The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore and describe how two gay male parents transitioned to parenthood. The Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response (FAAR) theoretical model was used as the theoretical framework for understanding the experiences of the two participants in the study. The study also used an interpretivist paradigm and explorative case study design. The participants were purposely selected, and the data were generated by means of a semi-structured interview. The findings indicate that the participants experienced similar resistance from their families of origin after ‘coming out’ to them. The ability of one of the participants to become a parent was questioned. The participants in the study, like most couples, considered various factors such as their financial situation and their medical aid benefits before they decided to become parents. They also had to consider their pathway to parenthood, which in their case was adoption. The participants faced many challenges during the adoption process such as finding a country that allowed gay men to adopt, having limited adoption options due to changes in the law, and trying to get paternity leave. They reported that as parents they felt marginalised by the school system and also by having to deal with insensitive and uncomfortable questions from members of society about their family identity. Their children also experienced bullying at school. They were, however, able to establish a strong family and felt fulfilled in their role as parents. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

No description available.

In this qualitative study excessive weight gain in men is placed in the context of a life course trajectory with its characteristic stages. A combination of symbolic interactionism and life course perspectives was deemed appropriate for studying obesity as their basic assumptions complement each other to create a holistic view of the phenomenon. Both the life course and symbolic interactionism perspectives stress the interaction between individuals and their social environment, an observation particularly evident when viewed as a micro-level experience. The chosen approach emphasises the social creation of meanings about life transitions and individual development. The obese man cannot be seen as an isolated unit as, like all people, he is a social being forming part of a network of relationships. Theoretically those with whom he is socialising can be classified as significant others, general others and reference group others. It is their influence that is important in his personal development and experience of the self. While the symbolic interactionism perspective accentuates the development of the self in interaction with others, the life course perspective gives clarity on the way the individual handles transition experiences in order to regain balance after a time of disequilibrium resulting from different trajectories. The theory of cognitive appraisal used in this study enhanced understanding of the obese man‟s passion for food, and the emotion of joy experienced when busy with food-related activities. Cognitive appraisal takes place in each situation when the obese man needs to make a decision or take action in terms of food and life style behaviour. The strategy of enquiry for this research followed a phenomenological and qualitative approach. The unit of analysis was a white man who was obese. The inclusion criteria for the sample were: being older than 21; and complying with the acknowledged criterion for obesity of having a BMI greater than 30kg/m². A purposive sampling technique was employed with each of the 14 participants being interviewed on more than one occasion. Participants were expected to, and were able to describe their experiences of being obese retrospectively. The researcher made almost exclusive use of lengthy, individual, in-depth, unstructured interviews. Three themes emerged from the data namely the meaning of food, the sadness of obesity and coping with obesity. The findings from this study show that, as a social object, the obese man‟s eating habits and the meaning that food has for him are influenced by, and learnt from others such as his family during childhood and adolescence, and his married partner and work colleagues in young adulthood. Essentially, indulgence in eating is for the anticipated pleasure it brings. Thus several factors like marriage, friends and career influence the food trajectory of the obese man. The obese man‟s food trajectories affect his weight trajectory and have a negative impact on his experience of self. His overweight body gives rise to distressing physical constraints and causes emotional experiences of sadness. He is unable to make peace with his obese state and needs to consciously address the situation. Coping strategies used by the obese participants were critical in their handling of their obesity. In the process of self-appraisal they needed confirmation that they could handle the problem so that it did not influence the way they experienced their physical and inner selves. Regardless of all the coping strategies adopted, the participants were not totally able to handle their plight. It actually got worse and impacted extremely negatively on their well-being. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Consumer Science / unrestricted

Bakgrund: Bemötandet är en essentiell del i vårdmötet. Att ambulanssjuksköterskan har insikt kring bemötandets betydelse i vårdmötet med patienten är av största vikt. Ett bristande bemötande kan leda till att bedömningen blir undermålig vilket äventyrar patientsäkerheten. Tidigare forskning kring hur ambulanssjuksköterskan upplever bemötandet inom ambulanssjukvården är begränsad.  Syfte: Var att belysa ambulanssjuksköterskors upplevelser kring bemötande inom ambulanssjukvården. Metod: En kvalitativ intervjustudie där deltagarna valdes genom ett bekvämlighetsurval. Graneheim och Lundmans innehållsanalys användes för att analysera de nio ostrukturerade intervjuerna som ägde rum på två ambulansstationer, belägna i södra Sverige.  Resultat: I resultatet framgick det att upplevelsen av bemötandet inom ambulanssjukvården är gott och de flesta hade en klar bild över hur ett gott bemötande i vårdmötet bör vara. Ambulanssjuksköterskorna hade en insikt i att de själva och kollegor ibland brast i sitt bemötande och kunde i de flesta fall beskriva orsaker till detta skedde och efterföljande konsekvenser. Studiens främsta fynd visar på att ambulanssjuksköterskan upplever att det är ett hårdare klimat idag och att problematiken kring bemötande har en tendens att öka.  Slutsats: Ambulanssjuksköterskor är medvetna om betydelsen av ett bra bemötande i vårdmötet. De har god kännedom kring vilka olika konsekvenser ett bristande bemötande kan få för patienten och att det kan påverka patientsäkerheten. Det finns en viss problematik kring ett bristande bemötande som ambulanssjuksköterskorna upplever har ökat men även att klimatet har blivit hårdare. Aktuell forskning behöver uppdateras för att belysa problemområdet och skapa handlingsplaner för att förhindra en negativ utveckling. / Introduction:  How we treat others is an essential part of the care meeting with patients. To possess an insight and to own a self knowledge regarding the treatment of others is of great importance.                 Bad treatment can lead to poor assessments and examinations, which jeopardizes patient safety. Previous research on how the ambulance nurse experiences how we treat others in the ambulance services is very limited.  Purpose: Was to illustrate the ambulance nurse´s experience of how we treat others among the ambulance services.  Methods: A qualitative interview study were conducted where the informants were chosen through a convenience selection. The method for analysis were the one of Graneheim and Lundman and was applied to analyse the nine unstructured interviews that took place in two ambulance stations, both situated in the south of Sweden.  Results: The results showed that the experience of the treatment in the ambulance care is good and that most ambulance nurses had a clear picture of what good treatment in the care meeting should be like. The ambulance nurses had an insight that they themselves and colleagues sometimes burst in their treatment regarding patients and could in most cases describe reasons why this happened and the consequences of it. The study's main findings show that the ambulance nurse nowadays feels that there is a harsher climate in the ambulance care and that the problems regarding treatment tend to increase. Conclusion:Ambulance nurses are aware of the importance in how we treat others during the care meeting. They also possess good knowledge in various consequences that a lack of treatment can bring the patient and the negative effects regarding patient safety. However, there are certain problems in how we treat others which the ambulance nurses experience has increased, they also describe that the climate has become more harsh. Current research needs an update to highlight the problem area to enable action plans that will prevent further negative progress.

Die Studie gibt zunächst einen Überblick über den Forschungsstand in Deutschland zur „Schwarzen Szene“. Neben der Vorstellung von Geschichte und Entwicklung der Gothic-Szene steht eine umfassende Stilanalyse im Mittelpunkt, die Zeichen und Symbole dieser Jugendkultur vorstellt und auf deren Verwendung eingeht. In einer empirischen Untersuchung nimmt die Autorin einen doppelten Vergleich vor: Zwischen dem Selbstbild der Szene und ihrer medialen Fremdwahrnehmung sowie zwischen den jeweiligen Mediendarstellungen in zwei unterschiedlich ausgerichteten Zeitungen, der Leipziger Volkszeitung und der BILD-Zeitung. Anhand von qualitativen und quantitativen Daten gibt die Autorin differenzierte Einblicke in die medial auffällige, aber in ihren Binnendifferenzierungen dennoch wenig bekannte Schwarze Szene. / First, the study provides an overview of the current state of research in Germany concerning the „black scene”. After the presentation of the history and development of the scene a comprehensive stylistic analysis is focused, which also introduces signs and symbols of this youth culture as well as their usage. In an empirical analysis the authoress draws a comparison in two ways: first between the self-perception of the scene on the one hand and the medial perception on the other hand, and secondly concerning the different medial representation in two different newspapers – the Leipziger Volkszeitung and the BILD-Zeitung. Based on qualitative and quantitative data, the authoress provides a complex insight into the goth scene, which is medial striking but nevertheless little known in its internal differentiations.

This master thesis focuses on the impact of alcohol on families if one of the parents is addicted looking through the lens of the theoretical concept of AHTO. To fulfil the research goal I chose a literature review then followed up qualitative interviews with experts from the ranks of social and health services workers and OSPOD. According to the interviewed experts, forms of AHTO appear in families as follows - relationship problems, psychological damage (distrust, feeling helpless, low self-confidence, guilt, shame, rejection or not acknowledging the seriousness of the situation), financial difficulties, domestic violence. Then, in the case of children, mental harm, attention deficit disorders, parentification, worsened academic results, relationship problems, parental or alcohol rejection. Experts most often encounter solutions strategies such as control, negotiation or playing on emotions, threats, trying to help, trying to solve the situation of an addict, downplaying the situation, hiding the situation, rejecting a person. Experts recommend other evidence-based strategies for family members to deal with the situation and what I can do, not make false promises, reject alcohol but not a person, set boundaries and barriers, understanding addiction as a disease, offering help to an addict. The...

Both meaning in life and forgiveness have been shown to separately contribute to better mental health. However, no prior research examined the linkage between meaning in life and forgiveness. This quantitative study was therefore to identify if there was a relationship between meaning in life, as measured by the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), and overall dispositional forgiveness, dispositional forgiveness of self, dispositional forgiveness of others, and dispositional forgiveness of situations, as measured by the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS). Survey data were gathered from 250 college students in Western Canada, and multiple linear regression controlling for sociodemographic factors was used. The results showed a relationship between meaning in life and 3 out of the 4 variables. A significant relationship was found between meaning in life and dispositional forgiveness, dispositional forgiveness of situations, and overall dispositional forgiveness. There was no relationship found between meaning in life and dispositional forgiveness of others. These findings may be explained by extant literature suggesting differences in both cognitions and emotions between self forgiveness, other forgiveness, and overall forgiveness. Mental health professionals applying therapeutic intervention options that incorporate these 2 constructs may help to precipitate social change in terms of the treatment and management of mental health, especially with respect to the potential to improve treatment options for depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and anger. Improved treatment interventions and options for individuals can potentially lead to increased employability, reduction in crime, better school attendance and performance, and overall improved physical health across the lifespan.

Monsters are disruptive characters, who cross boundaries and blend categories. They come in various kinds: Non-human monsters, such as Dracula, created-by-human monsters like Frankenstein, human monsters like Hitler, and more-than-human monsters such as the X-men. These monsters can either be dangerous or helpful to humanity. Dangerous monsters appear as infectious, viral forces, while helpful monsters are inoculative forces for positive change. In either case, they penetrate the borders set up between normatively separate categories. Critics and authors have long realized the connection between heroes and monsters, often portraying them as necessary to one another, as two sides of a single coin. However, this analogy is lacking, because it does not allow for the possibility that a single character can display varying degrees of both heroism and monstrosity. Mario Yerro and Bruna Husky present such characteristics in Yeti and Lágrimas en la lluvia, as evidenced by their physical appearance, their relations to scapegoats, the porosity of species and other boundaries, and the decisions they make in regards to the Other.

Sjuksköterskeyrket innebär möten med patienter såväl som närstående tillpatienterna. Sjukdom och dödsfall är inte något som bara drabbar den enskildapersonen utan händelsen kan vara lika svår eller svårare för den drabbades familjoch närstående. Det är viktigt för sjuksköterskan att ha insikt i de närståendesupplevelser och behov för att bättre kunna möta dessa. Denna studies syfte är attbeskriva upplevelser och behov hos närstående till kritiskt sjuka patienter samt attbeskriva hur sjuksköterskan kan möta dessa behov. Genom en litteraturstudie harkvalitativa och kvantitativa vetenskapliga artiklar granskats. Studienshuvudresultat visar att de närstående är i behov av information, tillförsikt, närhet,familjens stöd och bekvämlighet. Studiens slutsats är att sjuksköterskan behöverkunskap och insikt beträffande dessa resultat för att på ett bra sätt möta denärståendes behov. / When working with critical ill patients the nurse also get in contact withsignificant others related to the patient. Illness and accidents don’t strike only atthe patient it also strikes just as hard or harder at the significant others of thepatient. It’s important that the nurse has knowledge about the related person’sexperiences and needs in these situations, to better be able to meet these needs.This study aimed to describe experiences and needs of significant others whenthey have a critical ill person hospitalized. It also aimed to describe how the nursecan meet these needs. Through a literature review has both quantitative andqualitative scientific articles been reviewed. The study’s main results show thatthe needs of the related are information, assurance, proximity, family support andcomfort. The study concludes that the nurse needs knowledge and understandingsregarding these results to in a good way meet the relative’s needs.

This project considers questions of religious othering in the contemporary United States through the lens of popular post-religious narratives. These narratives salaciously depict mistreated women in order to demarcate certain religions as deviant; authors and pundits then use these narratives in order to justify outside intervention in specific religious communities. By closely analyzing a selection of contemporary narratives written about women from Muslim and fundamentalist Mormon communities with special attention to both the feminist enactments and tropes of captivity which permeate these texts, this project challenges simplistic portrayals of religious Others. In doing so, the analysis draws the reader's attention to the uncanny imitations in many of these texts: in arguing that certain religions "capture" their female adherents, authors of contemporary captivity narratives silence the voices of women whose stories they seek to illuminate. The dissertation also explores the ambivalent content of many of these narratives. When read against the grain, captivity literature offers surprising opportunities for nuanced explorations of religion, gender and agency. / Religion