This thesis explores the ways in which a number of individuals survived their experiences of severe and perpetrated trauma. I theorise the participant’s survival adaptations in terms of hope which I positioned as being an active relational process. A case study method was used to collect data from intersubjective-psychoanalytically informed therapy sessions, from three participants who each received 12, 60 minute therapy sessions. I utilised a hermeneutic ontology from the work of Gadamer, who contended that the development of understanding and meanings results from an active intersubjective process. This ontology and design enabled the research to capture and interpret aspects of the dynamic development of personal meanings about the experiences of surviving traumas. Central to my notions of hope is the concept of intersubjectivity which is based upon the work of Winnicott, Fairbairn, Ferenczi, Meares, Stern and Bromberg. Using their ideas about relatedness and identification I argue that survivors expressed hopeful intentions and actions through their conscious and unconscious adaptive strategies. I explore the peritraumatic hopeful adaptations the survivors made such as identifying with the aggressor, the splitting of self, and the overt valuing of relatedness. I further argue that hopeful intentions can be seen in such actions as the survivor remembering their trauma rather than re-enacting it, in their efforts in narrating their trauma histories despite their fears, shame and difficulties in finding a listener. The thesis concludes by exploring some of the ramifications for society of hope, trauma and witnessing: foremost being the need to recognise the vulnerable in our communities and the difficulties we face in meeting the challenges of knowing their stories. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Environmental factors such as stress and hormones acting during embryogenesis, as well as early life experiences such as parental care have been clearly demonstrated in animal models to shape the individual's phenotypic gene expression, brain development, and behavioural repertoires ( Meaney, 2005 ). However, human studies have not assessed both prenatal mental health and the quality of postnatal parental care with the same sample of mothers. The current study sought to fill this gap by investigating the impact of women's experiences of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) before pregnancy on the mother's ante - and postnatal mental health problems, parenting, and children developmental outcomes. The study reported here is the second phase of a longitudinal study that commenced in 2002. In phase one community based middle class women in their third trimester of pregnancy were recruited and followed during the early postnatal period ( Linke, 2002 ; Lowe 2003 ). The current study assessed forty four mother - infant dyads at three time points during the second postnatal year. The dyads were divided into one of three groups ( control, trauma control and PTSD ) depending on the mother's trauma experience and whether she met the lifetime diagnosis for PTSD. The assessments included the measure of the mother and infant's basal cortisol, the mother's lifetime and ongoing mental health problems, the quality of the mother - infant relationship, and the development of the infant's general cognitive abilities, emerging language skills and emotional and behavioural self regulation. The current study found infant morning cortisol levels measured at 13 months of age were significantly predicted by maternal trauma experience and the subsequent PTSD symptoms of hyperarousal supporting the research of Yehuda and colleagues ( 2005 ) and implicating an epigenetic transmission of environmental experience from the mother to her offspring possibly via in utero programming of the HPA axis. Overall, maternal trauma was found to impact on both child language and self regulation development. Unexpectedly, the trauma control or resilient mothers were found to be least engaged with their infants, and their infants had the lowest language development. However, poorer language development was not mediated through dyadic emotional availability or maternal sensitivity. Maternal PTSD was found to be related to poorer child emotional and behavioural outcomes which were mediated through maternal mental health problems. Overall, the findings of the current study suggest that maternal trauma experience is associated with a biologically based mechanism occurring in both the mother and the infant which is protective for both the mother and the child's emotional health, but comes at a cost of slower infant language development. Furthermore, this mechanism appears to have broken down in the presence of maternal PTSD for both the mother and the infant with subsequent associations with greater maternal mental health problems, more problematic infant emotional and behavioural problems, and disorganised attachment. These findings have clinical implications, particularly for early intervention programs. The results need to be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size. However, the findings have broad implications in relation to resilience to trauma and the development of psychopathology and warrant repetition. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Medicine, 2007.

Current theories of PTSD propose that impaired retrieval of trauma memories may impede processing of these memories and subsequent trauma recovery. This thesis investigated memory retrieval processes in trauma survivors with and without symptoms of posttraumatic stress, and in non-traumatised individuals exposed to a highly arousing event. Study 1 examined deliberate avoidance of unwanted memories in recent trauma survivors. The results indicated that attempts to forget were associated with poorer recall of forgotten information, but the size of this effect did not depend on the presence or absence of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD). Study 2 investigated automatic retrieval inhibition in trauma survivors with or without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The results suggested that repeated retrieval of trauma-related information by individuals with PTSD can cause inhibition of related, but unpractised information. Studies 3 and 4 examined the relationship between the vantage point of trauma memories, avoidance and posttraumatic stress symptomatology. The findings indicated that recalling a traumatic event from an observer perspective is associated with post trauma avoidance. They also showed that an observer vantage point in the initial few weeks after trauma is associated with poorer long-term post trauma adjustment. Studies 5, 6 and 7 were analogue studies which analysed the impact of heightened arousal on memory retrieval in novice skydivers. The results suggested that elevated arousal can interfere with retrieval of information related to the arousal-inducing event. Study 7 also indicated that autobiographical memory for the event may be impaired. Finally, Study 8 examined the qualities of trauma memories that were accessed via different modes of retrieval. The results provided evidence that intrusive memories were experienced as more realistic and with more intense affect than memories for the same event that were deliberately retrieved. Together, the findings of this program of research extend current theories of PTSD by highlighting the mechanisms through which retrieval of trauma memories may be impaired. The results suggest that the quality of trauma memories is affected by avoidance processes, elevated arousal and level of conscious control the individual exerts over retrieval.

Current theories of PTSD propose that impaired retrieval of trauma memories may impede processing of these memories and subsequent trauma recovery. This thesis investigated memory retrieval processes in trauma survivors with and without symptoms of posttraumatic stress, and in non-traumatised individuals exposed to a highly arousing event. Study 1 examined deliberate avoidance of unwanted memories in recent trauma survivors. The results indicated that attempts to forget were associated with poorer recall of forgotten information, but the size of this effect did not depend on the presence or absence of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD). Study 2 investigated automatic retrieval inhibition in trauma survivors with or without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The results suggested that repeated retrieval of trauma-related information by individuals with PTSD can cause inhibition of related, but unpractised information. Studies 3 and 4 examined the relationship between the vantage point of trauma memories, avoidance and posttraumatic stress symptomatology. The findings indicated that recalling a traumatic event from an observer perspective is associated with post trauma avoidance. They also showed that an observer vantage point in the initial few weeks after trauma is associated with poorer long-term post trauma adjustment. Studies 5, 6 and 7 were analogue studies which analysed the impact of heightened arousal on memory retrieval in novice skydivers. The results suggested that elevated arousal can interfere with retrieval of information related to the arousal-inducing event. Study 7 also indicated that autobiographical memory for the event may be impaired. Finally, Study 8 examined the qualities of trauma memories that were accessed via different modes of retrieval. The results provided evidence that intrusive memories were experienced as more realistic and with more intense affect than memories for the same event that were deliberately retrieved. Together, the findings of this program of research extend current theories of PTSD by highlighting the mechanisms through which retrieval of trauma memories may be impaired. The results suggest that the quality of trauma memories is affected by avoidance processes, elevated arousal and level of conscious control the individual exerts over retrieval.

Current theories of PTSD propose that impaired retrieval of trauma memories may impede processing of these memories and subsequent trauma recovery. This thesis investigated memory retrieval processes in trauma survivors with and without symptoms of posttraumatic stress, and in non-traumatised individuals exposed to a highly arousing event. Study 1 examined deliberate avoidance of unwanted memories in recent trauma survivors. The results indicated that attempts to forget were associated with poorer recall of forgotten information, but the size of this effect did not depend on the presence or absence of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD). Study 2 investigated automatic retrieval inhibition in trauma survivors with or without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The results suggested that repeated retrieval of trauma-related information by individuals with PTSD can cause inhibition of related, but unpractised information. Studies 3 and 4 examined the relationship between the vantage point of trauma memories, avoidance and posttraumatic stress symptomatology. The findings indicated that recalling a traumatic event from an observer perspective is associated with post trauma avoidance. They also showed that an observer vantage point in the initial few weeks after trauma is associated with poorer long-term post trauma adjustment. Studies 5, 6 and 7 were analogue studies which analysed the impact of heightened arousal on memory retrieval in novice skydivers. The results suggested that elevated arousal can interfere with retrieval of information related to the arousal-inducing event. Study 7 also indicated that autobiographical memory for the event may be impaired. Finally, Study 8 examined the qualities of trauma memories that were accessed via different modes of retrieval. The results provided evidence that intrusive memories were experienced as more realistic and with more intense affect than memories for the same event that were deliberately retrieved. Together, the findings of this program of research extend current theories of PTSD by highlighting the mechanisms through which retrieval of trauma memories may be impaired. The results suggest that the quality of trauma memories is affected by avoidance processes, elevated arousal and level of conscious control the individual exerts over retrieval.

Current theories of PTSD propose that impaired retrieval of trauma memories may impede processing of these memories and subsequent trauma recovery. This thesis investigated memory retrieval processes in trauma survivors with and without symptoms of posttraumatic stress, and in non-traumatised individuals exposed to a highly arousing event. Study 1 examined deliberate avoidance of unwanted memories in recent trauma survivors. The results indicated that attempts to forget were associated with poorer recall of forgotten information, but the size of this effect did not depend on the presence or absence of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD). Study 2 investigated automatic retrieval inhibition in trauma survivors with or without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The results suggested that repeated retrieval of trauma-related information by individuals with PTSD can cause inhibition of related, but unpractised information. Studies 3 and 4 examined the relationship between the vantage point of trauma memories, avoidance and posttraumatic stress symptomatology. The findings indicated that recalling a traumatic event from an observer perspective is associated with post trauma avoidance. They also showed that an observer vantage point in the initial few weeks after trauma is associated with poorer long-term post trauma adjustment. Studies 5, 6 and 7 were analogue studies which analysed the impact of heightened arousal on memory retrieval in novice skydivers. The results suggested that elevated arousal can interfere with retrieval of information related to the arousal-inducing event. Study 7 also indicated that autobiographical memory for the event may be impaired. Finally, Study 8 examined the qualities of trauma memories that were accessed via different modes of retrieval. The results provided evidence that intrusive memories were experienced as more realistic and with more intense affect than memories for the same event that were deliberately retrieved. Together, the findings of this program of research extend current theories of PTSD by highlighting the mechanisms through which retrieval of trauma memories may be impaired. The results suggest that the quality of trauma memories is affected by avoidance processes, elevated arousal and level of conscious control the individual exerts over retrieval.

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Hur går ett företag tillväga när de tar sig ut på den internationella spelplanen. Vilka problem blir de tvungna att hantera. I studien som följer har danska livsmedelskedjan Netto studerats, deras inträde på den svenska marknaden, det sätt de har gått tillväga på . Syftet med uppsatsen är således att studera hur Netto har gått tillväga vid inträdet på den svenska livsmedelsvaruhusmarknaden och hur de kulturella skillnaderna mellan hemlandet och värdlandet har påverkat detta. Upplägget för studien har varit att genom en kvalitativ metod studera såväl primära som sekundära källor utifrån aktuell teoribildning, genom att bland annat haft kontakt med en förhandlingschef på Netto Marknad Sverige. Men också sätt till sekundära källor för att få en uppfattning i vilket sammanhang Netto verkar. Studiens visar på att Netto tagit sig in på den svenska marknaden på ett sätt som i många fall går rakt emot den rådande teoribildningen inom området. Genom att ingå i ett joint venture med ICA har Danska Netto gått in på den svenska marknaden som om det rörde sig om en mycket okänd och avlägsen marknad. En viktig orsak till detta beteende är den hårda bransch-situation som råden på den svenska livsmedelsmarknaden, med starka aktörer som ICA och COOP, samt vår bristande tradition av lågprisaktörer. Slutsatsen av denna studie är att det är branschen och inte landet, som avgör hur företaget kommer att gå tillväga vid inträdet.

This study aims to test the Uppsala Internationalisation model and one of its crucial elements, the concept of psychic distance. The evidence is drawn from a Chilean multinational Business to Business manufacturing company, AJ Ing which has gone international since 1997, 14 years after its inception. The Uppsala model and the concept of psychic distance are discussed and explored as well as other relevant literature. This is followed by a computation of psychic distance between Chile and some of the countries AJ Ing is established in, as well as Kenya where it seeks to establish itself soon. Interviews were then conducted with the Assistant Director of Operations at the company in order to give insight into the company's internationalisation process. The results show that the Uppsala model was followed to some extent. The internationalisation was done in incremental steps and after gaining knowledge and experience, but the notion of psychic distance played a minor direct role in the process.