Feminist epistemology has two aims: to show the androcentrism present in certain paradigmatic accounts of what counts as good knowledge and to provide us with alternatives. In this thesis I will follow that tradition and I will argue for a new epistemological paradigm that avoids androcentrism and revises our concept of knowledge. I will support a theory grounded in feminist standpoint epistemology, but with influences of feminist empiricism and postmodernism.

The aim of this thesis is to identify and understand children's relationships with the world of consumption. Through the children's own narratives a picture emerges of the mediating properties of consumer goods in their wider social and personal friendships. Living in what could be described as a materially divided society this project explores how children make sense of those inequalities and what their experiences are in understanding their own socio-economic position compared to others and how it impacts on their relationships to consumer culture. A particular concern is that such relationships may be more complicated than they seem on the surface and that class has an especially significant impact on children's experience of consumption. The contention here is that the impact of material inequality on an individual's capacity to consume is in the context of the sociology of both consumption and childhood remains largely under-explored. Creative child-centred data collection methods were therefore used in order to prioritise children's 'voices' as a means of understanding the impact of consumption on their lives. This data was further complemented by interviews with parents and in this context parents' management of familial household budgets emerged as having a particularly important influence in determining the role of consumption as a resource in the dynamic that exists between children, their parents and friendship groups. The evidence collected here suggests that the role of consumer goods is central to children's participation in what passes for a 'non-nal' life in contemporary consumer society. Both the children and their parents are acutely aware of this and as such go to inordinate lengths to ensure their children are able to have the appropriate signifiers of inclusion in their peer group networks. Material possessions appear to provide a currency with which children trade, whilst offering them inclusion within their wider personal and social networks. This research has given 'consuming children' a forum within which they can articulate what role consumer goods occupy in their lives on a day-to-day basis and what it means to children if they are unable to participate fully in the society in which they live.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis explores Darwin's life in London in the context of the social relationships he formed there. Recent studies have highlighted the paradox between his speculative work, with its dangerous associations with political radicalism and infidelity, and his intense desire for social respectability, evidenced by his determination to shun controversy and by his retirement to the security of family life in the Kent countryside. How Darwin coped with the tension arising from this mismatch of intellectual radicalism and social conservatism has not been explained; it is widely assumed that it was a major factor in prompting his prolonged and frequent attacks of debilitating illness. The problem is addressed here by looking at the support Darwin drew from the friends he made in London. His experiences during the Beagle voyage had led him to focus on philosophical issues which had not previously troubled him. Having returned to England, he deliberately chose to surround himself with friends who were not afraid to adopt heterodox positions on religion and society; in their company his personal anxieties were assuaged and he could pursue new ideas with enthusiasm. These friends had specialist knowledge in subjects which had a close bearing on Darwin's theories. His relationship with them throws light on issues such as how the debate about religion influenced his evolutionary thinking, and the nature of the contribution made to it by Malthus. The esteem in which they were held, notwithstanding their intellectual radicalism, explains how Darwin was able to find in their company the self-confidence to develop his iconoclastic conclusions. His identification with them, and their contribution to the intellectual re-evaluation of the 1830s and 1840s, helps to account for the wide acceptance of Darwin's views, published twenty years later, when the social ideology being formulated in his youth had become the prevailing orthodoxy of mid-Victorian England.

This thesis gives an historical account of the official and popular reaction to Travellers in independent Ireland. It describes the people who travelled Irish roads, outlining how and why Travellers were distinguishable from settled people. This study shows that one consequence of the developments in state and society from 1922 onwards was the alienation and isolation of Travellers. The urban and rural working class experienced massive social change, often as a result of government policy. Travellers became socially and economically distinct from the general population because of changing attitudes to the family economy and selfemployment determined by legislation such as the School Attendance Act 1926. When the introduction of planning redefined public space, campsites came to be viewed as eyesores. Planning legislation also introduced the concept of an amenity, a landscape designed for popular and tourist consumption. This had considerable implications for Travellers' use of marginal land. Despite complaints from local representatives, successive governments refused to tackle the `itinerant problem'. Occasionally efforts were made to target Travellers for public health reasons or on the basis of problems caused by vagrancy and homelessness. However, the government believed that the legal implications for the whole population of anti-Traveller measures were not worth enduring. While Travellers evaded repressive measures, they were largely ignored in welfare provision. Social welfare was extended in an ad hoc, piecemeal manner, with Travellers as a group among the last in society whose entitlement to assistance was recognised. The publication of the Report of the Commission on Itinerancy in 1963 marked a shift in the relationship between Travellers and the state. The report recommended settlement and assimilation as the solution to widespread poverty among Travellers and the hostility felt by the settled community. How the settlement programme was organised and directed, its successes and failures are also analysed. Many Travellers were politicised by their experience in the settlement programme of the 1960s. The thesis concludes when Traveller representatives were included in organisations established to minister to their community.

This study was conducted to examine the use of multisystemic treatment for treating juveniles with serious delinquency, as a new approach within the Saudi Arabian context.Multisystemic treatment addresses behaviour problems as multidetermined by interacting individual, family, school, peers, and community systems. This study attempted to determine the impact of the multisystemic therapy on the behaviour of young offenders with serious delinquency and in increasing their level of self-esteem and religious behaviour.The fieldwork was conducted in 2000-0 I in the Social Observation Home in Riyadh City. The project consisted of three parts: therapists training for one month, a treatment programme for three months and follow up, conducted in two periods of two months each, with a seven months interval. An experimental and control group, prepost test design was adopted. Twenty juveniles with serious delinquency (age 14-18) were assigned to each group. The experimental group received multisystemic treatment, and the control group received the Home's usual service (individual therapy).Outcomes were measured by, self-reports (Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and Level of Religious Measurement), official misconducts, family relations, peer relations, school attendance & grades and observed religious practice. Qualitative information was obtained from six case studies (three experimental, three control) and from interviews with young offenders, their relatives and the Home staff.The results indicated greater gain and long-term positive impact on the behaviour of young offenders in the experimental than in the control group, on all measures. The improvement in self-esteem and religious practice in association with multisystemic treatment are especially noteworthy, as these factors have been subject to little or no previous investigation, and are particularly important in relation to delinquency in the Saudi context.It is concluded, that provided appropriate resources are allocated to the application, multisystemic treatment can be adapted to meet the unique cultural concerns of the Saudi context.

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