Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 2002. / UMI number: 3060191. Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-257). Also available on the Internet.

This study examines the role and development of contemporary policing within the context of the social, political and economic conditions of late capitalism. The thesis is divided into three parts. Part 1 (FORMS OF POLICING THE WORKING CLASS) seeks to provide historical illustration and analysis of the development of the class role of the police under capitalism, its inherent para-militarism and some of the key events and processes which have determined its formal development. The analysis examines the development of preventive policing under early capitalism, and its transformation into reactive forms of policing under late capitalism. Part 2 (POLICING KNOWSLEY) centres on a study of the contemporary events and processes underlying the development and impact of reactive forms of policing on Merseyside working class communities. It examines the factors which have played key roles in shaping police organisation and law enforcement policies at Force, Divisional and Sub-Divisional levels. These factors, such as the development of corporate organisation, the centralisation and expansion of forces, the development of mobile patrols, deteriorating social conditions, greater use of coercion, specialisation in operations and administration, the introduction of new communication and computer systems, and the reactionary ideologies underlying the law enforcement policies of senior police command, are given particular consideration in relation to their development and impact on the Knowsley Borough area of Merseyside. Part 3 (THE POLITICS OF LATE ENFORCEMENT IN THE 1980's) examines the extent of the political autonomy of the police from central and local government. The analysis develops firstly a study on police power and privilege, centred on the inquest in Knowsley into the death of James Kelly at Huyton Police Station. This is then followed by analysis of the confrontations and conciliations between Merseyside Police Committee and the Chief Constable, arising out of 'K' Division incidents of 1979 and the anti-police riots of 1981. Central to the politics of law enforcement in the 1980's has been the development of new reactive forms of policing the daily lives of working class communities, and the formation of a nationally centralised and politically autonomous para-military third ford. Part 3 concludes by situating these developments within the wider social, political and economic conditions of late capitalism in Britain.

In the last 20 years the UK’s elderly residential care system has become progressively more privatised with an increase in the number of for-profit organisations delivering these services. This study is a participant observation of care work in one privatised elderly residential care home (‘Meadowvale’), owned and operated by a large provider of such services (‘Moonlight Care’). It provides a rich ethnographic depiction of life at Meadowvale both from the point of view of the workers and the residents. The thesis frames these ethnographic findings against pro-privatisation discourses which argue that serious raises in standards of service delivery are to be made from instilling profit motives within social care systems. I argue that there were a series of contradictions which prevented Moonlight Care from both achieving convincing levels of profitability whilst simultaneously improving the nature of elderly residential care. The fact that the revenue received was largely determined by the local government and the distinctive nature of care work inhibited the company from transforming the service for the better. Regulation, although crucial to ensuring that a base level of service quality was ensured, also represented a constraint on any possible restructuring. Greater gains could therefore only be increased through slashing the costs of production and enlarging the economies of scale. Both processes defined the business plan of Moonlight Care. This thesis, therefore, argues that privatisation was incongruent with quality of elderly residential care at Meadowvale. Privatisation led to a form of ‘parasitic’ production where efficiency gains and innovation were absent but business objectives were met by lowering the standards of living for the people who use the service and the wages and working conditions of the people who deliver the service. Cost rationalisation took an extreme form at Meadowvale with repercussions for both care workers and residents. Primarily the ethnographic data looks at the everyday effects of delivering care in this under-resourced labour process. The tasks of care were highly routinised within a system of bureaucratic control which emphasised the physical, “dirty” tasks of care and necessitated that all tasks were recorded. However, the numbers of workers always fell short of the workload leading to widespread falsification in the records. The high intensity of work at Meadowvale embedded various forms of mistreatment, abuse and neglect within the working routine. The system of bureaucratic control also emphasised the physical, ‘dirty’ tasks of care work, leaving little time for relational work. This instituted a particular form of emotional work which emphasised suppressing emotions in order to move from one task to the next as quickly as possible. This was considered problematic for many of the workers who felt that care work should be underpinned by emotional warmth and intimacy. The organisation of care labour at Meadowvale also ran contrary to the regulatory policy discourse which constructed quality care as personalised to each recipient, supporting lifestyle choice and personal preferences. This ‘personalisation agenda’ was a major component of the regulatory framework, but was impossible to implement under the strict routine which permeated care home existence. The responsibility of implementing the personalisation agenda was also constructed in training courses and official documentation as located with the workers, rather than with organisational structures, regimes or motives. This suggests an individualising process in which regulatory authorities and care companies attempt pass the responsibility and risk associated with providing these poorly resourced care services on to each individual worker. The thesis also explores the implications of the system of production in structuring the inequality experienced both by care workers and residents. The process of accumulation at Meadowvale could be described as ‘parasitic’ because profit arises from reducing the cost of production. Two major strategies for reducing expenditure that Moonlight Care utilised was securing a cheap, highly exploitable workforce and reducing the costs associated with care. The search for a cheap workforce has led to the employment of large numbers of migrant workers. Many of the migrant workers at Meadowvale were unable to find alternative employment because their visa’s either tied them to working in the social care sector, or in some cases, specifically to Moonlight Care. I also argue that immigration status supported higher levels of exploitation by denying welfare rights to migrant workers and their families. At the same time the residents at Meadowvale were subject to a system of care which often failed to cater for their needs. Not only were there were few luxuries associated with life at Meadowvale even basic care rights were frequently denied to the residents. During my time at Meadowvale the conditions for both staff and workers seemed to be deteriorating reflecting the endemic problems in the industry. The demand for cheap highly exploitable forms of labour and the denial of basic care rights for the residents can be theorised as interrelated processes connecting to the current system of residential care provision. At Meadowvale, the search for profit did not, as the proponents of privatisation suggest, lead to a system defined by choice, efficiency or quality.

My dissertation examines theoretically the effects of environmental taxation on welfare in various cases. Using a general equilibrium model, the first chapter shows that a Pigouvian tax provides a larger welfare gain than an output tax, since it induces substitution among inputs as well as reduction in output of the dirty good, while an output tax induces only the output reduction. Using data for China and the U.S., numerical simulation results show that the potential welfare loss from not being able to use a Pigouvian tax is much larger in developing countries than in developed countries. The second chapter focuses on the fact that recycled material needs reprocessing to be substitutable for virgin material. Reprocessing uses resources and, in the process, generates pollution. Incorporating these 'imperfect' characteristics into a simple general equilibrium model, I examine how these realistic factors affect the structure of taxsubsidy schemes when the Pigouvian taxes are not available. A generalized Deposit-Refund system can achieve the optimum if illegal dumping is not taxable. Without a Pigouvian tax on illegal dumping, recycling is subsidized for its role in diverting illegal disposal into proper disposal. If Pigouvian taxes on neither illegal disposal nor waste from imperfect reprocessing are available, a combination of output tax on reprocessed material and subsidies for clean inputs can be used to restore the optimum. In the process, another reason to subsidize recycling emerges: recycling is a clean input for imperfect reprocessing. The third chapter focuses on the validity of the results obtained in the first chapter in the case of two vertically-separated oligopolies where the upstream industry is polluting. Using an analytical partial equilibrium model, I show that a tax on pollution is potentially superior to a tax on intermediate good, since the former can utilize both the upstream firms' input substitutability and the downstream firms' input substitutability, while a tax on intermediate good only utilizes the downstream firms' input substitutability. I also derive the conditions that government can improve social welfare through various revenue-neutral tax reforms.

The adoption and ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989 came as a promise to the improvement of children’s well-being and status throughout the globe. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the African Child (ACRWC) sparked more hope for the African Child. A number of initiatives by governments and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have been undertaken to enforce the rights of the child; yet children continue to suffer from various injustices. In Tanzania orphaned children heading households (OCHH) suffer even more as they struggle between adult and children roles. This thesis reveals a disconnection between the perspectives of the OCHH and those of the different governance institutions supposed to protect the children at the local, national and global levels. In a socio-legal study this thesis uses ethnographic techniques to focus on the OCHH themselves and their perspectives. It explores their understandings and the role played by the multitude of governance institutions around them, which do not seem to address the injustices facing them. The thesis uses governance, law and ethic of care approaches to analyse the children’s position. It argues that although OCHH suffer, they are not ‘suffering bodies’ instead they are ‘political persons’ claiming their agency.

This thesis addresses the question of what helps the homeless to escape from homelessness. It comprises an empirical paper, a systematic literature review and a paper reflecting on the experience of conducting research with once-homeless men. The empirical paper details a qualitative exploration of the experience of escaping from homelessness for five once-homeless men. Semi-structured interviews were carried out and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Emergent themes were: life breaking in, decision to change, bad past and good present, better future. Life breaking in considered how life events and relationships 'broke into' cycles of homelessness and drug abuse participants were caught in. Their combined effect seemed to be to bring participants to a ‘turning point’, where they made a clear decision to change. Participants' relationship with their past, present and future seemed key in maintaining their escape. Escape from homelessness was discussed in terms of identity change, especially the need to repair a broken identity. The systematic literature review evaluates the evidence for the effectiveness of therapeutic communities (TCs) for dually-diagnosed homeless. PsycINFO, Web of Science, ASSIA and PubMed were searched using terms relating to therapeutic community, homelessness and effectiveness. A total of 113 unique articles were retrieved and of these ten met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The review found that TCs with adaptations for patients with mental illness, in addition to substance dependency, led to small improvements in substance abuse, mental health and housing outcomes. However, these effects were short-lived and few were still present after a year. In the reflective paper, the experience of conducting research, as a therapist, with once-homeless men was reflected on and the question of what therapists bring to research was considered. While therapists may struggle with some aspects of clinical research, they bring a range of skills and experience to this endeavour.

This study is centered around examining the impact that the recent welfare reform has had on front-line workers in the welfare bureaucracy and the clients of the welfare system. In 1993 the government in British Columbia began implementing sweeping policy and procedural changes that altered the way in which welfare services were provided and limited the services available to the poor. The impetus for these changes is situated in the widespread media coverage of welfare fraud and abuse throughout 1993 and 1994. The media, by targeting certain sub-groups of the welfare client population, was able to substantiate their claim that the welfare system was not only being undermined but that it was also operating on the basis of policies that were flawed and therefore easily abused. This study begins with a presentation of the policy and procedural changes that have occurred within the Ministry of Social Services in British Columbia from 1993 to 1996. The second section of this study examines the media's response to the "welfare fraud crisis" and the way in which a moral panic was created around the "problem" of welfare fraud. This analysis draws upon moral panic and social constructionist theory to examine not only the media's presentation of the "crisis" but also the government's response to the public concern that had been generated. The final section of this study presents a discussion of the front-line worker's response to the changes that have taken place within the Ministry of Social Services over the last four years. The analysis is centered around examining how these front-line government workers cope with the restrictive and regulatory policies they are responsible for enforcing. The study concludes with suggestion for further research on this topic.

The aim of this research project was to explore the experiences of black and white women managers who are employed in private and public social work settings. The major stressors and challenges which women managers experienced in the workplace and in the home were explored. The ways in which women coped with the pressures were identified. Supports and obstacles which affected women's career paths were reflected in the study. The literature study revealed that social work is a traditionally female occupation run by women for predominantly women clients. The profession has a caring ethos and a commitment to equal treatment. Social work managers are promoted from the ranks and it is significant that they are principally white and male (Burden and Gottlieb, 1986,p.5). Studies in Canada, Britain and in America reveal the effects of gender stereotyping. Firstly that the concept of management is defined in terms of male characteristics. Secondly that in seeking promotion women are subject to discrimination. Thirdly that a different set of barriers exist when they advance into management. The literature as it exists reflects a white female perspective and there is a failure to address the discrete experiences which black women face. The literature has been built up largely in western countries and as such reflects the beliefs which prevail in the host countries. This empirical study used a feminist qualitative methodology to generate new information about women as managers in social work settings. The design is a descriptive one which seeks to understand a universe about which there is limited information. A sample of sixty women managers in the cities of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg were interviewed using a semi structured interview schedule. Women managers from different racial groups, agencies and tiers of management were represented in the sample. The empirical study demonstrated that one of the maIn pressures was the manager's own expectations. Women managers exhibited the "superwoman syndrome" in attempting to perform perfectly the multiple and conflicting roles of manager, wife, mother and friend. The findings also demonstrated that the main sources of support which included family members, community involvement and workplace colleagues, were also the main sources of pressure for the managers. Few of the managers had formal management qualifications and management training has only recently been placed on the social work agenda. Women managers were found to manage differently to men- but they were no less effective. These managers invested time in building up good collaborative relationships with staff and through these relationships the goals of the organisation were accomplished. The style which the managers described resembled closely the transformational style of management and it is one which is well suited to managing in the current turbulent environment. There were few black women in management positions and they appeared to be recruited mainly to middle management positions. They were highly visible, on the periphery, suffered performance pressure and had few supports. The researcher had made recommendations for the recruitment of more black managers to permeate all levels of management. Another recommendation was for increased training and other development programmes. The creation of mentoring, sponsorship and networks to assist managers in their career development is presented as another necessary requirement. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1994.

This research examines the relationship between poverty and social capital, based on the experiences of current and former welfare recipients in the Chilesolidario Programme. Poverty is conceptualized as the lack of social relations that, acting persistently and permanently over time, restricts the transfer of economic and non-material resources to disadvantaged people. Qualitative research was carried out in Villa San Luis 3, Maipú, Chile, which included 42 interviews conducted with welfare recipients, social workers, local public administrators of the Programme, and experts and academics on poverty. Three aims are addressed in this research. Firstly, the study looks at the types of social relations enjoyed by participants within Villa San Luis 3 and outside it. This thesis contends that familial relations are the basis for social interactions. It finds that beneficiaries of the Programme maintain only a few social relations beyond the family, whilst friends, acquaintances and contacts do not have the capacity to help in creating better social networks for recipients. Secondly, this thesis investigates whether or not the Programme successfully enables people to reduce poverty. It shows that there are no significant differences between current and former beneficiaries in terms of social relations enjoyed, income received, or capacity to generate social capital, and therefore the programme does not produce an effect in the long-term. Thirdly, this thesis suggests that self-employment is of limited use in reducing poverty, because Chilesolidario participants do not demonstrate the use of this means to deal permanently with their every day needs, and such independent work is not useful in the long-term. Overall, this research tends to support Bourdieu's theory of social capital and social inequality, suggesting that poor people in Villa San Luis 3 engage in few social relations, and these do not produce or reproduce social capital so as to reduce poverty. In this respect, the Chilesolidario Programme is not an aid to reducing poverty, and seed capital is not an appropriate instrument to be used by a group of people without the skills or social relations required to maintain self-employment in the long-term.

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