Autobiography is a slippery genre, if, indeed, it is a genre. To deal with its slipperiness I use action research and qualitative inquiry to create a bricolage, an artist?s book, Tissue. Within the patchwork, stitched-together form of Tissue, digitised text and images (autobiographical stories, poetry, photographs, drawings and paintings) sit in varying relationships to each other. Also, I use poetic language and images to display aspects of the discourse of memory in digitally manipulated text/images where language and image are not illustrative of each other but are interconnected and equal, synergetic, creating new meanings. To simultaneously enhance the handleability of the pages and distance their electronic nature, I use a number of different papers and fabrics as the skins of the images. Using the ideas of Roland Barthes (principally) and others as reference points, in this exegesis Re-picturing my life, I address the ways in which the present is informed by the past; self, identity and the body; the function of memory, and its mediation and articulation in the narration of autobiography; the significance of autobiographical objects and landscapes, and the nature of an autobiographical author. I also explore the effects on myself, as a migrant, of the fragility of identity in the face of major social disruptions such as mutiple migrations, and consider whether the narration of personal experience through autobiography aids in the construction of a new identity that is more grounded in the new surroundings. In this exegesis I argue that, in this process of revisiting the past and reconstructing narrative, text and image in my artist?s book, I have both re-written and re-pictured my life. Yet, while this process of regaining and articulating my lost family information seems to have initiated some bodily changes, and, more importantly, appears to have strengthened and stabilised my sense of self, it has not alleviated my feelings of exile. Indeed, my feelings of exile and the absence of any single identifiable homeland have strengthened.

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This research examined the relationship between substance use and identity variables. The sample consisted of 76 students undergraduate psychology students. Relationships were found between identity variables and both alcohol and marijuana usage. People with a foreclosed identity status tended to have the lowest rates of substance use, while people in the moratorium identity status tended to have the highest rates. The hypotheses that identity variables would predict substance usage above and beyond psychological adjustment, and that identity distress symptoms would predict substance use beyond other identity development variables alone, was mostly not confirmed. The strongest and most consistent predictor of substance use was age. Possible reasons for this relationship are discussed, and calls for further research into this as well as other mediators and moderators of the relationship between identity and substance use are suggested.

Il presente lavoro di ricerca prende le mosse dall’intersezione di due ambiti disciplinali: lo studio dell’identità adulta entro i contesti di lavoro, e gli studi di psicologia applicata allo sport riguardanti la figura dell’allenatore. Gli studi su come si evolve e genera il processo di costruzione dell’identità lavorativa entro il contesto attuale, sempre più caratterizzato da fluidità, complessità e mutevolezza, occupano la prima parte del lavoro. La proposta di un modello teorico rappresenta lo sguardo con cui si è scelto di avvicinarsi ad uno specifico contesto professionale, quello dei settori giovanili. Il ruolo dell’allenatore è riconosciuto come uno dei ruoli centrali e critici che favoriscono lo sviluppo sano dei giovani atleti, una figura chiave nel processo di connessione tra diversi attori: atleti, famiglie, dirigenti sportivi, sponsor, ecc. Per questo la parte empirica del lavoro rappresenta un approfondimento su questa figura professionale. Il primo studio, secondo una finalità esplorativa, mira a delineare le caratteristiche e i tratti distintivi dell’identità lavorativa di allenatori di calcio giovanili, al fine di metterne a fuoco i principali elementi di fatica e di risorsa. Il secondo studio rappresenta una proposta metodologica nuova per indagare il costrutto dell’identità lavorativa in generale, mediante uno strumento grafico-simbolico, il Disegno Simbolico dello Spazio di Vita Professionale (DSSVP). Applicato agli allenatori giovanili lo studio evidenzia potenzialità e limiti di tale strumento nello studio dell’identità lavorativa. Infine il terzo studio, partendo dalla constatazione della situazione di difficoltà e crisi professionale in cui si trovano molti allenatori giovanili oggi, proporrà l’analisi di un percorso di formazione-ricerca come contesto di accompagnamento e supporto di tali professionisti. / This work originates from the intersection of two fields of studies: that ones about the work identity construction, and the sport psychology studies about coaches. The first part of the work deepens the work identity process of construction in nowadays work organizations, characterized by fluidity and complexity. The proposal of a theoretic model of work identity is the way through which comes close to a specific work context in sport, the youth sectors. The coach’ role is recognized as central and critical at the same time in promoting athletes’ healthy development through sport, as well as in connecting all the actors involved in youth sport practice (athletes, parents, managers, sponsors, etc.). For this reason the empirical part of the work is an in depth examination about this professionals, youth coaches. The first study aims to explore and outline the features of youth soccer coaches’ work identity and to focus the main risks and resources of this. It involved 20 youth soccer coaches in semi-structured interviews and a focus-group The second study is a methodological proposal to better understand the work identity process. It presents a new research instrument the Professional Life Space Drawing (DSVP – Disegno dello Spazio di Vita Professionale in Italian), which allows collecting relevant information about the inner representation of professional space using a graphic-symbolic level. Finally the third study, starting from the crisis situation of these professionals, analyses a training-research project (which involved 11 coaches) to supporting youth coaches work identity.

Thesis (MA (Social Work) (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria. / Includes bibliographical references.

Characters have long been studied as narratological element and how they function in relation to their plots. Characters are also studied on basis of their actions, trans-medial aspects, archetypes, knowledge, their interrelation to each other and they are also studied how the readers relate to them. In my essay, I will explore how the character’s distinctive quality from other characters creates polarity between the characters and also, their relations to each other helps to define identity construction of a character. To demonstrate my argument, I will study the characters in two mediums that are the graphic novel American Born Chinese and the film Ghost World. The essay will first describe the assigned traits to each character, how they differ from each other and how their interrelation within characters helps to construct character’s identity in the narrative. Both the film and the graphic novel have in common their coming-of-age narrative which is be used to study different characters and their contribution in development of protagonist’s identity. In addition to that, the essay will further explore the visual narrative of both medium to see how panels aid the identity construction of the characters.

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this specific study is to discover how mothers in the Middle East perceive their entrepreneurial identity based on the results and our interpretation of the mothers' narratives, to fill the gap that was discovered in mompreneurship identity research area in the Middle East. Design/methodology/approach – A Qualitative Research Design using the ‘Abductive reasoning’ method was implemented. And the philosophical approach of this study is the ‘Interpretive Epistemology’ based on the interpretation of narratives and life experience of seven interviewed samples of mothers who own businesses ‘mompreneurs’ from the Middle East. Semi-structured interviews in the form of internet-based interviewing were used. And in order to analyze the result a narrative analysis approaches, William Labov Approach and the Dialogic performance analysis approach were utilized. Findings – the findings in this study showed that the results of the majority of samples identified themselves as being totally Momprenures and they appreciate their role as a mother and a business owner. And that they have several motivations such as (Forced, Intrinsic, classic and work-family) which classified them under certain typologies of the entrepreneurial identity (Solution -seeker, Self-actualized, Informed, Bonafide and Missionary identity). However, no certain motivation was considered to be the dominant. And the results indicate that, three samples that were motivated by (Forced Factors) falls under the same typology of solution seeker Identity. And the other three samples that were motivated by (Intrinsic and Classic motivations) falls under the typology of Informed Entrepreneur, restricted to the understanding of the samples taken from the Middle East. In Addition, the results also indicated that the momprenure identity was not directly affected by gender, as reflected by theories where masculinity is related to entrepreneurship. Research limitations/contribution – This study was limited by several factors unexpected situation of the spreading of (CORONAVIRUS) which limited samples size, and canceled the in-person meetings for interviews. Therefore, the results were only Restricted to our samples and might not be taken as general outcomes. The contribution of our findings will be opening the door for further studies on a broader scale to cover a wider range of motivations, and a wider range of identity theories that would reflect the identities of mothers in the context of the Middle East.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka internationella studenters motivationsfaktorer för att studera utomlands och deras val av Malmö högskola, Sverige. Uppsatsen undersöker kulturella skillnader som de internationella studenterna upplever när de studerar i Sverige och om de upplever att deras kulturella identitet förstärks eller försvagas. Uppsatsen baseras på en induktiv, kvalitativ metod. För att få en djupare förståelse av de internationella studenternas situation och erfarenheter utfördes både individuella intervjuer och gruppintervjuer. I teoriavsnittet definieras begreppen kultur, kulturell identitet och interkulturell kommunikation samt begreppen asserted respektive assigned identitet och thick respektive thin identitet. Studiens resultat visade hur olika motivationsfaktorer påverkade de internationella studenternas val att studera utomlands, att kulturella skillnader blev tydliga genom vardagliga möten i det svenska samhället och på högskolan, och att studenternas kulturella identiteter visade sig vara mer markerade under studenternas vistelse i Sverige. Jag menar att en ny omgivning påverkar de internationella studenterna, och att deras kultur och kulturella identiteter blir mer påtagliga. / The research study aims at exploring the relationship between international students’ motivational factors to study abroad and the choice of Malmö University, Sweden, considering each student’s main “push” and “pull” factors. The research study seeks to examine the international students’ experiences of cultural differences while studying in Sweden. Furthermore, the study investigates whether the international students cultural identity are being reinforced or weakened. Not much previous research on international students´ motivations, cultural differences and cultural identity has been done; however, some related researches provided me with knowledge and acted as guidelines for the research study. The research study is based on an inductive, qualitative research method, and the data was collected through semi-structured and focus group interviews. In respect of the implications to define culture and cultural identity the data will be explored through a theoretical framework of intercultural communication and the theory of asserted and assigned identity and thick and thin identity, respectively. The findings of the research study showed different motivational factors affecting the international students’ reason to choose study outside their origin country. The cultural differences experienced were explained as being caused by everyday encounters in the Swedish society and educational system. The students studied experienced that their cultural belonging became more evident as they were living in Sweden. I believe that an unfamiliar social surrounding, along with the circumstance of being international students in a society that is different from the one at home, make culture and cultural identity more important and evident to the people living there.

<p>In the media world today it is important for TV-companies to differentiate since the number  of competitors has increased. The competition is more complex today because of the  possibility to broadcast throughout satellite and cable. As a company you need a strong brand  in order to differentiate the company from the competitors. The brand of media companies are  set by the content of the offer, which means that the program and the people connected to the  television program has an importance for the sake of how people experience the company. For  a commercial TV channel the content is also important because it attracts the viewers and as a  consequence, also attracts the advertisers. In this thesis, we have studied how a Swedish TV  company works with people in order to strengthen its identity and brand and the reason for  this. We have examined a commercial TV company, TV4. The company consists of one big  mainstream channel and several smaller niche channels. To study how they work, we  interviewed five managers from different departments in the organisation. People as brand  identity and the uses and gratification theory gave us a wider understanding of why the  company work with profiles. The results of our study showed that TV4 works with a number  of TV hosts and celebrities in different ways to createa stronger brand. Theseprofiles have  several extensive functionswithin the company. They are the messengers of the identity and  the brand that the company tries to communicate. They symbolise the brand of TV4 for the  viewers and assist in creating an identity for the smaller channels or to attract the viewers. The  results also indicate that the company is aware of various needs the viewers requireand that  the profiles operate to fulfil those needs.Well known profiles create a personal relationship to  the viewers which is one of the reasons why they use profileswithin the establishment. Another reason is that the company believe thatprofiles are important to attract viewers and  be competitive.</p>

In the media world today it is important for TV-companies to differentiate since the number  of competitors has increased. The competition is more complex today because of the  possibility to broadcast throughout satellite and cable. As a company you need a strong brand  in order to differentiate the company from the competitors. The brand of media companies are  set by the content of the offer, which means that the program and the people connected to the  television program has an importance for the sake of how people experience the company. For  a commercial TV channel the content is also important because it attracts the viewers and as a  consequence, also attracts the advertisers. In this thesis, we have studied how a Swedish TV  company works with people in order to strengthen its identity and brand and the reason for  this. We have examined a commercial TV company, TV4. The company consists of one big  mainstream channel and several smaller niche channels. To study how they work, we  interviewed five managers from different departments in the organisation. People as brand  identity and the uses and gratification theory gave us a wider understanding of why the  company work with profiles. The results of our study showed that TV4 works with a number  of TV hosts and celebrities in different ways to createa stronger brand. Theseprofiles have  several extensive functionswithin the company. They are the messengers of the identity and  the brand that the company tries to communicate. They symbolise the brand of TV4 for the  viewers and assist in creating an identity for the smaller channels or to attract the viewers. The  results also indicate that the company is aware of various needs the viewers requireand that  the profiles operate to fulfil those needs.Well known profiles create a personal relationship to  the viewers which is one of the reasons why they use profileswithin the establishment. Another reason is that the company believe thatprofiles are important to attract viewers and  be competitive.