Our increasingly globalized world has contributed to that more Swedish companies has expanded their business to more distant areas. One of these Swedish companies that now stands before their first international expansion is the Swedish fast-food chain Max AB. Max has chosen to start their expansion in Saudi Arabia, a country far away from Sweden, not only in terms of geographical distance but also in cultural. The cultural differences that Max will encounter may affect the business and result in to various adaptations that must be done in order to establish successfully. The thesis investigates the existing circumstances for the fastfood business in Saudi Arabia and shows which adaptations international fast-food chains should or must do as a result of the cultural distances they encounter. Subsequently there will be an exposition of which adaptations Max will accomplish in their concept with their establishment in Saudi Arabia. The investigation method that has been used is qualitative interviews. The interviews were with Max’ franchise manager and former marketing director for McDonald’s in the Middle Eastern region. The outcome of our investigation shows clear cultural differences and that fast-food chains have to conduct themselves and adapt to these differences in order to establish successfully. Key words: Fast-food business, Max AB, McDonald’s, Saudi Arabia, psychic distance, culture, adaptations / Vår allt mer globaliserade värld har medfört att alltfler svenska företag internationaliserar sin verksamhet till mer avlägsna områden. Ett av dessa svenska företag som nu står inför sin första utlandsexpansion är den svenska snabbmatskedjan Max AB. Max har valt att börja sin expansion i Saudiarabien, ett land långt ifrån Sverige, inte bara i termer av geografiskt avstånd utan även kulturellt avstånd. De kulturella skillnaderna som Max möter kan komma att påverka verksamheten och leda till att vissa anpassningar måste genomföras för en framgångsrik etablering. Uppsatsen undersöker det rådande förhållandet för snabbmatsbranschen i Saudiarabien och visar vilka anpassningar internationella snabbmatskedjor bör eller måste göra på grund av de kulturella skillnaderna de möter. Härefter följer en genomgång av vilka anpassningar Max kommer att göra i sitt koncept vid sin etablering i Saudiarabien. Den undersökningsmetod som har använts är kvalitativa intervjuer. En intervju med Max expansionschef samt tidigare marknadschef för McDonald’s i regionen mellanöstern har företagits. Resultatet från undersökningen visar på tydliga kulturella skillnader och att snabbmatskedjor måste förhålla sig och anpassa sig till dessa för genomförandet av en framgångsrik etablering. Nyckelord: Snabbmatsbranschen, Max AB, McDonald’s, Saudiarabien, psychic distance, kultur, anpassningar

L’insuffisance rénale est une maladie chronique, qui, parvenue à un certain stade, nécessite au patient qui en est atteint, d’avoir recours à un traitement de suppléance permettant de pallier les défaillances de la fonction du rein. Une de ces techniques, l’hémodialyse, comprend trois étapes importantes dans le parcours de la personne malade: l’annonce de la maladie, la création d’un abord vasculaire, le passage au traitement. L’annonce de l’insuffisance rénale a souvent lieu quelques années avant l’intervention de la fistule artério-veineuse et donc bien en amont de la mise en dialyse. Une étude longitudinale aurait permis de procéder au suivi complet de la personne insuffisante rénale à partir de la découverte de la maladie mais les contraintes de temps m’ont conduit à me limiter aux effets après coup de l’annonce et à me concentrer sur les retentissements du traumatisme au moment de la première effraction (création de la fistule artério-veineuse) et de seconde effraction (la mise en dialyse). Au regard des théories psychanalytiques du traumatisme, j’ai cherché à mettre en évidence la portée des effractions corporelles sur l’unité psychosomatique de la personne atteinte d’insuffisance rénale qui se différencie de celle de l’effraction psychique du traumatisme excluant une blessure physique. J’ai repris l’hypothèse de Freud concernant les névroses de guerre qui stipule que l’atteinte physique protège de la névrose traumatique, mais j’ai proposé de modifier la teneur de ses propos en les adaptant à la situation de maladie grave. Par conséquent, la visée de cette recherche est d'étudier le parcours de l'insuffisant rénal à trois temps traumatiques de la maladie dans ses dimensions à la fois psychique et somatique. Afin d'éprouver mes hypothèses, un entretien clinique est proposé lors de la première entrevue, puis des tests projectifs (TAT et Rorschach) accompagnés d'un entretien clinique sont proposés lors de la seconde rencontre. Ma population se compose de huit patients âgés de 22 à 60 ans que j’ai rencontré une première fois lors de la création de la fistule artério veineuse, un moment durant lequel j’ai pu relever que l'annonce de l'insuffisance rénale n’avait pas joué le rôle d'une angoisse signal d'alarme dans l'économie psychique. Car en effet, à l’arrivée de ce nouveau corps étranger, un débordement pulsionnel affleure mettant à jour une fantasmatique de type traumatique. La seconde phase se situe au début des séances de dialyse lors desquelles la sensorialité et les sensations sont mises au service d'une « détresse somato-psychique » convoquant un sentiment d'inquiétante étrangeté et une difficulté de délimitation des frontières corporelles.D’une part, l’analyse au cas par cas des résultats dévoile que la valeur préventive de l’annonce de la maladie quelques années avant l’intervention a été amoindrie par la violence des effractions corporelles D’autre part, l’analyse des tendances générales a mis en évidence une fragilisation de l’investissement narcissique et des repères objectaux à trois niveaux : sensoriel, sensuel, de la représentation. Plusieurs réponses ou couples de réponses face à l’évènement traumatique pouvant appartenir aux dimension régrédiente et/ou progrédiente s’inscrivant dans une histoire singulière et s’exprimant au travers d’un fonctionnement psychique propre à chacun, ont pu être dégagées comme : l’inhibition de la pensée, la rationalisation et l’intellectualisation, le masochisme (mortifère ou gardien de vie), le déni et le clivage non structurel du Moi, les processus névrotiques, les solutions opératoires (répression affective) et les solutions inadaptées.Enfin, l’examen du fonctionnement psychique aux tests projectifs ne permet pas d’établir de lien direct entre l’organisation mentale et les potentialités de réorganisation suite à l’impact du traumatisme comprenant une atteinte physique. / The renal insufficiency is a chronic disease, which, reached certain stage requires to the patient who is affected, to resort to a treatment of substitution allowing to mitigate the failures of the function of the kidney. One of these techniques, the hemodialysis, includes three important stages in the route of the sick person: the announcement of the disease, the creation of a vascular access, the passage in the treatment. The announcement of the renal insufficiency often takes place some years before the intervention of the artério-venous fistula and thus good upstream to the stake in dialysis. A longitudinal study would have allowed to proceed to the complete follow-up of the renal insufficient person from the discovery of the disease but the constraints of time drove me to limit me to the effects afterward of the announcement and to concentrate on the echoes of the trauma at the time of the first burglary (creation of the artério-venous fistula) and of second burglary (the stake in dialysis). Towards the psychoanalytical theories of the trauma, I tried to bring to light the impact of the physical burglaries on the psychosomatic unity of the person affected by renal insufficiency which differs from that of the psychic burglary of the trauma excluding a physical wound. I took back the hypothesis of Freud concerning the war neurosises which stipulates that the physical achievement protects from the traumatic neurosis, but I suggested modifying the content of its comments by adapting them to the situation of serious illness. Consequently, the aim of this research is to study the cours) of insufficient renal in three time traumatic of the disease in its at once psychic and somatic dimensions. To feel my hypotheses, a clinical consultation is proposed during the first interview, then projective tests (TAT and Rorschach) accompanied with a clinical consultation are proposed during the second meeting. My population consists of eight patients from 22 to 60 years old that I met first time during the creation of the fistula venous artério, one moment in the course of which I was able to raise that the announcement of the renal insufficiency had not played the role of an anxiety alarm in the psychic economy. Because indeed, upon the arrival of this new foreign body, an impulsive overflowing appears updating a fantastical of traumatic chap. The second phase is situated at the beginning of the sessions of dialysis when the sensoriality and the sensations are put in the service of a "somato-psychic distress " a feeling of disturbing strangeness and a difficulty of demarcation of the physical borders. On one hand, the individual analysis of the results reveals that the preventive value of the announcement of the disease some years before the intervention was decreased by the violence of the physical burglaries. On the other hand, the analysis of the general tendencies brought to light an embrittlement of the narcissistic investment and the objectals marks at three levels: sensory, sensual, of the representation. Several answers or couples of answers in front of the traumatic event which can belong in regredient and\or progredient dimensions joining a singular story and expressing himself through a psychic functioning appropriatefor each, were able to be brought out as: the inhibition of the thought, the rationalization and the intellectualization, the masochism (mortiferous or guard of life), the denial and the not structural split(cleavage) of the Me, the neurotic operating processes, the solutions ( emotional repression) and the unsuitable solutions.Finally, the examination of the psychic functioning in the projective tests does not allow to establish of direct link between the mental organization and the potentialities of reorganization further to the impact of the trauma understanding a physical achievement

The concept of Psychic Energy holds a very important position in the field of Psychoanalysis, particularly within the theories of Sigmund Freud. These ideas, including the notion of a constancy of excitation, or the ‘pleasure principle’, as well as energy transfer and ‘cathexis’, are important not only historically in terms of the subsequent development of Psychoanalytic theory, but also remain a core conceptual assumption of a number of concepts in contemporary use. However, the central ideas related to psychic energy have undergone little substantial revision or development since the end of Freud’s career, despite a number of compelling critiques that call into question the central definitions and assumptions of these concepts, particularly the principles defining their governance. Grobbelaar (1989) has suggested that a number of problems within Psychoanalytic theory can be powerfully addressed through recourse to central propositions from the field of systems theory, and the case is made in the present thesis that some of the core problems with the energic theory may indeed be the result of a pre-systems epistemology. The present study proposes that psychic energy be defined as recursively constituted through three levels of the human system (inorganic, organic and informational), and that the core principles of regulation at the informational level is not constancy, or pleasure, but rather the necessity of maintaining organisation. In line with this proposition, the study reviews a number of theoretical propositions from systems theory and cybernetics (including the notions of energy defined as ‘information’ or ‘free energy’) and how they may be usefully deployed as principles of organisation of psychic energy within the psychoanalytic framework. Examples of how these principles may be used to explain Freud’s core observations of ego functioning are presented as well. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Psychology)

Denna studie undersöker internationaliseringsprocessen av e-handelsbolag med fokus på hur psychic distance, ett koncept som hanterar upplevda skillnader i bland annat språk, kultur och politik mellan olika marknader, spelar in i internationaliseringen. Syftet med studien är alltså att undersöka vad den befintliga litteraturen inom fältet för International Business studier säger om sambandet och vilken roll psychic distance spelar i internationaliseringen av e-handelsbolag. Detta kommer göras genom att besvara följande två forskningsfrågor: Vilken roll spelar psychic distance i e-handelsbolags internationaliseringsprocess? samt På vilket sätt har betydelsen av psychic distance förändrats i och med e-handeln? Studien baseras på teorierna kring psychic distance och nätverk från Uppsalamodellens internationaliseringsteorier, CAGE-ramverket samt e-handel och ”the virtuality trap” för att undersöka sambandet mellan dessa traditionella teorier och nya tekniska utvecklingar i form av e-handel. För att undersöka detta har en systematisk litteraturstudie baserad på 29 artiklar från fem olika journaler på fältet genomförts. Resultatet från denna analyserades sedan med hjälp av en tematisk analys för att identifiera mönster i materialet. Detta ledde fram till ett antal slutsatser och det konstaterades att psychic distance spelar en roll även i internationaliseringen av e-handelsbolag men inte riktigt samma roll som för traditionella bolag. Det konstaterades även att betydelsen av psychic distance har ändrats mycket i och med e-handeln och att även om teknik sägs minska avstånd så kan avstånden ändå inte helt elimineras. Slutligen konstateras att det finns mer att lära om psychic distance i e-handelssammanhang och att mer forskning på området är önskvärt. / This study examines the internationalization process of e-commerce companies with a focus on psychic distance, a concept that deals with perceived differences in, among other things, language, culture and politics in different markets and how this plays a role in internationalization. The purpose of the studies is to examine what the existing literature within the field of International Business studies says about the role psychic distance plays in the internationalization of e-commerce companies. This was done by answering the following two research questions: What role does psychic distance play in the internationalization process of e-commerce companies? as well as In what way has the meaning of psychic distance changed with e-commerce? The study is based on the theories around psychic distance and networks from the Uppsala model's internationalization theories, the CAGE-distance framework as well as e-commerce and the virtuality trap to examine the connection between these traditional theories and new technological developments in the form of e-commerce. To investigate this, a systematic literature review, based on 29 articles from five different scientific journals within the field of interest was conducted. The results from these were then analyzed using a thematic analysis to identify patterns in the material. This led to several conclusions, and it was established that psychic distance does plays a role in the internationalization of e-commerce companies, but not quite the same role as for traditional companies. It is also established that the meaning of psychic distance has changed a lot with e-commerce and that even though technology is said to reduces distance, the distance cannot be eliminated. Finally, it is established that there is more to learn about psychological distance in an e-commerce context and that more research in the area is desirable. This thesis is written in Swedish.

Self-reports have described luck as an important factor in people’s lives, and there is a sizable body of psychological research conducted around the belief in luck, primarily as an intangible external element and a companion of gamblers. This thesis reviews the major part of this research, offering a critical analysis and identifying a region of research into luck that warrants further investigation. That is, if psychic events, collectively termed ‘psi’ are possible then such events may just appear to be lucky. Several parapsychological studies have investigated this relationship between luck and psi but have failed to discern if this relationship is real, perhaps because of the lack of explicit definition of luck or the measurement of what it is that the participants believe it to be. To address this issue existing luck belief measures were reviewed but it was clearly necessary to construct a new comprehensive measure based on thorough bottom-up test construction principles. A series of semi-structured interviews about luck were reanalysed qualitatively, the themes of which were used in the generation of items for a questionnaire. Through a series of factor-analyses a final 40-item, 4-factor Questionnaire of Beliefs about Luck (QBL) was produced, with factors labelled Luck, Chance, Providence and Fortune, to which was added a 1-item measure of Perceived Personal Luckiness (PPL). The new measure was found to be robust and internally reliable and correlated with paranormal belief supporting several predictions and thereby demonstrating sound construct validity. The literature on psi and luck indicated that luck might best be understood by Stanford’s (1974a) model of ‘psi-mediated instrumental response’ (PMIR) and a PMIR-type study was planned which incorporated the new QBL. A non-intentional precognition experiment with 100 participants utilised erotic-images as psi incentives and found good evidence of psi with this design. Furthermore, the QBL Luck subscale was found to be a significant predictor variable of psi score, indicating that the measure has good predictive validity, and PPL, belief in psi, and erotic reactivity also correlated with psi scores. There was also a near gender-effect. The findings were discussed in light of previous results and were interpreted in relation to the psychological theories outlined in the literature review, finding support for the notion of self-serving biases, and offering fresh insights into the illusion of control. A model was put forward for the relationship of luck and psi. It was concluded that the QBL was a comprehensive, reliable, valid and useful tool in the investigation of luck

In this PhD research a question is posed that concerns ‘varieties of creativity’ that have infrequently been explored empirically, although often described anecdotally. This question being: is, and if so, how, is creativity related to altered states of consciousness (ASCs) and parapsychological experiences? This thesis systematically explores the relationship between multiple dimensions of creativity and: personality traits characterised by an openness to intrapersonal experience and a fluid cognitive-style; specific altered states of consciousness and anomalous experiences (such as mystical experiences and subjective paranormal experiences); and anomalous cognition. The common thread is conceived as an examination of the extent to which creativity might involve ‘epistemological flexibility’ — that is, involves shifts into, and between, different ‘ways of knowing’. As such, a major part of this thesis was the psychometric development of a new self-report instrument, the Creative Cognition Inventory, which measures the reported use of different epistemological resources (such as intuition, dreams and rational logic) in the creative process. Creativity is defined in terms of a process, participated in at the person-level, which leads to a novel and adaptive product or performance. Drawing upon models of the creative process and person, it is suggested that a biphasic process is common to most theories of creativity, and that individuals with particular traits have been hypothesised to engage in this with more facility. Models that have explored cognitive, affective and perceptual ‘looseness’ as facilitating novelty are examined. As altered states of consciousness involve subjective shifts in these same dimensions, it is proposed that creativity and ASCs may be experientially related, either directly, or in terms of an overarching trait, such as ‘boundary-thinness’ or ‘transliminality’, which propitiates both. A multi-dimensional approach was taken to creativity measurement, accepting its complexity as a componential construct that might consist of multiple creativities. In Study One, the benefits of a multidimensional approach to creativity measurement were evident, refuting earlier work that had used only cognitive estimates of creativity and found no relationship with either boundary-thinness or transliminality. These constructs are experiential-traits that assess ones degree of intrapersonal openness, cognitive fluidity and sensitivity, and are associated with a proclivity to have unusual experiences. In Study One, they were found to be significantly correlated with both domain general measures of creativity (creative personality) and domain specific measures (emotional creativity and involvement in the arts). The sample for Study One consisted of 65 psychology undergraduates (49 females; 16 males). A second study assessed the degree to which different dimensions of creativity were related to different experiences of consciousness. 211 participants were recruited from the general population through opportunity sampling (108 females; 101 males). The sample included professional artists (n = 36) and scientists (n = 27). Competing models of a relationship between creativity and ASC-proclivity were assessed: cognitive expansion; affective openness; and motivational impetus. This study provided numerous insights into the experiences of consciousness that might be related to varieties of creativity. The key findings were that emotional creativity was most robustly associated with ASCs; artistic creative-personality was associated with ‘positive’ ASCs, including those along an oneiric continuum (e.g. hypnagogia and hallucinations), and those along an affective expansion continuum (e.g. dissociation and positive mystical experiences). Further, original and flexible cognition appeared to be associated with states along an oneiric continuum. Thus, Study Two found support for the affective and cognitive models, yet within different ranges of experience. This ‘model’ helps to clarify, by using heterogeneous, rather than homogenous constructs of ‘unusual experiences’, specific processes by which ASCs and creativity may be related and as such deserves further exploration. The final piece of research developed a novel protocol for recording impressions thought by participants to involve extrasensory perception (ESP) and associated states of consciousness in daily life, using experience- sampling methodology. As success in ESP experiments has consistently been reported amongst visual artists, the above models were used to explore what aspects of the creativity complex might be associated with ESP-performance. As only emotional creativity related to the reporting of parapsychological experiences in Study Two, the affective openness model was expected to predict ESP-performance. Further, a carefully matched control group (n = 15) was used against which to compare success of artists (n = 15). Artists did not demonstrate a superior ESP effect in this study, although they did perform at a level commensurate with previous research. The affective openness hypothesis for ESP performance was rejected. Rather, it was questioned whether previous studies had not adequately matched controls or that the ‘take-home’ methodology, perhaps increasing relaxation and control for the participants, increased performance levels for the non-artists

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Both chronic trauma and shame, as well as the relation between them, are understudied phenomena. This is despite particularly high levels of both trauma- and shame-related psychopathology in South Africa (Edwards, 2005). I conducted a qualitative study exploring experiences of trauma, shame, post-traumatic reactions and coping mechanisms in single interviews with 19 South African survivors of chronic trauma (intimate partner violence) using narrative analysis. Results from the categorical content analysis indicated that all but one participant reported a history of physical violence perpetrated by her intimate partner. Sexual and emotional violence were also reported by the majority of the participants. The most significant reported mental health outcomes were persistent fear, depression and suicidality, dissociation and somatic complaints. Coping mechanisms included religion, support from family, counselling and substance misuse. Using smiling as a mask to conceal difficult feelings and keeping occupied were cited as the most effective defenses. Shame was viewed as a social emotion, and often described as humiliation (and sometimes embarrassment), which required the presence of a mocking, hostile audience. This was interpreted in socio-cultural terms. Eleven women presented with a split self – the authentic self who admitted to a great deal of shame when asked indirectly, and the false self who was described in surprisingly positive terms. I analysed this split using categorical content analysis and narrative analysis from a social constructivist point of view at individual (clinical) level, organisational (micro-cultural) level, and broader cultural level. I used Gee’s (1991) categorical form analysis to analyse five long complex shame and trauma narratives with the aim of determining if psychic fragmentation presents at linguistic level. I also analysed three short, compressed trauma and shame narratives. The structure of the short narratives tended to be circular, erratic, disjointed, and interrupted (Scarry, 1985; Simon, 2008). The three short, compressed trauma narratives were characterised by long pauses or silences, hesitations, avoiding eye contact, hunching over, covering the face with clothes, whispering, so making the narrative almost inaudible, crying, and defensive leaning in towards me, and laughing. These women were exceptions – most women expressed an urgency to talk about their experiences in great detail. Although the longer narratives are essentially fractured chaos narratives at linguistic level, they contain predominant trauma- and shame-related themes that are consistent throughout the narratives and that remain intact in spite of the signs of linguistic disruption and fragmentation. They are, in order of narratives, 1) shame/self-blame and deservedness; 2) truth/lies and bearing witness; 3) shame, humiliation and dissociation; 4) the concealed, shame-based self, including amnesiac-like disorientation of place and time; and 5) patterns of cyclical leave-return reflecting perpetrator-instilled abandonment terror, including disorientation of time. I have argued that although language, or narrative structure, continues to mimic and reflect narrative content (fractured narratives vs fractured selves) – there is also the intriguing possibility of a disconnection between form and content; and that thematic coherence or consistency and narrative fracturing can co-occur; co-exist. There are a number of clinical features in the narratives which are either related to, or comprise diagnostic criteria for chronic trauma syndromes such as chronic PTSD and DESNOS, and intersect with shame themes in the narratives I analysed. Consequently, I argue that there is a substantial intersection or co-occurrence between exposure to chronic trauma, and trauma-related clinical symptoms, including shame, which emerge from the narratives, which without exception, demonstrate significant linguistic fracturing. In conclusion, a number of gaps in the literature were identified. Future research should triangulate methods and chronic trauma prevalence and longitudinal studies are needed both internationally and locally. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sowel kroniese trauma as skaamte, en die verhouding tussen die twee, is tot dusver onvoldoende bestudeer – ondanks die besonder algemene voorkoms van trauma- en skaamte-verwante psigopatologie in Suid-Afrika (Edwards, 2005). Ek het ʼn kwalitatiewe studie onderneem en die ervaring van trauma, skaamte, post-traumatiese reaksies en oorlewingsmeganismes ondersoek in indiwiduele onderhoude met 19 Suid-Afrikaanse oorlewendes van kroniese trauma (geweld in intieme verhoudings). In my ondersoek het ek van narratiewe analise gebruik gemaak. Resultate van die kategoriese inhoudsanalise dui aan dat ál die vroue in die bestudeerde groep, behalwe een, ‘n geskiedenis van fisieke geweld gerapporteer het wat deur haar ‘partner’ gepleeg is. Seksuele en emosionele geweld is ook deur die meerderheid van die groep gerapporteer. Die mees betekenisvolle uitkomste in verband met psigiese gesondheid was voortdurende angs, depressie, selfmoordneigings, dissosiasie en somatiese klagtes. Oorlewingsmeganismes was onder andere godsdiens, berading en dwelms. Om ʼn glimlag te gebruik as masker vir die verberging van pynlike emosies, en om besig te bly, is genoem as die effektiefste verdedigingsmeganismes. Skaamte is gesien as ‘n sosiale emosie, en is dikwels ‘vernedering’ genoem (soms ʼn ‘verleentheid’), wat die teenwoordigheid van spottende, vyandige toeskouers impliseer. Skaamte is in die studie in sosio-kulturele terme geïnterpreteer. Elf vroue het 'n gesplete self vertoon – die outentieke self wat 'n groot hoeveelheid skaamte erken het wanneer hulle indirek daaroor uitgevra is, teenoor die valse self wat in verbasend positiewe terme beskryf is. Ek het hierdie gesplete self geanaliseer met gebruikmaking van kategoriale inhoudsanalise en ook van narratiewe analise uit 'n sosiaal-konstruktiewe perspektief – op 'n indiwiduele (kliniese), organisatoriese (mikro-kulturele) en ‘n breër kulturele vlak. Ek het Gee (1991) se kategoriale vorm-analise gebruik om vyf lang, komplekse skaamte- en traumanarratiewe te analiseer om te bepaal of psigiese fragmentering op 'n linguistiese vlak manifesteer. Ek het ook drie kort, gedronge trauma- en skaamtenarratiewe geanaliseer. Die struktuur van die kort narratiewe was geneig om sirkulêr, wisselvallig, onsamehangend en onderbroke te wees (Scarry, 1985; Simon, 2008). Die drie kort, gedronge traumanarratiewe is gekenmerk deur lang stiltes, aarseling, vermyding van oogkontak, vooroor buk, bedekking van die gesig met klere, fluistering (sodat die narratief byna onhoorbaar geword het), gehuil, defensiewe oorleun na my toe, en gelag. Hierdie drie vroue was uitsonderings – die meeste vroue het 'n dringende behoefte laat blyk om in fyn besonderhede oor hulle ervarings te praat. Alhoewel die langer narratiewe op 'n linguistiese vlak wesentlik gefragmenteerde chaos-narratiewe is, bevat hulle dominante trauma- en skaamte-temas wat konsekwent deur die verhale aanwesig bly ondanks die tekens van linguistiese disrupsie en fragmentering. Hulle is, in die volgorde van die narratiewe, 1) skaamte/selfblamering en verdiende loon; 2) waarheid/leuens en getuienis aflê; 3) skaamte, vernedering en dissosiasie; 4) bedekte, skaamte-gebaseerde self, insluitend die amnesieagtige disoriëntering van plek en tyd; en 5) patrone van sikliese vertrek en terugkeer, insluitend 'n disoriëntering van plek en tyd – 'n refleksie van die vrees om alleen gelaat te word, veroorsaak deur die gewelddadige optrede teen haar. Ek het geredeneer dat, alhoewel taal/ narratiewe struktuur geneig is om narratiewe inhoud na te boots en te reflekteer (gefragmenteerde narratiewe naas gefragmenteerde self) – is daar ook die interessante moontlikheid van 'n diskonneksie tussen vorm en inhoud; en dat tematiese samehang of konsekwentheid saam met narratiewe fragmentering kan voorkom. Daar is 'n aantal kliniese kenmerke in die narratiewe wat diagnostiese kriteria bevat vir kroniese trauma-sindrome soos kroniese PTSD en DESNOS, en wat verband hou met skaamtetemas in die betrokke narratiewe. Gevolglik redeneer ek dat daar 'n substansiële oorvleueling of saambestaan is van die blootstelling aan kroniese trauma en trauma-verwante kliniese simptome, insluitend skaamte. Dit kom na vore in die geanaliseerde narratiewe, wat sonder uitsondering deur linguistiese fragmentering gekenmerk word. Ten slotte is ‘n aantal leemtes in die literatuur geïdentifiseer. Toekomstige navorsing behoort metodes en algemeen-voorkomende kroniese trauma te trianguleer en longitudinale studies, plaaslik en internasionaal, word benodig.

Thesis (MEdPsych)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As I engaged in a therapy journey with a single client, the possibilities for research on the integrative use of narrative therapy and EMDR unfolded. I investigated recent literature and realised that much had been written about narrative therapy as single approach to therapy within the postmodern paradigm. There was also extensive writing on EMDR and its integrative use with other therapies in assisting people who struggle with upsetting memories of trauma. Since I was unable to find any literature to date on the integrative use of narrative therapy and EMDR, I realized that there was much to be discovered and learned on such an integrative research journey. The client's experiences and descriptions of overwhelming emotional distress (as the problem in her life) during the process of integration was the main focus of this qualitative case study. During our therapy conversations knowledges were gathered and deconstructed. Video or tape recordings, photographs, work with clay, sketches, letters and other documents were useful in keeping track of the research journey. A reflecting team and the participation of the client's boyfriend contributed and enriched both the therapy and research journeys. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tydens terapeutiese werk met 'n enkele kliënt het die moontlikhede van navorsing oor die integrasie van narratiewe terapie en EMDR vir my 'n werklikheid geword. Ek het onlangse navorsing bestudeer en besef dat narratiewe terapie as 'n enkele benadering tot terapie binne die post-moderne paradigma, al 'n geruime tyd lank nagevors is. Daar bestaan ook literatuur oor EMDR en die integrasie daarvan met ander terapeutiese benaderings in die ondersteuning van persone wat probleme ondervind met ontstellende herinnerings van trauma. Aangesien ek tot op hede geen literatuur oor die integrasie van narratiewe terapie en EMDR kon vind nie, het ek vermoed dat 'n navorsingsreis op hierdie terrein verskeie ontdekkings en die ontginning van nuwe kennis moontlik sou maak. Die fokus van hierdie kwalitatiewe gevallestudie val op die kliënt se belewing en beskrywings van oorweldigende emosies (as probleem in haar lewe) tydens die terapeutiese integrasieproses. Waarhede of kennis is tydens terapiegesprekke versamel en gedekonstrueer. Video- of bandopnames, foto's, kleiwerk, sketse, briewe en ander dokumente was waardevol om die koers van die navorsingsreis aan te dui. Insette en deelname van 'n refekterende span, asook die kliënt se kêrel, het beide die terapie- en navorsingsreise verryk en uitgebrei.

Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / This study demonstrates the use of the transtheoretical model in the context of sexual trauma in middle childhood. Exploring contemporary literature I found that there is no literature in South Africa available on this topic. It was not until 1997 that the transtheoretical model was implemented internationally with regard to sexual abuse. Taking this in consideration, I realised that there was much scope for exploring, discovering and reflecting on the transtheoretical model and its use within the boundaries of childhood sexual trauma. A qualitative case study within the social constructivist/interpretive paradigm, was chosen as research design. The study involved a participant in middle childhood. Elna (pseudonym) was selected from referrals from the Child Protection Unit of the South African Police Services to the Unit for Educational Psychology at Stellenbosch. The reason for referring Elna to the Unit was because of the negative and diverse effects sexual trauma had on her life story. The study explores the transtheoretical model and the appropriateness thereof as alternative treatment model in a case of sexual trauma, as well as insight into progression of the client in the therapeutic process. Data was collected by means of interviews and therapy sessions during which Narrative therapy, EMDR, sandtray therapy (used in a narrative context) and art therapy techniques were used in an integrated manner. The data was analysed by means of interpreting codes, categories and themes. The study concluded with a discussion of the findings and a reflection on the impact the use of the transtheoretical model had on me as a research-therapist-in-training. The literature review and the findings of this research suggest that the transtheoretical model can be applied effectively to a case of sexual trauma in middle childhood. The use of the model also gives insight into progression of the client in the therapeutic process.

Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Drawings as mediators of communication are utilised in multiple contexts across national and cultural divides. The value of drawings in eliciting meaning that transcends the boundaries of words has been documented for centuries. In educational practice, drawings are utilised in a wide range of settings, ranging from therapeutic to psycho-educational assessment, disclosure in forensic and sexual abuse cases, and for artistic expression. Furthermore, research confirms the usefulness of drawings in empowering marginalised populations from a participatory action-research stance. Using drawing in research to mediate communication in a group context when studying adolescent perceptions of a traumatic event has not been explored extensively in South Africa. This study therefore sought to explore adolescents' experiences of a shared traumatic incident as facilitated through their drawings. The research process set out to answer the following research question: What insights regarding adolescents' experiences of a shared traumatic incident can be gained from using drawing in a group context? This investigation is underpinned by an eco-systemic theoretical perspective which recognises the influence of the community in the experiences of its individual members. The African concept of ubuntu, meaning "whatever happens to the individual happens to the whole group, and whatever happens to the whole group happens to the individual", thus informs the research. Within the context of psychoanalytical theory in trauma research, international literature acknowledges that families and communities are important resources to help bring about healing. The findings of this study confirm that the dynamic interaction between personal factors and interpersonal factors relating to one's peers, family and community influence how individual and collective experiences are shaped and assimilated. The findings of the study led me to conclude that drawing became a non-confrontational facilitator for traumatised participants to express difficult feelings that may otherwise have been silenced. Furthermore, in addition to self-expression, the co-analysing of drawings in a group context created opportunities for collective remembrance. Its potential to empower marginalised populations such as the adolescent participants in this study to express their views on social injustice also emerged. The study's findings could serve as a motivator for further investigation of drawings as mediators of communication in a variety of traumarelated educational settings.