https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/185 2026-10-23T05:00:59Z 2026-10-23T05:00:59Z Moscalu RD, Joanne https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/34054 2026-10-21T09:41:28Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: A foucauldian analysis of the lived experience of binge eating disorder in Ireland and reimagining the role of the registered dietitian Authors: Moscalu RD, Joanne Abstract: Introduction: Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is regarded as one of the most common yet poorly understood eating disorders (ED), referred to as the “slum of all eating disorders” (Riise et al., 2025 p. 1). This is true in Ireland, where only 10 diagnoses were made in 2024 in the public National Clinical Program for Eating Disorders (NCPED). This raises important questions about gaps in its understanding among health care professionals, the public and the individual themselves. Binge Eating Disorder is a bio-psycho-social disorder and yet little is known about the social facets that contribute to the development and maintenance in Ireland. Registered Dietitians (RDs) are legally regulated health professionals specifically trained to assess and treat nutrition-related conditions. However, publicly accessible treatments for BED tend to focus primarily on psychological interventions and RDs are typically not involved in the care of BED. Aims: This study aims to explore the sociocultural factors that influence the lived experience of individuals with undiagnosed BED in Ireland. This thesis is rooted in a Foucauldian and feminist theoretical framework to critically examine how power influences the understanding and interpretation of BED. This study will conclude by drawing on insights from the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) to provide practice-based recommendations to advance dietetic care for individuals living with BED. Methods: These aims were addressed through a feminist ethics of care situated within a constructivist paradigm. Qualitative data were generated via in-depth interviews with 11 women who met the diagnostic criteria for BED (American Psychiatric Association, 2022) but hadn’t sought or received a diagnosis. I completed a reflexive thematic analysis of the data and crafted 4 central themes rooted in Foucauldian and Feminist theory. Results: The final themes (and their related subthemes) were: 1. Problematisation through medicalisation (diagnostic criteria of BED, Body Mass Index, agents of medicalisation & problematisation: RDs, mental health professionals & doctors); 2. Problematisation through mothers and families 3. Surveillance as a technology of problematisation through the Panopticon (Direct criticism and comments; anticipation of judgement; objects and apps) and the Synopticon (radio; community; social media; the Synopticon as a place of resistance) 4. Crafting the ethical self through micro resistance and ambivalence. Discussion: I situated my study within the current landscape of Foucauldian and feminist theories of EDs. As this Doctor of Education thesis is geared towards advancing practice for RDs, I concluded by introducing the concept: ‘From Dietitian- Judge to agent of resistance – reimagining Dietetics with the PTMF’, in which I reconceptualise dietetic practice through new practice-based guidelines for conceptualising BED. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Education and was awarded by Brunel University London

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z van Waes, Jurgen Laurentius Johannes https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33778 2026-08-29T02:00:47Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Good senior secondary vocational education: Educators’ experiences with subjectification and imagination’s heartwork at a Dutch college Authors: van Waes, Jurgen Laurentius Johannes Abstract: This study investigates how educators in Dutch senior secondary vocational education (SSVE) experience, conceptualise, enact ‘good education’. It addresses a gap in the existing research by offering the first application of Hogan’s ‘imagination’s heartwork’ to the Dutch SSVE context. Combining the lenses of ‘imagination’s heartwork’ with Biesta’s domains of purpose of education, this study builds a bridge between the analytical and the continental European tradition of education research. The use of art in its various forms further adds to the new approach to research into Dutch SSVE. Employing hermeneutic phenomenology, chosen for its strength in illuminating educators’ embedded values and prejudices, the research draws on a survey of 30 SSVE educators and in-depth conversations with 12 participants. Analysis of the survey yielded six core themes, including education as fun and teacher involvement with their students. The fictionalised narratives resulting from the conversations show a myriad of perceptions about SSVE, such as ‘SSVE as the strong foundation of the country’ and ‘the headmaster as an archetype for good education’. Contrary to the prevailing education measurement focus, this study advances hermeneutic phenomenology as a rigorous methodology for vocational education studies. This study raises the question whether SSVE in its present form is actual education, and answers questions about the ways educators create opportunities for subjectification, in addition to Biesta’s other domains. It proposes Dutch vocational colleges to position themselves as hospitable, educational sanctuaries. It underlines the flaws in the Dutch education system and policy and in doing so identifies a gap in SSVE research. Eventually, this thesis makes a strong case for Hogan’s ‘imagination’s heartwork’ and Biesta’s domains of purpose of education as guiding principles in Dutch SSVE and provide actionable insights for policymakers, administrators and educators committed to the emancipation of its students in a 21st century democratic Dutch society. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Education and was awarded by Brunel University London

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Issapour, Tooran https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33556 2026-07-03T02:00:23Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: An exploration into the acculturation experiences of female Iranians after their migration to Britain following the 1979 Iranian revolution Authors: Issapour, Tooran Abstract: The Iranian Revolution of 1979 caused great changes in the status of women in Iran. Many of these changes, together with the war with Iraq, resulted in life being intolerable for many women, especially those who were highly educated, to such an extent that they and their families had no option but to leave the country and restart their lives elsewhere. This study is concerned with the experiences of 17 such women who started new lives in Britain in the 1980s and 90s, how they dealt with any lack of ability to communicate in English, how they continued their careers or started new ones, and how they coped with the effects of substantial differences in the cultural values of their previous lives in Iran and in their new country. Using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, a large amount of data has been elicited from the participants. Analysis of this data has resulted in the following main findings. All of the women showed great strength of character, giving them determination to forge new successful lives. They all realised that learning the host language was a fundamental necessity in helping with their acculturation. Additionally, they encountered problems with the different sociocultural values of Iran and Britain. For example, living within a host society more liberal and less patriarchal than that of their home country was a factor that badly affected seven of their marriages. Moreover, homesickness and even bereavement as a result of leaving their home country was strongly felt by most of the participants. The main recommendations arising from this study are that the teaching of English to immigrants should be prioritised by the UK government and implemented competently with sufficient funding, that immigrants who have experienced trauma should be offered help and that the UN and host governments should make it clear to the Iranian ruling regime that their treatment of women, even at the current time, is inexcusable and foreign policy should be focussed upon making this clear to the authorities in Iran. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Dale-Emberton, Ann https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33510 2026-07-10T15:04:07Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Continuing Professional Development for Social Workers: Social Worker or Organisation Led? Whose Choice? Authors: Dale-Emberton, Ann Abstract: The thesis investigates social workers’ perspectives on Continuing Professional Development (CPD), focusing on how decisions about CPD are made, who makes them and the facilitators and constraints that govern these choices. The study acknowledges the regulatory requirement since 2021 for social workers in England to document and record two CPD activities annually to maintain their registration to practice. The study conducted primary qualitative research with twenty-one social work practitioners in England at various stages in their careers. The research data were collected in 2021/22 during COVID 19 Pandemic, with the shift to a virtual “socially distanced” approach displacing face-to-face interaction in fieldwork for the study as well as for practitioners to access CPD opportunities. Fieldwork was carried out using semi-structured narrative interviews that captured the voices and lived experiences of participants. Reflexive thematic analysis of data (Braun and Clarke, 2020) highlights an array of opportunities, challenges, and realities social workers’ encounter in their practice with service users, alongside juggling work/life balance to meet their CPD requirements. The study is underpinned by a theoretical framework that interrogates contemporary social work practice from a range of critical perspectives drawing on the sociological imagination (Mills, 1959), emancipatory pedagogies (Freire,1970), having and being as modes of existence (Fromm, 1976) and technologies of power including surveillance, bureaucracy, governmentality, and the production of docile bodies (Foucault, 1977). The voices of the participants and findings make a unique contribution to the debate on social work practice, a profession in perma-crisis, whose role, value, and survival is being brought into question (Maylea, 2021). The study illustrates that although social workers were keen to take advantage of CPD opportunities, especially in therapeutic and specialist interventionist roles, organisations lacked structure, focus and finance to facilitate career development. In this context personal initiative and motivation were key factors in making the most of CPD. The study identifies organisational problems such as lack of dedicated study time, heavy caseloads for social workers to manage, organisational and political pressures that restrict access to CPD. Social workers’ sense a lack of control and choice over CPD reflects top-down organisationally led approaches. The study calls for more effective responses to make a reality of the aspirations of social work practitioners, many of whom are highly motivated to do better in meeting the needs of service users and more effectively building trust and confidence in the profession, thus working towards fulfilling the commitment to social justice. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z