I grew up in the suburbs, and perhaps I am embarrassed to admit it. But there is no use denying it. It???s written all over my face. Even though I have been away for nearly a decade, the residue of that past life still lingers. I am civilized, programmed to perform in a manner that best suits society at this present time. I move in unison with the other bodies around me, abiding by the unwritten suburban rules of conduct to avoid any confrontation, as our daily routines follow our individual agendas. Suburbia follows me wherever I go. It is the only kind of person I know how to be. For fear of breaking any rules I retaliate only in my dreams. I hate this life. I was Growing Up Absurd, like all the young boys, and all the young men social critic, Paul Goodman, describes in his book of the same title; a dilemma preventing these young boys from growing into real men with honor, purpose, without a real understanding of the society in which he is living, but rather, is conditioned to participate in a way that best suites his society. In Walden, Henry David Thoreau states, ???The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well???? What demon indeed. The suburb, an invention of postwar culture that articulated a generation???s need for security, peace, and privacy after a time of great tragedy, embodied a marketable product based on an illusion, the Dream Life, an artificial empire that has suppressed the imaginative possibilities for human existence. As an instrument to understand my own dissatisfaction with the suburbs, this thesis investigates the Psychogeography of this suburban landscape. It is as much a reflection of my own struggle to cope with such a lifestyle as it is an account of how the behavior of a suburban population can be conditioned to submit to the authority of their immediate built environment.

Lesbians have historically lived in obscurity and isolation because living outwardly as a lesbian carried with it the almost certain loss of social standing, family, and friends (Blando, 2001). For lesbians who grew up in the Deep South, isolation and the pressure to conform was greater than anywhere in the United States (Barton, 2010). Most Deep Southerners were homophobic, especially in rural areas where people were deeply religious and had little exposure to sexual minorities. The researcher used a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore the meaning and significance of growing up lesbian in the rural Deep South. The sample included 12 Caucasian lesbians, ages 45 to 62. Four clusters of themes emerged from the interviews. Those clusters were: (1) emerging sexuality, (2) the mark of fatal difference, (3) denial of lesbian identity, and (4) conforming to Deep Southern social mores. Themes within those clusters described how delays in both lesbian identity development (Cass, 1984) and psychosocial development (Erikson, 1975) occurred in each of the participants because of the intensely religious and homophobic environments in which they were raised. Denunciation of participants' personal identities began with the first expressions of their sexual identities in elementary school. Ridiculed at a young age because of attractions to girls, participants cycled back through developmental crises involving shame, doubt, and inferiority. They entered adolescence disturbed about their developing sexualities, to discover that parents and faith-based communities were homophobic. Therefore, at the time when participants faced the most critical developmental crises of their lives (Erikson, 1975), they feared rejection by their parents, communities, and God. Participants sought to suppress or deny their lesbianism. Suppression of lesbian identity came with emotional and developmental costs, including substance abuse, unwanted marriages, and role confusion. Unable to find needed resources and role models, participants conformed to the social mores of the rural community for periods ranging from five to twenty years. Eventually, each participant in this study left her rural origins to begin claiming her lesbian identity. Retrospectively, each woman recognized that in the era in which they grew up, communities in the rural Deep South demanded conformity and resisted allowing members to individuate. Thus, participants in this study entered adulthood, and sometimes middle age, with a number of unresolved developmental crises, particularly as those crises related to sexual orientation.

No description available.

This study investigates the effect of current place of residence on the transition to parenthood and the extent to which place of growing up influences childbearing decisions. It controls for the effects of demographic characteristics, economic situation and respondents’ values and attitudes on the transition to parenthood so the residential impact measured won’t be biased. We analyze data on childless persons aged 22, 26, 30 and 34 from the Swedish Young Adult Panel Study (YAPS) wave 2003 enriched with register data on births for the study period 2003 to 2006. Multivariate logistic regression is the tool of analysis. We find no significant effect of place of residence on the transition to parenthood among female young adults, and only limited significant effect among men. More specifically men living in the countryside are much less likely to become fathers than are men in metropolitan areas. Contrary to place of residence, the place of growing up has significant effect on first births for both males and females. Women who grew up in the countryside or small towns have higher risk to become mothers than women who grew up in bigger cities but the reverse is significantly true for the men.

No description available.

In this dissertation, teenagers (13-19 years) are allowed to speak out. The purpose of the study was to gain knowledge regarding the conditions related to socialization in the proximity of violence through listening to, interpreting and attempting to understand the teenagers' narratives about life when violence is an everyday occurrence. Primarily, I wanted to obtain a picture of the conditions under which these girls and boys grew up as they themselves described them. My questions are primarily concerned with the teenagers' experiences of violence in the home, the strategies they used to cope with a violent home environment and finally with their self-images. Secondarily, my intention was to analyze and interpret the picture that emerged in an attempt to understand the meaning of socialization in the proximity of violence, primarily based upon theories of sexualized violence (aspects of gender and power), coping, resilience, and the social heritage of violence-related behavior (the inter-generational transmission of violent behavior). My purpose was also to relate the descriptions and analysis of domestic violence, and the associated conditions under which these young people grew up, to previous research within the field of family violence. The dissertation is grounded in feminist theory which views the gender and power relationships between women and men as a determining principle of social organization. I associate this with the established Scandinavian concept of "sexualized violence," used to describe forms of abuse and sexual exploitation such as rape, incest and other sexual assaults, pornography, the sex trade and sexual harassment. Fifteen teenagers living in Sweden volunteered to be informants for the study. They were interviewed six to ten times each over a four year period. The interviews progressed in steps from background information to the most private and sensitive questions about the violence which had taken place in the home. The number of interviews was determined case by case; the interviews were concluded when no or few new aspects emerged. The analysis is based in part upon the categorized statements and in part upon the longer narratives. The results show that the young people exist in the presence of violence as witnesses to and victims of violence perpetrated by their fathers. The children are threatened into silence and bear inner feelings of powerlessness and loneliness. They are regarded as different in school, bullied by peers and disregarded by adults. In this double victimization, the children feel themselves to be unwanted and worthless. If the child breaks the secrecy and seeks help, he or she experiences utter betrayal, foremost from social authorities. The lack of protective factors and insightful adults is nearly total. The very essential contact with peers has also been denied them. The children feel themselves to be completely abandoned. Using their own resources, they yet manage to formulate their thoughts, create meaning in events and become survivors. / digitalisering@umu

This dissertation demonstrates that the voices of children and the experiences of childhood provide important new perspectives about the settler societies in British Columbia and Alberta during the period 1860 – 1925. It employs a combination of direct quotations from individual children and analysis across the cohort of one hundred historical children as a means to explore both individual personalities and shared child perspectives of childhood. Child-created diaries and correspondence were selected as the principal documentation in this study as a deliberate strategy to privilege children and to enable clear child-centred voices unmixed with those of adults. The intent is to reveal child-centred understandings about the physical and emotional aspects of growing up in Western Canada that are set within the contexts of specific communities, of family life, of sibling relationships, of friendships and separations. Some significant findings include the phenomenon of boarding school within the childhood experience and the realization that many settler children spent childhoods away from family, the difficulty boys shared in achieving masculinity, and the importance placed by girls and boys on charting and comparing their physical growth and attainment of child-centred milestones of achievement. / Graduate

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo a análise dos processos de estigmatização que limitam os espaços de pertencimento e a possibilidade de adultecer dos sujeitos com deficiências considerados desviantes, dando visibilidade às respectivas dinâmicas de naturalização, utilizando como ferramenta de apoio o cinema. Neste contexto, os espaços de pertencimento, como possibilidade de identificação e aproximação mútua entre sujeito e lugar, e o adultecer, entendido na forma de contínua emergência do sujeito, serão compreendidos como formas de ser e de viver limitados por práticas de estigmatização. Estas práticas tendem a lançar rígidas demandas e expectativas sobre os diferentes sujeitos, fazendo referência aos parâmetros de normalidade socialmente criados e compartilhados. Os processos de estigmatização serão compreendidos em sua complexidade, como relações de atributos existentes na linguagem, ou seja, como coordenações consensuais de coordenações consensuais de conduta. A linguagem será, assim, entendida sob uma perspectiva sistêmica de acordo com autores como Humberto Maturana e Gregory Bateson. Os processos estigmatizantes, pela recorrência dos seus enunciados, naturalizam-se nos discursos cotidianos, tornando-se visíveis, neste estudo, através de duas narrativas fílmicas, escolhidas duplamente pelo caráter de complementaridade que possuem e por serem representativas do grande leque de produções cinematográficas com a temática da deficiência: “I am Sam: uma lição de amor” (2001) e “Preciosa: uma história de esperança” (2009) são objetos de análise para este trabalho. Os filmes foram analisados em sua totalidade pelo meio da atribuição de sentidos à narrativa relacionada à linguagem cinematográfica, através de três dimensões - a especular, a simbólica e a irruptiva - resgatando, respectivamente, aquilo que pode ser descrito, os sentidos vinculados e as possíveis relações com o processo de estigmatização. As obras expressam as consequências da lógica de normalização, que se reflete em práticas preconceituosas que limitam as possibilidades de ser dos diferentes sujeitos, buscando enquadrá-los em espaços de desvio e de anormalidade. A partir do aprofundamento conceitual e de suas aproximações com a análise dos filmes, foi possível perceber que o sujeito se produz em uma lógica autopoiética, na qual a demanda socialmente depositada sobre os diferentes indivíduos resulta em diversas valorações referentes às suas humanidades e, assim, em limitadas possibilidades de ser, de viver e de experienciar, tanto para o sujeito estigmatizado quanto para o estigmatizador. Questionar estas lógicas tão bem enraizadas é iniciar o movimento de criação de pequenas fissuras que podem favorecer os processos de apropriação do conhecimento, além de levar à valorização das diversas formas de ser e ao equilíbrio entre as diferentes valorações da humanidade que cada sujeito, individual ou coletivamente, recebe. / This dissertation’s objective is the analysis of processes of stigmatization that limit spaces of belonging and the possibility of growing up of the subject with disabilities that are considered deviant, offering visibility to the respective naturalization dynamics, using cinema as a support tool. In this context, the spaces of belonging, as possibility of mutual identification and approximation between subject and place, and the growing up process, understood as the form of continuous stigmatization practices. These practices tend to offer rigid demands and expectation on the subjects, making references to the standards of normality that are socially created and shared. The processes of stigmatization will be understood in their complexity, as relationship between attributes existent in language, that is, as consensual coordination of conduct. The language will, in this way, be understood under a systemic perspective according to authors such as Humberto Maturana and Gregory Bateson. The stigmatizing processes, through the recurrence of their enunciations, make themselves natural in day-to-day discourses, becoming visible, in this study, through movie narratives, chosen both by their complementary character, and because they are representative of the great range of cinematographic productions with disability as a theme: “I am Sam” (2001) and “Precious” (2009) are objects of analysis on this work. The movies were analyzed in their totality through the attribution of meanings to the narrative related to the cinematographic language, through three dimensions - the specular, the symbolic and the irruptive - rescuing, respectively, what can be described, the attached meanings and the possible relations with the stigmatisation process. The works represent the consequences of the normalization logic, which reflects in prejudiced practices that limit the possibilities of the different subjects, seeking to frame them in spaces of deviation and normality. Departing from the conceptual deepening and the approximations of the analyses of the movies, it was possible to understand that the subject creates himself in an autopoietic logic, in which the socially deposited demand over different subjects results in diverse values of being, living and experiencing, not only for the stigmatised subject but also for the one stigmatising. To question these well-established logic means to start the breaking movement that may help the processes of knowledge appropriation, and it may lead to the valuing of diverse ways of being and the balance between different values of humanity that each subject receives, individually or collectively. / Esta tesis tiene como objetivo el análisis de los procesos de estigmatización que limitan los espacios de pertenencia y la posibilidad de adultecer de los sujetos con discapacidad considerados desviantes, dando visibilidad a las respectivas dinámicas de naturalización, utilizando como herramienta de apoyo el cine. En este contexto, los espacios de pertenencia, como posibilidad de identificación y aproximación mutua entre sujeto y lugar, y el adultecer, entendido en la forma de continua emergencia del sujeto, serán comprendidos como formas de ser y de vivir limitados por prácticas de estigmatización. Estas prácticas tienden a lanzar rígidas demandas y expectativas sobre los diferentes sujetos, haciendo referencia a los parámetros de normalidad socialmente criados y compartidos. Los procesos de estigmatización serán comprendidos en su complexidad, como relaciones de atributos existentes en el lenguaje, o sea, como coordinaciones consensuales de conducta. El lenguaje será, así, entendido por una perspectiva sistémica de acuerdo con autores como Humberto Maturana e Gregory Bateson. Los procesos estigmatizantes, por la recurrencia de sus enunciados, se naturalizan en los discursos cotidianos, tornándose visibles, en este estudio, través de las narrativas de las películas, escogidas duplamente por el carácter de complementariedad que poseen y porque sean representativas del gran abanico de producciones cinematográficas con la temática de la discapacidad: “I am Sam: uma lição de amor” (2001) y “Preciosa: uma história de esperança” (2009) son objetos de análisis para esta investigación. Las películas fueron analizadas en su totalidad por la atribución de sentidos a la narrativa relacionada a el lenguaje cinematográfico, través de tres dimensiones - la especular, la simbólica y la irruptora - rescatando, respectivamente, aquello que puede ser descripto, los sentidos vinculados y las posibles relaciones con el proceso de estigmatización. Las obras expresan las consecuencias de la lógica de normalización, que se reflete en prácticas prejuiciosas que limitan las posibilidades de ser de los distintos sujetos, buscando encuadrarlos en espacios de desviaciones y de anormalidad. A partir de la profundización conceptual y de sus aproximaciones con el análisis de las películas, fue posible percibir que el sujeto se produce en una lógica autopoiética, en la cual la demanda socialmente depositada sobre los diferentes individuos resulta en diversas valoraciones referentes a sus humanidades y, así, en múltiples posibilidades de ser, de vivir y de experimentar, tanto para el sujeto estigmatizado cuanto para el estigmatizador. Cuestionar estas lógicas tan bien enraizadas es iniciar el movimiento de creación de pequeñas fisuras que pueden favorecer los procesos de apropiación del conocimiento, además de llevar a la valorización de las diversas formas de ser y al equilibrio entre las diferentes valoraciones de la humanidad que cada sujeto, individual o colectivamente, recibe.

DEAR LITTLE ME: A RESPONSE TO MY FORMER SELF is a 180-page memoir in which the adult self at age twenty-three responds to the diary entries and writings of the younger version of herself. The original diary entries, which were written from 2001 to 2004, feature the typical troubles of a middle school girl: crushes, cliques, and puberty. However, the diary entries also explore darker events such as September 11, divorce, bullying, and self-image issues. When the adult “me” re-read these diaries, I felt a strong desire to respond to my former self, offering her advice and encouragement, both serious and humorous. DEAR LITTLE ME is unique in form, as it combines diary entries and essay. In the same way that Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AN ORDINARY LIFE adopts the well-known format of the encyclopedia to create familiarity for her readers, DEAR LITTLE ME stays true to the the diary format. Modeling the new prose on the original form and syntax of diary entries is intended to create pathos by appealing to readers’ sense of nostalgia for their own lost childhoods. I intend to help readers remember their challenging pre-teen years and to recognize how many of the challenges of those years are still with us as adults, albeit in different forms.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-12-18Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:38:14Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 lepri_pmf_me_assis.pdf: 883993 bytes, checksum: 59ed01e6f4356cbad59bb99cb4514cbd (MD5) / O presente estudo teve por objetivo compreender como adolescentes soropositivos que convivem com o diagnóstico de HIV/Aids desde a infância vivenciam seu adolescer. A Aids configurou-se no contexto mundial como uma doença marcada pelo preconceito e pela discriminação, em função dos equívocos relacionados à sua origem e forma de transmissão que preconizavam a existência de grupos e comportamentos de risco. O advento do coquetel possibilitou um aumento no tempo e na qualidade de vida dos indivíduos soropositivos, incluindo as crianças contaminadas via transmissão vertical. Essas crianças cresceram e atualmente, encontram-se na adolescência e aspectos como construção da identidade adulta, sexualidade e socialização se fazem prementes e poucos estudos dedicaram-se a investigar os efeitos da Aids neste processo. Assim, participaram dessa pesquisa três adolescentes portadores de HIV/Aids, com idade de 16, 14 e 12 anos. Esta investigação considerou duas fontes de dados: a experiência clínica com esses adolescentes adquirida durante os atendimentos realizados no Ambulatório de Aids Pediátrica do Hospital Universitário de Londrina, local onde a pesquisadora atua há sete anos; e entrevistas realizadas com os adolescentes e seus principais cuidadores com o objetivo de permitir a expressão de suas experiências sobre a Aids e o adolescer. A análise dos dados foi realizada à luz do referencial psicanalítico. Os resultados apontaram para... / The current study aimed at understanding how HIV-positive teenagers who have lived with the diagnostic of HIV/Aids since childhood experience their growing up. Aids established itself worldwide as a disease marked by prejudice and discrimination, due to the misconceptions about its origins and transmission forms which professed the existence of risk groups and behaviors. The advent of the drug cocktail allowed for an increase in life time and quality of HIV-positive individuals, including children infected through vertical transmission. These children grew up and today are in adolescence and aspects such as the building of an adult identity, sexuality, and socialization become imperious and few studies sought to investigate the effects of Aids in this process. Therefore, three teenagers diagnosed with HIV/Aids, aged 16, 14, and 12, took part in this research. This investigation considered two sources of data: The clinical experience with these teenagers acquired during the sessions performed at the Pediatrics Aids Clinic at the University Hospital of Londrina, where the researcher has been working for seven years; and interviews performed with the teenagers and their main caretakers with the aim of allowing for the expression of their experiences about Aids and entering adolescence. The analysis of data was performed under the light of psychoanalysis. The results pointed... (Complete abstract, click electronic access below)