Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Beyond Exile: The Ramayana As A Living Narrative Among Indo-Fijians In Fiji And New Zealand, Kevin Miller

Kevin C. Miller

Drawing on the themes of collective memory, cultural ideologies, and narrative constructions, this chapter proposes to examine the narrative of the Ramayana epic, its exegesis through performance, and its continued relevance to identity formation among Indo-Fijian Hindus both within Fiji and its Pacific Rim diaspora. Based on the recasting of the “twice-migrated” Indo-Fijian as the “twice-banished” by certain observers, we might expect the meaning of the Ramayana in the lives of Indo-Fijian Hindus in New Zealand to shift towards the theme of Rama’s exile, just as it did for the indentured laborers who made the original journey to Fiji. Nevertheless, …

The Lion & The Ringmaster: Croatia's Accession To The European Union, Jelena Bilandzich

Jelena N Bilandzich

July 1, 2013 marked Croatia's official induction into the European Union. For Croatia this was the culmination of a long negotiation process filled with concessions and challenges. This situation inspired the question of how Croatia's alliance with the EU has affected the state? In order to analyze this relationship the aspects of Croatian identity and sovereignty were explored, in addition to the EU's principles and problems regarding member and candidate states. The evidence found within this investigation came from a number of literary sources ranging from the academic to official government documents. Furthermore, nine interviews were conducted within Croatia, which …

"They Need Labels": Contemporary Institutional And Popular Frameworks For Gender Variance, Ophelia Bradley

Ophelia Bradley

This study addresses the complex issues of etiology and conceptualization of gender variance in the modern West. By analyzing medical, psychological, and popular approaches to gender variance, I demonstrate the highly political nature of each of these paradigms and how gender variant individuals engage with these discourses in the elaboration of their own gender identities. I focus on the role of institutional authority in shaping popular ideas about gender variance and the relationship of gender variant individuals who seek medical intervention towards the systems that regulate their care. Also relevant are the tensions between those who view gender variance as …

The Narrative Reconstruction Of Psychotherapy And Psychological Health, Jonathan Adler, Lauren Skalina, Dan Mcadams

Jonathan M. Adler

When people complete psychotherapy, they carry the story of the experience with them. This retrospective reconstruction serves several psychological purposes, including contributing to narrative identity and influencing the maintenance of therapeutic gains after termination. Based on a prior qualitative investigation of therapy narratives (Adler & McAdams, 2007a), a new sample of 104 former clients wrote about their psychotherapy after treatment end. Quantitative analyses indicated that the retrospective narratives of participants high in subjective well-being focused on the protagonist's agency in struggling with a discrete problem. In addition, the narratives of participants high in ego development described a coherent story of …

Course Syllabus: Harry Potter And International Politics - Identity, Violence And Social Control, Emma Norman

Emma R. Norman

The themes we draw from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series are used to illuminate parallels in contemporary world politics and to apprehend in detail some of the key problems that revolve around the three core themes of the course (identity, violence, and social control). How, for instance, does life in Hogwarts help to illuminate the multiple, crosscutting identities produced by globalization? How does the divide between wizards and muggles, or Hermione’s obsession with elvish welfare, serve to illuminate continued discrimination in current liberal democracies and do these narratives help to widen our options when it comes to minimizing it? What …

La Vida Online: The Parallel Public Sphere Of Facebook As Used By Colombian Immigrant Women In Atlanta, Michaelanne Dye

Michaelanne M Dye

This thesis examines how Colombian women within the city of Atlanta utilize Facebook as a parallel public sphere, a cultural phenomenon through which the silenced use mediums of popular culture to discuss private and public dilemmas (Dewey 2009). Through ethnographic research in Atlanta, I analyze how these young women use Facebook as they negotiate their identity through the multiple contexts of their everyday lives. Drawing from feminist critiques, I explore whether Facebook provides an alternative to the traditional public sphere, while also investigating how power structures influence freedom of expression online. Through an international network of friends, these women tackle …

Adolescence, Identity And Spirituality, Kenneth Doka

Kenneth J. Doka

“What Are You?” A Recurring Question In A Cross-Cultural Psychiatrist’S Life And Career., M Hicks

Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks

This article contributes to the Transcultural Psychiatry special issue of autobiographical articles on: ''The Personal and the Professional: Lives and Careers of Cultural Psychiatrists.''

Making My Narrative Mine: Unconventional Articulations Of A Female Soldier, Manda Hicks

Manda V. Hicks

I use fragments from my own military service to build a narrative of the self and weave this perspective together with the experiences of other female soldiers in prose poetry. This text addresses the complexity of the interview process and demonstrates that a full articulation of experience may include unconventional moments of sense making. These unconventional articulations generally lack a beginning, middle, and end, resist attempts at simple summary, and often elevate the narrative to an abstract level. I argue that articulations of experience are potentially contrary and intraoppositional and that they should be free of any impositions of order …

Changing Egypt’S Identity One Picture At A Time, Ethan Pullman

Ethan P Pullman

In the wake of Egypt's recent political revolution, an image circulated on social networks and the internet at large that spread like wild fire – “has gone viral,” as one Facebook user comments. What makes this image revolutionary, and somewhat ironic, is the interplay between image and language reconstructed meaning using the language of the dominant “orientalist” culture that originated it.

Managing The Voices: Athlete Self-Talk As A Dialogic Process, Alla Tovares

Alla V. Tovares

Impact Of Role Discrepancies On Caregiver Burden Among Spouses, Marie Savundranayagam, R. Montgomery

Marie Y Savundranayagam

Using caregiver identity theory, the authors investigated whether role discrepancies mediated the relationships between illness-related stressors (activities of daily living [ADLs] limitations and problem behaviors) and burden (stress, relationship, and objective burden) for spouse caregivers. Participants completed measures of identity standards for spouse and caregiver roles and behaviors, burden, assistance with ADLs, and problem behaviors. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that role discrepancies completely mediated the relationships between ADLs and stress and relationship burden. Although role discrepancies mediated the relationships between problem behaviors and all forms of burden, there were direct relationships between problem behaviors and burden. Finally, participants who …

Palestinian Refugees And Their Oral Histories: History's Silence, Memory's Burden, Randa Farah

Randa R Farah Dr.

No abstract provided.

Variation In Levels Of Reactive Oxygen Species Is Explained By Maternal Identity, Sex And Body-Size-Corrected Clutch Size In A Lizard, Mark Wilson, Mats Olsson, Tobias Uller, Caroline Isaksson, Beth Mott

Mark R Wilson

No abstract provided.

The Janus-Faced Character Of Tourism In Cuba: Ideological Continuity And Change, Kathleen Adams

Kathleen M. Adams

No abstract provided.

Negotiating The Politics Of Identity In An Interdisciplinary Research Team, Lorelei Lingard, Catherine Schryer, Marlee Spafford, Sandra Campbell

Lorelei Lingard

This article explores the politics of identity in an interdisciplinary health research team that has been engaged in a qualitative research program for over five years. We draw on sociological theories of power and knowledge to explore our experiences of identity conflict, team socialization, and knowledge production. Structurally, our article integrates individual and group perspectives through personal narratives and collaborative critique as we explore the complex negotiations required to realize and maintain our team dynamic. These negotiations take place not only with one another as particularly positioned individuals, but also with the ideological and organizational forces that structure our scholarly …

Power And Identity In Flux: American Foreign Policy Toward The Middle East, Engin Erdem

ENGIN I ERDEM Dr.

No abstract provided.