The use of the internet over the past decade has played a strong role in several areas of mental health, including the provision of informal peer support forums in which individuals can discuss specific difficulties anonymously. Self-injury is also a topic which has received far greater recognition over the past decade, with research studies reporting prevalence rates of between 4-25% of the adult population and between 22-35% of the college and university population. The current study investigates the use of a self-injury online forum in order to develop a psychological understanding of the functions that this forum provides to its users. This study employed a grounded theory qualitative methodology to analyse the data collected from an online forum across a 5-month period. The results revealed three core categories: i) human contact; ii) battling self-injury; and iii) being helpful – giving advice/ tangible help. The results suggest that a good deal of ‘therapeutic support’ occurs within exchanges on the forum, with possible benefits both for those receiving and for those giving support and advice. The findings highlighted some important considerations for clinical practice and, more specifically, for the role that clinical psychologists can have in developing services specifically to meet the needs of this client group. The findings are reviewed within the context of the current literature, and implications for service development and service delivery are discussed. Suggestions are made for how services might be able to encourage the use of safe and high quality online therapeutic support on a 24 hour basis to supplement live support by health professionals. Keywords: Self-injury, online internet forums, grounded theory, therapeutic support, peer support.

This thesis centres on how recipes and songs can generate an identity for a community in relocation. I focus upon the South Asian community in Lockwood, West Yorkshire, and show how cultural practices have migrated and relocated from the homeland to the diaspora. I read these oral texts as literature, which allows them to be heard outside the domestic arena. Following an oral history methodology, this ethnographical study focuses on three areas of significance: the matrilineal, nostalgia, and space. Each of these themes has been used to reveal how diasporic identity is attained and maintained through recipes and songs. I illustrate how the dynamics of a particular type of nostalgia, which I have termed as migrational nostalgia, allows a community in diaspora to flourish. The concept of space and time is revealed as complex and becomes multi layered when discussing a diasporic community. I have drawn upon the works of Julia Kristeva and Homi Bhabha, in particular, to analyze these narratives and position them within a liminal space. I further question what it means for a cultural practice to be legitimate and explore the idea that ultimately for those in diasporic communities authenticity can be found in the maternal voice. I show that the validation for a dish or a song is sought after in relocation and this is sustained by transmitting the oral texts through dimensions of maternal genealogy. All of these factors culminate in a unique identity for a diasporic group, which has its foundations in an alternative space and time.

This thesis examines the relationship between photography and sociology as offering complementary ways of understanding ourselves and the world we live in. Drawing from the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Raymond Williams, I examine the idea of a ‘field’ of photography within the field of cultural production more generally. The practises of documentary photography, photojournalism and fine art photography are explored with specific reference to images of war. In this arena, the politics, aesthetics and ethics of representing the body in pain are addressed.

The aim of this study is to explore Saudi women’s experience of being healthy during the postpartum period (also called Nifas in Arabic). Little attention has been given to women’s experience of health during the postpartum period; however, it is essential to understand their experiences and understandings of health during this time if we are to develop healthcare programmes that meet their needs and improve outcomes during postpartum period healthcare. Little attention is given to postpartum women’s health in Saudi Arabia, and a postpartum woman with a normal vaginal childbirth is usually discharged from a maternity hospital 24-48 hours after the childbirth. Then, for the next 40 days, she is secluded within the home, cared for by others (usually her mother) and will only be seen by healthcare services (the obstetrician) a month after childbirth to receive their postpartum check-up. This sole consultation is limited to examining her episiotomy, a routine procedure for the majority of Saudi women. The aim of this study is to find out about women’s health practices during this hidden but important time for women’s health- the 40 days following child birth that are spent in the home. This is an interpretive phenomenological study that examines online forum discussions of Saudi Arabian women sharing experiences and seeking advice on their health during the postpartum period (28 threads), as well as a total of 12 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women (n=7) and their carers (n=5) within their 40 days postpartum. Thematic analysis was used. The women described their experience of being healthy during the postpartum period. They believed that, during this time, women become vulnerable and open to certain illness, but they also perceived this period as an opportunity to achieve their optimal health and attractiveness. Some of the common themes that emerged were the challenges of confinement, achieving health, everyday threats and constraints, warnings and consequences, striving for normality, and becoming better than normal. However, key themes identified during interviews with postpartum women also included trust in various sources of knowledge, which included their carers, female relatives, friends, and online postpartum health discussions. The study also uncovered several strategies women used to follow health advice that were often hidden from their healthcare practitioners. In contrast, the findings from the online community discussions demonstrate that this was a forum where women could discuss issues which they did not feel able to discuss during interviews and in front of carers. These issues included the difficulties of judging expertise and advice, emotional and psychological health, husbands, and sexual activity. The study’s findings can be used to explain the postpartum women’s perception of health to healthcare providers, and the study can assist in understanding some of these women’s strategies to be healthy, including commonly followed traditional health practices. It highlights their difficulties in making sense of the large amount of traditional advice they are faced with, which covers every aspect of daily life during this period, from hygiene and food to preventing and healing episiotomies, but which also ignores key issues for these women (mental and sexual health). Finally, this study highlights Saudi women’s need for support and improved communication between these women and clinical services during the postpartum period; the frankness of the online discussions indicates that a reliable and confidential online health education forum might offer an effective way of providing this information and support.

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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.

This thesis aims to construct a sensitising framework of concepts and propositions in order to establish foundations for an interpretive sociological understanding of the process of politics in formal organisational arenas. In doing so, it seeks to consider and discuss some broader issues and problems which have engaged the recent interest of general sociologists, but which have been more or less neglected by practitioners in the organisational sub-field. A detailed critical examination of the "politics-related" literature reveals the tacit existence of three types of approach to the topic, none of which provides a sufficient grounding for the sociological study of organisational power and politics. The weaknesses of existing contributions are shown to lie as much in their dominant methodology of theorising as in the latter's content, and it is therefore imperative to clarify certain methodological matters before progressing very far. It is in fact argued that, in order to comply with the demands of the theoretical assumptions underlying this thesis, the academic activity of theorising must be sensitising rather than definitive. In spite of their various shortcomings, the prominant theories in the area offer important clues as to the nature of power and politics, and these clues are transformed into three conceptual themes - of order-conflict, of possibilities-impossibilities and of the two faces of power - which act as analytical points of reference for the development of a sensitising framework. To explore the pivotal characteristic of the interpretive sociological approach to political action, viz. the subjective meaningfulness of such action, discussion focuses primarily upon participants' everyday theorising activities which, through their interpretive and strategic functions, mediate between the objective social world of organisational life and the observable process of organisational power and politics.

Despite the plethora of literature regarding the cause and characteristics of homelessness, there has been relatively little discussion regarding causal explanations emanating from policy makers and practitioners. This research sought to address this gap by examining the dual practice of support and sanctions introduced under the Labour Administration 1997 - 2007.Conducted within and between five local authorities in the North West of England and inspired by the philosophical arguments of critical realism (Bhaskar, 1989) alongside Elder-Vass’s (2010) concept of relational emergence, a qualitative approach was adopted in which eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers in Supporting People and Community Safety teams. The overall aim was to examine professional beliefs and understandings of homelessness and explore its impact on practice. A primary contribution of this study to the literature on homelessness is the framework used in which emergent properties, or causal powers, which construct a particular ‘reality’ of homelessness, were identified. Utilising this framework, the analysis explored how taken for granted assumptions about the pathological and deviant behaviour of homeless people not only informed policy, but also had a significant impact on practice which, in turn, served to maintain and reinforce the exclusion of people in acute housing need. This research also extends the current literature by recommending a move away from what could be described as ‘traditional’ methods in homelessness research and towards an approach which, by utilising the dialectic arguments of critical realism, seeks to develop transformative practice. This approach would not only challenge prevailing orthodoxies of homelessness, but, following the seminal work of Gramsci (1971 cited Joseph, 2002) could also support the development of a counter hegemonic discourse.

The aim of this thesis is to understand the important components of a set of sustainable interventions to prevent obesity at the community level by using realistic evaluation, which draws on the philosophy of critical realism. From the application of a structured set of criteria based on critical realism, three interventions emerged, which were selected as the case studies of my thesis: the ‘Healthy Weight Communities’ project in Scotland, the ‘Bewegung als Investition in Gesundheit’ (Movement as Investment for Health) project in Germany, and the ‘Walking for Health’ project in England. Based on the key concepts of critical realism an interview topic guide was developed, which was tested by the help of the pilot project ‘Paideiatrofi’ in Greece. Key personnel involved in the organisation of each of the three selected interventions were identified and qualitative research and data analysis was carried out. The framework of critical realism and the application of the key concepts of realistic evaluation: ‘generative mechanisms’, ‘context’ and ‘outcomes’, enabled the disentangling of which mechanisms from each case study, were most related to outcomes and under which contexts. A number of common themes emerged from the analysis of the three interventions. Reflecting on these common themes, I connected them to a set of more abstract categories associated with the social structure, the human agency and the emergent outcomes with their distinguished properties. Critical realism and realistic evaluation provided a conceptual guide which allowed me to explain how the effects of the interventions were produced by the interplay between structural conditions and people as agents. The study of the contextual factors and of the generative mechanisms that enabled or constrained the production of certain outcomes, constituted a novel approach to explain how and why the selected interventions worked to prevent obesity.