This research explores the English local government modernisation agenda of the 1997–2010 Labour government with reference to its promotion of, and effects on, organisational learning. It does this by examining the concept of learning to learn, as constructed by local authority Chief Executives. A synthesised analytical framework is developed by exploring the commonalities of three approaches to the exchange of knowledge: organisational learning; policy transfer, and change management. Utilising this framework, local government modernisation is examined within the broader modernisation agenda and its historical context. This, and an examination of Best Value, the Beacon Council Scheme and the Comprehensive Performance and Area Assessments, exposes the links between modernisation and organisation learning that underpin a central contention of this research; that the success of local government modernisation relied on local authorities being better able to learn from each other. Analysis of the data unique to this research, obtained largely through interviews with local authority Chief Executives, illuminates the way in which they construct their views of learning, modernisation and central-local relations. The major conclusions concern the significance of networks, differences and trust and how views of each are constructed. Also important is trust within central-local relations. Modernisation consolidated the acceptance of other local authorities as sources of learning and enhanced particular characteristics conducive to learning. However, through the mechanisms utilised, modernisation also inhibited instances of learning and was less successful at embedding the concept of learning to learn within local government. Original contributions to knowledge are made in this under-researched area through innovative use of exiting approaches to the analysis of change and learning; synthesising these provides a useful tool for the analysis of those matters. Additionally, such analysis sheds new light on the way in which local authority Chief Executives construct the world-views that shape their actions.

Within Victorian society there was a public perception that within the wider field of class there were a number of levels at the bottom of which was a criminal class. This, a very diverse group growing out of the working class, was considered to be responsible for the vast majority of offences ranging from begging to murder. Following the ending of transportation in the 1850’s the Metropolitan Police were faced with a number of new problems and responsibilities. These left them open to allegations that they were so targeting sections of the community that they were creating this criminal class from within the casual poor and those already known to police. As the period progressed the police were given wider powers to deal with the changed situation as well as extra responsibility for the compilation of criminal records and the supervision of released convicts. As a result of these changes allegations were made that the police so harassed those on tickets of leave and under supervision that it impossible for many to obtain employment. In order for this to have the case it would have been necessary for the police to be able to identify those with previous criminal convictions and to target their resources against them. The way in which resources were to be used had been established in 1829 with the objective of preventing crime, by way of uniformed officers patrolling beats and concentrating on night duty. Police resources were not efficiently used and failed to adapt to changing circumstances. In particular, whilst the available evidence especially for the early years is not complete it will be argued that, despite the allocation of considerable resources, the police were very poor at a very important part of their role, that of the identification of criminals. The concept of a criminal class has been examined in two ways. There was a ‘subjective’ public perception of the situation which included all those committing offences but it is argued that in reality what happened was that there were a series of legislative changes focussing on a gradually reducing group of habitual offenders which can properly be called a criminal class. This small group was responsible for the majority of serious crime during the period. As a result the police came to be targeting a very narrowly defined group and they as the agents, the public face of the changes, were the ones against whom complaints were most commonly made. This research shows that the Metropolitan Police were very poor at some important aspects of their role and that they were given additional responsibilities without always having the proper backing of the legislative framework. It also shows that the police were very aware of the difficulties they faced in dealing with released convicts and took great pains not only to allay public fears but also made contributions to the well being of many of those released from prison.

Parents play different consumer roles through developing the general cognitive abilities of their young children related to consumption issues and mediating the influence of other socialisation agents such as peers and TV commercial advertising on their kids. There is no research examining the influence of fathers’ consumer role, based on dyadic responses, on children’s shopping consumer behaviour related to grocery and food products. The study responds to this gap of knowledge and utilises the consumer socialisation approach to examine the relative influence of Jordanian fathers’ communication patterns, the cognitive development of children ages 8-12, and the structural variables on children’s shopping consumer skill, knowledge, and attitudes that related to convenience grocery and food products. The study investigates young children’s perception of fathers’ mediation the influence of TV commercial advertising, revises, and validates the scales of fathers’ communication structures. The study also investigates the degree of similarity “modelling” between young children and their fathers resulting from father-child interaction in shopping milieu. A combination of exploratory and survey research design is employed to address the research objectives. Ten-one hour semi-structured focus group discussions and eleven structured personal interviews face-to-face experts’ survey were firstly conducted to refine the research problem. Based on proportionate stratified random sampling technique, group interview face-to-face selfadministered questionnaire and drop-off-pick-up self-administered questionnaire were respectively employed to solicit father-child dyadic responses (n = 916). The research data were analysed through six levels of analyses. The results show that children’s learning of shopping consumer role related to grocery and food products are influenced by fathers’ communication patterns, children’s cognitive development, and the gender of children. The effect size of children’s cognitive development is more explanatory than fathers’ communication patterns relating to children’s shopping consumer skills, knowledge, and attitudes. The priority of fathers’ consumer socialisation goals is related to fathers’ co-shopping with their young children and fathers’ mediation of the influence of commercial advertising on their young children. Fathers’ communication patterns are varied by children cognitive development, the gender of young children, and household income. The relative influences of different communication patterns on young children’s consumer role are chiefly associated with fathers’ pluralistic tendency since Jordanian fathers are more likely engaged in a high concept-oriented communication structure. The results confirmed that young Jordanian children imitate their fathers’ consumer attitudes and behaviours in the shopping milieu. The results fill some gaps in the existing literature of children’s consumer behaviour, afford several managerial implications for marketers and for future research in children’s consumer socialisation behaviour, and provide a new opportunity to understand the

This research takes a socio-cultural view of learning, which foregrounds the role of relationship. It argues that the ways in which learning is investigated in the extant literature mean that the actual processes underpinning learning and the role that relationships play in this are left unspecified. This means that the role of relationships in learning is under theorised in the learning literature in general and in the H.E. literature in particular, due to a discourse around independent learning which prevails in this setting. It sets out to plug this gap. Taking an ethnographic approach this research used observational data, interviews, conversations and document analysis in order to study the role of relationships in learning in H.E. The work of Vygotsky, Lave and Wenger and Bronfenbrenner was drawn upon in order to analyse the everyday quotidian and implicit practices and processes underpinning learning in H.E. and the role that relationships play in this, using Thematic Analysis. A theoretical framework was thereby constructed to analyse these practices and processes and provide understanding of the role of relationships in learning in H.E. Findings pointed to students’ need for relationship with both their lecturers and peers as an ontological imperative. Furthermore, that relationship formation and maintenance can be impacted upon by the ways in which individual identities interact. The importance of intersubjectivity for learning and also how contextual processes are able to influence the formation and maintenance of relationships were also highlighted. Findings allowed reflection upon emergent issues and current H.E. practice.

While there is extensive research on family violence and delinquency in Western literature, this topic is notably rare in Arab literature, including that from Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, although the association between being exposed to family violence and committing delinquent acts has been established in several Western studies, less is known about this association in the Saudi setting. This study sought to explore the extent and nature of these two phenomena in Saudi Arabia. It also aimed to examine the risk and protective factors that might be associated with the likelihood that girls who had experienced or witnessed family violence would then go on to commit delinquent acts. Given the dearth of literature on the association between family violence and female delinquency in Saudi Arabia, an exploratory study design was considered as the most appropriate method for this research. Data were collected through a self-completed questionnaire. The study sample consisted of 12- to 18-year-old female students (n=422) from intermediate and secondary schools in the Makkah area (western Saudi Arabia). Both family violence and female delinquency were found to have a relatively high prevalence. Physical abuse was shown to be the most common form of family violence, and brothers were the most common perpetrators of physical and sexual abuse. These results, which contrasted with a number of Western and other Saudi studies, point to sibling abuse as an area that is in need of further investigation. The current study indicated that violent offences, reported by 35 percent of the participants, were the most prevalent type of delinquency. This was unanticipated, given the highly conservative nature of Saudi society. The current study demonstrated significant associations between risk factors and the likelihood of female delinquency. In addition, the research suggests that if protective factors are absent or weak, then the likelihood that a young female will commit an antisocial behaviour offence is higher. Females exposed to family violence were found to be less likely to commit violent offences. The findings of the present study suggest that the problems of family violence and female delinquency are relatively common. More research is needed to assess the extent and nature of these problems at the national level. Moreover, the government should implement new policies and practices to address these problems head-on.

In the last decade there has been a growth in the number of women seeking asylum in the United Kingdom (UK), yet research remains extremely limited. Negative and disempowering narratives have come to dominate contemporary understandings of women seeking asylum. Taking a relational narrative approach and drawing on feminist perspectives, the main aim of this research was to explore the stories told by women seeking asylum. Placing the stories of women at the heart of this study, I conducted interviews with seventeen women who had made a claim for asylum in the UK. Their interviews were recorded, transcribed and then analysed using the Listening Guide. A further analytical step was developed called ‘letting stories breathe’. Hearing women’s stories of persecution and sexual violence, I present four recurring, inter-linked and, at times, contradictory narratives. These I have called the narrative of resistance, the narrative of reworking, the narrative of resilience and the narrative of ruination. I suggest that women, despite limited opportunities and restricted choices, do not necessarily accept the concepts and notions which have formed a basis for contemporary understandings about women seeking asylum in the UK. Furthering our knowledge of the relationship between stories and the narratives which frame them, I have demonstrated the active role women play in the construction of their own stories. Inspired by the stories told by women, this thesis contributes to creating a space where women seeking asylum can tell their own stories about their lives.

This study investigates the impact of aspects of geographic location on criminal spatial behaviour. It is also concerned with where crimes occurs and how the location of crime may actually limit the behavioural possibilities of criminality, these limitations are derived, in part, from offenders representations of their offending locations and the potential for desired criminal activity in those locations. The underlying behavioural possibilities for criminal movement relate to the background characteristics of the individuals committing offences. The Thesis develops a locational characteristic paradigm, which puts the focus on where crime occurs reflecting the type of the individual who is likely to commit crime there. This study examines those features of individuals' psychological, physical or cultural backgrounds, as they relate to geography, that prohibit or inhibit forms of criminal movement. The study addresses this by focusing on an offenders' representation of crime opportunities, the distribution of crime locations and offenders considerations when planning their crimes. The study aims to provide a direct challenge to some of the key concepts within the criminal spatial literature, such as routine activity theory, rational choice theory, the psychological importance of the home and the influence of familiarity on crime locations. Individual differences across features of criminality are examined. Real crime cases are explored in order to unearth the differences within the geographic profile of offences. Offender representations of their offending areas are studied in an attempt to establish what these depictions actually represent. The work explores the distribution of offence locations and the rationale offenders put forward for why they offended where they did to establish if there are barriers to offending and how offenders account for these barriers, if at all. The first stage of the research is a Case Study introduction to the crime of Tiger Kidnap (TK) in Ireland. TK is an adaptation of a Standard Armed Robbery offence and is the term used to describe the abduction of a person(s) of importance to a target (generally a bank manager) in which that person(s) is used as collateral until the target complies with the requests of the offenders. What makes TK a unique crime is introduced and the substantial distribution of offence locations, something which has not previously been observed in the criminology literature, is discussed. The first empirical analysis addresses methodological concerns within the measurement of distance data. It challenges the related literature which suggests Crow Flight as a valid and reliable measure of criminal distance data. Previous studies acknowledge that Crow Flight knowingly underestimates the likely distance offenders travel and that it relates to the relative position of locations in the mental representations of distance. It is hypothesised that this difference is likely to be significant, and, that offenders conceptualise distance through routes, not relative positions of location. This was confirmed in the interviews with offenders. This study compliments previous work on this topic by opening the possibility of a new methodological alternative for measuring criminal distance data. The argument for this conceptualisation of distance is based on the advancement in technology and transport primarily, where offenders now have access to route information much more readily than they will have to deal with the relative position of locations. The advance planning found in the current cases show that offenders have gone as far as to travel the routes that they will use, indicating that these distances are considered in terms of routes and the time it takes to travel these routes. The hypothesis is that there is a significant difference between the Crow Flight measure and the Route Distance measure of distance data. A significant distortion in probable distance travelled compared to the Crow Flight measure was found. The findings provide support for the current argument that distance measures in future studies would have greater methodological precision if they were to favour the route distance measure . The work moves to examine the geographical profile of TK offences in Ireland. Building on the first study into distance measurements, and how using route distance appears to be, for Irish offences, a more psychologically valid form of measurement. The second study applied these findings onto the measurement stage of a sample of real cases of TK while also looking at the variation between offences. The hypothesis was that there would be a significant difference between TK in the North and South of Ireland. The analysis found that offenders in the North of Ireland had a significantly reduced geographic profile than offenders in the South. These differences relate to the type of offenders that are operating in those locations. Research from the Home Office and reports from the Police Service of North Ireland has suggested that TK in the North, are committed by ex-paramilitary offenders who are likely to have advanced skills in hostage taking and experience in staging and planning operations of this nature. This type of offender is less bound to the geographical opportunities that offenders in the South can avail of and operate on a much more refined geographic template than their counterparts in the South. This study highlights the distortion that can be found when studying types of offences as a whole, and, specifically, it showed the differences that can exist within the same crime type. The forth stage of the work explored offenders cognitive maps and the information that can be gleaned from the graphic representations of their crimes. The study tested the validity of a revised model of Appleyard's 1970's Sketch Map Classification Scheme. The study questions whether the multi optional classification schemes are too broad to distinguish one style of map from another. The results supported this position, finding that the rigid classification schemes are unreliable as they are too subjective in the manner in which they can be ascribed. However, it was found that there was a distinction between maps that were basic and simple over more complex maps. It was also found that the context behind the drawing, as in what was being represented by the offender, influenced the style of map that was presented. This suggests that knowledge of the background to the offender is just as integral to the process of classifying an individual's cognitive map as is the sketch map itself. The final study explores the role of psychological barriers to crime and offenders interpretation of their offending behaviour. This was achieved through exploring the distribution of crime around the Dublin region in Ireland. The hypothesis was that the distribution of offences would be restricted to the side of the city in which the offender resided. This was supported through the finding that offenders preferred to offend on the side of the city that they lived. This is illustrated in the maps that they marked their crimes on. This was based on the psychological barriers to movement that manifests itself in the River Liffey that divides the North of the city from the South of the City. Offenders rationale for offending on one side of the city over the other highlights an interesting development in that they equate the locations in which they offend to be based on issues removed from the influence of the river partition. Security consideration and closeness to home were offered as reasons why offenders offended where they did. However, when studying the distribution of offence locations they highlight a clear distinction in the form of a geographic arena, based on the river that divides the city. Further examples of this geographic arena are discussed in respect to the distribution of offence locations in the North of Ireland which relate to the border that previously divided the North of Ireland from the South of Ireland. This study highlighted the need for an understanding of not just offender characteristics but also the physical characteristics of the location of crime. The implications of these studies for how we conceptualise criminal spatial movement are discussed. At present, there exist little to no study into the area of spatial context, which is an understanding of the nature of the differences in movement based on the characteristic background of the offender. The special importance of the crime of TK and the unique contributes of this form of criminality is outlined. A criterion based paradigm for the measurement, analysis and interpretation of geographical data is put forward. An improved understanding of specific influencing aspects of offenders’ spatial behaviour will enhance the modelling of offender behaviour. This has implications for policing and the investigation of crime generally.

This study responds to the need for further research on worker co-operatives as an alternative business model following the resurgence of interest in co-operatives by many international organizations including the United Nations. The study particularly seeks to fill the gaps identified in the previous research studies with regard to worker co-operatives’ competitive environments and to their strategy formulation processes. The main objective of this thesis is to establish that an integrative strategy framework offers a more effective analysis of the challenge of competitiveness in worker co-operatives in Britain. Unlike most previous studies in this field, the point of departure for this thesis is the contention that the challenge of competitiveness in worker co-operatives in Britain can be better understood if their strategic variables are considered together in an integrative strategy framework. The thesis aims at finding the rationale for formulating strategy frameworks that integrate variables from both the external and the internal environments of the worker co-operatives in order to effectively achieve objectives. This thesis additionally seeks to establish that despite all the external and internal forces that work against the growth and development of worker co-operatives in Britain, they still perform very well and are satisfied with their performance. This would confirm that a non-hierarchical management structure based on the principles of democratic control actually works. It would also confirm that loyalty, commitment and greater participation from members (co-operative environment) is the main force behind worker co-operatives’ successful performance. The thesis utilizes a typology for strategy classification that identifies the strategic variables in both the external and the internal environments that are critical to the competitiveness of worker co-operatives in Britain. It specifically focuses on the strategic integration of the key variables in worker co-operatives’ environments and the strategic alignment of their internal environment (e.g. financial, physical and entrepreneurial) with their external environment (e.g. social, economic, political and legal). The thesis additionally examines how worker co-operatives are influenced by a unique environment that arises from their strong adherence to the universal cooperative principles and core values. This unique environment, known as the co-operative environment, consists of the multi-faceted relationships that exist between worker co-operatives and their members and among the members themselves. According to the Worker Co-operatives Statistical Review 2nd Revision 2005, which is published by Co-operatives-UK (the umbrella body for worker co-operatives), there are approximately 390 worker co-operatives in Britain. One hundred and thirty one (131) of these worker co-operatives participated in the research study. The research method adopted for the thesis integrated the quantitative data collection and analysis methods with the qualitative and, hence, more descriptive approaches. Interviews were conducted and survey questionnaires were also completed on various factors that influence the competitiveness of worker co-operatives. The study concludes that the use of an integrative strategy framework provides a richer picture of the challenge of competitiveness in worker co-operatives in Britain. It also concludes that many worker co-operatives attribute their satisfactory performance to loyalty, employee empowerment and unparalleled commitment from the members. This confirms that a non-hierarchical management structure based on the principles of democratic control actually works and that the revival of worker co-operatives in Britain will be maintained, and will probably expand.

The aim of this study was to explore what it means for London-based, immigrant Black East-African men and their female partners to live with HIV. Few studies have been conducted on this issue with the present study population. The main thrust of existing research has been on preventing new infections, and work on living with HIV has mostly focused on groups in which the disease has a higher prevalence in developed societies, for example men who have sex with men. A modified grounded theory methodology underpinned by a symbolic interactionist theoretical framework was adopted. Data collection involved in-depth interviews with 23 participants, including: one HIV-negative man in a sero-discordant relationship; 11 HIV-positive men; six HIV-positive women, five of whom were partners of an HIV-positive research participant; and five workers from London-based community organisations offering HIV-related services accessed by Black Africans. Most (13/17) of the HIV-positive research participants opted to partially conceal their condition. In consequence, they faced an ongoing dilemma regarding whether to reveal their HIV-positive status to particular individuals. Disclosure could potentially unlock sources of social support, but also created the risk of stigmatization. But concealment meant forfeiting potential social support sources, and created risks of exposure. Four of the 18 research participants had eventually decided to ‘come out’ publicly in order to challenge stereotypes about HIV. They demonstrated that open communication about HIV-positive status can be a viable alternative to selective concealment and disclosure. The findings are used to develop practice and policy recommendations based on recognising social sensitivities around communicating HIV-positive status and other stigmatized attributes. Proposals are offered for developing further research, particularly comparative work which can help to clarify the impact of culture on disclosure of potentially stigmatizing personal information.

Migrant workers have long constituted a fundamental part of the hospitality sector in the UK. Taking up jobs such as housekeeping, kitchen portering and plate waiting, these workers have formed an essential yet undervalued role in the service economy. Typically insecure and low paid; such work is normally secured through a third party agency presenting a complex employment relationship between the worker, agency and organisational setting. It is this relationship that forms the focus of this PhD research, which aims to understand the daily experiences of migrant workers focusing on the dynamic relationship between power, discourse, subjectivity and work processes and the performing of identities in specific socio-cultural settings. The study draws on data gathered from a twelve-month full-participant ethnography in a hospitality employment agency to provide insights into the ways through which agencies seek to control workers remotely to craft migrant agency workers as compliant subjects. The research considers how contracting organisations use both regulatory and disciplinary practices to construct migrant agency as organisational non-members in order to sustain transactional impersonal relationships with them. Finally, the study explores the ways in which migrant agency workers negotiate their identities, drawing on a range of national, cultural, religious and moralistic discourses to craft acceptable versions of the self. The study suggests that the subject positions crafted from the discourses of the employment agency, contracting organisations as well as migrant workers own identity discourses often work in tandem to sustain and reproduce agency work and agency workers. This thesis offers three contributions which provide greater insights to the current understandings of identities, migrant labour and temporary employment. Firstly through taking an identities lens, the thesis has provided new insights into the control and regulation of migrant agency workers. Secondly, this thesis contributes to a more nuanced depiction of migrant agency workers’ identity work. Thirdly, the thesis sheds new light on how experiences of stigma and liminality are constituted and contested at the level of identity.