Since 1990 the United Kingdom has experienced an unprecedented focus upon adolescent pregnancy from Government. The Government has made its position clear that adolescent pregnancy and motherhood are a problem to be avoided (Department of Health Social Exclusion Unit Report 1999, Social Exclusion Unit Action Plan 2006). By 2010 it is the Government's intention to reduce adolescent pregnancy by 50% of the current figure of 9.5% to 4.5% of all pregnancies (Department of Health Social Exclusion Unit Report 1999, Social Exclusion Unit Action Plan 2006). It is clear that Government statistics need closer examination. Adolescent pregnancy is a broad concept and headline statistics do not distinguish between planned or unplanned pregnancy and subsequent motherhood. A review of literature and theories of motherhood reveals a lack of explicit comment regarding the position of adolescent motherhood. It is not clear whether the experience of motherhood is universal or if there is difference based upon age, maturity, social and economic status (Lawson and Rhode 1993, Arendell 2000). This qualitative study focuses on a group of 36 adolescent mothers attending a Pupil Referral Unit in the North East of England. The Unit offered the mothers an educational provision in order to complete compulsory education. Insight is gained into the lives and experiences of the mothers and the coping strategies they employ in their adaptation to the role of mother. An adapted grounded theory framework is utilised which incorporates three methodological approaches; an observation period of three months, five focus group interviews, and fourteen semi-structured interviews. The methodology generated rich data that reflected the respondent's experiences of motherhood. What became apparent during the study were the respondents' emotional reactions to pregnancy and motherhood. Emotional reactions included denial, anger with the biological father, isolation from friends, and the need to bargain for financial support. This qualitative study is significant in the exploration of the experiences, needs and emotional responses of adolescents regarding pregnancy and motherhood and the coping strategies they employ. Recommendations for Government include the consideration of long term strategies that support adolescent mothers and their children. Long term investment and evaluation can contribute to adolescent mothers returning to education and making a significant contribution to the economy.

Human trafficking is a growing global problem and is inextricably linked to migration, which is often theorised through a consideration of push and pull factors. An effective response to human trafficking needs to fully address the push factors in the country of origin and pull factors in the country of destination, including any law enforcement response. However, most academic studies only focus on human trafficking in either the country of origin or the country of destination. Therefore, there is a lack of full understanding of push and pull factors, and their interaction in a specific context between a country of origin and a country of destination. This study helps to fill this gap in understanding by investigating the trafficking in Vietnamese women to China using the theory of both push and pull factors. Push factors are defined as those in the country of origin that impel people to leave their home, and make them vulnerable to trafficking. Pull factors are dynamics in the country of destination, which encourage people to migrate there, and make them vulnerable to trafficking. Pull factors also create opportunities for criminals to traffic people from the country of origin. The research uniquely draws not only on the lived experience gathered by semi-structured interviews with twenty-four law enforcement personnel, who are involved in investigating incidents of the trafficking of Vietnamese women to China, but also on the lived experiences of seven trafficking victims, a group who are rarely interviewed. A sample of 326 incidents of the trafficking in Vietnamese women to China, collected from online newspapers, and eight final investigation reports, are analysed by using quantitative content analysis, to cross-check interview data. The original results of the study reveal push and pull factors for the trafficking of Vietnamese women to China, and how push and pull factors are interconnected to create the dynamics of the trafficking of Vietnamese women to China. The challenges facing investigators in the fight against trafficking in Vietnamese women to China are also revealed. Based on the theory of push and pull factors, a number of possible solutions are proposed to prevent and combat the trafficking of Vietnamese women to China. In addition, this study aims to lay a foundation for further research and discussion on push and pull factors theory in other geographical locales.

This study described and analysed the provision of reception conditions- including material reception conditions, accommodation, health care, education and employment- to asylum seekers in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The main aims of the study were to: 1) Give an outline of the legislative and administrative measures governing the asylum process in the European Union and the concerned countries, 2) Develop a theoretical framework with cosmopolitan indicators and finally 3) Analyse the findings using the cosmopolitan indicators and discuss whether EU Member States are in compliance with cosmopolitan values and human rights norms when it comes to the provision of reception conditions to asylum seekers. The study is of a unique character as it compared different national processes of reception conditions to asylum seekers in light of a cosmopolitan framework. A multi-method research strategy included a qualitative research approach, the development of indicators and analysis of three case studies. Data was collected from multiple sources: NGO and governmental reports, European, national and regional legislation and semi- structured interviews with experts from NGOs and governmental authorities working in the provision of reception conditions to asylum seekers. The establishment of cosmopolitan indicators describing political, moral and cultural characteristics of a cosmopolitan state provided a conceptual framework for the study, and the indicators served as an analytical tool in the discussion of the findings. The study demonstrated that there are flaws in the analysed national approaches in the provision of reception conditions to asylum seekers. One contributing factor for this was the existing broadly-phrased EU asylum acquis and the implementation of these legislative tools into national and local law. Furthermore, the study pointed out that the EU and the analysed countries show certain cosmopolitan traits, such as the realization of an inter-connectedness and dependency of the world in the present global environment. However, the commitment and ambitious aims of being in compliance with human rights norms and cosmopolitan values are rarely fully translated into the actual provision of reception conditions to asylum seekers. The study found that one of the main forces of this dilemma is the reluctance of the EU Member States to give up a certain degree of their sovereignty in this matter. The study shows that the conceptual framework developed from cosmopolitan ideas can be usefully applied to the study of the provision of reception conditions to asylum seekers, the conceptual framework could be used as guidance for a subsequent and more extensive research in the field. Furthermore, the study presents policy recommendations to the analysed countries providing them with relevant input on shortcomings and possible solutions and improvements to the national asylum processes.

This thesis extends understandings of people who experienced care by making use of sociological approaches and concepts. This approach highlights how previous research and cultural representations of young people in care produce individualised understandings and psychological explanations of difference. This is compounded by a lack of research on care leavers over the age of 25 and the omission of the voices of people with care experience within what little research there is. These absences may contribute to the depiction of the deficit, ascribed identity of being a child in care. To address these absences, the methodological design was exploratory, qualitative and interpretive and included 11 adults with care experience aged between 30 and 80. Data was collected by using a biographical narrative interpretive method of interviewing. Participants’ stories were analysed inductively, drawing on sociological approaches and concepts, which included the sociology of youth, childhood and family and the social theories of Bourdieu and Honneth. The results demonstrate how participants’ narratives show that their identities are negotiated across the life course. Crucially, participants’ identities are not reducible to their care experiences but emerge and are negotiated from diverse events across their life course. Participants are differently equipped to negotiate the deficit identity of being a child in care, depending on their life experiences and their access to material, social and emotional resources. In this research, the realisations of negative expectations of care leavers within the told stories are in part produced culturally, relationally and systematically. It is concluded that this sociological approach to the exploration of the identity of adults with care experience is of value as it situates participants’ experiences within a broader framework that discusses social, cultural and political forces. Furthermore, this finding may support others researching other groups with problematised identities. Recommendations are made for future research, highlighting in particular the ways in which the evidence base about care leavers’ life courses can be further developed.

Over the last decade, the Central Jail of Nicosia (CJN) - the only correctional institution in the Republic of Cyprus – saw a significant rise in its prison population. Today, the CJN is facing a number of challenges to its legitimacy which are evident in recent episodes of prison unrest, and the rise in self-harm, suicides and rapes. This research aims to provide a critical exploration of the reasons behind the increase in the prison population, and the challenges this brings. The review of current evidence, while limited, suggests a number of possibilities which might account for the rise including political patronage, racism and corruption. In order to consider issues that concern the rise and challenges of the prison population, this study focuses on the connection between imprisonment and micro elements of the Cypriot society/culture such as crime rates and trends, levels of social expenditure, public opinion and punitiveness, and institutional trust and legitimacy. Exploration of the increase in the prison population was carried out within a critical realist framework. Data was collected using twenty seven semi-structured interviews with Criminal Justice System ‘elites’, (including politicians, judges, public prosecutors, prison staff, prison administrators, senior counsels of the Republic of Cyprus, officers from the Ombudsman Office, and the Ombudsman herself). Thematic analysis of this qualitative data aimed to uncover the deep and often unobservable structures and mechanisms that influence the prison population in Cyprus. The findings of this study suggest that the reasons behind the increase in the prison population and its challenges display significant correlation with political patronage, racism, and corruption, and explain the unprecedented levels of immigrants within the Central Jail of Nicosia. The study also revealed that foreign immigrants are at greater risk of rape and suicide, and the impacts of corruption by those in authority. Finally the study, suggests that the rise and the challenges of the rise in the prison population have significant social, economic and political axioms.

This thesis is concerned with notions of ‘choice and control’ in the Housing First model, and how these contribute to successful outcomes for multiply excluded homeless (MEH) adults. Housing First aims to overcome homelessness and prevent further exclusion by offering immediate, independent accommodation in the community. In doing so, the model seeks to provide a foundation for client centred support, guided by client choice, which enables recovery from the ‘multiple and complex’ needs most MEH adults face. The majority of Housing First literature has focused on the model’s very positive housing related outcomes. However, longer-term outcomes related to recovery and desistance have been less clear. The thesis centres on a qualitative, longitudinal evaluation of a Housing First service in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Housing First is relatively new in England, and there has been only limited evaluation of the model’s effectiveness in this context. This study contributed to this gap in knowledge by following 18 MEH adults over 16 months in their Housing First tenancy. A mixed methods design was employed to explore participants’ ability to utilise the ‘choice and control’ offered in Housing First to achieve outcomes related to recovery and desistance. The methodology was informed by a situational approach that places the participant at the centre of analysis and explores both the personal and environmental factors that influence their choices, and resulting actions. Findings demonstrated the importance of participants’ biographies in determining their ‘starting point’ in Housing First, and their ability to make choices towards recovery and desistance. A key output of the study was a typology based on participants’ life histories that was predictive of their trajectories towards recovery and desistance. In general terms, those with less complex life histories were more able to take advantage of the foundation provided by Housing First.

The traumatic adverse life experiences of men and women in prison have not featured within the critical victimological research agenda. Yet, these experiences have long-term and pervasive behavioural impacts. Therefore, this research examines the ways in which trauma manifests within the challenging behaviours of both men and women in prison, through a critical victimological lens. The thesis reports the findings of in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with former prisoners (N=17), Prison Staff (N=24) and Third Sector Staff (N=12). First, the findings indicate that the complex manifestations of trauma can be associated with some of the complex and escalating issues prevalent within the UK adult prisoner populations. Second, the findings recognise the way in which the prison environment can further exacerbate prior experiences of trauma and as such, trauma survivors will feel the pains of imprisonment (Crewe, 2015) much more substantially. There has been a significant reduction in safety across the UK prison estate (Ministry of Justice 2016c). As a response to the lack of safety and the growing multiple and complex needs across the prisoner population, the findings of this research advocate for a trauma-informed penal approach. The findings of this research shed light onto an under-researched area within victimology. This furthers our understanding of the complex and long-lasting experiences of trauma. In addition, the findings demonstrate that the emotional needs of prison staff are not yet being considered a prison service priority, despite the likelihood of staff experiencing vicarious trauma at work. The experiences and contributions of former prisoners, prison staff, and third sector staff collectively advocate for a greater recognition of trauma and the need for a trauma-informed penal approach.

This thesis examines how hate is experienced, navigated, and negotiated within community, voluntary, and criminal justice services. It details the findings of a qualitatively driven, mixed methods research project including a survey of queer people (n=242) and 33 semi-structured qualitative interviews. The research found that LGBT+ people favour social justice pathways over criminal justice pathways to report, share, and reconcile their hate experiences. Thus I examine the role of criminal and social justice pertaining to hate experiences. I adopt a radical queer perspective, by arguing that the aetiology of hate stems from structural power imbalances and oppression of queer people. Drawing upon historical, sociological, victimological, and criminological perspectives I focus on identity as the conduit for hate victimisation and explore how identities, in particular age, gender, and sexuality, shape how hate is experienced, negotiated, and navigated. The research highlights that age is a major influencing factor as the spaces and places hate crime is perpetrated and experienced is usually correlated with age. Participants experienced more everyday background hate in the form of micro-aggressions, othering, and marginalisation than they did hate ‘crime’. Criminal justice workers advocated the need to protect LGBT+ people from hate crime, departing from the long history of the criminal justice system, previously, persecuting LGBT+ people. ‘Hate’ is both an adult-centric and binary concept, where only adults can experience hate ‘incidents’ or ‘crimes’. By exploring student groups, youth and community groups, and criminal justice workers this research has highlighted that community networks are key for LGBT+ people to organise their sociality and find support for their hate experiences. This research, with the exception of a survey, solely focuses on communities and individuals in the North East of England. It promotes the need for community layered hate crime research that is intersectional, in order to readily understand the social location of participants. This research provides examples of how experiences of hate can differ depending on age, gender, and sexuality.

The main purpose of the current thesis was to explore the importance and role of social identity content. The current thesis began by exploring relationships between aspects of social identity content and outcome variables pertinent to a performance domain (see chapter two). Using a cross-sectional design, 151 rugby league athletes completed measures of social identity, social identity content, in-group cohesion, general self efficacy, general collective efficacy, subjective team performance, and preferred leadership style. Data indicated that social identity significantly and positively explained general self efficacy, general collective efficacy, and subjective team performance above and beyond in-group cohesion. Data also revealed that a content focused highly on results or lowly on friendships meant that higher levels of social identity were associated with higher levels of general self efficacy, general collective efficacy, subjective team performance, and a preference for autocratic leadership. Given the limitations of cross-sectional research and the lack of longitudinal research within social identity literature, chapter three focused on the relationships between aspects of social identity content and outcomes variables over time. Using a longitudinal design, 167 rugby league athletes competing across eight teams in one Division completed measures of social identity, social identity content, in-group cohesion, general self efficacy, general collective efficacy, and subjective team performance at the beginning, middle, and end of their nine- week season. League position was also tracked over the season as a marker of objective team performance. Multilevel modelling analyses found that between-person differences in social identity significantly and positively explained in-group cohesion and within-person changes in social identity significantly and positively explained general self efficacy and general collective efficacy. Generally, the between-person differences and within-person changes in identities focused on results or friendships failed to explain outcome variables. However, athletes changed the importance placed on friendships over time. Correlation analyses found viii that social identity and friendships identity content were positively associated with objective team performance over time. Given that athletes changed their social identity content over time, chapter four examined the effects of social identity content threat to provide an explanation for the equivocal social identity content findings. In an experimental design, 40 students were randomly assigned to a results content, threat condition (N = 20) or a support content, no threat condition (N = 20). In groups of five, participants watched five sporting clips and answered questions on each clip in turn. Participants were presented with bogus performance feedback after each trial which threatened results content only. At the end of trial five, participants completed measures of social identity, in-group prototypicality, out- group prototypicality, and social mobility. Objective performance was also measured for each trial. Data indicated that receiving relevant threat to an in-group identity focused on one specific content will harm in-group functioning. On the other hand, in-group functioning in the support, no threat condition was unaffected by the performance feedback presented. Therefore, chapter five investigated whether having an alternative, unthreatened component of social identity content available could have protected in-group functioning in chapter four. In an experimental design, 40 students were randomly assigned to a dual content, results threat condition (N = 20) or a dual content, support threat condition (N = 20). The protocol used in chapter four was replicated. However, participants indicated their willingness to support their group at the end of each trial. Group members received either false performance or supportive feedback depending on the aspect of social identity content threatened. Data revealed that in-group members were socially creative with their dual content. Behavioural outcomes aligned to the threatened component of social identity content were either poor or reduced over time. Trends in behavioural outcomes aligned to the unthreatened aspect of social identity content were less conclusive. Whilst in-group members in each condition reported similar levels of psychological outcomes, being socially creative with social identity ix content generally failed to explain outcome data. Overall, the findings of the current thesis suggest that creating and building social identities and social identity content (to some extent) are important for in-group functioning. Data imply that drawing on a threatened aspect of social identity content will have negative repercussions for in-group functioning. Finally, data suggest that having an alternative and unthreatened aspect of social identity content available can (in some instances) protect in-group functioning. Further implications for theory, applied practice, and future research are discussed throughout the thesis.

Focusing on the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (US) in the period since the mid-1990s, this thesis analyses the changes in retail financial markets and associated questions of financial democratisation, financial inclusion and exclusion. Specifically, it concentrates on the rise and crisis in the subprime sector of mortgages and consumer credit markets which targeted borrowers who had previously been excluded on a range of grounds. The analysis offered situates these changes and developments in the financialisation of economic life; processes understood as produced through three co-constitutive forces: financialised accumulation, financialised risk management, and financialised discipline. Together, the financialisation of accumulation, risk management and discipline are shown to have driven forward changes in retail finance in general and the rise of subprime in particular, apparently furthering financial inclusion and enabling homeownership. However, experiences of financial inclusion are shown to have been ambiguous, marked by increased levels of indebtedness and rates of interest higher than those prevailing in mainstream markets. Moreover, the forces of financialisation are also shown to have contained contradictions and tensions that were crucial to the crisis in the subprime sector. The crisis, then, is held to raise yet further analytical and policy questions about the problems and prospects of market-led financial inclusion. Ultimately, the thesis argues that unless policymakers support and re-start a closely regulated subprime sector, stark exclusion will characterise post-crisis financialised economic life in the UK and US.