This thesis reports a study of women, living in London, who became mothers when aged 16-19 years, and of their children. The women and children were white and black and came from a range of ethnic groups. In late pregnancy 102, 16-19 year old women were given short interviews and 79 were given in-depth interviews. Data from 85 of these combined samples were analyzed when their children were six months old and from 68 when they were 21 months old. Sixty two of their children were given a developmental test 21 months after birth. The study aimed to identify women's reasons for becoming pregnant and going on to have children; to get a good picture of how the women and their children fared over the course of the study and to consider intra-group differences that may have led some women to fare well and others to fare badly. The findings suggest that mothers under twenty are not as problematic as they are generally believed to be. Most of the women were aware of the contraceptive methods available. They had become pregnant for a range of reasons. These included wanting a child; not minding whether they conceived; their male partners' reported lack of concern about contraception; contraceptive failure and chance. The majority of the women did not consider that childbearing should be inextricably linked with marriage and many reported negative views about the benefits of marriage for women. Nonetheless, most of the single women expected to marry at some time. Most women and their children were faring well despite high rates of poverty. Good outcomes were partly mediated by the social support that women received (particularly from their own mothers who were generally more supportive than their children's fathers) and by the fact that their poor educational qualifications and labour market experiences meant that, for the great majority, early motherhood was not disruptive of their other life course careers.

A review of the literature suggests there is a gap in the research on the experiences of staff working in private, voluntary and independent (PVI) early years settings in relation to their experiences of children demonstrating difficult and concerning behaviour. Previous research has predominantly focused on practitioner experiences of behaviour in mainstream settings (Merrett and Taylor, 1994; Stephenson, Linfoot and Martin, 2010). Consideration of practitioner experiences of training and support in relation to behaviour were also important given the potential impact of the staff group on a child’s socio-emotional development (Sylva, Melhuish, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford and Taggart, 2004). A two stage mixed methods design was adopted to address three research questions: 1. What are the behaviours that early years practitioners in private, voluntary and independent nursery settings find difficult to manage and how concerning do they perceive these behaviours to be? 2. What do early years practitioners think are the factors influencing children’s behaviour and what do they find helpful when managing behaviour in their setting? 3. What training and support are available to early years practitioners in these settings to help them manage difficult behaviour? Questionnaire data was gathered from 63 practitioners working in PVI settings in one local authority. Semi-structured interviews, analysed using thematic analysis were conducted with a sample of the practitioners (n=11). The findings from the two stages of the data collection were combined during the data analysis under thematic headings. The findings from the questionnaires and interviews were then discussed in relation to the previously introduced literature and relevant psychological frameworks, e.g. Bronfrenbrenner’s ecological systems model (Bronfrenbrenner, 1974;1994) and Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969). Limitations of the study were critiqued and future research areas and implications for the role of Educational Psychologists discussed.

Across the European Union, an aggregate professional field can be identified: the “social professions”. This field is characterised by being composed, in most countries, of two traditional professions with specific higher education programmes: “social work” and “social pedagogy”. The thesis explores their mutual relationship by revisiting theories from Germany, the home of social pedagogy, where the two paradigms have, in higher education policy-making, largely merged in the second half of the twentieth century. This development at the level of curriculum prescription indicates the so-called “convergence paradigm” advocated, for many years, by some academic authors. Alternatives to convergence were known, however, and an analysis of material from other EU countries may serve to reassess the thinking which has become orthodoxy in Germany. The thesis established the concepts of “social work/social pedagogy dichotomy” (the fact that the two paradigms are separate and discernible) and “social work/social pedagogy convergence”, the latter drawing upon the German concept. Using these analytical tools, first to revisit and characterise the developments observed in Germany, then to assess material from Denmark and Belgium (French Community), the thesis shows that dichotomy has continued to be a determining factor of professional education in Denmark and Belgium, while there are no signs of convergence. The discussion is based on the 15-year period starting with the enactment of the relevant EU directive on mutual recognition of qualifications (1989–2004). By ending in 2004, the investigation enables recent English developments in relation to the exploration and possible future introduction of “social pedagogy”, alongside “social work”, to be taken into consideration, thereby helping to inform current English and British debates.