Programme full

Thursday 16 April 2015 11:00 - 12:30
PAPER SESSION 4
This paper sets out to develop an exploratory sociological analysis of the phenomenon of payday lending. Exemplified
today by online providers like Wonga.com and QuickQuid.com, payday lenders are private lenders who market small,
short-term personal loans to consumers. As the industry has developed, it has attracted significant opprobrium from
politicians, commentators and state authorities and regulators due to the relatively high interest rates incurred with
these loans and the fact that it is relatively disadvantaged consumers – who often have little borrowing alternative –
who are targeted. However, rather than being something new, it will be demonstrated how credit aimed at the poor
has been longstanding object of liberal concern. The paper goes on to outline the ways in which the payday industry
has been stigmatized through a process of 'othering' whereby its clients are ostensibly ensnared, coerced and denied
the capacity for self-determination. It is suggested this authoritative reaction is symptomatic of a wider de-politicization
of poverty and structural inequality.
‘Troubled Families’: Policy Continuity and Discontinuity?
Shannon, M.
(University of Salford)
The discourse around families perceived to have complex needs has developed at a policy level, very much reinforced
by media representations. The notion of the troubled family has recently been generated as a result of Coalition
Government policy-this controversial construction of particular families has been explicitly linked with the involvement
of the welfare state. Within this context, the Governments Troubled Families tsar, Louise Casey has published an
extensive outline of the policy, including the stories of a number of such families derived from interviews. The
participants accounts present a picture of some of the complex and long standing issues they face.
As a part of PhD research, literature was accessed exploring the notion of troubled and complex families. Exploring
these ideas in previous decades shows a continuity in the construction of this idea. This paper seeks to show the
continuity in the ideas about such families who present with complex problems, whilst highlighting the new, more
controversial version of these ideas. The stories of families who are the subject of intensive family intervention in
Casey's report are thus set in the context of this more individualised construction of family behaviour and will arguably
be perceived and interpreted in this new context. This discourse reflects the rebalancing of the family/state
relationship.
Sociology of Education 1
M137, GEORGE MOORE BUILDING
Diversity and Difference within the Leadership of UK Students’ Unions
Brooks, R., Byford, K., Sela, K.
(University of Surrey)
The social composition of higher education institutions has long been a focus of scholarly enquiry. While this body of
work has typically concentrated on the social characteristics of university leaders, as well as students and academic
staff more generally, we know little about the social characteristics of student leaders. This is perhaps surprising given
the increasingly important role such leaders have taken on within the contemporary higher education landscape,
particularly through the work of students' unions. To further our understanding in this area, this paper explores the
social diversity of students' unions and student leaders. It argues that, although there is some variation by social
characteristic, significant inequalities are evident across the sector as a whole. These can be explained with reference
to the wider social context within which students' unions are located; the social composition of higher education
institutions; and the functioning of social networks within individual institutions.
A Rich Man's Game? Finance and Access to the Doctorate
Pasztor, A., Wakeling, P.
(Newcastle University)
UK postgraduate student numbers have grown spectacularly recently: there are now over five times more
postgraduates than in 1990. Despite this expansion, the number of UK students pursuing doctoral research degrees
has remained stubbornly stable. Overall, little is currently understood about access to doctoral study, prompting calls
for further research (McCulloch and Thomas, 2013). A substantial body of research on initial entry to HE identifies
cultural factors as barriers to participation, including higher education is seen as unsuitable for 'someone like me'.
However, financial support is not available for all doctoral students, which may be a disincentive to students from
financially disadvantaged backgrounds, especially given recent changes to undergraduate student finance. Such
BSA Annual Conference 2015 162
Glasgow Caledonian University