Gender differences in psychopathology have long been of interest in the fields of clinical, developmental, and personality psychology. Lewis proposed two models to explain the emergence of the development of gender differences in depression and paranoia. Lewis stated that gender differences in depression and paranoia can be traced to corresponding gender differences in cognitive style, guilt-proneness, shame-proneness, and the use of specific defense mechanisms. Although research evidence has validated certain components of these two models, neither model has ever been tested in its entirety. This research project intended to test Lewis's models in their entirety by utilizing structural equation modeling.

Many older couples face the dilemma of one of them developing an illness that results in their ability to cope with everyday living activities. The well spouse may struggle for many years with an increasing workload, both physical and mental. Ultimately, there may come a time, when nursing home placement becomes necessary. The aim of this research was to find out what the experience was like for the wife, with a husband who is ill and faces placement in a nursing home, and to determine whether nurses could do more to help them to cope with this difficult situation. Following ethics approval, nine wives were interviewed over a period of two years. Each of the experience was unique, but there were some common problems that many of the wives mentioned. Loneliness was considered by most of the wives as being extremely upsetting, even when they were living with other people, for example their children. The absence of their partner and long term confident was noticed particularly in the evening when, in the past, they had sat down together and watched television. Other reactions included guilt, grief, depression and a change in the husband/wife relationship. Many of the wives seemed to accept the situation, realising that they could no longer cope with their husband at home, they were also healthier than they had been when their husband was at home. This research has highlighted some important points when a wife finds herself in the situation of having to place her husband in a nursing home, although nurses are unable to assist with many of the effects on the wife of the placement, it is helpful to know that the friendliness of the staff, the care of the patient and the cleanliness and homeliness of the nursing home are helpful at this time / Master of Nursing (Hons)

Towards a mature shame culture seeks to identify new tools for social change through a deeper understanding of the social psychology of shame and guilt. The study takes as its starting point a suggestion by Richard Hauser and Hephzibah Menhuin-Hauser that many personal and social crises can be interpreted through the lens of a late 20th Century transition from a guilt culture to an 'infantile' shame culture. Implicit in this is the need to develop more socially mature forms.This idea is placed in the context of praxis for personal/social growth drawing on previously unpublished material from the Hauser's archive. The study then explores a theoretical framework for understanding the social psychology of emotions in general, and shame in particular. It draws on affect psychology, micro-sociology and social attachment theory. Shame is located primarily as a social emotion, with a normative function of monitoring social bonds between people - rather than, as it is usually framed, as a 'self-conscious', 'negative' and 'pathological'emotion. This reframing of the experience highlights the 'salutogenic' function of shame in building and strengthening relationships. In this frame much of what is commonly thought of as 'shame' can be seen to be the result of unacknowledged shame, where other emotions are bound to the sense of shame and carried as 'toxic' memories of unresolved shame experiences. This pattern of unresolved shame can be seen at the root of the personal and social pathologies of violence and alienation.The study charts how attempts to communicate this salutogenic perspective on shame led to an experiential education workshop Working with shame. It draws on the experience of participants in this workshop in a variety of settings (including anger management programs, workshops at men's gatherings, and community professional development training, and other group work). Interview data is used to illustrate how the masking of the physiological expression of shame, principally with anger and/or fear, interrupts the affective/emotional signals between people that would normally result in empathic responses an salutogenic outcomes. Finally, the study explores how this perspective on shame might inform social crisis-intervention programs at community level; and how it might be applied to the larger, and longer-term challenge of bringing about cultural change. It suggests key features that mark the transition from 'infantile' to 'juvenile' forms of shame and some of the factors limiting further growth towards shame-maturity. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

My major work, ‘The Hum of Concrete’, is a novel that takes the form of a series of stand-alone stories or meditations. It has five main characters, all women, and is set in Malmö, Sweden. The city itself plays a part in the narrative. The characters include Nassrin, a Muslim cleaner; Rhyme, a troubled street kid; Bodil, a middle-aged doctor; Estella, a black postie and Susanna, a lesbian teacher for immigrants. Each main character is presented in three stories, initially as a young woman and later as a partner and then mother. Nassrin walks into the sea fully clothed with her new baby in her arms because she cannot cope with the fact that the child is of indeterminate sex. Rhyme spends the lead up to Christmas on a park bench and is offered ten dollars for a blow job. Bodil arranges her mother’s last birthday party while coming to terms with being pregnant with her first child in her forties. Estella tries in vain to write a sexy story stumbling into new realms of her own sexuality as she does her research. Susanna is thick-skinned and stands between the violent boys and a fight. The stories in ‘The Hum of Concrete’ are stories of loss and lust, of grief, happiness, love and despair. They represent the diversity of life for women and mothers in the city today. The minor component of the thesis, an exegetical essay, is a reflection on writings about motherhood: my own as well as others. Motherhood is an aspect of life that most women (and many men) take very seriously. However, motherhood must be balanced against work and other family commitments, relationships outside the family and other fulfilling personal activities. The exegetical essay argues for the diversity and complexity of mothering by focusing on fictional mothers who struggle with some part of motherhood, whether it be pregnancy, labour, bonding with infants or coping with children as they grow older. To what extent is a mother defined by her motherhood? Is a mother only a mother? The essay discusses a selection of texts that have influenced my own novel in one way or another. My interest in working mothers includes mothers who are writers. I discuss the concept of maternal feminism and draw on my Swedish background to explore the complex relationship between childrearing and work, showing how this relationship can differ between cultures in the Western world, depending on the support structures available to mothers. The essay explores the process of writing as a mother as a specific case of the challenges that face working mothers. Finally, I suggest that love between mother and child as well as realistic expectations might be key components when successfully balancing mothering. / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2007

The present study is an existential phenomenological investigation of the experiences of maternal guilt of five first-time mothers with infant children. Maternal guilt is a powerful, pervasive, and complex phenomenon that effects and is experienced by mothers in different ways. This research explores the experiences of these five mothers in feeling guilt related to being a mother and, using an adapted research methodology utilizing Focusing Technique (Gendlin, 1981), their embodied reflections about a particular memory of feeling maternal guilt. This study utilizes procedures explicated by Colaizzi (1978), Giorgi & Giorgi (2003), Todres (2007), von Eckartsberg (1998), Walsh (1995; 2004) and Wertz (1984). All participants provided data via a written account of a particular memory of feeling a sense of guilt related to being a mother, an individual interview which incorporated a modified Focusing component, and written and verbal feedback related to the write-up of the provisional thematic analysis of the interview. The interpreted analyses of the five interviews indicate seven formulated themes; physical and emotional connection to their babies, intense feelings of responsibility, feelings of being divided, multi-dimensionality of guilt with other emotions, pre-verbal miscommunication, anxiety over the unknown in the beginning, and social expectations and comparisons. The findings suggest that the process of embodied reflection regarding a new mother's emotional experiences of guilt can foster important awareness for how she can care for her own and her child's needs. Relationships between contemporary cultural discourses on motherhood and philosophical interpretations of guilt are discussed. Implications for creating networks of support and community for new parents are also explored. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Clinical Psychology / PhD; / Dissertation;

Sammanfattning Bakgrund Kronisk obstruktiv lungsjukdom orsakas ofta av rökning, vilket anses av de flesta vara en självförvållad sjukdom. Konsekvenserna av detta blir att patienter med KOL ofta upplever skuld och skamkänslor. Syfte Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att beskriva patienters erfarenhet av skuld och skam vid kronisk obstruktiv lungsjukdom. Metod I litteraturstudien granskades åtta vetenskapliga artiklar för att få en kunskap om patienternas känslor kring sin sjukdom. Innehållsanalys användes med ett deduktivt förhållningssätt där data bearbetades för att identifiera mönster och teman. Resultat Två huvudkategorier; skuld och skam var från början definierade och under analysen identifierades en tredje; stigmatisering. Dessa kunde senare delas in i tre olika nivåer; individ, familj/omgivning och sjukvård. Konklusion Denna studie ger sjuksköterskan en bättre förståelse för vilka känslor som kan uppstå vid en ofta självförvållad sjukdom som KOL. Den visar också vikten av att möta patienterna med empati, respekt och höja deras känsla av värdighet och moral.

Uppsatsen syftar till att redogöra för den subjektiva upplevelsen av att bli bedragen i en nära relation och är således en fenomenologisk ansats. Undersökningen har baserats på tre kvalitativa intervjuer, där de intervjuade redogjort för sin subjektiva upplevelse av att bli bedragen samt definierat begreppet otrohet. Vi har utgått från teorier om skam, skuld och stigma för att kartlägga hur upplevelsen påverkat självet. Scheffs teorier om sociala band har använts för att beskriva påverkan på individens förhållanden till andra. Vi har upptäckt att en monogam relation inte är ett krav för att otrohet ska uppfattas. Det har även framgått att omgivningens reaktioner spelar roll, på så sätt att de antingen sökte stöd från vänner, eller aktivt undanhöll ämnet från dem. Vidare har vi även upptäckt att intervjupersonerna som blivit bedragna tenderar att skuldbelägga sig själva, känna skam över händelsen samt utveckla en starkare grad av svartsjuka – som en förändring av självet. / Based on three qualitative interviews, our research has set out to phenomenologically describe the experience of being cheated on (or in other words, infidelity). The three people we interviewed were to describe their subjective experiences and also provide their own definition of what they considered to be infidelity. Theories on shame, guilt and stigma has been used to describe the experience's implications ”the self”. The theory of ”Social bonds” by Scheff has been used to describe implications on social relationships. We've discovered that infidelity can take place even in a relationship that's not monogamous. We've also discovered that the reaction from others plays a big part - the persons either sought support among friends, or actively withheld information from them. The effects the experience had on the persons' self were the following: they tended to blame themselves, feel shameful about the incident and after the infidelity had occurred, developed stronger feelings of jealousy.

The purpose of this study was to come to a greater understanding of the experiences of birth mothers of children with FASD since the birth of their child. The principles of feminist research practice were utilized throughout in order to give a voice to the women who participated in the study. The research followed the general guidelines to conducting hermeneutic phenomenology outlined by van Manen (1990). Purposeful sampling was used to recruit four birth mothers of children with FASD who have been involved in the mothering of that child. Data was generated through three semi-structured interviews with each participant, including a hermeneutic interview in which the women participated in the process of interpretation. Data was analysed using selective, detailed and wholistic methods and through the process of writing and re-writing (van Manen, 1990).<p> The results focus on the social and emotional experiences of the women who participated in the study. The experience of being a birth mother of a child with FASD is represented in a discussion of four main themes: Living with the Past: Self-Forgiven, yet Always Present; Living with Others: Judgement and Understanding; Living with the Self: Unworthy and Unfit; and Living with Ambivalence: Mothering as a Birth Mother. The implications of this research in relation to the understanding of the experiences of birth mothers of children with FASD and potential supports are discussed.

Bakgrund: Det finns cirka 30 000- 40 000 personer i Sverige som har sjukdomen schizofreni. Sjukdomen debuterar ofta i unga år med symtom som vanföreställningar, hallucinationer, osammanhängande tal och rörelser samt viljelöshet. Den påverkar hela familjen då barnet genomgår en stor förändring. Den brist på förståelse från omgivningen som förekommer bidrar till stor besvikelse och oro hos föräldrarna. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva upplevelsen av att vara förälder till ett barn med schizofreni. Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie har gjorts och den baserades på tolv empiriska artiklar. Resultat: I resultatet framgår det att föräldrar kände skuld över att de inte sökte hjälp tidigare då schizofrenins första symtom yttrade sig. Det fanns en oro över deras barns stora förändring och föräldrarna upplevde en ovisshet inför framtiden. Den information och hjälp som erbjöds då barnet fick sin diagnos ansåg föräldrarna som bristfällig. Att delge sina erfarenheter och funderingar i särskilda stödgrupper med personer i samma situation gav föräldrarna en trygghet. Diskussion: Det bör etableras en kontakt med sjukvården tidigast möjligt vid insjuknandet. Som sjuksköterska är det viktigt att främst se till den enskilda individen men vid en sjukdom som schizofreni är familjen väldigt betydelsefull att ta hänsyn till. Slutsats: Tidigare insatta åtgärder så som bättre och mer regelbunden information skulle kunna underlätta föräldrarnas vardag och på så sätt skapa en mer fungerande familjesituation. / Background: There are about 30 000-40 000 people in Sweden who have schizophrenia. The disease often starts at a young age with symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, incoherent speech and movements and inertia. The whole family is affected as a child undergoes the major transformations the disease involves. The lack of understanding from the surrounding environment contributes to great disappointment and concern among parents. Aim: The purpose of this study has been to describe the experience of being a parent of a child with schizophrenia. Method: A systematic literature review has been carried out, based on twelve scientific articles. Results: Results state that parents feel guilty about not have given their child the proper attention as they identified the first symptoms of schizophrenia. There is also a major concern due to the changes a child undergoes, which makes the parents feel very uncertain and insecure about the future. The information and help offered as the child was given its diagnosis was by parents considered as inadequate. The sharing of experience and reflections within specific support group, consisting of people in similar situations, gave parents a sense of security. Discussion: Contact to health services should be established as early as possible at disease onset. As a nurse it is important to primarily take care of the individual, but in dealing with diseases like schizophrenia the family is also very important to take in to account. Conclusion: If measures, such as better and more regular flow of information was introduced earlier on in the process the parents everyday life would be greatly improved and thus, lead to a better functioning family situation.

The purpose of this study was to come to a greater understanding of the experiences of birth mothers of children with FASD since the birth of their child. The principles of feminist research practice were utilized throughout in order to give a voice to the women who participated in the study. The research followed the general guidelines to conducting hermeneutic phenomenology outlined by van Manen (1990). Purposeful sampling was used to recruit four birth mothers of children with FASD who have been involved in the mothering of that child. Data was generated through three semi-structured interviews with each participant, including a hermeneutic interview in which the women participated in the process of interpretation. Data was analysed using selective, detailed and wholistic methods and through the process of writing and re-writing (van Manen, 1990).<p> The results focus on the social and emotional experiences of the women who participated in the study. The experience of being a birth mother of a child with FASD is represented in a discussion of four main themes: Living with the Past: Self-Forgiven, yet Always Present; Living with Others: Judgement and Understanding; Living with the Self: Unworthy and Unfit; and Living with Ambivalence: Mothering as a Birth Mother. The implications of this research in relation to the understanding of the experiences of birth mothers of children with FASD and potential supports are discussed.