Suchergebnisse

This study aimed to hear the voices of seven people living with Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), to examine their lived experience. The participants were recruited through a website and social networking sites designed for this community; they discussed their experiences in semi-structured interviews. The analytical process was informed by Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) principles. This process illustrated a lived experience that was initially consumed by psycho-social losses and conflicts around identity. However, through pragmatic and resilient attitudes, the participants developed practical methods and emotional coping mechanisms that permitted their adjustment to sight loss and progression in life. Consistent with other studies, the fundamental finding was that the associated feeling of loss and frustration are chronic if, episodic, throughout life.

In this article, we discuss a qualitative study carried out in a cultural contact zone. Irish nationals, immigrants, and asylum seekers in Cork, Ireland, were interviewed about their cultural identities and future trajectories. Cultural Continuity theory was used as a model to offer an insight into the processes and strategies of the Dialogical Self. The results suggest that the development of a cultural contact zone caused a break in cultural continuity which aroused uncertainty. Our analytical focus is on one of the strategies that enabled the individuals to alleviate that uncertainty. The suggestive preliminary results are that each participant, within each group, utilized their dialogical 'I as a human being' identity position to maintain continuity. The function of this strategy and the theoretical integration are discussed.

In this article, we explore how interpretation is dealt with by researchers using a vignette methodology. Researchers using vignette methodology often struggle with interpretation: how to interpret the responses when participants shift between discussing the vignettes as themselves, taking the perspective of the character in the vignette and commenting on what 'ought' to happen. We argue that by foregrounding a consideration of the method with an explicitly articulated theoretical position of dialogicality, issues inherent in interpretation become a valuable addition to the research rather than an obstacle to be overcome. In this article, we discuss 'Louise' a young carer, detailing the various positions she takes in her talk about the vignette of Mary, a fictitious young carer, to illustrate how a perspective based in dialogical theory contributed to the analysis of her various moves through different identity positions.

In this paper, we explore young peoples' normative representations of work. In particular, we are interested in the ways young people view work roles which could be considered 'atypical' such as young caring or language brokering. Interviewed were 46 young people (15–18 years) some who did, and some who did not engage in the 'atypical' work roles of language brokering or young caring. Findings indicated that young people have a strong representation of what a 'normal' childhood comprises and that friends, teachers and parents play a mediational role in cementing this contextually. However, respondents presented two alternative representations around engagement in 'atypical' roles, with some individuals holding both views at the same time. On the one hand, they felt that engagement in 'atypical' activities would be experienced as a loss of 'normal' childhood. On the other hand, a more positive representation of 'atypical' childhoods was also drawn on, in which engagement in 'atypical' activities was seen as a source of pride and a contributor of additional skills to a child's development. This opinion was evidenced by both those who had, and those who had not engaged in 'atypical' work.