ABSTRACT The focus of this Ruth Zemke lecture is to present and reflect on ways theoretical resources on narrative interpretation are relevant to some of the key tensions and challenges facing the study of human occupation and related practices today; The tensions between an individual and a social framing of human occupation, between a focus on identifying discrete elements of human occupation versus a processual focus on how human occupations unfold and work, and finally the tensions between focusing on success versus acknowledging human vulnerability as resource. Drawing on Ricoeur’s notion of narrative interpretation as a threefold mimetic process involving material, emplotment, and communication, suggestions are offered on how a narrative-in-action approach illuminates how processes of agency and change in people’s human occupation can be shaped and revised.

ABSTRACT This study aimed to narrow the gap in understanding the health and well-being effects of becoming through occupation by exploring the concept of becoming through yoga practitioners’ perspectives. Four participants from the Southwest of England were recruited to engage in one-to-one semi-structured interviews concentrated on perspectives of transformation; that is, becoming, from their viewpoint as yoga practitioners. Qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis brought about rich, in-depth accounts of the lived experiences of becoming, revealing the nature of becoming for a yogi, how yoga impacted their identity formation, and tensions between the Western definitions of becoming and yoga. The findings uncovered three themes: mapping self through time and yoga practice, transformed health and well-being through doing yoga, and strengthened connections through being a yogi. The findings support the significance of yoga as an occupation that elicits becoming through personal transformations despite the potential for adverse effects, such as insecurity and Western conformity pressures. Yogis’ depictions of becoming differed from the Western occupational paradigm of becoming, as highlighted by participants’ concentration on self-acceptance versus active self-promotion. For yoga practitioners, becoming involved receptivity and reinforced inner resilience. Further research is warranted on how the effects of becoming manifest across different meaningful occupations and diverse cultural backgrounds.

ABSTRACT Literature demonstrates that most girls incarcerated in juvenile justice institutions in Brazil come from socially vulnerable groups that face social inequality and racial and gender discrimination, which results in occupational inequities. This study aims to understand the daily lives of young Brazilian girls ahead of their incarceration based on their occupational experiences and clarify how these occupations express the deep social inequalities that mark their life trajectories. This cross-sectional qualitative exploratory study used oral history as the research method. Twelve young girls incarcerated at a juvenile justice institution in Minas Gerais, Brazil in 2020 were the study participants. The impact of gender and class issues on these young girls’ daily experiences and occupations point toward the oppressions and social inequalities to which they were exposed since childhood. Their life stories were marked by daily violations of their rights, such as the difficulty of accessing and staying in school, exploitation as child labor, the lack of leisure opportunities, exposure to various forms of violence, including sexual violence, and general vulnerability. The concept of occupation, read through the lens of intersectionality, makes it possible to understand the social inequalities that cross the daily lives of vulnerable populations, as well as provoking a critical and activist position in the area in the face of occupational injustices.

ABSTRACT Historically, occupational scientists have drawn from a diverse array of theoretical and philosophical resources in the study of human occupation. However, insights offered by psychoanalytic theory regarding human behavior have received little attention from occupational scientists. Although psychoanalytic theory has primarily been developed as a psychotherapeutic treatment modality and a framework for understanding early child development and psychopathology, it offers valuable insights into dynamics that underpin human doing, experience, and meaning construction. Drawing on Nancy Chodorow’s psychoanalytic theory, this paper provides a perspective on how the three interrelated processes: a) fantasizing, b) projection, and c) introjection can underpin personal meaning construction through occupation.

ABSTRACT Occupational science literature increasingly addresses occupations classified as illegal. We examine legal sanctioning, globally and locally, of two occupations: i) search and rescue activities to aid asylum seekers and ii) sex work. We draw on comparative legal research and critical historical legal methodologies to explore how occupations become framed as criminal in certain places and certain points in time, but not in others. Relying on comparative case studies of Italy and Poland, this paper examines the criminalization of search and rescue activities in aid of asylum seekers and highlights how two States (countries) rely on criminal law to deter the entry of some individuals while welcoming others. The analysis of sex work demonstrates that legislation regulating women’s bodies reinforced racial hierarchies throughout the British colonies. This analysis focuses on historical and contemporary Canadian legislation which continues to marginalize sex workers to this day. We illustrate that societal power relations manifest through criminal law, with individuals and groups disproportionately disadvantaged and marginalized in relation to factors such as poverty, gender, mental health, oppression, colonization, and classist social systems. Criminalization of occupations can be understood to compound marginalization, human rights violations, and occupational injustices experienced by some individuals and communities. A critical understanding of legal systems and their impact on lived experiences is beneficial to occupational scientists who aim to explore occupations that are, or have been, categorised as illegal.

ABSTRACT Background Experiencing flow, an optimal psychological state, can support health and well-being. A developmental perspective on flow so far examines strategies to facilitate these experiences in the face of developmental losses such as ageing. People with disabilities experience restrictions in participation and thus fewer occupations that potentially induce flow. Therefore, contributions to this perspective can be gained from disabled people’s experiences. Thus, this meta-study synthesises qualitative research literature to determine the contribution to a developmental perspective on flow in people with disabilities. Methods Following a systematic search of four databases (PsycInfo (EBSCO), PubMed, CINAHL (EBSCO), Scopus) 10 qualitative, peer-reviewed studies were included, and critically appraised. Findings as well as methodologies, and underlying theories were analysed and synthesised. Findings Various methodologies have been used to explore flow experiences of people with disabilities. Incongruencies between underlying theories and chosen methods, as well as lack of researcher reflexivity impacted the trustworthiness of some studies. All studies originated within occupational therapy research and were located in the global North, implying assumptions about occupation and well-being and a rehabilitation framework. The individuals’ choice and control, and adaptations of environment and occupation emerged from the meta-synthesis as important factors to experiencing flow. Conclusion To enhance opportunities for flow in the lives of people with disabilities, a shift of perspective from individual impairments towards issues of accessibility and occupational justice is needed. Based on this meta-study, critical disability theory and participatory frameworks are recommended for future research to explore strategies to enhance access to flow inducing occupations.

ABSTRACT For children, playing outdoors is a meaningful occupation, and such play is enabled by outdoor playgrounds. As play is a fundamental right for every child, Universal Design is an approach to creating inclusive playgrounds that welcome all children. Yet, research investigating how the physical environment of a playground supports children’s play needs, in terms of play value and inclusion, is largely absent. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how children’s experiences of the environmental characteristics of outdoor playgrounds add to the understanding of play value and inclusion from a child-centred perspective. Using a meta-ethnography approach, a systematic review of qualitative evidence was conducted, which included 17 studies. The study identified two themes. Theme one describes the understanding of play value from the children’s view, which includes their experiencing and mastering of challenges, creating and shaping of the physical environment, social experiences of playing with or alongside other children, and sense of belonging felt from the welcoming playground atmosphere. Theme two describes how the design of the physical environment of a playground in the sense of the variety of spaces and places, and the variability of designed and non-designed elements, influences play value and inclusion. The line of argument synthesis describes the interrelationship between the physical (variety and variability) and the social environment (inclusion) characteristics of the playground through the socio-spatial element of play value. This study identified the interrelated elements contributing to high play value, and consequently place-making, which can contribute to the understanding of inclusive design for playgrounds.

ABSTRACT Place-making refers to the emotional attachment people have to a place and has been adopted as a concept in occupational science. In this paper, Relph’s perspective on place-making is associated with how place-making has been discussed in occupational science. Relph’s viewpoint serves as a basis for understanding secret hiding places from children’s perspectives. During data collection for a study investigating children’s perceptions of inclusive playgrounds (Wenger et al., 2021), secret hiding places were a recurring topic. This paper aims to explore secret hiding places from the children’s perspective, with a special focus on place-making. To accomplish this, a literature review was undertaken and findings combined with data from two previously conducted studies using qualitative content analysis. From the analysis three categories were developed describing the making of secret hiding places, the purpose of secret hiding places, and play occupations that children do in secret hiding places. The findings suggest that place-making can be seen as an occupation of childhood, related to the physical construction of the secret hiding place itself and the formation of attachment to the place through occupations that are shaped by social interactions and result in meaningful experiences.

ABSTRACT This commentary reports on the international dialogic session delivered at the inaugural World Occupational Science Conference in Vancouver (2022) and a subsequent pre-congress workshop held at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists congress in Paris (2022). Global estimates of migration are at an all-time high, with forced migrants accounting for a staggering number, representing approximately 1% of the global population (Migration Policy Institute, 2022). Occupational scientists and therapists can make a significant contribution to developing knowledge and supporting action to address the numerous occupational implications of migration. Ongoing dialogue within occupational science and therapy is required to help ensure that; 1) theoretical bases are relevant, 2) ethical and methodologically collaborative robust research is conducted, and 3) the knowledge and skills necessary for working with migrants and addressing systemic barriers to occupational participation are being developed and shared by occupational scientists within the occupational therapy community.