In this thesis, I explore relationships between journalists and Muslim sources in Glasgow, Scotland in a qualitative, ethnographically informed manner. My primary contribution in the research is to justify applying media production analysis to a field of research that has been dominated by content analysis. Since the popularisation of Islamophobia and especially the 9/11 attacks, journalists have taken a greater interest in Muslims in non-Muslim-majority contexts, such as Britain. Scholarship of this coverage has consistently concluded that journalists represent Muslims in a negative, essentialising manner. My research asks new questions of the topic, investigating the process of making news representations rather than the product. I identified the journalist-source relationship as the site to examine what informs news texts. I interviewed thirty participants and observed newsroom and community group environments, and I reflexively and transparently incorporated my prior experience as a journalist in Canada. Participants discussed their normative boundaries for accepting and using the label “Muslim” in news texts. “Relevance” was a common but vague response; my results show an emphasis on religious or subjective identification for journalists to use the term, whereas sources reported their belief that its usage was more indiscriminate, applied negatively and out of proportion to other groups. In terms of their conceptions of the “other,” journalists easily conflated ethnicity and race with religion for Muslims, and sources tended to describe anonymous “journalists” rather than specific individuals and their practices. I then analysed the points of contact through which these relationships were enacted, including press releases, direct contact, and social media. This analysis includes a case study of one Muslim group’s media relations, studying internal and external dynamics as its members positioned themselves in Glasgow’s news ecosystem. Participants described their uses of the other: as sources, for comment, clarification, and contacts; as journalists, for coverage and capital. Trust and reciprocity are features that participants identified as important for an effective relationship though often absent from their interactions. I show more reciprocally enacted relationships than content analysis reveals. Though these interactions are not always apparent in published texts, they nonetheless contribute to representations of Muslims more varied than the prevailing literature suggests. Glasgow emerges as a distinctive location in the context of Britain, deserving of further study. The mechanics of the journalist-source relationship can be used comparatively to assess whether, why, and how journalists report on particular groups.

Thesis advisor: Ellen K. Mahoney / Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to investigate the experiences of post stroke survivors (PSSs) during transition from hospital discharge home during the first four weeks. Background: PSSs describe the transition from hospital to home as an important time in recovery and stress various physical and cognitive concerns early within the recovery period. Research to date fails to adequately reflect PSSs' experiences early after discharge home. This gap in research limits the ability to create interventions for PSSs during this critical time period. Methods/analysis: Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 31 participants, recruited from a large metropolitan hospital in the northeastern United States. The use of in-vivo codes lead to the development of themes that described PSSs' experiences during the four week transitional period. Credibility and transferability of findings were strengthened through memoing, field notes, reflexivity of analysis, member checking, and peer review throughout the analysis process by qualitative experts. Results: The five major themes were: (a) the shock of a stroke interrupting a normal day, (b) transition to an unfamiliar home, (c) experiencing a life riddled with uncertainty, (d) a journey to a new sense of self, and (e) adjusting to a new sense of self. Throughout their journey all PSSs had to cope with uncertainty and adjust to a new sense of self. PSSs that experienced less uncertainty were able to return to their prior daily routine, knew how to prevent another stroke, had a helpful support system, and had frequent follow-up and communication with health care professionals. Conclusion: All PSSs are at risk for complications regardless of stroke severity. To address PSSs complex needs, nurses can provide care beyond symptom management by fostering a dynamic intentional relationship to support recovery. The framework resulting from this study can provide the platform for advanced neuroscience nurses to engage with PSSs to improve their recovery and adjustment to a new sense of self as they transition from hospital to home. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Philosophy.

Thesis advisor: Danny G. Willis / Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative research was to describe the phenomenon of privacy as experienced and conceptualized by patients who participated in the CenteringPregnancy model of group healthcare. Background: In healthcare, privacy is an ethical and legal right. Healthcare providers have an obligation to protect patient privacy and confidentiality. Group healthcare is an innovative approach that brings together a group of patients with a team of providers, offering the opportunity for holistic, integrated, and coordinated healthcare. Group healthcare challenges how healthcare providers manage privacy and confidentiality. Knowledge about patients’ experiences of privacy during group healthcare such as CenteringPregnancy is fundamental to developing an understanding of the risks and benefits incurred during group healthcare visits. Research focused on uncovering the patient experience of privacy within the context of group healthcare can provide useful direction for improving the patient care experience and health outcomes. Research Questions: 1) What is the privacy experience of women who participated in CenteringPregnancy? 2) How does the patient experience of privacy in a group healthcare setting differ from the experience of privacy during individual care? Methods: This qualitative research used phenomenography to examine the experiences of privacy for 15 women who participated in CenteringPregnancy at a large multisite, multispecialty healthcare practice. Results: Four main concepts related to privacy were identified. My Privacy: Agency of the Self emerged as the primary conception of privacy for both group and individual care settings. My Provider: Protecting My Privacy focused on the critical role of the group facilitator in protecting confidentiality and establishing group privacy. The Dynamics of Group Privacy encompassed the relational processes of trusting, respecting, and sharing. Benefits of Participating in Group Healthcare included friendship, comradery, learning, and relief of feelings of isolation, fear, and anxiety. Conclusions: Women’s experiences of privacy within the context of CenteringPregnancy were positive. Findings can guide recruitment efforts and the facilitation and management of the group environment. Healthcare providers can offer a full description of privacy within group healthcare settings as part of recruitment and informed consent and emphasize the shared responsibility for group privacy among all members in the group. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

O adoecimento por tuberculose é um processo subjetivo e interpenetrado por saberes, discursos e práticas, produzidos histórico-culturalmente na vida social e nutridos em um interdiscurso (sobre a doença e o doente), que afeta o modo como o sujeito significa a sua experiência. Neste estudo, sustentamo-nos no arcabouço teórico-metodológico da análise de discurso de matriz francesa, que busca a compreensão dos processos de produção de sentidos, na relação da língua com sua exterioridade histórica e social. Partindo do pressuposto de que há uma constituição linguístico-histórica do sujeito discursivo, o estudo objetivou investigar como os discursos sobre a tuberculose afetam a (des)construção identitária do sujeito, que perpassa as constituições subjetivas em seu processo de adoecimento. Utilizando a abordagem qualitativa, foram realizadas dezesseis entrevistas registradas em áudio, no período de agosto a outubro de 2009, com sujeitos em tratamento de tuberculose em um hospital público do município de João Pessoa, Estado da Paraíba. O corpus de análise foi constituído pelas entrevistas transcritas mais as produções artísticas dos participantes como representações de seu processo de adoecimento. No gerenciamento do material de linguagem bruto, utilizou-se o Software Atlas.ti, que nos auxiliou no processo anterior às análises discursivas. O projeto deste estudo foi submetido à apreciação de um Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa, de acordo com as orientações da Resolução 196/96 do Conselho Nacional de Saúde. Ao relacionar a tuberculose a comportamentos excessivos, alcoolismo, fraqueza, vida urbana e drogadição, os sentidos produzidos pelos sujeitos entrevistados foram regidos por formações ideológicas que identificam a tuberculose como situação de desaprovação social. Observamos que as formações imaginárias, que remetem ao lugar desse sujeito doente como usuário do sistema de saúde produzem o seu apagamento, a sua interdição. Concluímos que a ênfase no simbólico, mediante os símbolos de estigma, que acentuam a visibilidade do doente de tuberculose como desviante ou sujeito \"especial\" é o mecanismo mais importante de manutenção da estigmatização da doença e do doente. / The tuberculosis illness is a subjective process pervaded by knowledge, discourses and practices produced historic-culturally in the social life and nurtured in an interdiscourse (about the illness and the patient), that affects how the subject interprets his experience. In this study we follow the French theoretical and methodological framework of discourse analysis matrix that strives to understand the meaning production processes in the language relationship with its historic and social exteriority. Assuming that there is linguistic-historical constitution of the discursive subject, the study aimed to investigate how the tuberculosis discourses affect the subject´s identity (de)construction that goes beyond the subjective constitutions in his disease process. Sixteen audio taped interviews using the qualitative approach were conducted with tuberculosis treatment subjects in a City of João Pessoa, Paraíba, public hospital, during the August - October 2009 period. The corpus of analysis consists of the transcribed interviews plus the participants\' artistic productions as representations of their illness. The Atlas.ti Software was utilized in the raw language material management which helped in the process prior to discourse analyses. The study design was submitted for assessment to a Committee for Research Ethics. By linking tuberculosis to excessive behaviors, alcoholism, weakness, urban life and drug addiction, the meanings produced by the interviewees were governed by ideological formations that identify tuberculosis as a situation of social disapproval. It was observed that the imaginary formations, which refer to the place of that sick person as user of the health system produced its effacement, its isolation. We conclude that the emphasis on the symbolic, by means of the symbols of stigma that accentuate the TB patient visibility as a \"deviant\" or special subject, is the most important mechanism in maintaining the stigmatization of the disease and the patient.

Por meio do corpo e da corporeidade, podem ser feitas escolhas e interagir com os outros, de maneira verdadeira e autêntica, além de intervir nos fatos relacionados à natureza e aos fenômenos humanos, mudar, criar, compartilhar, ensinar, transformar e ser transformado. Este estudo buscou compreender como a mulher docente de enfermagem percebe seu corpo em sua atuação docente. A pesquisa qualitativa foi usada com a abordagem fenomenológica. Participaram da investigação dez mulheres docentes de enfermagem de uma universidade pública. Seus depoimentos foram coletados por meio de entrevistas com as seguintes questões norteadoras: Como você se vê como mulher e docente de enfermagem? Que significados você atribui ao seu corpo, sendo mulher e docente de enfermagem? Como você utiliza o seu corpo no ensino da enfermagem?Como você percebe a postura corporal dos alunos de enfermagem? O que você observa neles que considera serem respostas às suas posturas corporais?Os discursos foram analisados e interpretados à luz do referencial teórico-filosófico de Maurice Merleau-Ponty, originando-se três temas: Corporeidade: expressão da vivência, Corporeidade o ser mulher, Corporeidade e a docência de enfermagem. Os resultados do estudo permitiram compreender que a mulher, docente de enfermagem, utiliza-se de seu corpo e corporeidade em sua prática pedagógica, tendo intencionalidades e ações que demonstram a consciência do corpo, além dos aspectos meramente biológicos. Atribuem ao corpo-corporeidade significados importantes que podem contribuir na existência do ser mulher docente de enfermagem e, certamente, repercutir na prática e no conhecimento em enfermagem / By means of the body and corporality, choices can be made that affect interaction with others in a real and authentic manner, as well as intervene in aspects related to the nature of human phenomena: change, creation, sharing, teaching, transformation and being transformed. This study sought to comprehend how a woman professor of nursing perceives her body in her professional practice. Qualitative research was used with a phenomenological approach. Ten women participated in the investigation, all professors of nursing at a public university. Their statements were collected by means of interviews with the following questions: How do you see yourself as a woman and professor of nursing? What meanings have you attributed to your body as a woman and a professor of nursing? How do you utilize your body in the teaching of nursing? How do you perceive the corporal posture of your nursing students? What do you observe in them that you consider responses to your corporal postures? The statements were analyzed and interpreted in light of the theoretical-philosophical reference of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, giving rise to three themes: Corporality: expression of existence, Corporality of the woman being, Corporality and the teaching of nursing. The results of the study showed that the woman professor of nursing utilizes her body and corporality in her professorial practice, having intentionalities and actions that demonstrate an awareness of the body beyond mere biological aspects. They attribute to body-corporality important meanings that can contribute to the existence of the woman professor of nursing and, certainly, have repercussions on the practice and understanding of nursing

Systematic Review - Recent studies have identified potential change within interpersonal relationships following mindfulness-based interventions such as MBSR and MBCT; however, few studies have explored this in a clinical sample, from the participants’ perspective. This study aimed to explore this phenomenon by synthesising qualitative studies to answer the following question: How do people with a mental health diagnosis experience interpersonal change following MBSR and MBCT. A systematic search strategy identified 117 studies, of which 12 met the final inclusion criteria. A thematic synthesis was conducted based on the protocol developed by Thomas and Harden (2008). The thematic synthesis revealed an overall theme of connection, with subthemes of ‘the group as a community’; ‘reconnecting with the self’; ‘skill development’ and ‘reconnecting with others’. These themes were further synthesised to consider the interconnections between them. This revealed two points of interest: the power of the group community and intra- to inter-personal development. These themes were explored in relation to existing literature. The results are discussed in relation to the limitations of the study, and future research recommendations are considered. Empirical Paper - Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) have been shown to be effective in reducing the impact of cognitive reactivity (CR) and improving outcomes for people with recurrent depression. It has been proposed that this effect may be mediated by the cultivation of self-compassion; however, there is limited research into this mechanism. This study aimed to explore the lived experience of a sad mood induction and compassionate repair in people with currently remitted recurrent depression, with and without experience of MBCT. Sixteen participants were recruited (10 MBCT, six non-MBCT). Participants underwent a two-phase mood manipulation, sad mood induction and loving-kindness meditation (directed to a loved one and the self) and completed self-report measures before and after each task. Following this, participants engaged in a semi-structured interview exploring their experiences. The results showed both mood manipulations were successful, and mood repair was apparent within all but one of the participants. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis, identifying six key themes: vulnerability versus tolerance of depression; immersion versus transience of cognitive and emotional reactivity; avoidance versus tolerance of compassion; self-criticism versus self-acceptance; locus of control and mechanisms of repair. No differences were observed between the two groups in their qualitative or quantitative responses to the mood manipulations; however, those in the MBCT group with a greater level of current MBCT practice, appeared more able to transcend negative thinking and utilise the Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM) more effectively for both themselves and others. The results are discussed in relation to study limitations and their implication to clinical practice.

Lupus is a complex, poorly understood long-term disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues of any part of the body. The disease mainly affects young women of childbearing age. Studies from developed countries show that the condition affects individuals physically, emotionally and socially. However, nothing is known about how having lupus has affected individuals living with the condition in the African continent. I explored how lupus had affected individuals living with the condition in Kenya from the time individuals began to feel unwell. I interviewed three groups of participants. 10 individuals who attended the public rheumatology clinic, 11 individuals who attended a private rheumatology clinic and 6 doctors who worked in the rheumatology clinics. The study found that some individuals delayed in getting medical help for their lupus. It appears to take a long time for individuals to get their lupus diagnosed due to organisation and staffing of the Kenyan health system. It was also perceived by individuals with lupus that treatment for the condition was difficult to access and it was also costly. Some individuals believed that their lupus had a supernatural cause. Often there appeared to be a lack of understanding of lupus by individuals who suffered from the condition; and also by others, some having experienced disapproval or negative feelings from others. Individuals with lupus reported lacking the financial resources and social support to manage their condition better. Lupus was affecting them physically, emotionally and had an impact on their social lives. There are a number of challenges in living with lupus in Kenya, including individuals' and others perception of the condition, but also how healthcare is provided to these individuals.

Universidade de Fortaleza / Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar o modo ÃticopolÃtico do cuidado com base nas experiÃncias de trabalhadores em um dispositivo comunitÃrio de saÃde mental localizado na regiÃo Nordeste do Brasil. Para tanto, construiu-se um modelo analÃtico, aqui concebido como uma lente compreensiva do modo ÃticopolÃtico do cuidado, inspirada nos pilares do pensamento complexo, cuja constituiÃÃo aponta para trÃs dimensÃes centrais: acolhimento, entrelaÃado à Ãtica, a relaÃÃes desinteressadas, dialÃgicas e solidÃrias, de circularidade e de experiÃncias voluntÃrias; autonomia, eixo mais polÃtico indissociÃvel de dependÃncia, assunÃÃo, contratualidade, emancipaÃÃo e participaÃÃo; e produÃÃo de vida, assentada na concepÃÃo hermenÃutica crÃtica de saÃde, envolvendo liberdade, projetualidades e cidadania. Em termos metodolÃgicos, trata-se de um estudo qualitativo, alinhado à vertente fenomenolÃgico-hermenÃutica, adotando o procedimento de triangulaÃÃo das tÃcnicas, conjugando entrevistas em profundidade, observaÃÃes e consultas a fontes secundÃrias. Os informantes foram os onze trabalhadores que atuavam nas prÃticas de cuidado desenvolvidas no dispositivo no momento do estudo. A categorizaÃÃo e interpretaÃÃo do material empÃrico evidenciaram quatro eixos temÃticos assim sistematizados: I) OÃsis no Deserto; II) CondiÃÃes de Acolhimento; III) Tramas da Autonomia; e IV) Despertar do Ser. Dentre os achados, destacam-se o histÃrico da estruturaÃÃo do dispositivo, as experiÃncias de trabalhadores em seu percurso terapÃutico no prÃprio dispositivo, o autoconhecimento como elemento central no cuidado de si e do outro e o acolhimento como relaÃÃes de escuta preponderantemente dialÃgicas, ainda que se observe um modo mais interessado na tÃcnica. Outro achado revela significados do voluntariado e o compromisso Ãtico de dar e receber. SÃo tambÃm desvelados diferentes sentidos e significados concernentes à autonomia, implicando distintas formas de lidar com a rede de dependÃncias, ora de forma dÃcil, ora mais crÃtica ante tutelas e o poder mÃdico. No que concerne à pertenÃa e à participaÃÃo, emergiram possibilidades de trabalho mais coletivas, necessidade de um maior engajamento do dispositivo nas lutas comunitÃrias, bem como uma participaÃÃo mais restrita e de diminuta perspectiva decisÃria. Por fim, cabe assinalar a manifestaÃÃo de uma noÃÃo mais ampliada de saÃde, rompendo com amarras diagnÃsticas, bem como possibilidades de despertar do ser e de circulaÃÃo no mundo. Foi possÃvel constatar mediante o estudo realizado junto Ãs experiÃncias dos trabalhadores o emaranhamento de vÃrios fios que ora se aproximam, ora se distanciam do que aqui foi concebido como modo ÃticopolÃtico do cuidado. / This study aims at analyzing the ethical/political way of providing care based on workersâ experiences at a mental health community facility situated in the Brazilian northeast. Therefore, an analytical model was built, conceived here as a comprehensive lens over the ethical/political mode of care, inspired by pillars of complex thought, whose constitutions point at three central dimensions: user embracement, interlaced with ethics, and with disinterested relations which can be dialogical and supportive, of circularity and of voluntary experiences; autonomy, most political and indissoluble axis of dependence, assumption, contractuality, emancipation and participation; and life production, centered on the critical hermeneutical conception of health, which involves freedom, projectualities and citizenship. In methodological terms, it is a qualitative study, aligned with the hermeneuticalphenomenological branch. The study employs the technique-triangulation procedure, and combines in-depth interviews, observations and consultations to secondary sources. The providers of information were the eleven workers who were operating in care-taking practices being developed at the moment the study was being produced. The categorization and interpretation of empirical material evidenced four theme axes thus systematized: I) Oasis in the Desert; II) User Embracement Conditions; III) Autonomy Frameworks; and IV) Awakening of a Being. Some of the best discoveries are the records of service structuring, the workersâ experiences in their therapeutic path along the routines of service, self-awareness as a central element when caring for oneself and for others and reception as a relation of predominantly dialogical listening, although a more technique-oriented mode is observed. Another discovery has revealed new meanings in voluntary participation and an ethical commitment towards giving and receiving. Another discovery concerns different meanings and purposes related to autonomy, which implies distinct ways of dealing with a network of dependencies, sometimes in a more docile way, sometimes in a more critical way in the face of tutelage and the medical power. Concerning a sense of belonging and participation, new possibilities of more collective work emerged along with a necessity of greater engagement to their respective units during community struggles, as well as a more restrict participation and small decision-making perspective. At last, it is worth it to point out at a more comprehensive notion of health, which breaks away from diagnostic ties, as well as at possibilities of a beingâs awakening and circulation in the world. It was possible to detect, by means of this study realized with workersâ experiences, the interlacing of several lines which sometimes agree and sometimes disagree with the ethical/political mode of care.

This thesis explores how rally drivers in Scotland perceive environmental issues and the environments through which they drive. The overarching aim behind this is to think about a group of people who may be more hostile towards questions of environmental responsibility, and look at how such stakeholders reason round their behaviours and perceive environmental issues. I argue that due to the potentially farreaching impacts of contemporary environmental challenges, it is crucial to take seriously the viewpoints and values of those who are perhaps not so willing to engage with environmental issues. The work draws on several bodies of literature. First is work in environmental philosophy on the practical contribution of this sub-discipline, in particular environmental pragmatism. Second is thinking in sociology and human geography on responsibility, especially the interface between responsibility and care. Third is recent material in geography on the body and movement, in particular the burgeoning field of automobility. These issues are addressed through a three-fold research design. Ethnographic and participatory techniques are used to foster an understanding of what exactly ‘the environment’ might mean to rally drivers (and indeed other users of the forest with whom rallying may come into conflict) and how it is experienced. In-depth interviews and subsequent narrative analysis seek to delve further into participants’ narratives and life histories in order to get a handle on how rally driving sits in relation to broader life contexts. Finally, two small-scale participatory projects with rally organisers relating to environmentally-responsible practice look at how this all comes together when participants make practical responses to environmental challenges. The key conclusions arising from the empirical data are that environmental problems are experienced through a range of senses, with different groups using different sensory ‘evidence’ to make claims about environmental damage; that in some cases stakeholders’ views of environmental issues are based on perceived conflict with others as opposed to actual conflict; and that the values activities such as motor sport may represent are just as significant as their physical environmental impacts. In terms of the broader applicability of this research, I suggest two things. Firstly, that one of the key challenges in responding to contemporary environmental issues lies in thinking through how publics link up their everyday practices with much bigger discourses on global environmental change. Secondly, that careful and critical reflection on the rich narratives of place and people, and on the range of emotions shaped by embodied experience, can go some way to explaining why people may persist with more environmentally damaging practices in spite of ethical and environmental criticisms.

Segundo a Organização Mundial de Saúde a esquizofrenia é um transtorno incapacitante de curso crônico caracterizado pela presença de alucinações e delírios. Alguns trabalhos apontam que o uso de maconha em pessoas com diagnóstico de esquizofrenia pode agravar os sintomas positivos da doença enquanto age positivamente sobre os sintomas negativos. Estudos qualitativos têm surgido na área com o objetivo de compreender os significados que pessoas com diagnóstico de esquizofrenia atribuem ao uso da substância. Esses estudos trazem que essas pessoas possuem uma visão positiva a respeito do uso, que este proporcionaria a elas um estado de relaxamento e alívio de suas tensões, além de relatarem aumento de criatividade e o uso da maconha como forma de atingir um estado espiritual mais elevado, assumindo um caráter de automedicação. Nesse sentido o presente trabalho teve como objetivo conhecer os significados que pessoas com esquizofrenia atribuem ao uso de maconha. Para isso, foi realizado estudo qualitativo, com referencial metodológico clínico-qualitativo. Os participantes foram selecionados em um serviço público de saúde mental especializado em álcool e drogas do interior de São Paulo. Como instrumento de coleta de dados, utilizou-se um roteiro de entrevista semiestruturada. Os critérios de inclusão no estudo foram: estar em atendimento, ou ser oriundo do serviço selecionado; ter diagnóstico de esquizofrenia segundo a CID-10; fazer uso de maconha ou ter feito uso no ano anterior a entrevista; ter mais que 18 anos e não fazer uso de outra droga ilícita, como cocaína ou crack. Foram realizadas um total de 10 entrevistas. Os participantes da pesquisa eram todos do sexo masculino e tinham em média 28 anos de idade. Foram levantadas quatro categorias a partir da análise das entrevistas: a) Percepções a respeito do adoecimento, onde os participantes relatam o preconceito e estigma que envolve o diagnóstico e como alguns sintomas da esquizofrenia os incapacitam para atividades cotidianas; b) Uso de maconha, este iniciado, em sua maioria, na adolescência e sempre na companhia de amigos; c) Esquizofrenia e maconha, onde discursos relacionados sobre aumento de criatividade, capacidade de organizar o pensamento, vivências de espiritualidade e melhora na qualidade do sono se fizeram presentes e d) Tratamento, onde a busca pelo tratamento partia sempre de algum familiar. É importante conhecermos a visão dessas pessoas a respeito do uso de maconha para compreendermos o que sustenta a manutenção deste, além de fornecer novos elementos na construção de um olhar crítico sobre este fenômeno. / According to the World Health Organization schizophrenia is a disabling disorder of chronic course characterized by the presence of hallucinations and delusions. Some studies suggest that the use of marijuana in people diagnosed with schizophrenia may exacerbate the positive symptoms of the disease while it acts positively on the negative symptoms. Qualitative studies have emerged in the area with the goal of understanding the meanings that people diagnosed with schizophrenia attribute to the use of the substance. These studies bring those people have a positive vision regarding the usage, that this would provide them a state of relaxation and relief of the tension, as well as reporting an increase of creativity and the use of marijuana as a way to achieve a spiritual state higher, assuming a character of \"medication\". In this sense, the objective of this study was to understand the meanings that people with schizophrenia attributed to marijuana use. For this reason, a qualitative study was carried out, with a methodological clinical-qualitative. The participants were selected in a public service of mental health who specializes in alcohol and drug use in the interior of São Paulo. As an instrument of data collection, we used a script of semi-structured interview. Inclusion criteria were: being in service, or be from the selected service; have a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD-10; make use of marijuana or having used the year before the interview; have more than 18 years and not make use of other illicit drugs such as cocaine or crack. a total of 10 interviews were conducted. The participants were all male and had an average age of 28. Four categories were raised from the analysis of the interviews: a) Perceptions about the illness, where participants reported prejudice and stigma surrounding the diagnosis and some symptoms of schizophrenia to incapacitate the daily activities; b) Marijuana use, this started, mostly in their teens and always in the company of friends; c) Schizophrenia and cannabis, where speeches related to increased creativity, ability to organize thought, spirituality experiences and improves the quality of sleep were present and d) Treatment, where the search for treatment always started from a family member. It is important to know the vision of these people about marijuana use to understand what supports the maintenance of this, in addition to providing new elements in building a critical look at this phenomenon.