Within the South Asian community, the cultural law and behavioural code of conduct followed in order to preserve the perceived family honour is known as Izzat. Much of the literature on Izzat has explored and documented the negative consequences of women challenging Izzat, particularly those who have experienced abuse. The existing literature, however, has rarely explored the act of challenging Izzat itself. This qualitative study used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore the experiences of six South Asian women who have challenged Izzat. Taking a phenomenological stance, it focused particularly on (a) the participants’ experiences of challenging Izzat and (b) how they made sense of and gave meaning to their experiences. Six one-to-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with women aged between 25 and 30 who identified themselves as British South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi). Three superordinate themes emerged from the data: ‘The Resistance’, ‘The Sense of Peril’ and ‘The Lasting Legacy’. The findings of this study have supported the existing literature and have provided a number of unique insights into the experiences of challenging Izzat. This study found the experience of challenging Izzat to be a complex process, whereby the participants’ encountered both distressing and positive experiences for their actions, and sought, as well as acquired, change and control within their hybrid British South Asian ‘life worlds’. It is hoped that the findings may aid practitioners in developing their understanding of the phenomenon of challenging Izzat and translate the insight gained into therapeutic practice. The implications of the research findings for clinical practice and recommendations for future research have also been discussed.

Research on pain in individuals with intellectual disabilities has largely focused on identification of pain and medical management of pain symptoms. Pain management programmes have not routinely been offered to such individuals. In view of the ample evidence that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) can be used for chronic pain management including the management of dysmenorrhea in the general population, and the preliminary evidence for its effectiveness in people with intellectual disability (McManus & McGuire, 2014), there is a rationale for evaluating a CBT-based pain management programme for menstrual pain in women with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a theory-based cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) programme for menstrual pain management in young women with intellectual disabilities. The programme was developed from the theory-based programme “Feeling Better” (McManus & McGuire, 2010). The study used a mixed methods design with the intervention delivered in group format, on a weekly basis, to those in the treatment condition. Those in the control condition received treatment as usual. Information was gathered throughout the process on a number of key pain variables including pain management knowledge, pain coping strategies, pain intensity and pain interference. Process evaluation was conducted with key stakeholders to examine which elements of the programme were most relevant in promoting change. Results suggest that participation in the menstrual pain management group had a positive impact in terms of increasing pain management knowledge over time, and increasing the use of wellness-focused coping strategies to manage pain in everyday situations. Findings suggest that a cognitive-behavioural therapy programme can be effectively used to support menstrual pain management amongst young women with intellectual disabilities.

This thesis is about children and transnationalism. It is about the way in which children develop their identities in transnational communities in societies being transformed by globalisation. It is about the reproduction of societies through the socialisation of children and the tension inherent between this reproduction and social change. I set out to study children but became interested in adults' interactions with children and the nature of transnational communities and identities. As my fieldwork progressed I was drawn away from children into a study of families and societies. So, while children are the empirical focus of this thesis, there are many complementary sections which draw on evidence from adults or only discuss adults. As my description of Shirin and her brother above illustrates, processes and tensions are mediated by children often through seemingly contradictory attitudes and practices. I will investigate this phenomenon of contradiction and ambivalence as it characterises the experiences of the British Bangladeshi children I focus on and is key to understanding way in which identities are formed and experienced. [It] was conceived as part of the research project ‘Home and Away: South Asian Children's Representations of Diaspora', which was managed by my supervisor, Dr. Katy Gardner and Dr. Kanwal Mand. One aim of the project was to address a gap in research on the views of transnational children on issues of culture, belonging and identities. The project aims to investigate and bring to the fore the influence of the life course in migration research. This thesis contributes to these aims, but on its own can make only a partial contribution to this field. It is a snapshot of just over a year in the lives of a group of about twenty British Bangladeshi children between the ages of 8 and 12. Added to this material is additional data collected from a wider group of children in less depth, from younger and older siblings and from parents and other adults.

Research conducted over the past twenty years has demonstrated the impact of parental ‘problem’ substance use on the lives of young adults (Velleman & Orford, 1999; Bancroft et al, 2004; Järvinen, 2013). Despite this increased awareness, public policies continue to exclude this group. This research sought to explore the ‘problem’ with parental substance use from the perspective of affected young adults (aged 16 – 30). Additionally, this research sought to contribute a contemporary, sociological interpretation of the problem to a field dominated by psychological literature. This research was undertaken from a feminist perspective, and involved a wide range of research methods: minimally structured interviews, participant observation, visual methods, and qualitative secondary data analysis. The accounts derived from these sources are complemented through the inclusion of autoethnographic, reflexive vignettes, where I situate myself – as someone with lived experience – in relation to the literature, the process of conducting research, and the data. The data chapters presented respond to three key research questions. The first considers how young adults use different approaches and engage with dominant theoretical approaches to engage in processes of ‘making sense’ of parental substance use. Following this, Ketokivi’s (2010) perspective of ‘disruptive events’ – as based on Bury’s (1982) influential theory of ‘biographical disruption’ – is utilised as a route to considering the disruptive force of parental substance use in the lives of affected young adults. Finally, the last data chapter employs Emerson’s (2015) ‘personal troubles’ framework, in conjunction with the concept of ‘candidacy’ (Dixon-Woods et al, 2006; Mackenzie et al, 2015) to consider how young people respond and react to the ‘problem’. In conclusion, this thesis argues for adopting a relational interpretation of the ‘problem’ of parental substance use. Furthermore, this research presents a strong case for considering the ways in which disciplinary and methodological boundaries are blurred. This research contributes to contemporary debates in wider bodies of work within the sociologies of substance use, youth, families, relationships, and intimacy. It concludes by making recommendations for the development of policy and practice, and highlighting potential avenues for further research.

This thesis explores Corporate Social Responsibility disclosures related to gender equality and female empowerment in a developing country context. The study identifies Saudi Arabia as a country undergoing a State-driven gendered transformation in its society, in which laws and regulations positively targeting females are embedded within its National plans and country visions. The investigation used Nvivo Pro 11 to follow voluntary corporate disclosures of eleven (11) national organisations for a period of ten years (2005-2015) to determine the extent of textual and visual disclosures related to gender equality and female empowerment communicated to the public within that time frame. An index card was developed based on the literature and best practice in reporting on gender from international and local frameworks to analyse 140 corporate reports. Findings from the content analysis fed the exploration of the drivers behind this reporting practice. Twenty-nine (29) semi-structured interviews were conducted with 4 participant groups (Companies, Governing bodies, Financial analysts and CSR consultants) in addition to one focus group with female job seekers to determine the factors that influence reporting on gender in the Saudi context. Three theoretical frameworks led the analysis; Stakeholder theory (Freeman, 2010), Institutional Theory(Meyer and Rowan, 1977) and Resource Dependency Theory (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978). By adopting triangulation in both theory and methodology, findings indicate that workplace gender equality disclosures dominate within the reports, followed by disclosures empowering females within the community. Gender equality organisational practices are led by State legislation and National plans while reporting on gender is driven by institutional factors rooted in the culture and norms of the region.

This thesis represents an assessed requirement of the Applied Educational and Child Psychology Doctoral course at the University of Birmingham. Volume One explores the experiences of teenage fathers. Part one consists of a literature review, which considers teenage fathers as an identified category within the population that are not in education employment or training (NEET). The review explores; identified characteristics and factors associated with teenage fatherhood; identified psychological effects of fatherhood; service provision for teenage fathers; and the role of teenage fathers in research. The exploration of the views and experiences of fathers in United Kingdom was found to be a neglected area in the identified literature. Consequently, an empirical research study was designed to learn more about the views and experiences of teenage fathers in an area within the North West of England. Part two presents the research study entitled; ‘The experiences of being a teenage father: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.’ The study explores the experiences of five men who had become fathers in their teenage years. Resultant themes were identified and explored using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

A novel longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the roles of breastfeeding, positive maternal mealtime interactions and cortisol metabolism on weight gain and the development of eating behaviours during infancy, whilst controlling for covariates. Mothers and their new-born infants were recruited on maternity units and contacted five times over the first year. Mothers and infants were weighed and measured, feeding information recorded and urine samples collected for the analysis of cortisol metabolism. Mothers who breastfed for longer durations interacted more positively with their infants and had infants who were activating and clearing more cortisol at 12-months and gained weight more slowly throughout infancy. Mothers observed to interact more positively had infants who were metabolising more cortisol at 12-months, suggesting that maternal behaviour is involved in infant cortisol metabolism and may have a programming effect on their infant’s developing HPA axis. This thesis has provided the first set of normative data on the development of cortisol metabolism throughout infancy and has provided the first evidence that infant cortisol metabolism is an independent and significant predictor of eating behaviours and weight gain in the first year of life, even after accounting for breastfeeding duration and maternal interactions during feeding.

The question which formed the starting point of this research, and which has provided the central thread in this work is 'how can the later integration of Dutch women into the formal economy, compared to British women, in the period between 1940 and 1990, be explained?' This study looks at this question from (1) a macro perspective and (2) from the perspective of a middle-range case-study in the banking sector. In the macro perspective, theoretical discussions on how the post-war increase in women's participation in the labour market may be explained, and how comparative differences between industrialised countries in this respect may be explained, are brought forward. This provides the basis for a comparative historical investigation in which three historical periods are highlighted; the Second World War years, the post-war years (1945-1970) and the contemporary period (1970-1990). Particular reference is made to such issues as the marriage bar in employment and changes in ideological notions around women's paid employment. Changes in the gender composition of bank staff, and comparative differences in these changes, are investigated in their own right. This is done within the context of the same historical periods, though different theoretical considerations are taken into account. This case-study is in turn used to contrast what is occurring on the aggregate level with the banking sector. This highlights (1) the culturally specific histories of each society in relation to the themes investigated and (2) the particularity of the banking sectors in each society and their employment organisation.

This thesis contains 11 papers published in peer reviewed journals between 2006 and 2012. The papers focused on gender violence research methods, the prevalence of risk factors for gender violence, and its association with HIV and maternal morbidity. The accompanying commentary addresses three uncertainties that affect gender violence epidemiology. These are missing data, clustering and unrecognised causal relationships. In this thesis I ask: Can we reduce these three uncertainties in gender violence epidemiology? A systematic review of the intimate partner violence literature over the last decade found that few epidemiological studies manage missing data in gender violence questionnaires in a satisfactory way. Focus groups in Zambia, Nigeria and Pakistan confirmed that missing data lead to underestimation of gender violence prevalence. A partial solution to this problem was to place greater emphasis on interviewer training. In a reanalysis of the data from the published papers I compared different approaches to dealing with clustering in gender violence epidemiology. Generalised linear mixed models and other methods found that clustering potentially plays a causal role. This can be important in interventions that target a community at large, and act throughout the cluster. In a reanalysis of several datasets I show how a history of gender violence influences measurement of many associations related to HIV, possibly due to an unanticipated role of gender violence in the causal pathway with HIV. In conclusion, it is possible to reduce the uncertainties associated with missing data, clustering, and unrecognised causality in gender violence epidemiology.

This research thesis main focus was examining parental factors in the development of self-criticism in young people and role of mindfulness, self-compassion and compassion to others, play in the psychological well-being of mothers. Chapter one is a literature review of twelve empirical studies exploring the role of parental factors in the development of self-criticism in young people. The findings from this review show an association between parental self-critical personality style and parenting behaviours, which in turn are associated with levels of self-criticism in their offspring. This review highlights the potential importance of parent and carer interventions aimed at modifying the parents’ and children’s self-critical behaviours and attitudes. The literature review has been prepared for submission to the Clinical Psychology Review (see Appendix A,‘Guide for Authors’). Chapter two is a quantitative, empirical study. The study explored maternal levels of mindfulness, self-compassion, and compassion to others; and their association with psychological well-being and parental stress. Mothers were invited to participate via the internet and completed questionnaires on-line. Higher levels self-compassion and mindfulness were found to predict maternal psychological well-being and lower levels of maternal stress. Clinical implications and areas for future research are discussed alongside methodological limitations. The empirical study has been prepared for submission to Self and Identity (see Appendix A, ‘Guide for Authors’). Chapter three is a reflective account of the research thesis as a whole. The paper’s focus is on the importance of reflection, self-compassion and mindfulness on personal and professional development. Methodological issues arising from conducting quantitative research are discussed. This paper has not been prepared for publication.