Research question: How do you people with schizophrenia and their carers live with a diagnosis of schizophrenia? Research aim: To gain a greater understanding of the meaning and experience of schizophrenia. The objective of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of schizophrenia. Sample: Self-selected sample of 35 participants (22 people with schizophrenia and 13 carers) recruited from the local community. . Data collection: 33 unstructured audiotaped interviews conducted in participants' own homes. In addition some participants completed diaries. Interviews were conducted in two stages: in stage one 10 participants were interviewed, transcripts were analysed and probes were fine tuned and in stage two these probes were used in the remaining interviews. Data analysis: Verbatim transcripts were analysed using the coding paradigm proposed by Strauss (1987), in conjunction with Burnard's (1991) 14 stage model of analysis. Inductive coding was used and respondent validation was completed. Findings: Stress was described as a major cause of schizophrenia. Some participants with schizophrenia described moving on in their lives, a factor associated with having a positive self-concept. Other participants with schizophrenia reported feeling stopped in their lives, which was associated with acceptance of the diagnosis, and having a negative self-concept. The most severe problems they reported were social and psychological. Male and female participants with schizophrenia were treated differently. Some participants with schizophrenia sought support while others chose isolation. Mental health nursing care was reported as coercive and disempowering. Carers described conflict within families, carer burden, and stress. Those who had been caregiving for longer appeared to have adapted and now experienced less stress and burden than others. Younger carers and carers who have been caregiving for a shorter time and were less willing to accept the caregiving role, reported more burden and stress. Conclusions: These findings suggest that a positive self-concept may be necessary to move on after the diagnosis of schizophrenia. The inability to move on may be a result of a negative self-concept or disempowering care. There was no partnership and no shared understanding of schizophrenia, or of care, between these participants with schizophrenia and nurses, or between these participants with schizophrenia and their carers, or between carers and nurses. Many of the participants' self-identified needs were not met. A new attitude displaying reluctance about a caregiving role may be emerging.

Background and Purpose: Progressive cerebellar ataxia is a rare neurological condition characterised by uncoordinated movement, and impaired speech articulation. Rehabilitation and physiotherapy in particular, form the cornerstone of healthcare intervention. Little qualitative research has been undertaken to understand the subjective experience of this complex condition. This study explored the experience of progressive cerebellar ataxia, physiotherapy and physiotherapy services from the perspective of people living with this condition. Method: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis underpinned this inductive qualitative enquiry. Twelve people with a progressive cerebellar ataxia participated in semi-structured interviews. All participants had some experience of physiotherapy. Interviews were transcribed. A case by case idiographic analysis was undertaken followed by a cross case analysis. Findings: Five super-ordinate themes were identified. ‘The embodied experience of progressive cerebellar ataxia’ emphasised the foregrounding of the body, and the disruption of the skilful interaction between body and world. ‘Identity, stigma and disrupted embodiment in public spaces and places’ encapsulated how participants made sense of actual and perceived stigma and discrimination. ‘Lifeworld meets biomedicine: a complex juxtaposition’ described participants’ problematic relationships with healthcare practitioners and their disease-centric world. ‘Wresting control in the face of uncertain and changing forces’ portrayed participants’ attempts to understand and reinterpret their condition on their own terms. ‘Exercise: a multifaceted contributor to managing life with ataxia’ captured the meaning of exercise and physical activity. One over-arching theme, ‘Retaining a homelike way of being-in-the-world’, cautiously indicated that whilst participants described ‘unhomelike’ lifeworlds (uncomfortable and disturbing); they simultaneously held onto, and sometimes realised, the possibility of ‘homecoming’, for example through the generation of new modes of belonging. Conclusion: This study provided a detailed, phenomenological account of the lived experience of progressive cerebellar ataxia. New insights were developed that have the capacity to inform not only physiotherapy practice but also other healthcare disciplines. New avenues for future research were also identified.

My dissertation develops and defends a broadly Kantian account of perceptual experience. I call this account structuralism. Put briefly, the account holds that perceptual experience has a structure that is the manifestation of its priori content. I defend this account by showing that it provides a unified framework for understanding perceptual intentionality.I develop and defend structuralism by defending three theses. The first thesis is phenomenological. According to this thesis, perceptual experience has proprietary perceptual phenomenal intentionality only if it has a unity structure. I explicate the idea of the unity structure of experience in the process of defending this thesis. The second thesis is epistemic. Put roughly, this thesis holds that perceptual experience provides reasons for perceptual beliefs only if it has a priori content. I develop an account of the a priori content of perceptual experience in the process of defending this thesis. The third thesis unifies the phenomenological and the epistemic theses. According to this thesis, the dynamical unity structure of perceptual experience is the phenomenological manifestation of its a priori content. These three these, in conjunction with some plausible ideas provide a systematic account of perceptual intentionality.

This qualitative research study explored the perceived experiences of doing science with an artistic spirit through the voices of living scientists who also engage in the arts. The purpose was to understand how accomplished scientists who engage in the arts make sense out of their experience of doing science and to gain the scientists’ perspectives on the context of their experience. Four highly able scientists (ages 31-61) with expertise in their field who also self-identified as actively engaged in the fine arts were given a voice on the following issues: 1) What are your perceived experiences of doing science? As such, what can we infer about the role of the arts in doing science? 2) Based on personal experiences, are there implications for the integration of the arts and sciences in education? Through hermeneutic phenomenological methodology using thematic analysis, four major themes emerged: 1) Risking Success in a Scientific Vocation; 2) Feeling Healthy through the Arts (Satisfying an Inner Drive; Coping in a Stressful World); 3) Gaining and Giving Different Perspectives through the Arts (Complementary Tools of Perception; Complementary Processes of Perception); 4) Feeling Connected to Something More through the Arts. Each theme alluded to some aspect of aesthetic experience or extracognition, emphasizing the role of the arts in attaining such experiences. Educational implications are discussed in light of aesthetic experience, extracognition, and also interdisciplinary education in today’s context of science education.

Disertacijoje tyrinėjamos kūniškumo ir intersubjektyvumo plotmės bei jų sąsajos. Intersubjektyvumas disertacijoje analizuojamas žmogaus mąstymo atvirumo kitybei ir Kito svetimumo pažinimo galimybės šviesoje. Kūniškumas apmąstomas kaip žmogaus buvimo pasaulyje perspektyva, atliekamas neobjektyvizuojantis kūniškumo ir su juo susijusių reiškinių tyrimas. Analizuojama, kaip tarpusavyje susijusios intersubjektyvumo ir kūniškumo plotmės, ir ką ši sąsaja byloja. Disertacijos tyrimo tikslas – tyrinėjant intersubjektyvumo, interkūniškumo plotmes bei jų sąsajas, atskleisti intersubjektyvumo kilmę įvairialypėse kitybės patirtyse, kūniškumo fenomeno specifiškumą ir abiejų šių plotmių saitus bei abipusę jų priklausomybę kaip interkūniškumą. Disertacijoje naudojama dvejopa tyrimo strategija: analizuojami filosofų tekstai, pagrindinį dėmesį sutelkiant į fenomenologinę tradiciją atstovaujančių autorių tekstus, ir nuolat atsigręžiama į patirtinį aprašomų fenomenų lauką. Disertaciją sudaro įvadas, trys dalys, išvados ir literatūros sąrašas. Disertacijos struktūrą lėmė išsikelto tyrimo tikslo įgyvendinimas: interubjektyvumo tyrimas atveda prie kūniškumo plotmės, o pastarosios tyrimas galiausiai atveria naują intersubjektyvumo aspektą – interkūniškumą, kuris, kaip abiejų plotmių sąsaja, yra tyrinėjamas paskutinėje dalyje. / There are explored interconnections between corporeality and intersubjectivity in this thesis. Intersubjectivity is reflected in the light of openness of person’s thinking to otherness and in the light of Other’s alliance for possibility of recognition. Corporeality is perceived as a perspective of human being in the world; the research on the non-objective corporeality is being carried out along with connection to phenomena. It is being considered how fields of corporeality and intersubjectivity interconnect together and what this bond tells to us. The aim of this thesis is to reveal, while analyzing fields of intersubjectivity and corporeality, the origin of intersubjectivity in experiences of various alterations, the particularity of corporeality and the intersections of both fields in the intercorporeality. In this thesis the dual research strategy is used: the philosophical texts are being analyzed (the major attention is directed to those texts of the authors, which are represented by the phenomenological tradition) and there is a constant turning back to the experience descriptions of phenomena. The thesis consists of the introduction, three sections, conclusion and the list of literature used. The structure of the thesis is predetermined by the fulfillment of the aim set: the research of intersubjectivity leads to the field of corporeality, and the investigation of the latter finally opens up the new aspect of intersubjectivity – intercorporeality, which as the... [to full text]

There are explored interconnections between corporeality and intersubjectivity in this thesis. Intersubjectivity is reflected in the light of openness of person’s thinking to otherness and in the light of Other’s alliance for possibility of recognition. Corporeality is perceived as a perspective of human being in the world; the research on the non-objective corporeality is being carried out along with connection to phenomena. It is being considered how fields of corporeality and intersubjectivity interconnect together and what this bond tells to us. The aim of this thesis is to reveal, while analyzing fields of intersubjectivity and corporeality, the origin of intersubjectivity in experiences of various alterations, the particularity of corporeality and the intersections of both fields in the intercorporeality. In this thesis the dual research strategy is used: the philosophical texts are being analyzed (the major attention is directed to those texts of the authors, which are represented by the phenomenological tradition) and there is a constant turning back to the experience descriptions of phenomena. The thesis consists of the introduction, three sections, conclusion and the list of literature used. The structure of the thesis is predetermined by the fulfillment of the aim set: the research of intersubjectivity leads to the field of corporeality, and the investigation of the latter finally opens up the new aspect of intersubjectivity – intercorporeality, which as the... [to full text] / Disertacijoje tyrinėjamos kūniškumo ir intersubjektyvumo plotmės bei jų sąsajos. Intersubjektyvumas disertacijoje analizuojamas žmogaus mąstymo atvirumo kitybei ir Kito svetimumo pažinimo galimybės šviesoje. Kūniškumas apmąstomas kaip žmogaus buvimo pasaulyje perspektyva, atliekamas neobjektyvizuojantis kūniškumo ir su juo susijusių reiškinių tyrimas. Analizuojama, kaip tarpusavyje susijusios intersubjektyvumo ir kūniškumo plotmės, ir ką ši sąsaja byloja. Disertacijos tyrimo tikslas – tyrinėjant intersubjektyvumo, interkūniškumo plotmes bei jų sąsajas, atskleisti intersubjektyvumo kilmę įvairialypėse kitybės patirtyse, kūniškumo fenomeno specifiškumą ir abiejų šių plotmių saitus bei abipusę jų priklausomybę kaip interkūniškumą. Disertacijoje naudojama dvejopa tyrimo strategija: analizuojami filosofų tekstai, pagrindinį dėmesį sutelkiant į fenomenologinę tradiciją atstovaujančių autorių tekstus, ir nuolat atsigręžiama į patirtinį aprašomų fenomenų lauką. Disertaciją sudaro įvadas, trys dalys, išvados ir literatūros sąrašas. Disertacijos struktūrą lėmė išsikelto tyrimo tikslo įgyvendinimas: interubjektyvumo tyrimas atveda prie kūniškumo plotmės, o pastarosios tyrimas galiausiai atveria naują intersubjektyvumo aspektą – interkūniškumą, kuris, kaip abiejų plotmių sąsaja, yra tyrinėjamas paskutinėje dalyje.

This thesis focuses on exploring figure-ground within the amorphous suburban green space of Calgary, Alberta. It is an edgeless prairie city, flooded with unused space and tethered by freeways that stretch toward the infinite horizon beyond the mountains. The incessant need to own and parcel nature has created a landscape of excess where both city and nature are a blur at the edge of our distracted vision. Using expanded defi nitions of figure-ground as a design methodology, this thesis attempts to better understand this paradox and to act in its middle ground. Articulating a heterotopia between the ideal with the real, the public and the private, the natural and the artificial, this thesis explores a new imaginative space, delicately but firmly tethered to suburban ground and its elusive horizon. The results manifest in unexpected geometries on a thin strip of park between a backyard and a freeway in Calgary.

This research seeks to understand how public police officers phenomenologically construct and conceptualize their occupational role. Most research has overlooked officers’ intimate constructions of reality. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by presenting an inductive analysis of how police officers define their role, capturing officers’ intimate constructions of their life-world, while acknowledging the contradictions and tensions that characterize this role construct. My interview data indicates that officers define their role in terms of an ideal construct that is oftentimes at odds with their lived reality. Moreover, the data suggests that there is a discontinuity between officers’ definition of reality, the nature of their lived experienced, and the institutionalized definitions of reality espoused by the media, the public and the courts which, ultimately, fosters feelings of powerlessness among the officers. I conclude with discussion about the implications of holding onto this role construct and offer potential policy initiatives.

There exist at present a broad range of environmental challenges, and there are strong and varied movements seeking to take action on these issues in a range of ways. What is deeply contested, however, is how these environmental problems should be framed, and through what means solutions ought to be developed. At the heart of these questions is the need to critically evaluate dominant political framings that seek to contain and manage, rather than engage, these ecological challenges. What is required instead is the development of viable ecopolitical practices that are able to generate practicable solutions while retaining the capacity to grow, develop, and sustain life. In addressing the challenge of theorizing such a viable ecopolitics, I work to productively combine phenomenologically-informed understandings of place with an Arendtian formulation of the conditions of political life in a way that can help to create inhabited ecological spaces of appearance. Such spaces can offer the potential to respectfully include ecological considerations in political decision-making, to foster an acknowledgement and valuing of the situatedness of particular political actions, and to open up discursive and interpretive possibilities while maintaining this openness through sustained political negotiation. In order to explore the possibilities and potential implications of such an ecopolitical space, I begin by outlining what I understand to be the current ecopolitical challenge and its associated problematic inclusive and exclusive dynamics. I move on to offer a possible response to this ecopolitical challenge through an exploration of particular characteristics of place experience and the potential for phenomenological views of place to gather various elements of the more-than-human world into an arena of common engagement or appearance. Critically examining current state-centric political framings, and their inability to adequately meet this ecopolitical challenge, I appeal instead to a richer and more dynamic Arendtian formulation of political life. Finally I work to develop an understanding of how this expanded conception of the political can be combined with phenomenological understandings of place to begin to create vibrant and creative ecopolitical spaces in practice. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2008-10-03 10:40:41.455

No description available.