In this thesis I develop a psychosocial approach to prejudice and discrimination among the Mexican-origin population in the U.S. state of Arizona. I argue that although the Mexican-origin population has been oppressed and discriminated against by the dominant white population for centuries, this minority group has its own history of intra-group prejudice and discrimination. Moreover, I argue that the attitudes and behaviours of Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans, and the interactions between them, are influenced by three main elements: 1) structural factors (such as exploitation and inequality); 2) dominant ideologies (such as colonisation and white supremacy/superiority) and; 3) cultural commonalities between Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans (in particular, the Spanish language). Within this context, I employed approximately thirty free association narrative interviews, notes based on ethnographic and participant observations, amongst other data sources (such as newspaper articles and informal interviews), to reveal much about the unconscious dynamics and processes under which Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans interact. In the first half of the thesis I describe the social and political context of Arizona, which includes the history of the Mexican-origin population in that state as well as the implementation of the anti-immigration law, Senate Bill 1070 and its effects on the Mexican-origin population. In addition to this, I describe the methodology I used to conduct this research (participants, types of interviews and analysis of the collected data). In the second half of the thesis, I analyse prejudice and discrimination coming from ‘outside’ and ‘inside’ the Mexican-origin population with the use of psychoanalytic (Freud, Klein, Dalal), sociological (Douglas, Jimenez, Clarke) and post-colonial theories (Fanon, Memmi, Bhabha). In conclusion, I argue that the phenomenon of prejudice and discrimination among Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans in Arizona cannot be reduced to psychological nor sociological explanations but that it needs to be addressed and approached by several disciplines.

This thesis investigates the dynamics, motivations and external factors influencing the migration trajectories of 22 young, well-qualified Polish and Spanish migrants in the South of England. The study is among the first ones researching the current movement of people from Spain to the UK in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007/08, and comparing it to post-EU-accession migration from Eastern Europe. The methodology involves semi-structured, autobiographical interviews focusing on participants’ migration experiences, with a particular focus on their professional ambitions in the UK labour market. The findings of the study demonstrate how both groups interpret emigration as an act of establishing a certain form of normality, be it social, economic or individual. Overall, however, the narratives reveal differences that run along the lines of nationality. In the Polish narratives in particular, a strong focus on the immediate present becomes evident. The present life in the UK, no matter how challenging, is almost always compared to a past in Poland that is retrospectively defined as ‘abnormal’. Participants create a discourse of escape that is then used to make sense of an often ‘not ideal’ present in which participants, despite being university educated, spend prolonged periods of time in low-level jobs. The Spanish narratives, on the other hand, tend to be highly politicised and participants display a strong sense of individualisation and political anger. Most narratives are characterised by an ‘ideology of progress’. Spain is referred to as a space of personal and professional stagnation, while time spent in the UK is seen as a conscious investment in human capital such as English skills. The aim of this investment is the establishment of a certain socio-economic status in the future, and menial jobs in the UK are acceptable as long as participants work towards that goal. In summary, the thesis analyses how both groups react to social and economic changes in times of a global economic crisis, and describes how participants tend to meet unknown circumstances with a known set of behavioural dispositions.

Adequate nutritional status promotes optimal structure and function. In PLWH, few studies on the impact of dietary intake on nutritional and metabolic status have been undertaken. This cross-sectional secondary data analysis examined how different dietary patterns influenced nutritional and metabolic integrity in asymptomatic PLWH in the North-West Province of South Africa. Dietary data were collected using validated QFFQ. Data analysis was by SPSS version 14. Dietary and nutrient patterns were generated using Principal Component Analysis. Though asymptomatic, marked biochemical differences depicting altered metabolism and inflammation were observed in PLWH compared to the uninfected. PLWH also showed an anthropometric profile that depicted altered body composition and abnormal fat distribution. Four dietary patterns: animal-based, ‘recommended’, staple, and the Carbohydrate, Vegetable and Legumes (CVL) based were observed in both PLWH and the uninfected with slight differences. In PLWH, the animal-based similar to the CVL pattern was associated with better overall nutrient intake (r=0.5, p<0.001) and selected nutrients, including energy (r=0.3, p<0.001), protein (r=0.6, p<0.001), iron (r=0.5, p<0.001), zinc (r=0.6, p<0.001) and vitamin A (r=0.5, p<0.001), compared to the other dietary patterns. The animal based dietary pattern also predicted higher BMI (OR=2.2, 95% CI=0.9-5.0), LBM (3.6, 1.3-10.4), serum albumin (1.5, 0.9-2.4) and lower liver enzymes AST (0.5, 0.3-0.8) and ALT (0.6, 0.4-0.9). Using Graphical Chain Modelling, higher intake of the animal-based but lower staple-based dietary patterns were associated with better overall nutrient intake, serum vitamins A, E, lipid score, albumin, BMI and LBM suggesting that intake of this diet may provide better nutrient quality, enhancing nutritional status and metabolic proficiency, which may ultimately influence disease progression. The findings have implications for dietary guidelines for this population but further research is required. However, if these findings are true, then a predominantly animal-based diet may be ‘recommended’ for this population. Moreover, the longer term implications of high fat intake associated with the animal based dietary pattern on obesity and associated risks should be considered. This poses a challenge to imperatively weigh up the longer term risks of the overall population profile crucial for public health.

Since the introduction of chat technology there has been resistance within education to fully engage with it partly due to policy making that has left teachers disempowered (UCLAN 2002:66). Unlike other innovative technologies, its use has been limited. Pastoral support has developed significantly in education but in some instances, like chat rooms, has been viewed with scepticism. One reason for this scepticism may be that a clear measurable link between support and achievement is not easily proven. However, there is widespread acceptance that academic success is not the only measure of intelligence (Gardner 2006) and that supporting and understanding how young people communicate with each other and feel supported is an important research area for development. This research uses exploratory case study to consider the introduction of a bounded bespoke chat system into a sixth-form college. A range of sources are considered including semi-participant observation, chat transcripts and observational diaries. It is shown that the introduction of such a system can be managed effectively and be useful for students. The research reveals there are critical drivers for its successful introduction. The first relates to the role of the moderator, including perceptions about them and their impact on rules and boundaries for behaviour. The study shows that finding moderators with the appropriate level of skill is challenging. It also shows that students access support online in different ways compared to offline and that the use of topics can influence their behaviour. Anonymity, gender, the use of „text speak‟ and participant consciousness all affect communication. Future research is proposed into the specific impact of the gender of the moderator on chat usage, the impact of an individual institutional culture on the willingness of learners to use chat, attitudes of stakeholders towards chat and the purpose of "lurking" in bounded environments.

This research considers job satisfaction among female head teachers in Saudi Arabian secondary schools in the city of Abha using a qualitative methodology. The subjects of the study were female head teachers in five secondary schools in the city; all the deputy heads and some of the teachers were also included. The research identifies the main factors that influence female head teacher satisfaction. It is based on interviews as the main method, and documents and observation as supporting methods. This study groups job satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors into six major themes: educational administration, school conditions, supervision, nature of the work, personal variables, and social relationships with students, parents, deputies and teachers. The study found that female secondary school head teachers‟ overall attitudes to their job in the five schools were negative. Unfortunately, factors of dissatisfaction outnumbered factors of job satisfaction. Achievement, helping students, and salary were the chief sources of satisfaction, while factors of dissatisfaction were linked to educational administration by the education authorities outside the school, including lack of cooperation and inconsistent decisions (e.g. in the application of regulations), lack of delegated authority, constrained budgets, limited training and development opportunities, poor supervision, and high workload and, to some extent, poor school infrastructure, including a lack of maintenance, poor facilities, and challenges because of school location. The study is important from the point of view of the head teachers, because their performance depends on satisfaction in the role, which in turn affects the whole school and the community. The study concludes with a number of recommendations for local and national education authorities in Saudi Arabia.

The population of the United Kingdom (UK) is ageing; the already substantial burden of musculoskeletal disorders on health and social care systems will increase over time as the population ages. Social inequalities in health are well documented for the UK in general but little is known about social inequalities in musculoskeletal ageing. Using data from the 3,225 ‘young-old’ (age 59 to 73 years) community dwelling men and women who participated in the Hertfordshire Cohort Study, this thesis has explored social inequalities in musculoskeletal ageing: specifically, loss of muscle strength and physical function (PF); falls; Fried frailty; and osteoporosis. Socioeconomic position was characterised by age left full-time education, parental social class at birth and own social class in adulthood, and current material deprivation by housing tenure and car availability. Not owning one’s home was associated with lower grip strength and increased frailty prevalence among men and women and with poorer self-reported short-form 36 (SF-36) PF among men. Reduced car availability was associated with lower grip strength and poorer SF-36 PF among men and women and with increased falls and frailty prevalence among men. There was no convincing evidence for social inequalities in fracture, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) total femoral bone mineral density (BMD) and bone loss rate, or peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) strength strain indices for the radius or tibia. This thesis has argued that social variations in height, fat mass, diet and physical activity are likely to have mediated these results. Moreover, evidence for a social gradient in grip strength but not BMD is consistent with ageing skeletal muscle remaining highly responsive to physical activity in later life in a way that ageing bone does not; the impact of lifecourse customary and occupational physical activity on social inequalities in musculoskeletal ageing merits further research. The results presented in this thesis suggest that any clinical interventions designed to reduce the loss of muscle mass and function with age should be targeted proportionately across the social gradient; strategies to reduce fracture and osteoporosis should continue to have a universal population focus. Finally, this thesis suggests that there exists a subgroup of older men and women in the UK who face the multiple jeopardy of increased levels of material deprivation combined with greater loss of muscle strength and physical function; these men and women urgently need the government to commit to reform of the funding system for adult care and support.

Diabetes is a significant health problem in Mexico and one of the leading causes of death. Studies in other countries have suggested that socioeconomic status (SES) contributes to the development of type 2 diabetes. However, only few studies in Mexico have dealt with SES differentials in diabetes. The aim of this thesis is to examine the association between SES and type 2 diabetes among Mexican adults aged 20-69. In contrast with previous studies, we use individual, household and municipality measures of SES simultaneously when investigating: prevalence of total, diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes in the year 2000; and incidence of diagnosed diabetes during the period 2002-2005. Furthermore, we explore the effects of diabetes on employment status, and changes in waist circumference (WC) among adults with diabetes. Data were used from the 2000 National Health Survey (NHS-2000) and the Mexican Family Life Surveys 2002 and 2005 (MxFLS-2002 and MxFLS-2005). Diabetes was defined using self-reports (in both surveys) and outcomes from capillary blood tests (only in the NHS). SES was measured through educational attainment, household income, household wealth and municipality deprivation. The index of household wealth was calculated and evaluated using the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure (ENIGH-2000). The Human Development Index (HDI) and the Deprivation Index (DI) at the municipality level are official statistics obtained from the 2000 Mexican Census of population. Two level logistic regression models were estimated, and the analyses were stratified mainly by sex, urban/rural stratum and municipality deprivation. Our findings confirm an association between socioeconomic status and diabetes. However, this relationship varies by SES measure, sex, urbanisation and deprivation. A consistent result was that diabetes was more common among the less educated, in the least deprived municipalities, and in urbanised localities. Variations in diabetes between municipalities were better explained by genetic, biological and lifestyle factors, than by SES. Diabetes was associated with working status, but not with employment status or changes in WC. Increases in urbanisation and further socioeconomic development, in combination with increased life expectancy, will lead to a higher prevalence of diabetes particularly among the most vulnerable groups. In addition to the promotion of healthy behaviours in the overall Mexican population, health sustainability should be prioritized in those communities at early stages of the nutritional and epidemiological transition.

Earlier studies have shown that individuals whose mothers were diabetic when they were in utero, have an increased risk of early obesity, and impaired glucose tolerance (lGT) and type 2 diabetes in adult life. This study was designed to test whether adiposity, glucose tolerance and insulin concentrations are altered in Indian children born to mothers with gestational diabetes (GDM), and are related to maternal glucose and insulin concentrations in pregnancy even in the absence of GDM. 830 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinics of the Holdsworth Memorial Hospital (HMH), Mysore, India underwent an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) at 30+/-2 weeks. 674 of these women delivered at HMH. Detailed anthropometry was performed on the offspring at birth, and annually thereafter. 585 mothers returned with their offspring at 5 years of age for detailed investigations including OGTT for glucose and insulin concentrations, bio-impedance for fat estimation and blood pressure measurement. OGTT was administered to mothers and fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were measured in fathers. The Mysore babies were small compared to UK neonates, but the deficit varied for different body measurements. While birthweight (-1.1 SD) was considerably lower, crown-heel length (-0.3 SD) and subscapular skinfold thickness (-0.2 SD) were relatively spared. At five years, subscapular skinfold thickness was larger than the UK standards (+0.23 SD, p<O.OOl) despite all other body measurements being significantly smaller. Findings at 5 years were similar in comparison with another standard, based on Dutch children. At 5 years, girls in the cohort had higher insulin concentrations and were more insulin resistant. Body fat was the strongest predictor of glucose and insulin concentrations independent of other body components and parental characteristics. Newborns of the mothers with gestational diabetes were larger in all body measurements than control neonates (born to non-GDM mothers and non-diabetic fathers). At one year, these differences had diminished and were not statistically significant. At five years, female, but not male offspring of diabetic mothers had larger subscapular and triceps skinfolds (P=O.Ol) and higher 30- and 120-minute insulin concentrations (P<0.05) than control females. Even in the control offspring maternal insulin area-under-the-curve was positively associated with 30-minute insulin concentrations, after adjusting for sex and maternal skinfolds (P<O.OOl). Offspring of diabetic fathers (n=41) were lighter at birth than controls; they showed no differences in anthropometry at five years. In conclusion, Maternal GDM is associated with adiposity and higher insulin concentrations in female offspring at 5 years. The absence of similar associations in offspring of diabetic fathers suggests a programming effect of the diabetic intra-uterine environment. With increasing levels of obesity and IGT among Indian mothers, these effects may be contributing to the rise of type 2 diabetes in India. Our continuing follow-up aims to study the long-term effects of higher maternal glucose concentrations in the absence of GDM.

This study investigated the development and implementation of cooperative learning in two Saudi classrooms seeking the perspectives of teachers and pupils. A review of the literature suggests that efforts to introduce cooperative learning have tended to be initiated in Oceanic, North American or European contexts (Jolliffe and Hutchinson, 2007). Research is less forthcoming in other regions in the world. Research on group work / cooperative learning methods in Arab-speaking nations is in its infancy. The specific purpose of this thesis is to examine the development and implementation of cooperative learning in two Islamic culture classes in one secondary school in Saudi Arabia. In both, the perceptions of teachers and pupils were sought, to gather the opinions of teachers regarding changes to their classroom practice. Two male secondary teachers with 19 and 12 years teaching experience participated in a 10-hour training programme on cooperative learning in the classroom, and then they and their pupils (39 pupils) were tracked over a four-week period to investigate their experiences of this new approach. Individual interviews with teachers took place at four points across the research period: before and after the training programme, in the middle of the implementation stage and at the end of the project. Focus group interviews with pupils also took place before, in the middle and after the implementation stage. In addition, field note observations of approximately 40 lessons were made and short segments of some lessons were videoed. Teachers kept an audio reflective log to record their experiences. Results indicated that both teachers initially had very limited knowledge of cooperative learning. The findings indicated that teachers were very supportive of the training they received. Pupils and teachers described a number of benefits of cooperative learning and the opportunity to experience a broader range of educational outcomes. Teachers described and demonstrated a number of aspects of their practice that illustrated a shift to a more pupil-centred classroom, with their role becoming more of a facilitator of learning. Pupils highlighted their enjoyment and new-found freedom and opportunity to take greater ownership of and responsibility for their and others' learning. The research provides further contributions to the literature on cooperative learning in general and specifically about its use in Saudi Arabia. The study reveals the need for wider consideration and development of cooperative learning in both pre-service and in-service programmes in Saudi Arabia and the implications for a number of stakeholders to realise the aims presented.

This thesis examines the nature and role of resilience in forced migrants’ lives with particular reference to the day-to-day lives of Somali women living in the UK. In contrast to the dominant discourse of victimhood associated with the label of ‘forced migrant’ this empirical study explores the notion of the ‘strong migrant woman’. Drawing upon perspectives that illuminate power relations and adopting a social constructionist framework, a qualitative and predominantly ethnographic approach was taken to elicit Somali women’s accounts of their family life in a city in southern England. Challenges encountered within the research field, including language barriers, issues of informed consent and women’s reluctance to engage with the study, led to the adoption of an increasingly informal, flexible process of data generation. This was via formal and informal individual and group interviews and participant observation of women’s daily activities. Together these rich sources of data illuminate the complexity and contraction of the resilience concept and in doing so promote a more informed understanding of the diversity and richness of forced migrants’ lives. Findings from this study challenge the use of static frameworks and labels in determining and categorising migratory journeys and experiences of (re)settlement. The need for recognition of the complexity and fluidity surrounding the nature of border crossings is argued. Drawing on a pluralistic theoretical approach to understanding resilience, this thesis illuminates the complex ways in which risk and protection, strengths and vulnerability operate within women’s day-to-day lives. ‘Complexity and contradiction’ and ‘movement and fluidity’ are identified as key inter-related themes in understanding the nature of resilience within these migrant women’s family life. A model developed on the basis of this study’s findings and encompassing a more holistic approach is outlined as a potential tool to aid the complex task of resilience assessment.