Turning Wounds into Wisdom: An Intuitive Inquiry into Healing Women’s Body Image through Creative Expression

Body dissatisfaction among women is prevalent, affecting many facets of life and presenting few effective healing interventions for changing one’s body perception. In the qualitative contexts of the critical paradigm and an intuitive culture of inquiry, we used A/R/Tography with the four researchers also acting as participants. To describe how creative expression may change a woman’s deeply held perception of her body, we conducted and participated in a retreat focused on personal narratives, reflective journaling, storytelling, and individual creativity. Through the application of thematic analysis, we identified themes of community, exhaustion, hope, and insight. Results of this research suggest the potential for positive transformation in female body image perception by engaging in creative expression. Thus, women should be encouraged and empowered to participate in community-based events involving creative expression and storytelling as a modality for healing

Temperamental Influences on Risk-taking during Middle Childhood

This thesis concerns temperamental qualities and their influence on risk-taking behavior during middle childhood (7–11 years of age). Contemporary research generally agrees upon the notion that temperament constitutes two motivational systems, sensitive to punishment and reward respectively, together with a third system that is responsible for regulating the motivational systems. Risk-taking is generally regarded as the tendency to engage in potentially harmful or dangerous behaviors that at the same time provide opportunities for positive outcomes (Leigh, 1999). Study 1 of this thesis provides a psychometric evaluation of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ; Simonds & Rothbart, 2004), one of the temperament questionnaires used in the other two studies. We also tested the ability of the punishment and reward sensitivity factors from the r-RST, as measured by the Sensitivity to Punishment, Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire for Children (SPSRQ-C; Colder et al., 2011), to validate the corresponding factors from the TMCQ. Our second study examines the interaction effects between temperamental traits fear, drive, and activation control on risk-taking. Fear and drive represent the punishment sensitivity system and the reward system respectively, and activation control is the ability to control the reactions in these two systems. Results from this study suggest that the joint influence of the temperamental systems is of great importance in risk-taking, and also that activation control abilities provide a good protection for children prone to risk-taking behavior. Lastly, our third study examines how children’s temperamental qualities interact with incentive contexts in risky decision-making. Results suggest that incentive-related contextual factors have a strong influence on risky decision-making and that temperament modifies this influence, thereby reducing or increasing children’s proneness to take risks. The findings supported predictions based on the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (r-RST; Gray & McNaughton, 2000), regarding how temperament and incentive context jointly determine behavior in risk-taking situations. The results from our studies provide a better understanding of how temperamental qualities interact in children’s risk-taking, and of how the effects of temperament on risky decision-making can be moderated. This is highly relevant information, since research suggests that effortful control abilities are possible to improve through training

Students’ relationship to reading: A Study on Reading Experiences and Habits in English of a Group of Norwegian Upper Secondary School Readers.

Reading plays a vital role in the lives of the students, both academically and for the students’ personal growth. This study explored the English reading experiences and reading habits of a group of eight upper secondary school students in Norway. The objectives of the study were to identify the students’ motivation for reading, beliefs regarding reading, their reading practices. The study was underpinned by various theories on reading, language acquisition and motivation. This was a mixed methods case study research, and the data was collected using two data collection tolls: a reading log, and semi-structured interviews. The sample for the study was eight students from a Vg2 English class. It was found that students value reading, and while the reading practices and habits of the students varied, it showed that many of them are in the habit of regular reading. The findings of the study indicated that the students were most interested in reading fictional books, reading on the internet, and on social media. While some of the students enjoyed reading related to school, academic books were generally less popular among the students. The main motivation for reading for many of the students were gaining knowledge and reading for pleasure. The study recommended the use of extensive reading in the classroom as it motivates the students to read

Applied Cognitive Sciences

Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field in the study of the mind and intelligence. The term cognition refers to a variety of mental processes, including perception, problem solving, learning, decision making, language use, and emotional experience. The basis of the cognitive sciences is the contribution of philosophy and computing to the study of cognition. Computing is very important in the study of cognition because computer-aided research helps to develop mental processes, and computers are used to test scientific hypotheses about mental organization and functioning. This book provides a platform for reviewing these disciplines and presenting cognitive research as a separate discipline

The effects of one-to-one computing for students with disabilities in an inclusive language arts class

Technology has become increasingly prominent in schools. The purpose of this study was to examine the integration of technology with students with disabilities, particularly the use of one-to-one computing when used in inclusive classrooms. This study took a qualitative approach exploring how one teacher integrated one-to-one computing into her curriculum and how students with disabilities perceived that integration. The nine week study took place in a rural, Midwest, eighth grade inclusive language arts classroom. The general education language arts teacher and two students who received special education services were participants in the study. Data were collected from teacher interviews, student interviews, transcripts of classroom activities, observational field notes, and document analysis. The data analysis resulted in 11 themes in response to the three research questions. The results suggested that this teacher used a variety of resources while integrating one-to-one laptops to engage her students. The students specifically described the teacher as a role model on how to use new technological applications for academic purposes such as completing and submitting assignments electronically. The findings from teacher and student data revealed perceived learning benefits and barriers of using one-to-one computing. One significant benefit of one-to-one computing was how it assisted the teacher\u27s integration of 21st century skills in the curriculum. This integration of one-to-one laptops leveled the playing field for students with disabilities by increasing access, promoting social benefits, and practicing the content at their level. Students in this study experienced learning benefits as their student responsibilities changed. Despite some barriers to one-to-one implementation, students\u27 preference would be to continue to learn with one-to-one laptops rather than going back to traditional methods of receiving instruction. Several recommendations to increase the integration of technology were suggested. Recommendations included structured professional development such as technology training, differentiated instruction, and constructivist teaching, additional time for peer collaboration, becoming familiar with students\u27 IEPs, and sharing district goals for one-to-one computing. Suggestions for future research consisted of comparing first to third year one-to-one implementation for students with disabilities, differences in technology integration between novice and experienced teachers, and the effects of gaming for students with disabilities

Navigating Prolonged Conflict: Subject positions and meaning constructions in postdivorce families

Background: Prolonged conflicts among postdivorce or noncohabiting parents are found to threaten the welfare of children, parents, and functioning in two household families. These family contexts are known in the literature as having intensified psychosocial risk, pressuring subject positions of family members, and having difficulty functioning as a family. Many resources are spent from an array of public institutions—court, health, and child and family welfare institutions—to promote cooperative coparenting, help resolve custody conflicts, and aid the functioning of the family. A need exists for a further understanding of children’s and parents’ positions in prolonged conflict and their views on family life. More knowledge about postdivorce families (in chronic conflicts) is important for policy-makers and various service providers for children and families. Overall aim: This thesis aims to explore the meaning constructions and subject positions of postdivorce families in prolonged conflicts. Social constructionism and the systemic perspective have been a meta-theory in this thesis, combined with a discursive framework and the use of positioning theory. In this thesis, the term postdivorce or separated families involves families with noncohabiting parents, with parents having been married, with others having been cohabiting, and with some having not lived together at all. The main ambition of this study is to expand the knowledge about postdivorce families in prolonged interparental conflicts and how these family circumstances seem to be constructed from children’s and parents’ perspectives. The possible consequences of various positions for the family, the professionals in family services, and society are discussed. Knowledge from the children’s and parents’ perspectives might help us discern how one can support their well‐being in (to them) relevant ways. We also add to the knowledge of how to aid and strengthen families embedded in enduring postdivorce conflicts. Research questions: The following research questions were asked to illuminate the overall aim in three papers. The first paper focused on child subject positions and asked (I) how do children position themselves for challenges in postdivorce family conflicts, and how does family conflict position children? The second paper focused on the parallel storylines and subject positions of conflicted parent couples and asked the following three questions. (II a) What storylines emerge when separated couples in prolonged conflicts talk about their coparenting relationship? (II b) What positions of the self and the other are constructed when talking about the conflicted coparenting relationship? and (II c) What does it mean for the duty of parenthood when separated parents are in prolonged conflict? The third paper focused on fathers’ stories in prolonged conflict and asked the following three questions. (III a) What storylines of parental agency emerge when separated fathers talk about their children who are in distress from the conflict? (III b)What positions of agency do fathers take up in these storylines, and in what kinds of subject positions are fathers other-positioning their children and ex-partner ? (IIIc) How do these storylines legitimize fathers’ own subject positions and actions towards their children and ex-partner? Methods and Data: The ontological and epistemological stance in this research project is from systemic paradigms—that of social construction (Gergen et al., 2015) and bringforthism (Maturana & Varela, 1992; Maturana et al., 1980). The research project uses a qualitative methodology. The empirical material is from in-depth interviews with children and their parents in prolonged-postdivorce families with frameworks from social construction, systemic theory, and the discursive framework of positioning theory. The interviewed families were participants in a family therapy program in Norway that aimed to assist families with parents with a history of more than two years of conflict and who had been unsuccessful in resolving conflict or their coparenting challenges through family mediation, counseling, or legal proceeding/court attendance. Findings: Paper I: Children take up three dominant positions to address family conflict: (1) keeping balance (in the storyline of the family conflict), (2) keeping distance (in the storyline of the troubling parent), and (3) keeping on with life (in the storyline of life—as more than family challenges). Arguably, each position is an act of resistance against threats from family conflict. Paper II: Two typologies of conflicted storylines from an overarching storyline of “The Troublesome Other and I” were prominent in the findings: (1) storylines of violations of trust, positioning the coparents in relation to traumatic events in the past, and (2) storylines of who is bad, positioning the coparent as either a disloyal coparent or a dysfunctional parent. The findings indicate that prolonged conflicts made it impossible to find available positions for cooperation. Paper III: Three positions of father agency emerged in the analyses: (1) The Savior, (2) the Jungle Guide, and (3) a Beacon in a Fog of Uncertainty. Each position exemplifies fathers’ “world views,” “microcosmoses,” or “moral orders” of postdivorce dangers that surround children and shows how fathers typically position their children and their ethical stance in terms of parental agency. Our understanding of fathers’ agency from the perspective of positioning theory is fathers’ storylines (world views) about their obligation to carry through a line of action (perform agency) in response to how they perceive their children and their needs. This could be viewed as an alternative to understanding actions of father`s in high conflict divorce families that are often explained through the lens of psychopathology. Discussion and conclusive reflections: The discussion chapter in this thesis discusses patterns across the individual papers. In addition, some implications for professional practice and methodological strengths and limitations are discussed. The findings highlight how prolonged conflict positions the family system and how different family members typically construct and take up available subject positions to address conflict-related challenges. Such knowledge is relevant for Norwegian family counseling services and all agencies in contact with children and parents of postdivorce families, such as schools and child welfare agencies. It is also relevant internationally for professionals and various forms of behavioral and mental health services that aid children and parents in postdivorce families. This thesis further argues that children with parents in prolonged conflict are not passive victims but agents dealing with conflict challenges. Prolonged postdivorce conflict is found to be a disruptive positioning force and a threat to parents’ agency. This thesis argues that family counseling services should aid postdivorce parents within the boundaries of their joint capacity of cooperation and that parents in prolonged conflict might more successfully practice parallel parenting to reduce conflict exposure. This thesis also states that prolonged postdivorce conflict is a responsibility of society and not of conflicted parents or families alone. Therefore, it is important that welfare institutions, such as family counseling services, apply a nonjudgmental and systemic framework and take into account the different subject positions in the family mean. Furthermore, this thesis also adds to our knowledge of how various subjects’ positions taken up by that family members in families embedded in prolonged conflicts restrain the possibilities of other members from taking up their preferred subject position as a child, as a parent vis-à-vis the child, or in relation to the other parent. This study uses positioning theory to add an interconnected perspective of discourses of postdivorce families and how families negotiate subject positions. In the final reflection, family counseling services are warned against professional diagnostics and the use of terminology that creates a linear and fixed/rigid positioning of family members in prolonged postdivorce conflicts. This thesis has broad relevance for understanding challenges and dilemmas that family counseling services face today, as well as the more specific need for more research that investigates the meaning-making of children and parents as service users and how different welfare services position the postdivorce family with conflict-related challenges.Doktorgradsavhandlin