abstract: This study is based on 31 interviews conducted in 2012 with male, female, and transgender sex workers at the St. James Infirmary, a full-spectrum health clinic run by sex workers for sex workers, located in San Francisco, California. My primary goals were, first, to document the lived realities of a diverse range of sex workers who live and work in the San Francisco Bay Area, and, second, to understand the impact of sex work discourse on the facilitation of stigma toward the sex work community and, finally, how that stigma influences the sex worker group identity and individual identity constructions. My primary findings indicate that although sex work discourse has traditionally been constructed within the dominant public sphere and not by sex workers themselves, this discourse has a profound effect on creating and perpetuating the stigma associated with sex work. In turn, this stigma affects both how the group and how individuals construct their identities, often negatively. Alternatively, a benefit of stigma is that it can induce the production of counterpublics which facilitate the emergence of new discourse. However, for this new discourse to gain acceptance into the public sphere, activist organizations must utilize traditional (and sometimes unintentionally marginalizing) strategies that can impact both the identity construction of the group and of individuals within the group. Understanding these complex relationships is therefore essential to understanding how activist organizations, such as the St. James Infirmary, situate themselves within the larger dominant public sphere, their impact on sex work discourse, and their impact on individual sex worker identity construction. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. English 2013

This study explores how student participation in the development of a school computer-network (SCN) motivated students to learn and promoted service and collegial relationships in the school. Students participated in a Technology Leadership (TL) community and engaged in activities that were central to the development of the SCN. The research examines the co-evolution of the SCN and student activities and the relationships between TL students and the school. In the study, data on students' experiences in the TL program came from non-participant observation, conversations, semi-structured interviews and document analyses. Using a sociocultural perspective of identity construction and informed by Lave and Wenger's notion of participation in a community-of-practice, with actor-network approaches, the analysis of the data showed that student level of engagement increased when the activities were relevant to their in-school and out-of-school technology experiences, or to their future career goals. Program participants provided technical support to the SCN and taught what teachers and students wanted to learn at a time when they needed to know it. In so doing, these leadership students moved towards greater technical expertise, improved interpersonal skills and increased leadership responsibilities as demonstrated by the availability of improved technical support services in the SCN. As newcomers to the TL community gradually advanced to full participation and old-timers became computer consultants to the school before they eventually graduated, the TL community was subjected to a continual process of renewal in terms of participants. With progressive student participation and with translations of diverse technology actors, the services the SCN provided to the school improved. Over time, the SCN's technical character changed and the relationships of service and collegiality between TL students and the school were enhanced. Thus, both participants and the school realized educational value. The implication for curriculum and pedagogy of discipline-based courses is that if students are to be attracted to school initiatives and retained, the curriculum and its delivery need to increase opportunities for students' changed relationships with the school community to take place, and for student participation in a relevant community-of-practice that is responsive to students' future aspirations. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

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Child sexual abuse (CSA) is prevalent in South Africa and, along with the stigma often endured following the abuse, can have lasting effects on sense of self. There have been few studies into how survivors of CSA construct identity or, specifically, how music therapy may afford such construction. Using a multiple case study design, this research investigated how three adolescent survivors of CSA, who took part in individual music therapy processes, constructed their identities through the techniques afforded them in sessions. All three participants had experienced multiple trauma, most notably abandonment/orphanhood, and this appeared to impact on their exploration of identity in sessions. Findings showed that the main affordances of music therapy for participants were the mastery experienced in relation to certain techniques (which appeared to support confidence and further exploration), and the use of symbolism (promoting the exploration of difficult experiences, as well as affording participants experimentation with preferred identities). / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Music / MMus / Unrestricted

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The world is moving at an increasingly rapid pace due to widening globalization. As a result of the technological development that has accelerated over the past decades, today, people are not only offered the opportunity to travel faster over geographical distances but also experience and achieve more per unit of time. This may cause negative consequences for humans and the environment, for example stress-related illnesses and an increased speed of climate change. The global slow movement has emerged as a response to this. Primarily, the movement advocates for valuing time higher than money, in order to slow down the speed of life. This thesis aims to investigate how members of the slow movement perceive the process of adopting a slow lifestyle within a fast-paced society. The aim is further to examine how identity can be constructed through slow principles. The study is based on interviews with seven individuals in Sweden, who all have made certain lifestyle changes in order to slow down. The result indicates that there are different motives behind the informants’ decision to adopt a slower lifestyle. These include environmental related reasons, health related reasons, and a common desire for increased self-determination in terms of being able to control one's own time. Furthermore, the result shows that the informants have slightly different experiences of the adopting process in terms of handling practical aspects as well as dealing with potential challenges such as financial uncertainty and lack of comprehension from the surroundings. In addition, the study illustrates that the informants perceive a connection between their lifestyles and a sense of identity. This is expressed by the informants’ ambition to change the surroundings, the way in which they manifest slow principles to others, and how they have experienced inner changes in relation to the slow living lifestyle.

This study examines Asian American identity construction in drama exercised by Asian American theatre companies on the mainland from the 1970s to the present. I use the term “wave” for the classification of the plays to illuminate artistic movements. The plays are classified into four waves: the first wave in the 1970s, the second wave in the 1980s, the third wave in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the fourth wave since the 2000s. The characters’ self-identification in these plays varies over time in response to historical, socio-political, economic, and cultural circumstances. Through chronological exploration, this dissertation articulates that Asian American self-identification and representation have developed from a rigid identity pursuing a single, coherent identity to a fluid identity beyond the binary frame by embracing other contingent and salient factors of identity. In addition, my dissertation illuminates that more dramatists use non-realist styles, especially in the third and the fourth waves, to reflect the American perception of anti-Asian racism and Asian American internalized racism. The illustration of Asian American dynamics that strive to form and evolve their identities challenges racial discourses and myths, opposing stereotypes.

This manuscript will explore the intersection of perceived disability due to limb loss and self-identity. The research is centered around the work in the Limbitless Solutions laboratory, where clinical research is providing children with customized prostheses. This research applies a focus on how customization can lead to positive identity construction. By facilitating active engagement in the design process a stronger connection is formed between the participant and their prosthetic device.

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