How do young people in Estonia experience the political, politics and citizenship? How are these civic experiences connected to young peoples’ experiences with the media? Anne Kaun’s thesis Civic Experiences and Public Connection presents a theoretical and empirical investigation of how civic experiences, particularly public connection, emerge in the context of contemporary Estonia. Employing open-ended online diaries and in-depth interviews, she aims to develop an in-depth understanding of how young people experience democracy today, and how they express themselves as citizens; expression not only through the physical performance of citizenship, but also through orientation, interest in, and reflection about issues that are of common concern or should be seen as such. The empirical investigation of public connection as critical media connection, playful public connection and historical public connection, is based on narrative analysis and embedded in a theoretical exploration of key concepts in the context of civic culture studies, namely the political, politics and citizenship. Combining Chantal Mouffe’s conflict theory with Paul Ricoeur’s narrative identity, Kaun aims to shed light on contemporary democracy from the citizens’ perspective. The author proposes a holistic approach to both civic experiences and the role that media might play in relation to them. Following a non-media- centric approach, she shows that media, despite their ubiquity, are an important but not exclusive source of the civic experiences of young adults in Estonia.

Background: Gender Variance (GV) is an experience that the gender assigned at birth is different to one’s preferred gender identity. It includes the possibility of a preferred gender identity being different to either male or female. It is reported that around 4000 people per year access care from the NHS in relation to GV (Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES), 2009) and both the physical and psychological elements of these experiences is well documented. However, little research specifically explores how Gender Variant (GVt) people make sense of their experiences and construct meaningful expression of their preferred identity. The aim of this study is to further the understanding of GV with a view to considering the implications for service provision to this population. Methodology: The study employed a qualitative method that explored the narratives of the participants. A purposive sample of seven participants self identified as GVt was recruited for a single interview. The interviews used a topic guide to elicit the narratives that these people tell about their experiences. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed using a narrative approach to explore what the participants said and the way they said it. This was then situated within the local and broader social contexts within which the narratives exist. Analysis and findings: The findings are presented through a global impression of each of the individual narratives and then through discussion of the similarities and differences in relation to the collective storylines. Particular attention is paid to the identity construction and the emotional experiences that take place during the interviews. These two elements are told within and through each of the storylines. The local and wider narratives available to the participants are used to contextualise the analysis and findings, and so are reported within the analysis. The analysis offers the following findings: i) their first experiences of understanding GV was important, leading them to find others who felt the same to gain a sense of hope of a normal life ii) sharing their experiences with others was an anxiety provoking time and was part of a decision making process about treatment and establishing an acceptable gender expression iii) relationships with family, friends, peers and members of their social context influence sense making and identity constructions of GVt people and typify the challenges faced within their GVt experiences. Some of these challenges were reported as ongoing and illustrated throughout the stories of the day to day lives of the participants iv) for these participants distressing emotional challenges were often situated in the past and participants spoke of ‘overcoming’ challenges. This offered a counter to the more dominant isolation and loneliness narratives within the literature on GVt experiences The findings of the study are discussed in relation to its clinical implications, the strengths and limitations of the methodology, and directions for future research.

The lived experiences of the family of a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) survivor is an under represented, yet growing field of qualitative psychological research. This thesis used a case study approach with a family in which one member sustained TBI thirteen years previously. Using conversational unstructured interview techniques, I participated with the family in eliciting public narratives around their experiences since the accident. These public stories were also thickened by individual interviews, which both supported and contradicted the public narratives. In the analysis I found two major narrative lines, the first of which was the baby-narrative which held that the injured person must not be injured any further in word or deed and must be protected at all time. The second dominant narrative was the fighting-narrative, which was characterised by language and actions around fighting/battling on behalf of the injured person against uncaring ‘others’. Several important suppressed or counter narratives emerged during the individual interviews, which could not be spoken about publically. I conclude that the power of the two dominant narratives is fuelled by constant rehearsal and enactment, which actually freezes the family and does not allow it to move forward. Suppressed stories are discussed as a possible avenue for therapeutic growth and for the evolution of the family story as they age.

Keeping forestland intact has emerged as a critical policy objective at state and federal levels. This target has been supported by substantial public investment. The collective impact from the bequest decisions of millions of landowning individuals and families has the potential to affect the extent and functionality of future forests in the United States. Despite a growing body of research devoted to studying these transitions in forest ownership, much remains unknown about how family forest owners make decisions in this arena. The social and emotional dimensions of woodland succession planning have been particularly under-examined. This thesis explores the process of planning for the future use and ownership of woodlands through in-depth analysis of 32 semi-structured interviews with family forest owners in Massachusetts, Maine, New York, and Vermont. The first article investigates how family forest owners evaluate and integrate stories derived from their social networks when planning for the future of their woodlands. Analysis of the themes contained in stories framed as “cautionary tales” revealed common fears surrounding succession planning. The second article explores the complexity of emotional relationships with family forests showing how emotional geographies manifest in the succession planning process. Together, these studies deepen understanding of how family forest owners plan for the future of private woodlands and offer implications for Extension and outreach.

The foundation of culturally sensitive patient-centered palliative care is formed from one's social, spiritual, psychological, and physical experiences of serious illness. The purpose of this study was to describe categories and patterns of psychological, social, and spiritual healing from the perspectives of aging seriously ill African American (AA) elders. Using narrative analysis methodology, 13 open-ended interviews were collected. Three main patterns were prior experiences, I changed, and across past, present experiences and future expectations. Themes were categorized within each pattern: been through it . . . made me strong, I thought about . . . others, went down little hills . . . got me down, I grew stronger, changed priorities, do things I never would have done, quit doing, God did and will take care of me, close-knit relationships, and life is better. Faith in God helped the aging seriously ill AA elders overcome things, whether their current illness or other life difficulties.

The aim of this dissertation is to explore and understand three important social contexts for the becoming of an artistic subjectivity: education, work and family life. The empirical data consist of interview material with alumni from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, staff of the institute, and a survey material from the Swedish National Artists Organization (KRO/KIF). Generally, the thesis employs a theory of conflicting understandings of labour as well as the importance of discourses and narratives for the formation of subjects. The contribution of the thesis is the analysis of a continuing conflict between being and working as an artist actualized in the social contexts explored. The arts education encouraged a romanticized understanding of art as unrelated to market value, which clashed against societal norms of career progression, survival and supporting a family. This conflict informed the subjective way in which the respondents related to their activities as artists, workers and relatives. The concept of freedom can be understood as mediating this conflict in the sense of forming the basis of attraction to the arts but also a burden as it relates to insecurity. The analysis found several subjective representations of the artist that indicate strong norms of individuality and self-direction, understood as the outcome of a working life fraught with personal responsibility for coping with insecurity. As such, the thesis is part of ongoing research on changes in working life towards non-standard and sometimes precarious working conditions. / Syftet med avhandlingen är att undersöka och förstå tre betydelsefulla sociala kontexter för konstruktionen av en konstnärlig identitet: utbildning, arbete och familj. Avhandlingens material består av intervjuer med alumner från Kungl. Konsthögskolan i Stockholm, undervisande personal på skolan, samt ett enkätmaterial från Konstnärernas riksorganisation KRO/KIF. Teoretiskt utgår avhandlingen från olika forskningsperspektiv på arbete samt diskursiv och narrativ konstruktion av subjektivitet. Avhandlingen påvisar en kontinuerlig konflikt mellan att vara eller att arbeta som konstnär. Den konstnärliga utbildningen positionerar konsten enligt romantisk tradition i motsättning till marknadslogik vilket efter utbildningen skapar en konflikt för konstnären som måste förhålla sig till normer av karriär, överlevnad av arbete och försörjning av familj. Denna konflikt påverkar hur konstnärerna subjektivt förhåller sig till sin konstnärliga aktivitet, totaliteten av sitt arbete och sin roll som anhöriga. Frihetsbegreppet kan förstås relatera till denna konflikt dels genom att utgöra en attraktion till konsten, dels genom att relatera till osäkerhet. I analysen framträdde flera konstnärliga subjektspositioner vilka alla indikerar starka normer av individualism och självtillräcklighet. Dessa kan relateras till ett arbetsliv karaktäriserat av eget ansvar för att hantera osäkerhet. Avhandlingen är därför del i en pågående forskning kring ett arbetsliv i förändring mot atypiska och även mer prekära arbetsförhållanden.

A growing body of research has emphasized the prevalent mental health problems faced by the fastest-growing demographic segment of Canada’s population, older adults, in addition to their particularly low rates of mental health service use. Research has also begun to demonstrate that although older adults express a desire to be involved in their health care decision-making, they are often not given sufficient information to participate in this process. In light of low rates of service use and generally poor mental health literacy, defined as knowledge and beliefs about the recognition, prevention, and management of mental health problems, several researchers posit that older adults experience a gap in the knowledge translation of mental health information. The present research explores older adults’ pathways to mental health information and treatment. In Study 1, individual interviews were conducted with older adults who came to seek psychological treatment for mental health problems (n = 15), and analyzed according to narrative analysis. The main storylines across participants’ narratives of treatment seeking included resistance to being labeled with mental health problems, muddling through the treatment seeking process, and interpretations of psychological treatment. Findings are discussed within the context of increasing efforts to enhance clarity in the complex process of seeking treatment for mental health problems. In Study 2, older adults’ mental health information preferences and predictors of information preferences were examined in a sample of community-dwelling older adults (n = 229). Results demonstrated that despite being unfamiliar with mental health treatment options, older adults reported a strong interest in receiving detailed information concerning a variety of mental health treatment options. Family, friends, and health care providers were highly rated informational sources; and written formats and discussions with health care providers were highly rated informational formats. The most consistent predictors of mental health information preferences included attitudes toward seeking psychological treatment and social support. Findings are contextualized within the importance of increasing the mental health literacy of older adults through knowledge translation efforts. Overall, findings of this research provide clear directions for decreasing the gap in mental health knowledge translation among older adults. / October 2016

This thesis examined to what extent a particular class of highly mobile professionals has internalized the contemporary discourse of corporate global nomadism, proposed by the researcher as an example of the kind of corporate discourses that are emerging to encompass the ideology of neoliberalism and which are inscribed in a particular genre of popular managerial and globalization literature through prescription of ideal attitudes and forms of behaviour. The researcher selected a representative sample of corporate texts that comprises books by management gurus and popular writers on globalization and corporate websites by consultancy firms, and collected personal narratives or life stories from a sample of professionals who in the pursuit of work have relocated internationally more than once. These texts were cross-analysed to identify how the discourse of corporate global nomadism is manifested, whether in similar or contradictory ways. This analysis combined the methodological framework of critical discourse analysis with narrative analysis, with a particular emphasis on deconstruction and intertextuality. A characteristic feature of this study is the use of online communication technologies to encompass research participants who are geographically dispersed. The principal original contribution to knowledge of this dissertation is the relationship made between the contemporary discourse of corporate global nomadism and the ideology of neoliberalism. The methodologies and methods used in the elaboration of this research are also important contributions. The most prominent finding of this study is that the attitudes of the research participants towards their own mobility are contradictory as their self-representation from the standpoints of the context of work and the private sphere are discursively confronted. This dissonance in the narratives represents struggles in the life of the research participants as they attempt to meet corporate demands for continuous global mobility. The findings of this study show that despite the persuasive power of certain corporate discourses they are not passively assumed by individuals, meaning that the hegemony of neoliberal capitalism as a dominant ideology underlying modern organizations is not absolute, because individuals consciously or subconsciously resist and challenge the messages it conveys.

Successful aging: coping strategies Abstract The goal of the present work is to explore strategies used by seniors in order to achieve the successful aging. Theoretical and methodological bases are formed by the hermeneutic-narrative approach. The empirical material consists of five narratives collected using the method of narrative interview. For narrative analysis of the interview there are two different interpretive perspectives used: Imagoes and Coping strategies. The work follows the concept of "The ninth stage of human development", whose authors are J. M. Erikson and E. H. Erikson, and focuses on the topic of how to be successful in the ninth stage. Keywords: successful aging, coping strategies, narrative analysis

The aim of this study is to examineindividuals talk about their experience of being exposed to hate crimes, how their exposure has influenced their everyday lives, how the individuals experience the policeinteraction, what affects the choice to report or not, but also to see if there is any difference between theexposure for females and males. Themain results that individuals feel because of the exposure, are a great concern and a limitation on everyday life. Individuals experience a positive first impression of the police, which turns to negativity when the investigation is not completed. This is often given as reason not to file a report. A view also develops that shows that females are both more concerned and exposed. One of the most important conclusionsare that social constructs in society have an impact on how the surrounding society, and the victim in person view their exposure. / Syftet är att studeraindividers berättelser om sina upplevelser av att utsättas för hatbrott. Hur utsattheten påverkat individer i deras vardag, hur individerna upplever bemötandet av polisen, vad som har betydelse för om man väljer att inte anmäla en händelse men också om man upplever skillnader mellan kvinnor och mäns utsatthet. Huvudresultaten visar att individer till följd av utsattheten känner en stark oro samt begränsning i vardagen. Individer upplever ofta första intrycket med polisen positivt vilket förändras till negativt då utredningen inte fullföljs. Detta anges ofta som förklaring till varför man inte anmäler. Framkommer gör också uppfattningen om att kvinnor både är mer rädda och utsatta. En av de viktigaste slutsatser som gjorts är att sociala konstruktioner i samhället har betydelse för hur omgivningen och offret själv ser på sin utsatthet