Many children, especially those with developmental disabilities, may present with problem behaviour which requires some form of intervention (e.g., Egger & Angold, 2006; Magee & Roy, 2008). Behavioural interventions are one of the most widely used and most empirically supported interventions for alleviating children’s problem behaviour. Nevertheless, research has highlighted that treatment acceptability should also be considered an important criterion that may play a role in the success of behavioural interventions (e.g., Calvert & Johnston, 1990; Carter, 2007; Kazdin, 1980). Studies have identified numerous factors that may influence parental acceptability of behavioural interventions for their child’s problem behaviour. In particular, parental attributions have received increasing attention as one of these possible factors (e.g., Mah & Johnston, 2008). However, very little empirical research has explicitly examined the potential relationship between parental attributions and treatment acceptability, and the findings were often limited by methodological issues. The present study extends the existing literature by exploring the relationship between parental attributions and treatment acceptability of behavioural interventions for problem behaviour in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Mothers of children with ASD aged 3 to 9 years (N = 139) completed survey measures that assessed demographics, parental attributions, treatment acceptability of parent-focused and child-focused behavioural interventions, severity of their child’s disruptive behaviour, and severity of their child’s ASD symptoms. The results showed that parental attributions of parent-referent stability, but not the other attributional dimensions, negatively predicted treatment acceptability of a parent-focused behavioural intervention, even when severity of disruptive behaviour was statistically controlled. Conversely, no associations were found between any attributional dimension and treatment acceptability of a child-focused behavioural intervention. Preliminary analyses also revealed that mothers’ ratings of the severity of their child’s disruptive behaviour were significantly negatively correlated to the acceptability of both parent-focused and child-focused behavioural interventions. The results have potential implications for professionals to identify and challenge distorted attributions of parent-referent stability in order to promote parental acceptance of a parent-focused behavioural intervention for problem behaviour in children with ASD.

Despite a wealth of research in the U.K. on the stock of lone parents, in recent years there has been a lack of research on the dynamics of lone parenthood, particularly leaving lone parenthood. In an attempt to fill this gap, this thesis provides a detailed study of repartnering patterns of lone mothers in the U.K. This study uses the first 14 waves of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), a nationally representative survey conducted annually which interviews every adult member of a sample of around 5,000 households amounting to around 10,000 individual interviews. This data is particularly advantageous for this study due to its prospective longitudinal nature, allowing lone mothers to be captured at the point of entry into lone motherhood and their repartnering patterns to be analysed over subsequent waves. In addition the data enabled the construction of marital and cohabitation histories for lone mothers in order to control for any effect of prior union history on the probability of repartnering. Employing discrete time event history analysis techniques, the first part of this research examines repartnering among two distinct groups of lone mothers; those entering through the breakdown of a cohabiting or marital union and those entering through the birth of a child whilst single and never-married. Of particular interest is the effect of these different routes of entry into lone motherhood on the timing and determinants of repartnering and the types of new unions formed. The second part of the study seeks to identify if repartnering is associated with improved well-being for lone mothers. Using a series of pooled logistic regression models this thesis explores the association of repartnering with transitions in three domains: economic, demographic and health. Amongst those entering lone motherhood through the breakdown of a previous partnership the most important determinant of repartnering is found to be age at entry into lone motherhood. However, the economic situation of a lone mother, in particular whether or not she was receiving Income Support, has a much stronger influence on repartnering among single never married lone mothers than age. The duration of lone motherhood is found to be similar for both types of lone mother, -estimated at around five years, however controlling for a number of demographic and socio-economic factors suggests the probability of repartnering is lower for those entering through the breakdown of a cohabitation compared with those entering through the dissolution of a marriage. There appears to be a preference for cohabitation over marriage with nearly three quarters of those who repartnered moving into a cohabiting union. However, the higher chance of moving into a marriage for those who were previously married appears to result from a high proportion reconciling with a former partner. Examining the relationship between repartnering and other transitions occurring in three domains reveals that repartnering is likely to occur against a backdrop of other changes. Repartnering is strongly associated with an improvement in financial situation, residential mobility and an increase in the number of resident dependent children. Although no direct link is found between repartnering and improved mental health outcomes, the strong association between improved financial well-being and an improvement in mental health indicates repartnering may be indirectly related to better mental health. However, the finding of a direct association between poorer mental health and repartnering warrants further investigation

Children with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) present with social and communication deficits, and patterns of restricted and repetitive behaviours (APA, 2000). These difficulties have significant impacts for families, including increased levels of stress and mental health problems when compared to parents raising children with other developmental or intellectual conditions (e.g. Singer, 2006). Research has sought to understand this impact and to identify the factors that place parents at risk for poor adjustment outcomes so that interventions can be effectively tailored to facilitate improved outcomes for families. This thesis reviews the adjustment literature and considers how it fits within a widely used model of adjustment, the Double ABCX model (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983). It then goes on to consider the importance of the parent-child relationship for adjustment via the construct of Expressed Emotion (EE), and explores how this literature adds to our understanding of the adjustment process in families of children with ASC. Next, the role of EE in the adjustment process of families of children with ASC is investigated. A mediation model is proposed that incorporates a measure of EE within the Double ABCX model. The validity of this model is tested in a sample of primary caregivers who have children with ASC. Whilst the results of the study indicate that EE does not have a mediating role in the adjustment of these families, the study has a number of limitations and suggestions for future research that are discussed in detail.

High parental expressed emotion (EE) is often associated with ADHD in childhood. However, the direction of causation in the relationship is not well understood: is it the behaviour of the child with ADHD (i.e., child effects) or shared characteristics of the parent or family more generally that are independent of a specific child (i.e., family effects) that predict parental EE? Furthermore, does parental EE predict child problems over time? In this thesis, child and family effects on maternal EE and child problems and the specific child and family characteristics that explain these effects were examined using cross-sectional and longitudinal multilevel models of sibling pair data in families of children with ADHD sampled from a longitudinal study. The results revealed a complex picture with both child and family effects implicated in predicting both maternal EE and child behaviour. Studies 1 and 2 (which cross-sectionally used Time 1 [T1; n = 72 families] and Time 2 [T2] data [n = 48 families] respectively) and the longitudinal analysis of Study 3 (n = 45 families) demonstrated that, except for warmth, child effects were stronger in predicting maternal EE. Child effects seemed to be driven by oppositional/conduct problems (OPP/CP) and emotional problems, rather than ADHD per se. Mothers’ depressive symptoms and overall family levels of child OPP/CP largely predicted family effects on maternal EE. Study 4 (n = 45 families), the second longitudinal analysis, found similar T1 child and family effects on T2 child problems. Increase in negative maternal EE from T1 to T2 significantly predicted T2 child OPP/CP. T1 family effects on T2 child problems were predominantly predicted by T1 maternal ADHD symptoms and average family (i.e., sibling pair) levels of EE. The results suggested a potential causal role of both child (especially OPP/CP) and family effects (especially average family levels of child OPP/CP) in predicting maternal EE. In addition, high EE may be a risk factor for child OPP/CP over time and maternal ADHD for both behavioural and emotional child problems. This may have important clinical implications for interventions with families of children with ADHD.

This is the first critical study in the history of Nelson Algren criticism and scholarship to focus on Algren’s representation(s) of women. The critical consensus is that his women are ‘sympathetically imagined’ yet Algren has a reputation for being ‘no feminist.’ In this thesis I unpack this dichotomy by performing radical re-readings of his four novels, Somebody in Boots (1935), Never Come Morning (1942), The Man with the Golden Arm (1949), and A Walk on the Wild Side (1956). In each case I demonstrate that these novels perform feminist and masculinity studies work in their documentation and problematisation of rape and prostitution. I also unpack the mythologisation of love in Algren’s work which is based on out-dated readings of his protagonists’ intimate relationships and on a too-close association of his life with his literature. As such, this thesis also foregrounds the role critical readings play in the construction of a writer’s reputation. The ‘second sex’ of the title signals a) the thesis’s focus on women and b) the personal connection between Algren and Simone de Beauvoir who met on the cusp of writing The Man with the Golden Arm and The Second Sex. Re-reading archival evidence, I argue that Algren’s reputation as ‘no feminist’ owes much to being cast as Beauvoir’s ‘macho’ lover in the mythology of their relationship. Putting Algren’s women at the centre of readings demonstrates that he brought an incisive awareness of gender issues to the table when he and Beauvoir met in 1947. Foregrounding the women in Algren’s work, the richness and sophistication of Algren’s writing comes more fully to light. This thesis aims to provide a clearer sense of Algren’s place in American literature and an assessment of his relevance to the international canon of work on human sexuality, prostitution, and rape.

The Women's Section (Seccion Femenina) of the Franco regime's bureaucratic framework was founded in 1934 as an offshoot of the small fascist party, the Falange. Its leader, Pilar Primo de Rivera, was the sister of the Falange's founder, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera and remained in post throughout the regime. The present study is of Seccion Femenina (SF) as it developed following the death of Jose Antonio during the Spanish Civil War, becoming part of the regime's bureaucracy while retaining its original ideological base. The thesis examines the emerging role of SF in the Spanish Civil War as a supporter of the Nationalist cause and its mandate in 1939 to train and prepare the women and girls in Spain for life under the new regime. SF's influence on government legislation and its contribution to the nation's economic and social stability up to 1959 are examined in relation to the political events of the period as well as the compromises made as SF faced opposition from other sectors of the regime. The second focus of the thesis is SF's ideological base and inner identity, and particularly the degree to which it exhibited features of fascism. This is examined in relation to its elite members, whose belief system was so enduring that it survived the decline of Falangism in the regime. In the face of political realities, SF always saw its 1939 mandate as its own 'Falangist Revolution' and its elite members as capable of transforming society. The origins of these beliefs, the contribution of foreign influences and the transmission of SF ideology in SF's elite academy are analysed in relation to the work and self-image of the elites. The paradox of SF as a loyal supporter of Francoism while challenging the class and social base of the regime is also examined, and religion is shown as the most significant area where SF differed from mainstream opinion and practice. SF's programmes have been studied via primary sources, journals and archive materials. The major primary source, however, is the set of forty-five interviews, conducted principally in Madrid but also in Salamanca, Santiago de Compostela, Palencia, Medina del Campo, Zaragoza, Toledo, the province of Leon and Britain between 1994 and 1999. Interviewees are mainly former elite members of SF together with unaffiliated women, male Falangists and others with experience of SF's programmes.

Although a significant amount of research has reported the level of parental satisfaction with the disclosure of a diagnosis, little has documented their emotional responses after the diagnosis, their perceptions of the future, and the potential impact this has on the uptake of evidence based early interventions. The aim of this study was therefore to explore parents’ responses to their child’s diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in order to contribute to a greater understanding of parental experiences, to inform future practice and to help shape effective support services and intervention packages. Using a semi-structured format, 15 parents were interviewed about receiving a diagnosis of ASD for their child in order to obtain detailed first person accounts of their experiences. The data were analysed using a thematic analysis. Five main themes were identified. These were; (1) Positive response to a diagnosis; (2) Negative response to a diagnosis; (3) Perceptions of the future; (4) Factors possibly facilitating engagement with professional services; and (5) Factors possibly preventing engagement with professional services. The implications of these findings for professionals involved in the diagnostic process and support services are discussed. Suggestions for future research based on the findings and limitations of this study are also identified.

This is a socio-legal study of widowhood among the Baganda of Uganda. The thesis explores widowhood as it affects women within their local cultural context to determine the extent to which they pursue their rights in property and other family relationships. The thesis takes the position that to see them as ‘passive victims’ is to deny them a ‘voice.’ It homogenises them denying them their individuality. To this end the thesis explores the activities individual women undertake to pursue their interests. The study examines their perceptions of their situations as narrated through their own voices and what they have done or are doing about the situation. Widowhood flows from death in a marriage relationship. Consequently, the thesis begins with a woman entering into marriage, exploring how she is conceptualised through the giving of marriage gifts/bridewealth and the consequences that flow from that in a marriage relationship and its implications for widowhood. The study argues that there is need to understand the local cultural context in which women live and that within this context there are several regulatory regimes/semi autonomous social fields that regulate the society. This includes customs and cultural practices, the imported western law and in recent years the Resistance Councils which were created by the State to encourage democratic participation and popular justice beginning at grassroots. None of these regimes are autonomous from the other although each seeks to exert its own power. This has far reaching consequences for the extent to which a woman can assert herself. Within this the ‘family council’ or clan to which every person in that society belongs emerges as the strongest regulatory regime. The study reveals that the choice of regimes allows a woman to pick and choose where to assert her rights depending on her interests, location and resource position. Within these set of circumstances her self perception as an individual with rights is the strongest tool in driving her to pursue her interests. The study also reveals that in some cases the written imported law supports cultural practices but because it is perceived as foreign, there has not been openess nor understanding of the substance of the law thus resulting in conflicts with customary practices. This is most evident in rural societies where cultural practices find their strongest means of expression. However there is room for harmony where the law does not seek to impose itself on other regulatory regimes but recognizes the need for sharing of powers and working in cooperation with these other regimes. In this respect the creation of the RC system which encourages local informal dispute resolution and which has the capacity to respond to social factors and changing attitudes within the community and the wider legal system can be an effective tool for legal innovation and draw the women as a whole into decision making.

This thesis is an ethnographic study of the stepfamily that was conducted between May 1985 and July 1986. The main methods of social investigation were participant observation, unstructured interviews and documentary evidence. The study examines the role of myth and its importance in the stepfamily from the view point of the stepparent. Special consideration has been given to consider the gender implications of step-parenthood and remarriage and the place of myth in the structuring of gender and stepfamily experiences. An opening chapter surveys the theoretical background to the study. Chapter Two introduces the families who took part in the study and contextualises their concerns. There are further chapters which examine the myth of the wicked stepmother, the importance of reciprocity in stepparent-stepchild relationships, the gender experience of second marriage and myth construction in the stepfamily. Chapter Seven serves as a summary and concludes that myth has a dual function in stepfamily life. Specifically, myths impose constraints on the stepmother's freedom of action which is not evidenced for stepfathers. Nevertheless, through the construction of myths within the stepfamily, myths serve a legitimating role for both stepparents which form the basis of step-parental perception. Appendices A and B are concerned with the research process and, given the personal nature of the research to the researcher, stand as an integral part of the thesis. In Appendix A two issues are considered. The importance of biography in the research process and the methods employed. Appendix B sets out the aides memoires used for unstructured interviews. Finally, Appendix C contains stepfamily trees and serves as a presentation device to indicate the various stepfamily relationships.

Dietary habits change over the life-course and might be profoundly affected by changes in lifestyle. The transition from living as a dependent in the family home to independent living is a crucial stage in most young people's lives, and the initial diet and lifestyle choices adopted following leaving home may form the basis of dietary habits and health status in adulthood. Many young people leave home to pursue further education, begin employment and/or co-habit/start a family. However, some leave home involuntarily or due to family conflict, becoming homeless. The circumstances of a young person's transition into independent living are likely to have an impact on their health behaviour and dietary habits. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the diet and lifestyles of young people living at home or independently. In particular, the diet and nutritional status of young adults at various stages of independent living (students, homeless and working young adults) was investigated. Phase 1 of the study investigated the differences in diet and health behaviour of young people living independently or in the family home (n=219). Phases 2,3 and 4 investigated the diet and nutritional status of (phase 2) students during their first year of study (n=58), (phase 3) homeless young adults residing temporarily in hostels (n=24) and (phase 4) working young adults who have lived independently for more than 4 years (n=33). The study was based in Liverpool, and volunteers were recruited largely from Merseyside, although the `snowball' recruitment technique resulted in some volunteers from Leicestershire, the Midlands, Surrey and Kent. An age range of 18-30 years was used for this study. This was in order to include both young people who had recently left home (who were likely to be at the lower end of the age range), and those who had lived independently for more than four years (who were likely to be at the higher end of the age range). The dietary habits of working young adults, who had lived independently for more than four years, were closest to recommended nutritional intakes. Students and the homeless generally consumed diets that were high in fat and sugar, and low in fibre. Alcohol intakes were high amongst male and female students and female working adults. Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, BMI and skinfolds) were comparable between students and working young adults.