This thesis is situated across the fields of contemporary political philosophy, critical theory and feminist/gender studies. It argues that the notion of an ‘ana-aesthetic’ is required in order to provide a fuller sense of the conceptual nuances regarding pornography. The ‘ana-aesthetic’ is suggested as the ground and surface economy for this ‘unsayable something’ that is so much a part of the everyday common senses of contemporary life and art. Distinct from the ‘anti-aesthetic’, the ‘ana-aesthetic’ utilises a discursive methodology, and in sidestepping the usual moral entanglements found in attempts to analyse sexually explicit and often misogynistic pornographies, this thesis shows how the ‘ana-aesthetic’ surface of ‘the pornographical’ generates a mimetic and bodily ethics. ‘The pornographical’ is discussed in terms of its techne of comic humour, as a way of creating substance without lapsing into abyssal logics of lack; and the manner in which sexual meaning of fantasy is pleasurable, forming compressed data. The comic is suggested as something found, a cultural ‘ready-made’ gesture, of pleasure, produced through an economic expenditure of ideational mimetics (upon cathexis). This thesis suggests that through the comic, ‘the pornographical’ creates mimetic economies of witnessing. ‘The pornographical’ occupies a strange cultural position in its relationship to both the body and to technology. It is this relationship that gives ‘the pornographical’ its paradoxical ‘ana-linguistic’/’a-radical’ (without a ‘root’) structure, that generates a way of thinking that is related to and also embodies and mediates the body, without positing sexuality as an essentialism.

This thesis defends the diagnostic accuracy and political usefulness of the claim that women are complicit in their sexual objectification. Feminists have long struggled to demarcate the appropriate limits of feminist critiques of sexual objectification, particularly when it comes to objectifying practices which women both consent to and experience as empowering. These struggles, I argue, are the result of a fundamental misdiagnosis of what happens when women are sexually objectified, whereby the abstract notion of 'treating as an object' is called upon to explicate the kind of phenomena which can only be properly understood in light of a more general set of social norms of masculinity and femininity. A more accurate diagnosis of sexual objectification, I argue, is provided by Catharine MacKinnon's radical feminist theory, according to which sexually objectifying acts are manifestations of the social process through which women are made into objects of male sexual gratification. One important implication of this account is that women themselves play a role in perpetuating the norms through which sexually objectifying treatment of women is enabled: insofar as they participate in the re-constitution of the social context which facilitates their sexual objectification, they are complicit in it. Although this idea lacks intuitive appeal from a feminist perspective, I argue that understanding the nature of the contribution women make to perpetuating their objectification enables a better understanding of what practices of resistance are necessary for effectively combatting the sexual objectification of women. I defend the explanatory power of the complicity account of objectification in light of two pressing debates in contemporary feminist philosophy: the question of how women can disidentify from femininity given the strong attachments they develop to it, and the question of how feminism can continue to appeal to the motif of solidarity considering the anti-essentialist commitments of recent feminist theory.

This research explores the decision making processes of individuals and groups engaged in child protection practice within social services departments in the UK. The emphasis of the research was to consider how the application of psychological theories and concepts might allow a descriptive and interpretative evaluation of decision processes in child protection practice. The research sought to elaborate upon much of previous social work literature in that it focused upon the processes of decision making rather than the outcomes for participants. Similarly it sought to elaborate upon literature in decision theory in that it focused upon real world, ongoing and naturalistic decision situations. The theoretical framework used in the research was an integrated model of decision making under conditions of risk proposed by Whyte (1989,1991). This model outlines circumstances under which individuals and groups may take decisions in the directions of risk or caution. The methodological approach was grounded in the principles of qualitative research. Drawing upon Forster (1994) and Yin (1989) documentary analysis was applied to case studies. The research considered documents in relation to two categories of child protection cases. Initially those where children who were already known to child protection practitioners had died, namely, child death inquiry reports. Ongoing cases within a local authority child protection department, where the outcomes and decision making were considered to be positive, were then analysed. The interpretation from the first stage of the research suggested that all the concepts outlined in Whyte's model could have explanatory value and that the deaths of children could be a consequence of the ways in which decisions are framed and which leave children in situations of risk. The second stage involved the analysis of documents in relation to eight ongoing cases within a local authority. The number of group meetings held in the eight cases was 38 and in 71% of these the operation of the certainty effect in the direction of risk was evident. In the remaining 39% there was evidence that the certainty effect operated in the direction of caution. Within the documents there was some evidence of group polarisation and groupthink. Resources were committed and escalated consistently in order to ensure the effectiveness of initial plans of action despite evidence that these were unsuccessful in terms of the overall well being of the children. The decisions were shown to be bounded by the 'objective' principles of the Children Act 1989 and Working Together (1991). However themes that emerged from the analysis of the cases suggest that there is a 'subjective' influence on decision processes. Evident within the analysis was a shared fundamental belief in keeping children with their mothers. Both these objective and subjective influences suggest that almost inevitably decision making in child protection practice will be driven in directions that result in courses of action that involve potential and actual risks for children. The findings emphasise how an explicit recognition of the multifaceted nature of decision making can assist in more reflective practice. The ways in which national and local policy impacts upon decision processes, at the level of the individual and groups, need to be monitored in order that the needs of children in situations that involve risk remain paramount.

This study explores the experiences of young people who have been 'looked after' during the transitional period in which they leave 'care', moving on to live independently. The emphasis is on making visible the way in which young people are active in their lives; interacting with, rather than submitting to the social environment they operate within. Drawing upon life course theory (Elder,1997) taking an interactional biographical approach (Runyan, 1982); historical time and place are considered, particularly in relation to the social timing of life events. Of paramount importance is the notion of 'linked lives' where developmental pathways and life course trajectories are seen to be located within past transitions. Drawing upon feminist empiricist and feminist postmodernist thinking, a multi-methods approach to data collection is used. Initially, aggregate data for the 150 young people, eligible to receive leaving care services within the Local Authority, was made available for analysis. Structured interviews with 38 young people were completed. Fourteen young people, aged 16-18 when the research commenced, were included in the biographical phase of the research. In this phase, in-depth information about their unique life experiences was documented over a period of 12-18 months. It was found, in line with previous research, that care leavers experienced a much earlier transition to independent living, continual accommodation moves and high levels of unemployment (60-70%). The Leaving Care Scheme's risk assessment showed the largest proportion of young people categorised as 'high risk (44%). However, leaving care provision was not accessed by 35% of those young people eligible to receive services. The 'stories' told in depth reveal the way in which past experiences and past transitions can be seen to shape and direct life course trajectories; progressing the view that outcome evaluation is limited in utility when not viewed as part of an integrated whole. An ideological account of independence had consequentiality in terms of 'social timing' also operating as a barrier which distanced young people from leaving care services. There is considerable evidence in the research of young people as active agents. Such 'agency was always located within personal and situational contexts where differing levels of personaVinterpersonal action and compliance can be observed. The findings suggest that outcome evaluations are of limited use, and a focus on studies which accommodate life as a continuum, a series of 'linked states' where beginnings and endings are not so clearly defined would offer more informative representations of young people's 'post-care' lives. Leaving care policy makers and practitioners should reflect upon the consequentiality of the ideology with which they engage; aiming to foster more comprehensively a favourable social environment but one where young people are not seen exclusively as submitting to social conditions.

This thesis details an empirical exploration of disabled peoples’ lived experiences of sexual and intimate life. Disabled people are predominantly desexualised and degendered and within ableist cultures; they are also, as Brown (1994: 125) states, assigned paradoxical social categories of ‘asexual, oversexed, innocents, or perverts’. Thus, this thesis begins from the position that disabled peoples’ access to and experiences of sexual life occur in the context of these dominant ableist constructions of disabled sexualities, and that the reclamation or formation of a sexual self requires resistance to, or strategic management and negotiation of such constructions. The research methodology worked to the central tenets of consultation, accessibility, empowerment and relevance. A Research Advisory Group made up of local disabled people was established, the purpose of which was to guide the research process, offer expert knowledge, and ensure that the research was accessible, engaging and empowering for the individuals who took part. Through a thematic analysis of the sexual stories told by twenty-five disabled people (and one non-disabled partner), in their own words and on their own terms, this thesis details the complex and variegated relationships between disability, impairment, sexuality, and gender. Findings show that heteronormative discourse had very complicated and contradictory implications for disabled men and women, but also empowered disabled men relative to disabled women. Moreover, analysis has illustrated the ‘complex invisible “work” performed by disabled people’ (Church et al 2007: 1) through participants regularly taking on the roles of teacher, negotiator, manager, mediator, performer, educator, and resistor within a variety of spaces in their sexual and intimate lives. While this work was evidence of sexual agency, the majority of participants’ labours were rooted in the oppressive and inherent inequalities of ableist culture. Furthermore, the majority of participants experienced extensive psycho-emotional disablism – ‘the socially engendered undermining of psychoemotional wellbeing’ (Thomas, 1999: 60) – as routine within their sexual and intimate lives.

Voluntary childlessness (VC) is a growing phenomenon in the 21st Century in western societies with the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in 2013 showing that one-fifth of women are childless at the age of 45. Sociological literature highlights how VC is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon and is often difficult to define. However, since its inception, psychoanalysis has made an inextricable link between femininity and motherhood thus psychoanalytic theory views motherhood as normative and it is often seen as a developmental stage. This thesis explores how psychoanalytic practitioners understand, conceptualise and respond to VC in the clinical setting. Four psychoanalytical practitioners were interviewed and three main themes arose as a result of the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of the data collected. The first finding highlighted the biopsychosocial pressures that the participants felt their patients experienced. Some participants spoke of the professional pressure they experienced from within the psychoanalytic field as a result of the theory that links motherhood and femininity. The second finding highlighted the ethical dilemmas faced by some patients with regards to whether to become a mother, such as a VC choice might be the result of difficult childhoods, immaturity, or because their mental health issues precluded them from motherhood or they feared motherhood might induce mental illness. The final finding highlighted that working with childless patients was both complex and conflictual. The practitioners discussed both their personal professional responses to childlessness in general. This research is important for highlighting how psychoanalytical practitioners are influenced by the competing discourses in society surrounding motherhood. Finally, the thesis critically evaluates the research, makes suggestions for future enquiries and reflects on the clinical implications of the findings.

The social scientific debate over consumption is of increasing concern to commentators addressing the cultural implications of socio-economic change. All too often, however, the individual meanings that consumers have for the goods they consume have been neglected by these commentators, notably in favour of abstract discussions of the role of consumption in the emergence of a 'postmodern' culture. Arguing that consumption provides the sociologist with an invaluable means of addressing questions concerning the relationship between structure and agency, this thesis attempts to move beyond the limited conception of a fragmented self, picking and choosing his or her identity from the menu of life, to begin to establish an empirical grounding for the relationship between consumption and identity amongst young people. Data were collected from a triangulated three-stage research process, in the form of a series of focus group interviews, informed by Personal Construct Psychology, a participant observation study in a sports shop, and a Consumer Meanings Questionnaire. Arguing that young people's identities are largely constructed in peer group settings, the evidence presented suggests that consumption provides an everyday cultural framework, within which young consumers negotiate some semblance of everyday stability in a 'risk' society. In this sense, young people appear to pursue a dual task. First, they are intent upon forming group-based identities. Second, they attempt to construct a sense of individuality in this context. Hence, it is argued that whilst young people choose consumer goods according to peer group meanings, they tend to see their own choices as 'individual' and those of their peers as being determined by media and marketing-created desires. As such, whilst it would be misleading to see young people as dupes of the capitalist system, neither are they free agents. Teenagers construct their identities partially through the framework that consumption provides, but not with products of their own choosing. Far from being whimsical consumers in this context, I argue that essentially, young people are modernists, adapting to the rational constraints upon their everyday lives and changing the character of their consumption patterns accordingly. The situated realities of so-called postmodern forms of consumption can therefore only be understood, it is argued, through innovative triangulated research methods which address consumer meanings in routine everyday settings and which, in turn, consider the theoretical implications of such meanings, for both an understanding of the ideological impact of consumerism and it's relationship to debates concerning structure and agency.

This master thesis deals with the comparison of an industrial system for object recognition and measurement with an affordable camera on the Raspberry Pie platform. The theoretical part briefly describes several methods for measuring dimensions, which are commonly used in industry, along with a general description of technical equipment for image recording. The next section describes 3 industrial systems for image analysis. The practical part of the work deals with the design of the measuring stand, the description of the technical equipment, the implementation of measurements using both platforms and the subsequent evaluation.

Countries around the world provide various forms of legal recognition for same-sex relationships. In the UK, legal recognition for same-sex relationships first became available in 2005 with the introduction of civil partnership (CP) which remained the only option until 2014 when same-sex civil marriage legislation was passed in England, Wales and Scotland. In a context of heated debate and speculation, this thesis contributes to emerging literature on individual’s experiences of legal forms of same-sex relationship recognition by exploring how CP is experienced, given meaning, and situated biographically. The thesis draws on personal narratives elicited through qualitative life story interviews with 28 men from across the UK. Interviews covered the life course, but were thematically focused around CP to provide insight into: motivations for entering CPs; experiences of planning, constructing, and participating in CP ceremonies and celebrations; and meanings and impacts of becoming and being civilly partnered. The resulting co-constructed narratives were systematically analysed using narrative methods. Minority stress theory, along with other relevant theories and concepts, were employed to further illuminate, analyse, and interpret participants’ narratives. Two generational core-narratives were identified in participants’ biographical accounts. Older participants told stories of struggle and resilience, and younger participants told new narratives of normality. Despite some generational differences, all participants reported experiences consistent with minority stress, including coping and resilience mechanisms, arising from their gay social identities which remain subject to residual stigma. Participants’ accounts of CP revealed that becoming and being civilly partnered was largely, but not wholly, a positive experience which can be understood in terms of the overarching, and overlapping themes of citizenship, normativity and well-being. With regard to citizenship, participants welcomed the legal rights and recognition of CP which was seen to offer varying forms and degrees of equality. In terms of normativity, some participants reported that CP confirmed their perceived normality while others thought it was a normalizing process granting them normative identities. Furthermore, while some engaged in, or were compelled to engage in, arguably normative marital practices, others felt they were resisting these. Regarding well-being, becoming and being civilly partnered seemed to mitigate minority stress and contribute to well-being. Overall, the knowledge generated from the personal narratives presented in this thesis enriches debates, contributes broadly to the social sciences literature, and provides new perspectives on, and representations of, gay men’s identities, lives, and relationships.

This thesis interrogates what a whole family approach is in Welsh policy and practice utilising an Integrated Family Support Team (IFST) as the case study. The study examines the construction of ‘family’ in policy, practice and by parents themselves and the impact of gender on practitioner and parental normative constructions of mothering and fathering as care practices. Both the UK and Welsh governments locate their use of a whole family approach within a social exclusion framework that views strong familial bonds as the source of sustainable social capital. Documentary analysis is used to examine the policy construction of a whole family approach and of the target families themselves, as this has implications for the application of a whole family approach in practice and the type and nature of family engagement. To date there has been very limited articulation of the therapeutic process entailed in a whole family approach. Through the use of practitioner interviews this thesis addresses that gap in research. It is imperative to gain an understanding of how practitioners conceptualise and engage with families within a whole family approach as this determines which individuals are included and excluded. This is a particularly pertinent issue given the well-rehearsed arguments regarding mother-blaming and lack of father inclusion within child protection practice. Parental perspectives on the construction of ‘family’, and aspirations for both family life and their own mothering and fathering practices, are explored via analysis of parental accounts and values card-sort statements as recorded (and thereby mediated) by IFST practitioners. The findings from this analysis are that there is a considerable degree of constructive conceptual alignment between policy, practice and parental perspectives on the construction of family, and the gendering of parenting as care practices.