by Oi-Man Kwok. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-52). / Abstract also in Chinese.

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential link between quality of life and social support networks, among clients with mild to borderline intellectual handicaps. This study also explored differences between how the clients assess their quality of life and support networks and how primary caseworkers asses the quality of life and support networks of their clients. / Thirty intellectually handicapped adults (18 men & 12 women) and their primary caseworkers were randomly selected to participate in the study. Significant differences were found between client and primary caseworker evaluations of clients' quality of life and their social support networks. Friends as support providers was strongly associated with better quality of life. The findings also indicated that there were significant differences in female and male client satisfaction with quality of life.

No description available.

Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Alagoas / Esta pesquisa tem por objeto refletir sobre a expressão da vida psíquica do sujeito acometido pela Esclerose Lateral Amiotrófica (ELA), compreendida na vivência do seu corpo silenciado. Por esse termo designamos a peculiar condição do sujeito que, com o avanço da doença, tende a perder tanto a articulação da fala quanto dos movimentos, com um grave prejuízo em sua capacidade de se comunicar. Pretendemos compreender a expressão psíquica de tal sujeito a partir da interação dos cuidadores, familiares e profissionais de saúde no convívio com esse sujeito na fase avançada da doença. Utilizamos o método clínicoqualitativo de investigação (Turato, 2005), cuja pertinência à pesquisa humana em saúde está em buscar interpretar significados psicológicos e socioculturais trazidos por sujeitos afetados por doença, bem como dos cuidadores, familiares e profissionais. O número de participantes foi determinado pelo critério de saturação (Minayo, 1994), em que o pesquisador fecha o grupo quando determinado número de entrevistas já alcança o nível de informações esperadas. Coletamos depoimentos livres de oito participantes, sendo quatro profissionais de saúde com experiência no atendimento a casos de ELA: um neurologista, uma psicóloga, uma fonoaudióloga e uma fisioterapeuta, e quatro cuidadores e/ou familiares de pessoas acometidas pela ELA: uma filha de paciente, uma cuidadora contratada, uma esposa e uma viúva de paciente. Os participantes foram questionados a partir de dois aspectos de sua interação com o sujeito acometido pela ELA; em primeiro lugar, perguntamos de que modo, no convívio com o sujeito, conseguiam captar, interpretar e compreender suas vicissitudes. Em seguida, questionamos quais os recursos utilizados para o estabelecimento de uma comunicação intersubjetiva entre este profissional de saúde, familiar ou cuidador e o sujeito acometido pela ELA. Consideramos, finalmente, que a expressão-compreensão de vida psíquica do sujeito com ELA abrange uma gradação que vai desde elementos pragmáticos a posições relacionais por parte cuidadores, cuja complementaridade tem por efeito a apreensão dos conteúdos subjetivos dos pacientes

O ser humano continua sendo a espécie diferenciada em meio a uma natureza tão vasta. Seu destaque lhe advém da sua capacidade de abstrair-se do dado imediato, de refletir sobre o mesmo e de lhe conferir significados. Esta sua posição, no entanto, não lhe coloca num lugar privilegiado de centralidade, ou ainda de primazia frente aos outros seres com os quais convive. Impõe-lhe, ao contrário, uma responsabilidade de cuidado sobre todo o cosmos. Por isso, ele está sempre buscando sentidos para o que lhe está em derredor. Entre os inúmeros caminhos trilhados pelo homem nesta busca de significação do mundo, tem sobressaído na contemporaneidade, como um elemento cada vez mais presente e atuante na vida das pessoas, a dimensão religiosa espiritual. Para além de todas as profecias de sua gradativa, mas inexorável, superação/eliminação da história humana e, também, contradizendo as muitas afirmativas feitas a seu respeito pelos vários processos de secularização, ela se encontra em nosso meio com nuances algumas vezes mais intensos e, em outros momentos, menos significativos. No entanto, sempre está presente. Nosso trabalho se apresenta como uma proposta de releitura psicanalítica deste fenômeno, a Religião, que ocupou na construção teórica de Sigmund Freud um lugar bastante significativo, revelando-se como uma realidade que lhe era verdadeiramente inquietante, o que se demonstra pelo número de suas aparições desde os seus primeiros construtos psicanalíticos até às vésperas de sua morte. Ainda que, declarando-se um ateu convicto, S. Freud sempre buscou uma compreensão mais acurada do fenômeno religioso e suas implicações na vida dos sujeitos humanos. Será possível à Religião constituir-se ao ser humano contemporâneo como um caminho sublimatório, em meio a tantos outros, que lhe auxilie na construção de sua subjetividade? O presente estudo foi realizado através de uma pesquisa de cunho bibliográfico dos principais textos de Sigmund Freud referentes à sublimação e ao fenômeno religioso, bem como de estudos realizados por importantes psicanalistas atuais e alguns sociólogos da religião. Nossa pesquisa pretendeu alcançar uma maior compreensão do conceito de sublimação na metapsicologia freudiana tendo em vista sua aplicação na releitura da experiência religiosa nos escritos de Sigmund Freud, superando, desta forma impasses entre as áreas da Psicanálise e da Religião e construindo, ao mesmo tempo, espaços de diálogo e mútuo enriquecimento entre os referidos campos de conhecimento do sujeito humano. / The human being remains as the differentiated species among such a vast nature. Its distinction comes from its ability to abstract itself from the immediate data, to reflect about it and give it meanings. This position, however, does not place him in a privileged place of centrality, or even of primacy over other beings with whom he coexists. It imposes, on the contrary, a responsibility of care over the whole cosmos. Therefore, he is always searching for meanings to what is around him. Among the countless paths that men have gone through during this search for meaning of the world, nowadays there is an element that is getting more and more present and active on the daily lives of people: the religious spiritual dimension. In addition to all the prophecies of its gradual but inexorable overcoming/elimination from human history, and also contradicting the many affirmations made about it by the various processes of secularization, it finds itself in our midst with nuances sometimes more intense and, at other times, less significant. However, it is always present. Our work is presented as a proposal of psychoanalytic re-reading, based on the concept of sublimation, of the religious phenomenon, which occupied very significant place in the theoretical construction of Sigmund S. Freud, revealing itself as a reality that was truly disturbing to him, which is demonstrated by the number of appearances since his first psychoanalytic constructs until the eve of his death. Even declaring himself a "convicted atheist," Freud has always sought a more accurate understanding of the religious phenomenon and its implications in the lives of human subjects. Is it possible for Religion to constitute the contemporary human being as a sublimatory way, among so many others, to assist it in the construction of its subjectivity? The present study was carried out through a bibliographical research of Sigmund Freud's main texts referring to sublimation and religious phenomena, as well as studies carried out by important current psychoanalysts and some sociologists of religion. Our research aimed to reach a greater understanding of the concept of sublimation in Freudian metapsychology in view of its application in re-reading religious experience in Sigmund Freud's writings, thus overcoming impasses between the areas of Psychoanalysis and Religion and, at the same time, Spaces of dialogue and mutual enrichment between the mentioned fields of knowledge of the human subject.

No description available.

This study used photovoice methodology to explore how people with early-stage dementia use their perceived strength and resources to cope with the illness. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants. Thirteen women and seven men age 57 to 90 (mean 73.4) with MMSE scores ranging from 20 to 28 (mean 25.6) participated in the project. Participants were provided with a disposable camera and invited to take photographs relevant to their well-being. The photographs provided the means for participants to take the lead in dialogue sessions about their coping response. Grounded theory analysis revealed that initially, early-stage dementia precipitated a disruption in well-being. For the participants in this study, learning to live with the illness was an ongoing, continually shifting process of adjustment, where the participants moved from a familiar sense of well-being to an alternative sense of well-being. In this process the participants used a variety of strengths and resources ranging from those that supported them in reconstructing identity, regaining control, and rebuilding relationships to those that assisted them in reestablishing a healthy lifestyle and restoring meaning and purpose. Striving toward well-being while acknowledging the inconceivable notion of losing one's cognitive abilities was the central strength that the participants brought to this process. It captured the paradox the participants faced in living with early-stage dementia, which was to relegate the illness to the background of their lives while managing its symptoms in the foreground.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Chronic pain, defined as pain lasting more than 3 months, is a common and costly health condition. Thirty-three percent of adults and upwards of 35% of children report experiencing pain due to various diseases, disorders, or accidents. Recent research has identified perceived injustice and anger as important constructs in an adult’s pain experience and a possible focus for intervention efforts. The present study explored the extent to which perceived injustice and anger expression operate similarly in children with chronic pain as in adults. This was a retrospective analysis of data from 122 patients seeking treatment at a pediatric pain clinic. Results supported anger expression as a mediator in the relationship between perceived injustice and pain intensity but not psychological distress, suggesting that anger expression operates similarly in children as in adults with chronic pain. Unlike previous findings in adults with chronic pain, injustice did not moderate the relationship between pain intensity and psychological distress, suggesting that injustice operates differently in children with chronic pain compared to adults. The strong association between injustice and pain outcomes (i.e. pain intensity, quality of life, functional disability) suggests that injustice is an important construct to explore in the chronic pain experience of children.

A survey was done in order to identify the predictors that contribute to satisfaction with qowl. A positive correlation was found between satisfaction with facets of work life and overall satisfaction with qowl. No significant difference was found between overall satisfaction and the mean of the satisfaction with the facets of work life. Organisational climate seemed to have the greatest influence. Significant predictors are identification with the organisation, participation, communication, resource management, work group functioning, reward system, health and safety aspects, job security and the rate of pay. Significant differences were found between rank, occupational, race and age groups. When need non-fulfilment scales are added to facets of work life measures, increase in the prediction of overall satisfaction is significant. The need to do work that supports moral values contributed most significantly to overall satisfaction. The most frequent preference was for financial security, followed by recognition, relationships and for achievement. / Psychology / M.A.

Text in English / The aim of the current study is to provide detailed information regarding individuals’ turning-point experiences, in order to understand the psychological and spiritual aspects involved in moving beyond a significant low point towards a significant high point in one’s life. It seems that inadequate information regarding formal studies about this phenomenon exists in literature, which this study endeavours to address. Thereby, a qualitative phenomenological study was conducted amongst nineteen South African citizens, who were purposefully and conveniently selected from the diverse population of South Africa. Individual participants confirmed that they had experienced significant low points from which they had been able to move to reach a significant high point. Through interviews, River-of-life (RoL) drawings and a short background information questionnaire (SBIQ), participants were able to provide information on their experiences. The participants’ stories, obtained during the interviews, were transcribed, and then triangulated with information obtained from the RoL drawings, completed SBIQ’s, researcher notes and other additional sources, during the analysis phase. Thematic analysis was performed on individuals’ stories to obtain the research participants’ themes, which provided the aspects involved in their turning-point experiences. In-depth analysis of all participants’ stories produced a theme-model consisting of main and unique themes. Unique themes identified by the study supported the main themes. Themes highlighted through the study included minding oneself, support from and to, doing something, religion/faith in God, positive attitude and meaning. The positive psychology theoretical framework was applied in interpreting the findings. This study suggests that a combination of themes is relevant in one’s ability to move beyond a low point experience towards a high point experience. The application of the theme-model could assist others in similar situations to create change or a turning-point experience in order to move away from or transcend a low point. The study was linked to the subjective measuring of Quality of Life (QOL). It is recommended that more subjective indicators of QOL, including spirituality indicators, be investigated. While this study focussed on the internal influences affecting change in a person’s life towards fulfilment, further studies may investigate the external influences. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Psychology)