The Kew Asylum has been a dominant feature of Melbourne’s built environment for over 100 years. In addition to the visual impact it has made on Melbourne’s skyline it has been very much a part of the psychological landscape of the collective imagination of the city’s inhabitants. Despite this, comparatively little has been written about its impact on society, and almost nothing has been recorded in any comprehensive sense, about its occupants or inmates. This dissertation aims to go some way towards redressing this, not with a broad sweep institutional biography, but with an intimate portrait of the asylum’s earliest days. Covering a time frame of less than 50 years, this thesis adopts a multi-theoretical approach in order to illuminate the different facets of asylum life with the maximum clarity. The thesis contains several themes, some of which overlap and interweave in order to examine the complexity of institutional life.

The Kew Asylum has been a dominant feature of Melbourne’s built environment for over 100 years. In addition to the visual impact it has made on Melbourne’s skyline it has been very much a part of the psychological landscape of the collective imagination of the city’s inhabitants. Despite this, comparatively little has been written about its impact on society, and almost nothing has been recorded in any comprehensive sense, about its occupants or inmates. This dissertation aims to go some way towards redressing this, not with a broad sweep institutional biography, but with an intimate portrait of the asylum’s earliest days. Covering a time frame of less than 50 years, this thesis adopts a multi-theoretical approach in order to illuminate the different facets of asylum life with the maximum clarity. The thesis contains several themes, some of which overlap and interweave in order to examine the complexity of institutional life.

This thesis explores the co-production of public services in the case of asylum seekers in Glasgow. It makes contributions on the theoretical and empirical levels. First, it integrates two theoretical standpoints on co-production from the public administration/management and services management literatures. This integration forms the basis for the development of an original conceptual framework which differentiates three modes of co-production at the level of the individual service user: consumer co-production; participative co-production; and enhanced co-production. The thesis then extends co-production to consider organizational modes, considering specifically the role of voluntary and community organizations (VCOs) in the production of services. This discussion contributes to the expansion of the conceptual framework, by introducing the concepts of co-management and co-governance to refer to VCOs co-production in service delivery and in service planning and delivery, respectively. The result is the development of a ‘Typology of Co-production’ which differentiates all five types of co-production according to who co-produces public services and when. These two conceptual frameworks are used to explore the case of asylum seekers and the social welfare services they receive in Glasgow. The case of asylum seekers is particularly interesting given the marginal nature of the group and their legal position as non-citizens. This serves to sharpen the focus on co-production. Three research questions emerged from the theoretical work which are explored in the case of asylum seekers: to what extent is co-production dependent upon citizenship? Can co-production act as a conduit to build social inclusiveness and citizenship? And is individual service user co-production a prerequisite for co-production and partnership working by public service organizations? The study took a mixed methods approach, consisting of policy/practice interviews, a small survey of public service organizations providing services to asylum seekers and an embedded case study design of Glasgow, which involved a series of interviews, observations and document analysis. The empirical context provided a fertile ground to explore and better understand the five types of co-production differentiated in the theory. It further suggests that citizenship is not a prerequisite for each mode of co-production and also that the co-production of public services can positively impact the lives of asylum seekers, particularly around issues of integration.

This thesis explores the history of ideas about, and responses to, general paralysis of the insane (GPI) - specifically in the context of the developing profession of psychiatry in Britain. It considers GPI as an objective disease entity whose subjective definition was nevertheless open to negotiation; for example, in deciding how central was overt insanity, or how GPI should be differentiated from the allied disease of tabes dorsalis. It explores how psychiatrists' interest in organicism and the science of medicine - and their attempts to raise the status of their specialty - both informed their understanding of GPI, and allowed them to promote it as a flagship disease for their profession. Nevertheless it draws attention to the gap between such claims and concrete practical advances which the disease fostered. The thesis considers changing causal explanations for GPI: first, in relation to the evolving image of the typical general paralytic patient; and second, in relation to the credence attached to different forms of causal evidence such as pathology, statistics, and laboratory medicine. It suggests how assessment of this evidence might have been informed both by professional aspirations and by pervasive cultural concerns such as fear of syphilis and degeneration theory. The thesis studies the use of malaria therapy to treat GPI in Britain, and uses this episode to explore a number of themes: early twentieth century ethical attitudes to heroic treatments; perceptions of 'cure'; and the change in emphasis from asylum care to community care. Finally, it considers ideas about the epidemiological history of the illness - from early twentieth-century theories about the evolution of infections, to Edward Hare's hypothesis of a neurotropic epidemic; and considers how the views of disease as objective entity, and disease as cultural construct, might be reconciled in the context of GPI.

"This study of Ballarat and its Asylum covers the period between the 1850s and the early 1900s when an old-age pension was introduced in Victoria. It is essentially a case study. It argues that Ballarat's Asylum progressively developed and expanded upon a model of organised poor relief practiced among the industrial classes in England, in consequence of the perceived need for rapid capital expansion in Australia, and knowledge of the dangers associated with mining, building construction, and other manual work. The introduction of a secular education system in Victoria, together with enthusiasm among producers for technological innovation and skill development, led to changes in the nature and conditions of paid work, as well as to a push among workers and their sympathizers for greater appreciation of past contributions by older workers and the needs of the ill and/or incapacitated. This push was only partially addressed by the Victorian government in 1901 when it introduced the old-age pension." / Doctor of Philosophy

"This study of Ballarat and its Asylum covers the period between the 1850s and the early 1900s when an old-age pension was introduced in Victoria. It is essentially a case study. It argues that Ballarat's Asylum progressively developed and expanded upon a model of organised poor relief practiced among the industrial classes in England, in consequence of the perceived need for rapid capital expansion in Australia, and knowledge of the dangers associated with mining, building construction, and other manual work. The introduction of a secular education system in Victoria, together with enthusiasm among producers for technological innovation and skill development, led to changes in the nature and conditions of paid work, as well as to a push among workers and their sympathizers for greater appreciation of past contributions by older workers and the needs of the ill and/or incapacitated. This push was only partially addressed by the Victorian government in 1901 when it introduced the old-age pension." / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph.D.)--George Mason University, 2009. / Vita: p. 279. Thesis director: Janine Wedel. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed June 10, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-278). Also issued in print.

Thesis--Marburg. / Bibliographical footnotes.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / The study assesses the application of policies on the right of refugees and asylum seekers with regard to the education of their children, and the many challenges impeding this right. Fundamental changes in the legal framework protecting the right to education of the children of refugees and asylum seekers have been in place since 1994, when South Africa became a democratic state. The principles of international treaties recognising the rights of children were incorporated into the Constitution of South Africa of 1996, demonstrating South Africa’s commitment to the protection of children’s rights. However, studies have suggested that, refugees’ and asylum seekers’ children have been discriminated against in terms of access to education, despite the legislative framework which provides for equal and inclusive education in South Africa. Access to education for migrant children in South Africa is invariably met with challenges which constitute a violation of the Constitution and international law. This study assessed policies and practices affecting refugees’ and asylum seekers’ children to access primary schools in a democratic South Africa. The researcher argues that access to education for refugees and asylum seeker’s children must be guided by the social justice principle of “every child deserves an education”, regardless of the legality of their parents in South Africa. Failure to afford them the opportunity to study is a violation of the Constitution and international law. The study used semi-structured interviews based on a questionnaire. Participants included parents who were refugees or asylum seekers,schools’ principals, and officials from Scalabrini Centre and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). The data collected from respondents was presented, discussed and analyzed through a thematic analysis approach. From data collected, it was possible to identify the barriers preventing refugees’ and asylum seeker’s children from accessing education. Some of the barriers were generated from gaps in migration policy, ineffective policy implementation, poor documentation and various institutional challenges. Based on the study findings, it is recommended that South African lawmakers formulate policies that speak to the needs of the refugee child and amend the current migration policy to make it more reasonable and accommodative with regard to meeting the needs of migrants’ children in general, and refugee’ and asylum seekers’ children in particular. This would enable South Africa to uphold the constitutional values and its international obligations in relation to the promotion and protection of the right to education for all children.

Research on inequities, especially in health care access among immigrants in Germany, has always reflected some of the disparities between the resident population and the immigrants. However, little attention is always placed on the potential inequalities regarding health care within the immigrants (Arab immigrants). Across Europe, Germany is known to receive the highest immigrant numbers, especially from the Arabic world. Since 2013, Germany has received at least 400,000 to 1500,000 immigrants from the Arab world. For this reason, this study analyses challenges faced by the Arab immigrants in access to healthcare in Germany and the underutilization of the medical care services by the Arab immigrant community. The methodological angle undertaken in this study considers relevant literatures to the topic in analysis the state of the matter in Germany by comparing findings from the considered literatures from previous research on the same topic as the study herein. Upon carrying out the research, this study found out that apart from poor communication between Arab speakers and native German medical practitioners, unimplemented governing policies, inadequate knowledge of the services, discrimination, lack of data for medical preparedness, and financial problems instigated by the slow integration of...