Life History Use Research Articles

PATHWAYS TO OR WITHIN SOCIAL EXCLUSION? AN INTERSECTIONAL LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE ON OLDER ROMANIAN ROMA

Abstract Social exclusion is considered a dynamic process as people can move in and out of exclusion while also experiencing different types of exclusion over their life course. In this paper we set out to understand pathways to social exclusion of older Romanian Roma, a particular population that received little attention in the literature. We aim to understand the lived experiences of social exclusion of Roma with the use of life histories and events calendars and we employ an intersectional life course perspective by looking at the nexus of structural, individual, and relational factors that impacted the pathways of older Roma across their life course. The intersection between ethnicity, gender, education, work, residence/segregation and income is employed in order to understand how disadvantage unfolded across the life course and into late life. The data come from 15 biographical interviews with older Roma living in rural and urban Romania, collected in 2021. Results illustrate how specific structural processes like sedentarization of nomad communities, the fall of the communist regime in 1989 and the retrocession of gold unevenly affected Roma across the intersectional characteristics and transformed into turning points in their lives, while interposing to a little extent with their pathways to social exclusion. De-institutionalized life courses and fast transitions had an important bearing on the ways disadvantage unfolded for older Roma living in segregated communities. Finally, super-linked lives at family and community level, when deprived of outside support, contributed to deep exclusion in later life.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and qualitative tools in Social Work

ABSTRACT The following article is part of the teaching innovation project entitled ‘The use of life history through ICTs for “conceptual teaching” in Social Sciences’, carried out at the University Pablo de Olavide (Seville, Spain) between September 2021 and March 2022, with a sample of students of Social Work (n = 110) and Double Degree in Sociology and Social Work (n = 52). This article consisted of the analysis of life history, taking as a reference Pierre Bourdieu’s book, ‘The “Misery” of the World’, as well as the development of the biographical or semi-structured interview. The main objective was to examine the potential of the life history and the biographical interview through ICTs for conceptual teaching in Social Sciences in Social Work students. For this purpose, we applied a posttest of satisfaction after the teaching innovation project, with a double quantitative and qualitative approach, ad-hoc with open questions and a Likert scale. The main conclusions were the students’ satisfaction with the use of the life history and interview as a didactic resource, as well as a satisfactory acquisition of sociological skills and knowledge, such as critical thinking, micro/macro connections and the interaction between structure and agency, among others.

The Use of Extended Reality and Computer Vision to Aid Reminiscence Therapy in Persons with Dementia

Abstract: It is estimated that, in 2019, 55.2 million people worldwide were living with dementia, a number that, when applied to the UN population forecast and assuming no change in age-specific prevalence rates, is slated to increase to 78 million people by 2030 and 139 million people who have dementia by 2050 [1]. While WHO acknowledges that, due to multiple factors, calculating the exact economic cost of dementia is not possible, it estimates the global cost of dementia in 2019 to be USD 1.3 Trillion, which is expected to increase to USD 1.7 Trillion by 2030 and $2.8 Trillion by 2050 [1]. These statistics indicate the necessity to develop more accessible and affordable ways to improve the quality of life of people who have dementia and help them maintain autonomy for longer to minimise the economic and social costs associated with it. Reminiscence therapy, the use of life histories – written, oral, or both – to improve psychological well-being [2], is a relatively inexpensive approach to helping elderly people cope with depression and dementia. The objective of this paper is to review past research on how Extended Reality technologies (Virtual and Augmented) have been used in the treatment of dementia and, in the end, suggest a way to aid Reminiscence therapy by leveraging the advancements in the field of Extended Reality and real-time Computer Vision.

Using life histories to explore the complexities of internal and international migration

AbstractResidential migration is one of the most problematic demographic variables. In Britain there are no sources that routinely record all moves, and the motives behind relocation are rarely recorded. In this paper I argue that the use of life histories can add important depth and clarity to the study of residential moves. The paper focuses on two themes: the ways in which internal and international migration may be linked together over the life course, and the complex mix of reasons why a move may take place. Used sensitively, life histories and life writing can enhance the study of migration history.

Life Histories and Lifelines: A Methodological Symbiosis for the Study of Female Genital Mutilation

The use of qualitative methodologies together with visual methods is being incorporated into different lines of research to offer an alternative form of expression that can provide richer and more meaningful data. The objective of this study was to analyse the use of life histories and lifelines in the study of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the context of cross-cultural research in participants with language differences. We explored the strengths and challenges of the combined use of both the lifelines and life stories of women who have been subjected to FGM. The lifeline tool was employed during the second interview with our participants, and the results of this work are explored here by examining the lifelines of three of the participants. The use of two techniques strengthened the researchers' knowledge of women’s lives and facilitated reflection and critical thinking by the study participants, generating richer and more in-depth data on the study problem. The difficulties that some women had in the communication process are diminished by the visual and chronological representation of the events in the lifelines. The visualization of their lifelines and the realization of this activity for which they did not feel capable due to their lack of education, empowered them, generating a great personal satisfaction. The results of this study confirm the usefulness of combining visual and narrative methods in groups where communication difficulties are an obstacle to the collection of information. Exploring new forms of expression and data collection can give voice to underrepresented groups in qualitative research.

Teorijsko-metodološki aspekti pristupa životne povijesti u sociologiji

Iako su tendencije brojnih istraživača dugi niz godina bile usmjerene prema kvantitativnim metodama i statističkim procedurama te pojedinim kvalitativnim metodama i izvorima podataka, posljednjih godina brojni autori govore o uočenom povećanju interesa prema pristupu životne povijesti. Svoje značajne začetke životna povijest bilježi upravo u sociologiji. Unatoč tomu, područje sociologije u Hrvatskoj i dalje ne pokazuje znatniji interes za raspravom teorijskih i metodoloških aspekata životne povijesti. Ovisno o interesima istraživača, životna povijest može se promatrati kroz različite perspektive, kao teorijsko-metodološki okvir, ali i kao metoda istraživanja. Ona omogućuje načine dubinskog dokumentiranja individualnih priča unutar društvenog konteksta tijekom određenog vremena te je pogodna za istraživanje širokog spektra fenomena što ističe metodološku snagu ovog pristupa. Unatoč tomu, kao i kod drugih kvalitativnih pristupa, i kod životne povijesti pojavljuju se pitanja vezana uz refleksivna razmatranja istraživačkog dizajna, te ostala specifična metodološka i etička pitanja. S druge strane, njezine metodološke i istraživačke prednosti u istraživanjima brojnih društvenih fenomena upućuju na potrebu razmatranja uloge pristupa životne povijesti u suvremenoj sociološkoj metodologiji.

Moving in and out of vulnerability: Interrogating migration as an adaptation strategy along a rural–urban continuum in India

AbstractMigration is a key livelihood strategy to diversify incomes, reduce risks associated with rainfed agriculture and the effects of climate change, and meet personal aspirations. Drawing on life history interviews with migrant and non‐migrant families, we explore the role of migration and commuting in addressing livelihood vulnerability along a rural–urban continuum in Karnataka, India. We find that labelling migration as an adaptation strategy or not does not necessarily capture the breadth of experiences and implications for livelihoods that migrants and their families face. At an intra‐household level, migration and commuting can alleviate vulnerability for some family members while exacerbating vulnerability of others. At a larger scale, migration that is adaptive at a household scale can be maladaptive at a system scale, where cities are unable to provide for or absorb migrants who often live in highly vulnerable conditions. Finally, on a temporal scale, migration and commuting affect livelihood trajectories and choices beyond the migrants alone, and understanding how these strategies affect household vulnerability over time is crucial for adaptation research. We also highlight the use of life histories as a methodological tool that complements current econometric approaches exploring migration and allows for in‐depth and temporally sensitive inquiry into the drivers and consequences of migration.

A pesquisa jurídica: para além da revisão bibliográfica

Desde a sua criação, os cursos jurídicos trazem como marcas do colonialismo a ausência da pesquisa, ou a sua restrição à revisão bibliográfica. No entanto, esta permanência histórica, fundada no tradicionalismo do ensino jurídico, precisa ser superada, tendo em vista que a complexidade da realidade social, objeto do direito, necessita da utilização de variados tipos de pesquisa para sua devida compreensão. Por meio da análise da entrevista, da história de vida e da observação participante, como técnicas alternativas à pesquisa de cunho bibliográfico, discute-se a importância da investigação no curso de direito com base no tripé ensino, pesquisa e extensão, além de verificar as formas pelas quais a pesquisa jurídica pode se aproximar da realidade social que se propõe a estudar. Objetiva-se, por último, apresentar as modalidades de entrevista, os principais traços da pesquisa do tipo observação participante e a utilização da história de vida na pesquisa jurídica, tomando por base as exigências estabelecidas pela resolução nº 466/12, que instituiu a obrigatoriedade da aprovação das pesquisas que envolvem seres humanos por comitês de ética. Utilizaram-se, como principais referenciais teóricos, as obras de Verena Alberti (2004), Antônio Carlos Gil (2002), Marcos Masetto (2003) e Michel Thiollent (1998). Como principais resultados, destaca-se a necessidade de diversificação a fim de consolidar e ampliar o horizonte das pesquisas jurídicas.

Vidas deslocadas pelo colonialismo e pela guerra

Quando uma guerra termina, não termina com ela tudo o que ela criou, modificou, violentou e destruiu. Depois de uma guerra, os que lhe sobrevivem têm de reconstruir-se e de recompor as suas vidas de acordo com esse legado em articulação com a realidade que o fim do conflito inaugura. Sobrevivem esses sobreviventes, e com eles as heranças que a guerra lhes deixou. É de algumas dessas heranças que trata este texto, que apresenta uma reflexão sobre a forma como a guerra colonial que Portugal travou em África entre 1961 e 1974 interferiu nos percursos de vida de antigos combatentes africanos que integraram as Forças Armadas Portuguesas (FAP) e que passaram a residir em Portugal, após a libertação dos territórios onde nasceram. Com base em um trabalho de pesquisa de caráter qualitativo com recurso a histórias de vida, procurou-se perceber o sentido que esses homens atribuíam aos seus percursos marcados por descontinuidades e momentos particularmente fraturantes no que toca a construção de projetos de vida. Para isso, caracterizam-se os diversos tipos de percursos que resultaram dessa análise, bem como alguns dos eixos discursivos que esses homens mobilizaram para justificar as diversas opções que tomaram ao longo dos mesmos. A análise é utilizada para interpelar a problemática da construção de identidades marcadas por descontinuidades e por posicionamentos aparentemente contraditórios.

SAN GREGORIO MAGNO, VIAJE ENTRE MEMORIAS E IDENTIDAD. ESTUDIO SOCIOANTROPOLÓGICO DE UNA COMUNIDAD DEL MEZZOGIORNO ITALIANO

Historias de vida y biografías guían el viaje de la memoria y sus procesos, especialmente a través de la aculturación y los cambios que ha provocado. En un ciclo anual de rituales y fiestas populares, este estudio recorre la vida, las costumbres y el contexto social de la comunidad, explorando así la supuesta continuidad de las tradiciones que redefinen en el tiempo las identidades y los valores de pertenencia.

Las historias de vida en la formación de maestros de Educación Infantil

El presente trabajo hace referencia a una experiencia acerca de la utilización de las historias de vida en el área de Teoría e Historia de la Educación del Grado de Maestro/a de Educación Infantil. Concretamente, se utilizan los grupos de discusión como herramienta de investigación cualitativa para conocer los efectos que las historias de vida de maestros de educación infantil jubilados tienen en la formación de los futuros docentes de educación infantil. Tras el análisis de los resultados, las conclusiones obtenidas indican que las historias de vida favorecen el aprendizaje del alumnado tanto a nivel profesional como personal, convirtiéndose en una herramienta que responde a las demandas metodológicas de la educación del siglo xxi.

Methods and Ethics in a Life History Study of Teacher Thinking

During the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in the use of life history and narrative approaches to study teacher thinking and teacher development. Unlike other forms of educational research, in which relationships between researchers and participants are characterized by business-like transactions that rarely extend into the realm of the personal, life history and narrative research can involve relationships that are personal and complex. Such research can also generate massive amounts of data--in the form of field notes, interview transcripts, and other documents--which are very difficult to synthesize. This article presents some of the methodological and ethical issues encountered by the author during a five-year life history study of an experienced urban high school English teacher.

For a Life beyond Governing Persons: Alternative Reflections on Political Life History in Britain (and Beyond)

R.A.W. Rhodes is to be applauded for restating the case for life history methods within the field of political studies, and many of his arguments will be found unexceptionable by those actively working with such methods. Ironically, in his recent contribution to Political Studies Review Rhodes nevertheless eschews biographical and other forms of complexity in favour of essentialising comparison. A ‘British tradition of political biography’ is constructed according to inert criteria lacking explicit periodisation and excluding much current work. An overstated contrast is drawn between this tradition and an Australian one defined according to quite different disciplinary and chronological parameters. This article offers alternative reflections drawing on work on labour movement biographies developed through practices of transnational scholarly exchange and the rejection of methodological nationalism. Addressing the examples provided by Rhodes, and the use of life histories in his other recent work, we propose a life history method that goes beyond Governing Men.

Preparing undergraduates for practice placements in gerontological nursing

An innovative approach was employed to help undergraduate student nurses prepare for a practice placement working with older people. The method involved the use of life histories as a means of gaining insight into the unique experiences of indivduals and how those experiences help shape the person. This narrative approach is valuable in assessing need and in ensuring that the care provided is of a high standard. Research suggests that it can also help boost the quality of life of older people and the self-esteem of the staff involved. To contextualise this subject, a brief overview of the relevant demographics of this client group is offered to help set the scene of the care environments in which the students were to be be placed.

Histórias de vida e autobiografias na formação de professores e profissão docente (Brasil, 1985-2003)

O texto apresenta uma revisão de trabalhos da área de Educação que fizeram uso das histórias de vida e dos estudos autobiográficos como metodologia de investigação científica no Brasil. Dois recortes foram efetuados, um temporal e outro temático, para focalizar o período compreendido entre 1985 e 2003 e privilegiar dois temas: formação de professores e profissão docente. O objetivo principal foi o de mapear a produção nacional, buscando identificar as temáticas que emergiram com maior força, apontando aspectos lacunares e indicando direções para futuros estudos na área. Várias fontes foram utilizadas: resumos de teses e dissertações (banco de teses da CAPES); textos completos de teses e dissertações defendidas nos programas de pós-graduação da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo - PUC-SP - e da Faculdade de Educação da Universidade de São Paulo - FEUSP -; livros; e periódicos científicos. As análises levaram a concluir que o uso dessas abordagens cresceu significativamente no Brasil a partir dos anos de 1990, porém, de modo muito disperso, foram utilizadas muito mais como fonte de dados para o desenvolvimento de um largo espectro de pesquisas e muito timidamente como dispositivos de formação. Todavia, evidenciou-se que a intensificação de tais metodologias contribuiu para renovar as pesquisas sobre os professores, ao mesmo tempo em que fez aflorar o interesse por questões e temáticas novas, tais como as que se configuram, por exemplo, nos estudos sobre profissão, profissionalização e identidades docentes.

Encounters with the Library: Understanding Experience Using the Life History Method

Drawing on the author's own research, this article explores the use of life histories as method and the ways in which this research can contribute to new understandings about the experiential relationships between libraries and users. The article is divided into four parts. Part one defines the essential elements of a life history research study. Part two describes how to design a life history research study. Part three examines ethical, methodological, and interpretive issues related to issues of organizational insiderness and internal validity and textual authority. The author concludes by outlining the potential benefits and pitfalls of using life histories and discusses how life history research, and qualitative research in general, can enrich and broaden our understanding of library science theory and practice.

Cáncer de mama. Una experiencia personal

The present report shows a personal history of a 35-year-old woman, diagnosed of a breast cancer 2 years earlier. It expresses her own way of living her illness and the different processes she had submitted to fight against it. At the same time, her wish for life and her continuous positive behaviour not to consider herself as “a sick woman”, as well as her developing strategies to face desperate moments in her daily life. The use of life histories as a working technique in the data gathering could help nurse professionals to discover the personal and real meaning of such an illness, to deepen into the roots of different experiences and to articulate nursing strategies and ways addressed to lessen negative feelings in order to get better evolutions within the process of an illness. At the same time, these type of reports help the main character implied – “the protagonist” - to feel very well acquainted with all those other women undertaking the same sort of process.

What Do We Think? Investigating the Attitudes and Life Goals of Young Offenders

This study investigates whether life goals and attitudes differ between young offenders, those deemed at risk of turning to offending behaviour, and non-offenders. The article questions (as Matza does in his delinquency and drift theory (Brown, 1998, p. 24)) the notion that the delinquent can meaningfully be distinguished from the non-delinquent. By seeking to understand the various life goals and attitudes held by young offenders, particularly with regard to crime and delinquency, this study sought to investigate ‘the effect[s] of offending behaviour programmes in influencing those attitudes' (Youth Justice Board Review, 2000/01, p. 4). Findings from the present study mirrored those of Carroll, Hattie, Durkin, and Houghton (1997) in which differences between the three groups were noted in terms of the life goals to which the members ascribed. Particular support is lent to Carroll et al.'s findings that delinquent young people attach more importance to delinquency and freedom autonomy goals, goals associated with achieving a social image, whilst non-offenders attach more importance to educational and interpersonal goals, goals associated with achieving an academic image (Carroll, Houghton, & Baglioni, 2000; Carroll, Baglioni, Houghton, & Bramston, 1999; Carroll et al., 1997). Findings from the second stage of the study were limited as acknowledgement was made of the difficulties of relating any attitudinal and life goal changes to the specific programmes alone. In the view of this author future studies would benefit from the adoption of a longitudinal approach, including the use of life histories to provide a continual in-depth analysis of the life goals ascribed to by young offenders.

Born Again in Brazil: The Pentecostal Boom and the Pathogens of Poverty

An exciting and provocative book! Without sensationalizing, Chesnut brings us to an understanding of the spiritual and emotional profundity of conversion. --Virginia Garrard-Burnett, Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas, Austin An engaging case study of one of the most successful Pentecostal bodies in Latin America. Importantly, it focuses on what most Latin American Pentecostals do--personal healing. --David Stoll, author of Is Latin America Turning Protestant? For vivid insight, lively narrative, and persuasive use of life histories, this is a major piece of ethnography. --David Martin, University of London A spiritual revolution is transforming the religious landscape of Latin America. Evangelical Protestantism, particularly Pentecostalism, has replaced Catholicism as the leading religion in thousands of barrios on the urban periphery. But in few Latin American nations have Protestants multiplied as rapidly as Brazil. What accounts for this rise? Combining historical, political, and ethnographic research, R. Andrew Chesnut shows that the relationship between faith healing and illness in the conversion process is integral to the popularity of Pentecostalism among Brazil's poor. He augments his analysis of the economic and political factors with extensive interview material to capture his informants' conversion experience. In doing so, he presents both a historical framework for a broad understanding of Pentecostalism in Latin America and insight into the personal motivations and beliefs of the crentes themselves. R. Andrew Chesnut is an assitant professor in the department of history at the Universit of Houston.

Women in the Mines: Stories of Life and Work (review)

Reviewed by: Women in the Mines: Stories of Life and Work Suzanne E. Tallichet (bio) Women in the Mines: Stories of Life and Work by Marat Moore. Twayne’s Oral History Series, no. 20. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996, 337 pp., $32.95 hardcover. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Group in a window. Western North Carolina, 1930s. Photo by Bayard Wootten. (North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill). Moore’s Women in the Mines is a monumental work featuring the life stories of 24 coal mining women whose multi-faceted lives and struggles come alive through Moore’s use of oral history tradition. Her introduction provides the novice and specialist alike with the necessary historical context for the more personal events in the women’s lives. The interviews are divided into three sections. The first section takes us back to those who experienced the bloody battles between miners and company guns, “girl” miners who hand loaded coal alongside fathers and brothers, and “bone picking” women who sorted coal at tipples during World War II. The following two sections echo these earlier voices of determination as women hired after the late-1970s encounter and cope with men’s hostility [End Page 202] and sexual harassment and then as they stand with the United Mine Workers of America and forge a solidarity of their own through the Coal Employment Project. While an earlier work on the topic, Women of Coal by writer Randall Norris and photographer Jean-Philippe Cypres, provides breadth, this work gives the subject depth. Norris’s work confronted stereotypes of Appalachian women while Moore recasts women miners facing challenges common to working women. Accompanied by photographs, each interview begins with a brief overview of the woman’s life and is peppered with summary statements at critical points in the narrative. This format allows the serious reader to compare the women’s stories and see the similarities among them despite their diversity in age, race, region, and sexual orientation. While social themes of poverty, capitalist exploitation, and the assertion of patriarchal rule at home and at work are revealed, the reader is also privy to the women’s efforts to reconcile the demands of their traditional roles with their nontraditional work. Ultimately, these women forge new identities, rooted in a working class heritage, that they are eager to pass along to the next generation. By using the autobiographical technique, Moore gives us an insider’s understanding of the strategies these women have employed for their survival and their families’ well-being. Each woman interprets her own life events relating to work and union, family and community, education and spirituality. This kind of “dirt under the nails” subjectivity is the very stuff of life itself. By making the connection between private life experiences and public historical events, Moore has accomplished a primary sociological task, exposing the rich interaction between individuals and their prescribed participation in social institutions. But her technique also subtly reveals her own sophisticated brand of feminism. Moore shies away from judgments and political analysis as her artistry and dedication to her subjects and subject matter shines through. Never victims, more than survivors, Moore’s subjects are depicted as victors in an interminable struggle to meet new challenges of social equality stemming from economic justice. As the women make clear, men in toto are not the enemy; but those who unfairly assert patriarchal privilege in the forms of domestic violence, company control, sexual harassment, and opposition within the union “family” are a threat to women’s economic independence and, ultimately, their dignity. Academics would do well to emulate this work and its resulting authenticity. Doing so would force us all to listen to the very people whose lives we study and purport to understand. Moore’s skillful use of life histories demonstrates the underestimated power behind a method often marginalized by mainstream social scientists who have told us little about women’s lived experiences in a man’s world of work. Moore, a coal mining woman, uses her own authority so that her sisters may speak. We listen to their voices because she listened first. The [End Page 203] women in...