In this doctoral thesis, I have sought to explore how women who lived in the care of a Catholic Children's Home called Nazareth House in Belfast, during the 1940s, 19505 and 1960s interpret and re-tell their biographies and the ways they (re)construct experience and ontology (or ontologies) of the self (Hankiss 1981). The aims were firstly. to sociologically grasp how the respondents form, maintain and (re)negotiate their identities and (auto)biographies. Secondly. to incite sociological acknowledgement of historical experiences of care. Thirdly, to reconstruct and preserve recollections of Nazareth House from the life (hi)stories of former inhabitants for future research purposes and interests. The (auto)biographical interview was used to gather and eventually analyse the life (hi)stories of twelve undervalued 'historical witnesses' (Roberts 2002) of orphanhood. The findings were three fold. Firstly the Girls of Nazareth House have an identity that is spatial and emplaced. Secondly, they have performed, through the life as lived and life as told a ' reflexive project of the self' (Giddens 1991), aimed toward being at home (in the world). Thirdly, despite being identified publically as a homogenised group, the participants have formed individualised (auto)biographies and ' reflexive projects' and have, contrary to social and cultural understandings, presented balanced (hi)stories of care experiences at that time.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:601446 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Edwards, Delyth Sian |
| Publisher | Queen's University Belfast |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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