Search Results

What Is Freedom?: The Unique Perspective of the Individual

Lynne Dale Halamish and Doron Hermoni

in The Weeping Willow: Encounters with Grief

This chapter examines the concept of freedom in relation to the experience of 25-year-old Judah, who took the responsibility of caring for her girlfriend Sarah after they had a car accident and she ... More

This chapter examines the concept of freedom in relation to the experience of 25-year-old Judah, who took the responsibility of caring for her girlfriend Sarah after they had a car accident and she was seriously hurt with a head injury. Judah spent most his time caring for Sarah but later realized that he needed to earn money and decided to go to the Far East to sell imitation brand-name products. He was imprisoned for three months for selling illegal products, and when he returned to Sarah he learned to strike balance between caring for her and his personal life.Less

THE RIGHT STUFF: Trauma and Coping

CHERYL REGEHR and TED BOBER

in In the Line of Fire: Trauma in the Emergency Services

The training and personality style of emergency responders prepares them to deal with high drama situations. However, this exposure has an impact on their emotional and psychological well-being. This ... More

The training and personality style of emergency responders prepares them to deal with high drama situations. However, this exposure has an impact on their emotional and psychological well-being. This chapter discusses the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and the various levels of symptoms that people can experience from mild distress to symptoms that significantly affect function. Factors associated with higher levels of symptoms based on previous research are also reviewed. The coping mechanism most frequently described by emergency responders involves the deliberate use of cognitive strategies such as conscious attempts to shut out the emotional reactions of family members of the victim, visualizing the next technical step to be accomplished, and shutting down their own emotions. Other types of strategies involve having a positive personal life, talking to family, exercise, and blowing off steam with colleagues. The effectiveness of various strategies for self-care and coping are discussed.Less

In quest of teachers’ professional identity: the life story as a methodological tool

Marie-Françoise Chanfrault-Duchet

in Biographical methods and professional practice: An international perspective

Combining literary with life history analysis of teacher's narratives, this chapter is concerned with how personal lives interact with changes in professional practice in the teaching of French in ... More

Combining literary with life history analysis of teacher's narratives, this chapter is concerned with how personal lives interact with changes in professional practice in the teaching of French in schools in France. Based on the research processes and initial findings of the project, this chapter focuses on the significance of the life story as a research device in understanding professional identity. This specific issue raises questions: How do we define ‘professional identity’?; How do teachers construct their professional identity in response to changes in practice?; What are the links between personal and professional identity?; To what extent can a life story be an effective methodological tool?; What do life stories tell?; How can the ethical and epistemological problems arising from the use of a life story in an open research team be resolved? Before discussing these questions, the chapter first sketches the main lines of argument concerning biographical methods and professional practice from the standpoint of professional identity, and outlines the research context. It then reviews the methodological potential of the life story through the analysis of two life stories. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the possible effects and applications of the research process and findings to teacher training.Less

Living and loving beyond the boundaries of the heteronorm: personal relationships in the 21st century

Sasha Roseneil

in Families in society: Boundaries and relationships

This chapter argues that it is the way in which the sociologies of families and relationships have continued to centre the family in their theorising that has led to limited understandings of the ... More

This chapter argues that it is the way in which the sociologies of families and relationships have continued to centre the family in their theorising that has led to limited understandings of the diversity of personal life in contemporary society. It pushes the boundaries of existing ways of thinking about personal relationships by focusing on those at the ‘cutting edge’ of social change, namely those living ‘beyond the heteronorm’. The research demonstrates the extent of friendship, ways in which family and partner are not necessarily central to people's lives and how a sense of permanence and obligation pertains to personal relationships. Boundaries are blurred between friendships and sexual relationships and the binary between homo- and heterosexual is itself being fractured at cultural and individual levels.Less

Fragments of a Mirror: The Writing of Gertrude Bell

Tamara Chalabi

Paul Collins and Charles Tripp (eds)

in Gertrude Bell and Iraq: A life and legacy

This chapter proposes to explore the writing of Gertrude Bell through a few prisms: first, her interest in history and archaeology, and second, her private letters. It will examine how Bell’s ... More

This chapter proposes to explore the writing of Gertrude Bell through a few prisms: first, her interest in history and archaeology, and second, her private letters. It will examine how Bell’s interest in archaeology mirrored her interest in politics: just as in her political role, in which she was building a state, Bell attempted through her archaeological work and photography to create a mythology about the Orient. Bell’s private letters also provide an insight into how she interacted with men and the role of this interaction in realising her political aims and in shaping her life. The chapter will examine how these interactions were informed by attitudes towards women in the Victorian world she inhabited, whether in England or the Middle East.Less

Against Social Situationism

Christian Smith

in To Flourish or Destruct: A Personalist Theory of Human Goods, Motivations, Failure, and Evil

This chapter critically examines social situationism, a form of sociological theorizing influential in recent decades that his approach contradicts. Even though situationism is edgy and intriguing, ... More

This chapter critically examines social situationism, a form of sociological theorizing influential in recent decades that his approach contradicts. Even though situationism is edgy and intriguing, it proves to be unrealistic and it throws people’s common-sense understanding off-balance, partly due to its inconsistency, and its slippery use and confusion of key terms and concepts. The chapter argues that situationism overstates and misunderstands the ways in which persons are shaped by their societies, thus failing to see that human personal life has an important and necessary interior, subjective, private dimension. In this chapter, the author disagrees with this sociological theorizing that has been internalized by many sociologists, remodelling the eight key situationist assumptions and beliefs into correct and helpful statements, which all end up being compatible with critical realist personalism and being realistic.Less

Citizens of the World for the Rest of Our Lives

Angene Wilson and Jack Wilson

in Voices from the Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers

The Peace Corps experience as related by the six volunteers over the five decades have brought about crucial effects on their lives as some of them had been able to discover what they wanted to ... More

The Peace Corps experience as related by the six volunteers over the five decades have brought about crucial effects on their lives as some of them had been able to discover what they wanted to pursue as lifelong careers. Also, some of them wanted to continue learning more about other cultures, and they have been able to relate and apply their experiences to their families and students. This chapter first reviews the Peace Corps's third goal and talks about how the volunteers have been able to bring the world back, particularly in Kentucky. As the chapter also provides an examination of how the Peace Corps was able to influence their worldviews, their chosen careers, as well as their personal lives, it provides some accounts of how they were able to contribute to the betterment of the United States, specifically to Kentucky.Less

The impact on offenders

Roger Matthews, Helen Easton, Daniel Briggs, and Ken Pease

in Assessing the use and impact of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders

This chapter summarises the findings of the research which assessed the impact of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) on a range of offenders in the United Kingdom, particularly in relation to their ... More

This chapter summarises the findings of the research which assessed the impact of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) on a range of offenders in the United Kingdom, particularly in relation to their propensity to engage in anti-social behaviour and future offending. The frequency with which orders were breached was also investigated, as well as the impact of the order on the offender's personal life, including their personal and family relationships. This chapter draws on information gathered from the 38 completed cases and the 28 additional offender interviews that were undertaken. It discusses the findings under the following topics: offending histories; social, personal and psychological histories; attitudes towards being given an ASBO; responses to the conditions of the order; impact of ASBOs on offenders; geographic and functional displacement; number and type of breaches; and impact on personal, social and family life.Less

Families and relationships: boundaries and bridges

Linda McKie, Sarah Cunningham-Burley, and John H. McKendrick

in Families in society: Boundaries and relationships

The family remains a complex and dynamic concept, variably defined and experienced. Families take many different forms and these, together with changing expectations and anticipations of family life, ... More

The family remains a complex and dynamic concept, variably defined and experienced. Families take many different forms and these, together with changing expectations and anticipations of family life, provide crucial frames through which people engage in society. This chapter provides a critical engagement with some key ideas and theories about families and relationships. The aim is twofold: first, to explore the potential for the concept of boundaries to help deconstruct and reconstruct families, relationships and family practices in ways that promote critical scholarship relevant to the development of policy, practice and further research; second, to reprise and question presumptions about ‘the family’ through a critical review of ‘traditional’ family values and the changing and complex nature of families and personal life.Less

Narratives, community organisations and pedagogy

Rosemary Du Plessis, Jane Higgins, and Belinda Mortlock

in Biographical methods and professional practice: An international perspective

This chapter focuses on three categories of narratives: stories about teaching a social research course; student's stories about their practice as researchers; and the stories of forty-two women and ... More

This chapter focuses on three categories of narratives: stories about teaching a social research course; student's stories about their practice as researchers; and the stories of forty-two women and men working for the community. These stories emerged from a teaching programme in which final-year sociology students are involved in biographical research. This chapter shows how, by such community-based teaching, they generate sociological understanding of community organisations as ‘relational settings’, in which personal lives intersect with gender constructs, and with shifts in welfare funding and policy discourse, and how this impacts on all concerned. Topics discussed herein are: biography, social practice and community organisations; generating life stories; stories of community work; stories of research practice; and an assessment of biographical methods and pedagogical practice.Less

Family life and self-reflection

Tess Ridge

in Childhood poverty and social exclusion: From a child's perspective

This chapter is centred on children's home environment and their personal and familial lives. It reveals children's inner thoughts and fears, which include their families, themselves, and their ... More

This chapter is centred on children's home environment and their personal and familial lives. It reveals children's inner thoughts and fears, which include their families, themselves, and their futures. The chapter is composed of three main sections. The first is on children's opportunities for play and leisure activities at home, while the second is on their understanding and perception of money and need within their families. The third and final section is on children's perceptions of the impact of poverty on their lives.Less

Conclusion The Fates of Antifascism

Alan M. Wald

in Trinity of Passion: The Literary Left and the Antifascist Crusade

This chapter concludes that writers had to come to terms with the formidable task of realizing their artistic potential amidst the contending claims of economic survival, the needs and ... More

This chapter concludes that writers had to come to terms with the formidable task of realizing their artistic potential amidst the contending claims of economic survival, the needs and responsibilities of personal life, changing audiences, the ideological loyalties that masked political contradictions, and psychological and physiological well-being. It notes that the literature of the antifascist crusade, intermittent in its quality, recounts many stories pivotal to apprehending the lives of idealistic yet diversely flawed men and women committed to the revolutionary fashioning of a better world in the mid-twentieth century.Less

Emergency Medicine

Lisa Moreno-Walton

in First Do No Self Harm: Understanding and Promoting Physician Stress Resilience

Lisa Moreno-Walton, a Tulane University emergency physician, associate professor and medical educator, writes about her profession in Chapter 24, addressing three fundamental questions. Why do ... More

Lisa Moreno-Walton, a Tulane University emergency physician, associate professor and medical educator, writes about her profession in Chapter 24, addressing three fundamental questions. Why do emergency physicians choose emergency medicine? What are the stressors? Her final question is addressed at the end of this power essay: How can I see what is worst about people and still retain my faith in humanity? The author wryly notes that emergency physicians (EPs) are like no other for their love of action and challenge, acute care, and the life and death of practicing medicine in “real time.” Emergency medicine provides exhilaration for those who seek and thrive in it. EPs must endure an extraordinary amount of pressure to perform. Answering her final question of how one deals with the bad as well as the good, Moreno-Walton talks about the need for perspective taking and doing so with humor and sufficient self-monitoring and the help of trusted colleagues.Less

Living the Life

August Turak

in Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO's Quest for Meaning and Authenticity

This chapter discusses the importance of faithfully living the life in achieving business success, as the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey vividly demonstrate. The most important secret to Mepkin ... More

This chapter discusses the importance of faithfully living the life in achieving business success, as the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey vividly demonstrate. The most important secret to Mepkin Abbey's business success is the Rule of St. Benedict. At the main monastic midday meal, dinner, the monks eat silently as one of their brothers reads to them from a book chosen by the abbot. At the end of these readings, an excerpt from the Rule is usually added to keep St. Benedict's precepts front and center in the hearts of the community. The most essential and challenging aspect of the Hero's Journey is living the life, and the Rule is a living document used to foster, nurture, and inculcate the values of service and selflessness into the daily life of the monastery. Whether it is in business, marriage, getting in shape, getting sober, or taking the Hero's Journey, only an authentic commitment to living the life will bring success. Living the life is just as applicable to business as it is to your personal life.Less

The Structure of Creativity: Or, Why Almost Wasn’t Called

Clayton Childress

in Under the Cover: The Creation, Production, and Reception of a Novel

This chapter examines how Jarrettsville came to be, and how even its title was eventually derived, by tracing the social life of artistic creation within it. Between 1998 and 2004, Cornelia Nixon was ... More

This chapter examines how Jarrettsville came to be, and how even its title was eventually derived, by tracing the social life of artistic creation within it. Between 1998 and 2004, Cornelia Nixon was working on a novel titled Martha's Version, the story of Jarrettsville based entirely from Martha Jane Cairnes's first-person perspective. Nixon was sixteen years old on a cross-country flight when her mother first told her the family story that would become her inspiration for writing Jarrettsville. The chapter first narrates the true events that Nixon fictionalized in Jarrettsville before discussing her education, writing style, and literary influences; her family and personal life as raw materials for the novel; and the research process for Jarrettsville. It also considers how the practice of writing is influenced by things such as background experiences and training, and the field of creation by social interactions. Finally, it explains how Jarrettsville came to be called Jarrettsville.Less

Pushing at the boundaries of the discipline: politics, personal life and the psychosocial

Sasha Roseneil and Katherine Twamley

in Sociologists' Tales: Contemporary narratives on sociological thought and practice

In this chapter, Sasha Roseneil is interviewed by Katherine Twamley about her life as a sociologist. The conversation explores the role that activist politics have played in Sasha’s life and ... More

In this chapter, Sasha Roseneil is interviewed by Katherine Twamley about her life as a sociologist. The conversation explores the role that activist politics have played in Sasha’s life and research, particularly her involvement in her teenage years in the feminist anti-nuclear politics of Greenham Common in the 1980s. The critical, theoretical question of how to understand social change has always been at the heart of Sasha’s work, and this runs through the interview as a central thread of the discussion, as does the exploration of the relationship between sociology and other fields, particularly feminism, psychoanalysis and psychosocial studies. The dialogue between Sasha and Katherine explores the unfolding of Sasha’s research interests over time, and the role played by collaborations and encounters at key moments with the work of others that opened up new ways of thinking and lines of inquiry in studying contemporary personal life, and set her on the path to train as a group analyst, alongside her work as a sociologist.Less