BSc (Hons) Public Sociology
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/7265
Browse
16 results
Search Results
Item Spanish & Scottish Catholicism: A comparative study on social and familial cohesion.(2018)This research explored societal and familial connectedness and cohesion amongst Catholics from South-West (Spain) and Edinburgh, Scotland and nearby, based upon ethnographic work in Southern Spain and in-depth qualitative interviews with 6 Spanish and Scottish Catholics. Data was gathered from practising and non-practicing Catholics. The two geographical areas are very different yet are both home to well-established religious identities. Participants were of varying backgrounds, degrees of religious dedication and age. The research aim was a comparative study of a religion in two very different social and cultural contexts, with the primary focus upon Catholicism and its impact upon the family unit and social capital.Item ‘An In-Depth Investigation into the Lived Experience of Older People Living Within a Rural Community in Scotland Today’(2018)This research aims to explore how older people are coping with the trials and eras of living in rural Scottish communities, as well as managing with the growing concern surrounding social exclusion within today’s society. Thus, old age exclusion remains a fundamental challenge for ageing societies, and consequently it has also been claimed that “ageing has become a powerful factor shaping rural areas” and is also having “profound and wide-ranging effects… on the social fabric of rural areas…” (Lowe and Speakman, 2006, p.9). Social exclusion of older people is a complex process that involves not just the lack of resources, rights, goods and services as people age, but also the increased inability to participate in the normal relationships and activities that are available to the majority of people throughout the multiple domains of society today. It is this that affects both the quality of life of older individuals and the equity and cohesion of our ageing society as a whole (Levitas et al., 2007). As ‘social exclusion’ refers to the separation of individuals and groups from mainstream society (Commins 2004; Moffat & Glasgow 2009) this subject area is very relevant to the current rise in today’s ageing population. It is for this reason that this project will aim to focus on the participants’ views on what it means to be an older citizen in a rural community, their lived experiences, and feelings about the added pressures surrounding the rise in age associated social exclusion. This will be an exploratory and descriptive study, which will take into the account the use semi-structured interviews and local data collection. A constructivist, phenomenological standpoint provides an intricate account of participants’ real world narratives of their time and lived experiences about life in a small, and possibly quite socially isolating rural Scottish community. The findings indicate that within today’s society, being an elderly member of a rural area in Scotland does not mean that one is predetermined to a more limiting and socially isolating life. In fact, the main lead in this study revealed that older populations in rural areas could be rising. Increases in aiding technology, better health care and easier forms of social media mean that many elderly citizens find rural life more beneficial and enjoyable. Thus, through viewing this subject area from the rural perspective this study has attempted to provide an alternative outlook on a topic that, up until now, has been overlooked by society.Item A sociological exploration of perceptions and experiences of femininity among self-identifying feminist students in Scotland.(2018)The research is an exploration into the perceptions and experiences of femininity among self-identifying feminist students, in a Scottish context. Existing literature surrounding femininity has provided a descriptive analysis of the ‘norms’ of femininity. Through two focus groups, made up of six self-identifying feminists, this study uncovers the ways in which women perceive and experience femininity, specifically in relation to their feminist identity. In accordance with previous findings, the narratives unveil that femininity, specifically the associated ‘norms’, such as beauty and sexual availability, have influenced the participants’ ability to self-define femininity. However, this research also exposes that women have been able to resist these ‘norms’ and as a result, redefine femininity according to their desires and views. Yet, although previous literature has highlighted that feminism is now being redefined according to individual experiences and desires, the narratives within this research, in accordance with Riley and Scharff’s (2007) study, reveal that participants’ feminist identity and femininity remain a contradiction.Item Poverty within Modernity - the experience of food insecurity in the post-2008 era(2018)In the post 2008 era in Scotland, financial inequalities has increased along with poverty levels. The policy response to the financial recession saw austerity introduced, and withheld, since. The prevalence and need for food banks across the UK has dramatically risen, due to diminished social security and depressed wage-levels. Through phenomenological and qualitative research methods, this study has sought to understand the experience and attitudes held by food bank clientele. By drawing on data from interviews held and view it through an ideological, political, cultural and historical lens, this study finds that social and cultural rationales in the UK are cause for social exclusion and stigmatization. This view has developed along with the spread of affluence among the majority of citizens, and fortified since the era of Thatcherism which altered the way in which poverty is presented through media and individualist political rhetoric. This study explain the prevalence of poverty amidst affluence as a political choice, informed on an unstable, ideological basis.Item A sociological exploration of the potential challenges faced by mature male and female students in community education(2018)This research explores the potential challenges faced by mature men and women in community education, with three women and two men aged over twenty-one years participating. By adoption of a phenomenological approach, this research sought to provide a subjective understanding of participants lived experiences of formative and community education, relative to the social world in which they lived. It further explored the influential nature of these experiences in the potential challenges participants faced when returning to and participating in community education. Using semi-structured interviews and rigorous thematic analysis, four core themes emerged from the data. Incorporating unedited narratives, the influence of conformity to socially constructed gender roles is highlighted by participants as associated with their lack of confidence and fear of academic failure. Additionally, participants associate social class and inequality in access to education as a factors influencing life decisions. For the participants, community education provides new experiences for personal and academic development, however this requires support from educational organizations to navigate an unfamiliar environment.Item A sociological exploration of the recent welfare reform system, Universal Credit implemented in Scotland and its impact, if any, on lone parents in receipt of universal credit in East Lothian.(2018)The aim of this research was to explore the experiences of lone parents, what it is like to be a lone parent, particularly at a time of austerity. More specifically how lone parent participants have found the process of claiming benefits through the new welfare reform system, “Universal Credit”. Lastly, this research focused on what the dominant public opinion is on lone parents and benefit claimants and how this effects lone parents. This qualitative, phenomenological study used semi-structured interviews to gain detailed, rich data form six lone parents experiences. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data collected from the semi-structured interviews. A constructionist approach enabled themes to emerge from the data. Findings from the primary data were then discussed in light of previous research relating to lone parents, particularly with regard to the impact of welfare reform measures.Item AN IN-DEPTH EXPLORATION OF YOUTH RURAL POVERTY AND THE TRANSITION TO THE LABOUR MARKET THROUGH THE PERSPECTIVE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.(Queen Margaret University, 2017)We learn our social roles, identities, behaviours and social expectations through primary and secondary socialisation (Giddens and Sutton 2010). How does a young person who is experiencing the transition from education to the labour market, who lives in an improvised, rural area learn these? There is much sociological research on poverty and social exclusion particularly to young people and youth transitions (Pavis et al 2001, Lindsay 2003, Culliney 2016 and Commins 2004). However, there is very little research relating to young people from rural areas. In particular when young people are faced with the question, 'so what do you want to be when you leave school', as well as financial limitations and rurality; how do these young people feel? When supporting them, do the community development staff understand what the young people go through pertaining to the transition from education to the labour market when living in poverty? In this research, the professional community development team of the Scottish Borders depict how they view the transition stage in life between education and employment, within an impoverished, rural area through photovoice images (Wang and Burris 1997). This dissertation reveals ways in which factors emerging from the relationship between structure and agency may act as hurdles for the young people who are supported in the Scottish Borders.Item How does the Media Affect our Perceptions of Poverty and Welfare?(Queen Margaret University, 2017)This research discusses the affect the media can have on our perceptions of poverty and welfare. Previous literature on this subject suggests that the elite controls the media as to protect their own interests, and that in countries with a large inequality gap like the UK there is a higher chance of more negatively framed stories against welfare and those in poverty. Through an analysis on three Scottish papers, this research aims to discover whether there is a bias in the media perpetuated by placing blame on the individual through demonising language, negative framing and unbalanced arguments. Critical discourse analysis is utilised to analyse the newspapers, allowing more of a detailed insight to be taken away from the research. Results imply that newspapers print stories which tend to correlate with their political views, and that poverty is rarely mentioned apart from when it is used to sensationalise a story. With some sections of society being disconnected from poverty, the media can offer an insight into this world; however, when framed negatively, this is likely to have an influence on how you understand the issue of poverty and thus how you treat these individuals.Item SOCOLOGICAL NARRATIVES OF FORMER SEX WORKERS' EVERYDAY LIVES.(Queen Margaret University, 2017)Negating social space, a phenomenological approach of understanding the social constructs of transition of former sex workers.Item ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION IN A ROMA SETTLEMENT OF STARA LUBOVNA-PODSADEK IN EASTERN SLOVAKIA.(Queen Margaret University, 2017)This research is concerned with community education theorised and practised by Paulo Freire (1970) in disadvantaged communities. It aims to explore how Freire's tenets can be applied to the historically oppressed group of Slovak Roma in order to foster critical consciousness and mobilisation. Specifically, the research focuses on the various environmental injustices that the Slovak Roma face, drawing from the theory of environmental racism of Boullard (1983) and applied in Eastern European context by Filčák & Škobla (2012). During the research, I went to a Roma settlement of Stara Lubovna-Podsadek to attempt to introduce community education to its inhabitants and explore their views of environmental justice. Starting with a method of Photovoice, I later changed my approach to critical ethnography. My research argues that there are environmental justice issues in this settlement and that the inhabitants are well aware of them. I also argue that there is a potential for mobilisation and further development of critical consciousness there because the inhabitants expressed interest in solving the issues they face, and so the research can be taken further to explore the issues in more depth and support mobilisation.