Leaders and Their Life Stories: Obama, Bush, and Narratives of Redemption

In Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, Howard Gardner writes: “Leaders achieve their effectiveness chiefly through the stories they relate.” Leaders express stories in the way they live their own lives, and they aim to evoke stories in the lives of those they lead. “The artful creation and articulation of stories constitutes a fundamental part of the leadership vocation,” Gardner claims. Further, “it is stories of identity—narratives that help individuals think about and feel who they are, where they come from, and where they are headed—that constitute the single most powerful weapon in the leader’s literary arsenal.”

In a remarkably prescient chapter, Bertram Cohler (1982) reimagined the problems and the potentialities of psychological development across the life course as a distinctively human challenge in life narration. This chapter situates Cohler's original vision within the intellectual and scientific matrix of the late 1970s, wherein psychologists expressed grave doubts about the extent to which human lives may demonstrate consistency and coherence. By focusing attention on human beings as autobiographical authors rather than as mere social actors or motivated agents, Cohler moved the conversation away from dispositional personality traits and developmental stages and toward the emerging concept of narrative identity. Over the past 30 years, research on narrative identity has shown how people use stories to integrate the reconstructed past and imagined future, providing their lives with some semblance of unity, purpose, and meaning. At midlife, many adults struggle to solve the problem of generativity, aiming to leave a positive legacy for the next generation. Inspired by Cohler's original chapter, contemporary research reveals that the most generative adults in American society tend to construe their lives as narratives of personal redemption. As such, life stories may serve as valuable psychological resources for midlife adults, even as they reflect and refract prevailing cultural themes.

Understanding the life stories of child sexual offenders are essential to inform effective treatment and prevention strategies for child sexual abuse. This study conducted individual interviews to explore the life stories of 12 offenders who were convicted and sentenced for child sexual abuse in South Africa. The offenders constructed redemptive narratives of personal transformation and moral coherence by neutralizing their criminal identities and positioning prosocial identities. The possible association between prosocial identity constructions and behavioral change is relevant to mental health practitioners, correctional officials, and affected communities. We conclude with recommendations for the treatment and prevention of child sexual offending.

In this study, the experience and meaning of a middle-aged woman’s self-identity search were explored in a narrative based on art. The participant of this study, Kim Min-seo (pseudonym), is a woman in her 50s. The researcher and the participant conducted a total of 10 sessions from July 26, 2022, to September 27, 2022, followed by two additional interviews 9 months later. To explore the meaning of the participant’s experiences of self-identity, formed throughout her life, the researcher employed various artistic media and techniques such as clay modeling for emotional expression, drawing family figures, writing poetry, collage-making, and reading fairy tales. Through these sensory, perceptual, cognitive, and symbolic methods, the participant was encouraged to express her life story, and the researcher engaged in discussions with the participant centered around her artistic creations. Based on the verbatim transcripts of all conversations, photographs of the participant’s artistic creations, and the researcher’s journal, a narrative of the participant’s self-identity exploration experience was constructed within a three-dimensional narrative inquiry space. The meaning of the participant’s experiences was then analyzed through this process. As a result, the meaning of the participant’s self-identity exploration experience was constructed as follows: 1. Catharsis through opening up about childhood experiences of abuse. 2. Confession and reflection on guilt related to child abuse. 3. Understanding of interpersonal conflict caused by the lack of nurturing care. 4. Discovery of a new identity for the wounded inner child. Through the relational inquiry space facilitated by her artistic creations, the participant was able to unravel various self-identity narratives embedded in her experiences of both victimhood and perpetration of abuse within the family, as well as her current interpersonal conflicts. In doing so, she discovered the symbol of a “fully bloomed yellow flower,” representing a beautiful and confident version of herself.

This article discusses the implementation of a new creative life story work project within a statutory children’s services department of a UK Local Authority. The project looks to strengthen the use of life story work within statutory children’s social work teams, involving the introduction of a model developed by Professor Richard Rose. Staff training is provided, and creative life story groups with care experienced young people are led jointly by professional artists and children’s social care staff. As a social worker, I support the implementation of the project and offer any additional therapeutic support children attending the groups might need, including more in-depth individual therapeutic life story work. I explore here the dynamic nature of life story work in children’s social work, including a critical analysis of the use of self, and consider theoretical application and wider critiques of the model. I discuss some of the (often contested) literature in relation to trauma, before employing a psychosocial approach that draws on systemic and psychoanalytic theory in order to understand how creative life story work supports individuals and organisations in recovery from trauma and provides the potential to invite bigger questions in relation to how to reignite creativity and social pedagogy in social work practice.

<p>According to McAdams' (1988; 1993) Life Story Model of Identity, narrative identity is constructed through the development of the life story in adolescence and young adulthood. This theoretical claim has sparked an emerging body of research examining links between the development of the life story and psychological functioning during this developmental period (McLean & Breen, 2009; McLean, Breen, & Fournier, 2010; Tavernier & Willoughby, 2012). The aim of this thesis was to contribute to this emerging body of work by examining the relationship between autobiographical reasoning, the core process through which the life story develops, and psychological functioning in young adulthood. Across four studies, young adults constructed life story narratives of high points, low points and turning points from their life story. These narratives were coded for the presence, and valence, of autobiographical reasoning. Autobiographical reasoning was measured primarily in terms of self-event connections, statements linking an aspect of the narrated event to the young adults' sense of self (McLean & Fournier, 2008). Autobiographical reasoning valence was measured in terms of self-event connections that described the self in positive, negative, neutral and mixed (positive and negative) ways. The first study (Study 1a) showed that the valence of autobiographical reasoning found in young adults' life story narratives predicted psychological functioning. Young adults who made negative self-event connections in life story narratives experienced poorer psychological functioning (measured in terms of psychological distress and psychological well-being) than young adults who made little or no negative self-event connections. Conversely, young adults who made more positive self-event connections experienced comparatively better psychological functioning than those who made fewer positive self-event connections. The relationship between positive self-event connections and positive psychological functioning was most salient in the context of narratives about negative events from the life story. Study 1a also showed that for young adults who tended to make higher numbers of positive self-event connections, endorsing negative events as central to the life story was not associated with poor psychological functioning, whereas it was for young adults who made fewer positive connections. The second study (Study 1b) presented a methodology for examining the relationship between autobiographical reasoning valence and psychological functioning over time. Although the small sample size in Study 1b prevented firm conclusions being made, findings showed that young adults' tendency to make negative, but not positive, self-event connections remained stable over time. The preliminary findings from Study 1b also showed that positive and negative self-event connections in life story narratives were not associated with changes in psychological functioning over time. The third study (Study 2) found that young adults' tendency to reason about the self in positive and negative ways was associated with a number of cognitive response styles (explanatory style, rumination and use of cognitive reappraisal strategies). The results of Study 2 also highlight important ways that cognitive response factors, and young adults' assessments of meaning in their lives, may interact with autobiographical reasoning valence to predict psychological functioning. The fourth study (Study 3) aimed to investigate relationships between the phenomenology of life story memories and the amount, and valence, of autobiographical reasoning in narratives of these events. Findings showed few associations between autobiographical reasoning and autobiographical memory phenomenology. Possible reasons for the absence of these relationships are discussed. Wider implications and theoretical explanations for the findings reported in this thesis are discussed in terms of models of coping and Relational Frame Theory (RFT; Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001).</p>

Based on Carl Gustav Jung’s persona philosophy, this paper conducts theoretical analysis on the introvert and extravert personalities, distinguishes the introvert personality from the psychopathy defined from a medical perspective, and elaborates on the dominance of introvert personality in art creations, as well as the “mental conditions” among artists that the contemporary society is concerned with. This paper uses modern artists as subjects to support the conclusion through analysis of their childhood, career and life stories.

The Cult of Artistry in Zelda Fitzgerald's <i>Save Me the Waltz</i>

The Cult of Artistry in Zelda Fitzgerald's <i>Save Me the Waltz</i>

The paper presents theoretical-research background for the possible creation of a life story of a person in the senior age. The paper presents a possible structure of a life story and also different alternatives of collecting information for its creation. The paper itself is complemented by authentic accounts of participants for whom a life story depicting breakthrough events was created as part of the data collection. Each life story recorded as part of the pedagogical-artistic experiment can be addressed in terms of external and internal breakthrough, which also corresponds to the attributes of breakthrough in the action itself within action art.

AimThe aim of this study was to describe relatives’ experiences of sharing a written life story about a close family member with dementia who has moved to residential care.DesignAn explorative descriptive qualitative design was used.MethodsThe data were collected using semi‐structured interviews with a purposeful sample of eight relatives and analyzed using a qualitative content analysis.ResultsResults show that creating and sharing the life story of a close family member could help relatives handle grief and stress. It was perceived as an important, yet difficult, task to ensure that the close family member got good quality care. The creation of a meaningful life story takes time and requires cooperation with family members and other significant people.

As we have seen, President Kennedy's assassination and funeral marked a period of acute cultural trauma notable not only for its widespread feelings of grief, shock, and insecurity but also for its many “flashbulb” memories – of a child's adoring salute to his father, of a daughter's loving embrace of his casket, of a widow's strength and courage, of the eternal flame. For those on hand, not to mention the millions watching on television, these individual memories quickly folded into a collective memory that would last a lifetime. In this sense, the president's funeral served not only to calm a nervous nation, or even to burnish further the idealized image of the president and first lady as both had performed their parts on the White House stage. It also served as a frame of reference through which so many Americans would remember John F. Kennedy in the years following his tragic death. Memories of the late president would quickly take on a sacred quality; his character would be ennobled and his virtues celebrated as those at the heart of the nation's identity. Here was the president as hero, the larger-than-life figure who was one of us, as Arthur G. Neal put it, but also the best of us. Here was the ideal American president, the man of charm and good humor, the optimistic and confident leader who inspired hope in the American people and the conviction that they could do anything. Here was the devoted husband and loving father, the tolerant and pragmatic idealist, the seeker of peace through security, the champion of social justice and human rights. Here was the decorated navy veteran who had given his life in service to the nation and from whose death would spring a new birth of American democracy. This basically conventional narrative of national redemption through the blood sacrifice of a fallen leader became, for the Kennedy family and most Americans, the approved story of the president's life.

The purpose of the article is to analyze and interpret contemporary Polish novels for young people that portray the image of the People’s Republic of Poland. These works provoke young readers to discuss historical issues and help build historical awareness and social memory. The times of Solidarity, the period of martial law and – in a broader context – the social and moral realities of the communist era as literary subjects are excellent examples of this. Literary “provocations” and controversial evaluation of events in the books discussed in this text are often realized through narrative challenges, such as “private” narratives (micro-stories) modeled on stories of family life, strengthening the understanding of the culture of memory (collective and individual), the perspective of a child/teenage protagonist, the unconventionality and innovation of the authors’ artistic creation, the strength of which are political allusions and elements of historical politics recognizable at a deeper level of meaning. Treated as literary endeavors (e.g., from the perspective of the poetics of everyday life exposing the phenomena of modus vivendi and modus adaptandi), they create in the stories a platform for discussion about solidarity and community of action by audiences of different ages, provoking difficult intergenerational dialogue and reflection on martial law or – more broadly – the communist period.

Narrative identity refers to a person’s internalized and evolving life story. It is a rapidly growing research field, motivated by studies showing a unique association with well-being. Here we show that this association disappears when controlling for the emotional valence of the stories told and individuals’ general experience of autobiographical memory. Participants (N = 235) wrote their life story and completed questionnaires on their general experience of autobiographical memory and several dimensions of well-being and affect. Participants’ life stories were coded for standard narrative identity variables, including agency and communion. When controlling for emotional valence of the life story, the general experience of autobiographical memory was a significant predictor of most well-being measures, whereas agency was a predictor of one variable only and communion of none. These findings contradict the claim of an incremental association between narrative identity and well-being, and have important theoretical and practical implications for narrative identity as an outcome measure in interventions.

In this article we describe the therapeutic practice of creating illustrated storybooks in family therapy with traumatized children. Illustrated stories offer a predictable structure to sessions and facilitate engagement and participation of children in therapy. The therapeutic emphasis of storybooks can be adjusted to take into account a child's life story, verbal capacity, level of anxiety, and traumatic hyperarousal. The creation of storybooks is an active process that embraces important aspects of trauma-specific interventions, including expression of trauma-related feelings; clarification of erroneous beliefs about the self, others, or the traumatic event; and externalization of traumatic stimuli into artwork, allowing for exposure and habituation of the arousal response. A focus on visual images together with narrative takes advantage of children's developmental capacities and spontaneous pleasure in the creation of art, thus minimizing anxiety and enhancing feelings of mastery, competence, and hope. The creation of storybooks is compatible with family interventions that foster a safe family context, strengthen attachment relationships, insure appropriate structure and boundaries, and enhance parenting capacity as well as those interactions that facilitate understanding and dialogue between family members.