The research presented in this thesis aims to explore the lived experience of participating in consensual bondage, discipline, dominance & submission and sadism & masochism (BDSM). Traditionally, psychologists have researched this phenomenon from an external perspective, conceptualising it as pathological. By employing a phenomenological approach, I aim to understand this multifaceted phenomenon from the inside, by listening to the voices of those who engage in BDSM. The research is separated into two stages. For the first stage of empirical work I interviewed five practitioners of consensual BDSM about their experiences. This stage was designed to be particularly broad and exploratory with the aim of understanding more about the subcultures associated with BDSM, and also to inform the second, more focused stage of research. The findings were analysed using the descriptive phenomenological approach. The subsequent stage involved interviews with nine practitioners; including four that were previously interviewed for stage one. The aim here was to elucidate the specific constituents of BDSM that held erotic significance for participants. The template approach was utilised as the method of analysis. The complexity of BDSM is illustrated by the subtle variations in the erotic scripts of participants. The co-creation of fantasy was of central importance to the experience, as were measures employed in order to maintain the fantasy and ensure its success. The notion of authenticity was fundamental to the experience, which ensured all participants were invested in the erotic scene and allowed immersion into the bubble of fantasy and the exclusion of the ‘real’ world. A sense of care, trust and partnership were vital in order to achieve the erotic atmosphere, concepts that appear contrary to the kinds of sexual activities involved. This research presents an exciting account of the lived experience of BDSM, illuminating the erotic diversities and nuances related to this phenomenon. It is also the aim that this research contributes to the increasing body of work that investigates and reports BDSM from non-pathologising perspectives.

The investigation and classification of deaths in England and Wales relies upon the application by medical practitioners of diverse reporting standards set locally by coroners and thereafter upon the effectively unconstrained decision process of those same coroners. This research, using extensive analysis of Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, presents comprehensive analysis of local variation in coronial outcomes across the three decision-making stages of whether to report the death, to advance to inquest, and the choice of inquest conclusion. Substantial local variation was found in reporting rates to the coroner over time (12-87%) and in rates of advancing reports of death to an inquest (6-29%). The profiles of inquest verdicts varied widely between coroner areas with some verdicts more prone to varied levels of use. Individual coroner areas were consistent over time in their rates of reporting, advancing to inquest and use of verdicts. The gender of the deceased was a major factor with all coroner areas reporting proportionately fewer female deaths than male, and female deaths being overall half as likely as that of a male to proceed to an inquest. Once at inquest, a woman’s death was more likely to yield a verdict of natural causes than that of a man. Coroners seemed prima facie to be ‘gendered’ in their approach to verdicts; that is, they were consistently more likely to favour a particular verdict when dealing with a death, according to the gender of the deceased. Decision Board Analysis (DBA), comprising three typical coroner case scenarios, was utilised to analyse the decision-making style of incumbent coroners. The DBA allowed for an examination of the way in which available case information was managed prior to coming to a conclusion, and free text respondent comments were captured. Coroners were found to vary widely in their choices of outcomes yet they managed the available information in a similar way, reading concordant amounts of information and agreeing on the relative salience of the available information. Coroners sometimes robustly defended chosen outcomes against alternatives with dichotomous positions being taken. Variation in coronial outcome could not be explained by any variation in decision-making style. Further analysis of coroners’ local practices and their determinants seems necessary.

This research investigation is focused on place branding. The popularity of location branding has grown significantly recently. Attributes such as the possibility to inform the world about the place, differentiate it, update its outdated image, promote the place and increase its attractiveness as well as competitiveness, etc. contributed to the raising interest in this phenomenon and has increased its application in practice. As a result of this, there is a lot of literature on the subject (Haninson, 2001, 2004; Rainisto, 2003; Trueman et al., 2004; Moilanen and Rainisto, 2009, etc.). Notwithstanding, place branding is still classed as a relatively new phenomenon and thus has many areas for research and development. One of such sectors is the evaluation of branding initiatives for places; it can not only justify effectiveness of place brand but also identify areas in need of attention based on which, urban strategies can be reviewed and amended accordingly. Some places have long-lasting, widely accepted and successful brands (for example, New York or Oresund, etc.) while other places are struggling to find their base (for example, Randers, etc.). Very often the success of urban brands is open to much interpretation; in general, brands are being judged and criticised by media or public. In most cases it is not clear what influences and determines success or failure of such initiatives; this exemplifies the need for empirical research. Further, some locations refrain from using visual triggers (for example, Manchester) while other places have successful world-wide known logos. Manchester has been chosen as a case study for this research investigation because of its uniqueness and a complex of issues in one case including the chronological development of city’s branding initiatives with logos, slogans and symbols along their position and importance in Manchester’s history. This research tries to determine how brand was defined in the context of Manchester city. Initiatives to brand this city probably date back to the use of the “Bee” in the nineteenth century as a symbol of industry. Most recently, the signifier “M” along summing up device “original modern” have been introduced with Manchester being a brand. All this appear to be confusing causing misinterpretations as well as criticisms by public and media. The question on how to measure the effectiveness of such branding initiatives emerges. Investigations in the field of place branding acknowledge a lack of coherent branding model as well as a lack of guidance on evaluation of branding initiatives or how to create an evaluative model/ framework thus composing theoretical background to this study. This research tries to identify if and how the effectiveness of the branding strategies can be measured and thus supplement existing knowledge in the field of urban branding. This study presents brand evaluation framework which should help practitioners to evaluate the success of the place brand idea or it could be used as a consultation measure before developing a new brand. It is anticipated the proposed framework will contribute in designing more targeted campaigns. Literature reviews were used in this study to understand existing knowledge and findings assisted in developing a framework for the evaluation of urban brands. The proposed framework has three vertical facets (vision, attributes and perceptions) each of them comprising of a number of variables and the middle section representing the core of the framework. The degree of match between vision and perceptions demonstrates whether efforts put on place branding are consistent with its aim. In this research, the multiple sources of evidence were used in order to help to deal with the issues of validity and reliability of the case study which was utilised to examine the applicability and relevance of the evaluative framework as well as test the effectiveness of it. The proposed brand evaluation framework is comprehensive and adaptable to any place with the possibility to use greater levels of detail if needed and acting as a guide for urban brand practitioners allowing analysis of public perceptions and assessment of branding initiatives.

The psychological aspects of propensity to offend are considered. The relationship between attitude, personality, and reported offending is explored. Some literature considers how attitude influences offending; others look at the relationship between personality and offending. The present thesis proposes that there is a complex relationship between all three. The Attitude to Offending Style Scale measures preferences towards hypothetical offending styles. Shultzs’ FIRO-B explores the structure of interpersonal personality. Finally, an adaptation of Youngs’ D42 (D45) explores styles and level of reported offending. 254 members of the general public complete each of these self-report scales. An SSA-I tests the construct validity and structure of the scales stated above. Multiple regression analyses explore the relationship between attitude and personality, and how these influence level of reported offending. The moderating role of interpersonal personality is also considered. The findings reveal that Attitudes are categorized as: Instrumental or Expressive high risk, and Low risk. Shultzs’ FIRO-B scale has four facets: Expressed Inclusion Expressed Control, Received Inclusion and Received Control. Finally, reported offending is categorised as More or Less serious, Instrumental or Expressive, and target Person or Property. Results show that variations in attitude and personality styles are related to level of reported offending. Furthermore, it was found that the relationship between attitude and level of reported offending is moderated by level of ‘Received Control’. More specifically, when an individual shows a positive attitude towards Instrumental high risk crimes and feel ‘controlled by others’, their level of reported offending is also likely to be high. The presented research shows the value of considering attitudes towards offending, the moderating role of interpersonal personality, and how this relates to level of reported offending. The methods employed throughout the thesis demonstrate the strength and validity of self-report measures. Results are applicable to many areas, including direction and methods in future research. The findings can be applied to areas such as rehabilitation, interview techniques and preventative measures.

The dominant scientific methodology utilised by social scientists to study problems of crime and disorder is a macroscopic perspective that focuses on order and control; the molar. It assumes the ‘outside’ position of the researcher who focuses on functionality. Researchers construct their object of research as a distinct phenomenon and try to find links between it and its environment: the research object is assumed to be goal-driven. However, social reality is much more complex than this dominant perspective is able to research. This thesis argues that the molar cannot be fully understood without the molecular, a concept that expresses the idea of the unpredictable: sentiments, such as misunderstandings, fears and aspirations are key. However, the molar and the molecular are inextricably connected and emerge at the same time. Consequently, small changes on the molecular level could have huge and unpredictable effects on the molar level. Then, it becomes key to study the emergence of systems of control, such as law and partnerships, in relation to these molecular liquidities. Such an approach might teach us how crime policies deviate from the goals intended and start to produce undesirable side-effects. The thesis explores an alternative epistemology for examining issues of criminological concern which centers the molecular. It presents three case studies to illustrate the way both levels are interconnected. The first is concerned with the messiness and unpredictability of everyday relations and interactions in a criminal network. The second explores two Dutch police partnerships. Molecular elements such as personal preferences, frustrations and tensions are found to have a significant impact on the outcome of these partnerships. The third examines a measure introduced to prevent anti-social behaviour in the Netherlands which made shopkeepers and security personnel co-responsible for detecting and punishing acts such as shoplifting and fraud. The case is embedded in civil, not criminal, law and it is the diffuse nature of quasicriminal law that leads shopkeepers to refer to internal rules to justify their own actions. The cases show that the molecular is crucial in understanding crime problems and possible solutions, and the thesis concludes that the molecular should form the basis of a new epistemology for criminology research.

Since spirituality separated from religion it appeared as an unclear concept regarding its identity as a new secular domain. Responding to this condition and to the need of identifying spirituality, the aim of this research is to develop the concept of spirituality according to the current European population. The study applies mixed methodology and finds current spirituality functioning as a three-dimensional model composed of Transcendence, Immanence and Purpose. This concept is predicted by thirteen independent variables. The findings suggest that current pirituality is a person’s individual existential dimension being subject to change through the influence of various psychological, religious and social factors. The discoveries of the study find its practical implication within formational social fields such as education, counselling and psychotherapy.

Police crime information systems contain modus operandi (MO) fields which provide brief text descriptions of the circumstances surrounding crime events and the actions taken by offenders to commit them. This Thesis aims to assess the feasibility of undertaking systematic analysis of these descriptions for high volume crimes. In particular, it seeks to ask the following three questions: 1) Are police recorded MO data a potential source of actionable intelligence to inform crime prevention? 2) Can techniques drawn from computer-aided text analysis be used to identify meaningful patterns in MO data for high volume crimes? 3) Do conceptual frameworks add value to the analysis and interpretation of patterns in MOs? The study focuses on a sample of theft from the person and robbery of personal property offences (n~30,000). Although existing studies have utilised similar data, they have tended to focus on crime detection and have been beset with problems of data quality. To explore these aims, it was first necessary to conduct a thorough review of MO fields to identify the challenges they present for analysis. Problems identified include various types of error but a more prominent challenge is the inherent flexibility found within natural language, i.e. human language as opposed to languages that are artificially constructed. Based on the data review, it was possible to select, and develop, appropriate techniques of computer-aided content analysis to process the data ready for further statistical investigation. In particular, a cluster analysis successfully identified and classified groups of offences based on similarities in their MO fields. The findings from the analysis were interpreted using two conceptual frameworks, the conjunction of criminal opportunity and crime scripts, both of which are informed by situational crime theories. The thesis identified that the benefits of these frameworks were twofold. As methods of analysis the frameworks ensure that the interpretation of results is systematic. As theoretical frameworks they provide an explicit link between patterns in the data, findings from previous literature, theories of crime causation and methods of prevention. Importantly, using the two frameworks together helps to build an improved understanding of offender's ability both to cope with and to exploit crime situations. The thesis successfully demonstrates that MO fields contain a potential source of intelligence relevant to both practical crime prevention and research, and that it is possible to extract this information using innovative computer-aided textual analysis techniques. The research undertaken served as a pathfinding exercise developing what amounts to a replicable technique applicable to datasets from other localities and other crime types. However, the analysis process is neither fully objective nor automated. The thesis concluded that criminological frameworks are a pre-requisite to the interpretation of this intelligence although the research questioned the strict categories and hierarchies imposed by the frameworks which do not entirely reflect the flexibilities of real-life crime commission.

The focus of this thesis is moral education. This study is important as it aims at solving a prevailing and increasing problem that is harming the medical profession of our times, namely, the fact that physicians are losing touch with the nature of their profession as a moral venture. This is evident from the numerous surveys done which report complaints from patients regarding physicians’ interpersonal and ethical skills. I argue in this thesis that modern day physicians experience moral erosion and that medicine is falling prey to deprofessionalization. This thesis focuses on the case of medicine in US-style universities in general and Lebanon in particular. Starting from the assumption of the ends of medicine as elaborated by Edmund Pellegrino, it asks what are the means that are most conducive to the attainment of these ends (or some of these ends)? The main conclusions are that curricular reforms must be made to ensure appropriate training of students of medicine and that the hidden curriculum is far too important to be ignored if changes are to take place and if moral erosion of physicians is to be avoided. In addition to curricular reforms, there is a need to work with veteran physicians who should serve as role models and mentors in an appropriate institutional culture, hence, there is a need for what I term a “post-flexnerian revolution”. In addition to teaching students the basic sciences and skills necessary for the making of a successful physician, medical schools ought to concentrate on attempting to produce graduates that are virtuous physicians, who will do the right thing even when no one is looking. If adequate training in virtue and goodness takes place, doing the right thing will become a second nature and the moral ends of medicine will be met.

No description available.

Background: Reducing rates of unintended pregnancy among young women in the United Kingdom (UK) requires that we understand why young women use particular contraceptive methods, why they stop using them, and why, in turn, they switch to other methods. The majority of studies in this area have been quantitative, and few have taken place in the UK. This study examines the patterns of contraceptive use among young women from the East of Scotland, and uses a qualitative approach to explore if they have contraceptive careers. Methods: Quantitative analyses of data collected as part of the SHARE (Sexual Health and Relationships) Sex Education Trial were used to explore young women’s contraceptive use, discontinuation, method switching, and patterns of use over time at age 16. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 young women from this sample to examine their full sexual and contraceptive histories and the contexts within which they occur. Purposive sampling was used to select a heterogeneous sample of young women at age 20 based on sexual experience, area of residence, educational attainment and social background. Findings: Young women’s contraceptive use is complex and, in the quantitative data, multiple individual patterns of use were apparent. In the qualitative study, three contraceptive career types were apparent: consistent, complex, and chaotic. Consistent contraceptive careers were characterised by uniform and regular use over time; complex by manageable change depending on relationships, partner type, and experiences of method use; and chaotic by frequent method changes and multiple experiences of contraceptive failure, which were further complications in their already, somewhat disordered lives. All of the young women who were interviewed recognised their need for contraception but their ability to manage use, and therefore their experience of method discontinuation and contraceptive risks, varied depending on career type. All reported that they had changed their contraceptive method at least once, although most had only used condoms or the contraceptive pill. Most change was between these two particular methods. The need for pregnancy prevention underpinned all of the young women’s contraceptive choices, but for each method there were specific push factors, which encouraged use, and pull factors, which discouraged use. Ease of access and social norms around use encouraged condom use but the young women’s personal dislike of the method and their experience of condom failures resulted in change to the pill, particularly once the young women were in relationships with boyfriends. The pill was perceived to be more reliable, and its non-contraceptive benefits, particularly menstrual regulation, set it apart from other available methods and encouraged continued use. Use of alternative methods, such as long acting reversible contraceptives (LARC), was only initiated when the young women experienced major problems or side effects with the pill and change was advocated by a health professional. However, all who used alternatives, discontinued use because they disliked the side effects they experienced. Half had had unprotected sex, and for a few this was an unplanned, unexpected, one-off event, but for most it was a frequent behaviour, which became the norm. Most had used emergency contraception at some point, mainly as a result of contraceptive failure, and it remained a temporary, back-up method rather than a regular contraceptive. Conclusions: Contraceptive discontinuation and method switching was common among the young women in this study. Assessing their different patterns of use demonstrated that for some, contraceptive use was straightforward, while for others, it remained a constant struggle. A range of contraceptive methods should be made available to young women as one size does not fit all. However, it is important to recognise that pill use can be unproblematic if managed well. Sexual and reproductive health policies and interventions should consider what might really suit each individual young woman, based on her lifestyle and contraceptive experiences.