This multi-layered narrative inquiry focuses on the struggles of six counsellors to uphold ethical standards of practice, despite external pressures to the contrary. It is situated firmly within postmodern and constructivist traditions where both personal and social dimensions of the experiences are included; local and marginalised voices are privileged; and divisions between art, therapy and research are disrupted. The narratives were powerfully and evocatively told and, in the (re)presentation, I have endeavoured to maintain this evocative expression. This provides a compelling and unique insight into the disturbing nature of such pressure, which was considerable and unpleasant. It included bullying and intimidation, accompanied by efforts to malign the identity of the person. This is considered in relation to victim blaming discourses and impact on identity. The counsellors tended to hold values of relationship and responsibility to the individual, yet they felt unsupported and profoundly isolated throughout the critical period. This was compounded by the bullying as well as feelings of being personally culpable and shamed. The counselling profession is thus challenged to provide safe arenas for such experiences to be considered. In the retelling, their accounts become more complex and relational (including concern for the position of the powerful other). Links were made to early childhood experiences which the contributors felt to have been particularly constitutive of their ethical identity. Creative reflexive and autoethnographic practices similarly allowed the re-storying and reconstruction of researcher identity, and again invoked key constitutive experiences from early lived experience, some of which were profoundly personal. Assumed neutrality of researchers is thus comprehensively challenged, and the value of creative approaches to reflexive inquiry affirmed.

When reviewing the literature on workplace bullying it became evident that numerous studies had been conducted with the aim of identifying what expressions workplace bullying takes. Equally there had been a multitude of studies researching either targets of bullying or bullies. What seemed to be missing from the research was knowledge about bystanders, who are individuals that are often present in the workplace bullying situation. Therefore I decided to dedicate my second year research project to this topic, namely targets’ perception of bystanders. This study uses interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) (Smith, 2004) to investigate targets’ accounts of their experiences and refers to the studies on bystanding behaviour presented by Darley and Latané (1968). It was found that targets found that bystanding behaviour could sometimes be equated to bullying behaviour and that they even felt that supportive behaviour could be construed as a way of placating them rather than an effort to improve their situation. During my research it occurred to me that much of the studies in the field of workplace bullying had been undertaken using qualitative studies. I therefore felt compelled to see if I could use a quantitative method as this may result in information not possible to gain using qualitative techniques. The challenge was to find a quantitative technique that would still respect participants’ own subjective opinions. After much searching I found what I was looking for in the repertory grid technique (Jankowicz, 2004). I choose to investigate the nature of positive and negative relationships in the workplace bullying situation as it seemed to me that previous studies tended to focus only on negative behaviour in bullying situations. Whilst important, I felt that this area had been nearly exhausted. Furthermore I am aware that there is a considerable difficulty in rehabilitating bullying targets as well as their colleagues after the occurrence of workplace bullying. Therefore I felt it was appropriate to aim my research at gaining understanding what behaviour targets felt were supportive and useful. By knowing this it will be possible to design better interventions to combat workplace bullying.

This thesis examines the issue of sexual harassment on college campuses in Japan and measures taken both at official and grassroots levels to combat the problem. Using competing methodologies the: implications for both subjects and practitioners of researchers on sensitive subjects are analysed. Gender segregation in the Japanese school system, from the Meiji Restoration to the present day, is investigated in order to draw links between gender segregation, discrimination and the likelihood of sexual harassment at university level. Japanese legislation regarding sexual harassment is explored and the impact this has had on universities is examined. As a result of this new legislation universities were urged to establish guidelines and policies to protect themselves against both quidpro quo and hostile environment sexual harassment. The work of the ‘Campus Sexual Harassment National Network’, established by the late Professor Kazuko Watanabe, is investigated. Surveys conducted by individual universities and national research groups are analysed to assess the actual conditions of sexual harassment at universities and on campuses. Visual and non-visual preventative strategies undertaken by universities are investigated and the effectiveness of sexual harassment committees and counselling services within Japanese universities are examined.

This secondary study surveyed head teachers and interviewed nursery, primary and secondary teachers on their perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to inclusion of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) pupils in one rural Scottish Education Authority.  The study focused on the understandings of masculinities and the silence on (homo) sexuality in the hidden and taught curriculum.  It further aimed to problematise institutional heterosexism. The outcomes of the survey indicated that reference to LGB pupils was missing in policy and generic policies were sufficient to deal with all aspects of equality.  All head teachers surveyed stated homophobic bullying would be dealt with in the same way as other kind of bullying. Whilst LGB pupils were perceived as ‘just the same’ as other pupils they were also depicted as victims in need of specialist support and engendered sympathy in teachers.  Whilst prejudice, attitudes, lack of knowledge and training was reported to be the main barriers to inclusion of LGB pupils some head teachers perceived being silent on the subject was respectful of individual privacy. Analysis of the survey indicated themes of assimilation, contradiction, and ambiguity, set within a liberal discourse of “we treat all pupils alike” “they are all the same”.  These themes were developed in more depth in the interview to reveal institutional heterosexism and structural barriers to teachers’ discourse on LGB pupils.  The data was organised into the following themes: ‘Gender roles and families’, ‘Moral Panic’, ‘Institutional heterosexism’.  The study revealed that whilst teachers aimed to treat all pupils alike they did so by treating them as though they were heterosexual.  As a consequence teachers seemed to lack the language to talk about different sexual orientations. This study suggests that there are structural and institutional barriers to inclusion of LGB pupils in school and limits to programmes of reform based on the individual, identity politics, and anti-oppressive approaches.  Nevertheless the outcome of this study indicates that for social change to occur anti-oppressive approaches remain the next stage in the process.

Self-harm has been on the rise in the UK in recent years.  A review of the literature was conducted which suggested that this increase was also evident in adolescents, and possibly children.  The literature described several factors associated with self-harm, including depression, anxiety, anger, self-esteem and bullying.  Research using children in UK community samples was lacking, as well as research exploring the factors that are associated with self-harm in this age group. Therefore, the present study was carried out using a cross-sectional survey design, to measure levels of self-harm in children aged 8-11 years, and to assess which factors were associated with self-harm.  Logistic regression analyses were then used to explore independent factors influencing self-harm. These were significant differences between those children who self-harmed and those who did not in their levels of anxiety, depression, self-esteem and bullying.  There were no gender or age relationships with self-harm. The regression model successfully predicted self-harm, although was more successful at predicting the absence of self-harm.  With a significance criterion of p<0.05 only two of the five factors entered emerged as independent predictors.  These results indicated that the lower the child’s anxiety levels, and the higher their self-esteem, the less likely they were to self-harm. Further research was suggested examining the utility of the self-harm questionnaire developed, and the impact of teacher training on levels of self-harm.  Replication of the logistic regression analyses with a broader sample was recommended, as was whole school approaches designed to boost self-esteem and resilience in young people.

Bullying is currently a very emotive and well-publicised issue, featuring frequently in TV programmes and newspapers.  It is no longer accepted as an inevitable part of school life affecting only weak and inadequate victims, but, instead, as a social ill, with long-term psychological effects on both bully and victim, that needs to be eradiated from schools and work places. This research project provides a detailed exploration of fictional representations of bullying in contemporary teen fiction.  It approaches the main research question, “How is Bullying Presented in Contemporary Teen Fiction”? through four subsidiary research questions and interviews with some of the writers in the desk study, against a background of children’s/adolescent literature criticism and psychological, sociological and educational research on bullying in schools.  Thus, the research project utilises current academic thought in two different fields: English and Education. Through the first subsidiary question, the patterns in the presentation of bullying are explored.  Issues of gender, modes of aggression and types of bullying (racial, sexual and organisational) are discussed.  The focus of the research narrows into examining the construction of the bully and victim experience through the second and third subsidiary research questions respectively.  Contemporary presentations are compared with the presentations in generic boys’ and girls’ school stories and considered in the light of current thinking in bullying research.  The fourth subsidiary research question refocuses the research on the narrative design of novels in the desk study by exploring the common strategies writers use in narratives dealing with bullying and the nature of the resolutions to ending the bullying relation offered to readers.  These are considered further as Entwicklungsroman through adolescent literature criticism and notions of adolescent growth, power, maturation and alienation.

Employing the sociological concept of reflexivity throughout the research process has led me to argue that there is no one universally successful adult research role, or research tool best suited to gaining young people’s opinions. Any research techniques need to be applied critically. Further reflection on issues which arose from interaction with gatekeepers and respondents throughout fieldwork led to the recognition that emotional involvement and management are also an important aspect of research relationships. In turn this required me to question how my own values and beliefs have influenced the research process and how the research process has influenced the data collected. My research also has two key areas of originality in terms of substantive and theoretical development. On a substantive level, my findings illustrate the complex realities of identity negotiation in the lives of young Bangladeshi and Pakistani disabled people in relation to ethnicity, religion, ‘race’ and gender. This has implications for theory development within the sociology of childhood and disability studies, particularly in the areas of body, identify and self. My findings illustrate how respondents struggle to define selfhood in meaningful and fulfilling ways and show evidence of agency and ingenuity. Respondents’ identities are neither totally imposed nor are they totally chosen or discarded at will. That is, respondents were not simply involved in cultural reproduction characterised by mimicry, but capable of social action. This calls for the development of a social model of disability which is open to the diversity of all disabled young peoples’ experiences. My findings also add to existing debates in policy and practice within the context of these young peoples’ lives. Findings illustrate a need for service providers particularly within educational, health and social service sectors to re-evaluate and adapt existing policies and practice within the areas of combating bullying, communicating health problems, and improving leisure facilities and also suggest that young people would benefit from more guidance and support at school when choosing future career paths and/or academic goals. This thesis and the research on which it is based represent a challenge to previous work by focusing on Pakistani and Bangladeshi disabled young people’s own accounts of their lives.

This research explores the social organisation of bullying in UK nursing from subjective accounts of clinical nurses who were self-referred “targets” of bullying, and nurse managers (a potential “bullying group”).  Focusing on a nationwide sample of 10 clinical nurses, and 10 nurse managers from an Acute Hospital Trust, bullying is identified as a social phenomenon primarily mediated through workplace interactions.  Previous research indicating bullying as being mainly psychological/personality mediated is questioned by applying a Symbolic Interactionist approach to its study which has not previously been attempted. Using both vignettes and relatively unstructured interviews bullying is perceived as intentional and well planned, it’s temporal and processual nature established, and its impact on professional working examined. A mechanism of bullying awareness has been identified in both bullies and targets by a re-examination of Awareness context Theory (Glaser and Strauss 1965). This provided a new focus on the bullying process, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of bullying events within a specific occupational group; nurses, which had not before been attempted. Nurse accounts of bullying identify bullying negotiations in the NHS as being open to manipulation by the bully; and groups and individuals with specific agendas who may impose their definitions of the situation on to them. Such actions leave bullying targets at a distinct disadvantage in gaining redress for their perceived bullying. I conclude that awareness of such issues and examination of negotiations in context can aid in developing more effective bullying interventions and policy. These often remain inadequate, frequently being based on previous quantitative study research, which has failed to appreciate bullying as a complex interactive event in the workplace.

The theme, which I have rigorously pursued and developed during my research career, is legal protection for victims of harassment and discrimination.  These terms are used here in their broadest sense and encompass various kinds of undesirable behaviour.  The victims of these types of behaviour have been traditionally disadvantaged because their legal rights have been disregarded and consequently they have been given little or no legal protection (e.g. victims of sexual harassment or stalking). They are often the weaker party in a relationship or someone who is not afforded due care or consideration by another party whose actings adversely affect them.  As a consequence they will suffer economic loss and/or physical or mental harm to their person. Often the legal process they must follow to secure redress is weighted against them.  This could take the form of evidential difficulties (e.g. proving an employer’s vicarious liability in discrimination cases) or having to utilise judicial procedures that are inaccessible.  In some instances there are inherent inequalities between the treatment they receive (e.g. homosexuals, women) within the legal system as compared with members of other groups (e.g. men and heterosexuals). The research is intended to highlight the difficulties faced by these groups and identify possible legal solutions.  It could involve recommendation of a course of action that can be pursued on their behalf by legal practitioners (e.g. applying existing laws that are untried in a particular legal context).  Alternatively the courts handling of a case may be the subject of constructive criticism (e.g. interim relief for victims of stalking). In the context of analysis of legal protection for victims of discrimination and harassment, the Government has often been encouraged to introduce legal rules for the first time to provide protection to disadvantaged groups (e.g. protection of the employment rights of homosexuals and lesbians).  The Government or the legislature have also been encouraged to amend existing legislation to ensure better protection is available or to comply with legislation emanating from the European Union (law on sexual harassment, disability discrimination).  The Government may also be encouraged to change their social policy. This research has identified areas for social change and has either directly or indirectly led to actual or proposed changes in the law.  It has also been partly responsible for improvement in the quality of the protection for legal claimants. Legal representatives have been acquainted with the full scope of legal redress available to their clients. Another feature of my research is consideration of the appropriateness of legal tests or principles to decide an issue (e.g. comparators in discrimination cases).  A substantial part of my research has been concerned with discrimination and the need for equality of treatment within society.  More specifically it is often concerned with protecting someone against behaviour which represents an affront to their person e.g.  harassment, stalking or bullying.  The judiciary is sometimes respectfully requested to reconsider their approach to a legal issue to ensure such victims are given legal protection.

My understanding of ‘race’ and racism in Britain is that it is discussed variously. Sometimes it steals the headlines as when Stephen Lawrence was murdered (Macpherson 1999). Yet at other times there is a preference not to mention the subject at all. Public discourse on ‘race’ and racism can be reticent. Why is this? Is ‘race’ a difficult subject of conversation? The first chapter of this thesis examines the roots of ‘race’. In Chapter Two the silence and silencing at a public level but also in everyday interaction becomes the focus. Difficult conversations are considered. The dynamic of reticence and fluency in the discourse of ‘race’ is explored and conceptualised with reference to the limited material in the literature on the silence and silencing of ‘race’ discourse. This raises the question as to who is responsible for silence; and, whose interests, if any, might be served. Chapter Three presents a real world enquiry – the Swapping Cultures Initiative in Coventry and Warwickshire; involving over 1,000 children and young people that took place mainly between 2002 and 2004. It reveals that a significant proportion of participants (3 8.1 %) experienced bullying, racism, or being picked on, based on their cultural background, and that these issues are difficult matters for conversation (38%). What is revealed is both the complexity of the participants’ identities and the subtle and sophisticated ways in which their cultural backgrounds are managed through conversation. What then does silence mean when the subject is ‘race’? Certainly it is nuanced and complex. Chapter Four provides a series of concluding reflections on ‘race’ and silence, identifying the major factors when seeking to understand and address ‘race’ issues in their local context. It places centrally the ‘discourse of reticence’ as a significant, hitherto underestimated, element when considering the prevailing and pervading presence of ‘race’ and racism.

A social-psychological perspective is used to study young people’s representations of bullying across in-groups and out-groups in eight mixed-sex British state secondary schools (a total of 471 pupils aged 11-16 from Years 7, 9 and 11, 54% girls and 46% boys).  Four of the schools were from an area of high ethnic mix and low socio-economic status (SES), and four are from an area of low ethnic mix and high SES.  The study explores the usefulness of making a distinction not investigated in the bullying literature: that between abuse based on individual characteristics, and abuse in terms of group membership, such as one’s race or sex as a whole.  The literature contains an implicit value judgement that group-based bullying is worse, and therefore more difficult to cope with, because it maligns not only the individual but also the individual’s entire reference group.  The aim of this thesis is to understand children’s evaluations of the severity of the two distinguishable bases for being bullied, with a focus on victim representations.  Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used, in the form of group-interview methodology and forced-choice questionnaires administered individually to 400 pupils.  The 96 group interviews used specially designed vignettes about a male and female victim, with the ethnicity and facial expression of the models manipulated.  Responses only partially support the assumption in the literature; children mentioned many other dimensions upon which evaluations are conditional, ranging from social conventions, intention, frequency, and truth, to the type of target and the nature of the stigma.  Results are interpreted in terms of the general heightened awareness of bullying and racism that permeates schools.  This research contributes to knowledge about the complex processes through which adolescents are both susceptible to and protected from bullying.  The topic is contextualised by a wide range of literature including: bullying, gender, ethnicity, racial and sexual harassment, stigma, adolescent peer groups, identity, self-esteem, attribution theory, and cognitive coping strategies.

‘Occupational stress is a major problem in western societies, where its relationship with various diseases is becoming increasingly obvious’ (Vander Hek & Plomp, 1997). Recognising this has led to ‘increasing interest in the phenomenon of stress and a growing concern to find ways of alleviating it’ (Stuart, 1991). This interest is reflected in an ever increasing body of literature and the development of stress management interventions based on this literature. Using an interpretivist research approach and based on the aforementioned literature, a hypothesis centred on an inability of organisations in the Irish financial services industry to effectively manage stress was developed. This hypothesis would be tested by firstly examining stress levels in the industry by means of a syllogism and secondly by identifying preferred approaches to stress management. The study sought to examine the effectiveness of current stress management interventions by measuring stress levels. This was achieved through conducting a survey based on the HSE’s Psychological Working Conditions in Great Britain (2004) tailored to complement Cooper & Marshall (1976) typology relating to the causes of stress. Survey respondents indicated that stress levels were moderate and as such were not impacting on morale or organisational performance. The principal sources of stress identified were work overload and relationships with colleagues, while the main interventions employed by organisations were flexi-time, casual dress and sports sponsorship. The study also sought to identify preferred approaches to the management of stress, facilitating a comparison between current and optimal interventions. Utilising the 1994 study by Bradley & Sutherland, 16 possible interventions were put to the respondents with flexi-time and keep-fit programmes emerging as the favoured approaches, which would be seen to benefit both the individuals themselves and the organisation as a whole, while counselling and stress recognition training proved unpopular. Ultimately this study proved that organisations in the Irish financial services industry do not specifically manage stress, but the all-encompassing initiatives introduced to protect employee mental health appear to sufficiently control stress levels.

This research addresses the question, ‘what is the relationship between young peoples’ consumption of branded goods and their sense of identity’?  It reveals consumption to be some way from the picture presented in postmodern type analyses, which emphasise pleasure and play.  Amongst my sample of twenty focus groups of late teenage students, concern about class and gender position, status and ‘distinction’ (Bourdieu 1986) emerges as the key framework which informs their ‘choices’ as consumers, and their subjective sense of identity. The judgements they make about self, other and group identity suggest consuming brands is a cultural practice which is marked by strong discursive, scopic and classificatory dimensions.  These inform a series of popular stereotypes from ‘Townies’ and ‘Skanky birds’ to ‘Essex boys.’ Such categorisations are materialised in, and embodied by, teenagers’ taste in, and use of, branded goods.  They affect, not just those who are ‘othered’, but those who do the ‘othering’, reducing choice and contributing to forms of class and gender invective, social distancing and to wider processes of ‘symbolic violence’ (Bourdieu 1977). In the context of these dimensions, and the prevalence of talk about bullying, my findings support the need for a more critically circumspect approach.  Such a framework, needs to be one which is able to take full account of consumption as an embodied set of classed and gendered, material and symbolic, emotional as well as reflexive practices.  Consuming Brands shows, young people’s negotiation of the dilemma of a ‘personalised versus commodified’ experience of the self (Giddens 1991:196), is one fraught with social risks and emotional stresses.  These are unequally shared in class and gender terms.  The accounts given, of being addressed, and acting, as consuming subjects, reveal the contradictory nature of the subjective experience of consumption, psycho-socially, and the limited choice and agency, it affords.

Throughout its history, the activity, or profession of social work has been influenced by dominant political and social mores. This thesis charts such developments in the United Kingdom, locating them in not only the socio-economic circumstances of each period, but also in relation to changes within social theory, specifically those from a left wing political tradition. Charting the move to the contemporary period, it is argued that the current epoch is one of ‘diminished subjectivity’, where people are viewed as more objects than subjects, and are more likely to be viewed as either vulnerable or atavistic, rather than as having the potential to create a better society. The thesis starts with a history of social work from its charitable origins in the seventeenth century through to the early 1970s. It then analyses intellectual developments in the understanding of human subjectivity, in particular that of Hegel, Marx, the Frankfurt School, and the influence of postmodernism/poststructuralism to our understanding of the human subject. It is argued that a common intellectual current is one of ‘diminished subjectivity’. We return to the history of social work in chapter four, analysing the changes from the 1970s onwards, with particular emphasis on the overt politicisation of the profession. Combining this with the theoretical analysis of chapter two, the influence on social work of wider intellectual and political change becomes evident. The contention is that social work itself, for all its talk of ’empowerment’, is influenced by the tendency to view the subject with suspicion, and to demean it at the very moment it endeavours to ’empower’ it. The thesis then examines manifestations of ‘diminished subjectivity’ in the arena of social work. Four specific but interrelated areas of concern to social work are highlighted, with particular focus being on the arena of adult mental health. The first is the rise of the discourses of pathology and abuse. Whilst these increasingly common concepts have affected both social work policy and practice, social work itself is partly responsible for the popularity of such constructs. The second is the current pre-occupation with risk minimisation, or risk management, and this is analysed in relation to mental health policy and practice at the level of statutory powers and civil containment. From this focus on the more overt coercion within the mental health field, we turn thirdly to the constructions of stress and bullying. The fourth focus is on ‘identity politics’, in particular the rise of the psychiatric ‘survivor’. The penultimate chapter discusses the public/private divide as a theme which cuts across all the previous chapters, and addresses some of the implications of the erosion of this boundary. The concluding chapter summarises the thesis and discusses recent critiques of social work from within the profession. It is argued that the developments discussed within the thesis should not be seen in isolation; but rather that all share a common perception of the human subject as fragile, dangerous, or both.

Bullying behaviour is a widespread problem among primary school children that can have serious negative consequences.  However, few studies have carried out detailed investigations regarding the characteristics associated with different bullying roles.  The character profiles and individual differences associated with different bullying roles were investigated in this thesis through a series of studies that considered behaviour problems, physical and psychosomatic health, academic achievement, and emotion processing abilities.  Direct and relational bullying was considered for bully perpetrators, victims and bully/victims.  The latter category was defined as children that are involved in both bullying others, and at other times are victimised.  Overall, results revealed several distinct behavioural characteristics for direct and relational bullying roles, not previously reported.  For example, direct bully/victims had the most problematic behaviour profiles, whilst in contrast, relational bullies were intelligent, healthy individuals, with few behaviour problems.  The impact of various school factors such as class size, and school location were also investigated in association with the prevalence of bullying roles.  Findings uncovered that small school and class sizes, located in rural locations were associated with a higher incidence of bullying behaviour.  Results concerning the individual differences for bullying roles provided several implications for investigating whether they are related to school anti-bullying policies, and the development of a novel intervention programme.  A discussion of the findings is provided in light of more recent studies. Different theoretical orientations are addressed together with a review of methodological issues associated with the studies in the thesis, and future directions.

This thesis explores how young resisters and desisters in their teenage years maintain their resistance to and desistance from offending and asks to what extent they are agentic in the process. The term ‘resister’ refers to those who, according to a self-report survey, have never offended, and the term ‘desister’ to those who have offended and then ceased for at least twelve months. By situating desisters analytically adjacent to resisters, I have moved towards conceptualising desisters as current non-offenders. Desisters may have shared a past with persisters, as they have both offended. However, desisters share their current experience, that of maintaining non-offending, with resisters. It is this obvious, yet largely ignored, link between young resisters and desisters which underpins the thesis. Two qualitative methods, both of which elicited young people’s own perspectives, were employed between 2003 and 2005. Secondary analysis of 112 qualitative interviews with resisters and desisters in their teenage years was conducted and peer led focus groups (in which a young peer, rather than an adult researcher, acted as the facilitator) were held with 52 teenage resisters. Young people’s resistance to offending does not feature prominently in the literature. When it does, it is often associated with a state of innocence or passivity, while young desisters are said to ‘grow out of’ offending. This emphasis on an absence of offending, rather than on actively attained resistance, reflects an adult oriented view. The thesis challenges this by drawing on the sociology of childhood, a theoretical perspective which has not previously been applied to young people’s resistance to and desistance from offending and which emphasises young people as agentic. Their agency is evidenced by the findings. Chapters Four and Five report how young people employ numerous strategies of resistance and desistance and Chapter Six how that they face trials and tribulations in maintaining their nonoffending, while Chapter Seven focuses on the ‘being’ rather than the ‘doing’ of sustaining non-offending. It is the work of Derrida that enables the argument to be taken a step further. Derrida’s (1981) assertion is that binary oppositions are rarely neutral, but that one is the dominant pole. For example, in Western society the first of the following binary oppositions are usually regarded as the dominant or privileged pole: white/black, masculine/feminine, adult/child. In respect of the binary opposition at the heart of the current thesis, namely offender/non-offender, the non-offender is – from an adult perspective at least – the dominant pole and the non-offender is hailed as the norm. By contrast, several findings in the thesis point to the fact that the dominant pole in the binary opposition for young people is the offender rather than the non-offender. First, the discourse of young resisters and desisters suggests a view of the offender rather than non-offender as the norm. Secondly, many resisters and desisters face trials and tribulations, such as bullying, relating to their nonoffending status. Yet, if it were the case that the non-offender was the dominant pole and was privileged by young people (as it is in the adult population), resisters would not be penalised in such ways for not offending. Thirdly, some of the strategies used by resisters, such as involvement in anti-social behaviour, signify an attempt to compensate for their non-offending status. Again, if the non-offender was the dominant pole in the binary opposition, far from resorting to mechanisms to compensate for their non-offending behaviour, this behaviour would be encouraged, as it is by adults. This inverted world has implications for young resisters and desisters. Their resistance is to be understood in the context of an expectation of offending, rather than non-offending. Contrary to the notion of the pull of normality bringing desisters back to a non-offending state, the pull of normality among young desisters – and many resisters – is better understood as being towards offending. Resistance, evidenced by the strategies and trials and tribulations of resisters and desisters, is against this pull. Moreover, as non-offending is the modus operandi in the adult world, to be an adult non-offender requires less effort. For a young person, being a non-offender is more challenging than it is for adults and maintenance of resistance constitutes a struggle not previously reflected in adult representations. Adults, not having taken account of the different modus operandi of the young person’s world, have not attributed agency to resistance and have underestimated young people’s struggle to maintain resistance. The strategies demanded of resisters and desistcrs to maintain non-offending and the trials and tribulations which they face when they do have heretofore been overlooked.

This thesis looks at the work of women engineers in the period of 1945-2000.  Its central focus is the impact gender had on the likelihood of a woman making such a career choice, on the training to become an engineer and on women’s lived experiences in the work place.  It discusses the impact of the equality legislation and considers the effect that the characterisation of engineering as a male profession had on the numbers of women in engineering and on their treatment. The thesis approaches these subjects through a study of the experiences of a group of women engineers.  Their life histories are set against the social and economic changes that occurred over the period.  It encompasses both women who were engineers at the beginning of the period and those from later generations.  The use of oral history allows a rounded picture of the changing experiences of women engineers, their career expectations and the degree of success that they achieved. The thesis argues that the history of women engineers has been largely ignored. While their experiences have paralleled that of women in other careers, the continued overwhelming dominance of the profession by men has resulted in a number of assumptions regarding discrimination and harassment that remain unproven.  It demonstrates that the social stereotyping of engineering discourages many women from considering the career, thus perpetuating both gender inequality and the myth that women are unwelcome in the career.

This thesis explores the related concepts of heteronormativity and homophobia and their connection to homophobic bullying in Irish second-level schools. The research undertaken for this thesis involved one hundred interviews with pupils, parents, teachers and senior management teams in six second-level schools in the Greater Dublin area. The data from these interviews revealed an understanding of sexuality among participants that was binary in nature in that they (particularly pupils) understood there to be two opposing sexualities, heterosexual and homosexual, and they believed that heterosexuality was the only legitimate or normal sexuality. Close contact with members of the same sex or with gay or lesbian was considered dangerous in that one might be contaminated or turned homosexual and consequently it was considered justifiable to isolate and even ridicule those considered to be gay and lesbian in schools. Homophobic name-calling was also used by pupils to deride those who were not necessarily considered to be gay or lesbian. The data also revealed that for the most part teachers accepted homophobic name-calling and other behaviours as a normal part of the school environment. Teachers were unaware of their role in perpetuating the status quo regarding homophobic bullying. However, teachers did report that they had to be seen to uphold the religious ethos of their schools in relation to homosexuality and as such a culture of silence reigns where sexuality and homosexuality are concerned. The role of the Catholic Church as patron of the majority of Irish schools and its teachings against homosexual behaviour is identified in this thesis as a significant mitigating factor against teachers taking action against homophobia and homophobic bullying. For their part, parents admitted that they would be sad if their sons/daughters were gay, mostly because they would be fearful for how they would be received in school and society. Although they did want schools to include some education about sexual orientation in their programmes. This study highlights the need for clearer policies regarding gay and lesbian issues in Irish schools as well as pre-service and in-service training in equality issues for teachers.

Bullying research has provided a wealth of information and a depth of understanding that has led to the development of intervention strategies in schools. However, despite this extensive research, bullying continues to be a significant problem. It has been suggested that working with children or with schools may not be enough to solve the problem and that it may be necessary to include parents as part of the solution, especially if the antecedents originate and are consistently reinforced at home. Research that has considered factors relating to family functioning and the relationship between the caregivers and their children provide support for this argument, but research in this area is scarce. The main aim of the present research was to investigate family backgrounds, parenting styles and the personal characteristics of parents and children involved in bullying situations in order to identify effective routes for intervention. More specifically, it focused children’s attachment styles and the roles they adopted in bullying situations at school. A longitudinal design with mixed methods was adopted involving 28 pre-school children and theft caregivers. The children were ‘new starters’ at one of three schools and at the start of the investigation they were aged 4 years – 4 years and 11 months and their primary caregiver’s ages ranged between 29 and 53 years. Primary caregivers participated in interviews and exercises about themselves and theft families and observations of the children occurred in different settings at school during their first year. It was predicted that a link between the childrens’ attachment type and the roles they adopted in bullying situations would be found. However, no evidence was found to suggest a link between childrens’ attachment style and bullying. Despite this, interesting trends were found. These are considered and the difficulties and limitations of the investigation are discussed.