The hypothesis derived from four case studies proposes that if at a philosophical level the training is choreographed at confusing levels of philosophical punctuations, and the training programme involves an ongoing commentary on the 'self' of the trainee, and this ongoing commentary interrupts or interferes with the process in which the 'self' comes to be defined, then on an experiential level the training context is unstable for experiential exploration, and the trainee experiences psychological discomfort. A further five case studies are investigated using focused interviews and content analysis to verify the hypothesis. The author-text-reader metaphor serves to describe the trainer-training-trainee relationship. This reveals that the trainee experiences psychological discomfort, often perceived as psychological damage, when the training text is incoherent and therefore unreadable. In each instance where the training text was found incoherent the trainer was identified as the author, and therefore responsible and accountable for the trainee's psychological discomfort. / Na aanleiding van vier gevallestudies word 'n hipotese afgelei wat voorstel dat wanneer opleiding op 'n filosofiese vlak gechoreografeer word vanuit onsamehangende vlakke van filosofiese punktuasies, en waar sogenaamde opleidingsprogramme voortgesette kommentaar op die 'self' van die student lewer, en waar hierdie voortgesette kommentaar die proses waardeur die 'self' gedefinieer word onderbreek of beinvloed, word die opleidingskonteks op 'n ervaringsvlak onstabiel vir ervaringsondersoek en die student beleef sielkundige ongemak. 'n Verdere vyf gevallestudies word daarna ondersoek, en deur middel van gefokusde onderhoude en inhoudsanalise word die hipotese bevestig. Die skrywer-teks-leser metafoor word dan aangewend om die dosent-opleiding-student verhouding te beskryf. Dit onthul dat die student sielkundige ongemak ervaar, dikwels beskou as sielkundige skade, wanneer die opleidingsteks onsamehangend en dus onleesbaar is. In elke geval waar die opleidingsteks onsamehangend bevind is, word die dosent as die skrywer geiidentifiseer en kan dus verantwoordelik en aanspreeklik gehou word vir die student se sielkundige ongemak. / Psychology / M. A. (Clinical Psychology)

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the ethical decision making self-efficacy of a sample of state-credentialed psychologists and counselors. A questionnaire was constructed which asked respondents to rate the confidence they possessed in relation to thirty items (reflecting ten a priori ethical decision-making domains). The items described ethical knowledge and ethical decision-making tasks and situations. The questionnaire also included eight questions pertaining to respondents' personal characteristics and professional education, training, and experience. The questionnaire was mailed to 400 Arizona-licensed psychologists and 340 Arizona-certified counselors. Although no formal, a priori hypotheses were established prior to the survey, it was expected that the extent and quality of professional ethics training might be associated with higher scores on factors generated by an exploratory factor analysis performed on survey results. In particular, it was anticipated that a values-clarification component of ethics training would be associated with higher ethical decision-making factor scores. Approximately 50% of the total sample responded to the survey. The factor analysis of scorable questionnaires resulted in a six-factor model of ethical decision-making self-efficacy. The six factors were: (1) Knowledge, (2) Behavior, (3) Thinking, (4) Awareness, (5) Resources, (6) Authorities-Conflict Analysis/Resolution. Having taken an ethics course as a student was associated with higher scores on factors 1, 5, and 6. Having taken an ethics training seminar as a postgraduate was associated with higher scores on factors 1, 2, and 5. Those respondents with a values clarification component to their ethics training scored higher on factors 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. Study results suggest that further development of an Ethical Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale and pursuit of a national survey of psychologists and counselors addressing issues raised in this study are warranted.

This thesis comprises two papers. Paper One: Previous research in relation to young people who are at risk of school exclusion can be criticised for the lack of studies that truly elicit and foreground the voices of these young people within a school context. While retrospective studies have explored their views post exclusion, few have examined their perceptions within a mainstream context prior to exclusion. This can be explained in terms of the inherent difficulties of engaging disaffected young people with research, often attributed to a combination of poor language skills and negative perceptions of adults, and schools’ reluctance to foreground these voices. This paper reports how a participatory research method, which took into account the individual needs of disaffected young people, overcame these difficulties and succeeded in eliciting the voices of ten young people at risk of school exclusion within their mainstream context. Rich, meaningful and contextualised data were generated about disaffected young people’s perceptions of their mainstream school experiences. The data were thematically analysed and then interpreted using self determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). This revealed that from young people’s perspectives the need for a sense of relatedness was more relevant than the need for a sense of autonomy. The need to feel competent only became relevant in certain subject contexts. Findings showed a more holistic and nuanced perspective of disaffection. The young people perceived their engagement to be context driven and, importantly, were able to view themselves as positively engaged with some aspects of school. This highlights the need for further research into disaffected young people’s voices regarding what they perceive to be positive engagement as this may differ from practitioners’ perceptions. Implications for practice are that Educational Psychologists (EPs) are well placed to foreground the voice of disaffected young people with practitioners. In so doing they help them make better sense of disaffected young people’s school experiences and enhance practitioners’ ability to support these young people. Paper Two: Interventions in relation to young people at risk of exclusion tend to be drawn from education practitioner views which focus on a particular perspective of disaffection such as within child or curricular factors. Consequently interventions are ‘done to’ rather than ‘with’ young people and lack an integrated, holistic approach. In this small case study the researcher facilitated an intervention with seven Learning Mentors (LMs) set within two different school contexts. The aim of the intervention was to engage LMs with the voice of disaffected young people. The LMs met in two groups over two months during which vignettes of disaffected young people’s voices were used as stimuli for prioritising, implementing and evaluating changes to current LM practice. LMs’ personal constructs of disaffected young people were elicited pre and post intervention. The findings reveal that when LMs are facilitated to engage with the voice of disaffected young people it can have a positive impact on their perceptions of those young people. The effectiveness of the impact was dependent on the context of the school, level of training received and the extent to which LMs engaged with the facilitative process. As this is one of few studies which have implemented an intervention to engage schools with the voice of disaffected young people, further research exploring whether the intervention could be replicated in other school contexts would be of value. This study adds to the body of knowledge on school disaffection in young people and indicates that EPs are well placed to manage facilitative processes aimed at engaging schools with the voices of disaffected young people. In doing so they support practitioners to broaden their understanding of these young people and, importantly, enable them to act on their voices.

A partir dos anos 1980, a Psicologia Escolar e Educacional brasileira instaura importante movimento teórico-metodológico de crítica na perspectiva de construção de uma ciência e profissão com compromisso ético-político, com vistas à emancipação no âmbito da Educação. Assim, o objetivo geral desta pesquisa é compreender concepções teórico-metodológicas presentes na atuação de psicólogos escolares após esse período de crítica e de reconstrução, descritas em artigos científicos, analisando-se os rumos percorridos pela área a partir dos anos 2000. Os objetivos específicos são: a) explicitar concepções teóricas que dão sustentação às práticas psicológicas; b) perquirir o relato de práticas profissionais e desafios percebidos para realizá-las; c) analisar relações entre a atuação e as concepções teóricas descritas e discussões críticas da área. Os princípios teórico-metodológicos do estudo se sustentam no Materialismo Histórico e Dialético. Para o alcance dos objetivos, realizou-se pesquisa bibliográfica em artigos científicos publicados no Brasil no período entre 2000 e 2014 que versam sobre a atuação do psicólogo escolar. A seleção dos textos se deu consoante a roteiro previamente definido, chegando-se a 37 artigos. A análise ocorreu segundo categorias alicerçadas nos seguintes eixos estruturantes: a) Concepções teóricas; b) Práticas profissionais; c) Desafios. Como resultados, verifica-se que: 1) em artigos que apresentam estudos sobre práticas de psicólogos na Educação há significativo ecletismo nas concepções teóricas dos profissionais, todavia, ainda que carregada por marcas de práticas outrora consolidadas, constata-se a ocorrência de transformações na dimensão ético-política da prática profissional. 2) Em artigos com estudos de psicólogos sobre sua prática na Educação há diversificadas concepções teóricas da Psicologia; são descritas intervenções clássicas da área, mas também, uma atuação marcada pela transformação. 3) Em artigos que apresentam estudos sobre a formação de psicólogos para atuar na Educação, a Psicologia Histórico-Cultural comparece quase unanimemente; em considerável parcela dos demais, a presença das reflexões críticas é significativo; a atuação apresentada expressa o pensamento crítico da área; mesmo nos escassos artigos que não dialogam com reflexões críticas a atuação simultaneamente expressa atributos de práticas consolidadas e de práticas com indícios de transformação. O principal desafio à atuação relaciona-se à expectativa das instituições educacionais por atuação em moldes clínico-terapêuticos, distante da que tem sido proposta a partir de uma perspectiva crítica, pois é comum haver concepções tradicionais de Educação no cotidiano das instituições educacionais, constituindo espaços de conflito. Diante da análise dos dados, defende-se a tese de que a Psicologia Escolar e Educacional fundamentada na Psicologia Histórico-Cultural tem se consolidado como um movimento de cunho teórico-metodológico de resistência a concepções de Homem que se submetem à dominação econômica e social, pois a atuação de psicólogos escolares está passando por consistentes transformações em relação a práticas outrora consolidadas. A pesquisa torna conspícuas as conquistas da área na construção de uma atuação 8 voltada à emancipação e os desafios a serem ainda enfrentados, que ensejam a continuidade de uma atuação engajada junto a espaços de debates, de reivindicação e de construção de políticas públicas para a Educação / From the 1980s onwards, School and Educational Psychology in Brazil has set an important theoretical-methodological movement of criticism in the perspective of making both science and profession with an ethical-political commitment aiming at emancipation in the Education arena. Thus, the main objective of this research is to understand theoretical-methodological conceptions present in the practice of school psychologists after this period of criticism and reconstruction by analysing the courses taken by the field since the 2000s. The specific objectives are: a) to explicit theoretical conceptions which support the psychological practices; b) to examine the report of Professional practices and challenges perceived to perform them; c) to analyse relations between practice and theoretical conceptions described as well as critical discussion of the area. The theoretical-methodological principles of the study are based on the Historical and Dialectic Materialism. In order to reach such objectives, bibliographical research was carried out in scientific articles published in Brazil between 2000 and 2014 concerning the practice of the school psychologist. Selection of texts was according to a route previously defined, reaching 37 articles. The analysis occurred according to categories based on the following structures: a) Theoretical concepts; b) Professional practices; c) Challenges. As a result, one can verify that: 1) in articles presenting studies about psychologists practices in Education there is a significant ecletism in theoretical concepts of such professionals, however, even if full of marks of practices formerly consolidated, the occurrence of changes in the ethical-political dimension of the Professional practice is detected. 2) In articles with studies of psychologists about their practice in Education there are diversified theoretical conceptions of Psychology; classical interventions in the field are described, but also a practice marked by change. 3) In articles presenting studies about the psychologists qualification to work in Education, the Historical-Cultural Psychology is almost unanimously present; in significant contribution of the others, the presence of the critical thinking is quite significant; the practice presented expresses the critical thinkings of the field, even in the few articles which do not communicate with critical thinking the practice expresses attributes of practices already consolidated and practices with signs of change simultaneously. The main challenge for change relates to the expectation of the educational institutions to act in clinical therapeutic patterns, distant from what has been proposed from a critical perspective, since it is common to exist traditional conceptions of Education in the daily practice of educational institutions, constituting spaces of conflict. In light of the data analysis, the thesis which is defended is that both School and Educational Psychology based on Historical-Cultural Psychology has consolidated as a movement of theoretical-methodological nature of resistance to the conceptions of Man which undergo the economic and social domination, because the practice of school psychologists is going through consistent changes regarding the practices consolidated in the past. The research makes the achivements of the area quite clear in relation to the construction of a practice aimed at emancipation as well as to the challenges yet to come, 10 which provide an opportunity for the continuity of an engaged practice in the arenas of debate, claim, and public policy making for Education

This study investigates the relationship between mobbing, burnout, and religious coping styles among Protestant clergy. Mobbing is an emotionally abusive workplace behavior and is defined as the prolonged malacious harassment of a coworker by a group of other members of an organization to secure the removal from the organization of the one who is targeted. Mobbing has only recently become a focus of attention in the US. To date, there are no known studies investigating mobbing in the workplace setting of the church. The broad purpose of this study is to determine if Protestant pastors experience mobbing, how they are affected by it, and how they cope with it. Four religious coping styles - Self-directing, Collaborative, Deferring, and Surrender to God - are investigated to determine how coping styles of religious individuals function in mediating the effect of mobbing or burnout. Burnout is assessed throught he Maslach Burnout Inventory and measures emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. This study utilizes Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and presents two models of mediational analysis.... The results of analysis indicate that Protestant clergy do experience being mobbed which results in emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Clergy with a self-directing coping style experience more burnout than do those who utilize a surrender to God style. Differences in indirect effects between models were noted. The implications to theory and practice are discussed. / by Steven R. Vensel. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:31:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andre Gustavo Imianowsky.pdf: 1011834 bytes, checksum: e64010c36f84bf2ec6d2d1a91027336a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The objective of this research has its starting point the analysis of proposals for training of psychologists. It aims to contribute to the building of a history of psychology, fromideas and projects for the establishment of the psychologist to its insertion on the reality. Through theoretical and methodological framework of historical materialism, we ve recovered two stages: a) the period of modernization in Brazil during the 1950s, when psychologists with different proposals, get unite to regulate the profession in thiscountry, one of the first to have a law to professional regulation in the area. It discusses the movement that led to the law and the importance of thinking about society/science/university relationship to define projects of training in psychology. The scenario of industrialization lived in Brazil marks the debate in various spheres of work. Inone hand, shows that there was a concern with the formation of attitudes to the world of work in a time of change. On the other, reveals that the type of activity performed by the psychologistinterests to the development of the national market; and b) a time when the 1920 EasternEurope passes through social and political change with revolutionary purpose. The discussion of psychological practice as determined for a reality and the recovery of a philosophy of psychologyappearsas ideas to think about the work of the psychologist, the plan to build a new society based on socialism shows that it was necessary tobuild a new man. The historical particularities of the contexts presented in this work, analysisfrom its ownconditions in which the debate has emerged. The training of psychologists proved to be a concern for the constitution of practice and professional identity and revealed that psychological activity deals with conservative and transformative conceptions, and may take one form or another, as well as simultaneously both / Este trabalho tem como ponto de partida a análise de propostas para formação do psicólogo. Busca contribuir para construção de uma história da psicologia, a partir das ideias e projetos para a constituição do psicólogo para sua inserção sobre a realidade. Através do referencial teórico-metodológico do materialismo histórico, recuperou-se dois momentos: a) o período de modernização vivido no Brasil ao longo dos anos 1950, quando psicólogos com propostas das mais diversas, se unem para regulamentar a profissão no País, um dos primeiros a ter uma lei para regulamentação profissional na área. Discute-se o movimento que levou a essa lei e a importância de se pensar a relação sociedade/ciência/universidade para definir projetos de formação. O cenário de industrialização vivido no Brasil marca o debate em várias esferas do trabalho. Por um lado, mostra que havia uma preocupação com a formação das mentalidades para o mundo do trabalho num momento de mudanças. Por outro, revela que o tipo de atividade praticada pelo psicólogo interessava ao desenvolvimento do mercado nacional; e b) um momento no qual os anos 1920 o Leste Europeu passa por transformações sociais e políticas com propósitos revolucionários. A discussão em torno da prática psicológica como determinada para uma realidade e a recuperação de uma filosofia da psicologia aparecem como ideias para se pensar o trabalho do psicólogo, o plano de construção de uma sociedade nova com base no socialismo mostra que foi necessário pensar num homem novo. As particularidades históricas neste trabalho, são analisadas a partir das próprias condições nas quais o debate veio a surgir. A formação do psicólogo mostrou ser uma preocupação para a constituição da prática e identidade profissional e, revelou que a atividade do psicólogo lida com concepções conservadoras e transformadoras, podendo assumir uma ou outra forma, como também, simultaneamente ambas

Motivational interviewing (MI) has been used extensively and often effectively in medical settings to support behaviour change in adults. There is emerging evidence that MI may also be a useful approach for working with young people in schools. This thesis investigated the effectiveness of MI in educational settings and is presented in three sections. The first paper is an evaluative systematic literature review examining the evidence for student-focused MI in educational settings. Eleven studies were included in the review, although just eight were identified as 'best evidence' and included in the synthesis. Overall there is evidence for the effectiveness of student-focused MI in the areas of behaviour, school-based motivation and academic achievement. However, a number of methodological weaknesses were identified in the existing literature, which provides clear pointers for future research. Previous research has highlighted the potential usefulness of MI when used as a therapeutic intervention with disaffected students. However, to date, there has been little published research investigating students' views on MI. The second paper aims to investigate students' views on an MI intervention. Three disaffected students took part in an individual MI intervention, which was delivered by three educational psychologists (EPs). Semi-structured interviews were used to obtain the students' views, immediately after the intervention and again at a follow-up interview three months later. The results indicated that students were enthusiastic about the intervention and most perceived that there had been a positive impact on their learning motivation and classroom behaviour. However, these results were not consistent with questionnaire responses and two of the students experienced exclusions around the time of the intervention. The implications of these ambiguous findings are discussed in relation to the use of therapeutic interventions by EPs and the possible factors that are crucial to the success of MI interventions. The third paper provides a critical appraisal of the overall research process, including implications of the work, wider context of the research and dissemination of evidence to professional practice.

Aims: This study aims to use trainee counselling psychologists' conceptualisations and experiences to create a research-informed model of self-care and stress. In order to do this, the study integrated the basic tenets of humanistic psychology, theory relating to human potentiality and motivation, pluralistic practice and the relevant research literature around self-care and stress in trainee counsellors, psychotherapists and psychologists. Methods: The study was qualitative in nature and utilised a theory-building case study design. The research participants where 12 trainee counselling psychologists enrolled on a Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology in the United Kingdom. A research-informed model of self-care and stress was developed from the relevant research and theory literature. The findings from the 12 semi-structured interviews with the trainees were applied to this model in order to contextualise and refine it. Findings: The data from the interviews was analysed using a thematic analysis and the following categories and themes were discovered: category one - conceptualisations of self-care with caring for self, caring for others and self-actualising as its lower order themes; category two - self-care strategies, with keeping work-life in balance, caring for my physical well-being, getting support from other people and realising there is more to life as its lower order themes; category three -conceptualisations of stress with theoretical understandings of stress, physical impact of stress and psychological impact of stress as its lower order themes; the final category - sources of stress with demands and pressures, financial strains, unhealthy relationships and personal and professional development as its lower order themes. Discussion: The revised research-informed model suggests a number of goals, tasks and methods of self-care and a number of practical examples for each of these areas. According to the model, the goals of self-care involve nurturing trainees' potentiality to become fully functioning trainee counselling psychologists through learning to care for self, others and self-actualising. The tasks of self-care are promoting trainees' wellbeing through meeting their training needs (social support, academic, developmental and placement). Finally, the model suggests the methods of self-care should encourage intentional individual and organisational engagement in strategies which enable trainees to meet their training needs. The study recommends the model is applicable to counselling psychology regulatory bodies and training programmes, as well as individual trainee counselling psychologists. It also proposes further development of the model through research and testing.

Personer med könsöverskridande beteende är en grupp med större risk för psykisk ohälsa jämfört med resten av befolkningen. Ett professionellt bemötande är en viktig del av behandlingsprocessen och påverkar terapeutiskt utfall. Tidigare forskning visar brister i kontakten mellan vårdpersonal och personer med könsöverskridande beteende. Det saknas dock studier som fokuserar på psykologer och deras arbete med denna klientgrupp. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka psykologers upplevelse av klienter med könsöverskridande beteende. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med fem psykologer som hade erfarenhet av klienter med könsöverskridande beteende. Resultaten pekar på att könsöverskridande beteende är ett ämne som väcker både intresse och engagemang, men också en viss osäkerhet hos psykologer. Det framkommer att psykologers förförståelse och personliga inställningar spelar en stor roll i arbetet med klientgruppen när utbildningen och tillgången till information i ämnet är begränsad. En icke-patologiserande syn på könsöverskridande beteende dominerar, men även motsatsen förekommer. Ytterligare forskning krävs för att kartlägga på vilket sätt psykologrelaterade faktorer påverkar behandlingen av personer med könsöverskridande beteende. En annan viktig aspekt är hur befintlig kunskap kan implementeras i läroplaner för psykologers grundutbildning och effektivt spridas bland yrkesverksamma. / People with gender-incongruent behaviors have a higher risk for psychiatric problems compared to others. A professional approach is an important part of the treatment process and will influence the therapeutic outcome. Earlier research shows deficits in the contact between care personnel and people with gender-incongruent behaviours. There are no studies focusing on psychologists and their work with this client group. The aim of this study is to research psychologists’ subjective experience of clients with gender-incongruent behaviours. The study uses a qualitative method. The research data was collected with semi-structured interviews with five psychologists that had some experience with clients with gender-incongruent behaviours. The results point to gender-incongruent behaviors being a topic that evokes both interest and commitment, but also some insecurity in psychologists. Psychologists’ preconceptions and personal beliefs play a big role during the work with these clients when education and access to information on the topic is limited. A non-pathologizing outlook on gender-incongruent behaviours dominates, but the opposite also exists. More research is needed to map out in which way psychologist-related factors influence treatment of people with gender-incongruent behaviours. Another important aspect is how existing knowledge can be implemented in psychologists’ basic training and how it can be spread effectively amongst professionals.

Detta avhandlingsarbete undersöker hur psykologer förhåller sig till de olika betydelser av kön som finns i de sammanhang de befinner sig i när de utövar sitt yrke. Genom att utforska de betydelser som barn- och ungdoms­psykologer ger skillnader mellan flickor och pojkar har jag identifierat svårigheter och möjligheter när det gäller att inkludera sociala och kulturella aspekter i beskrivningar av barns och ungas psykologiska utveckling inom psykologiprofessionen i Sverige. Ett inkluderande av sociala och kulturella aspekter skulle bidra till en förståelse för hur barns psykologiska fungerande hänger ihop med de samhälleliga sammanhang de befinner sig i, och kunna användas för att ge barnen ett bättre stöd i behandlingsarbete.   Metod Elva intervjuer med svenska barn- och ungdomspsykologer, samt tre svenska läroböcker i utvecklingspsykologi analyserades. Analyserna utgick från socialkonstruktionistiska och diskurspsykologiska perspektiv.   Resultat Analyserna visade att psykologerna gav kön, genus och jämställdhet flera olika betydelser och att dessa olika betydelser ofta var motstridiga. Ett glapp identifieras mellan övergripande beskrivningar av barn och ungas utveckling där ambitionen att beskriva psykologisk utveckling som en interaktion mellan biologiska och kulturella faktorer tydligt kom till uttryck, och de mer konkreta beskrivningarna av psykologisk ut­veckling där ett biologiskt och/eller individinriktat synsätt gavs företräde. Detta glapp kom framförallt till uttryck i läroböckerna. I barn- och ungdoms­psykologernas tal om sitt arbete blev ett annat glapp synligt. När de talade mer övergripande om vad ett professionellt förhållningssätt till kön innebar baserade sig talet på strävan efter neutralitet och en syn på kön som ovid­kommande för psykologisk behandling. När talet handlade om det konkreta behandlingsarbetet konstruerades kön som skillnader. Barn- och ungdoms­psykologerna tycktes sitta fast i ett dilemma mellan en könsneutral retorik och ett bemötande och en behandling som utgick från könsskillnader som ”naturliga”. Det snäva individfokus som kom till uttryck i psykologernas berättelser lyfts fram som en förklaring till att psykologerna inte själva tycktes uppmärksamma detta glapp under sitt berättande. En fråga där psykologerna ställde kritiska frågor kring jämställdhet och lika fördelning av resurser handlade om att så få flickor i yngre åldrar besöker barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin. Vid dessa tillfällen kom en vilja att omfatta flickors och pojkars olika livsvillkor som förklaring till könsskillnader till uttryck. Då det i deras tal inte fanns några kopplingar mellan den olika fördelningen av resurser och över- och underordning mellan kvinnor och män på en samhällsnivå, verkade psykologerna dock sakna tillgång till analytiska redskap att fullfölja tankarna om olika livsvillkor. Försöken att kontextu­a­lisera flickornas ”osynlighet” tycktes då landa i en anpassning efter köns­stereotyper för ”deras eget bästa”. Jag identifierade några undantag från detta mönster. Några få psykologer uttryckte explicit ett jämställdhets­intresse och en önskan att arbeta på ett jämställt sätt i sitt behandlings­arbete. Analyserna av deras berättelser visar att professionella ideal när det gäller kunskapssyn hade stor betydelse för om, och hur, de kunde motarbeta ett könsstereotypt förhållningssätt i sitt arbete. En strategi att arbeta för jämställdhet utifrån ett neutralt kunskapsideal tycktes leda till ett fokus på ”likabehandling” och osynliggöra skillnader i värdering och handlings­ut­rymme mellan flickor och pojkar. En strategi att arbeta för jämställdhet som baserar sig i idealet ”rättvist resultat” tycktes öppna upp för möjlig­heter att upprätthålla uppmärksamheten på orättvisor och maktprocesser mellan könen.   Slutsats Möjligheterna att inkludera kulturella och sociala betydelser av kön i psykologiskt behandlingsarbete med barn och unga verkar hänga nära samman med psykologers professionella ideal för vad som är legitim kun­skap. I vilken utsträckning psykologerna hade tillgång till analytiska redskap att reflektera över kopplingar mellan problemen hos de flickor och pojkar de träffade och över- och underordning mellan kvinnor och män på en sam­hälls­nivå var också viktigt. Sådana tankemässiga redskap, som utgår från feministiska teorier och genusvetenskap, saknades till stor del i de intervjuer och de läroböcker som granskades. / This thesis examines how Swedish child psychologists relate to the meanings of gender in the surrounding culture. By exploring the meanings that psycho­logists working in child- and youth psychiatry, schools, and in the developmental field give differences between girls and boys I have aimed to identify obstacles against, and possibilities for more inclusive ways to under­stand and theorize the psychological development of children and young people. Such inclusive ways would contribute to an understanding of how children’s psychological functioning is related to the societal context in which they live their life, as well as to strategies for psychotherapy.   Methods Eleven interviews with psychologists working with child and adolescent interventions in Sweden, and three Swedish textbooks on developmental psychology were analysed. The analyses were informed by constructionist and discourse-psychological approaches.   Results The analyses showed that both the books and the psychologists gave gender and gender equality many different meanings and that these meanings often were contradictory. A gap was identified between general descriptions of the development of children where an ambition to emphasize interactions between biological and social factors was clearly expressed and more specific parts of the descriptions of child development where priority was given to biological and/or individual-based explanations. This gap was particularly prominent in the textbooks. In the child psychologists’ nar­ratives about their practice another type of gap was more prominent: When talking on a general level about gender and treatment the psycholo­gists construed a child’s gender as irrelevant to treatment. However, when talking about specifics of their practice the psychologists framed gender in terms of differences between boys and girls. The child psychologists seemed to be stuck between a view of gender as neutral and irrelevant, and assumptions of gender differences as ”natural”. The psychologists evidenced no conscious reflections on this gap, possibly because of the strong individual focus that they expressed. On a few occasions an ambition to encompass how living conditions could cause differences between girls and boys was expressed. Some psychologists noted that among younger children less clinical attention was paid to girls than to boys and saw this as unfair; however, none of them reflected on whether there could be connections between this asymmetry and patterns of gendered power and subordination in society. I therefore concluded that the psychologists seemed to lack analytical tools for such a contextualisation. What began as an attempt to bring in the girls’ context then became conserving and lead to a strategy to adjust the girls to expectations in the girls’ surroundings “for their own good”. I identified a few exceptions from this pattern. A few psychologists spontaneously ex­pressed an engagement in gender equality issues and wanted to promote gender equality in their work as therapists. The analyses of their interviews point to how child psychotherapists’ ideals regarding legitimate therapeutic knowledge impact their thinking about whether, and how, to counteract gender stereotypes through therapy. Efforts to promote gender equality that are based in an ideal of neutral knowledge seemed to lead to a focus on “equal treatment” and to work to conceal the asymmetries in valuation and freedom of action of girls and boys. Efforts to promote gender equality that are based in an ideal of justice as the outcome seemed to open possibilities to maintain attention on injustice and power issues related to gender.   Conclusion The possibilities to include cultural and social meaning of gender in psychotherapy with children and young people seem to be closely related to professional ideals regarding legitimate therapeutic knowledge. The extent to which the psychologists had been given analytical tools to reflect on connections between the various problems of the girls and boys they treated, and patterns of gendered power and subordination in society was also important. That kind of tools, based in feminist theory and gender studies, were to a large extent missing in the interviews and the develop­mental psychology textbooks that were analysed.