Includes bibliographical references. / The dissertation begins with a critical analysis of the historical and political context as regards ECD that was inherited by the ANC government of 1994. It moves on from there to examine the various plans, policies and legislation shaping ECD service provision between 1994 and the introduction of the National Integrated Plan for ECD in South Africa in 2005.

Little is known about how frontline professionals’ perceptions of identity and interprofessional working (IPW) impacts on their ability to work collaboratively. This study contributes to a better understanding of the role of professional identity in collaborative working through an exploration of the views of four professional groups; early years professionals, health visitors, police officers and social workers, who come together within the framework of the team around the child (TAC). The research adopted a mixed-methods design using a questionnaire (n=124) and semi-structured interviews (n=36). The questionnaires were analysed by comparing the mean ratings professionals gave to their own professional characteristics and the other three professions and the interviews were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological approach to gain more insight into professionals’ perceptions of their identity and experiences of working together. The findings revealed that the professionals had a good understanding of their differing status within collaborative working and sought to maintain their professional identity rather than adopting an interprofessional persona. Working together was not viewed as a joint enterprise and professionals questioned whether it was necessary to develop interprofessional relationships to work effectively. Despite stating that they generally worked well together professionals were quite critical of each other’s practice and blamed each other when things went wrong. Issues were raised about the efficacy of the TAC model in terms of the lead role, the quality of information sharing and discussion, and the fear of discord between professionals. The study highlights that professionals are not as committed to IPW as policy makers and organisations assume. There needs to be more awareness at all levels of the impact of professional identity, intergroup theory and a supportive environment on IPW. The mindset that dismisses the importance of professional relationships must be changed to enhance the development of trust between professionals. A reconfiguration of services with more opportunities for contact between professionals would support this. It is recommended that the TAC model is restructured with independent leadership, clear guidelines of professional responsibility and improved organisational support. Realistic group conflict theory could be used as a framework to help professionals acknowledge and manage conflict between them. Further research is recommended to develop a wider understanding of professionals’ perceptions of professional identity and IPW.

This study seeks to understand and explain the problem of online child sexual abuse (CSA). More specifically, it presents a theoretical and empirical investigation of the current tactics and operational procedures employed by the London Metropolitan Police High Technological Crime Unit (HTCU) and Paedophile Unit, and it explores patterns and characteristics of online grooming. The thesis is divided into two parts. Part One is concerned with theoretical, empirical and legislative context. It critically reviews the existing literature on online CSA and assesses the operational challenges to policing this high profile social problem. Part Two uses this framework to explore the methods and practices used by suspected sex offenders to groom children online, and the covert and overt procedures used by the police to tackle online CSA. The approach is ethnographic in nature, since this is the only way in which the complex dynamics that shape the perpetration and policing of online eSA can be explored in sufficient depth. Other methods such as participant observation, in depth interviews and narrative and case analysis of sex offenders were also utilised. Key findings highlight that whilst there is no such. thing as a typical online child groomer, it is nevertheless both possible and instructive to identify a range of distinctive child grooming behaviours. The research explores a spectrum of grooming behaviours from online fantasists who groom for immediate sexual gratification in the virtual world, to persistent predators who groom online to lay the foundations for CSA in the physical world. This study shows that sex offenders can anonymously and simultaneously target a number of victims in a short period of time without taking into account the risk of being monitored by the police. Findings also emphasize that the police must prioritise in order to allocate their limited resources to dealing with those online groomers who are perceived to pose the greatest risk in the physical world. Informed prioritisation is a process that requires undercover officers entering the world of the online groomers and interacting over time to develop an understanding of their intentions. This research explores the complex, multi-faceted and at times counterintuitive relationships between online grooming behaviours, risk assessment, police practices, and the actual danger of subsequent abuse in the physical world. The ultimate aim is to generate a deeper knowledge and understanding of the under researched and sensitive area of online CSA, with direct relevance to policy and practice. This research makes an original contribution to theory, methods and epistemology.

No description available.

Parenting capacity assessments (PCA) have been used in the child intervention system in Canada since at least the 1970s. They are used in other Western jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. There is a relatively large literature that considers the ways in which these assessments might be conducted. This thesis, drawing upon the prior work of the candidate, seeks to show that, despite widespread use, the PCA is a colonial methodology that should not be used with Indigenous peoples of Canada. The PCA draws upon Eurocentric understandings of parenting, definitions of minimal or good enough parenting, definitions of family and community as well as the use of methods that have neither been developed nor normed with Indigenous peoples. Using critical theory, particularly "Red Pedagogy" which is rooted in an Indigenous lens, the PCA is deconstructed to examine applicability to Indigenous populations of Canada, and potentially other populations that do not fit a Eurocentric understanding of family and parenting. Implications for clinical practice with Indigenous peoples are drawn which may have relevance for other populations.

Death and dying are emerging as substantial topics for political and social debate in contemporary UK society. The management of end of life, traditionally defined within a medical model of care, is being challenged by a cultural shift that is apparent in the changing trajectory of dying, increasing healthcare consumerism and a rising human rights rhetoric. To a significant extent, liberty to determine one’s own death, and to request assistance to die, has come to be articulated by some as a “right to die”. Human rights discourses grounded in the values of dignity and freedom of choice are important and relevant to dying in the UK. These discourses have the potential to influence law and policy, practices and public opinion on end of life. However, there is no sociological analysis of how or when rights have come to be appropriated in an end of life context and no explanation of in what way, or to what extent, social actors are using rights discourses in relation to death and dying. This research explores the centrality of human rights discourses to end of life policy and debate on assisted death in the UK. A broad social constructionist approach to rights is taken to illuminate the ways in which selected actors understand and articulate rights in an end of life context, and how, as a result of this, a right to die may be conceived. It includes the examination of: current UK law and policy documents; transcripts of the historical and contemporary House of Lords debates; a case study of a highly influential organisation (Dignity in Dying) who campaign to legalise assisted dying, and three focus group discussions with Death Café Hampstead participants. Analysis of the data reveals that rights discourses involving individual liberty, dignity and human vulnerability are central to defining the end of life debate and policy. A notion of rights at the end of life has impacted our perception of dying but in ways that are complex, and arise as a reflection of dying at a specific period in time.