This thesis explored the experiences of post-traumatic growth in adults bereaved by suicide. Past literature into posttraumatic growth, posttraumatic growth in bereavement and bereavement by suicide is examined to rationalise the current research. There is critique of the methodologies used in the past literature. The epistemological stance of the current research and justification of the qualitative approach to the current study is examined. Six participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Transcribed interviews were analysed from an interpretative phenomenological framework. Two superordinate themes, with three ordinate themes in each, were identified: (1) Positive growth: ‘life view’, ‘knowledge of self’, and ‘relation to others’; (2) Social perception: ‘gaze of others’, ‘public guise’, and ‘solace of other survivors’. These are presented and discussed within the journal article. Three additional ordinate themes were identified: (3) Process of time, (4) Bereavement stages and, (5) New normal, which are presented in further detail and discussed in the extended paper. The results yielded that suicide survivors gain extra characteristics and insights due to their experiences, but are reluctant to acknowledge that they do. These results are discussed with reference to previous literature, and the epistemological stance of the research. A critique of the current research is provided before recommendations for research are outlined. The thesis concludes with the researcher’s critical reflection on some of the theoretical, scientific and ethical considerations made during the process of the research.

The use of technology has been a feature of public sector managerialism since its introduction by the Conservative government in the 1990s. Subsequently, New Labour's modernisation agenda embraced and promoted the use of information and communication technology (ICT) through its drive towards 'electronic government' ('e-government'). The target set for all services to be 'e-accessible' by 2005 put pressure on local authorities for their services to be 'open all hours' and encouraged them to utilise call centre technology to achieve this. As a result, 'contact centres' (as they were re-designated) are now in use by local authorities to deliver a diverse range of services including social services. Call centres emerged as one of the most widely adopted organisational forms in the private sector in the last two decades of the twentieth century, and have been utilised in a number of ways, primarily in the communications and service industries. The working conditions in call centres gained a reputation for being harsh and exploitative of employees in the pursuit of efficiency and economy and the labour process in them has attracted a considerable amount of academic interest and research. The principal approach underpinning this research has been Braverman's (1974) labour process perspective. The use of call centre environments and technology for social services was pioneered by Liverpool City Council in 2001 in partnership with British Telecom. The introduction of contact centres in this context epitomised 'new public management'. The use of contact centres to deliver social services is now widespread and the thesis presents an in-depth case study of one such contact centre, 'Northshire Care Direct' (NCD) in the North East of England. It identifies how social work practice has been affected by an organisational form, which, until recently, had not been utilised in this context. In addition to its being used to underpin call centre research, Braverman's (1974) labour process perspective has also been used to analyse the social work labour process and, in this sense, was apposite as a means of shedding light on a setting that conjoined social work and call centre technology. The thesis therefore uses Braverman's labour process perspective as an overarching conceptual framework to shed light on the labour process at NCD and how it impacted on social workers from professional and personal perspectives. The findings challenge the dominant view of call centre environments, which represents them as highly controlled and inherently stressful settings that inevitably damage employees' well-being. The thesis argues that contact centre social work represents a new (and, thus far, neglected) development that further extends the incursion of ICT into the organisation and management of social work practice. The emergence of the twin phenomena of 'e-social work' and 'e-management' is identified. The thesis argues that the contact centre context takes the role of ICT in social work further than before. In acknowledging that it is a snapshot of only one such centre, and that different practices may exist elsewhere, it argues that the findings can only be indicative of the direction of travel. It concludes that the social work profession needs to engage with further developments in order to mitigate potentially negative effects for service users.

This thesis provides a revisionist account of Czechoslovakia's relationship with 'terrorists and revolutionaries' during the latter half of the Cold War. It explores the motives and assesses the quality of the relationship communist-era Prague forged with myriad groups officially or semi-officially associated with the Palestinian cause. It interrogates the country's complex security and intelligence liaisons with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and its myriad factions, starting from the mid-1960s and tracing them all the way to the end of the Cold War. Simultaneously, it sheds light on Czechoslovakia's policies towards some of the most notorious terrorist figures of the Cold War - Carlos the Jackal, the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre commander Abu Daoud, and the enigmatic Abu Nidal. It argues that Prague's policies towards these non-state actors were heterodox, inherently uncomfortable and anxious. Simultaneously, it contends that Prague was less able to control the actions of its controversial non-state allies than previously thought. In doing so, it challenges the two-dimensional narrative of Soviet sponsorship of international terrorism by interrogating the complex nature of Prague's policies towards the Third World, the Middle East and unfamiliar non-state entities claiming common ideological and strategic goals. It draws on tens of thousands of recently-declassified Communist Party, government and intelligence records collected from ten archives in four different countries.

Improving the quality of residential care for older people is a priority for many governments, but the relationship between government actions and high-quality provision is unclear. This qualitative research study uses the cases of England and Australia to examine and compare regulatory regimes for raising provider quality. It examines how understandings of quality in each country are linked to differences in the respective regulatory regimes; how and why these regimes have developed; how information on quality is used by each government to influence quality improvement; and how regulatory regimes influence providers to deliver quality. The study develops a new typology of three provider quality orientations (organisation-focused, consumer-directed, relationship-centred) to examine differences between the two regulatory regimes. The research draws on interviews conducted between January 2015 and April 2017 with 79 individuals from different stakeholder groups in England and Australia, and interviews with 24 individuals from five provider organisations in each country. These interviews highlighted greater differences between the two regimes than previous research suggests. For example, while each system includes a government role for inspecting or reviewing provider quality, there are differences around how quality is formally defined, the role and transparency of quality information, and how some provider quality behaviour is influenced by different policy interventions. Two important findings emerge from the study for policymakers and researchers. First, the importance of considering the broader historical and institutional context of the care sector overall, not simply the regulatory environment, as shown by the more welfare-oriented approach in England when compared to Australia’s highly consumerist approach. Second, the importance of considering the overall ‘regulatory space’ when designing policy interventions for quality. Policymakers should consider the effects and interaction of multiple policy interventions, the impact of funding mechanisms and the activity of multiple stakeholders, and not restrict attention to those policy interventions explicitly developed for quality improvement goals.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe psychiatric illness affecting primarily adolescent females. Although prevalence rates are low, the associated morbidity, mortality and reduced quality of life result in a severe impact on the individual and thought to incur high societal costs. Combining new analyses of a variety of data sources with existing evidence, this thesis examines the societal costs of AN for England, including treatment costs and productivity impacts, and explores why costs may vary based on individual and service characteristics. An estimate of costs for 2010/11 is presented. The costs of treating AN and variations in costs associated with individual and service characteristics were studied using data from the MCTAAN trial, the Care Pathways Study, and three trials from the NIHR-funded Applied Research into Anorexia Nervosa and Not Otherwise Specified Eating Disorders (ARIADNE) programme. Education attainment and longer-term productivity were studied using data from the ALSPAC and BCS-70, respectively. Results were combined with existing evidence to estimate the societal costs of AN for England. The costs of treatment vary by service type and service characteristics. Individual treatment costs were positively associated with age and duration of illness, and vary by care pathway. Reporting lifetime incidence of AN was associated with a greater likelihood of being sick or disabled at age 30 (economic activity status). The prevalence of AN was estimated at approximately 12,000 cases, with around 6,000 Years of Potential Life Lost per year. The annual societal costs are estimated at between £80.8 million to £251.8 million. Policy recommendations include an emphasis on effective and early treatment, to avoid the need for (re-) hospitalisation – a strong predictor of negative patient outcome as well as treatment costs. There is a need to improve data quality in mental health services to build evaluation capacity.

This thesis presents a reflection on a series of published papers which attempt to explore, in the systematic way, the interface between guru-led and Hindu-inspired faith movements, Indic spirituality and social work through conceptual and empirical considerations. The context of guru-led and Hindu-inspired faith movements, and their spirituality, has been explored through a meta-analysis, followed by qualitative studies of five contemporary guru-led movements and their distinctive styles of seva or social service – “mission”-isation; syncretism, lived religion and organised charity; millenarianism, post-apocalyptic vision and social service; humanity, divinity and service; and austerity, nationalism and service. This is followed by a study of followers/adherents who participate in social services of these guru-led and Hindu-inspired faith-movements and beneficiaries, through five fairly large datasets. The first dataset is on adherents of these movements and what motivates them to join, serve and gain. The second dataset is on followers of a particular new movement and how they derive their sense of well-being from the same. The third dataset is on beneficiaries of social initiatives of these movements and organisations. The fourth dataset is beneficiaries of a particular spiritual programme of the Art of Living Foundation called the Sudarshan Kriya. The fifth dataset is on a similar spiritual programme for adolescents and how it positively influences them. Theoretically it can be said that the adherents and beneficiaries together form a habitus of these movements. I finally discuss, through two published works in social work journals, as to how a specific spiritual technique of a guru movement and spirituality in general is perceived as having critical bearings for the social work discipline in the contemporary Indian and South Asian contexts. The structure of the thesis illustrates the progressive nature of the research and demonstrates how the component parts come together to form a cumulative and coherent case. The collection of works argues the following contentions, to make critical contributions to the domain knowledge of guru-led movements, faith, spirituality and social work. Guru-led and Hindu-inspired faith movements use social service as a legitimising trope. Guru-led and Hindu-inspired faith movements have implicit and explicit spiritual techniques, which accompany the social service/work package. Followers and beneficiaries of these movements gain materially and spiritually, which keeps them motivated to be aligned. This in turn contributes to the fellowship of guru-led movements. For the social work discipline, the phenomenon of guru-led movements is an important aspect to be paid attention to. Their social service engagements call for a need for working in or with guru-led movements as a part of social work practice horizon. With this focus, in the published works, implications for the discipline of social work are drawn out and made explicit. The power of a cumulative study using a range of empirical tools is shown.

Telecare – the use of technology to facilitate access to health and social care services – has risen in prominence over the last decade in the context of population ageing, a rise in long-term conditions and economic uncertainties. UK policy advocates adoption of telecare at scale, citing the promotion of independence and empowerment as benefits, but local implementation has been variable and the experiences of service users show a nuanced picture. This thesis investigates telecare policy, and its interpretation and implementation. It draws on an argumentative discourse analysis and material-semiotic approach to understand the experiences of telecare at a case study site. Narrative interviews and observations were undertaken, involving service provider and technology industry stakeholders and service users. Findings reveal four ‘story-lines’ of telecare policy but discrepancies between this discourse and local experiences. People are shown to engage with telecare to different extents, with the prevailing technology ‘script’ influencing non- or mis-use of devices. New work roles created by telecare sometimes appear ‘invisible’ or devalued. Furthermore, there is a lack of meaningful involvement of service users in decision-making. This study adds a theoretically-informed voice to the academic field and makes recommendations for future telecare policy, practice and research.

When New Labour came to power in 1997, one of the best known social policy changes they made was the prioritisation of social exclusion as at the vanguard of government policy, through the establishment of the Social Exclusion Unit. Social exclusion’s ‘value added’ potentiality is as a broader analysis of the causes and conditions of disadvantage than poverty. However, this potentiality is limited by the ‘weak’ form of social exclusion adopted by New Labour, wherein social exclusion is considered as a process engendered by the excluded themselves. Giddens’s notions of late modern individualisation and reflexivity underpin this weak account, and while agreeing with Giddens’s notion of the late modern, his claims of the centrality of individualisation are rejected. Instead, what appears most evident from treating young people as an illustrative case of individualisation is how ‘strong’ old processes of structural inequality and a new form of social relations through individualism are at the heart of social exclusion. This leads to the thesis that underlying structural inequalities are principally reproducing the disadvantaged nature of young people’s existence, and thus their social exclusion. This critical realist perspective rationalises an in-depth, qualitative, tripartite critical realist framework for data collection and analysis, focussed on the real underlying mechanisms reproducing social reality, and thus social exclusion. The research findings are directly related to the critical realist emphasis on both understanding and change from understanding, making it clear that there is a need to move social exclusion theory and policy away from the evidently flawed emphasis on its weak, individualised form towards its analytically and conceptually stronger, structural inequality focus.

This thesis investigates the issues of treatment programme effectiveness and issues surrounding programme implementation such as the sequencing of interventions. Chapter 1 presents a historical account of the issue of offender rehabilitation and provides a critique of studies into the effectiveness of treatment programmes delivered in the UK. Regression analyses are used in Chapter 2 to investigate the predictive value of criminogenic needs, and the impact on reconviction levels of having a need met through the completion of a relevant treatment programme. Results highlighted the predictive validity of static risk factors over dynamic factors and indicated a lack of effectiveness of treatment programmes. Findings are discussed with reference to methodological limitations and the potential impact of programme implementation issues. Chapter 3 provides a review of the literature on the programme implementation issue of the sequencing of interventions. Studies investigating the process of behavioural change in offenders are reviewed; issues such as readiness to change and the impact of level of motivation to change are discussed with reference to the sequencing of a set of interventions. The views and experiences of violent and sex offenders regarding programme implementation issues are reported in Chapter 4. The desire for coherent sequencing of interventions is expressed by the majority of offenders and concerns are noted regarding a lack of communication with staff. The issues of responsivity to the needs of the individual offender and motivation to change are highlighted as impacting upon engagement with interventions. Chapters 5 and 6 report the views of treatment facilitators and Offender Supervisors and Managers regarding the sequencing of interventions. Staff recognised readiness to change issues and highlight the importance of the coherent sequencing of interventions. The results are discussed with reference to current practice, research limitations, and recommendations for further research.

The need for health and social care agencies and their professionals to work in partnership is a central component of contemporary English health and social care policy. Partnership is predicated on the notion that this way of working improves services and outcomes for service users. However, as there is little evidence that partnerships improve service user outcomes, some commentators suggest that this indicates either a failure of the policy or a deficit in terms of implementation. This thesis investigates the link between health and social care partnerships and service user outcomes. Rather than adopting the types of rationalist and instrumental approach which the majority of studies in this field have done, the thesis develops a new conceptual framework for partnership which is interpretive and performative. This framework is developed and tested in four exploratory case study sites and concludes that partnership is not necessarily simply an instrument of improvement in a traditional sense. The power of partnership lies in its cultural and symbolic value. This takes partnership beyond traditional discussions of partnership and governance; rather than representing a particular mode of governance, instead arguing that partnership is an active tool of governance.