Leadership is a broad topic that can be studied from a vast amount of angles and perspectives. The same fact is true for communication. This study combines these two concepts as it directs attention towards discursive analysis of business leaders. With this focus, the purpose is to describe the essence of rhetoric as an essential part of business communication, analyze how business leaders perform leadership through communication and to contribute to further understanding of this subject, by explaining the communication of business leaders through rhetorical analysis. To reach as far as possible within this research a theoretical framework, that will be the support for the analysis, is established as a basis on which an analysis is possible. This framework reviews the important concepts that are essential for understanding the means of the following rhetorical analysis. To analyze the textual communication of business leaders extracted from real life cases, narratives from situations where leadership is practiced have been selected based on certain criteria. The findings of this study are in unity with the direction in which this research aims. The way business leaders communicate in situations where leadership is practiced have an immense impact on how they are perceived as leaders. Therefore it is argued that business leaders should put more emphasis on increasing their understanding of how they are perceived by others, based on the way they communicate through verbal communication.

The study explores the experience of individuals who have lost a number of close people in their life, through death, over the course of their adult lifetime. Twelve individual interviews (11 women, 1 man) are presented in narrative form and explored for their content and meaning. The experience of multiple loss was revealed to be unique and varied for each participant and each loss was experienced independently from the others, concomitant on the relationship to the deceased, the nature and timing of the death and the relevance to the participant’s identity. Similar themes occurred across and within cases that are attributable to having lost a number of close others. Common effects were seen in participants’ experiential knowledge of grief and its vicissitudes, death and its processes, and life and its meaningfulness. Participants believed that their losses have had a profound effect on them, changing their lives immutably. Changes were perceived in terms of impact on the way they view the world, themselves and their relationships. Individuals perceived both positive and negative effects. Analogous with current research and theories in the field many of the participants reported experiencing personal growth as a result of their losses. The present study extends past research findings by attributing these effects to the accumulation of losses. A model for understanding the process of meaning-making in multiple loss was devised. Respondents were apt to process one death at a time, incorporate its meanings and effects on them, compare the effects to each other by contrasting the distinct experiences, and create a framework for meaning that was mutable. There were typical features of these meanings that were characteristic to the tone of the narrative. Stories of multiple loss tended to have an unresolved, a transformational or a growth related tone. An enhanced model of meaning- making in loss is described that augments current models of meaning-making in coping with loss. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.

A qualitative method was used to explore the construction of meaning in relation to spiritual meditation and spiritual experience. Meaning was considered a pathway between spiritual experience and psychological well being. 8 semi-structured interviews were conducted with people who meditate and report having had spiritual experiences during meditation. A cultural analysis was employed to understand spiritual meaning in secular, postmodern Sweden. Meaning was analyzed using a theory of global meaning where the meaning system is made up of three aspects; beliefs, goals and affect. Spiritual meditation and spiritual experiences were used by the participants to construct meaning in all three areas of global meaning. Beliefs about a spirit world and the eternal nature of a soul were confirmed and experienced in spiritual meditation which provided meaning to life and raised self-esteem. The spiritual meditation also helped the participants find and strive for important goals in life, often related to personal growth.

The purpose of this work is to describe and understand the significance of sports for children active in sports, their parents, and family. I am interested in how daily sports practice is understood by children active in sports and their parents and what sports mean for upbringing of children and young people. In the study eighteen children were interviewed, twelve boys and six girls in the ages of 10-12 years and their parents. Nine of the children play golf and nine play soccer. The perspective applied is pedagogic, which means that the connections between the social and individual are focused on. The results show that the patterns of childrearing for soccer and golf are distinguished from each other and thus what the children learn. In a comparison with research on concepts among parents from different social strata on the rearing of children, the pattern of childrearing with soccer agrees with patterns in the worker class, and those of golf with patterns in the upper middle class. In the results there are gender-related differences that do agree well with theories and research on the masculine hegemony in the sport. But the results also show that the sport can contribute to the rearing of males with both masculine and a part of traditionally feminine characteristics and of females with both feminine and a part of traditionally masculine characteristics. Another result is that sports at the same time correspond to needs of today's people and can be a counter against a development that is described by research as a split between body and soul, cultural isolation, dissolution of norms, and a fragmentation of existence. Soccer and golf become a kind of common project for families, not only for meetings between parents and children but also for meetings between adults and children of different ages. In a time when parents feel insecurity when facing the task of childrearing, sports stand for a distinct network of rules. In this way sports become a kind of complement to the childrearing that parents provide. Finally, the results show that there is both that which is common and that which is distinctive in both sports. Of the children who play golf, almost all of them devote themselves to some team sport, while the children who play soccer do not practice any other sport. In this way the children who play golf receive a double qualification that equips them for confrontation with the demands of modern society in a different way than with the case of the children who play soccer. And it is this that is the most distinctive factor. / digitalisering@umu

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the experience of long term grief following a perinatal loss. In particular, the processes of meaning reconstruction and self-changes stemming from perinatal loss were explored by listening to parents in-depth narratives of their experiences of loss and grief. A narrative methodology was used, based on a constructivist epistemology that suggests that people are storytellers by nature and we attempt to organize and make sense of our life experiences by constructing coherent narratives. Participants were 4 couples and 8 individuals whose losses occurred 1 to 35 years before the interview. Interviews followed a reflexive-dyadic interview model. Analysis of the narratives was approached in two ways: First, a voice-centered relational approach was used for initial interpretation and identification of prevalent voices in the stories. Second, five of the stories were written as evocative narratives, which served as a way of incorporating the authors personal experience of perinatal loss, as well as to evoke an empathic understanding of the experience of perinatal loss. The interpretation and discussion of the stories focused on meaning-making that was evident on both an individual level as well as across the larger group of participants. In particular, meaning-making influences and strategies were identified, including influences of the medical establishment and social networks which either served to disenfranchise parents losses or to comfort and ease parents in their grief. The impact of meaning-making on long-term grief was considered, as well as parents reports of positive and negative self-changes that emerged from their struggle with grief. The unique contribution of this project lies in its elaboration of the meaning reconstruction process in the context of perinatal loss; its demonstration of both positive and negative self-changes in a group of perinatally-bereaved parents; its exploration of grief several years to decades following a perinatal loss; its inclusion of the researchers self as both an additional source of data and as a validity check on the presentation and interpretation of participants stories; and the use of evocative narratives to evoke an empathic understanding of a historically disenfranchised form of loss.

While developmental research on the period of midlife has received increased attention in the literature, limited focus has been paid to the transitional stage into midlife, particularly for women. In this study, 286 women between the ages of 38 - 47 years completed online surveys comprised of a demographic questionnaire, the Social Connectedness Scale – Revised (SCS-R; Lee, Draper, & Lee, 2001), the Life Regard Index – Revised (LRI-R; Debats, 1998), and the Five Factor Wellness Inventory – Adult (FFWel-A; Myers & Sweeney, 1999). Participants were recruited through local community-based organizations and snowballing efforts. Participants resided in a major southern metropolitan city. Results from this study indicate that wellness was significantly higher for women who had advanced degrees, higher income levels, and were in a parenting role. Full-time employment and higher education levels were significantly related to higher feelings of meaning in life for women, but being in a parenting role was not linked to higher meaning in life. Implications for counseling women in the Mid-Life Transition Stage are explored and directions for future research are discussed.

This study focused on the process of frequent geographical relocation during childhood and adolescence. Three adult women contributed to this study providing retrospective accounts of their experiences with frequent relocation within Canada. As a group, relocations occurred between 4 and 10 cities, between 8 and 13 schools, between 2 and 4 provinces, and between Canada and Germany. Based theoretically on narrative theory, supported by a social constructionist epistemology, this study used life history interviews to obtain a deeper understanding of the participants experiences, the meanings they derived from them, and their interpretation of causal links amongst elements surrounding relocation. Through the use of narrative analysis, as proposed by Polkinghorne (1995), individual life stories were created for each of the three women who participated in this study. Their stories highlight the complexity of the process of repeated exits and entries into distinct schools, communities, and peer groups. They illustrate the multiplicity of experiences the participants coped with and the many meanings they derived from their relocation experiences. Furthermore, the stories provide causal explanations to short and long-term changes that occurred in their lives as a result of their experiences.<p>Providing support to other reports in the literature, these women described their experiences of fear, anxiety, anger, pain, sadness, and identity loss. Some positive experiences were excitement about change, enjoyment and appreciation of new possibilities, and hope for the future. The three participants connected many factors together in explaining changes in their lives, including family life, personal factors, historical and financial elements, social and environmental context, as well as factors related to their experiences with relocation. Although many different meanings were created at different times, all participants commented on their loss of not having a childhood friend, and on their perception of the value of stability in their lives. Five different focal points emerged as helpful in the interpretation of the narratives: family support and the experience of self-worth; person-environment fit and the experiences of self and belonging; academic ability, social skills, and school environment, as they relate to school adaptation; timing of geographical mobility; and, adjustment-stability cycles in the context of repeated geographical relocation. Implications for support providers and future research are provided.

The study explores the experience of individuals who have lost a number of close people in their life, through death, over the course of their adult lifetime. Twelve individual interviews (11 women, 1 man) are presented in narrative form and explored for their content and meaning. The experience of multiple loss was revealed to be unique and varied for each participant and each loss was experienced independently from the others, concomitant on the relationship to the deceased, the nature and timing of the death and the relevance to the participant’s identity. Similar themes occurred across and within cases that are attributable to having lost a number of close others. Common effects were seen in participants’ experiential knowledge of grief and its vicissitudes, death and its processes, and life and its meaningfulness. Participants believed that their losses have had a profound effect on them, changing their lives immutably. Changes were perceived in terms of impact on the way they view the world, themselves and their relationships. Individuals perceived both positive and negative effects. Analogous with current research and theories in the field many of the participants reported experiencing personal growth as a result of their losses. The present study extends past research findings by attributing these effects to the accumulation of losses. A model for understanding the process of meaning-making in multiple loss was devised. Respondents were apt to process one death at a time, incorporate its meanings and effects on them, compare the effects to each other by contrasting the distinct experiences, and create a framework for meaning that was mutable. There were typical features of these meanings that were characteristic to the tone of the narrative. Stories of multiple loss tended to have an unresolved, a transformational or a growth related tone. An enhanced model of meaning- making in loss is described that augments current models of meaning-making in coping with loss. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.

De psykiatriska diagnoserna har ökat i antal det senaste decenniet. Hur påverkas en individ av att få en psykiatrisk diagnos? Bipolär sjukdom tillhör gruppen psykiska sjukdomar och kännetecknas av växlingar mellan förhöjda stämningslägen såsom mani eller hypomani samt perioder av depressioner. Sjukdomen delas in i bipolär I och II, där bipolär I är den allvarligare varianten. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka vilken betydelse diagnosen haft för individer med bipolär sjukdom. Åtta personer, sex kvinnor och två män mellan 39-65 år (medelålder 51.6) diagnosticerade med bipolär sjukdom I eller II intervjuades. Svaren bearbetades med hjälp av induktiv tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att diagnosen haft en klart övervägande positiv betydelse. De huvudteman som framkom var förklaring, förståelse och acceptans, samt adekvat behandling. De samstämmiga uppfattningarna om att diagnosen haft en stor positiv betydelse förklaras bland annat av att majoriteten av deltagarna levt i många år utan rätt diagnos, vilket i sin tur inneburit många år inom den psykiatriska vården utan att få rätt hjälp. Rätt diagnos har inneburit rätt behandling, i synnerhet medicinskt, men även via psykoedukativa och psykoterapeutiska insatser. Rätt typ av behandling har därmed medfört en balans i livet, där funktionsförmågan förbättrats avsevärt, och livskvalitén ökat. Ett fåtal negativa konsekvenser av diagnosen framkom i två teman; initiala effekter av diagnosen samt diagnosens begränsande effekt.

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the experience of long term grief following a perinatal loss. In particular, the processes of meaning reconstruction and self-changes stemming from perinatal loss were explored by listening to parents in-depth narratives of their experiences of loss and grief. A narrative methodology was used, based on a constructivist epistemology that suggests that people are storytellers by nature and we attempt to organize and make sense of our life experiences by constructing coherent narratives. Participants were 4 couples and 8 individuals whose losses occurred 1 to 35 years before the interview. Interviews followed a reflexive-dyadic interview model. Analysis of the narratives was approached in two ways: First, a voice-centered relational approach was used for initial interpretation and identification of prevalent voices in the stories. Second, five of the stories were written as evocative narratives, which served as a way of incorporating the authors personal experience of perinatal loss, as well as to evoke an empathic understanding of the experience of perinatal loss. The interpretation and discussion of the stories focused on meaning-making that was evident on both an individual level as well as across the larger group of participants. In particular, meaning-making influences and strategies were identified, including influences of the medical establishment and social networks which either served to disenfranchise parents losses or to comfort and ease parents in their grief. The impact of meaning-making on long-term grief was considered, as well as parents reports of positive and negative self-changes that emerged from their struggle with grief. The unique contribution of this project lies in its elaboration of the meaning reconstruction process in the context of perinatal loss; its demonstration of both positive and negative self-changes in a group of perinatally-bereaved parents; its exploration of grief several years to decades following a perinatal loss; its inclusion of the researchers self as both an additional source of data and as a validity check on the presentation and interpretation of participants stories; and the use of evocative narratives to evoke an empathic understanding of a historically disenfranchised form of loss.