This study within Practical Theology explores the nature of the relationship between women’s identity and religion in Wales, using qualitative and literary methods and in particular poetry as a form of theological reflection. The thesis is structured as a theological ‘critical conversation’. Dialogue partners include Western feminist theologians and their claim that women find it difficult to assert an authentic self and also sociological and historical texts looking at religion, women and identity in Wales. Christianity has played a significant part in Welsh identity construction, particularly in creating a repressive self-image for Welsh women for political reasons. Women’s current perspectives were investigated through life-story interviews, memoirs and the poetry of Menna Elfyn. My own poetry also makes a significant contribution to the reflexive insights within this project, and is an innovative aspect of my methodology. Unlike the representation of women as silent and disempowered within Western feminist theology, Welsh women are resilient and have an empowering and operative stereotype, the Welsh Mam – Strong Woman. Welsh women are at a key stage of constructing a new identity, disconnected from religion and other restrictive influences of the past. I end with a call for the churches in Wales to attend to issues of stratification, stigmatisation, repression and power in order to facilitate the flourishing of women as well as be more effective in their mission.

This research explored the gender dimension of energy poverty in rural Bangladesh. Women’s energy poverty in their everyday lives was investigated and its effects compared with men’s experience. The research also scrutinised whether energy poverty was derived from or reinforced by energy injustice, and explored whether energy poverty has any relationship with the economic situation of women. A qualitative research approach was used, consisting of in depth interviews and observation methods. The research revealed that women’s ‘energy profile’ is not the same as men living in the same household and that they are more affected than men by energy poverty. It also discovered that women’s energy poverty is reinforced due to a lack of ‘energy justice’. All three components of energy justice (distributional justice, justice as recognition and procedural justice) are deficient regarding women in this area. It also found that women’s ability to contribute to the household’s ability to purchase energy can improve their participation in energy decisions at the household level; however, the absence of modern fuel and a reliable power supply, together with patriarchal societal arrangements, restricts women’s opportunity to earn an income. Recommendations for improving the energy situation of women in rural Bangladesh are made.

This thesis addresses new trends in French cinema between 2000 and 2004, in films which have the common motif of a main, protagonist couple whose relationship has subversive potential and may indicate tension, instability, the process of change and transformations in post-2000 French society. The study shows how the chosen films contribute to the ongoing national debate about the following: what it means to speak and to ‘be’ French in post-2000 France, socially, culturally and in relation to how the nation defines itself; how the films project, dramatise and fantasise national identity; and finally, what role the films play in constructing the sense or the image of the French nation in their themes, motifs, and preoccupations with Frenchness. The thesis provides a body of work on gender, ethnicity and sexuality in post-2000 French film which fills a gap in the present literature, as although there are existing gender studies of 1980s’ and 1990s’ French film there is a reworking of film practices (in generic and thematic terms) in the post-2000 unlikely couple group of films which enables comparisons to be made and theoretical frameworks to be suggested, in order to establish parameters against which previous and future periods of this area of French cicnema history can be measured.

In this thesis, I explore the physicality of the pregnant body in the womb imagery in Psalm 139 and Job 3 and in the simile “like a woman in labor,” specifically, the simile of YHWH as a woman in labor in Isa 42:14. I show that the metaphorical pregnant body is not an idea of a body; rather, it is a detailed physical body with images of gestation in the womb, physical descriptions of a body writhing in labor (e.g. face, breath, hands, heart, legs), and descriptions of a baby delivered from the womb. Using Benjamin Harshav’s theory of Integrational Semantics, I mine the text for details of and allusions to the physicality of the pregnant body. I look at the text through the lens of the pregnant female body and ask how the physicality of this body contributes to meaning. I show that the full impact of the text is lost when the physical properties of the pregnant body are not integrated within an interpretation.

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Clinical Psychology Doctorate at the University of Birmingham. The two volumes included within this thesis comprise of research (Volume I) and clinical work (Volume II). Volume I presents a literature review, qualitative research paper and a public domain paper. The literature review examines research that explored the links between within-family agreement and disagreement regarding the sharing of responsibility for diabetes management tasks and diabetes outcomes in youth Type 1 Diabetes. The research study used a qualitative approach to explore adolescents’ and parents’ experiences of what it is like for a young person to live with a dual diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes and Coeliac Disease. The public domain paper presents a summary of the literature review and research paper. Volume II comprises five clinical practice reports reflecting various aspects of clinical work completed across clinical placements.

Part I - Systematic Review: Examines whether women with active or remissive eating disorders are more vulnerable to pregnancy and delivery complications than women without, according to the current literature. Drawing from four electronic databases, 15 papers were evaluated for their quality and findings. Generally, there was no substantial evidence to support previous claims that women with eating disorders are more at risk, though outcome measures were variable and conclusions were therefore difficult. Implications for medical practice are discussed. Part II - Empirical Paper: Investigates the mediating role in the relationship between early parental rearing styles and the development of eating disorders. Online recruitment drawing from clinical and non-clinical samples yielded 130 and 114 respondents respectively. Upon completion of three tools measuring early parental styles, emotion regulation and eating difficulties, data was entered into a mediator model using bootstrapped parameter estimates and confidence intervals. Results revealed that specific emotion regulation deficits were important mediators though they played distinctly different roles in the clinical and non-clinical samples. Tentative explanations are hypothesized and implications for the treatment focus of women with eating disorders are offered.

Using social constructionist approaches this thesis aims to explore the perceptions/expectations/experiences of father-daughter relations in Taiwanese immigrant families living in Britain. Six Taiwanese father-daughter pairs formed the sample. Semi-structered interviews were the main method used to collect information about the participants' perceptions/understandings/experiences. The data was subject to qualitative content analysis which revealed three key findings. These were: 1. Taiwanese immigrant fathers experiences tensions in the process of fathering their daughters to be indeoendent and pursue success in their careers. But deeply held traditional views on monitoring/protecting their daughters led them display behaviours that suggested a desire to control them. These 'mixed messages' created tensions in father-daughter relationships. 2. British-Taiwanese daughters' constructions of daughterhood produced tensions too:their experiences were akin to those of the majority of young women living in western societies who delay motherhood and pursue success at work. However, traditional expectations of daughters to prioritise family responsibilities and show obedience to their parents sets up conflicts both on father-daughter relations and their own personal choices. 3.Father-daughter relationships in Taiwanese immigrant families living in Britain are one where the expectation and practices of conventional fathers and daughters marks relationships daughters' life stages.

The Second Space is a novel that presents the place of women in a patriarchal society, exploring themes such as sexuality, reclamation of space, and the power of physical objects. It follows the story of a woman who escapes from the prospect of marriage and works to discover her self-identity, forging meaningful relationships with other women. The accompanying critical study contributes to the knowledge of women’s writing and the creative process by acknowledging the existence of a distinct space for women in a patriarchal society. This concept is called ‘The Second Space’. This study refutes the assumption that women’s fiction is autobiographical due to the use of themes such as domesticity and motherhood, demonstrating the value of building a narrative for women. The sources that support this research include creative, critical and feminist texts, as follows: Elena Ferrante’s The Days of Abandonment, Margaret Atwood’s Lady Oracle, and Miranda July’s The First Bad Man, Carla Kaplan’s The Erotic’s of Talk: Women’s Writing and Feminist Paradigms, Sean Burke’s Authorship: From Plato to the Postmodern, Micaela Maftei’s The Fiction of Autobiography, Margaret Atwood’s On Writers and Writing, Shulamith Firestone’s The Dialectic of Sex, and Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch.

The relationship between the state and citizens can give rise to legal and moral tension when the state interferes into private life in order to fulfil its statutory duties. An important statutory area where the state has such powers occurs in the Children Acts 1989 and 2004. These Acts inter alia confer powers on local authorities to undertake surveillance and assessment of private family life in order to identify and assess children who may be ‘in need’ of services, ‘at risk’, or suffering significant harm. The thesis argues that these powers enable the state to police private family life in order to ensure parents' compliance with prevailing child welfare ideology. Child welfare discourse dominates and mediated debate over the measures used by local authorities to police parents, claiming these state powers are necessary to protect children from harm. The thesis challenges these claims. The justification for 'child protection' and 'safeguarding' is critically examined from post-modem theoretical, statistical and doctrinal law perspectives. Areas of imbalance in current law and practice are identified and these are linked in the conclusion to focus upon the fundamental flaws in the current position. This offers the possibility of more integrated debate that challenges the orthodoxy and suggests fundamental revision of the current policy.

This study examines the female-initiated divorce right of khulʿ in Ḥanafī jurisprudence and its practical implementation in Pakistan. Previous research presents Ḥanafī jurisprudence as only allowing a khulʿ with the consent of the husband coupled with a financial liability placed upon the wife. This thesis argues that there has been a fundamental misunderstanding of the khulʿ under Ḥanafī fiqh, which is capable of providing divorce rights to women without the husband’s consent and financial recompense. This research also illustrates the judicial activism exhibited by the Pakistani courts, which has created a no-fault khulʿ surpassing existing statutory provisions. To date, there have been no studies on the efficacy of these developments, so this research assesses the extent to which these new liberal divorce laws have filtered down into Pakistani society. Through qualitative interviews and observations, this study examines married Muslim women’s perceptions of the khulʿ and the obstacles that female litigants face whilst trying to utilise the khulʿ in the Lahore courts. The findings reveal that whilst the khulʿ has empowered some women within the marital domain, religious and cultural norms coupled with practical problems within the courts have curtailed the potential of the khulʿ as a liberating tool in marriage.