The purpose of this thesis was to develop a model that predicts therapy outcome for children and adolescents who stutter, taking the independent variables of initial stuttering severity, self-esteem, anxiety, the psychosocial impact of stuttering, bullying, motor abilities and language abilities into account. In order to address these issues, three new instruments were developed and validated: (1) the Speech Questionnaire to assess the psychosocial impact of stuttering on the child’s life; (2) the Bullying Questionnaire to obtain information about stuttering related bullying; and (3) the MAMS Orofacial Assessment to assess orofacial abilities. Correlations between therapy outcome and the factors initial stuttering severity, language abilities, and orofacial abilities were found. These factors were used to design a predictive model. Relations of the findings to existing models are outlined. The knowledge obtained about the factors that influence therapy outcome may allow clinicians to tailor therapy programs individually towards the needs of the children. To obtain more information about the daily experiences of children who stutter during an intensive treatment a fourth questionnaire, the Daily Questionnaire was developed and validated. Results of a study with 19 participants during a three-week intensive treatment showed a significant relationship between the impact of other people on the previous day and the experience of general speaking abilities of the subsequent day. Furthermore, a correlation between emotions on the previous day and experience of own speaking abilities on the current day was found. Outcomes of the studies presented in relation to existing models are discussed and a new multi-factor model is presented.

This thesis investigates the relationship between forms of self-concept and forms of aggression in adolescence. The relationship between self-esteem and aggression has been inconsistent in research, with both high and low self-esteem found to be related to aggression. The first paper presented here reviews the literature in the field and finds that this relationship becomes clearer when self-esteem is conceptualised in terms of a dual processing model, consisting of both explicit and implicit forms. The relationship with aggression is strongest when high explicit self-esteem is combined with low implicit self-esteem, as it is in narcissism. The literature review demonstrates that because of this, narcissism provides a better predictor of forms of aggression than the dual processing model of self-esteem can alone. Implications for future research and educational practice are discussed, with a particular emphasis on the need for future research to investigate the emerging link between narcissism and bullying. The second paper presented here reports an empirical study investigating the relationship between adaptive (i.e., leadership, self-sufficiency) and maladaptive (i.e., the tendency to exploit others, exhibitionism, entitlement) forms of narcissism and bullying as well as the possible mechanisms through which they are related. We surveyed 388 UK adolescents (160 boys, 190 girls) using measures of narcissism, bullying behaviour, affective and cognitive empathy, and need for power. Results highlighted that both adaptive and maladaptive narcissism were predictive of bullying for both male and female participants. We found that this relationship was not mediated by either cognitive or affective empathy, but that it was significantly mediated by a need for power. The study highlights the need for future research to begin to design and test interventions targeting the bullying associated with different forms of narcissism individually.

In Ireland, youth suicide is a serious public health issue accounting for approximately thirty percent of all deaths among young people aged between 15 and 24 years old. Youth suicide has received considerable attention from academics, policy makers and campaigners. Nonetheless, the phenomenon has commonly been approached from a singular medicalized perspective. By contrast, the youth perspective has received far less attention. Hence, this was a poorly understood topic. This study asked: what does youth suicide mean to young people in Ireland? The present study aims to gain a better understanding of the meanings of youth suicide, seeking to build a conceptual framework. This will be achieved by exploring participants’ individual understandings of suicide in relation to local community discourses, norms, values, and beliefs. This study makes an original contribution to suicidology by exploring the phenomenon from the youth perspective leading to greater conceptual clarity. This research offers an alternative reading of suicidality in addition to the dominant bio-psycho-medical model encouraging new approaches to suicide prevention. This study views suicide as a multifactorial phenomenon and that young people’s constructions of suicide are subjective. This research is underpinned by a symbolic interactionist theoretical perspective which asserts that meanings are socially constructed through one’s interactions with social phenomena. Hence, the meanings young people attribute to youth suicide are shaped by local norms, values and beliefs. This is a constructivist grounded theory study. Data were generated through qualitative interviews with 25 young men and women between 18 and 22 years old who lived in Dublin. Participants were selected based on the criteria that they were neither bereaved by suicide nor experienced suicidal ideation within the twelve months prior to the interview. Data was analysed simultaneously and iteratively. The study resulted in a conceptual framework through initial, focussed and theoretical coding consisting of five core categories: i) Perceptions of suicide; ii) Stigmatisation of suicidality; iii) Problems associated with suicide; iv) Explanations of suicide; and v) Help-seeking behaviour: barriers and facilitators. These categories are underpinned – primarily – by concepts of stigma and shame, as well as traditional understandings of gender.

This thesis is an empirical study into the experiences of young male dancers, aged 11-18 years, in the north west of England who, outside of their secondary schools, attend private-sector dance schools for tuition in one or more dance genres such as ballet, ballroom/latin-american, contemporary, jazz, tap and urban dance. Its prime focus is to explore the ways in which these young dancers contest the two dominant Western discourses that position dance as a ‘feminine’ activity (e.g., Sanderson, 2001; Stinson, 2001; Risner, 2002a; Gard, 2003) and males who dance as subject to a homosexual presumption (e.g., Rodgers, 1966; Grant, 1985; Hamilton, 1999; Risner, 2007).

Data were generated from semi-structured interviews with 26 male dancers, 4 parents, 6 teachers and 4 dance policymakers / administrators. Explored through the theoretical lens of ‘inclusive masculinity theory’, characterised by a softening of masculinity and an erosion of homophobia (Anderson, 2009), data were analysed thematically (Braun and Clarke, 2006). Findings suggest that most male dancers continue to experience bullying, marginalisation, and stigmatisation, especially from their male peers in secondary schools, where orthodox forms of masculinity proliferate still.

While my analysis finds ‘inclusive masculinity theory’ inadequate to explain the lived experiences of most of these young male dancers, I nonetheless find much value in the related concepts of ‘masculine recuperation’ (Hansen, 1996) and ‘heterosexual recuperation’ (McCormack, 2012), these being identity-management techniques adopted by some males who transgress heteromasculine boundaries. Drawing on these 2 concepts, I pinpoint 6 strategies employed by boys to shore up their masculine and/or heterosexual identities: professing attraction to females; acquiring a ‘sporty’ boy identity; reconceptualising dance as a sport; opting for ‘cool’ dance genres; acquiring popularity through dance and, finally, the policing of movement and choreographic practices. I find that by employing some, most or all of these recuperative techniques, boys are able to contest the aforementioned dominant discourses – that dance is for females (via masculine recuperation) and that boys who dance are presumed gay (via heterosexual recuperation).

Attention is also given to boys’ experiences of dance in their secondary schools. I conclude that while ostensibly a prescribed component of the P.E. curriculum (at Key Stage 3), dance continues to be marginalised and coded as a ‘feminine’ subject and one delivered mostly by non-specialist, female teachers – a problematic, discursive, and material (re)production of gender normativity. Attempts to woo boys into dance via heteronormative schemes of work in schools or through external initiatives such as ‘Project B’ from the Royal Academy of Dance, are also deemed problematic in their gender essentialism. Furthermore, the philosophy of dance education in schools, one that privileges ‘process’ over ‘product’, does little to foster boys’ engagement with dance. Taken collectively, these findings are a cause for concern as well as a call to action.

By furthering our understanding of how young male dancers contest the dominant discourses that pertain to dance and masculinity, this thesis contributes to knowledge in the fields of both dance and education, the former still hitherto under-researched in the UK, especially regarding boys’ experiences of dance education and training in the private sector. In drawing upon the concepts of ‘masculine recuperation’ (Hansen, 1996) and ‘heterosexual recuperation’ (McCormack, 2012), I illuminate how young male dancers re-inscribe their masculinity, and heterosexuality if appropriate, by their deployment of various recuperative strategies – findings that are apt, novel, and original to the sociology of dance in England.