Family occupation: A study in negotiated participation

There is much to be learned about health, wellness, and inclusion from the everyday things that families do. Families with children with disabilities, in particular, are adept at negotiating myriad situational factors as they construct activities together. This study began by examining family research methods and exploring how qualitative designs fit into daily family life. Semi-structured interviews with 13 parent advisors yielded their key motivations for participation in research, reservations about naturalistic designs, and recommendations for improved feasibility. These findings were applied during a subsequent ethnographic phase of the project. This second phase of study employed participant observations with 7 families with one or more 6-11 year old (middle childhood age) children with a variety of disability diagnoses. The researcher accompanied families in their homes and communities to learn about the enactment of family time occupations and shared engagement. Narrative and thematic analyses revealed that families constructed moments together with awareness of the multi-bodied, multi-abilitied, and multi-preferenced natures of their collective units. Family occupations were inherently manifold, evolving, and negotiated. Several inclusion practices used by families to promote member participation in joint activities are also described. Disability was one of many family characteristics that impacted these activities, supporting the use of relational approaches to family-centered care. Family occupation is a helpful window for exploring daily life, social relationships, and coordinated action among groups.Doctor of Philosoph

Cross-cultural evidence for the influence of positive self-evaluation on cross-cultural differences in well-being

Poster Session F - Well-Being: abstract F197We propose that cultural norms about realism and hedonism contribute to the cross-cultural differences in well-being over and above differences in objective living conditions. To test this hypothesis, we used samples from China and the United States. Results supported the mediating role of positive evaluative bias in cross-cultural differences in well-being.postprin

Values and need satisfaction across 20 world regions

Poster Session F - Motivation/Goals: abstract F78Intrinsic valuing predicts the satisfaction of psychological needs (Niemiec, Ryan, & Deci, 2009). We conceptually replicate and extend this finding across 20 world regions. In multi-level models, Schwartz’s (1992) self-transcendence value was positively related to autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction, even when controlling for the Big Five.postprin

Neoliberalism and the cultural and political dispositions and practises of millennials in London and LA: a socio-cognitive analysis

This thesis explores the everyday experiences and aspirations of young people living in Los Angeles and London, focusing on their cultural and political dispositions, emotions, thoughts and practices, and how these converge with, and diverge from, the dominant neoliberal discourses they are surrounded by. The contemporary literature on youth and youth politics tends to view young people as active and cognizant agents in the reproduction of socio-cultural and political-economic institutions, discourses, and practices. Applying a socio-cognitive approach to the analysis of interview data, ethnographic observations, and media-cultural texts, this thesis contends that these bodies of literature neglect the unconscious dimensions of young people’s practices, and in particular, that insufficient emphasis is placed on how these contribute to the reproduction of neoliberalism. It argues that, if the literature on youth is to adequately conceptualize and represent young people and their roles in social reproduction, then research explorations must attend to these unconscious dimensions. As this thesis will demonstrate, doing so facilitates and enriches analyses of the ways in which different institutional settings influence, constrain, and enable young people, and of some of the ways that young people contest, internalize, and negotiate between the dominant societal discourses presented to them. The thesis also explores some of the lessons that a socio-cognitive approach to youth culture and politics can contribute to the work of critical educators concerned with progressive social change. It argues that critical and progressive educators must incorporate socio-cognitive insights into their practices in order to tackle the potential dispositional barriers which may hinder the realisation of the political objectives of critical and progressive pedagogy