Chaos Narrative Research Articles

Above chaos, quest, and restitution: narrative experiences of African immigrant youth\u2019s settlement in Canada

BackgroundAfrican Immigrant and refugee youth represent an increasing group of newcomers in Canada. Upon their immigration, youth experience challenges that have the potential to lead to poor health, yet little is known about their settlement journey. Accordingly, this qualitative study examines the settlement journey of African immigrant and refugee youth with a focus on how their experiences were shaped by the social determinants of health.MethodsWe conducted a total of 70 interviews with 52 immigrant and refugee youth (ages 13–29 years) who had arrived in Canada in the preceding six years. Qualitative data was analyzed using Frank’s dialogical narrative analysis approach (Frank AW, Practicing Dialogical Narrative Analysis. In: Varieties of Narrative Analysis, 2016).ResultsYouth experienced different settlement journeys that are described in the three narrative typologies of chaos, quest, and restitution. The chaos narrative of a long road ahead revealed the themes of ‘facing challenges’ and ‘still the outsider.’ The quest narrative of not there yet was represented by the themes of ‘stepping out of your comfort zone’ and ‘being relentless.’ The theme of ‘supportive environments’ depicted the restitution narrative of dreams become a reality. Youth highlighted the impact of social determinants of health in their settlement.ConclusionYouth experienced different settlement journeys that were mired in chaos and challenges. However, youth were more likely to experience restitution when they received social support and found a sense of belonging. In future, policies and programs that seek to improve immigrant and refugee youth’s settlement experiences need to be multifaceted, offer more support and promote a sense of belonging.

‘I didn’t want to be Psycho no. 1’: Identity struggles in narratives of patients presenting medically unexplained symptoms

The aim of this article was to explore identity struggles related to the experience of living with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) in illness narratives of patients with MUS. These patients pose therapeutic and communication challenges as their symptoms do not have an obvious underlying diagnosis. Previous studies have shown that their stories can best be described as ‘chaos narratives’, lacking a chronological development of symptoms or ‘legitimacy narratives’, through which patients seek to legitimize their invisible symptoms. The study draws on 21 interviews with MUS patients. The examples were selected from two contrasting cases in order to show how the patients accomplish their identity struggles through distinctive discursive tools, such as metaphors, modality, personal pronouns, evaluative devices, as well as characteristic interactional structure, navigating around the three identity dilemmas: continuity and change, self and other, and agent or undergoer.

‘To give an outsider an idea of what it could be like’: A case study of the creative representation of hearing voices

This paper reports on a case study which aims to recreate the hearing voices symptom in schizophrenia. The case study was submitted for a co-curricular module at King’s College London by a first-year undergraduate Music student, Bethany James, and was created using the web application, Mahara. The core of the case study consists of a soundscape of both everyday and unusual sounds, in conjunction with an original musical composition. The paper describes the case study and discusses it using chaos narrative as an analytical lens. The paper argues that the case study (‘A Beautiful Mind – Artefact’) effectively evokes the hearing voices symptom, conveying a lucid sense of the experience to non-sufferers and thus potentially creating use value for clinicians and care workers.

Beyond cyborg subjectivities: Becoming-posthumanist educational researchers

This excerpt from our collective biography emerges from a dialogue that commenced when Noel interjected the concept of ‘becoming-cyborg’ into our conversations about Annette’s experiences of breast cancer, which initially prompted her to (re)interpret her experiences as a ‘chaos narrative’ of cyborgian and environmental embodiment in education contexts. The materialisation of Donna Haraway’s figuration of the cyborg in Annette’s changing body enabled new appreciations of its interpretive power, and functioned in some ways as a successor project to Noel’s earlier deployment of cyborgs in what he now recognises as a ‘posthumanising’ of curriculum inquiry. Noel’s subsequent experiences with throat cancer drew us towards exploring the possibilities that concepts such as Deleuze and Guattari’s machinic assemblage and Karen Barad’s ontoepistemology offer as a mean of thinking the meetings of bodies and technologies in educational inquiry beyond Haraway’s hybrid cyborg. Through both collective biography and playfully scripted conversations with other theorists we explore what it means to perform diffractive interpretations and analyses in posthumanist educational inquiry. Our essay also contributes to contemporary conversations about the uses of collaborative biographical writing as a method of inquiry in educational research.

La storiografia sul fascismo nel passaggio di secolo

Socially integrated drug users have received less attention than excluded and marginalized drug users who mostly present for treatment with a heroin addiction (EMCDDA, 2012; Terry et al 2007). In an attempt to dispel the myth that all drug users in treatment experience chaos narratives (Frank, 1995) and have lost control over their lives and are therefore helpless, unpredictable, and unreliable, this paper will explore treatment demand among socially integrated drug users. The paper begins with an attempt at unpacking the construct of the 'socially integrated drug user' by reviewing how this specific 'type' of user has been conceptualized in the literature. The empirical work uses secondary data (both numerical and interview data) collected initially by intake officers at the NGO Caritas and analyses trends for a number of treatment demand variables for a two year period, as well as a number of socio-demographic variables of such treatment clients such as employment status, family situation, educational attainment and living conditions. The paper shows how not all drug users are in fact incapable of participating in conventional life and engaging in 'normal' activities such as holding a job, maintaining stable accommodation and participating in education The paper will make recommendations for more effective intervention with such clients.

Treatment Demand among Socially Integrated Drug Users accessing Treatment in Malta

Socially integrated drug users have received less attention than excluded and marginalized drug users who mostly present for treatment with a heroin addiction (EMCDDA, 2012; Terry et al. 2007). In an attempt to dispel the myth that all drug users in treatment experience chaos narratives (Frank, 1995) and have lost control over their lives and are therefore helpless, unpredictable, and unreliable, this paper will explore treatment demand among integrated drug users. The paper begins with an attempt at unpacking the construct of the socially integrated drug by reviewing how this specific type of user has been conceptualized in the literature. The empirical work uses secondary data (both numerical and interview data) collected initially by intake officers at the NGO Caritas and analyses trends for a number of treatment demand variables for a two year period, as well as a number of socio-demographic variables of such treatment service users such as employment status, family situation, educational attainment and living conditions. The paper shows how not all drug users are in fact incapable of participating in conventional life and engaging in normal activities such as holding a job, maintaining stable accommodation and participating in education The paper will make recommendations for more effective intervention with such service users.

Phenomenology in a Different Key: Narrative, Meaning, and Madness

Phenomenology in a Different Key: Narrative, Meaning, and Madness Philip Thomas (bio) and Eleanor Longden (bio) Keywords childhood adversity, existentialism, hearing voices, hermeneutics, narrative, phenomenology, recovery Henriksen et al. (2015) use phenomenology as a tool to clarify the status of what they regard as the abnormal experiences of the condition called schizophrenia. This reveals phenomenology as a method of detailed scrutiny of these experiences to establish a theory about them in terms of the “dissolution of certain structures of self-consciousness” (p. 165, elaborated as “pathological changes in the experience of space” (p. 165) and “morbid objectification of inner speech” (p. 165). Our commentary is in two parts. In the first, we set out a contrasting view of phenomenology, and its use in madness.1 In the second, we exemplify this use of phenomenology and the meaningful nature of voices through evidence that links madness with childhood adversity, trauma and abuse. Our position is that recovery from madness becomes possible once the person is able to organize her experiences within a narrative framework. Although we broadly concur with some aspects of Henriksen et al.’s (2015) view of Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger, we disagree fundamentally with their argument that “pathological changes in the experience of space in schizophrenia result from disturbances or instabilities in the most fundamental relation to space, namely the primordial presence in the world” (p. 173). This statement and what follows is at conflict with the spirit of the work of Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger. Both philosophers regarded our pre-reflective immersion in the world and sense of self as inseparable. We disagree that the separation they describe between the two is a prodrome, and argue instead that it is an artefact of the use of phenomenology as a tool to analyze experience, which fragments experience to explain it through the methods of science. We are not arguing that the experiences of madness are not fragmented. Many who experience madness do indeed have terrifying and frightening experiences that may be described in terms of fragmentation and dissolution, but a different view of phenomenology opens up the possibility of narrative understanding of such experiences within the life history of the person. Indeed, another way of looking at this is that these fragments are part of chaos narratives (Frank 1995). Although Henriksen et al. (2015) do not refer to it, the presence of Karl Jaspers is in the background of their piece. In General Psychopathology, Jaspers (1963) sees phenomenology as providing precise [End Page 187] and accurate descriptions of the signs and symptoms of mental illness. Right from the outset he is clear about the scientific, and thus ultimately Cartesian, basis of phenomenology: The first step towards a scientific knowledge of the psyche is the selection, delimitation, differentiation and description of particular phenomena of experience which then, through the use of the allotted term, become defined and capable of identification time and again. (Jaspers 1963, 25, emphasis in the original) and Phenomenology presents us with a series of isolated fragments broken out from a person’s total psychic experience. (ibid, 27, emphasis in the original) In this view, phenomenology is not concerned with weaving fragments into a meaningful whole. This is precisely what we encounter in Henriksen et al.’s paper. The work of Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger questions such an approach to human experience, and it is pertinent that Henriksen et al. (2015) make no reference to the most important element of these philosophers’ work, being-in-the-world.2 Merleau-Ponty (1962) begins Phenomenology of Perception by examining scientific accounts of sensation and perception from neurology and psychology. It is not possible, he argues, for such theories to generate a complete account of these phenomena. In part this is because scientific modes of thought are derivative of pre-objective experience, that is to say our experience of the world as it is already present before us. It follows that the starting point for any account of sensation and perception is not our theories about these phenomena, but the phenomena themselves. Scientific inquiry is a product of human experience and history, one that involves a particular approach to the world. This is apparent in Henriksen et...

Compartir la enfermedad on-line: Narrativas de restitución y búsqueda en blogs de mujeres con cáncer de mama

Distinguishing between restitution, chaos and quest narratives (Frank, 1995), this paper analyses which narratives prevail in 7 blogs written by women with breast cancer. The most present narrative is the restitution, in which patients turn to medicine with the aim of recovering their previous status. There are also examples of the quest narrative, when illness is seen as a challenge and visibility of the wounded body is claimed. The absence of chaos narrative confirms the cultural difficulty to acknowledge the negative aspects of illness.

Disembodiment and Identity in Literary Depictions of Epilepsy Surgery.

This article explores the often perplexing experience of being an epilepsy surgery candidate, as portrayed in four book-length accounts: Laura Doermer's Moritz mein Sohn (Moritz my son, 1990), David B.'s L'ascension du haut mal (The ascent of the high evil, 1996; published in English as Epileptic, 2003), Ray Robinson's Electricity (2006), and Alberto Capitta's Il giardino non esiste (The garden doesn't exist, 2009). Building upon critical disability studies and the work of French poststructuralists Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, I analyze issues of embodiment, identity and narrative (re)construction in the postsurgical alleviation of chronic illness. I argue that these texts highlight the inevitable disruption of self that brain surgery entails and ultimately resist biomedical normativization. They also call for a narratological reconsideration of current illness narrative typologies, among which Arthur Frank's "chaos narrative" emerges as the best suited to accommodate the chronic fragmentation of consciousness and voice in epilepsy.

Chaos, Reports, and Quests

This study examined narratives targets of workplace bullying told about their difficult work experiences along with how co-workers were framed in these narratives. Three different narrative types emerged from their accounts: chaos, report, and quest narratives. Co-worker responses of support or lack thereof were related to the construction of various narrative forms and the level of narrative agency evident in target accounts. The study has important implications for the difference co-workers can make in a target’s ability to withstand bullying and narrate his or her experience.

Narrative transformation among military personnel on an adventurous training and sport course.

In the wake of recent wars, some military personnel face considerable physical and mental health problems. In this article I explore the effects of an adapted sport and inclusive adventurous training course for military personnel who have experienced physical injury and/or psychological trauma. Using a dialogical narrative approach, I analyzed stories shared by six soldiers during the course to explore the effects of involvement. Participation in the course seemed to facilitate a narrative transformation or opening corresponding to a broadening identity and sense of self. Story plots progressed from a failing monological narrative, through a chaos narrative, toward a dialogical quest narrative prioritizing immersion in an intense present, a developing self, and a relational orientation. On the basis of narrative theory, I suggest this transformation holds positive consequences for the health and well-being of military personnel who have experienced injury and/or trauma.

Understanding Parental Experiences Through Their Narratives of Restitution, Chaos, and Quest

The purpose of this secondary analysis was to develop an enhanced understanding of the experiences of parents who have children in treatment for cancer. Data collected from 16 parents (12 mothers and 4 fathers) were analyzed using Frank's dialogical narrative analysis. Findings demonstrated that parents' experiences were represented in chaos, restitution, and quest narratives. Each of these narratives was only one instance of a very complex and changing parental experience that cannot be understood in isolation from the others. The holistic understanding provided by these findings contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of parental experiences of their child's illness and highlights the need for health professionals to invite conversations about parents' illness experience and attend to the specific narrative type parents are presenting to support them adequately. Additional research is required to develop supportive approaches for each narrative which takes into account the complexities of parents' experiences.

‘I am not a tragedy. I am full of hope’: communication impairment narratives in newspapers

Individual attitudes and more general attitudes in society can negatively influence the functioning of people with communication disorders according to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) (2002). Personal narratives have been recommended as the best means to convey and understand a person's life experience and have been investigated extensively. Investigations of personal narratives of communication impairment in mass media continue to be relatively rare in the literature. Published narratives can enrich understandings of clients' experiences by elucidating available representations of lived experiences of communication impairment. To answer the following research questions: What types of personal narratives of communication impairments are currently being disseminated in Irish newspapers? How are experiences of communication impairments represented in these narratives? The study was qualitative, deploying inductive analysis and drawing on Frank's (1995) typology of illness narratives to analyse narratives that were published in two Irish national newspapers over a 12-month period. The results illustrate the under-representation of communication impairments in Irish newspapers as ten out of 51 narratives in the corpus pertained to conditions that may have associated communication impairments. None of the narratives related the lived experience of a person with communication impairment in depth. A combination of quest and chaos narrative types was identified in six out of the ten narratives. Three out of the ten narratives featured a combination of chaos and restitution narrative types. One narrative was identified as being entirely a quest narrative. Three narratives contained elements of restitution. Inductive analysis revealed six main themes in the data (two for each narrative type) with one sub-theme identified for each main theme. The six main themes are: positive stances, re-evaluation of life, despair, fear, hope and support of others. The under-representation of the lived experience of people with communication impairments in Irish national newspapers may be seen as contributing to a general lack of understanding and awareness of communication impairments. This under-representation, coupled with a lack of awareness, may potentially affect the ability of people with communication impairments to re-engage with and reintegrate into their communities.

The illness narratives of men involved in the criminal justice system: A study of health behaviors, chronic conditions and HIV/AIDS.

The participants were Black and Puerto Rican, with a mean age of 47 years, who were interviewed within three years of their release. Participants reported at least one chronic condition, with 21 HIV-negative men using chaos narratives to depict their approach to disease management. Nine HIV-positive men used quest narratives to present their illnesses and were immediately linked to supportive services, enabling them to overcome the barriers to community reintegration. Applications: Health interventions in the area of forensic social work ought to focus on conducting Medicaid outreach and enrollment efforts prior to correctional facility discharge.

Living with a pituitary tumour: A narrative analysis

This study aimed to synthesise the illness narratives of individuals living with a pituitary tumour. Eight adults with a pituitary tumour were recruited from an endocrinology service in the north-west of England. A narrative methodology was adopted which investigated elements of the individual narratives such as metaphor and structure but which also aimed to produce a joint account of experience in this particular illness context by extracting themes across the stories; these are presented as part of a chronological narrative. However, the resulting group story was also analysed in terms of different types of narrative plots. The group narrative started from the recognition of symptoms and then diagnosis though treatment to post-treatment and future plans. In terms of narrative plots, one notable element of the joint narrative was the flow between the culturally dominant restitution narrative, where participants focused on treatment and recovery and the chaos narrative when recovery did not seem possible. The findings contain many elements consistent with previous research; however, the use of a celebrity figure to communicate about the illness experience and a perception that objects or individuals should not be taken at face value emerged as more novel findings.

Narrative environments and the capacity of disability narratives to motivate leisure-time physical activity among individuals with spinal cord injury

Purpose: Few individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) engage in the recommended amount of leisure time physical activity (LTPA). Yet little is known about how, and why, active individuals engage in specific types of LTPA. This study explored how a unique narrative environment and disability narratives motivated individuals with SCI to engage in LTPA. Method: Fourteen individuals with SCI from a physical activity program participated in approximately hour-long interviews. Interviews were then subjected to a narrative analysis. Results: Individuals who used a restitution narrative (n = 6) were motivated to engage in functional LTPA because of the desire to maintain the body and restore the past self. The individual who used the chaos narrative (n = 1) preferred solitary LTPA as exposure to others with SCI was a constant reminder of the lost, pre-injury self. Individuals who used a quest narrative (n = 7) explored LTPA options that fit with their interests; these individuals were open to new types of LTPA, such as sport and outdoor recreation. Conclusion: The plot of three disability narratives can all motivate the pursuit of LTPA; however, not all types of LTPA are seen as equal. LTPA interventions can be enhanced through the lessons learned from this unique type of environment.Implications for RehabilitationDespite individuals’ views about their disability, they can still be motivated to engage in routine LTPA.Different theoretical determinants, such as health or social benefits, hold different relevance for LTPA among individuals with differing disability narratives.The environment provided by practitioners can therefore elicit some stories of SCI while stifling others. Open narrative environment will attract individuals to listen and maintain involvement in LTPA.

‘Chaos, restitution and quest’: one woman’s journey through menopause

Menopause, a natural stage in a woman's reproductive life, is not an illness; yet some women experience severe enough symptoms to cause a breakdown in the body similar to illness or other major health disruptions. As part of a larger narrative analysis investigation of distress during menopause, this case study presents one woman's transformational journey through menopause, analysed through Frank's health and illness narratives - chaos, restitution and quest. The narratives were retranscribed using Labov's elements of a true story and Gee's poetic restructuring. This report of one woman's experience of distress during the menopause transition describes a poetic chaos narrative of incessant night sweats resulting in a loss of physicality and a deep-rooted belief in self-healing; a restitution narrative of restored health that mandated the surrender to a new healing discourse, experienced simultaneously as a victory and a defeat; and a quest narrative of seeking meaning, insight and new-found values and identities.

Stories with Impact: The Potential of Storytelling to Contribute to Cultural Research and Social Inclusion

Stories with Impact: The Potential of Storytelling to Contribute to Cultural Research and Social Inclusion

Living and dying with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: multi-perspective longitudinal qualitative study

ObjectivesTo understand the perspectives of people with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as their illness progresses, and of their informal and professional carers, to inform provision of care for...

Living and dying with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: multi-perspective longitudinal qualitative study

Objectives To understand the perspectives of people with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as their illness progresses, and of their informal and professional carers, to inform provision of care...