesis argues that that the introduction of the Women in USDAW structures was more about increasing women's membership at a time of significant decline, rather than increasing female participation and representation. It finds that USDAW women were more visible, more active and more involved in campaigning, contributing to a higher profile for women's issues. The oral testimonies from Scottish women involved with the Women in USDAW committees complement the documentary evidence and demonstrate how the women's structures provided new avenues for female participation not available to them in the mainstream structure. Evidence shows that progress for women was not linear. The research highlights the continuing under-representation of women in the union, and the ongoing male resistance and hostility to separate women's structures. On the demise of the women's structures, the thesis argues that a significant factor is that in their composition and operation they remained firmly in the control of the male leadership and that this hindered the development of autonomous women's structures. The thesis plays a part in retrieving women trade unionists from obscurity and including them in the historical record. It contributes to the historiography of women in trade unions, specifically to the debate on separate women's structures.

Youth-led provision within organisations that serve young people is not a new concept. However, the majority of youth-led work is project-based or within educational institutions, and little research exists regarding systemic youth-led work within non-educational youth organisations. This research followed a youth centre in North West England during its transition from a practitioner-led model to a more youth-led model. The aims of this research were to identify and analyse the logics and rationalities, practices and processes, and relationships that facilitated and/or hindered the process of change at the centre. The research began as a participant action research (PAR) project, which concluded abruptly mid-way through data collection. In collaboration with the youth centre, it morphed into an ethnography that examined youth-led work in the wider centre. The first contribution to knowledge is the analysis of the process of change using a complexity framework, which found that certain kinds of interactions heavily influenced the character of the centre and thus the process of change. The second contribution is in illustrating the way in which young people can realise their ability for youth leadership as an organic process rooted in context of their own interests and priorities.

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the strand of research regarding the effects of communist regimes in former Eastern Bloc. We explored the areas that were likely to be affected at the time of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe and to test if there are any signs of the impact extending to long-term. This is especially important due to the data scarcity and heavy censorship during the period of the Soviet Union, which does not allow to reliably estimate the contemporaneous effects of the regime. Therefore, the main research questions are: • Did communist regime education policies create systematic differences in educational attainment levels in comparison to the rest of Europe? Increasing educational attainment level within Eastern Bloc was an important political goal. This is partially due to an aim of developing skilled labour force to man factories and contribute towards advancements in science and technology in the cold war competition with the West, and, in part, due to being means to implant and propagate the regime's ideology. • Is the popular stereotype of excessive alcohol consumption in communist Eastern Bloc reflected in the behaviour of those who lived through the regime even after its collapse? Alcohol was anecdotally known to be a popular companion for recreation in Eastern Bloc, the idea frequently found in Russian cinematography of the day. Any signs of systematically more frequent or larger intake of alcohol after the collapse of the regime would indicate a combination of at least some or all listed reasons: spreading of cultural drinking norms, drinking preferences becoming habitual, and alcohol being as a coping mechanism for experienced trauma. It is likely the list could be extended by more possible explanations. • Is living under one of the communist regimes in Eastern Bloc significantly related to any long-term differences in health outcomes in comparison to the rest of Europe? In addition, is there a difference in perception of own health? This could help address a question if the communist regime had an impact on health and perception of people who experienced and survived it. Measuring differences in perception is particularly interesting since perception latently affects behaviour and choices of economic agents. Each question is addressed in a separate chapter, but the overarching questions are: do educational attainment level, alcohol drinking patterns, health and its perception show signs of the communist regime in Eastern Bloc having a long-term impact? How much, on average, an experience of this regime could contribute to changing and shaping cultural norms, agents' choices, behaviour and perceptions? Answers to these questions would contribute to the knowledge about measuring impacts of historical experiences, could inspire further research, and potentially could be taken into account when modelling and predicting agents' behaviour.

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