published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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This study engages in a conceptual analysis of human rights in Islam and international law, and the application of this analytical discourse to explore the nature of women's human rights in the Islamic tradition. It has been argued that women's human rights in Islam are not entirely irreconcilable with current formulations of international human rights instruments emanating from the United Nations. The basic premise of the argument stems from a recognition that the Islamic legal tradition is not a monolithic entity. On the basis of its main sources, namely the Quran, Hadith, Ijma and Qiyas, Islamic law lends itself to a variety of interpretations that have far reaching implications for women's human rights in Islam. (Part I)A further factor raised in this study is the disparity between the theoretical perspectives on women's human rights, and, its application to Muslim jurisdictions determined by elements of cultural practices, socio-economic realities and political expediencies on the part of governments. The present study uses the example of Pakistan to demonstrate the divergence between theory and practice of Islamic law in these jurisdictions. The concept of what has been termed an emerging 'operative' Islamic law, consisting of a combination of elements including principles of Islamic law, secular codes of law and popular custom and usage has also been introduced. (Part II)Part III of the thesis is devoted to an evaluation of the development of the international norm of non-discrimination on the basis of sex and some 'Islamic' human rights documents affecting women's human rights. The analysis provides an insight into the response of Muslim States to international human rights instruments affecting women through a discussion in the light of reservations to the Women's Convention. The study concludes by posing the question whether a move towards convergence between international and Islamic schemes of women's human rights is discernible or not.

This study focuses on the probation service and the changes that are impacting on this part of the criminal justice system. It develops a theoretically distinctive approach, drawing on the literature of gender and organisations, in order to investigate issues relating to the organisational structures and processes experienced by male and female probation officers in three disparate probation areas in England. The opening two chapters examine the development of the organisation in terms of the hierarchical roles within the service and the gendered distribution of probation officer staff across the various grades. This review provides a unique understanding of the changing composition of the probation service and enables a gendered perspective to be applied to its history. Within this context issues of professional identity and autonomy, the value base and working practices of probation officers, and the shift from local to centralised control are scrutinised from an analytic position which identifies the embeddedness of gender within this organisational setting. The framework of a reflexive approach interweaves gendered issues from the quantitative findings with qualitative responses from interviews with male and female probation officers and participant observation within different working environments. New perspectives are gained on the shift from local to Home Office direction of the service, and into the abandonment of the social work qualification and ethos. Moreover, the complexities of working relationships and professional identities are opened up from a gendered viewpoint. In this respect the study addresses the absence of gender within other research in this area and concludes that a gendered analysis is of critical importance in understanding the extent of organisational change within the probation service.

This thesis examines the development of management in financial services and its implications on managers' activities and socialisation. The thesis uses gender and emotional labour as the main themes for the discussion of management in the financial services. The thesis reports on two ethnographic case studies within two UK retail banks. Analyses are based on data derived from interviews, observations and documents. Both the literature and data suggest that management in the service sector centres around the management of organisational cultures. Managers must disseminate the organisational values in order to extract excellent customer service from the front-line staff. Managers themselves are acculturated into the organisation and its values, in order to more easily acculturate their staff. The data indicates that although management appears to have been feminised, masculine values still dominate. Managers are socialised into organisational cultures in which human relations rhetoric looms large and both male and female managers employ 'feminine' management styles. Confusingly however, male managers' skills seem to be valued more and male-dominated business areas receive greater kudos. A disjunction between rhetoric and reality is thus evident. In addition, both management and emotional labour are presented as gendered in sociological literature. The data indicates that although management styles and practices are perceived to be gendered, there is little evidence to support the stereotypes. Both men and women can be seen to be performing emotional labour too, but it is the expectations of others and their different life experiences that can lead to gender differences in the way that emotional labour is displayed.

This research was motivated by the sudden increase of hypermedia information (such as that found on CD-ROMs and on the World Wide Web), which was not initially accessible to blind people, although offered significant advantages over traditional braille and audiotape information. Existing non-visual information systems for blind people had very different designs and functionality, but none of them provided what was required according to user requirements studies: an easy-to-use non-visual interface to hypermedia material with a range of input devices for blind students. Furthermore, there was no single suitable design and evaluation methodology which could be used for the development of non-visual information systems. The aims of this research were therefore: (1) to develop a generic, iterative design and evaluation methodology consisting of a number of techniques suitable for formative evaluation of non-visual interfaces; (2) to explore non-visual interaction possibilities for a multimodal hypermedia browser for blind students based on user requirements; and (3) to apply the evaluation methodology to non-visual information systems at different stages of their development. The methodology developed and recommended consists of a range of complementary design and evaluation techniques, and successfully allowed the systematic development of prototype non-visual interfaces for blind users by identifying usability problems and developing solutions. Three prototype interfaces are described: the design and evaluation of two versions of a hypermedia browser; and an evaluation of a digital talking book. Recommendations made from the evaluations for an effective non-visual interface include the provision of a consistent multimodal interface, non-speech sounds for information and feedback, a range of simple and consistent commands for reading, navigation, orientation and output control, and support features. This research will inform developers of similar systems for blind users, and in addition, the methodology and design ideas are considered sufficiently generic, but also sufficiently detailed, that the findings could be applied successfully to the development of non-visual interfaces of any type.

The thesis is organised around an empirical investigation of the relationship between residents of a Hertfordshire village and people who are, or who have been, patients at a nearby psychiatric hospital, some of whom regularly venture into the village to use local facilities. The research employs the method of participant observation and draws upon the discourse analytic approach of Potter and Wetherell, together with the rhetorical perspective of Michael Billig. In particular, the research focuses upon the discursive practices of local people, practices which function to sustain, amplify or minimise difference between themselves and others who are patients. The critical theory of Jürgen Habermas is drawn upon to complement and extend the discourse analysis approach, which receives critical evaluation. In addition, the time-geography of Alan Pred is employed as an heuristic for the representation of journeys of patients in the village. The historical dimension of the relationship between village and hospital is addressed by drawing upon Parish Council minutes and local newspaper reports. The thesis contains a conceptual investigation of public anxieties concerning mental disorder, an overview and discussion of the contemporary relevance of the labelling perspective, and a review of relevant literature. In addition it provides an exploration of methodological and textual issues.

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No description available.

No description available.