This thesis was concerned with the psychological adjustment of 67 end-stage cancer patients, and three psychosocial variables considered to influence that adjustment: emotional support from spouse, positive meaning, and working models of attachment. Furthermore, this thesis was also concerned with the psychological adjustment of the patients' spouses, and the influence of emotional support from patient and working models of attachment on their adjustment. It was hypothesised that each of these psychosocial variables would directly influence the psychological adjustment of patients and spouses, measured using the negative affectivity scale of the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). Furthermore, it was hypothesised that emotional support would influence positive meaning, and working models of attachment would influence both emotional support and positive meaning. Variables were measured via paper and pencil self-report inventories, with the exception of positive meaning, where verbal responses to an open question were coded. Univariate analyses indicated an association between patients' and spouses' emotional support provided by one another and their psychological adjustment. Univariate results also showed that patients' positive meaning was related to patients' psychological adjustment, and that patients' working models of attachment involving higher levels of attachment anxiety were associated with patients' poorer psychological adjustment. All these individual associations remained statistically significant after three control variables related to the patients' physical condition were taken into account. In addition, univariate analyses indicated that attachment was associated with emotional support, and that emotional support was associated with positive meaning. Following univariate analyses, variables were integrated into one model for patients and another for spouses using path analyses. Results were generally consistent with the prior sets of analyses. However, patients' working models of attachment involving higher levels of attachment anxiety no longer had a direct effect on patients' psychological adjustment to statistically significant levels. Rather, the influence of the working models of attachment on patients' psychological adjustment was mediated by emotional support. In addition, patients' positive meaning no longer had a significant direct effect on patients' psychological adjustment. The insignificant path coefficients between attachment anxiety and psychological adjustment, and between positive meaning and psychological adjustment, were attributed to the large amount of variance in negative affect due to emotional support. In summary, this research indicates that emotional support given and received between patients and spouses is important to the psychological adjustment of each party. Furthermore, emotional support influences patients' ability to construe positive meaning in their illness, although positive meaning does not appear to be as critical to the psychological adjustment of patients as emotional support. Working models of attachment influence the psychological adjustment of patients primarily through their influence on emotional support.

This thesis reports on an ethnographic research project that explored the experiences and perspectives of a group of women in New Zealand higher education, including international and New Zealand students and partners of international students. The study had two aims. The first was to disrupt the inattention to gender and to students' partners and families in New Zealand international education research and policy. The second was to problematise Eurocentric assumptions of (predominantly Asian) international students' 'cultural difference', and of New Zealanders' homogenised sameness. The theoretical framework for the study was informed by a range of conceptual tools, including feminist, critical theory, post-structural, and postcolonial perspectives. In drawing on feminist perspectives, the study was driven by a concern with acknowledging the importance and value of women's lives, looking for women where they are absent from policy and analysis, and attending to the mechanisms through which some women's lives are rendered invisible in internationalised higher education. In considering these mechanisms and women's lives in relation to them the study also drew on post-structural notions of discourse, power, and agency. It explored how dominant discourses in internationalised higher education reveal and reproduce historically-grounded relations of power that are intentionally or unintentionally performed, subverted and/or resisted by women and those they encounter. Using Young's (1990, 2000) approach to critical theory, the study also considered alternative ways of constructing internationalised higher education that were suggested in women's accounts. As a critical feminist ethnography the study was shaped by my theoretical framework (above), critical literature on heterogeneous social groups, and feminist concerns with relationship, reciprocity and power in the research process. Fieldwork took place during 2005 and 2006 and involved two aspects: the establishment and maintenance of an intercultural group for women associated with a higher education institution, and 28 interviews with 20 women over two years. Interviewees were recruited through the group and included eight international students, nine New Zealand students and three women partners of international students. Study findings challenged the assumption that international and local students are distinct and oppositional groups. They also highlighted the importance of recognising the legitimate presence of international students' partners and accompanying family members at all levels in higher education. International and New Zealand women alike found the intercultural group a useful source of social and practical support and information, and a point of access to other sources of support and information. Women reflected on moving between many different kinds of living and learning contexts, highlighting the importance of: clear processes and pathways for accessing information and practical support when experiencing transition; teaching that is engaging, effective, and responsive; and opportunities to develop connections with other people both on and off campus. Rather than revealing clear patterns of difference or sameness across women, the study highlighted the importance of policy, research, teaching and support practices that are open and responsive to women's actual viewpoints and needs, and that neither re-entrench difference nor assume sameness.

<p>In addition to all our soldiers and officers who do military services abroad there are a lot of people who are affected by their choice to contribute, namely their next of kin. This report deals only with those who are next of kin to those who perform service abroad. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relatives' need for emotional and social support as well as practical and economical support. The main question is What kind of practical/economical and emotional/social support do close relatives require when a relative does military service abroad? The method used in this paper is a qualitative research interview. Interviews have been made with four women, who are next of kin to soldiers and officers who are or have been abroad for military services during the last two years. The result of this study is that all respondents have a need for emotional / social support linked to their partner’s deployment abroad; however, people require different types of support. Regarding practical / financial support the informants' needs differ, this is due to their different living situations.</p>

In addition to all our soldiers and officers who do military services abroad there are a lot of people who are affected by their choice to contribute, namely their next of kin. This report deals only with those who are next of kin to those who perform service abroad. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relatives' need for emotional and social support as well as practical and economical support. The main question is What kind of practical/economical and emotional/social support do close relatives require when a relative does military service abroad? The method used in this paper is a qualitative research interview. Interviews have been made with four women, who are next of kin to soldiers and officers who are or have been abroad for military services during the last two years. The result of this study is that all respondents have a need for emotional / social support linked to their partner’s deployment abroad; however, people require different types of support. Regarding practical / financial support the informants' needs differ, this is due to their different living situations.

The overall aim of this thesis was to describe patients’ and spouses’ experiences of suspected acute myocardial infarction in the pre-hospital phase. A descriptive survey study was conducted to identify various factors influencing patient delay in 381 patients with suspected myocardial infarction hospitalised at a Coronary Care Unit (I) and ambulance utilisation among 110 myocardial infarction patients (II). In order to obtain a deeper understanding of the myocardial infarction patients’ own conceptions about the event, an interview study with a phenomenographic approach was conducted with 15 strategically selected myocardial infarction patients (III), within 72 hours after admission to hospital. Finally, the pre-hospital experiences of 15 spouses of myocardial infarction patients were also studied through interviews with a phenomenographic approach, within 48 hours after the affected partner’s admittance to hospital (IV). The results showed that 59% of the patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction delayed &gt; 1 hour after onset of symptoms. The most common reasons given for delay in seeking hospital admittance were: (1) Did not consider the symptoms as to be severe enough that they warranted hospital care, (2) thought the symptoms to be temporary and that they would disappear, (3) the chest pain was more of a dull pain, (4) or, as one third of the patients chose to do, contacted the general practitioner instead of going directly to the hospital (I). Furthermore, as a first action, 59% consulted their spouse for advice about what to do henceforth. The most common reason for additional delay when the decision to go to hospital had already been taken was that the myocardial infarction patients stated that they were unaware of the advantages of a rapid decision-making process. Sixty percent went by ambulance, but it was the spouse (40%) or the personnel at the general practitioner’s office (32%) who called the emergency service number, rather than the patient him/her self (5%). The most frequently given reasons for not choosing ambulance, were that the patients did not perceive their symptoms as being serious enough to require ambulance transportation (43%), followed by that they had not thought about ambulance as an alternative at all (38%). As a third reason for not going by ambulance, the patients stated that it was unnecessary to call an ambulance when being affected by symptoms related to a myocardial infarction (26%). The patients who called an ambulance differed in some respects from those who went by private alternatives; patients with large infarctions (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) went by ambulance more frequently, as did patients suffering from nausea and severe chest pain (II). The patients expressed in the interviews how the interaction with others, described as the need for supportive environment, worries for the family and the utilisation of the health-care resources, was of great importance in the pre-hospital phase. Likewise, symptom awareness, with earlier experiences of a similar situation to compare with, denying the seriousness of the situation and the use of different self-care strategies, were important in order to manage the situation. Vulnerability, expressed as anxiety and a lack of control, also influenced the decision-making process in the pre-hospital phase (III). Spouses seemed to have a strong influence on the course of events when their partner suffered an acute myocardial infarction and it emerged from the interviews how the spouses in many cases were influenced into sharing the denial of the affected partner by respecting his/her independence. The spouses accepted the partner’s need for control; took earlier marital roles and experiences into account; restraining own emotions and seeking agreement with their partners, contributing to delay. However, being resourceful by sharing the experience; having knowledge; understanding the severity; being rational and consulting others when needed, seemed to have a positive influence on the decision time in the pre-hospital phase (IV). Conclusion: The reasons for delaying or not in the pre-hospital phase, as well as the reasons for utilising the ambulance services or not, varied considerably between individuals. Earlier experiences of MI did not influence what actions to take; instead patients’ feelings, emotional attitudes to MI symptoms, inadequate coping strategies, and spouses’ influences were important components in the pre-hospital phase.

Posttraumatic Growth (PTG), known as antithesis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Tedeschi, Park, &amp / Calhoun, 1998, p.3), has been highlighted in the literature as a positive outcome of the trauma.In the literature, environmental resources (e.g., social and familial support), individual resources (e.g., personality traits, socio-demographic variables), perception of the event (e.g., type of trauma, duration of trauma), cognitive processing (e.g. impact of event, religious participation), and coping (e.g. problem focused coping, emotion focused coping) were found as possible factors on the development of PTG. In the present study, a model to predict PTG in the patients suffering from myocardial infarction (MI / heart attack) and their spouses was tested on the basis of environmental and personal resources, the perception of the event and cognitive processing as latent variables. The model, developed by Schaefer and Moos (1998), was empirically analyzed for the first time with patients suffered from myocardial infarction and their spouses by structural equation model (SEM) using AMOS program. MI patients getting the treatment in various hospitals in the city of Bolu (N=151) and their spouses (N=137) completed the measures in 1.5-2 hours sessions. The analysis of the model with the MI patients&amp / #8217 / data revealed that both environmental resources and individual resources demonstrated indirect effects on PTG via the effect of the perception of the event, cognitive processing and coping. On the other hand, the analysis of the model for the spouses revealed that individual resources demonstrated indirect effects on PTG through the effect of the perception of the event, cognitive processing and coping while environmental resources did not show significant indirect effects on PTG.The findings were discussed in the context of recent theoretical models of PTG, shortcomings of the current study, clinical implications, and suggestions for future research.

More and more foreign spouses have been immigrating to Taiwan. The ¡§New Taiwan Children¡¨ are consequently expected to become the elites of Taiwan¡¦s next generation. The political education and learning in families, as well as the political attitude of the husband¡¦s family, will all influence the political attitude and national identity of foreign spouses and their children. Most of the dissertations regarding foreign spouses now, however, are focused on the life adaption and Chinese character recognition services for foreign spouses. Little effort has been made to explore their political attitudes. In this research, therefore, we focus our research on the participants of the Chinese-character Recognition Classes in 24 elementary and junior high schools in Kaohsiung City and probe their political attitude after attending the courses. In this paper, we will discuss the factors influencing the political attitudes of foreign spouses, particularly, their personal backgrounds (including nationality, language and education), family backgrounds of their husbands (e.g., the political party supported by their spouse and their perspectives on unification or independence), and social inclusion factors (for example, political-related discussions with neighbors and friends, community activities, participation in Chinese-character recognition classes or life adaptation-courses organized by the government, etc.) The ultimate purpose of the study is to determine whether innate factors (i.e., personal backgrounds) or environmental factors (i.e., the social factors) are more influential on their political attitudes. If environmental factors turn out to be more influential, we may expedite the social inclusion process through collaborative efforts between the government and private agencies. We will also incorporate in the ¡§conclusion¡¨ our recommendations for further facilitating social inclusion. It was found in the research process that, in terms of political inclusion, a significant level (P<.001) has been reached in four aspects including ¡§Evaluation of Government Performance¡¨, ¡§National Identity¡¨, ¡§Political Participation¡¨ and ¡§Political Efficacy¡¨. The correlation coefficients between social inclusion and political inclusion are, respectively, .370, .362, .187 and .270. It is therefore recommended that increasing the political participation of foreign spouses may be achieved by encouraging their social inclusion. The research results also show that, for foreign spouses with different language proficiency, there is a significant variance in the extent of social inclusion. On the average, more foreign spouses communicate with the families of their husbands in English, Mandarin or Fukienese, as compared with those communicating in the language of Thailand, Philippines or Indonesia. We suggest that the authorities should provide more subsidies/incentives to encourage foreign spouses to participate in language-training courses. The survey also shows that foreign spouses rarely attend the community activities or discuss with their friends, mainly because of language barriers. Improvement of language ability will be a motivating factor for their social inclusion. Foreign spouses seldom participate in community activities or in political discussions. The main reasons for this include busy with childcare or household chores, language problems or inadequate Chinese proficiency, which causes insufficient social inclusion. It is recommended that the government should provide subsidies/incentives to encourage their participation in community activities, including attending the life coach classes and Chinese-character Recognition Classes, etc. The research shows that foreign spouses with better Chinese proficiency are better prepared to participate in political activities. For example, they will find it easier to read election-related information. Among the foreign spouses surveyed this time, few have the habit of reading political commentary in newspapers or TV programs; this is due to their incompetency in Chinese language. One of the ways to improve their abilities in political participation, therefore, is to encourage them to participate in the Chinese-character Recognition Classes. In our visit to the Immigrant Center of Learning in the city, we learned from an instructor at the YMCA that free Chinese courses are now offered by the YMCA to the foreign spouses. It is our hope that through close cooperation between the government and the private institutions we can expedite the social and political inclusion of foreign spouses, enabling them to enjoy a happy life in Taiwan with all of us.

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The sacrifices required of Navy families are substantial. In order to maintain readiness, the Navy must maintain high standards and retain well trained people. To retain experienced and productive service members, family life must be supported and enhanced as much as possible. This study examined deployment related stress as experienced by deployed staff of the SAS SCORPION and their spouses and the Command's responses in terms of alleviating such stresses. A qualitative research methodology was used employing an exploratory, descriptive strategy. The study made use of non-probability purposive sampling for all three samples. To ensure rich data semi-structured interviews were used for samples one and two. Data was collected by means of a workshop for sample three. Respondents from sample one and two indicated dissatisfaction in the areas of military support, crime, medical problems, military housing, crisis periods, unplanned trips, and prolonged sea service. Sample three responded by acknowledging hardships experienced by samples one and two. They agreed in principle that a deployment seminar be made compulsory for military families and an incumbent be employed as a Naval liaison officer to coordinate problems experienced by deployed members and their families. The findings of this research, indicated the need for support structures and preventative programmes. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

This study attempts to address a gap in existing subcultural research. While there has been extensive work done on the experiences of men in subcultural groupings, the examination of women's experiences is sadly lacking. Using a combination of participant observation and ethnographic interviewing, this study looks at the role women play in the local rock music scene. Some interesting themes emerge that challenge existing notions that women are either marginal or absent from subcultural activity. Women in the scene occupy a richly contradictory social position. While they exercise an impressive degree of sexual and financial autonomy, as illustrated by their initiation of relationships and breadwinner roles in partnerships with male musicians, they also adopt many goals and behaviors typically associated with mainstream constructions of proper femininty. Women in the rock scene are seldom performers, instead they are concentrated i n the role of the "nurturent caretaker" (Cole 1993: 89/90) allowing the male musicians to retain recognition, prestige and power in the scene. This construction of the male role as central reflects the acceptance of patriarchal ideology in the scene and obscures the contribution of women to the material maintenance of the subculture. Women's roles in the scene can be characterized as a simultaneous acceptance and rejection of mainstream prescriptions for feminine behavior. While women in the rock scene are undeniably the focus of much sexual objectification and exploitation, they cannot be viewed as either passive or dependent. Women are described by scene members as sexually powerful decision makers, and although women's power is cast in disappointingly sexual terms, it is the active nature of this sexuality that leads me to describe women not as "passive" sexual objects, but rather as "active" sexual objects. Women's experiences in the rock scene are inextricably linked to heterosexual relations with male musicians. While rock women focus on the same goals of marriage and motherhood as mainstream women, their relationships are characterized by complications imposed by the rock lifestyle. According female participants, the overt sexuality of the scene, lack of financial stability , and the consuming nature of the music business combine to challenge the maintenance of a healthy relationship with a musician. However, while women's willingness to deal with such obstacles is puzzling, it can be seen as determination to transcend traditional limitations on masculine and feminine roles. The rock scene, despite its disproportionate consequences for women, offers both women and men alternatives to mainstream constructions of masculinity and femininity. The scene is identified by both female and male participants as offering excitement, spontaneity and passion absent in mainstream society.