Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2008. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-132).

abstract: In this study, the researcher develops a documentary-driven methodology to understand the ways four women in the United States use their involvement in the belly dance phenomenon to shape their ongoing individual identity development. The filmmaking process itself and its efficacy as a process to promote self-understanding and identity growth among the participating belly dancers, are also investigated phenomenologically. Methodological steps taken in the documentary-driven methodology include: initial filmed interviews, co-produced filmed dance performances, editorial interviews to review footage with each dancer, documentary film production, dancer-led focus groups to screen the film, and exit interviews with each dancer. The project generates new understandings about the ways women use belly dance to shape their individual identities to include: finding community with other women in private women's spaces, embodying the music through the dance movements, and finding liberation from their everyday "selves" through costume and performance. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Anthropology 2012

Aim: Despite the growing trend in offering online therapy to young people this area has received little attention to date. This project therefore aims to systematically explore work in this territory by investigating the types of goals that young people approach online services with, and the challenges and opportunities that online counsellors have experienced when working with them. Methods: Initially 1,137 client articulated goals which were collated by an online youth counselling service in England between December 2013 and July 2014. Secondly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six online counsellors who have utilised a goal-based approach to therapy with young people. Both data strands were examined by utilising the Grounded Theory Methodology. Results: The goals young people brought into therapy were conceptualized under three core categories: (1) "Intra-personal goals", (2) "Inter-personal goals" and (3) "Goals on Self relating to others". Findings from the experience of online practitioners have provided four further core-categories: (1) "The impact of goals as an ingredient of the online therapy", (2) "The effect of virtual environment working towards goals", (3) "Key themes around youth goals", and (4) "The evolution of a practitioner's therapeutic identity". Discussion: The codified types of goals proved similar to the taxonomy of goals articulated within the Berne Inventory of Therapeutic Goals. Nuances related to the online environment and age group of the clients appeared to be present and are considered. In particular, the concept of goals on "Self relating to others" provided some interesting discussion points on the nature of services provided in both online and face-to-face youth services. The practitioner views echoed the published literature reflecting on the broader experiences of working with therapeutic goals. However the lack of research into the experiences of counsellors working with therapy goals is noted. Further reflection on the findings suggested a four stage working model for goal oriented online therapy. Reflections upon the limitations of the work, implications for therapists, researchers and service providers interested in online therapeutic work are outlined.

When people 'go to the theatre' we know that they are audiences. When young people go to Contact, however, they might be audiences, performers and/or theatre makers - they might play all three or more roles. Contact's users blur existing concepts and terminology. When we want to know more about theatre audiences, audience research offers models based on the distinction between audiences and theatre makers. If we want to know more about Contact's users, however, a model reflecting the blending of audiences and theatre makers' roles has yet to be developed. This thesis engages with Contact's users. It maps some of their multiple roles and experiences by asking two main questions: What are the practices of the people attending Contact and how can these practices be researched? A range of qualitative methods is necessary in order to investigate the wide variety of Contact's users' roles and experiences. Individual and group interviews are drawn from audience research, creative workshops are drawn from communication studies, and participant observation and visual research from the social sciences. Finally, a new method, Walking Fieldwork, is adapted for the use in theatre. A number of case studies are employed to investigate Contact's users. These case studies involve the observation of young actors during rehearsals and performances, the observation of participants in an outreach project, the investigation of audiences' experiences of two productions, and several short post-show interviews with general Contact audiences. This study found evidence that the relationship between theatre makers and audiences is changing. The term 'theatre user' is introduced as it opens up an area of overlap between the two and fits contemporary practices at Contact more closely. Contact's users function as communities, participants and co-creators. The descriptions of these roles and experiences contained in this thesis are understood as an initial exploration into practices of contemporary theatre users. However, further research is needed to build a more detailed understanding of these practices. In terms of research methods, this study found that the academic field of audience research needs to develop methods which are sensitive to both the backgrounds of theatre users and the theatrical context. The argument is put forward that audience research should become more aware of methods for the investigation of human experience and should enter into a 'methods-dialogue' with other academic fields of study.

abstract: This study looked at ways of understanding how schoolyards might act as meaningful places in children's developing sense of identity and possibility. Photographs and other images such as historical photographs and maps were used to look at how built environments outside of school reflect demographic and social differences within one southwest city. Intersections of children's worlds with various socio-political communities, woven into and through schooling, were examined for evidence of ways that schools act as the embodiment of a community's values: they are the material and observable effects of resource-allocation decisions. And scholarly materials were consulted to examine relationships in the images to existing theories of place, and its effect on children, as well as to consider theories of the hidden curriculum and its relationship to social reproduction, and the nature of visual representation as a form of data rather than strictly in the service of illustrating other forms of data. The focus of the study was on identifying appropriate research methods for investigating ways to understand the importance of the material worlds of school and childhood. Using a combination of visual and narrative approaches to contribute to our understanding of those material worlds, I sought to expose areas of inequity and class differences in ways that children experience schooling, as evidenced by differences in the material environment. Using a mixed-methods approach, created and found images were coded for categories of material culture, such as the existence of fences, trees, views from the playground or walking in the neighborhood at four Tempe schools. Findings were connected to a rich body of knowledge in areas such as theories of space and place, the nature of the hidden curriculum, visual culture, visual research methods including mapping. Familiar aspects of schooling were exposed in different ways, linking past decisions made by adults to their continuing effects on children today. In this way I arrived at an expanded and enriched understanding of the present worlds of children communicated as through the material environment. Visually examining children's worlds, by looking at the material artifacts of everyday worlds that children experience at school and including the child's-eye view in decision processes, has promise in moving decision makers away from strictly analytical and impersonal approaches to decision making about schooling children of the future. I proposed that by weighting of data points, as used in decision-making processes regarding schooling, differently than is currently done, and by paying closer attention to possible longer-term effects of place for all children, not just a few, there is the potential to improve the quality of life for today's children, and tomorrow's adults. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Educational Psychology 2013

Communicating complex relationships discovered with logistics analysis is a challenge within Life Cycle Management. The aim of this thesis is to propose a design for a visualization tool that simplifies such communication for improved expert-manager collaboration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with expert users - the prospective primary user group of the tool - in order to gain knowledge about the requirements. Based on this, a HiFi prototype was developed using Axure and its usability was evaluated using scenario-based approach and SUS questionnaire. The results revealed that the experts found current methods both time consuming and challenging. A tool with the purpose of displaying results from logistics analysis – for both experts and managers - should offer flexibility, both in terms of functionality and appearance. In addition, it is essential to reduce the complexity to increase the understanding of novices. Future work should include customers in the design process.

Apesar do número de estudos que existem sobre o impacto da criança estomizada na família pouco se conhece na América do Sul a respeito da experiência dos pais no cuidado dessas crianças e como eles definem sua experiência. Este estudo teve como objetivo compreender a experiência dos pais no cuidado da criança com colostomia. Foram realizadas entrevistas abertas em profundidade com dez casais pais de crianças com colostomia, residentes nas cidades de São Paulo (Brasil) e Bogotá (Colômbia). Todo o processo da investigação pauto-se pelo referencial teórico do Interacionismo Simbólico e a análise dos dados na Teoria Fundamentada nos Dados. A experiência dos pais está estruturada nos fenômenos Sentindo-se frágeis e Tornando-se fortes, que atuam como condição causal e estratégia respectivamente. Elas representam a complexidade existente entre ser pais e ser os provedores de cuidado especializado à criança. Edificando uma fortaleza, emergiu como a categoria central da experiência que é conseqüência de um processo intencional de construção interior dos pais, mediante o uso de estratégias para transformar significados e erguer um cenário de cuidados para protegerem-se a si mesmo, à criança e à família e para renovar as forças necessárias a fim de conseguirem enfrentar e resistir às ameaças presentes na experiência / Despite the number of existing studies about the impact of children with a colostomy on their families, there is however very limited information about parental experience of caring for these children and how they define their experience in South America. This study intends to understand the parental experience of caring for children with a colostomy. The method for data collection was an open interview involving 10 couples residing in the cities of São Paulo (Brazil) and Bogota (Colombia). The entire investigation process was guided by the referential theory of Symbolic Interactions and the data analysis was done by the Grounded Theory. The parental experience is supported in the phenomena Feeling fragile and Becoming strong as a causal condition and strategy, respectively. They represent the tension of being parents and special care providers of the child. \"Building a fortress\" emerged as the central category that represents an experience which is the consequence of a deliberate process of internal construction of parents by using strategies to transform meanings and build a scenario of care to protect themselves, the child and family and to renew the forces necessary to confront and resist the threats present in the experiment

A Região Amazônica é considerada área de alta endemicidade para hepatite B. No Estado do Acre e na capital Rio Branco caracteriza-se um quadro em que jovens e adultos jovens, em pleno período reprodutivo e produtivo para o trabalho e para o estudo, constituem população gravemente acometida pela doença. Assim, procurouse neste estudo a compreensão do modo de vida de pessoas portadoras do HBV, de ambos os sexos, entre 15 e 30 anos, para contribuir no enfrentamento da complexidade desse quadro, através de ações de saúde mais condizentes com as necessidades desses sujeitos. Os métodos qualitativos se mostraram mais apropriados, pois possibilitam a compreensão dos acontecimentos e da forma como os sujeitos vivenciam as experiências. Reconheceu-se no cotidiano, históricooriginal- significativo, uma oportunidade de se descobrir novos caminhos de entendimento para a realidade. Buscou-se os participantes a partir do Serviço de Assistência Especializada, valendo-se de instrumentos de pesquisa exclusivos, utilizados para obtenção de informações socioeconômicas e para nortear as entrevistas com os sujeitos. Foram realizadas doze entrevistas, duas das quais com familiares. Os depoimentos prestados, juntamente com as anotações de campo e os apontamentos da observação participante, além das informações colhidas pelos questionários iniciais, constituíram os registros analisados. A análise do material possibilitou as seguintes categorias: descoberta da doença, contemplando as situações que precipitaram o diagnóstico nos casos assintomáticos e sintomáticos, além das principais informações acerca da enfermidade; doença no cotidiano, abrangendo as percepções quanto aos efeitos adversos do tratamento, as restrições procedentes da doença e/ou do tratamento farmacológico e os cuidados profiláticos; modo de vida, apresentando as estratégias de enfrentamento à doença, modalidades através das quais os sujeitos confrontam-se com as implicações da hepatite B, quais sejam, a religiosidade, o apoio espiritual e familiar, e o planejamento para o futuro, além das relações afetivas no cotidiano, e por último, a categoria preconceito e estigma, realidade ainda presente no contexto de doenças infecciosas. Assinalam-se assim, as compreensões do modo de vida, a partir do cotidiano, de pessoas que vivem com o vírus B, para colaborar no maior entendimento de suas necessidades de saúde, podendo subsidiar estratégias de assistência mais equânimes, vislumbrando a atenção integral desses sujeitos / The Amazon region is considered an area of high endemicity for hep B. In the State of Acre, and in the city of Rio Branco, the reality of teens and young adults, on the heights of their reproductive and work/study productive period, constituting a population severely affected by the disease, is characteristic. Therefore, it\'s been aimed in this study, the comprehension of the way of life of the HBV affected people, both sexes, between 15 and 30 years, to contribute on the understanding of the complexity of this situation., through health actions more appropriate to the needs of these individuals. The qualitative methods were shown more suitable, because they allow the understanding of the events and the way those individuals lived their experiences. It\'s been recognized on the routine, \"historical-original-meaningful\", an opportunity of discovering new paths of understanding for reality. The participants were found on the Specialized Assistance Service, by the use of exclusive research tools, handled for obtaining socioeconomic informations and guiding the interviews with the individuals. Eleven interviews were made, two of them with relatives. The testimonies given, along with the field notes and the pointers of the participant observation, as well as the information gathered by the initial questionnaires, constituted the analyzed records. The material analysis permitted the following categories: disease discovery, covering the situations that hastened the diagnosis on the asymptomatic and symptomatic cases, as well as the main information about the disorder; everyday disease, covering the perceptions around the adverse effects of the treatment, the restrictions derived of the disease and/or farmacologic treatment and the prophylactic care; way of life, presenting the strategies of coping the disease, arrangements which the individuals confront with the implications of Hep B, whichever they are, religiosity, familiar and spiritual support, and planning for the future, as well as the affective relations on routine, and at last, the discrimination and stigma, reality still present on the context of infectious diseases. So, the comprehension of the way of life of people who live with the B virus, based on the routine, is pointed out to colaborate on the greater understanding of their health needs, enabling the allowance of fairer assistance strategies, glimpsing the full attention of these individuals

The aim of this thesis was to describe and analyse perceptions of psychosis care among those involved in care, foreign-born persons with psychoses, their families and health care staff, and further to reach agreement about core components in psychosis care. This was in order to find out whether current psychosis care in Sweden is suitable for foreign-born persons and their families. The study design was explorative and descriptive. Health care staff (n=35), persons with psychosis (n=22) and families (n=26) of persons with psychosis were chosen from different regions in Southern Sweden. To capture health care staff’s experiences and to explore whether specific needs occurred within psychiatric care, nine focus group interviews were held. The perspectives of psychosis care among persons with psychoses and their families were captured through individual interviews. Finally, a study was accomplished all over Sweden in which staff, foreign-born persons with psychosis and foreign-born families of persons with psychoses answered a questionnaire to identify core components in psychosis care of foreign-born persons and their families. There was agreement that the core components in psychosis care concern general psychiatric caring, even though varying perceptions were identified. Asking about foreign-born persons’ religious and ethnic background or having the possibility to decide whether care should be provided by male or female staff were agreed to be less important. No agreement could be reached concerning the importance of considering different perceptions of psychosis care, treatments and different ways of managing the psychosis. Nor could agreement be reached as to whether staff should have specific cultural knowledge and whether interpreters should be unknown to the family but speak the right dialect. Perceptions among staff in somatic and psychiatric care as well as perceptions among foreign- and Swedish-born persons with psychosis and their families were more similar than different. General psychiatric care is important for Swedish-born as well as foreign-born persons with psychosis and their families, indicating the importance of not letting culturally determined perceptions dictate the care and take away energy from health care staff and make them lose their focus on the basic elements in general psychiatric care. However, within the general care there were individual perceptions on whose importance those involved in care did not agree. Further development suggested is to illuminate the importance of identifying individual perceptions which may differ between different persons and could be related to cultural background. Staff need to acquire strategies so they can easily manage to encounter and offer general care to foreign-born persons. Development must be achieved on both an organizational level and an individual level.

Social connections are the main determinant of a person’s quality and quantity of resources. A person uses social connections to access or use resources; the stronger and more extensive the social network, the greater the resources (i.e. social capital). Connections in social networks allow us to access and use social capital to achieve instrumental or expressive goals. Conversely, a lack of connection is central to many challenges in building social capital. Therefore, social connection is a beneficial concept to examine for those at risk of inadequate social capital. This research explores the experiences of part-time professors and their peer connections at the University of Ottawa. It discusses whether a lack of connection exists and how it may affect the social capital of part-time professors. Twelve part-time faculty members were purposively sampled and interviewed about their experience of being a part-time teacher at the University. One participant asked to be removed from the study. Participants were chosen on the basis that they had worked as a part-time teacher at the institution for five years or fewer. Using Moustakas’ (1994) phenomenological approach for collecting and analyzing data and Creswell’s (2007) approach for establishing validity, several thematic patterns were exhibited among part-time professors in relation to social capital and the barriers that they face. In conclusion, inadequate social capital among part-time professors may have problematic implications for students, the department, and the University as a whole.