Abandoning the performance narrative: Two women's stories of transition from professional sport

Despite its potential to illuminate psychological processes within socio-cultural contexts, examples of narrative research are rare in sport psychology. In this study, we employed an analysis of narrative to explore two women's stories of living in, and withdrawing from, professional tournament golf gathered through life history interviews conducted over 6 years. Our findings suggest that immersion in elite sport culture shaped these women's identities around performance values of single-minded dedication to sport and prioritization of winning above all other areas of life. When the performance narrative ceased to "fit" their changing lives, both women, having no alternative narrative to guide their personal life stories, experienced narrative wreckage and considerable personal trauma. They required asylum-a place of refuge where performance values were no longer paramount-to story their lives around a relational narrative that reinstated a coherent identity while providing meaning and worth to life after golf. © Association for Applied Sport Psychology

Still standing, still here, still dancing.

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experiences on teaching-learning process and her insights on language, culture and learning

No Future Without (Personal) Forgiveness: Re-Examining the Role of Forgiveness in Transitional Justice

The role of forgiveness has been much discussed in the literature on transitional justice, but a basic point has been muddled: most acts of forgiveness are inherently personal and cannot be achieved by state actors alone. What I call personal forgiveness is extended by a single human victim who has been harmed by a wrongdoer. Personal forgiveness is distinguishable from three other forms of forgiveness: group forgiveness, legal forgiveness (a form of group forgiveness), and political forgiveness. In the context of transitional justice, I argue that: (1) personal forgiveness is a necessary condition for political forgiveness; (2) group forgiveness (including legal forgiveness), while not without a normative function, cannot effectuate either personal or political forgiveness, and (3) personal forgiveness requires a shared narrative framework to lead to political forgiveness. These assertions lead to two further observations. First, because the state has a normative role in its (limited) capacity to forgive on its own behalf and a practical role in its ability to spread and to transmit a shared narrative framework, the state has an important place in political forgiveness. Second, because the primary historical example of political forgiveness in transitional justice is the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission that unfolded within an explicitly Christian theological framework, it may be that the shared narrative framework need be religious or even Christian in nature

Storying meaning in hospice patient biographies : a thesis submitted to Massey University of Palmerston North in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts and Psychology

The importance of meaning in life has been emphasised in the writings of many existentialists. Furthermore, serious repercussions have been associated with loss of meaning. Postulated life-enhancing qualities of discovering meaning in life make this an especially critical issue for the dying. A sense of meaning in late-stage disease is an important focus for therapeutic exchange. A notable method which has been shown to facilitate this is the production of a life story (Lewis. 1989). Narrative is a natural instrument which facilitates expression of personal meaning. Engaging in storying life clarifies meaning of experience by affording closure (Lashley, 1993). The present study employed narrative inquiry, a subset of qualitative research designs, to examine hospice patient biographies (N=7) to determine how the process of constructing a biographical account facing death contributes to meaning formation. It has been argued that approaching death disrupts one's personal narrative resulting in loss of meaning. This activity is said to compel reconstruction of one's story in order to restore meaning in life. Lichter. Mooney and Boyd (1993) argued that recounting experiences enables individuals to resolve unfinished business, an important element for promoting closure, which engenders meaning. Two methods of analysis were adopted: analysis of narrative and storying meaning. Analysis of narrative was based on Polkinghorne's (1995) methods of narrative configuration. Storying meaning was carried out as a means of making sense and showing the significance of thoughts and actions in the context of an unfolding plot. With analysis of narrative a variety of inquiries were undertaken. This included examining the biographies for narrative typologies. Given the importance of goals in meaning formation, we focused on the plot structure before and after illness to establish the influence this experience had upon goal direction. Narrative devices which contribute to meaning formation were also explored. This included: roles, epiphany, closure, and metaphor. These features were examined for patterns, themes, and regularities across biographies. Considering the detrimental impact death anxiety has upon meaning construction, inquiry also focuscd on this concept and its association with selected narrative devices. With storying meaning, knowledge about a particular situation is produced. In this study we concentrated on how meaning is constructed through storying a life facing death. This encompassed searching for processes of meaning-making within the biographies. Analysis of narrative revealed goal-focused progressive narratives. Storying lives in this coherent fashion enabled meaning to be constructed. Narrative devices assisted in production of a coherent stoty which promoted closure to storied life Adoption of these devices also positively reframcd the narrator's viewpoint toward this experience, which enabled individuals to make sense of events and happenings in the story. Surprisingly, death anxiety assumed a peripheral concern; it did not feature as a critical issue in meaning construction within these accounts. Storying meaning revealed processes of meaning-making in these stoned accounts. Unfolding of these stories revealed meaningful lives interrupted by adversity, which were then overcome. Prior to the disruption these accounts were replete with sources of personal meaning. Disruption ensued with evidence of loss of meaning. Restoring meaning involved reconstructing one's personal narrative. Analysis revealed evidence of processes of meaning- making within these stories. Methods of meaning formation included: making sense of illness, changing the life scheme, changing one's perception of the event, and methods of self- transcendence. Similar processes have been established in other studies examining meaning construction. These processes were found to promote closure in storied accounts, an important element which facilitates meaning. This finding supports Lichter and associates' (1993) argument regarding the value of narrative, particularly for those facing death where meaning in life has been lost. Results indicated individuals construct meaning by reconstructing personal narratives in order to make sense of these experiences and integrate these into their storied lives. As Williams (1984) argued it is in this activity of reconstructing one's personal life narrative that illness and its consequences arc ascribcd meaning in the context of one's life. The value of narrative for those approaching death and those experiencing serious loss is emphasised

The Social Nature of Individual Self-Identity: Akan and Narrative Conceptions of Personhood

Marya Schechtman has given us reasons to think that there are different questions that compose personal identity. On the one hand, there is the question of reidentification, which concerns what makes a person the same person through different time-slices. On the other hand, there is the question of characterization, which concerns the actions, experiences, beliefs, values, desires, character traits, etc. that we take to be attributable to a person over time. While leaving the former question for another work, Schechtman answers the latter question by proposing what she terms the narrative self-constitution view, whereby Schechtman claims that we account for intuitive features (moral responsibility, survival, compensation, and self-interested concern) of characterization through narratives. Still, merely having a narrative is not enough. In order to live the life of a person, an agent’s narrative must sync with the narrative told about him/her in community. This paper, while in full agreement with Schechtman’s claim regarding narratives and their ability to explain the intuitive features that regard the question of characterization, puts pressure on the latter claim. I argue that a person’s narrative is not merely one that synchs with the narrative told in community, but one that is determined by the person’s community. In focusing on Schechtman’s second claim, I appeal to the Akan conception of personhood, showing that the community sets the parameters of personal identity, and by body politics and conferring social recognition, determines the traits that we take to be attributed to a given person over time

In the Middle of Self-Care: A Mid-Level Professional’s Journey to Rebuilding Resilience

In American culture, there seems to be a glorification of “being busy” (Bellezza, Paharia, & Keinan, 2017). Going into my eighth year of working in student affairs and thanks to a new support system and unfortunate health changes, I am now learning the importance of integrating self-care more into my professional and personal life. Through this personal narrative, I hope that my journey with self-care as a mid-level professional helps others begin to start seeking self-care for themselves

Getting Lost ‘Into the Wild’: Exploring the Role of Narrative Transportation in the Experiential Consumption of Movies

Although it is obvious that consumers enjoy watching movies for many reasons that range from mere short-term entertainment to the complete personal immersion into the movie narrative, a full understanding of the experiential consumption of movies and its contribution to a consumer’s subjective quality of life is still lacking. Thus, this paper takes an existential-phenomenological perspective to provide some alternative insights into consumers’ holistic movie consumption experiences. By using a form of interactive introspection, the two researchers examine and discuss hereby their own individual private consumption experiences with the recently released movie Into the Wild (US 2007) as a complex tapestry of interrelated factors. The introspective data indicates that a consumer’s personal engagement with the movie narrative, its characters, atmosphere and underlying philosophy is of particular importance for one’s enjoyment of the movie, as this allows for and even enhances the consumer’s temporary feeling of complete immersion into its imaginary world. The intensity and nature of an individual’s experienced transportation into the movie narrative is hereby determined less by socio-demographic variables such as age or gender, but by one’s own very private motives and intimate involvement with the holistic movie consumption experience

Drug Misuse: Taking a Narrative Approach as a Means of Exploring ‘Self-Change’

In this paper I explore the personal narrative of Jennifer; a woman who for the past ten years had been using ‘hard’ drugs. When interviewed Jennifer had been ‘sentenced’ to take part in an enforced treatment programme which aimed to facilitate ‘self-change’. The concept of ‘self-change’ would appear to convey a particular understanding of transitions, and changes in behaviour, rooted in assumptions around motivation, cognition and internal forces. In the research reported here the way in which someone ‘storied’ into a narrative of ‘self-change’ metaphorically represents her progress will be explored

Reclaiming Sacred Space

I wrote this piece for myself as a hybrid of personal discovery and academic inquiry, and I hope it can guide and empower others like myself. In this piece, I examine the intersections of queer identity with religious and spiritual identity development and discuss how practitioners can help students reclaim sacred space. Foregrounding my personal narrative and expanding with scholarship, I show why this development deserves attention from student affairs professionals. I give both programmatic and institutional considerations to review when centering religious and spiritual development for LGBTQ students