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.

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.

‘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.

Recent historical developments in policy and practice have seen a gradual but significant shift towards less segregated provision for people with intellectual disabilities and the concepts of inclusion and citizenship now dominate current policy rhetoric. The recent UK government paper ‘Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People’ (Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit 2005), ambitiously proposes that ‘By 2025, disabled people in Britain should have full opportunities and choices to improve their quality of life and will be respected and included as equal members of society’ (pp.7). However, the conceptualisation and measurement of ‘inclusion’ in the intellectual disability literature has been rather narrow to date; focusing primarily on levels and determinants of participants in community-based activities and social networks. In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the inclusion/exclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, it may be useful to draw on models, theories and practices from the wider literature. This research sought to explore the experiences and perceptions of citizenship for a group of young men attending a College of Further Education. Eight young men with mild/moderate intellectual disabilities were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the data. Research findings indicated that inhibitors of community and civic participation included: neighbourhood deprivation, crime and antisocial behaviour; bullying and victimisation; and distrust of neighbours and public/political institutions. Facilitators of participation comprised: family modelling; social networks: financial and personal incentives; and political efficacy and trustworthiness. However, the young men were largely inhibited from engaging in social and civic participation and their lack of community connectedness was primarily associated with neighbourhood characteristics, as opposed to the impact of having an intellectual disability. Implications for future research, policy and practice are discussed.

The existing research literature was reviewed with respect to child refugee and asylum seeker experience and its relationship with emotional and behaviour adjustment.  This was considered in relation to experiences prior to and during migration, whilst claiming refugee status and in the longer-term resettlement and adaptation.  The literature review also examined various individual, familial and extra-familial risk and protective factors involved in the mediation and moderation of children’s stress. Research regarding the psychological status of asylum seeker and refugee children however, provides no consensus on the extent of the emotional and behavioural needs of these children.  Therefore, this study aimed to determine the adjustment profile of asylum seeker and refugee children attending a school in a socially deprived area and to compare this with their British peers and a normative population.  It also sought to identify whether particular factors were associated with adjustment difficulties in the overall sample.  Results showed that the asylum seeker/refugee boys had significantly higher levels of emotional and behavioural difficulty than the girls.  There were comparable rates of difficulty in asylum seeker/refugee boys and British boys and girls and significantly higher rates of difficulty within both of these groups compared with the normal population.  However, asylum seeker/refugee girls had lower rates of emotional and behavioural problems and these were comparable with the normal population. This study found that younger age, involvement in bullying, and lower academic ability were significant predictors of emotional and behavioural difficulties.  The results of this study indicate the high levels of need in both asylum seeker/refugee boys and British children living in a socially and economically deprived area.

Studies which examine conflict have identified coping strategies as potent variables for the social competencies of children. To extend these ideas to more specific indicators of social adjustment this study examined emotional impairments and coping strategies of victims and bullies. Inventories measuring emotional impairment: depression, anger, anxiety and self-concept were completed by 103 primary school children aged 9-11. A questionnaire measured five coping strategies: problem solving, social support seeking, distancing, externalising and internalising. Bully and victim nominations identified almost 5 times as many male bullies compared to girls therefore findings which specifically relate to bullying refer to boys only. Emotional impairments were identified as predictory variables for bullying and victimisation particularly for boys where anger was identified as moderating the relationship between externalising and bullying behaviour while anxiety was identified as a mediating variable between problem solving and victimisation. Findings here also suggest that all children learn how to cope with negative emotions through their experiences with adults. For bullies internalisation as a result of poor experiences during problem solving with adults makes problem solving with peers less likely.

The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide and is now considered an epidemic.  The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between body composition and health and lifestyle factors in school-age children. The first part of the study consisted on secondary analysis of data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey: young people aged 4 to 18 years to investigate the relationship between overweight, high waist circumference, high mid-upper arm circumference and blood pressure and blood lipids.  The relationship of these anthropometric measures to demographic factors and diet and physical activity was also investigated.  The second part of the study consisted of collection and analysis of data from 129 children aged 8-10 and 75 children aged 14-16 years, from the Aberdeen area to investigate the relationship between BMI, waist circumference and percentage body fat and psychosocial functioning (self-esteem, locus of control, depression and bullying), blood pressure and lung function.  The relationship of these anthropometric measures to diet and physical activity was also investigated. High body fat was associated with increased blood pressure and an unfavourable lipid profile, but was not found to have a detrimental effect on lung function.  High body fat was associated with poorer psychosocial functioning in young girls (8-10 years) but not in boys. Body fat was negatively associated with time spent in exercise and percentage energy from total sugars and non-milk extrinsic sugars and positively associated with time spent in inactive pursuits, average daily total energy intake, dieting to lose weight, percentage energy from total fats and a ‘healthier’ diet.   Demographic factors found to be related to body fat were region, number of parents and siblings in household, whether parents receive income support and social class of parents.   Sex and age variations in these relationships were found.

This study examines the relationship between the personality construct empathy and two forms of antisocial behaviour, namely self-reported offending and school bullying. This study reviews the empirical evidence for the widely held theoretical belief that low empathy is related to antisocial behaviour by undertaking a systematic review and meta-analysis. In order to develop a better understanding of the relationship between empathy and different forms of antisocial behaviour, an anonymous questionnaire was administered to a group of 720 Year 10 students in England. Information about empathy, self-reported offending and bullying was collected. Information about additional factors, which previous research has found to be related to both offending and bullying (such as impulsivity, parental supervision and low socioeconomic status), was also collected. The key question for the offending component of this study was: was low empathy related to self-reported offending? Furthermore, if differences were found to exist, were they independent of the associations between offending and the other variables which previous research has established to be related to offending? The results suggest that empathy was associated with some forms of self-reported offending, but not others. The association between empathy and offending also differed for males and females, and also the frequency of offending. The implications for interventions to reduce offending are discussed. Although similar to offending in some respects, bullying in school is a different form of antisocial behaviour. The key question of the bullying component of this study was: was low empathy related to bullying others? Also, if differences were found to exist, were they independent of the associations between bullying and the other variables which previous research has established to be related to bullying? The results suggest that empathy was related to bullying for females and for more serious bullying among males. Differences also existed for different types of bullying. The implications of these findings for the development of strategies to address bullying behaviour are discussed.

This thesis demonstrates the day-to-day experiences of victimisation and opinions about crime as they were encountered by a group of pupils in a rural school at one particular point in time. A number of key themes are addressed, the first being the notion of the adolescent as a victim of crime. This thesis considers what ‘crime’ means to the pupils at this school and documents their views of crime in the wider community. The next area addressed is the victimisation of adolescents by fellow adolescents; here the focus is on incidents of bullying that occurred on and off the school premises. Third, whilst men as victims is an under-researched area, boys as victims are even less adequately studied, and the question of masculine identities are incorporated. Furthermore, the roles the female students played are investigated as with their involvement in both acts of violence and bullying. The fourth area is the limits of moral conduct and how this particular age group makes decisions about the unwritten moral codes and boundaries affecting the display of violence. This in turn invites the question of how teenagers made sense of larger moral problems and problems of living inside a school interpreted as a form of institution with a distinctive ‘underlife’. These themes are addressed within an analysis of the larger social organisation of childhood and adolescence. Criminologists have long recognised the importance of peer group influence in the development of offending behaviour, but the research took into account the rural context of that setting, the final analytical lens through which it is focussed. This thesis demonstrates that the intricate patterns of violence and bullying are a process whereby status and power reinforce an established hierarchy of pupil’s informal relations. The importance of the peer group emerged as the key to understanding interactions between the pupils at the school researched. The power of the peer group would have to be taken into consideration in any strategies devised to curtail bullying.

Objective: Eating disordered populations have been consistently found to demonstrate high levels of shame. However, the factors contributing to this had not previously been established. This study explored the main sources of shame in 52 individuals with a current diagnosis of an eating disorder. Method: All participants completed questionnaires on eating disorders, negative affect, perceived parental bonding, Social Isolation schema (Young & Brown, 1990) and bodily, behavioural and characterological shame and shame around eating. They were also asked to indicate if they had experienced bullying/teasing in their past. An individual meeting the criteria for anorexia nervosa and an individual with bulimia nervosa were randomly selected to participate in a semi-structured interview to obtain more in depth information about their experience of shame and eating disorders. Results: Pearson correlations and partial correlations were used to identify appropriate factors to be entered into the regression model. Stepwise linear regression analyses indicated that maternal care, Social Isolation schema and current eating disorders symptomatology were significant predictors of shame, explaining 50% of the variance. Social Isolation schema was found to be the major contributor to this model. Depression was also entered into the model but was not found to make a significant independent contribution. The link between bullying/teasing and Social Isolation schema was also supported. Conclusions: The study adds further insight into the relationship between shame and eating disorders by identifying factors involved in the development of shame in this population. Results highlight the role of both early experiences and current symptoms, suggesting that shame has an important role in both the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Implications for treatment are discussed, as are suggested areas of future research. In particular, the need to consider bullying/teasing in shame and eating disorders research is emphasised.

The aims of this present research are to expand our general understanding of bullying behaviour and to advance our knowledge about bullying among Korean pupils. With the purpose of exploring the nature and features of Korean bullying several studies were carried out, including one nationwide survey. At the beginning of this research, a sample (N=160) of Korean middle school pupils was selected in order to define the most appropriate term for bullying. The results confirmed that wang-ta is the most appropriate term for Korean bullying which can equivalently be used for bullying in English speaking nations. With the term selected and two pilot studies a large-scale study (N=2,926) was carried out. The results showed that 5.80/0 of Korean pupils suffered by being bullied whereas 10.2%) pupils reported that they bully other peers. Results from the previous two studies indicated that there are different stages of victimisation in Korean schools. To investigate the stages of victimisation, 424 Korean pupils were selected. The results confined that there are different levels of victimisation and each level is named differently according to the level of victimisation. Moreover, in order to explore different stages of wang-ta, and study features of Korean bullying, 10 pupils, who quit school mainly due to being bullied, were interviewed. The participants well described the relationship between those three studies and their victimisation and a pattern of victimisation has been found. Infonnation and knowledge concerning the nature and features of wang-ta can be useful to correctional practitioners and policy makers as well as important to conduct comparative studies. Moreover, features of Korean bullying can help practitioners in order to better help victims in schools.

The school chosen for the purposes of the study was an all boys independent school, located in south Dublin. The annual intake of year one students was just under 100 and each year group were looked after by a ‘Year Head’. These year heads provided much of the daily information relating to behaviour, attendance and punctuality and also acted as a reference point for weekly briefings regarding the progress of the group. Class teachers, form teachers and extra-curricular staff also provided information which was added to the continuous stream of formal input and which was valuable in terms of providing a complete account of each student’s experiences. On their entry into year one of secondary school, the study group (91 students aged 12-13) began a series of tests, surveys and assessments that would continue for the three years of their junior cycle experience. Ten variable categories were studied and numerous data collection techniques were employed: –  Ability and intelligence tests were administered to all students; –  Daily reports were compiled in the areas of behaviour, attendance and punctuality; –  Six-weekly continuous assessment reports were presented by individual teachers; –  Twice years surveys on esteem, attribution and socialisation were organised; –  Annual assessments of involvement in extra-curricular activities and involvement in bullying were completed; and –  The normal school records (eg: academic results at Christmas and summer of each year) were also made available for the purposes of the study. Each of these tests, surveys and assessments was administered directly by the researcher, who was working as a teacher in the school for the duration of the project. The information gathered was added to a selection of computerised data files at the end of every day and a summary of the results in each category was produced at the middle and end of each academic year. These results were collated over a three year period and were cross-referenced and correlated in an attempt to identify trends and patterns in the data.

Bullying is a widespread problem in schools and a vast amount of research has been conducted on the subject. In order to examine how members of the school community perceive bullying, self-report questionnaires were devised for completion by secondary school pupils from two year groups, teachers and support staff. The scenario-based questionnaires compared their views on defining bullying, the perceived seriousness of different behaviours and the bullying perceived to occur in the school. The questionnaires indicated that perceptions of bullying were mediated by the age, gender and group (pupil, teacher and support staff) of participants. Indirect behaviours (such as social exclusion) were less likely to be defined as bullying and were perceived as less serious than direct behaviours. Where the victim portrayed in the questionnaire was female, perceptions of seriousness for the incidents described were higher than for male victims. Staff rated direct and indirect behaviours more seriously than did pupils. Differences between schools indicated that perceptions were not fixed and there was potential for change. Open-ended comments made on the questionnaires revealed further complexity in perceptions of bullying and illustrated the benefits of utilising qualitative techniques to study bullying. Therefore, an additional study was conducted whereby a sample of teachers and support staff from participating schools were interviewed, using a semistructured approach, about their experiences of bullying. Results were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 2003) and findings suggested the need to consider bullying in a wider context, focusing on schools as organisations with external and internal influences affecting their functioning. The research highlighted the importance of schools working together to focus on what is understood by the term bullying. Interventions need to recognise the complexity of bullying and not treat it in isolation. Practical issues for studying bullying in schools and the potential benefits of combining quantitative and qualitative research are discussed.