Political power has been much contested and debated, culminating in the development and measurement of many distinct and narrow facets of power. This thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by providing a conceptual and operational framework for researching power in a political system in a relevant, observable, comprehensive and meaningful way. Using this framework to consider the power of the Labour Party in local government, as perceived by practitioners, has provided new insights into existing understandings of power in both theory and practice. Many different facets of power are relevant to researching the power of the Labour Party in local government. These were brought together using an abstract model of a political system to provide a comprehensive and meaningful framework for researching power. The framework makes it possible to operationalise power by identifying three principal dimensions that are observable - capacity, decision making and power – and connect the different facets together. This framework makes clear the distinction between conceptions of power at micro-level, which concern the capacity to influence others, and macro-level, which concern the capacity to influence outcomes; and the significance of applying the appropriate conception to the research context. The conceptual and operational framework was used to research the power of the Labour Party in local government through a case study of Kirklees Council. The research was conducted between October 2012 and August 2013 and used a mixed methods approach incorporating a survey of Labour Party councillors, interviews with Labour Party members, and observation of various meetings, this research explores each facet of power. This case study shows that central government controls the capacity of Kirklees Council, but the Labour Party has the potential to influence local political outcomes well beyond the sphere of the Council. In terms of decision making, the Leader dominates the Labour Party, but due to the professional expertise of officers and bargaining power of other political parties has less control over Kirklees Council. Regarding outcomes, the activities of the Labour Party in local government makes marginal differences to the electorate and policies of Kirklees Council, but a significant difference to the Labour Party itself. So, even though political parties dominate the governance of local authorities, this case study shows that local party politics in practice makes only marginald differences in the locality.

Domestic abuse has historically been defined and constructed as an adult issue. However, in recent years there has been increasing awareness that young people also experience abuse within their relationships that can have serious and long-term effects on their health and wellbeing. Research has revealed higher rates of abuse reported by younger women than by adult women (Barter et al, 2009) and young mothers in particular appear to be at significant risk of experiencing relationship abuse (Wood et al, 2011). However, there is a lack of empirical research that has explored young mothers’ experiences of abuse and, therefore, little is known about the ways in which they understand and make sense of relationship abuse and negotiate their mothering within an abusive relationship. By focusing exclusively on mothers who became pregnant before they were 18, this research addresses this gap in knowledge and offers an original contribution to the evidence base. The primary aim of the research was to offer young mothers who experienced relationship abuse an opportunity to tell their stories. Underpinned by a feminist, social constructionist epistemology, the research adopted a narrative methodology and used semi-structured interviews to generate data. Participants were six young women who became pregnant before their eighteenth birthday and who had experienced relationship abuse in the last year; two were pregnant with their first child and four were already mothers. Narrative analysis of the data using The Listening Guide explored how participants constructed themselves and made sense of their relationships, paying particular attention to the ways in which personal stories reflected or contested available narratives about relationships, abuse, motherhood and teenage pregnancy. The emerging stories offer an insight into how these young mothers negotiated limited and sometimes contradictory narratives in order to make sense of their experiences and tell their own story. Participants told stories about their relationships and stories about becoming and being a mother that were inextricably linked. Stories of relationships and abuse overwhelmingly reflected narratives of romantic love; narratives that place responsibility for relationships with women, perpetuate gender inequalities and normalise male control and abuse. Their stories of motherhood reflected currently available narratives of ‘good’ mothering and rejected dominant narratives about teenage motherhood that were inconsistent with being a good mother. The findings highlight the limited repertoire of narratives available to young mothers who have experienced relationship abuse and reveal the potentially constraining nature of dominant narratives. Recommendations are made for policy, practice and future research.

Domestic violence has been gradually increasing globally with developing countries across Sub-Saharan Africa being the most affected (WHO, 2013). Uganda, in particular, ranks highest in relation to the incidence of domestic violence (UNICEF, 2000). This situation led to the enactment of the first domestic violence legislation in the country, the Domestic Violence Act, 2010; this makes domestic violence a crime and is particularly focused on reducing violence to women (Uganda GBV Guidelines, 2013). Women make up the majority of victims of domestic violence in Uganda and are subject to gender inequality within a patriarchal society that particularly disadvantages them. However, the argument of this thesis is firstly, although there are strong cultural factors implicated in violence against women, notably practices of wife inheritance, forced marriage and societal sanctioning of wife beating, there has been an over-reliance on cultural explanations for the problem (Bowman, 2006, Speizer, 2010) at the expense of exploring psychological factors. It is argued that understanding psychological issues related to domestic violence is particularly important in post-conflict settings since the literature shows that wars and violence at the societal level often get played out in the domestic sphere and can contribute significantly to the generation of psychological harm and personality issues (Saunders et al., 1999). Victims often use different coping behaviours-strategies to protect themselves from negative feelings and thoughts (Fritsch & Warrier, 2004) but what remains unclear is how both genders engage coping styles. Secondly, in an attempt to address the needs of women as victims, policy and practice in Uganda has failed to recognise the way that women can contribute to the victimisation of other women (particularly relevant in a context in which polygamous households and co-wives are normative) and also to men, who in such a patriarchal society may experience difficulties acknowledging victimhood and seeking help. Using non-coercive questionnaires administered to 60 victims and 60 perpetrators of both genders in an urban area in Uganda, this study aimed to explore the relationship, impact of gender and role in domestic violence based sub-scales on: attitudes to coercion (private matter, men’s right to control, women exaggerate, women’s behaviour used to justify, no big deal), self-reported victimisation (physical, psychological and sexual, personality traits (neuroticism, extroversion and psychoticism) and coping styles (problem solving, social support and avoidance)). Participants faking good (Lie) was controlled as a covariate according to Francis et al, 1999. This quantitative study employed 2x2 factorial design [gender vs role]. MANCOVA analysis was used to test hypotheses on differences and interactions and a Pearson product moment correlation analysis was conducted to test hypotheses on group relationships. Since results can be significant by chance, as recommended by Pallant 2013 p.217 this study applied Bonferroni correction-adjustment to the alpha levels which are used to judge statistical significance on 14 dependent variables. The findings revealed statistically significant role (victim and perpetrator) differences but no major gender differences. Results also revealed no interaction and no effect between gender and role on all aforementioned dependent variables. However, there were statistically significant correlational findings based on role as (victims and perpetrators) and gender for (males and females) on most sub-scales on attitude to coercion, self-reported victimisation and coping styles except personality traits. The only significant correlations for personality traits were between perpetrators neuroticism trait scores and psychological violence. Overall, exploring the psychological behaviour patterns, the study provides insights into the psychological characteristics of victims and perpetrators of both genders in the Ugandan sample. These results were then compared with western published studies and both commonalities and differences were identified. Studying the responses of both male and female victims and perpetrators represents the first such research in a post-conflict African context and makes a significant contribution to knowledge. Though specific to Uganda, the study findings point to the need for a greater awareness of the significance of psychological factors in exploring domestic violence in Africa, especially in countries where the population has been exposed to violence at a societal level, such as war. Furthermore, a major contribution is made by this study in its conclusion that there is need for a gender sensitive approach to domestic violence in African context, one that takes account of the differential needs of men and women as both victims and perpetrators. Finally, in opening up psychological explanations for domestic violence in addition to cultural factors and gender inequality, the way is paved for a synergistic approach for addressing domestic violence –one which addresses these as interlinking elements of the problem requiring simultaneous attention.

The world of higher education is changing and as such what academics must do is different, they must be different. Academic identity is thus considered to be a necessary site of change. This thesis explores what academics are, their identities, as well as what they might be. Identities are considered to be sites of power, in which processes of power, specifically interactions with discourses, produce subjects who think, act and speak in particular ways. Identities allow academics to exert power, both over themselves and others. They are sites of struggle, as particular identities are constrained or enabled by the exercise of power. Focusing on two discourses, leadership and downshifting, this study explores the identities of nine Principal Lecturers within one post-1992 university. Through a discursive analysis of focus group and interview data, and institutional points of contact including; consultation documents, strategy documents and employee opinion survey results, the thesis renders as problematic both the premise for change and the reorientation itself, of what it means to be an academic. The thesis concludes that the focus on the individual and their need to take personal responsibility for change, to in effect change themselves, averts attention from the institution and its practices as necessary sites of change. Instead, academics are encouraged to focus on the notion of performance and to monitor themselves and others in relation to ever more elaborately refined ‘markers of development’, which diverts their attention from their pedagogical and scholarly practices. This creates the potential for a collective misrecognition, as people battle workloads, and the proliferation of these ‘markers of development’, but fail to recognise, what that work does. My hope is that this thesis provides a place to begin the process of developing an understanding of how identities are limited.

Historically, research into the role of the brand in fashion has been influenced by general marketing management interpretations, focused mainly on the brand’s commercial function as related to market performance and as a promotional tool. Some established research, informed by design and fashion-specific interpretations of the brand, has explored the relationship between fashion branding and fashion design. However, a review of the fashion branding literature demonstrates that the entire scope of the brand in fashion and its diversity of roles for a fashion company has not been fully explored or applied within an industry-specific context. This commentary explores the scope and roles of the fashion brand within the parameters of a selection of the author’s past publications and provides a new critical and holistic account of the brand, incorporating the corporate and creative functions it plays within fashion businesses. In turn, the commentary informs the emergence of branding as a dedicated sub-set of fashion studies research. Various qualitative methods are employed within this investigation, including the use of focus groups, interviews and observational and action-based research. A consideration of alternative means of branding research in context of the wider study of fashion provides an additional critical perspective to the work. The findings confirm the significance of the brand within fashion practice and theory and could arguably serve to inform the corporate and creative aspects of fashion branding practice. In terms of contributing to academic understanding, the commentary proposes a new and more holistic account of the fashion brand incorporating its creative and corporate functions, and identifies opportunities for the further study of the fashion brand.

This study explores the possible influence of the media on teenagers’ constructions of gendered identities, with a specific focus on drinking alcohol and engaging in sexual/romantic relationships. Understanding the factors underlying alcohol consumption and sexual activity in this age group is an important public health priority. Teenagers in ‘western’ countries are drinking more alcohol than ever before and these drinking habits may be associated with risky behaviour, such as unprotected sex, and with morbidity and mortality. In comparison to other west European nations, the UK demonstrates a poor history of sexual health in teenagers, with the highest levels of teenage pregnancy and the second-highest level of abortions in women under the age of 20. Approximately half of all sexually transmitted infections diagnosed in the UK in 2009 were seen in the under-25s. Research also suggests that the mass media influence teenagers’ behaviours, including drinking alcohol and sexual practices. The question about the influence of the media is complex. There are two opposing theoretical positions which purport to explain the influence of the media: the 'media as powerful' versus the 'media audience as powerful'. This study adopts a theoretical approach which accommodates both of these: the 'influence of presumed media influence' theory (Milkie, 1999). A contentious issue is how the media is understood by teenagers to influence their alcohol consumption and their sexual/romantic relationships. This thesis has sought to address these issues by answering the following research questions: 1: Is the media integrated into the lives of teenage boys and girls? 2: How do teenagers’ understandings of gender-appropriate alcohol-use relate to media portrayals of alcohol use? 3: How do teenagers’ understandings of gender-appropriate engagement in sexual/romantic relationships relate to media portrayals of sexual/romantic relationships? 4: Is Milkie’s (1999) ‘influence of presumed media influence’ theory a useful way to understand the media’s position in teenagers’ lives, and specifically their understandings of gender-appropriate alcohol use, and of romantic and sexual relationships? 5: How are teenagers’ understandings of gender-appropriate behaviours with regards to drinking alcohol and sexual/romantic relationships used in the construction of their gendered identities? Fieldwork was conducted with teenagers aged 13-16 years, specifically in Edinburgh and in Ayrshire. The main sample comprised 25 semi-structured group discussions with 11 follow-up individual interviews, during which participants were asked to reflect on, and interpret, images from popular British television programmes that portrayed instances of alcohol use and sexual/romantic relationships. This method was intended both to prompt discussion on the process of media influence and to allow the participants to reflect on similar situations in their own lives. The research found that the mass media does shape teenagers’ perceptions and expectations of drinking alcohol and engaging in sexual/romantic relationships; and in doing so shapes their gendered identities. Importantly, the research confirmed Milkie’s ‘influence of presumed media influence’ theory that resolved the apparently incompatible ‘powerful media’ versus ‘powerful audience’ approaches to media influence. This suggests that media influence might be all the stronger for not being readily recognised or acknowledged as being influential. Media were more influential for teenagers’ understandings of gender-appropriate engagement in sexual/romantic relationships than they were for teenagers’ understandings of gender-appropriate drinking. The reason that media portrayals of drinking were considered to be only a minor influence among other stronger influences such as peers and family may be that these activities are more public. Sexual behaviour is less public therefore teenagers rely more on media to shape their images of what is considered to be appropriate behaviour. Sexual behaviour and drinking alcohol were intertwined. Many participants talked of how sexual negotiation and activities were often accompanied by drinking. Being drunk, or, importantly, pretending to be drunk, may be understood as a process that is useful for teenagers when trying out perceived gender-appropriate identities as they engage in their relationships. As with alcohol, romantic and sexual relationships are acted out in a particular way which is informed by discourses which specify gender-appropriate behaviour, attitudes and roles (and with the help of alcohol itself, which acts as a social ‘lubricant’) and in doing so is a component of the project of identity construction. The implication of this research is that existing concern about the influence of the media should be concentrated on the media portrayals of behaviours that are less public, such as sexual/romantic relationships, rather than media portrayals of behaviours that are more public, such as drinking alcohol.

Limited legal reforms took place in England and Wales in 1967 that partially decriminalised private, adult, consensual homosexual acts. These reforms were not implemented in Scotland until 1980. This thesis documents the reasons why Scotland had to wait until 1980 to achieve legal equity with England and Wales and suggests that the combination of cultural and institutional silences regarding legal reform and an immediate valorization of the independent Scots Law system in the post-Wolfenden era hindered any moves for the 1967 legislation to be applied to Scotland. This thesis then examines the life experiences of 24 gay and bisexual males who had experience of living in Scotland during the period when all homosexual acts were outlawed. This thesis offers an examination of how continued criminalisation coupled with the influence of negative and stigmatising discourses influenced self-perception and identity formation amongst gay and bisexual men. The thesis finds that the operation and dominance of negative discourses regarding homosexuality, coupled with the limited public demand for legal reform had significant implications for the identity formation and attitudes among the gay and bisexual men who participated in this research.

The project effects arise from specific projects or programmes that are undertaken in the context of the Games, but which could be implemented in the absence of such an event. The evaluation of these could be improved if either a prospective cohort study (where the participants in the projects can be predicted in advance) or retrospective cohort study (where the participants will only be known after they have taken part) is arranged. This will require to be undertaken in combination with qualitative studies and the creation of a theory of change to understand why any such project effects are (or are not) seen. The direct impacts of the Games, that is the impacts that occur as a direct result of playing host (such as the impact on tourism), require a different approach to achieve a quality evaluation. First, a theory of change to identify the critical pathways in generating impacts should be elucidated. Next, a combination of a cohort study and an ecological study (using routine data and a series of comparison areas identified in advance), should be used to identify the attributable impacts of the Games. Qualitative work alongside these studies will be required to understand why the impacts occur (or not). For the economic impacts specifically, an ecological design or economic modelling should be performed using routine statistical data (rather than estimates) and taking account of the opportunity costs. The catalytic impacts are particularly difficult to evaluate as it is not yet clear what these impacts might be. These potential impacts will require being identified using regular qualitative work with key individuals within the public and private sector in Glasgow, and this information will then need to be used to design quantitative studies to test these hypotheses. The synthesis discussed whether or not the Games could legitimately be described as a health improvement intervention. It found that some of the critical steps in the intervention were very similar to the tried and tested mechanisms used over many decades in the West of Scotland in attempt to improve the health and social conditions (economic growth and improved environment), without success. The ability of the Games to impact on the other critical steps (sports participation, increased volunteering and increased pride) is not supported by the evidence from previous events, and it is difficult to see what is different about the plans for the 2014 Games that might generate a different result. It was therefore concluded that the 2014 Games are unlikely to be an effective health improvement, and are unlikely to generate the plethora of social and economic benefits that pepper the bid document and legacy plans. Discussion: There are high expectations from Government that the 2014 Games will deliver a plethora of health and social benefits. The evidence from previous events is of poor quality, and there is an absence of evidence of positive impacts occurring. Given that a publication bias towards positive impacts is expected, it is unlikely that large positive health or socioeconomic benefits have occurred from major multi-sport events in the last 30 years. Health impact assessment can be used as an effective method of engaging the public and can be used to inform policy-making with evidence. Although the HIA did not predict the net overall impact of the Games, it is possible to make evidence-informed recommendations that are likely to maximise the potential for positive impacts and minimise the potential for negative impacts. The quality of evidence on the impacts of major sports events could be improved if a theory of change evaluation framework was applied to the event and if this was used to design a series of qualitative, cohort and ecological studies with appropriate comparison groups. However, it is unlikely that the 2014 Games will have a large positive impact on the health of Glaswegians or on socioeconomic outcomes because there is little evidence that the likely critical pathways have been successfully used in generating positive impacts despite similar attempts in the past. Some critics of major sports events have also made a plausible case for their being important negative consequences from playing host. The strengths of the thesis include the use of robust methodologies for the systematic review and health impact assessment, and the innovative use of a critical pathways approach for estimating whether or not the net impact of the Games will be positive. The weaknesses of the thesis include the reliance on the Government’s published work to discern the theory of change; the 34 studies that could not be obtained for possible inclusion in the systematic review; the limited evidence base upon which to make recommendations in the HIA; and the reliance on an accurate theory of change to predict the net impact of the Games, including the absence of emergent impacts from the complex Glaswegian context. Conclusions: The 2014 Games are unlikely to generate a large positive impact for health or the socioeconomic determinants of health. There is potential for unintended negative consequences to occur. The impacts of the Games are most likely to be optimised if the HIA recommendations are acted upon by decision-makers, and these impacts will only be accurately known if there is work to improve the quality of the evaluation. It is possible that the marketing of the Games as an intervention for health and social improvement might deflect attention from more important determinants of health in the city. In that vein, it may be more reasonable to make few other claims for the Games than that it will provide public entertainment and a festival for the population, and to minimise the opportunity costs that the Games will generate.

This thesis considers the contemporary work of the museum in the post-industrial setting of Glasgow. It interprets and understands how the museum as a space gives voice to New Labour’s concepts of social inclusion and citizenship whilst being embroiled in the wider process of urban regeneration and city enhancement. This research has been conducted using a mixed methodology incorporating policy analysis, participant observation and interviews, engaging with policy documentation, museum professionals and museum users in its goal to understand how the museum has been and is positioned within society. In exploring how museums have sought to become more socially inclusive, the research examined four different programmes in detail. These included two outreach projects; one working with adult learners and the other with different religious groups in the city. The research has also followed the contribution of a group of volunteers and finally it has engaged with the on-going processes surrounding the building of the city’s latest museum. The research findings have highlighted a complex and entangled set of power relations in the attempts to articulate social inclusion policy through the museum. This suggests, building upon the work of Foucault, that the museum embraces a soft-disciplinary power in relation to citizens. Specific programmes of the museum service targeting social inclusion reveal the benefits the individual may enjoy through participating in cultural events from which they might otherwise feel excluded. Yet, the reach of such programmes question the extent to which they are able to address social inclusion in the city. Recent developments – the production of the city’s newest museum as part of the riverside regeneration in particular – reveal how the installation of the iconic museum is closely allied to the wider project of urban economic regeneration. The planning of the Riverside Museum, however, has been attentive to the social inclusion agenda, particularly through the questions of access. Finally, the research shows how the city’s dominant growth agenda has resulted in a changing role for curators, shifting their agency away from a more traditional practice in which they were key gatekeepers, coordinating what museums displayed and how they did so, and towards a role that reflects a more scrutinised form of managerial control.

The study seeks to make two contributions. One is to participate in the development of theories and methods for the analysis of equity and efficiency in community care. The second is to yield evidence which assists policy-makers and managers to improve the effectiveness of their policies. The broad context is the évolution of the policy discourse about issues of equity and efficiency in community care of elderly people. More narrowly, the context is the implementation of the 1989 community care reforms, set out in Care in the Community: Policy Guidance (Department of Health 1990) and the government's commitment to commission research to evaluate their impact on equity and efficiency in social care. The more recent White Paper, Modernising Social Services (Department of Health 1998), is also an important element of the context. The detailed analysis in the thesis will therefore focus around two main foci: (1) the extent to which care brokered by social services departments has achieved the equity- and efficiency-related goals stated by the 1989 White Paper and developed in the 1998 White Paper; and (2) the extent to which current policies need to be adjusted in the light of understanding about how the new system produces equity and efficiency effects. 1.1 Public policy and the Holy Grail: improving efficiency in the use of public funds The Conservative administration which produced the 1989 White Paper attached a higher priority to efficiency in the use of public funds than its predecessors. However, the origins of its concerns could be traced back to the 1970s.