Psychosocial Research Methods Research Articles

Understanding the Experience of Parents of Pre-pubescent Children with Gender Identity Issues

Whilst in recent times there has been an increasing interest in the popular media in families with gender variant children, there is still a paucity of academic research into the experience of parenting a pre-pubescent child with gender identity issues. Gender dysphoria in young children brings about emotive reactions in adults meaning that social workers need to be aware of the various discourses surrounding gender identity in order to work sensitively with families affected. This research explores highly sensitive and intimate aspects of family life, requiring parents to talk and think about difficult issues and explores how it might feel for families to parent a child with gender identity issues. The psychosocial research method of Free Association Narrative Interviews was used in order to gather the data which was then coded and analysed drawing on a constructivist version of grounded theory. Five key themes relating to the process of mourning emerged from the data: loss, uncertainty, ambivalence, being unable to think and acceptance. Recommendations for both social work and clinical practice are also offered

In the Studio: Researcher Subjectivity, the Infant Observation Method, and Researching Creative Practices

The material for this article is taken from a psychoanalytically informed psychosocial pilot – Creative Practices and Processes that explores ‘what makes creativity possible?’ The aim of the pilot was to develop a methodology and methods that permitted an in-depth understanding of the social, psychological and material factors that facilitate creativity. The study is informed by a broadly post-Kleinian British Object Relations approach which privileges personal experience, unconscious dynamics, and the relationship between inner and outer worlds. The focus here is with the adaptation and innovative use of psychoanalytic infant observation as a psychosocial research method of ‘being with’ an artist in such a way as to gain a deep understanding of the unconscious dynamics, physical and material, spatial and temporal, and embodied experiences of creative processes and practice.The article considers the potential of psychoanalytic infant observation as a research method for informing us about creative practic...

Researching psychic dimensions of ecological degradation: Notes from the field

This essay presents a narrative of a psychosocial research investigation into the complex experiences of environmental degradation, conducted as a field study in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Using in-depth, psychoanalytically informed research interviews, the study explored the presence of ambivalent, contradictory narratives, suggesting that the experience of environmental degradation may in fact be constituted in part by loss and mourning, which may manifest as a form of environmental melancholia. Such insights are directly relevant for how we conceptualize and imagine theories of agency, engagement and participation. I discuss aspects of the research design, methodology, opportunities and challenges of the project and suggest the need to apply qualitative, psychosocial research methods to the immensely challenging and charged ecological challenges we currently face.

Neurobiologie und Psychotherapie

Body, brain and mind are all manifestations of one single organism; all mental processes are based on biological-neuronal processes and events. Advances in neurobiology have increasingly enabled the decoding of the correlates of psychological functions: genetic conditions, brain processes from sensation to cognition and from emotion to empathy, and social interaction. In the latter area, which is decisive for psychosocial research, neurobiological investigations are in their very early stages. Complex psychological functions are represented in networks; this renders it impossible to adopt simple reductionist approaches. Clinical phenomena such as pain or depression are also represented in neuronal networks. An abundance of neurobiological data validates (positively or negatively) psychological, psychotherapeutic or psychiatric theories or therapies. Such validation is indispensable. To date, there are no known fundamentally new approaches to psychiatric and psychotherapeutic practice which are derived from neurobiological data. Psychological phenomena emerge from neurobiological processes. Therefore, psychosocial approaches will be necessary in the future to understand such data in the context of methodological dualism (neurobiological versus psychosocial research methods).

PSYCHO-SOCIAL AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF STREET CHILDREN IN COMPARISON TO SCHOOL CHILDREN: A CASE OF ELDORET TOWN

In most developing countries the number of children growing up on the streets of the world's cities is rising at an alarming rate. There is scanty research on the effect of such a life style on the psychosocial and nutritional status of these children. The goal of this study was therefore to examine the social networks, temperament and nutritional status of street based children compared to schoolchildren with a poor housing background. Our psychosocial research methods included qualitative and ethnographic techniques combined with standardised socio-metric and psychometric tests. Snowball sampling was used to identify the study groups. Four distinct groups of 100 children each were randomly selected. The street children were grouped as either living ‘on' or ‘of' the street. The school children comprised of those either living at home with a family or those living in a shelter under the care of social services. The Maastricht Social Network Analysis (MSNA) and psychometric Revised Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS-R) tests were used to determine the social networking capacity and temperament of the children. Nutritional status was based on weight and height. Skinfold measurement was used to determine percentage body fat (%BF) and fat free mass (FFM). Our results show a mean age of 13.34 years for all the four groups of children. Both the “on” the street and “of” street children did not go beyond lower primary school and they lived by scavenging. The children living at home and at the shelter had a balanced network between family, friends and social service providers. Both the ‘on and ‘of' the street children had a significantly higher level of underweight (p

Learning from experience: psycho-social research methods in the social sciences

There is a growing interest in both psychoanalytically informed theory and practice in the social sciences. Psycho-social studies and psychoanalytic studies address serious social and political issues through a critical welding of sociological and psychoanalytic perspectives. This raises the question: how do we actually use this form of analysis in the practical research environment? In this article, the author seeks to outline a psycho-social research method - in other words, how we do it - and to introduce the reader to both the advantages and problems of doing psychosocial research. This is framed within the context of a research project in which the author explores racism in higher education.

Conducting psychosocial research with children and adolescents: A developmental perspective

In the past 10 years, childhood has become a focal point of concern. Children are viewed as symbolizing an investment in the future of societies around the world. In the past, knowledge about children's views was realized through objective measures or from representative accounts by adults (e.g., parents and teachers) who were thought to know the child best. Current research suggests that most adult representations and interpretations are only attempts to describe something that more or less represents the child's world. The literature suggests that in the past, children have been perceived mainly as objects rather than subjects of research interest. This perhaps reflects the viewpoint held by many that children are unable to comprehend and describe their world and life experiences because of developmental immaturity and/or that there are intrinsic difficulties in researching children. The purpose of this article is to describe how a child's developmental level affects the research process. Specifically discussed are developmental differences in responses to research including psychosocial research methods, assent, and consent with children. Copyright © 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company

Troublesome aspects of the patient-physician relationship: a study of human factors.

We investigated three onerous aspects of the patient-physician relationship using contemporary psychosocial research methods. A "hassle index" identified three dimensions of vexation in practice: problems with running a practice, medical conditions of patients, and social characteristics of patients. In general, hassle was found to be dependent on the type of practice, but physicians were equally annoyed by unlikeable patients irrespective of their practice site. Diagnostic errors made by resident physicians from various clinics were more related to an unlikeable medical disorder than to differences in the clinics. To clarify doctors' negative feelings toward patients, a questionnaire measuring antipathy toward specific patient types was administered to physicians. Responses indicated that physicians' antipathy was unrelated to the doctors' ethical beliefs and their medicopolitical orientation. Personality variables indicative of "extremeness" of opinion about patients included high needs for dominance, low needs for nurturance and "intraception" (the ability to analyze the behavior and motives of others), and low self-esteem. Personality profiles of physicians least vexed by medical practice reflected less psychopathology--less self-derogation, less need for emotional support, and more extroversion. Medical College Aptitude Test scores revealed that high science scores were associated with extremeness of opinion, and low scores on general information were indicative of increased susceptibility to the daily irritations of medical practice.