Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, May 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Zugl.: Mainz, Universiẗat, Diss., 2001.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 380-388). Also available on the Internet.

Background: The role of foster carer is a complex and emotionally demanding one. This is particularly true in the presence of difficult behaviour which can, at times, leave the foster carer feeling overwhelmed and increases the risk of placement breaking down. It is therefore important to find ways to support foster carers. The present study sought to explore the lived experience of foster carers caring for children who presented with difficult to manage behaviour, with consideration given to their attachment characteristics. Aim: The primary aim of this study was to generate a grounded theory of foster carers’ experience of caring for a child who presents with difficult to manage behaviour, in order to inform supports. Method: The study adopted a qualitatively driven mixed methods design (QUAL+quan). Grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was used as the primary component. Eight female foster carers, with either past or present experience of caring for a child who they felt presented them with difficult to manage behaviour, were interviewed. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Adult attachment data was gathered to elaborate and enhance the interpretation of the foster carers’ narratives. Foster carer’s attachment characteristics were measured using The Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ: Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994), and the presence of behavioural difficulties were confirmed using the Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC: Tarren-Sweeney, 2007). Results: A core category emerged from the grounded theory analysis (‘Making Sense’) in addition to five main categories (‘Personal Impact’, ‘What Helps’, ‘What Makes it Difficult’, ‘Responding’ and ‘The Relationship’). The overarching theme to emerge from the research was the influence foster carer’s level of reflection and understanding of the behaviour (their mentalizing capacity) had on their experience of the child’s difficult behaviour, which appeared to relate to their attachment characteristics in addition to a number of internal and external factors. Consideration is given to the psychological process that emerged from the categories generated from the foster carers’ narratives, and the consequent proposed ground theory. Conclusions: The findings confirm the complexity of the foster caring role, and suggest the positive impact foster carer’s reflective stance can have on their experience of difficult behaviour in the child they care for. Research strengths and limitations are discussed, in addition to clinical practice and research implications.

Purpose: A diagnosis of cancer can be disabling in many ways. Most notably, cancer treatments are toxic and harmful to the body and threaten a person’s ability to care for themselves. In addition, cancer and its treatments can affect many dimensions of quality of life, including peoples’ abilities to engage in meaningful occupations. However, there are many gaps in the literature surrounding rehabilitation and the ways in which the psychosocial effects of cancer may be addressed by individuals. Empowerment is a concept used to articulate processes of rehabilitation that involves addressing both functional concerns as well as quality of life issues. Yet, empowerment remains a phenomenon not well understood. It is most often defined as a process and outcome of regaining a sense of control and autonomy that is lost due to an illness, but much of the empowerment literature in the context of cancer is written from the perspective of the health care provider. This perspective fails to recognize the processes through which survivors address functional and quality of life concerns leaving a gap in theory and evidence based practice in cancer rehabilitation. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a grounded theory of empowerment to illuminate its associated processes from the perspective of cancer survivors to answer the following questions: 1) In what ways do cancer survivors define, describe and/or experience the processes of empowerment?; 2) How do cancer survivors describe the emergence of empowerment within various contexts and relationships related to their illness; 3) What are the connections and relationships between processes of empowerment and the commonly held assumptions about this phenomenon? Methods: Data collection consisted of 22 semi-structured interviews with cancer survivors (cancer of the head or neck and/or breast). Interviews explored participants’ illness experiences and views of empowerment. I used the social constructivist grounded theory method to analyze and map the processes of empowerment. Summary of Results: Empowerment reflects multiple complex processes. Broadly, empowerment occurred in two dynamic and paradoxical ways. First, empowerment was associated with establishing control over the treatment, management and impact of the illness on participants’ daily lives as a means to circumvent a sense of self that was eroding and changing. Secondly, empowerment was described as processes associated with relinquishing control over aspects of the illness deemed irrepressible and incorporating those aspects into a new identity. Conclusion: These two processes illustrate the paradox embedded within experiences of empowerment. The first process is comparable to current evidence-based practice in cancer rehabilitation that has a dominant focus on symptom control to reduce the impact of the illness on daily life. Gaps are more significant in relation to the empowerment processes associated with relinquishing control. These processes enabled survivors to acknowledge and accept the impact of illness as another way to address functional and quality of life concerns. Thus, my findings suggest that there is a need to design a variety of interventions that help cancer survivors live with and adapt to the effects of illness into daily living.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-12-13Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:59:15Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 joia_sc_me_botfm.pdf: 1798192 bytes, checksum: fb00c5551c14647a53c3017b6de44374 (MD5) / Dados da literatura têm associado o estilo de vida com o aparecimento de patologias crônicas, com o grau de autonomia e o tempo de sobrevivência dos seres humanos. Estudo realizado na cidade de Botucatu - SP em 2003 com pessoas de 60 anos e mais, mostrou que estes constituíam 3 grupos classificados segundo sua definição de qualidade de vida e como viviam a vida, situações coincidentes. O objetivo deste trabalho foi compreender como a vida do idoso, a partir do seu relato, o levou a ter valores, crenças, conceitos e referências morais na velhice e que terminaram por determinar o estilo de vida que levam. Foram realizadas entrevistas domiciliares com idosos participantes do inquérito de 2003 norteadas pela frase “Fale sobre sua vida”. Através de metodologia qualitativa se buscou reproduzir a experiência de vida desses idosos e reconhecer ações que o encorajaram ou não a mudanças durante a vida. Os dados foram analisados segundo a Grounded Theory que possibilitou compreender o conjunto das experiências dos idosos. Foi possível compreender não apenas o movimento da vida desta geração de brasileiros, mas explicar a alocação destes nos três grupos ao mostrar as semelhanças de suas vidas dentro de cada grupo / Data from the literature have associated the lifestyle with the onset of chronic diseases, with the degree of autonomy and the survival time of humans. A study conducted in Botucatu - SP in 2003 with people 60 years and older showed that they constituted three groups classified according to their definition of quality of life and how they lived their lives, coincide situations. The aim of this study was to understand how elderly life, from his account, took him to have values, beliefs, moral concepts and references in old age and that ultimately determine the lifestyle they lead. Home interviews were conducted with individuals participating in the 2003 survey guided by the phrase Tell me about your life. Through qualitative methodology was sought to reproduce the experience of these elderly individuals and to recognize actions that encouraged or not to change throughout life. The data were analyzed according to Grounded Theory enabled us to understand that all the experiences of older people. It was possible to understand not only the movement of life of this generation of Brazilians, but to explain the allocation of these three groups to show the similarities of their lives within each group

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-08-09T16:09:29Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Dissertação - Daniel Fernando Carossi.pdf: 2640822 bytes, checksum: 14199daf21e3a1ff6aa80c00a40a78e8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-09T16:09:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 811 bytes, checksum: e39d27027a6cc9cb039ad269a5db8e34 (MD5) Dissertação - Daniel Fernando Carossi.pdf: 2640822 bytes, checksum: 14199daf21e3a1ff6aa80c00a40a78e8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-12 / O conceito de Dados Abertos foi criado para referir-se a informações publicadas livremente, e, no âmbito governamental, busca fomentar a transparência e a inovação na gestão pública. No ano de 2011, o Brasil assumiu o compromisso de ampliar a transparência pública com a participação na Open Government Partnership (Parceria para Governo Aberto). Esse compromisso tem exigido que as instituições públicas disponibilizem informações de interesse da sociedade na perspectiva de dados abertos. Tendo em vista a importância do tema, dos recentes instrumentos normativos publicados no país regendo o assunto e a necessidade de disponibilizar dados relevantes à sociedade, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo realizar uma investigação em 104 Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior (IFES) em busca dos temas mais demandados pela sociedade, registrados no Sistema Eletrônico do Serviço de Informações ao Cidadão (e-SIC), entre maio de 2012 a abril de 2016. Utilizando-se da metodologia Grounded Theory (Teoria Fundamentada em Dados), a pesquisa identificou categorias e temas associados que indicam um conjunto de dados prioritários sujeitos a comporem os Planos de Dados Abertos (PDAs) das instituições, conforme as legislações em vigor. A identificação desse conjunto de dados pode contribuir para ampliar o rol mínimo de informações disponibilizadas e servir como referência das demandas para a construção de um PDA mais eficiente e eficaz para toda a sociedade. / The concept of Open Data was created to refer to information published freely and, in the governmental sphere, seeks to foster transparency and innovation in public management. In 2011, Brazil undertook to increase public transparency by participating in the Open Government Partnership. This commitment has required public institutions to make available information of interest to society from the perspective of open data. Considering the importance of the topic, the recent normative instruments published in the country governing the subject and the need to make relevant data available, the present study had the objective of conducting research in 104 Federal Institutions of Higher Education (IFES) in search the topics most demanded, registered in the Electronic System of the Citizen Information Service (e-SIC), between May 2012 and April 2016. Using the Grounded Theory methodology, the research identified categories and code associated that indicate a set of data priority subject to the Open Data Plans (PDAs) of the institutions, in accordance with the legislation in force. The identification of this set of data can contribute to broaden the minimum role of information available and serve as a reference of the demands for the construction of a more efficient and effective PDA for the whole society.

Background: Using technology requires nurses to capture, retrieve and organize digital data within virtual environments. Nurses often integrate digital data with other data sources when providing patient care with telehealth technologies and conducting research. Little is understood of how nurses navigate technology and process digital data in professional practice. Purpose: The overall aim of this dissertation was to explore how nurses navigate virtual environments and integrate digital data in professional practice through a grounded theory study of how nurses know the person using telehealth technology. The goals of the dissertation were to: a) Describe how knowing the person occurs with use of telehealth technology; b) Create a theoretical conceptualization of how the nurse comes to know the person in a virtual environment; and, c) Explicate data collection and analytical processes in Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory. Methods Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory (ConGT) was used for the research study. Findings: The process of conducting this study yielded two outcomes: 1. A grounded theory and conceptualization for Getting a Picture, which illuminates an integrated and iterative interplay of seven processes and 21 sub-processes that nurses described when forming a mental image of the person being cared for. Twenty-two registered nurses from five telehealth programs in two different provincial health systems participated. Primary data sources included 22 first interviews and 11 second interviews with the participants, and five observational experiences. 2. The approach for conducting ConGT involved operationalizing a series of five steps in the analytic process to visualize and conceptualize Getting a Picture. These steps included Initial Data Collection, Initial Coding, Focused Coding, Theoretical Coding and Theory Building. Conclusion: Visualization played an instrumental role when technology was used for both knowing the person in a virtual environment and operationalizing the methodological processes for this ConGT research study. Three main themes related to this overall finding in this dissertation were: (a) visualization and conceptualization to create a mental image is evident in both clinical and research domains of nursing practice; (b) interoperability of technology can impact visualization; and (c) competencies are required to support mental imaging and use of technology in visualizing a whole and accurate picture.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The aim of this research was to examine the nature of the western self, using a grounded theory approach. The life narratives of a group of mid-life women were analysed utilising the method outlined by Strauss and Corbin (1990) and the data provided fertile ground for the development of a substantive theory of the self. In the past, midlife was considered a part of old age. Changes in western society have meant that midlife has become a significant life period. An examination of the nature of selfhood in historical periods as well as in Prehistory constituted the literature review. Modern and Postmodern approaches to the self were also examined. For the participants, the self occupied the area between identity and soul. The participants considered the soul to be the core of the individual. Identity was described in terms of gender, physical appearance as well as date and place of birth. Closely allied to the soul is said to be the individual value system. The participants regarded the self as having certain features including cognitive, affective, spiritual and physical components as well as unconscious elements. Moreover, the self is dynamic and has an inherent directorial capacity based particularly on individual thinking and feeling components. The substantive theory of the self suggests that the self constitutes a sense of existence resulting from conscious awareness of inherent personal capacity and awareness of the immediate present, personal past and projected future. The purpose of the self is to promote the survival of the individual. The core of the self is represented by the need to survive and is experienced as a feeling of continuity contained within the personal narrative. Survival is furthered by purposeful activity and the creation and development of meaning structures. The self rests on inter-related physical, cognitive, emotional-affective pillars, and responds to environmental currents. Thus the self is essentially a process and is given the feeling of form through the narrative capacity inherent in the individual. The self is situated in a self-space created by the interrelationship of the physical, cognitive and affective components in relation to the environment. Today, mainly through technological developments, the self-space has increased in size, and greater demands are placed on the individual self.

The focus of this study is on how counselling psychologists and other therapists interpret psychodynamic ideas. There is a dearth of qualitative work addressing this issue, particularly from the practitioner perspective. This study adopted a social constructionist version of Grounded Theory. Twelve volunteer therapist participants were interviewed (six counselling psychologists and six therapists accredited by the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) and the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)). Therapists had a wide range of experience but all had at least one year of training in psychodynamic theory. The analysis produced a grounded theory that suggests a tension between realist and social constructionist epistemological stances to psychodynamic theories. An unquestioning use of psychodynamic ideas persisted whereby these theories remained uncontested and were spoken about as if they were indicative of reality. This alternated with a reflective use of psychodynamic ideas where a theory was seen as one explanation among many. A tension was apparent as therapists spoke from these epistemologically opposed stances. This tension was expressed through the demonstration of being drawn to use psychodynamic ideas unquestioningly as they seem to abate anxiety and provide a sense of professionalism and expertise. The benefits of thinking objectively about psychodynamic ideas draw therapists into speaking of them in this way, even when this approach was not in line with the their epistemological stance at other points in time. The tension seems to result from societal demands and contextual pressures as well as the inter-relational discourse with the researcher. It is suggested that practitioners in the field of counselling psychology as well as by practitioners accredited with the UKCP and BACP experience this phenomenon. Length of experience in practice did not play a significant factor in how therapists conceptualise psychodynamic ideas. A discussion of the implication of these findings and the potential for future research is also explored.