Volume 1, the research component, includes a literature review examining the efficacy of interventions for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in relation to parent outcomes; an empirical paper, which presents findings of a quantitative study exploring parental illness perceptions, coping, wellbeing, parenting stress and parent perceptions of the child-parent relationship in parents of a child with pathological demand avoidance syndrome (PDA) and a public dissemination document. Volume 2, the clinical component, includes: a report detailing two psychological formulations; one from a cognitive behavioural perspective and one from a systemic perspective, for a 20 year old gentleman who was experiencing anxiety and depression, following removal of part of his bowel; a service evaluation report detailing an investigation of the extent to which a local respiratory service was addressing the psychological needs of COPD patients; a single case experimental design presenting an evaluation of a behavioural intervention for a 25 year old woman with a moderate learning disability, who presented with skin picking behaviours; a case study of a fourteen year old girl, who was under investigation for Crohn's disease and experienced anxiety and an abstract, reflecting on providing consultation within a looked after and adopted child's psychology service.

O objetivo desta tese é construir, através de trabalhos realizados na área de poéticas visuais, uma reflexão que procure compreender como a mulher negra é vista na sociedade brasileira atual e o modo pelo qual as sombras lançadas pela escravidão sobre esta população se refletem nas negrodescendentes ainda hoje, criando e perpetuando locais simbólicos e sociais para este grupo. Este questionamento será realizado tendo como base uma investigação que transita entre diferentes manifestações artísticas, que vão da instalação à gravura, sempre procurando os meios plásticos adequados para a produção das obras que irão tratar do problema. Uma breve análise sobre os motivos que levam à opção por determinados procedimentos técnicos necessários à realização dos trabalhos, a escolha e aplicação de diferentes meios artísticos e suas adaptações ao pensamento visual também fazem parte desta investigação. É ainda intenção do trabalho pensar sobre a forma de apresentação do texto que acompanha as obras produzidas e esclarecer os motivos da eleição por uma escrita de artista para o relato apresentado em conjunto com as imagens executadas. / The goal of this thesis is to offer, through artworks in the field of visual art, a reflection that seeks to comprehend how black women are seen in current Brazilian society and the way that shadows cast by slavery over this population is still reflected in female black descendants today, creating and perpetuating social and symbolic places for that group. This issue will be tackled on the basis of a research that moves across different art forms, ranging from installations to printmaking, and always looks for suitable art materials to produce the works that will address the problem. A brief analysis of the reasons for choosing certain technical procedures necessary to create the artworks, the choice and application of different artistic media, and the adaptation of them to the visual thinking are also part of this investigation. The work is also intended to think about the text format accompanying the artworks and give grounds for plumping for an \"artist writing\" to deliver the reports associated with the images.

Aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles, en Italie, une ample production de tragédies voit le jour, parmi lesquelles de nombreuses pièces consacrées à des héroïnes éponymes. Nés de procédés complexes de réécriture (de mythes, de récits historiques, de sources religieuses et littéraires), ces personnages, qui posent sur scène la question du rapport entre la femme et le pouvoir, mobilisent le jugement des auteurs et du public sur des débats capitaux pour la société de l’époque. Par des démarches d’écriture particulières, plus ou moins explicites, le théâtre tragique se fait ainsi théâtre politique, puisqu’il élève la cité à la dignité d’un spectacle qui s’interroge sur ses mécanismes civiques et culturels. / Tragedy was a genre that flourished in Italy in the 16th and 17th century of which numerous examples were dedicated to the eponymous heroines. Created in the process of rewriting (réécriture) of myths, historical narratives and various religious and literary sources, those characters bring up questions concerning the relation between women and power encouraging authors and their public to take part in the debates that are crucial for the contemporary society. Through more or less explicit literary means, tragic theater becomes a political theater for it raises the city to the dignity of the spectacle that reflects on its civic and cultural mechanisms.

O objetivo desta tese é construir, através de trabalhos realizados na área de poéticas visuais, uma reflexão que procure compreender como a mulher negra é vista na sociedade brasileira atual e o modo pelo qual as sombras lançadas pela escravidão sobre esta população se refletem nas negrodescendentes ainda hoje, criando e perpetuando locais simbólicos e sociais para este grupo. Este questionamento será realizado tendo como base uma investigação que transita entre diferentes manifestações artísticas, que vão da instalação à gravura, sempre procurando os meios plásticos adequados para a produção das obras que irão tratar do problema. Uma breve análise sobre os motivos que levam à opção por determinados procedimentos técnicos necessários à realização dos trabalhos, a escolha e aplicação de diferentes meios artísticos e suas adaptações ao pensamento visual também fazem parte desta investigação. É ainda intenção do trabalho pensar sobre a forma de apresentação do texto que acompanha as obras produzidas e esclarecer os motivos da eleição por uma escrita de artista para o relato apresentado em conjunto com as imagens executadas. / The goal of this thesis is to offer, through artworks in the field of visual art, a reflection that seeks to comprehend how black women are seen in current Brazilian society and the way that shadows cast by slavery over this population is still reflected in female black descendants today, creating and perpetuating social and symbolic places for that group. This issue will be tackled on the basis of a research that moves across different art forms, ranging from installations to printmaking, and always looks for suitable art materials to produce the works that will address the problem. A brief analysis of the reasons for choosing certain technical procedures necessary to create the artworks, the choice and application of different artistic media, and the adaptation of them to the visual thinking are also part of this investigation. The work is also intended to think about the text format accompanying the artworks and give grounds for plumping for an \"artist writing\" to deliver the reports associated with the images.

Trabalho que tem como objetivo apontar a transformação da imagem da mulher através dos tempos, tal como tem sido representada na literatura, desde suas origens bíblicas, até o final do século XX. A análise dessa imagem feminina, em sua trajetória histórico-literária se apoiou em textos de várias épocas, começando pela Bíblia, passando pela Era Medieval (cantigas de amor e cantigas de amigo), Era Clássica (episódio de Inês de Castro, em Os Lusíadas; Carta de Guia de Casados, de Dom Francisco Manuel de Melo; e As Cartas Portuguesas, de Sóror Mariana Alcoforado), Era Romântica (as cartas entre Camilo Castelo Branco e D. Ana Plácido; e as cartas entre Simão e Teresa na obra Amor de Perdição – de Camilo Castelo Branco) e Era Contemporânea (Novas Cartas Portuguesas). Através da poesia e do gênero epistolar verifica-se uma linha horizontal a percorrer todos os períodos literários: a linha que registra a permanência da imagem da mulher-mãe e mulher-esposa, consagradas pelo sistema familiar patriarcal. Entretanto, verifica-se que, aqui e ali, surgem cortes verticais nessa linha horizontal, os quais correspondem a questionamentos femininos buscando romper a linha da tradição. A localização dessas "linhas" e "cortes" são os pontos básicos desta dissertação. / This work that has as objective to point the transformation of the woman’s image through the times, just as it has been represented in the literature, from their biblical origins, until the end of the century XX. The analysis of that feminine image, in his historical-literary path, leaned on in texts of several times, beginning for the Bible, going by the Medieval Era (love ballads and friend’s ballads), going by Classic Era (episode of Inês de Castro - in the Lusíadas; Carta de Guia de Casados, of Dom Francisco Manuel de Melo; and the Portuguese Letters, of Sóror Mariana Alcoforado), going by Romantic Era (the letters between Camilo Castelo Branco and D. Ana Plácido; and the letters between Simão and Teresa in the Amor de Perdição - of Camilo Castelo Branco) and Contemporary Era ( Novas Cartas Portuguesas). Through of the poesy and of the gender letter a horizontal line is verified to travel all of the literary periods - the line that registers the permanence of the woman-mother’s image and woman-wife, consecrated by the patriarchal family system. However, it is verified that, here and there, vertical cuts appear in that horizontal line, wich correspond the feminine question looking for to break the line of the tradition. The location of those "lines" and "cuts" are the basic points of that dissertation.

No description available.

New technology is increasingly part of children’s lives. While a growing body of literature has explored various aspects of nursery-aged children’s exposure to ICT, children are seldom asked about their experiences. With this in mind, this study sought to explore children’s perceptions of their experiences of ICT. This exploration was underpinned by current trends in the new sociology of childhood studies and the principles of United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, both of which aim at giving a greater status to children’s voice. The thesis reports on a series of ethnographic case studies of three privately run nurseries in the West Midlands, England. It involved fieldwork observations, field notes, and discussions with 65 children aged three and four years old. In carrying out conversations with children, the study made use of some participatory techniques (e.g., photography and drawing). Adopting a friendly adult role, I participated with the children in their daily activities collecting information about their ideas and thoughts with regards to their experiences with new technology. Related ethical issues were discussed, and negotiated in the field. Using their own words, the study captured children’s own perspectives on their encounters with whatever technologies were available in the nurseries. The findings showed that the children tended to perceive their ICT-based activities as play under certain circumstances. Significantly, they were more likely to view these activities as play when they owned their play, felt it was fair, had fun, and felt it accorded with their gendered identities. Conversely, when the children did not have influence on the activity, they often perceived it as boring and unfair. In addition, there was a tension between a preference to conduct their play with a friend(s) and a desire for personal ownership of the experiences. Recommendations for pedagogical practice, policy and future research are suggested.

This thesis considers some of the different forms taken by the intersection of social inequalities and exploitation in Sri Lankan garment factories. It identifies the organisational policies and practices that reproduce different ‘inequality regimes’ (Acker, 2006) in three case study garment companies, including inequalities of gender, class, ethnicity, religion, age and sexuality. These ‘inequality regimes’ also operate as ‘factory regimes’ (Burawoy, 1983), through which companies seek to generate worker productivity. Further, the thesis analyses the relation between women’s domestic situations and their employment, showing how both are shaped by the wider Sri Lankan patriarchal social structure. In order to understand the inequalities experienced by women at work the thesis mainly seeks to answer two research questions. The first research question asks about the nature of intersecting inequalities in the three case study organisations. The second research question relates to how women going to work in garment factories changes women’s lives. This research question pays special attention to Elson and Pearson’s (1981) three possible tendencies in the relationship between the emergence of women’s factory employment and women’s subordination. Methodologically, the research was based on semi-structured interviews with 36 male and female participants, including owners, managers and workers across three case study organisations, and observations in headquarters offices and three factories over nine months in 2014-2015. The research found that although all three case study organisations are located in the Sri Lankan garment industry, each case study organisation is typified by a highly distinctive inequality regime characterised by different mechanisms for maintaining or modifying wider inequalities and generating workers’ consent: one a ‘despotic regime’, one a ‘maternalistic regime’ and one a ‘pragmatic regime’. Each of these is associated with a degree of individual worker agency, but little collective resistance. The research also found that women’s decisions to enter employment is influenced by the income level of their husbands or fathers. When household income is low women are more able to challenge familial patriarchal authority by taking up employment in garment factories. Women’s contributions to household finances are associated with their families gaining status, women being involved in family decision-making and men contributing to domestic work.

This thesis traces how feminist subjectivities are shaped, formed and lived through a focus on English schoolteachers from postwar (1945-1979) and neoliberal (1980-2015) generations. The data is located in British society at a time of resurgence in feminist activism which is also simultaneously a period of ‘postfeminist sensibilities’ combined with the pervasiveness of neoliberal rationalities. In this contradictory scenario, and using a feminist approach and qualitative methods, this research is based on fifteen life story interviews that include five further in depth thematic interviews which have been thematically analysed. The core arguments of this thesis are located in a feminist poststructuralist framework. This approach highlights the fluidity of selfhood shaped by experiences, relationality and language. Subjectivity within poststructuralism is understood as neither completely free nor absolutely determined and power relations are not only limiting but also become productive in forming the subjectivities. Accordingly, this thesis explores how feminist subjectivities are constructed and shaped in multiple ways. In particular, the feminist schoolteachers in this thesis narrated the emergence of early forms of ‘protofeminism’ located in an unarticulated sense of injustice. They spoke of the influence of ‘significant women’ and the bonds of ‘imagined sisterhood’ as enabling a more fully developed awareness of gender injustice. They also talked of their practices to support gender justice, mostly non oppositional in form or as micro resistances to patriarchal practices. All these, I argue, are experiential resources for these women to draw upon in order to enable them to form alternative and counter narratives to patriarchal discourses, and thus construct feminist subjectivities and live feminist lives to resist patriarchal regimes in neoliberal times.

With the increase in the number of women working in the formal economy, there has been a growing literature on women handling multiple roles arising from work and the home. Currently there is a gap in the literature about the activities of working mothers in emerging economies, with theories and most findings concentrated on studies in advanced economies. This study therefore intends to fill part of the gap in the literature by investigating the lives of working mothers in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria, with a view of understanding their challenges, pains and gains as they navigate between the home and work spheres. This research adopted a qualitative approach through the administration of semi-structured interviews to working mothers, supervisors and Human Resources practitioners. Using the Greenhaus and Beutell’s (1985) sources of conflict model, this study explored the work and family lives of working mothers in Nigeria, thereby giving a detailed view of the time, strain and behaviour-based conflict they experience, as well as appropriate coping strategies that have been put in place to mitigate the effects of such conflicts. Findings complement earlier studies on work and family in Africa focusing on the experience of strain by working mothers in Nigeria. However, analysis from this study suggests that some of these stress-related conflicts were caused by the prevalent work culture of presenteeism. In comparing evidence of a more equal sharing of domestic tasks between couples in advanced economies, the embrace of equal sharing of housework by men and a demand for such by women in Nigeria is rather limited and slow. A striking difference on the strategies employed by working mothers in the west and in Nigeria is that what working mothers in Nigeria lose by way of government support, they gain in the form of family support.