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Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 315-329).

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Mental illness is an issue of concern to the general community, and is a major focus of professions such as psychology. Such professions demand extensive education and training, with the aim to develop a scientific understanding of mental illness that is portrayed in contrast to socially shared knowledge, or social representations. However, some aspects of these social representations may persist in conjunction with the development of scientific knowledge. The current study used a multimethodological approach to elucidate how such social representations may be transformed or modified by relevant education in psychology. Psychology students, non-psychology students and clinical psychologists participated in the current study to assess groups at different levels of psychology education and training. Four forms of data collection were used as part of a multimethodological approach. Intraindividual methods focused on the use of repertory grids and word associations to explore responses to the mentally ill as well as other relevant individuals such as the physically ill and mental health professionals. Inter-individual methods focused on social interaction in response to a case vignette of an individual with a mental disorder and group discussion within the educational setting. Several core themes described in previous research were identified consistently across different groups and different methodologies. Negative emotion, such as distress and sadness, impaired functioning, and the need for assistance were commonly used as indicators of mental health problems. One of the most prominent themes, however, was the notion of difference and distance. The mentally ill person was consistently differentiated, particularly from the self, even when the label of mentally ill was not imposed. The importance of the self was especially evident, acting as a means to define normality and difference. Several differences were also noticeable between different levels of education. A changing representation was evident from understandings of the mentally ill as crazy, viewed in a more stereotypical, negative and critical light, to representations of the mentally ill as sad, typified by greater sympathy. Social representations may therefore influence the social response to the mentally ill. Increasing education associated with scientific understandings was also characterised by exclusive technical discourse, a feature that may distance the psychologist from the general community. These findings are particularly relevant to how education affects social representations of mental illness and the mentally ill, as public campaigns seek to change community attitudes and understandings. In addition, there are particular implications for psychologists, in training or at work. While a primary goal for the psychologist is to empathise and connect with the individuals they are intending to assist, the emphasis on difference, in both social and scientific understandings of the mentally ill, may act as a barrier. The education and professional development of psychologists should incorporate an understanding of how such representations may influence professional practice.

Over the last few decades increasing rates of single mother households in the United States have triggered a national alarm over the effects of father absence on society. Father absence has been linked specifically to many of the problems plaguing black communities in the United States (e.g. poverty, low educational attainment, etc.) and as a result community and political leaders alike have consistently promoted responsible fatherhood practices as a way to address them. Although responsible fatherhood has received, in this context, a considerable amount of social attention, this attention has come intertwined with considerable political and moral rhetoric at all levels, making an idea invested with a wide variety of often-conflicting meanings and interests. <br>Given the paucity of academic studies giving voice to black fathers at the metaphoric "front line" of the national responsible fatherhood effort, this author used a variation of The Listening Guide (Gilligan 2003) to capture the narratives of four black fathers volunteering in a local responsible fatherhood program. Critical Social Representations Theory was used to frame the interaction between participants and the social contexts within which they are embedded, paying particular attention to participants' positioning in regard to social representations of race and gender. The widely different understandings of fatherhood present within the results point to fatherhood as a highly dynamic concept. Responsibility, on the other hand, was understood primarily as father presence, a middle class ideal that I argue is problematic given the realities of poor black fathers. Finally, all fathers tended to resist ideas of race as essence, even if in regard to gender all fathers adopted hegemonic positions endorsing views of gender difference as essential and as grounded in biology. Overall, results reveal complex portrayals of black fathers and their lives in communities where race, poverty, incarceration, drugs, violence, or family court all pose additional challenges to responsible fatherhood. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts / Clinical Psychology / PhD / Dissertation

This thesis presents a methodology for, and a case study of, the transformation of a social representation. The basis of the thesis is derived from an understanding of representations as a complex, dynamic, pluralistic phenomena that both exist in time and draw their form and meaning from past and present knowledge(s). We are guided by an interest in understanding how one might study a social representation that is already an entrenched social phenomena and how one might go about studying such an entity in a systematic fashion over time. We devised a method through which data can be aggregated over a bound, measurable unit of time and analyzed systematically into core and peripheral systems, allowing for the study of transformation of representation of long duration. Our methodology thus embeds social representations in particular historical, temporal moments in order to assess the structural formation of the representation. To assess the applicability of our methodology, we undertook a study of the social representation of physicians in televised medical dramas. The case of the physician was selected because of their existence as a known social phenomenon of long-duration with a prominent, continuous social presence. In our exploration of this case, we sought to answer two questions. The first asks, ‘what is the social representation of the physician as presented in televised medical dramas’, while the second queries is ‘if and how this social representation has changed over time’. We present thus not only the identification and transformation of a representation, that of the physician, but we also offer a methodology with which to do so. Our methodology demonstrates that exploring representations in the past as a way to study the transformation of social representation has potential to generate new knowledge about old things. While the study of newly emerging phenomena presents an ideal time to study social representations, the study of older representations offers the opportunity to better understand how knowledge is created, changed, and re-created.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Atualmente o tabagismo é considerado pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) como um fator de risco à vida a ser combatido com alta prioridade. No entanto, um processo maciço de propaganda e marketing parece ter sido historicamente decisivo para dar à prática de fumar uma representação positiva, através de uma associação sistemática entre o consumo de derivados do tabaco e o ideal de auto-imagem, como beleza, sucesso, saúde e liberdade. Essa transformação da imagem do cigarro de símbolo de status e saúde para uma séria doença a ser combatida evidencia a importância de analisar o tabagismo como um fenômeno psicossocial. O objetivo geral desta investigação consiste, portanto, em analisar comparativamente as representações sociais acerca do tabagismo construídas por grupos de indivíduos que se incluam diferencialmente nas condições de fumantes, ex-fumantes e não-fumantes. A pesquisa foi realizada com uma amostra de 500 (quinhentos) participantes residentes no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, de ambos os sexos, podendo pertencer às categorias de fumantes, ex-fumantes e não-fumantes. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio eletrônico, através da aplicação de um questionário, que em parte focaliza os dados sóciodemográficos dos participantes e, em outra, apresenta questões abertas e fechadas, incorporando ainda uma tarefa de evocação livre ante o termo indutor tabagismo ou prática de fumar. Os resultados da análise estrutural da representação social do tabagismo possibilitou verificar uma unanimidade quanto à significação controversa que é atribuída a ele. De um lado, verificam-se dimensões negativas desta prática, que são objetivadas pelas implicações e repercussões na saúde dos fumantes ativos e passivos e, por outro lado, existem as dimensões positivas, que representam as funções sociais do tabagismo, e as sensações prazerosas que ele provoca nos fumantes. Observa-se o processo de construção de uma nova representação social do tabagismo, onde é estabelecida uma conexão entre uma velha representação do tabagismo enquanto hábito de vida, estilo de vida, com uma nova representação, o tabagismo como vício/dependência, criando novos significados e imagens do objeto. Para concluir, vale ressaltar que as representações sociais dos ex-fumantes e dos não-fumantes mostraram-se bastantes próximas, ressaltando essencialmente os aspectos negativos do tabagismo, enquanto que a dos fumantes diferenciam-se um pouco ao apresentar elementos como prazer. Mas de modo geral, as representações não mostraram-se tão distintas, revelando que os próprios fumantes vivenciam uma relação muito antagônica com o tabagismo, manifestando em diversos momentos vontade de tornarem-se ex-fumantes. Parece que a representação do tabagismo como um hábito glamoroso não mais existe e que de fato a política de controle a ele vem obtendo êxito com suas medidas restritivas o que é algo extremamente positivo para nossa sociedade do ponto de vista da saúde pública. No entanto, na esfera social, parece necessário que essa atmosfera de temor e asco envolta no tabagismo seja pensada e refletida, para que não resulte em discriminação social com os tabagistas, tornando-os novamente vítima, mas de uma nova situação social / Currently smoking is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a risk factor for life to be fought with high priority. However, a massive process of advertising and marketing seems to have been historically decisive to give the practice of smoking a positive representation through a systematic association between consumption of tobacco and the ideal self-image, like beauty, success, health and freedom. This transformation of the image of the cigarette - a symbol of status and health for a serious disease to be combated - highlights the importance of analyzing smoking as a psychosocial phenomenon. The general objective of this research, therefore, is to comparatively analyze the social representations of smoking constructed by groups of individuals falling differentially under conditions of smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers. The survey was conducted with a sample of five hundred (500) participants residing in the State of Rio de Janeiro, of both sexes, may belong to the categories of smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers. Data collection was carried out by electronic means, through a questionnaire, which in part focuses on the socio-demographic data of the participants, and other, features open and closed questions, even incorporating a free recall task before the inducing term "smoking or practice of smoking. "The results of structural analysis of social representation smoking allowed check a controversial unanimous as to which meaning is assigned to it. On one hand, there are negative dimensions of this practice, which are targeted by the implications and repercussions on the health of active and passive smoking and, on the other hand, there are positive dimensions, representing the social functions of smoking, and the pleasurable sensations it causes in smokers. Observe the process of building a new social representation of smoking, where a connection between a representation of the old smoking habit while living, lifestyle, with a new representation, as smoking addiction / dependency is established, creating new meanings and object images. To conclude, it is worth mentioning that the social representations of ex-smokers and non-smokers showed up quite close, essentially highlighting the negative aspects of smoking, while that of smokers differ slightly to adduce as pleasure. But generally speaking, the representations did not show up as distinct, revealing that smokers themselves experiencing a very antagonistic relationship with smoking, manifesting at different times will become ex-smokers. It seems that the representation of smoking as a glamorous habit that no longer exists and indeed politics of control he has achieved success with its restrictive measures - which is extremely positive for our society from the standpoint of public health. However, in the social sphere, it seems necessary that this atmosphere of fear and loathing wrapped in tobacco is reflected and thought, that will not result in discrimination on social smokers, making them victims again, but in a new social situation

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-03-26Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:12:47Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 cervellinifilho_a_me_prud.pdf: 663319 bytes, checksum: b388f4f3030ee43690d37d86bfb9a113 (MD5) / Secretaria Estadual de Educação / Este trabalho está vinculado à linha de pesquisa políticas públicas, organização escolar e formação de professores. Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo envolvendo um grupo de professores de uma escola da rede pública do Estado de São Paulo, situada na cidade de Presidente Prudente. O objetivo principal da pesquisa foi identificar as representações sociais desenvolvidas por esses professores sobre o projeto pedagógico e, mais especificamente o projeto pedagógico da escola, para o aprofundamento do significado deste importante documento na instituição escolar. Partindo da Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional, nº. 9.394 de 20/12/1996, que estabelece que as escolas devam “elaborar e executar” seu projeto pedagógico procuramos investigar, pela utilização da teoria das representações sociais, como os professores, sujeitos de nossa pesquisa constroem representações sobre o seu trabalho e o ambiente escolar. Esse processo é caracterizado por uma dialética, ou seja, pensam e produzem representações construídas por outros indivíduos dos grupos aos quais pertencem, reelaborando-as e partilhando-as novamente num movimento infinito de recebimento, processamento, construção/reconstrução de significados sobre a realidade social partilhada. A partir do levantamento de dados coletados por meio dos instrumentos de pesquisa utilizados: questionário, entrevista semi-estruturada, utilização do software ALCESTE e grupo de discussão, os professores demonstraram um distanciamento que ocorre entre o projeto formal, que está no papel, e aquele que realmente ocorre no cotidiano escolar. Pôde-se constatar que o sistema oficial de ensino muitas vezes colabora para que as propostas feitas com base na legislação não sejam cumpridas integralmente. Ficou evidenciada a contribuição que o projeto pedagógico pode representar... / This work is linked to the line of research in public policies, school organization and teacher training. This is a qualitative study involving a group of teachers from a school in São Paulo state, located in Presidente Prudente. The main objective of the research was to identify the social representations developed by these teachers who are teaching things from the project, and more specifically the school project, to deep the meaning of this important document in school. Under the Act, the guidelines and bases for National Education, No. 9,394 of 20/12/1996, which establishes that schools must develop and implement the pedagogic project, we tried to investigate, by the use of the theory of social representations, such as teachers, subjects of our research who construct representations about their work and the environment school and the process is characterized by a dialectic, or they think and produce representations built by other individuals of the groups to which they belong to, doing them and sharing them again in an infinite movement of receiving, processing, construction / reconstruction of meanings about on a shared social reality. From the survey data collected by the instruments used to search: questionnaire, semi-structured interview, use of the software ALCESTE and discussion in group, the teachers demonstrated a gap that occurs between the formal project, which is on paper, and that that happens in everyday school. It was noted that the official system of education often collaborates to the proposals made on the basis of the legislation are not met in full. It was highlighted the contribution that the project could represent, and the possibility of collective participation that should be expanded, which a decade ago was unthinkable in public the schools. This finding, according to the teachers, enables a new type of organization of school work, which contributes to the...(Complete abstract, click electronic access below)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Atualmente o tabagismo é considerado pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) como um fator de risco à vida a ser combatido com alta prioridade. No entanto, um processo maciço de propaganda e marketing parece ter sido historicamente decisivo para dar à prática de fumar uma representação positiva, através de uma associação sistemática entre o consumo de derivados do tabaco e o ideal de auto-imagem, como beleza, sucesso, saúde e liberdade. Essa transformação da imagem do cigarro de símbolo de status e saúde para uma séria doença a ser combatida evidencia a importância de analisar o tabagismo como um fenômeno psicossocial. O objetivo geral desta investigação consiste, portanto, em analisar comparativamente as representações sociais acerca do tabagismo construídas por grupos de indivíduos que se incluam diferencialmente nas condições de fumantes, ex-fumantes e não-fumantes. A pesquisa foi realizada com uma amostra de 500 (quinhentos) participantes residentes no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, de ambos os sexos, podendo pertencer às categorias de fumantes, ex-fumantes e não-fumantes. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio eletrônico, através da aplicação de um questionário, que em parte focaliza os dados sóciodemográficos dos participantes e, em outra, apresenta questões abertas e fechadas, incorporando ainda uma tarefa de evocação livre ante o termo indutor tabagismo ou prática de fumar. Os resultados da análise estrutural da representação social do tabagismo possibilitou verificar uma unanimidade quanto à significação controversa que é atribuída a ele. De um lado, verificam-se dimensões negativas desta prática, que são objetivadas pelas implicações e repercussões na saúde dos fumantes ativos e passivos e, por outro lado, existem as dimensões positivas, que representam as funções sociais do tabagismo, e as sensações prazerosas que ele provoca nos fumantes. Observa-se o processo de construção de uma nova representação social do tabagismo, onde é estabelecida uma conexão entre uma velha representação do tabagismo enquanto hábito de vida, estilo de vida, com uma nova representação, o tabagismo como vício/dependência, criando novos significados e imagens do objeto. Para concluir, vale ressaltar que as representações sociais dos ex-fumantes e dos não-fumantes mostraram-se bastantes próximas, ressaltando essencialmente os aspectos negativos do tabagismo, enquanto que a dos fumantes diferenciam-se um pouco ao apresentar elementos como prazer. Mas de modo geral, as representações não mostraram-se tão distintas, revelando que os próprios fumantes vivenciam uma relação muito antagônica com o tabagismo, manifestando em diversos momentos vontade de tornarem-se ex-fumantes. Parece que a representação do tabagismo como um hábito glamoroso não mais existe e que de fato a política de controle a ele vem obtendo êxito com suas medidas restritivas o que é algo extremamente positivo para nossa sociedade do ponto de vista da saúde pública. No entanto, na esfera social, parece necessário que essa atmosfera de temor e asco envolta no tabagismo seja pensada e refletida, para que não resulte em discriminação social com os tabagistas, tornando-os novamente vítima, mas de uma nova situação social / Currently smoking is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a risk factor for life to be fought with high priority. However, a massive process of advertising and marketing seems to have been historically decisive to give the practice of smoking a positive representation through a systematic association between consumption of tobacco and the ideal self-image, like beauty, success, health and freedom. This transformation of the image of the cigarette - a symbol of status and health for a serious disease to be combated - highlights the importance of analyzing smoking as a psychosocial phenomenon. The general objective of this research, therefore, is to comparatively analyze the social representations of smoking constructed by groups of individuals falling differentially under conditions of smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers. The survey was conducted with a sample of five hundred (500) participants residing in the State of Rio de Janeiro, of both sexes, may belong to the categories of smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers. Data collection was carried out by electronic means, through a questionnaire, which in part focuses on the socio-demographic data of the participants, and other, features open and closed questions, even incorporating a free recall task before the inducing term "smoking or practice of smoking. "The results of structural analysis of social representation smoking allowed check a controversial unanimous as to which meaning is assigned to it. On one hand, there are negative dimensions of this practice, which are targeted by the implications and repercussions on the health of active and passive smoking and, on the other hand, there are positive dimensions, representing the social functions of smoking, and the pleasurable sensations it causes in smokers. Observe the process of building a new social representation of smoking, where a connection between a representation of the old smoking habit while living, lifestyle, with a new representation, as smoking addiction / dependency is established, creating new meanings and object images. To conclude, it is worth mentioning that the social representations of ex-smokers and non-smokers showed up quite close, essentially highlighting the negative aspects of smoking, while that of smokers differ slightly to adduce as pleasure. But generally speaking, the representations did not show up as distinct, revealing that smokers themselves experiencing a very antagonistic relationship with smoking, manifesting at different times will become ex-smokers. It seems that the representation of smoking as a glamorous habit that no longer exists and indeed politics of control he has achieved success with its restrictive measures - which is extremely positive for our society from the standpoint of public health. However, in the social sphere, it seems necessary that this atmosphere of fear and loathing wrapped in tobacco is reflected and thought, that will not result in discrimination on social smokers, making them victims again, but in a new social situation