For centuries humans and animals have shared their lives. However, it is only in recent decades that the phenomenon of the human-animal bond and the possible therapeutic implications thereof has begun to be explored. Due to this exploration, many research programmes have sprung up around the world, investigating the implementation of animals as an intervention in various institutions. These programmes have produced overwhelmingly positive and encouraging results. However, the research remains sparse where the significance of a naturally occurring human-animal bond is concerned. From within an ecosystemic worldview, the relationship between humans and animals in the wider family system has not been extensively investigated. This dissertation explores such a relationship, investigating the meanings and experiences within the relationship, and how this relationship and significant systems around it impact one another. The implications and possible therapeutic nature of this type of relationship will be considered. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Text in English / This research investigated the ability of employees to survive experiences of major career changes and how they managed to build career resilience during the process. Adopting an action research approach, it continues to research the role the church can play in this process, suggesting ways in which the exponents of practical theology, and more specifically, pastoral ministries can extend their role into non- or de-institutionalised areas, becoming industrial or organisational pastoral professionals in their own right. The second research question investigated ways in which career resilience can improve agency in upholding values in the face of the employee exploitation onslaught? A narrative approach was used and discourses of ethics and power were discussed. It was indicated how these could be subjected to a process of deconstruction to create alternative and preferred career stories. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Practical Theology - with specialisation in Pastoral Theraphy)

This is a postmodernist dissertation contextualised within the new epistemology. The dissertation's descriptive methodology mirrors a personal journey from intrapsychic to ecosystemic psychology which operates within the domain of language and narrative discourse. As such it is founded on the principles of ecosystemic rather than Newtonian thinking. A conversation between various participants constructs the dissertatioi1 through polyphony and academic dialogue. This is then deconstructed through the use of metalogue thereby allowing the dissertation to operate simultaneously on a number of different levels. As it is a postmodernist text, the structure is in a sense an 'anti-structure' in that it is indirect while it is still acknowledged as a construction. In this way it is constructed and deconstructed in terms of its own premises. Expectations in terms of conventional dissertation formulae are challenged without negating academic requirements. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

This thesis constitutes a narrative that explores an alternative meaning construction for the experience of loss. During the telling of this story, I consider the appropriateness of adopting the 'new paradigm' approach for this particular thesis, and the constructivist and social constructionist epistemological assumptions underlying such an approach. I delve into the use of 'self as researcher under this epistemological umbrella. This is followed by an exploration of 'chaos theory' and its application to social systems. And finally, I consider the usefulness of this theory in constructing meanings for loss experiences on various systemic levels within my own family system. / Psychology / M.A.(Clinical Psychology)

In this study, hypnotic analgesia in obstetrics is explained in terms of ecosystemic thinking, as opposed to traditional conceptualisations of hypnosis. Five case studies were used. Each case is described in detail, as well as the therapeutic rationale behind each case, in order to present the reader with an understanding for the thinking behind the doing of ecosystemic hypnotherapy. The study utilises a new paradigm approach to research which is explained and is in keeping with ecosystemic epistemology. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

The development of the concept of irreverence is examined in terms of its historical, theoretical and metatheoretical contexts. The underlying assumptions of the concepts of neutrality, curiosity, and irreverence are distinguished and contextualised. Neutrality is discussed with reference to Milan systemic therapy and first- and second-order cybernetics, while curiosity is examined in the light of constructivist and narrative approaches to psychotherapy. It is argued that these two concepts represent two sides of a dualism, which is transcended through irreverence. Irreverence is interpreted as a postmodern stance, involving the questioning and relativising of therapists' basic assumptions. The pragmatic components of an irreverent stance, namely self-reflexivity, orthogonality, flexibility and accountability, are explored with reference to related concepts in the work of other authors. Throughout the text metalogues are used in an attempt to engage reader and author in a collaborative enterprise of acknowledging and reevaluating their own basic assumptions. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

This study explored the experiences of members of an OCD support group, utilising a qualitative design, social constructionist approach, and a systemic framework. Participants were obtained through purposive sampling; data was collected via faceto- face semi-structured interviews with four participants. It emerged that these participants attended two OCD support groups (initial support group and sub-support group). The participants’ experiences were analysed using thematic analysis. Major findings: the participants’ motivation to attend both support groups was to reduce their OCD symptoms and improve functioning. The initial support group was a professional-led psychoeducational support group while the sub-support group was a self-help psychotherapeutic group. The groups also complemented each other with information from the initial support group being implemented in the sub-support group. The participants reported to have benefitted from participation in both support groups as their OCD symptoms reduced and their daily functioning improved. Recommendations for future research were discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

CASTRO , Carolina Aires de. Dando conta da "doença dos nervos": produção de sentidos em conversas com mulheres. 2010. 162f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Psicologia) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Psicologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia, Fortaleza-CE, 2010. / Submitted by moises gomes (celtinha_malvado@hotmail.com) on 2011-12-07T18:37:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2010_dis_CADCastro.PDF: 2026460 bytes, checksum: 9f21728c95e7a41286a6e5de3beef624 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Josineide Góis(josineide@ufc.br) on 2012-01-09T15:24:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2010_dis_CADCastro.PDF: 2026460 bytes, checksum: 9f21728c95e7a41286a6e5de3beef624 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-01-09T15:24:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2010_dis_CADCastro.PDF: 2026460 bytes, checksum: 9f21728c95e7a41286a6e5de3beef624 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / The so-called “nervous disease” is a common medical condition found in Brazil. It is most commonly found among people living out of impoverished areas of Brazil, and is most common in woman. This studies aim is to analyze how the “nervous disease” operates and how it is described by people who suffer from it, as well as analyze how it affects their everyday situations. The study was conducted by a health worker who held meetings in the homes of five different women patients, who had their symptoms reviewed, as well as their strategies for coping with the potential for emergencies that the disease can cause. Based on a social constructionism perspective with the approach of discursive practices, the experiences of the "nervous disease" in those conversations were analyzed, taking into account the interpretative repertoires of the participants and their roles in the interactions. The analysis of these conversations reveals that the “nervous disease” is polysemous, multifaceted and contingent. The meanings of such a condition is dealt with creatively in interactive context that involves interviews between researcher and mediator. Spoken in different ways and in different contexts and for different purposes, the “nervous disease” involves practices that make it much more than an object of biomedical knowledge. / A chamada doença dos nervos é uma queixa comum nos espaços de serviços de saúde pública e geralmente é relacionada às pessoas pertencentes a estratos sociais empobrecidos de áreas urbanas brasileiras, especialmente mulheres. Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar como a doença dos nervos é enunciada, discutida e nomeada por pessoas com tal queixa, bem como nas situações cotidianas onde a temática surgiu durante esta pesquisa. Para isso, a partir da indicação de uma agente de saúde, foram realizados encontros nas residências de cinco mulheres doentes dos nervos, onde seus sintomas, contexto de emergência e estratégias de enfrentamento puderam ser discutidos. Baseada numa perspectiva construcionista social e na abordagem das práticas discursivas, os sentidos construídos sobre a “doença dos nervos” nessas conversas foram analisados, levando-se em conta os repertórios interpretativos das participantes e suas funções nas interações. A análise dessas conversas revela que a doença dos nervos é polissêmica, multifacetada e contingente. Os sentidos sobre tal condição são negociados de forma criativa no contexto interacional que envolve entrevistadas, pesquisadora e mediadora. Falada de diversas formas, em diferentes contextos e para diferentes fins, a doença dos nervos envolve práticas que a tornam bem mais que um objeto do saber biomédico.

Submitted by Izabel Franco (izabel-franco@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-28T12:05:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissLHMF.pdf: 1468264 bytes, checksum: 1456a7ecb8c93aac4957dbe93a801f9b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-10-03T20:14:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissLHMF.pdf: 1468264 bytes, checksum: 1456a7ecb8c93aac4957dbe93a801f9b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-10-03T20:14:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissLHMF.pdf: 1468264 bytes, checksum: 1456a7ecb8c93aac4957dbe93a801f9b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-03T20:25:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissLHMF.pdf: 1468264 bytes, checksum: 1456a7ecb8c93aac4957dbe93a801f9b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / This study adopted the Family Health Strategy (FHS) as the locus of research. The FHS is the Brazilian government's response to the organization and execution of Basic Health Care. Analyzes the FHS as a strategical dispositive in the art of governing the population wich adopts the family as a central instrument for developing epidemiological changes, based on the concept of Governamentality, an exercise of power inserted in the relationship between security, population and government. Some effects of this power are normalization of conduct, medicalization of life, imposing lifestyles considered healthy from political technologies that investing on the body, health, the right ways to eat, to live and interact, in sume an entire space of existence. This work has taken as its object FHS care practices, analyzing how they can determine the ways of life and subjectivity of families who receive assistance, for it adopted the theoretical framework of analytical power of Michel Foucaut. From the perspective of Social Constructionism, were analyzed official documents from the Ministry of Health and observed the daily work of a family health team, analyzing the discursive practices in these different fields of research. The process of this investigation resulted in the possibility to analyze and relate the meanings of three discursive practices: Families, Power and Care. In the documentary analysis, three groups of meaning were discussed: (1) as the FHS healthcare model approaches of a Governmentality dispositive; (2) the meanings of family treated in the documents, the highlight occurs in the created norms on families, and as this is an important strategy for the good government of the population; (3) the strategic position that discursive practices of Care and Humanization occupy in the documents and the changes they propel to care practices. In participant observation, we report three situations experienced in the field, it is argued from these reports the main meanings of team care concrete practices and the effects of power in families. In the final considerations discusses the three discursive practices that made up this work: Power, Families and Care, tracing possible ways that contribute to the movement of Clinical and Care Management, and indicating FHS care practices in order to enable a ethical and humane meeting between worker-user which generates autonomy, emancipation growth for these different actors. / Este trabalho adotou a Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) como lócus de pesquisa. A ESF é a resposta do Estado brasileiro para a organização e efetivação da Atenção Básica. Analisa-se a ESF como um dispositivo estratégico na arte de governar a população que adota a família como instrumento central para desenvolver mudanças epidemiológicas, a partir do conceito de Governamentalidade, um exercício de poder inserido na relação entre segurança, população e governo. Alguns efeitos desse poder são normalização de condutas, medicalização da vida, imposição de estilos de vida considerados saudáveis a partir de tecnologias políticas, que investem sobre o corpo, a saúde, as maneiras corretas de se alimentar, de morar, de viver e se relacionar, enfim de todo um espaço de existência. Este trabalho tomou como objeto de estudo as práticas de cuidado da ESF, analisando como estas podem determinar os modos de vida e subjetivação das famílias que são atendidas, para isso adotou-se o referencial teórico da analitica de poder de Michel Foucaut. A partir da perspectiva do Construcionismo Social, foram analisados documentos oficiais do Ministério da Saúde e observado o cotidiano de trabalho de uma equipe de saúde da família, analisando as práticas discursivas presentes nestes diferentes campos de pesquisa. O processo dessa investigação resultou na possibilidade de analisar e relacionar os sentidos de três práticas discursivas : Famílias, Poder e Cuidado. Na analise documental três núcleos de sentidos foram discutidos: (1) como o modelo de atenção da ESF a aproxima de um dispositivo de governamentalidade ; (2) os sentidos de família tratados nos documentos, o destaque se dá nas normas criadas sobre famílias, e como esta é uma importante estratégia para o bom governo da população ; (3) o lugar estratégico que ocupam as práticas discursivas sobre Cuidado e Humanização presentes nos documentos e as mudanças que elas impulsionam às práticas de cuidado. Na observação participante, relata-se 3 situações vivenciadas no campo, discute-se a partir destes relatos os principais sentidos das praticas concretas de cuidado da equipe e os efeitos de poder sob as famílias. Nas considerações finais discute-se as três práticas discursivas que compuseram este trabalho : Poder, Famílias e Cuidado, delineando possíveis caminhos que contribuam para o movimento da Gestão da Clinica e do Cuidado, e indicando práticas de cuidado da ESF de forma a possibilitar um encontro ético e humanizado entre trabalhador e usuário que gere autonomia, emancipação a crescimento para esses diferentes atores.

Abstract The aim of this study is to meet the need to have a better understanding of identity construction in the context of organizational change. With my narrative research, I add my voice to those researchers who appreciate language playing a key role in the formation of social reality, individual’s cognitive structure and sense of self. The question of how the participants in the study narrate themselves within the context of organizational change has guided conducting the study. The data for the study consists of 12 individuals’ narration in the contexts of various organizational changes. In this study organizational change means the social constructions the participants have constructed in their narration. Decided by the top management, in actual reality these organizational changes have been associated with personnel effects and negotiations complying with the co-operation act. I studied the narrated identity construction utilizing positioning, categorizing and expectation as analytical concepts in reading. The reading of the narrated data had six stages. In the last reading stage I sought answers as to how the main characters of the stories, Juha, Marjut and Arja, narrate the relation to themselves and the relation to others within the context of organizational change. I have used a narrative form for two reasons. Firstly, in order to deepen my own understanding as to how and why the narrated identity is constructed as it is. Secondly, with a narrative study, I have been able to expose the dynamic nature in the construction of context and identity more clearly than with a traditional research text. The readings of narrative data preceding my narrative writing have, however, affected the construction of my chosen three stories, the method of writing them, the chosen citations and interpretation. This study will lead to a better understanding of how an individual’s self is constructed in relation to others in the organization where the individual works. My study suggests that, due to its open nature, an organizational change increases the individual’s need to narrate the individual’s self, who I am, how I have become me and what my possible future selves will be like. The study discloses needs lying in the background of the narration in the context of organizational change; the need to raise self-esteem, to maintain the feeling of command and control, to hold on to the moral order, to decrease uncertainty and to maintain continuity. In addition to this, the study uncovers the struggle for one’s own identity. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tehtävänä on vastata tarpeeseen ymmärtää nykyistä paremmin identiteettien rakentumista organisaatiomuutoksen kontekstissa. Liityn kerronnallisella tutkimuksellani niiden tutkijoiden joukkoon, jotka ajattelevat kielellä olevan keskeisen merkityksen sosiaalisen todellisuuden, yksilön tiedollisten rakenteiden ja itseymmärryksen muotoutumisessa. Kysymys siitä, miten tutkimukseen osallistuvat kertovat itsensä organisaatiomuutoksen kontekstissa, on ohjannut tutkimuksen tekemistä. Tutkimusaineisto on koostunut 12 henkilön kerronnasta eri organisaatiomuutosten konteksteissa. Organisaatiomuutoksella on tässä tutkimuksessa tarkoitettu niitä sosiaalisia konstruktioita, joita tutkimukseen osallistuvat ovat rakentaneet kerronnassaan. Reaalisessa todellisuudessa nämä organisaatiomuutokset ovat olleet ylimmän johdon päättämiä, niihin on liittynyt henkilöstövaikutuksia ja yhteistoimintalain mukaisia neuvotteluja. Olen tutkinut kerrotun identiteetin rakentumista käyttäen luennassa positiointia, kategorisointia ja odotusta analyyttisina käsitteinä. Kerrotun aineiston luenta on ollut kuusivaiheinen. Viimeisessä luentavaiheessa olen hakenut vastauksia siihen, miten tarinoiden päähenkilöt Juha, Marjut ja Arja kertovat suhteen omaan itseensä ja suhteen toisiin organisaatiomuutoksen kontekstissa. Olen käyttänyt tarinallista muotoa kahdesta syystä. Ensinnäkin syventääkseni omaa ymmärrystäni siitä, miten ja miksi kerrottu identiteetti rakentuu kerrotunlaiseksi. Toiseksi olen saanut tarinamuotoisella esittämisellä perinteistä tutkimustekstiä selkeämmin esille kontekstin ja identiteetin rakentumisen dynaamisen luonteen. Valitsemieni kolmen tarinan rakentamiseen, niiden kirjoittamisen tapaan, valittuihin sitaatteihin ja tulkintaan ovat kuitenkin vaikuttaneet tarinoiden kirjoittamista edeltäneet kerronnallisen aineiston luennat. Tämä tutkimus lisää ymmärrystä siitä, miten yksilön minuus rakentuu suhteessa toisiin organisaatiossa, jossa hän työskentelee. Tutkimuksessani ehdotan, että organisaatiomuutos lisää avoimen luonteensa vuoksi yksilön tarvetta kertoa minuuttaan, sitä kuka minä olen, miten olen tullut minuksi ja millaisia ovat mahdolliset tulevat minuuteni. Tutkimus tuo esiin ne tarpeet, jotka organisaatiomuutoksen kontekstissa ovat kerronnan taustalla; tarve kohottaa itsetuntoa, säilyttää hallinnan ja kontrollin tunnetta, pitää kiinni moraalijärjestyksestä, pienentää epävarmuutta ja ylläpitää jatkuvuutta. Lisäksi näkyviin tulee taistelu oman identiteetin puolesta.