Aim This thesis explores the seeking of help from a General Practitioner in the event of psychological distress. The study explores help-seeking, lay understanding around mental health, and the relationship between the two. Background Help-seeking has been shown to vary according to different demographic factors, and is not necessarily correlated with need. Frequently, those who need help most do not seek it, whilst those with low need are more likely to enter care; help-seeking is complex, and there is value in understanding more about current patterns. Lay knowledge is perceived as playing a crucial role in help-seeking, providing rationale for examining the two alongside each other. Method Qualitative interviews were used to explore the stories of people who have recently sought help, alongside interviews from a group of ‘lay’ participants who discuss distress, help-seeking and mental health more generally. 20 interviews were carried out, analysed using a combination of thematic analysis and the process of analytic induction. Findings The thesis sheds light on the limited role of lay knowledge; its role is most evident when considering hypothetical help-seeking. For recent help-seekers, journeys towards care were mediated by factors pertaining to their wider lives; help-seeking was intimately related to their context. Help-seeking is the outcome of a complex interplay of factors and the study sheds light on aspects of individuals’ stories that render distress more or less likely to enter Primary Care. The process of medicalisation is illuminated, for example, individuals receiving care for physical health problems are particularly prone to their distress being medicalised. Findings lend support to a contextually-rooted approach to understanding help-seeking. Expectations of – and preferences for – care are explored, evidencing a need for General Practitioners to consider referral to self-help and/or support groups within the community; individuals may not necessarily be seeking a medicalised response.

This thesis examines weight anxiety and eating disorders amongst women from an attributional perspective. The studies comprise two distinct but interrelated components: investigations of the role of attribution in the development and maintenance of weight anxiety and eating disorders; and analyses of two screening instruments for eating disorders. The study presented in Chapter 2 examines whether, amongst women without an eating disorder, attributions can be extracted in a factor-analytic manner to form relevant stereotypes associated with 'fat' or 'thin' women. The results confirm that clear weight-related factors can be extracted, and these resemble common stereotypes of fatness and thinness. In Chapters 3 and 4 the attributions of both eating disordered and non-eating disordered women were examined. Four groups have been examined: the Anorexic group; the Bulimic group; the Over-Eater group; and the Non-Eating Disordered group. It is proposed that the attributions of eating disordered women and non-eating disordered women will differ; that the various eating disordered groups will also differ in their attributions; and that attributions will differentially contribute to the development and maintenance of different weight anxieties and eating disorders. The results confirm these propositions: this thesis shows that there are attributionaI differences between the women with and without eating disorders; that there are differences in the attributions of the Bulimic, Anorexic and Over-Eater groups; and that there is evidence to suggest that attributions contribute differentially to the development and maintenance of weight anxiety and eating disorders. The internal validity of the subscale structure of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) (Garner, Olmsted and Polivy, 1983) is examined in Chapters 5 and 6, and Chapter 6 analyses the structure of another assessment instrument, the SCANS (Slade and Dewey, 1986). The results confirm the doubts raised about the validity of the subscale structure of the EDI: no clear support for the subscale structure put forward by Garner et al. has been found, and the factor analyses indicate that no single factor structure can be replicated. The factor analysis of the SCANS, presented in Chapter 6, suggests that the subscale structure of this measure is also not well replicated. It is argued that the subscales of both instruments should be used only with caution. Chapter 5 also examines weight anxiety in older women. This study has shown that older women also are anxious about their weight and that their weight anxiety takes a similar form to those of younger women; for this group of women lifestyle might be an influential factor in their weight anxiety. Chapter 7 discusses all the issues raised in the earlier chapters in relationship to the literature. Finally, the findings of this thesis are discussed, models of the role of attributions are outlined and directions for future research are discussed.

This research analyses the role and action of the Trade Related Intellectual Property Agreements (TRIPS) and pharmaceutical patents in the public health network of Djibouti, by using an approach largely inspired by actor-network theory (ANT). In doing so, it addresses issues that run beyond the specificities of this case study and relate more broadly to the relevance of ANT to socio-legal analysis. The relation between TRIPS, pharmaceutical patents and public health in developing countries has been a widely debated issue in the past decade. However, the field remains limited by a relative uniformity in the range of approaches and case studies chosen in existing research. This project aims to address some of these limits, by looking at the role of TRIPS and pharmaceutical patents in a small country with no local pharmaceutical industry, no pre-existing official system of intellectual property, and with a largely undocumented public health system. Using ANT in this project allowed for the complexity of the mechanisms of both TRIPS and pharmaceutical patents to be highlighted. It participated in emphasising that they need to be understood as made of multiple, co-existing dimensions. By demonstrating how specific connections and associations have shaped what TRIPS and pharmaceutical patents are and do in the networks of Djibouti, this research emphasises the artificiality of the dichotomy between social and legal, and proposes an understanding of social connections as symmetrical and co-dependent. It discusses the more general relevance of this approach to socio-legal research. The example of Djibouti also allows for new questions to be raised in relation to the actual impact of TRIPS and pharmaceutical patents in “developing countries”. In particular, it emphasises the need to return to a more balanced approach to the relation between pharmaceutical patents and health in poor countries.

Statistics show that the world wide web is dominated by a few widely spoken languages. However, in quieter corners of the web, clusters of minority language speakers can be found interacting and sharing content. This study is the first to compare three such clusters of Irish language social media users. Social network analysis of the most active public sites of interaction through Irish – the Irish language blogosphere, the Irish language Twittersphere and a popular Irish language Facebook group – reveals unique networks of individuals communicating through Irish in unique and innovative ways. Firstly, it describes the members and their activity, and the size and structure of the networks they share. Then through focused discourse analysis of the core prolific users in each network it describes how the language has been adapted to computer-mediated communication. This study found that the largest networks of Irish speakers comprised between 150-300 regular participants each. Most members were adults, male, and lived in towns and cities outside of the language’s traditional heartland. Moreover, each group shared one common trait: though scattered geographically, through regular online interaction between core members they behave like communities. They were found to have shared histories, norms and customs, and self-awareness that their groups were unique. Furthermore, core users had adapted the language in new and innovative ways through their online discourse. This study is the first comprehensive audit of who is using the Irish language socially on the web, where they are forming networks online, and how they are adapting the language to online discourse. It makes a unique contribution in re-imagining what constitutes an Irish language community in the context of the Network Society. In the process, it contributes to the growing body of sociolinguistic research into globalisation and local identity on the web.

The common mental disorders of anxiety and depression (CMD) impose a substantial burden on individuals and society. A current limitation for research into risk factors for CMD is that the Mental Health Inventory -5 MHI-5) a brief but widely used scale to measure of anxiety and depression was designed without a cut-point to identify cases of CMD. This thesis designed a web-based epidemiological study. Changes in Well-being to gather data from MHI-5 and the Clinical Interview Schedule – Revised (CIS-R), representing the ‘gold standard’ for CMD case classification. From a random sample of 10,000 people aged 18 to 74 years living in Caerphilly County Borough, Wales a total of 616 participants were recruited. Of these, 82 (13.4%) were classified as CMD ‘non-severe’ (CMD-NS) using a CIS-R score of 12-17 and 129 (20.9%) were classified as a case of CMD ‘severe’ (CMD-S) with a CIS-R score of 18 and over. In an analysis of paired CIS-R and MHI-5 scores, the corresponding cut-points on the MHI-5 scaled of 0-100 were <60 and <45 respectively. These cut-points were applied to baseline and follow-up survey MHI-5 scores in the Caerphilly Health and Social Needs Longitudinal Study dataset to classify cases. Logistic regression analysis showed the importance of younger age, a range of major adverse life events, and living in the most deprived areas as risk factors for the onset of CMD. Adverse employment transitions, moving to non-owner-occupation and becoming widowed were more strongly associated with older age groups and living in areas of high social cohesion. This thesis has shown the utility of web-based epidemiological studies in population mental health, determined cut-points on the MHI5 scale and demonstrated the importance of a wide-range of risk factors for change in CMD case status.

Change associated with late modernity is argued to have diminished collective identification, particularly in relation to locality, as an approach to and resource for, navigating life paths. Young peoples‟ creation of a life course has been understood as particularly responsive, or alternatively vulnerable, to such influences. Contrasting research asserts, however, that collective identification with and through particular appreciations and understandings of locality continue to provide ontological security within the circumstances of modern change. Local collective identification can be carried out via its participants‟ shared investment in symbolic interpretations of culture and space. This identification is asserted through claims to affinity with, or competency in, these socio-spatial systems and practices and the building of symbolic boundaries that contrast identities not possessing such claims. This perspective renews the significance of academic explorations of young peoples‟ choice of collective identification with locality as a tactic in managing their biography and its negotiation as an influential social, cultural and spatial context in their lives. This thesis explores the ways in which young people negotiate the spaces and resources of local collective identification, in the context of late modernity. It employs a qualitative analysis of a community participation project – the Millennium Green Scheme - to access such issues. The participation of adult active citizens and inclusion/exclusion of young people within this scheme are understood to reflect some of the dimensions of collective identification with locality, at three case study sites. At each case study - two rural and one urban - the research takes an unusual intergenerational approach, exploring both adults‟ and young peoples‟ understandings of locality, collective identification and young peoples‟ relationship to these. The findings suggest that young peoples‟ access to the spaces and resources of collective identification, with and through locality, are negotiated within adult defined social and cultural contexts. Further, adults mobilise cultural representations of young people that regulate this access, in relation to the symbolic resources and boundaries of local collective identification. This regulation is influenced by adult reactions to wider pressures upon collective identification associated with modernity. The research finds that although modernity may influence young peoples‟ recourse to local collective identification, it is also central in shaping adults‟ inclusion/exclusion of young people from accessing this means of navigating the life course. Adults‟ geographies of locality are central symbolic material to their collective identification with locality. They are also found to dictate the logic of adult inclusions of young people within the spaces and resources of local collectivity. Adults at the case studies associated many young people within cultural affiliations and competencies they understood to belong to the late modern context, resulting in representations of „dislocated‟ childhood. At rural case studies these were perceived as inappropriate to local socio-spatial norms and rendered young people outside the symbolic boundaries of collective identification and endeavour. In the urban research, young people were perceived to require reinstatement into local collective identification through education about and encouragement into, its spaces and resources. Both understandings reflected broader adult reactions to late modern change. Young people took up the tactic of collective identification with locality or rejected it, in context dependent strategies. However their perceptions of opportunities to share identification with locality were significantly influenced by adult attempts to shape their inclusion/exclusion from spaces of collective identification. In addition, young people interpreted these inclusions/exclusions as broad comment upon their local socio-cultural and spatial status. This research finds that locality and local collective social contexts continue to be of significance in young peoples‟ lives. It adds texture to understandings of the way in which the influence of modernity upon young peoples‟ biographical choices is experienced and negotiated from within local social and cultural relations and spaces.

When S.Korea was liberated from Japan and soon partitioned between the South and the North in 1945, she was one of the world's poorest countries. The Korean War (1950-1953) had a profound impact on S.Korean society. Hunger became even more routine and famine very common. After the military revolution in 1960 onwards the S.Korean government consistently continued a "growth-first approach" to promote rapid economic development which could then generate resources to raise the living standards of those on low incomes, rather than a selective and targeted approach which involved extensive public action to improve the circumstances of destitute people. Since this time S.Korea began to be counted as a rapidly industrialising country. In 1960, about 65.9 per cent of the labour force in S.Korea was engaged in agriculture and a mere 9.2 per cent in the mining, manufacturing and construction sectors. In 1990, only 19.5 per cent of the labour force was engaged in agriculture and 34.7 per cent in the mining, manufacturing and construction sectors. Even in industry, the structure of the industry has changed from labour-intensive industry, such as textiles and shoes, to capital and skill-intensive industry, such as shipbuilding, automobiles and electronics. In 1960, the urban share of total population was 28.0 per cent. This figure grew to 74.4 per cent in 1990. All these were accompanied by changes in occupation, social class, even the way of life. Even within the house itself, the change in the use of fuel from timber to gas and electricity was accompanied by a dramatic change in the design and structure of housing.

This thesis is a study of the articulation of power in Scotland c. 500-1000 AD using an analysis of manifestations of ‘symbolic wealth’, particularly sculpted stones. In studying the power structures of early medieval Scotland, both textual and archaeological evidence must be considered. Documentary evidence for Scotland is poor, but comparison can be made with Ireland, which has relatively rich textual evidence. The archaeological evidence of the early medieval period in Scotland is considerable, but has an uneasy relationship with the textual sources. Previous attempts to understand the power structures of early medieval Scotland through contemporary descriptions, such as those existing for the monastery at Iona, have resulted in constructed ideal types. These ideal types (e.g. for monasteries, emporia, civitates) have hindered the recognition of difference and variety in early medieval settlement. Within this thesis, relevant documentary evidence is considered alongside the archaeology with the aim of exploring variability in contemporary perceptions and perceived hierarchies of places of power. This research recognises that control of resources, material and physical, is a crucial aspect of power relations in the early medieval period and approaches power by looking at the type and distribution of material culture and how it indicates changes in ideology and politics. Aspects of material culture invested with social meaning are termed ‘symbolic wealth’. Traditional manifestations of symbolic wealth, such as imported pottery, glass vessels and fine metalworking are considered. The main body of evidence comes from a new methodological approach to sculpted stones that argues sculpture can be ranked by virtue of the relative investment in its creation process. This, in turn, indicates the degree to which power and investment were centralised. The methodology evaluates the relative time involved in the steps of the creation process of individual monuments.

This study is concerned with the linguistic analysis of a cognitive training programme for offenders which was run at Prison X in 1996. Several Cognitive Skills classes run by prison officers and attended by groups of five to eight prisoners were videotaped and analysed to investigate the discourse practices used in these sessions. I also explored the written discourse of the Cognitive Skills Handbook used by the offenders as a reference-text for running the classes. In my research, I have borrowed insights from Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), particularly Fairclough's three-dimensional model of discourse, as it forms a framework for studying language in its relation to power and ideology. I have attempted to show through this case study that the discursive practices investigated are ideological in that they produce and reproduce unequal power relations in the way they represent and classify offenders. Following the Hallidayan tradition, I have taken a systemic functional approach as my point of departure for the analysis and interpretation of texts.

This study investigates the role of gender and, within that, class in changing English dining styles in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The period c.1750-1900 has been chosen to cover a major period for dining change, as it is during this time that service à la Russe superseded service à la Française as the dominant formal dining style. This change has been much discussed by food historians and sociologists, but the materiality of change has not hitherto been placed within an archaeologically-informed framework. Equally, while the artefacts of dining are among the most frequently recorded finds in domestic contexts in the historical period, archaeologists have rarely considered them in the context of long-term dining development. Drawing on data from country houses, collections, and published material on middle class and elite settings, this thesis investigates the hypothesis that dining change was driven by women, specifically middle class wives; and that dining-related ephemera must therefore be understood in its relationship with women. It also proposes a narrative of stylistic change using historical archaeological paradigms, introducing the concept of a third, clearly identifiable stage between à la Française and à la Russe. After introducing the data sets and giving a background to dining in the historical period, the first part of the study uses table plans and etiquette, together with depictions of dishes, food moulds and experimental archaeology in the form of historic cookery, to demonstrate the way in which the process of change was driven by middle class women. It argues that à la Russe suited gender and class-specific needs and that, far from being emulative, as has hitherto been assumed, the adaption of à la Russe broke with aristocratic habits. It proposes that a transitional stage in dining style should be recognised, and interprets food design and serving style in the light of this intermediate phase. The setting of dining is explored next, with data on dining décor, plates and physical location interpreted to support the conclusions of the previous section. Following this, the impact of change on food preparation will be used to demonstrate that à la Russe was the result of changes in underlying mentalities which also affected household structure and organisation. The ways women used the materiality of food, including cookbooks, to negotiate status will be demonstrated. A final section will broaden the discussion of gender, class and food. Tea has been chosen as a case study for the further testing of the conclusions drawn from the study of dinner for two reasons: firstly it was, from its introduction, immediately associated with women; and, secondly, tea-related artefacts are among the commonest of archaeological finds, but are rarely understood as engendered and active objects in a domestic context.