Geographers of small things: a study of the production of space in children's social work

This study explores children's social workers' experiences of and practices in space. It is based on ethnographic research with social workers in two sites and examines data from observations, interviews with social workers, photographs and other images of the spaces in which social workers practised. The study draws on the work of Henri Lefebvre, concerned with how space is produced through spatial practices, conceptions of space and moments of lived space, which occur beyond these conventions and escape complete articulation. The study uses this analytical frame in order to explore how social workers produce certain kinds of spaces as significant in their practice. It identifies a small number of affect-heavy spaces which hold great importance for children's social work: social work offices, children's and practitioners' bodies, families' homes as they are experienced by practitioners during home visits, the wider neighbourhoods which social workers associate with service users. In particular, it identifies social workers' attention to small things and micro-scales in their practice. This enables social workers to present their work as sensitive to that which is imperceptible to others but also leads to a restricted focus and limited engagement with the social and political contexts of service users' lives

Securing the Everyday City: The Emerging Geographies of Counter-Terrorism

This thesis investigates the presence of counter-terrorist security within the everyday life of cities. It emerges from, and contributes to, ongoing debates concerning the place of security in contemporary urbanism, and discussions regarding the increased saturation of urban spaces with a diverse range of security interventions. Drawing on this work, this thesis argues that in order to better understand the urban geographies of security, instead of exclusively conceiving security as only imposed on urban spaces, we must ask how processes of securing cities are ʻlivedʼ. In doing so this study responds to the lack of attention to the complex relations between processes of security and lived everyday urban life. This thesis explores the neglected everyday life of security through a case study of an emerging form of counter-terrorist security apparatus within cities in the UK, examining the broadening of the National Security Strategy of the United Kingdom and the continuing development of CONTEST, the United Kingdomʼs counter-terrorist strategy. Taking London as a named example, the study concentrates on the security interventions of two research sites, the Southbank and Bankside area of the South Bank, and the Victoria Line of the London Underground, to examine how security addresses the everyday life of the city and how such practices are experienced as part of lived everyday urban life. In sum, this thesis focuses, first, on the processes through which the everyday city is secured and, second, it draws attention to and describes how those processes of securing are encountered and enacted, as they become part of the everyday life of cities

Exploring the Lived Experience of Immigration Reporting

Background: Minority ethnic groups are often portrayed as threats to national identity, stemming from colonial forms of racism. The use of Immigration Removal Centres and immigration reporting (also termed ‘signing’) are common means of surveillance for irregular migrants in the UK. As part of the UK’s security systems, asylum seekers, foreign national offenders and undocumented migrants are often required to ‘sign’ at police stations or reporting centres managed by the UK Visas and Immigration Agency (a branch of the Home Office). ‘Signing’ is consistent with the criminalisation of people considered to be ‘abusing’ the immigration system. There are a total of 14 reporting centres in the UK, three of which are within police stations. Increasingly, Counselling Psychologists, and allied professions, have seen a call to address social inequalities within society and this study aims to consider how wider social contexts impact wellbeing for this population. Aims: To explore the lived experience of individuals required to report to the Home Office (HO) in the UK. Methodology: The study involved interviewing individuals with experience of reporting (3 identifying as male and 3 female). Of the six interviewed, 5 had direct experience of reporting (i.e., received orders from the HO). One participant, though not having experienced reporting herself, shared her experiences of supporting her husband when doing so. Interviews were analysed using Max van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenology (1997). A relativist ontology and constructivist epistemological stance were adopted. Findings: Power is exerted over the lives of undocumented migrants constantly. Four themes were identified, (1) The racialisation of undocumented bodies, (2) The undocumented: A life suspended in time, (3) The Home Office: As predator to prey and (4) The undocumented: Taking power back. Conclusions: It is important as CoPs to not replicate unequal power relations and adopt a social justice and leadership stance, aiming to influence ‘signing’ policy

Mediation in a conflict society: an ethnographic view on mediation processes in Israel

This thesis addresses the question: how do individuals in a conflict society engage in peaceful dispute resolution through mediation? It provides a close look at Israeli society, in which people face daily conflicts. These include confrontations on many levels: the national, such as wars and terror attacks; the social, such as ethnic, religious and economic tensions; and the personal level, whereby the number of lawyers and legal claims per capita are among the highest in the world. The magnitude, pervasiveness, and often existential nature of these conflicts have led sociologists to label Israel a ‘conflict society’.   Mediation practice came into this society and challenged the existing ethos and norms by proposing a discourse of dialogue and cooperation. The thesis focuses on the meeting point that mediation engenders between narratives of conflict, which have developed in this environment, and the mediation processes, which set out to achieve a collaborative discourse and mutual recognition.   The fieldwork, forming the core of the thesis, consists of the observation of supervised mediation processes of civil disputes in two leading mediation centres, and interviews with professionals and key figures in the discipline. The wide variety of voices of a broad range of interviewees and many different parties provide for rich, qualitative data.   The use of the narrative‐ethnographic approach in observing mediation processes helps identify key themes in participantsʹ  narratives. The subsequent analysis leads to the insight that these mediation processes reflect, in a subtle way, the narratives, beliefs and needs of individuals in a conflict society. The findings from this study indicate that perceptions of life in a conflict society are clearly manifested through mediation processes. These place obstacles and inhibit the attainment of agreements. Yet, surprisingly, some of the findings also demonstrate an aversion to conflict and a well‐expressed desire to maintain communication and to achieve peaceful resolution