This study explored the experiences of physical activity of Bangladeshi adolescents diagnosed with obesity. It adopted a qualitative methodology using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and semi-structured interviews to explore this un-researched area. Physical activity generally declines In adolescence, and is especially low in Bangladeshi young people. It is an integral part of treatments for childhood obesity and therefore, it is important to maximise uptake and engagement. The study findings are reported as four main themes. Physical activity was understood to offer protection from health problems and facilitate weight loss. However, young people did physical activity for fun, weight loss and because it was a social experience, rather than for health reasons. The motivation of being with others, inclusion and friendships were high in the face of associated costs. Young people had to negotiate their dependency on adults for information about their health and for opportunities to do physical activity. Uptake of physical activity was limited by competing demands on time, proximity to home, ability to travel safely, and for females, by the presence of men and concerns over ‘mixing’. However, when young people did access physical activity they enjoyed feeling energised, improved thinking, feeling lighter and the social approval physical changes offered. They disliked the physiological experiences associated with exertion and some young people were anxious about experiencing these. These findings are sample-specific; they cannot be extrapolated onto other groups in other areas. However, they highlight that many experiences were similar to the general population whilst some were culturally mediated. Young people accepted some personal responsibility for physical activity, which was problematic given the external barriers faced. Family norms, cultural norms, bullying and poverty are factors requiring attention in interventions. The findings are discussed in terms of the existing research base. Clinical and research implications are highlighted.

Method:  18 adults, aged between 19 and 56 years, completed a set of questionnaires as well as a semi-structured interview examining various aspects of the participants’ social and interpersonal experience: Semi-Structured Interview, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsiveness Scale (Y-BOS), the Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory 3rd Edition (MCMI-III), the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ), the Multi-Item Measure of Romantic Attachment (MIMRI). Results:  Evidence of high rates of fearful attachment styles among participants was noted from the RSQ and the MIMRA, as well as significant interpersonal difficulties among half the participants from the IIP was gathered. A pattern of significantly elevated mean scores on a number of dimensions from the MCMI-III (including those related to the ‘dependent personality pattern’ and ‘anxiety disorder’) was recorded. Data from semi-structured interviews provide evidence of high levels of family disturbance, parental mental illness, and parental conflict in the participants’ childhood experience as well as high levels of bullying in school. Discussion:  The discussion examines the significance of these findings and their implications for clinical practice. A tentative interpersonal model is proposed derived from the findings of this study. The findings are considered in relation to the interpersonal model and suggestions are made around changes to this model that allow the impact of certain kinds of experiences on the development of rituals and ruminations to be understood. A number of limitations in the present study relating to sampling procedures, use of specific questionnaires to assess interpersonal functioning and perception are also outlined and recommendations for future lines of research relating to the interpersonal experience of people with OCD put forward.

The study firstly identifies the level, and nature of bullying behaviour in 3 mixed urban comprehensive schools and secondly considers how school differences might affect bullying behaviour. Finally it examines the perceptions of those most closely involved, the pupils and the teachers. An adapted version of the questionnaire used by Olweus (1989) in his Scandinavian studies and in turn adapted in Britain by the Sheffield Bullying Project team (see Ahmad et al., 1991) was used to collect data from 1,155 pupils (514 girls, 641 boys) related to the aims of the project. Interviews with 60 pupils and 32 teachers, which included tutors and members from the senior management teams in each school, enabled information to be gathered from diverse sources and this illuminated the phenomenon from differing perspectives. The two principal instruments of investigation, questionnaire and interview, were supplemented by the use of documents and records where available and relevant. The research findings indicated that the three schools in question have an above average level of reported bullying which includes a high rate of non-physical bullying, primarily name calling and verbal threats. One of the main findings related to school differences, highlights the effect of awareness raising among pupils and subsequently the increased likelihood of pupils to report bullying behaviour. Surprisingly teachers in the same schools predicted higher levels of bullying than the pupils themselves who felt bullying in their schools was average to low. Teachers’ perceptions about bullying appeared to be less affected by school differences than by personal experiences. Pupils who had experienced bullying were not likely to volunteer to be interviewed and among this group differing or contrasting perceptions were linked to the length of time or severity of the bullying, how it had been dealt with and the part the victim had played in overcoming adversity, rather than any school differences.

This study analyses the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace from a social constructionist perspective to argue that what is considered sexual harassment is different according to context.  Using this framework of structure and agency in two different countries at a particular time, it argues that sexual harassment has been constructed differently within the law in France and England during the 1990s, and that these differences are also reflected in contrasting assumptions about sexual harassment within the narratives of individuals living in France and England. In the first instance, the study compares the legal definitions of sexual harassment in France and England during the 1990s and argues that in England sexual harassment has been defined as a discrimination issue, whilst in 1992 French law on sexual harassment deliberately rejected this frame and defined sexual harassment as sex-based conduct aimed at obtain sexual favours.  The study explored the implications of the French definition of sexual harassment. The study then explores the narratives of a set of matched female student respondents in France and England undertaking secretarial courses.  It argues that assumptions relating to power and sexuality at the national legal level also exist within the micro narratives of individuals.  Two competing conceptualisations of sexual harassment are identified, that of ‘natural unreciprocated desire’, whilst English respondents are more likely to understand sexual harassment as the ‘power to discriminate’.  The study also finds particular cross-national differences in the narratives.  French respondents were more likely to express a preference for male bosses and colleagues than did the British respondents.  They also reported less concern regarding intimate relationships at work than respondents in England.  In addition, French respondents were more likely to blame women’s dress and behaviour for sexual harassment.  The empirical data identifies some overlap in conceptualisations of respondents within each country, which indicated that competing understandings co-exist and there is the potential for change.