The subject of spirituality is descriptive, comprehensive, transformative, and interdisciplinary. This study is about the spirituality of Kikuyu PCEA (Presbyterian Church of East Africa) pastors in Nairobi. This research seeks to find expressions and meanings of Christian spirituality of the research context. Thus, the concrete aims of this research are: (1) to understand the complex spiritual/religious/cultural world of Kikuyu pastors of the Presbyterian Church in Nairobi; (2) to study biblical and historical spirituality in order to find biblical and Western-historical spiritual perspectives; (3) to have critical hermeneutical dialogue between narratives, different cultural/religious traditions, biblical/Western-historical spiritual perspectives, and African theological perspectives with a view to finding strategies for transformation of the research participants, churches in Africa, and African society at large. To achieve the aforementioned aims of this research, a research paradigm was employed which is comprised of postfoundationalism, practical theology, narrative, and social constructionism. Postfoundationalism provided theological positioning; practical theological process laid a framework of the research as the main research methodology; narratives generated essential experiences for the research; social constructionism provided a method with which to form the realities socially which would have a relevance to the context. Thick questions were formulated from the following studies: the narratives of the research participants, African (Kikuyu) cultural/religious traditions, Christianity’s influences on the research context, and the socio-economic-political phenomena of the Kenyan society. The questions were: (1) Would mission Christianity including the Presbyterian Church of East Africa continue to be an effective form of Christianity in Kenya and among the Kikuyu?; (2) What is the relationship between charismatic spirituality and the contextual spirituality of East Africa?; (3) How can spirituality shape and influence the socio-economic-political context more than it being influenced by the context?; (4) What would the biblical and historical spirituality suggest to the spiritualities of the research participants? In regards to biblical/historical spiritualities, the spiritualities of both Old and New Testament and each historical period were unique, and the spirituality of each period was developed distinctively by the needs of the time. Then the fusion of horizons between the research context and biblical/historical spiritualities turned out to be a valuable process for the making of the final strategies for transformation. The strategies for transformation reflect the essential elements of African Christian spirituality, which can be applied to the African socio-religious context beyond the scope of the current research arena. Christian spirituality in the 21st century Africa demands African expression and identity whether it means contextualisation, liberation, or reconstruction. Structures, governance, forms, and expressions of the Christianity of the past century need to be re-evaluated for the formation of authentic African Christian spirituality. African society faces tremendous challenges and pressures providing Christianity with both an unprecedented privilege and obligation to impact African society with the message of love and hope. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

The dissertation primarily involves an exploration of art-like research possibilities via symbolic constructivism, concerning research into a therapeutic process from the position of a beginning therapist. Symbolic constructivism within the broader framework of artistic inquiry forms the methodological paradigm. Symbolic constructivism is regarded as a social constructionist research method, and entails using art-like formats in creating a symbol representing the issue being researched. Fiction writing is thereby used in creating a story as a co-constructed symbol, exploring what happened during a therapy process involving issues regarding trauma and dissociation that I undertook with a female client. The client acts as co-researcher in co-writing and editing the story's content, style and tone. The study also represents my reality in terms of understanding theoretical constructs from epistemologically diverse paradigms, therapeutic processes, doing research and writing a dissertation as it is punctuated at a specific moment in time. As a subtext the dissertation may also be described as a narrative about becoming - becoming a therapist, being a person, and the interface between these two (amongst other) selves. In the dissertation, I therefore hope to present a process-oriented account of personal therapeutic development as well. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted

Much current literature on management and strategy still describes strategy work as a linear, top-down, management-based, rational, logical, structured and planned change activity with clear and predictable goals. It is described as an activity in which individual managers are addressing key questions and implementing an important, management-based plan. By using the right tools and techniques, skilled managers can transform plans into reality through good leadership and systematic rollout. This way of thinking about leadership is based on an understanding of leaders as rather powerful, knowing, heroic individuals who can stand outside of their organization to plan an ideal future, and who are equipped to make employees follow their instructions in order to reach desired goals. In this thesis I research into my experiences of what is happening in an organization, taking seriously the experience of developing a new strategy. It is an organization working in the public sector in Denmark which is right now trying to find a strategy and its way through a series of 'wicked problems' not easily handled. Through the use of autobiographical narrative-based inquiry and a focus on everyday local interactions between people working together, I research into what is 'really' going on in strategy work. Drawing on the theory of complex responsive processes of relating and reflexivity, I describe and analyse the interactions in our leadership team's efforts to change the organization's strategy. In doing so themes of power, power games and power differentials, politicking and some of the paradoxes in management - such as inclusion/exclusion, local interaction and global patterning, unpredictable predictability, and conflict and cooperation - are investigated. The complex responsive process perspective views organizations as patterns of interaction and conversations between people working together. By analogy from complex adaptive systems models, sociology, psychology and philosophy, it argues that generalizable population-wide patterns emerge in unpredictable ways through exactly these local complex interaction and interplays of people's intentions, thoughts and actions. This leads me to propose generalizable new contributions to knowledge about strategy work. Examining my own experience, I problematize the 'heroic', individualistic, view of what leaders do when working with strategy, preferring to see strategy as a co-created activity that emerges in complex and paradoxical interactions between people in the organization, in the leadership team, in daily cooperation with employees, and through the interface with customers. The understanding of co-creation here being that together we co-create our social life and our social life is co-creating us, our selves, our personalities at the same time. This inseparable paradox of the individual and the group, of the one and the many is investigated. Finally, I suggest that strategy work is inseparable from the everyday messy conflictual power games of organizational life, and that leaders - through actively engaging in ongoing conversations and co-creating meaning - participate in developing new understandings of identity and culture. In talking with one another about what it is we are doing, in influencing and being influenced, and reflecting on this, we are already changing what is going on; this itself is strategy work. The narratives show that to work with strategy effectively, we need to negotiate our intentions in convincing ways through forming strong power alliances. Taking experience seriously also demonstrates a close connection between power, ethics and action, and that it is impossible to decide the 'good' thing to do before acting. Developing reflexivity, both as an individual and in collaborative work, is a prerequisite for working in an ethical way, aware of our mutual interdependence. Finally, the thesis describes some of the consequences of taking experience seriously as a strategy. It has changed the way our staff understand what they are doing, and is beginning to change the kind of assignments we take on, and how we deal with them. One spin-off has been producing two books (with more to come). We also have new and more reflexive contacts in business and knowledge-creating environments, such as universities and business schools. The thesis shows a number of results from working with strategy in this way. This indicates that the act of taking your experience seriously in itself implies a kind of transforming causality, and hereby a strategy of change.

This study contains an analysis of images through a gender perspective of three history text books for middle schools. The aim of this study is to clarify if the images reflect a gender power structure where men are superior women. The answered questions were: do women and men appear as often in the pictures of the books? How are women and men portrayed from a gender perspective in the pictures? What possible consequences could the portrayal of men and women cause the education and pupils? Our theoretical perspective is Yvonne Hirdman’s gender theory, Vivien Burr’s social constructionism and Ferdinand de Saussure’s and Roland Barthes’s theory about semiotics. Our methods were a quantitative content analysis combined with a qualitative semiotic analysis of images. The quantitative content analysis showed that there is an overrepresentation of men in the pictures of the books. The qualitative semiotic analysis showed that men are portrayed as main characters in the pictures. This by given more space by positions, accessories and activities. Women on the other hand is portrayed as passive and to some extent as accessories to the men. The women seem to rule in the sphere of children and home, while men seem to be absent in these same areas. Women and men are also physically separated on the images which makes the gender power structure even more clear.

The ever-changing demands of working life pose considerable challenges to higher education. The literature indicates that traditional forms of university instruction positioned a deficit model of teaching and learning, which is embedded in a logical positivist paradigm, as authoritative in the production of ‘experts’ who possess legitimate knowledge. However, in professional practice, health practitioners often deal with ill-defined problems. If health practitioners are to be prepared properly for their future careers, the development of reflective thinking should be an integral component of professional education courses. The aim of this study was to explore the public narratives on existing teaching and learning practices in higher education, orthotics/prosthetics and psychology, and to examine the authority of these narratives in the unfolding stories of students and the facilitator in a pilot applied psychology course designed for orthotist/prosthetist professionals. There is a paucity of psychological research in orthotic/prosthetic practice and further research in this domain is needed, particularly from a qualitative approach. A story map was used to integrate the methodology of personal experience methods and narrative analysis into one model that represents the voice of public and private narratives in a specific temporality of past, present and future. The analysis of public and private texts revealed the narrative themes of teaching and learning, co-constructing knowledge, reflection-on-practice, disability, community of concern and agency. A critical psychology and social constructionist approach is proposed to facilitate reflective clinical practice in a psychology module for orthotics and prosthetics. In a collaborative learning community, the lived experiences, knowledge, skills, and desires that invited orthotist/prosthetists into this helping field are honoured. In addition, they are encouraged to reflect on the value of professional interventions by using pragmatic criteria of whether an approach fits or is useful for a client, rather than relying on some abstract notion of ‘truth’. / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Psychology / unrestricted

Migrant workers in the Deciduous Fruit Industry are part of the marginalised communities in South Africa. They are often voiceless in the communities they find themselves. They are historically displaced, often prone to xenophobia and very vulnerable in terms of HIV. Not only do they have a high infection rate but they also struggle in isolation to carry the burden of HIV and AIDS affection or infection. They will face double jeopardy when a partner becomes ill, in the homeland and they have to continue with employment. The main aim of this research was to reach a holistic understanding through interdisciplinary investigation. The important question that I aim to answer is; “What is the experience of God in the lives of persons affected or infected by HIV and AIDS.” I have looked at Postfoundationalism and the Seven Movements as proposed by Muller to present the research undertaken among migrant workers with HIV and AIDS. The Practical Theology, which I explore, develops out of a very specific praxis, HIV and AIDS. I have also made used of Transversal Rationality as a practical way of doing interdisciplinary work with the stories of my co-researchers affected with HIV AIDS as a case study. I understand that Christian belief has its own integrity, which is exclusive, but if valid, is vital to be able to incorporate the different dimensions of our modern practise to give it the maximum level of meaning and significance. I hope to demonstrate this possibility through my thesis. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Med hjälp av kritisk diskursanalys har denna studie utforskat hur 1177 Vårdguiden på sin hemsida skriver om ångest- och depressionsrelaterade tillstånd. Syftet med studien är att utifrån tesen att institutioner och samhällskulturen i stort präglas av en patologisk syn på psykiskt lidande belysa, analysera och problematisera om, och i så fall hur, psykiskt lidande genom språkbruket konstrueras och reproduceras som något sjukt och icke önskvärt. Detta har genomförts utifrån ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv med hjälp av Faircloughs tredimensionella modell som kompletterats med teorier kring medikalisering. Analysen resulterade i två identifierade diskurser som benämns “En del av livet” och “Du behöver vård”. Trots att diskurserna inom vissa avseenden har gemensamma drag påvisar de tydliga skillnader i vilken omfattning de normaliserar respektive patologiserar de olika tillstånden. Vidare visar studiens resultat att 1177 kan betraktas som en hegemonisk diskurs gällande psykisk ohälsa och klassificering av denna genom en bristande intertextualitet och återkommande hög grad av modalitet. / Using a critical discourse analysis, this study investigates how the Swedish organization 1177 Vårdguiden writes about anxiety- and depression related conditions. The purpose of this study is to illustrate, analyze and problematize if, and in that case how, mental suffering through the use of language is constructed and reproduced as something ill and undesirable, based on the thesis that institutions and the social culture are characterized by a pathological view of mental suffering. This has been carried out from a social constructionist perspective using Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, supplemented with theories about medicalization. The analysis resulted in two identified discourses named “Part of life” and “You need health care”. Although the discourses in some regards showed common features, they show clear differences to the extent that they normalize and pathologize the different conditions. Furthermore, the study’s results show that 1177 may be regarded as a hegemonic discourse when it comes to mental illness and its classification by the lack of intertextuality and recurrent high modality.

Syftet med denna studie är att studera medias framställning av kvinnors depression samt undersöka vilka konsekvenser detta eventuellt kan medföra ur ett genusperspektiv. Vårt urval består av gruppen kvinnor med ett särskilt fokus på hur media konstruerar bilden av den deprimerade kvinnan och hur de beskriver deras depression. Studien utgår utifrån kritisk diskursanalys. Det empiriska materialet utgörs av nyhetsartiklar av de två kvällstidningarna Aftonbladet och Expressen samt dagstidningen Svenska Dagbladet. Studien avgränsar sig till artiklar mellan åren 2013–2020. För analys av studiens empiriska material används Norman Faircloughs tredimensionella modell. Först använder vi oss av textanalys och diskursiv praktik för att studera empiriskt material och därigenom identifiera medias framställning av kvinnors depression. Sedan använder vi oss av social praktik för att undersöka vidare vilka eventuella konsekvenser medias framställning kan medföra. Vi har använt oss av tidigare forskning som belyser ökad medialisering, genus och depression samt media i förhållande till genus. Studiens teoretiska ramverk utgörs av genusteori och socialkonstruktivism. Media skapar och upprätthåller diskurser om kvinnors depression. Gruppen kvinnor framställs som en högriskgrupp för sjukdomen depression vilket medför ett individualiserat hälsoansvar. Överrepresentationen av kvinnor i medias diskurser om depression som av kvinnlig symtomatologi förklaras genom socialkonstruktivism och genusteori. Dess konsekvenser innebär dels ett fortsatt förtryck på grund av medias skapande och upprätthållande av diskurser. Men även en överdiagnostisering av kvinnors depression vilket resulterar i att mäns emotionella besvär förbises. Medias diskursiva makt har en stark påverkan på människors sociala förhållanden och världsuppfattningar. Medias bild av den deprimerade kvinnan upprätthåller maktstrukturer och könsnormer, vilket påverkar det kliniska arbetet. / The purpose of this study is to examine media’s depiction of women’s depression, and what consequences this may possibly have from a gender perspective. This study has a certain focus that consists of the group women and on how media constructs and the describes the image of the depressed woman. The study is based on the critical discourse analysis. Our empirical material consists of news articles by the two Swedish evening newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen, and the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. The study is limited to articles between the period 2013-2020. Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model is used for analysis of the study’s empirical material. At first, we used textual analysis and discursive practice to study our empirical material. Thereby we identified media’s depiction of women’s depression. Then we used the third dimension, social practice, to further examine what consequences media’s depiction possibly may have. We used previous research regarding the increased mediatization, gender and depression as well as media in relation to gender. The theoretical framework of the study consists of gender theory and social constructivism. Our study shows that media creates and maintains discourses on women’s depression. Women are depicted by media as a high-risk group concerning the disease depression. Media’s depiction of women’s depression results in an individualized health responsibility. The over-representation of women in media’s discourses on depression is described as female symptomatology, which is explained through social constructivism and gender theory. Media’s production and maintenance of discourses results in consequences as continued repression of women. It also results in an overdiagnosis of women’s depression, which leads to men’s emotional distress being overlooked. Media’s power through discourses has a strong impact on people’s social conditions and perceptions of the world. Media’s depictions of the depressed women lead to maintenance of structures and gender norms, which also affects clinical work.

This essay contains own collected material wherein seven religious women are interviewed. Theprincipal focus in this work is about god pronoun in relation to a social constructionist analyticalframe circling around androcentric language. In the research overview and in the theory section ofthis work you can find the feminist and social constructionist theories that represents thegroundwork of this essay. "To name god with masculine pronoun influence individuals and theirgodrepresentation" is my main hypothesis of this work. The social constructionist analytical frameof pronoun the interviewed women use proves my feminist point of view that androcentric languagepermeate the interviewing persons speech about god and their god representation. / Denna uppsats innehåller eget insamlat intervjumaterial där sju religiösa kvinnor intervjuats.Huvudfokus i arbetet kretsar kring gudspronomen med en socialkonstruktivistisk analys avandrocentriskt språk. Under forskningsöversikten och i teoriavsnittet presenteras mer utförligt defeministiska och socialkonstruktivistiska forskningsunderlag som använts till grund för arbetet. "Attbenämna gud med maskulina pronomen påverkar individer och deras gudsrepresentation" ärhuvudhypotesen till denna uppsats. Den socialkonstruktivistiska analysen av de pronomenintervjupersonerna använder samt hur de talar om gud bevisar min feministiska utgångspunkt attandrocentriskt språk genomsyrar de intervjuades tal om gud och gudsrepresentation.

Utopin har sedan århundranden tillbaka figurerat som tankemodell för det goda samhället. Tidigare som moderna sociologer har hävdat nyttan med ett utopiskt tankegods, särskilt som kritisk social teori med syfte att förändra människans sociala villkor. Senare forskning har visat på att element i science-fiction har ett praktiskt värde för flera aspekter av sociologiskt intresse, exempelvis inom organisationsutveckling, praktiskt lärande och modeller för hållbarhet. Men trots påvisad nytta har varken utopiska idéer eller modern forskning inom science-fiction fångat den sociologiska akademins intresse. I föreliggande studie utforskas anti-utopia eller dystopins potential som spekulativ sociologi, - en dystopisk social fantasi, i förhoppningen att nå nya insikter och perspektiv. Genom en tematisk analys av dystopisk litteratur påvisas att element i dystopiska narrativ kan användas inom sociologiska intressen i utvecklande syften, som avancerande analysmodeller eller som vägledning vid formulerandet av kritiska sociala teorier eller hypoteser. Vidare hävdas att analysmodeller innehållande både utopi och dystopi blir mer nyskapande, flexibla och progressiva, samt att de kan avancera den sociala fantasin genom att tillföra en alternativ form av riskbedömning.