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1
Satyanarayana, Kasimsetty. "Gurazada: a biographical study." Thesis, University of North Bengal, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/1212.
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Mac, Arthur Pamela C. "John O'Hara : a biographical study." Thesis, University of Sussex, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.264578.
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Piddocke, Melanie Anne. "Theodor Lotz : a biographical and organological study." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/7707.
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This dissertation is a comprehensive study of the life and work of the Viennese woodwind instrument maker Theodor Lotz. Lotz is central to many of the most significant developments in woodwind instrument manufacture and compositions of late 18th century Vienna, and is associated with some of the greatest players and composers of the day. Despite this, no study has been undertaken into his life and many of his surviving instruments have not been studied. This study corrects this by examining both the biographical and organological aspects of this maker. In Chapter 1, the current knowledge of Lotz’s biography is examined for veracity. This has been achieved through consultation of archival sources such as birth and marriage registers and contemporary newspaper announcements. The biographies of the other significant Viennese makers have also been examined in order to determine their relationship to Lotz. Particular attention has been paid to those makers known to have associated with him. Chapter 2 is a comparative study of clarinets. The surviving clarinet by Lotz is the main focus, and it is compared to earlier Viennese instruments as well as other contemporary instruments in order to place Lotz’s instruments in context. Basset horns are the instruments for which Lotz is best known. Chapter 3 is a comparative study of the surviving basset horns, and includes instruments by Lotz which have not previously been studied. The comparative aspect of the study focuses most particularly on instruments by Doleisch, who also made significant numbers of basset horns in nearby Prague during Lotz’s lifetime. This chapter also includes a discussion on the basset clarinet. Chapter 4 studies Lotz’s work with bassoons and contrabassoons. As with Chapter 3, it includes a number of Lotz’s instruments which have not been studied before. It continues the comparative theme and examines not only Viennese instruments, but particularly those by August Grenser, whose bassoons are widely copied by modern makers. The attribution of the surviving flute by Lotz is examined in Chapter 5. Lotz’s involvement with the flute is examined through documentary evidence and the output of his students is examined in order to determine his level of influence on this instrument. Chapter 6 is a study of the two surviving oboe fragments by Lotz as well as the surviving cor anglais. As internal measurements have been impossible to obtain for many of these instruments, the comparative study has instead focussed on external aspects of decoration and design. The conclusion gives a summation of the evidence presented in the preceding chapters and is used to demonstrate Lotz’s unique contributions as an instrument maker and his impact on the future and design of woodwind instruments.
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Van, Neutegem Andy. "Career transitions in sport: a biographical study." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.494544.
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Diffley, Paul Brian. "Paolo Beni : a biographical and critical study." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1986. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:fcd4391e-4bfc-41bb-abbd-37ae4ba33158.
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The thesis is divided into three parts. Part One treats Beni's life and works from his birth in 1553 to 1604. His birth, his ancestry, his early education, his early careers, his Jesuit career and its aftermath are described from documentary evidence. His works of this period, most of which are inextricably connected with his life, are also briefly treated, Part Two narrates the events of the remainder of his life: his writing, his teaching, his publishing, his polemical writing, his relationship with his family, his last illness and death. Part Three provides a more ample critical assessment of his major writings after 1604, grouped according to subject-matter. Chapters are devoted to his criticism of Tasso, to his linguistic writings, to his theory and practice of poetry, history and rhetoric. The conclusion summarizes the pattern of his life and reassesses his importance. The Bibliography is divided into two parts. The first contains Beni's writings in three sections: (a) published works, with a note on the Opera omnia; (b) MS works; (c) a chronological reference list of his (mostly unpublished) letters. Part Two contains all other works consulted, MS and printed.
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McKenna, Scott. "George Matheson and mysticism : a biographical study." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/15589.
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George Matheson, a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Church of Scotland in the late Victorian period, was a mystic. Mysticism is not commonly associated with Scottish Presbyterian ministers who stand in the Calvinist branch of the Reformed tradition. In this thesis I discuss the extent to which Mathesonian theology reflects mystical theology, generally understood, and more specifically Hegelian mysticism. Drawing on a significant number of Matheson's writings, I have created a succession of foci which encapsulate Matheson's mystical thought: union with God, the inner life, immortality of the soul, and self-forgetfulness. After a brief biographical chapter, I discuss Matheson's crisis of faith, which he suffered in the first year or two following his ordination, and his spiritual recovery. In chapter three, I discuss Matheson's contribution to the debate between science and religion and specifically his engagement with the doctrine of transcendence proposed by Herbert spencer. In the remaining chapters, I discuss the four central themes of Matheson's work: union with God, the inner life and immortality of the soul, and self-forgetfulness (kenotic theology). In common with other mystics, Matheson's sense of union or oneness with the Divine is a central characteristic of his work. Christ in us, Christ in you, was the lived experience which moulded Matheson's spiritual life, theology and meditations. In chapter 5 I discuss Matheson's focus on the inner life, the importance of silence and solitude, and immortality of the soul. Matheson's imaginative engagement with Scripture was shaped by his physical blindness. The darkness which enveloped his existence was the darkness in which he saw and felt the mystery of God. From inescapable darkness, he saw God in all things. In the final chapter I discuss Matheson's kenotic theology. Matheson understood death and suffering, like eternal life, to be integral to the Divine.
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Barnes, Darcee D. "A Biographical Study of Elizabeth D. Kane." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2002. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4504.
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This is a biographical study of Elizabeth D. Kane (1836-1909), travel writer and wife of Thomas L. Kane, non-Mormon friend of the nineteenth-century Mormons of Utah. Primary source materials are mainly Elizabeth's fourteen diaries (spanning the years 1853 to 1909), letters and narrative accounts. Elizabeth was greatly influenced by Thomas, while maintaining her independence. She was interested in religion and feminist issues, and those interests, combined with her marital relationship, shaped her life's direction. Thomas Kane's interest in the Mormons also influenced Elizabeth's religious and feminist views, and she initially struggled with accepting Thomas's work for them because of their practice of polygamy. When Elizabeth went to Utah in 1872, her religiosity, feminism, and marriage provided the context in which she wrote her travel accounts, Twelve Mormon Homes (1874) and A Gentile in Utah's Dixie (1995).Elizabeth and Thomas had a companionate marriage. Theoretically they were equal partners, but Thomas often acted as Elizabeth's mentor, introducing her to well-known feminists, encouraging her to attend medical school and develop her writing talents. Religion was important to her, particularly as she tried influencing Thomas to join her Christian (Presbyterian) faith. Elizabeth thought about the Women's Rights movement and wrote her own ideas regarding women's role, endorsing feminist concepts like voluntary motherhood and addressing issues like polygamy and the double moral standard.This study analyzes Elizabeth's travel accounts which provide information on rural Utah and Mormon polygamous women from the perspective of a trusted outsider. During her Utah visit, Elizabeth changed from being resentful of the Mormons because of Thomas's devotion to them, to being friendly towards them. After Thomas's death in 1883, Elizabeth worked as a local leader in the Women's Christian Temperance Union and was a prominent citizen of Kane, Pennsylvania, the town which she and Thomas founded in the 1860s.This study is important to women's history because Elizabeth represents how many nineteenth-century women became more independent and socially conscious. It is significant in Mormon history because of her her travel accounts and because her writings provide information on the important relationship between Thomas L. Kane and the Mormons.
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Shearer, Helen Dianne, and n/a. "Intercultural Personhood: A 'Mainstream' Australian Biographical Case Study." Griffith University. School of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, 2004. http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20040921.082235.
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This thesis explores the question of intercultural personhood in two 'mainstream' Australian cases within interpersonal, intercultural relations in Australian contexts in the second half of the twentieth century. The problem is viewed through three disciplinary lenses: those of communication, psychology and sociology. A qualitative, interdisciplinary approach integrates these through an inductive biographical research design. Within cross-cultural communication studies, a host culture such as that of the Anglo-Australian majority is seen in a monolithic and static way to which Australians of other cultural backgrounds are seen to adapt. These studies give no place to the changes which members of the majority undergo. 'Intercultural personhood', a term coined by Kim (1988, 2001), describes the kinds of 'ethnic' individuals who through negotiating their identities within personal, social and mass communication contexts, both host and ethnic, move beyond the bounds of their own cultural heritage to embrace both their former cultural identity and the new 'host' (viz Australian) identity. In this thesis, the elements of cross-cultural adaptation theory and of 'intercultural personhood' are applied to the intercultural experience of 'mainstream' Australians. From preliminary memory work workshops and focus groups, the cases of two mainstream individuals who show some evidence of 'intercultural personhood' and make identity claims comparable with 'ethnic' adapters are then developed through biographical method. Their life accounts are drawn on for the exploration of issues of identity and personhood within interpersonal, intercultural relations. Major focus is given to the social psychology of Harre (1983, 1993, 1998), whose work provided both a conceptualisation and a methodological tool for the problem. In Harre's work, three dimensions of personhood, namely consciousness, agency and biography are identified together with the psycho-social processes through which an individual's identity and orientation to their culture is appropriated, transformed and publicised. This publication is then rejected or incorporated into the culture through processes of conventionalisation. These four psycho-social processes are explored in my study through an adaptation of assisted biography method (De Waele & Harre, 1979). The strength of the psycho-social approach of Harre lies in its ability to get below the surface behaviours to an analysis of the theory of self which individuals, as 'singular' beings, bring into play in their interactions within themselves and with one another. While this approach draws on social contexts to support the transformations, it is not designed to explicate to a sufficient degree the conditions under which such theories of self are activated and within which changes in identity occur and are maintained. For this reason it is essential to incorporate a sociological framework to understand the influence of the conditions within which such experiences are played out. Bourdieu's (1984, 1987) cultural, relational sociology is coupled with Harre's (1983, 1993, 1998) theory of personal and social being in that it brings together the individual and the society in a way which proves fruitful for ongoing analysis of the biographical data collected within the communication and psycho-social framework of the earlier research. Bourdieu's critique of a methodology based on biography points to the 'illusion' that is created through a biographical interview process. Taking this critique of biography into the study of interpersonal, intercultural relations meant a shift from the communication interactions and psycho-social analysis undertaken to an analysis of the various social constructions evident within the elements of the life account and a search for the cognitive imprint of social structures as durable dispositions within the persons. These dispositions are evident from within a social trajectory of the life and they are applied to the intercultural encounters recounted by the participants in their autobiographies. The addition of Bourdieu's (1984, 1987) sociology strengthens the ability to view the individual and the society through a single lens and to position the individual life course as secondary within a broader and primary analysis of social structure and social structuring as a means of interpreting lives. Its weakness lies in the degree of 'voluntariness' brought into effect as individuals both chart their course through life and are pushed and pulled by the various social forces at work within their trajectories. Within the scope of this thesis, these two approaches, that is, a psychological and a sociological one, are illustrated and incorporated into an interdisciplinary model for the study of interpersonal, intercultural relations. Further rigorous research to validate the components and the relationships of the model and to investigate these strengths and weaknesses more thoroughly is foreshadowed. This interdisciplinary model of interpersonal, intercultural relations is the major contribution of this work to the field of intercultural communication. Advances which are achieved through use of psychology, sociology and biographical research method as a tool through this study are also identified. The thesis concludes with a review of the contributions of the thesis and a discussion of the implications for future research on interpersonal, intercultural relations.
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Boniface, Margaret Ruth. "Women's lives in the outdoors : a biographical study." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.392642.
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Tillett, Gregory. "Charles Webster Leadbeater 1854-1934 a biographical study /." Connect to full text, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1623.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 1987.Title from title screen (viewed 25 March 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of Religious Studies. Degree awarded 1987; thesis submitted 1986. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.
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Tillett, Gregory John. "Charles Webster Leadbeater 1854-1934 : a biographical study." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1623.
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Leadbeater was a man who made the most startling claims for himself, and made them in a very matter-of-fact way.[4] He declared that he had penetrated the depths of the atom by his psychic powers, discovered the ultimate unit of matter whilst sitting in a park on the Finchley Road in London, and had psychically extracted individual atoms of various elements from the showcases in the Dresden Museum whilst he reclined several miles away. He also claimed to have sent sea spirits to dig out atoms of another element from the mines of Sabaranganuwa in Ceylon while he lay in his bed in Madras in India.[5] He claimed to have explored most of the planets in the Solar System, while his body remained on earth, and described their climates and inhabitants in some detail.[6] He claimed to be in regular communication with the Powers which govern the earth from the Inner Planes, the Masters or Mahatmas, the Supermen who constitute the Occult Hierachy of this planet. And, so he said, he conducted parties of pupils to the secret places in Tibet where these same Masters resided, while the bodies of both the pupils and their guide slept securely in their beds.[7](Excerpt from Introduction pp.3-4)
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Tillett, Gregory John. "Charles Webster Leadbeater 1854-1934 : a biographical study." University of Sydney, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1623.
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Doctor of PhilosophyLeadbeater was a man who made the most startling claims for himself, and made them in a very matter-of-fact way.[4] He declared that he had penetrated the depths of the atom by his psychic powers, discovered the ultimate unit of matter whilst sitting in a park on the Finchley Road in London, and had psychically extracted individual atoms of various elements from the showcases in the Dresden Museum whilst he reclined several miles away. He also claimed to have sent sea spirits to dig out atoms of another element from the mines of Sabaranganuwa in Ceylon while he lay in his bed in Madras in India.[5] He claimed to have explored most of the planets in the Solar System, while his body remained on earth, and described their climates and inhabitants in some detail.[6] He claimed to be in regular communication with the Powers which govern the earth from the Inner Planes, the Masters or Mahatmas, the Supermen who constitute the Occult Hierachy of this planet. And, so he said, he conducted parties of pupils to the secret places in Tibet where these same Masters resided, while the bodies of both the pupils and their guide slept securely in their beds.[7](Excerpt from Introduction pp.3-4)
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Shearer, Helen Dianne. "Intercultural Personhood: A 'Mainstream' Australian Biographical Case Study." Thesis, Griffith University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365871.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis explores the question of intercultural personhood in two 'mainstream' Australian cases within interpersonal, intercultural relations in Australian contexts in the second half of the twentieth century. The problem is viewed through three disciplinary lenses: those of communication, psychology and sociology. A qualitative, interdisciplinary approach integrates these through an inductive biographical research design. Within cross-cultural communication studies, a host culture such as that of the Anglo-Australian majority is seen in a monolithic and static way to which Australians of other cultural backgrounds are seen to adapt. These studies give no place to the changes which members of the majority undergo. 'Intercultural personhood', a term coined by Kim (1988, 2001), describes the kinds of 'ethnic' individuals who through negotiating their identities within personal, social and mass communication contexts, both host and ethnic, move beyond the bounds of their own cultural heritage to embrace both their former cultural identity and the new 'host' (viz Australian) identity. In this thesis, the elements of cross-cultural adaptation theory and of 'intercultural personhood' are applied to the intercultural experience of 'mainstream' Australians. From preliminary memory work workshops and focus groups, the cases of two mainstream individuals who show some evidence of 'intercultural personhood' and make identity claims comparable with 'ethnic' adapters are then developed through biographical method. Their life accounts are drawn on for the exploration of issues of identity and personhood within interpersonal, intercultural relations. Major focus is given to the social psychology of Harre (1983, 1993, 1998), whose work provided both a conceptualisation and a methodological tool for the problem. In Harré's work, three dimensions of personhood, namely consciousness, agency and biography are identified together with the psycho-social processes through which an individual's identity and orientation to their culture is appropriated, transformed and publicised. This publication is then rejected or incorporated into the culture through processes of conventionalisation. These four psycho-social processes are explored in my study through an adaptation of assisted biography method (De Waele & Harre, 1979). The strength of the psycho-social approach of Harre lies in its ability to get below the surface behaviours to an analysis of the theory of self which individuals, as 'singular' beings, bring into play in their interactions within themselves and with one another. While this approach draws on social contexts to support the transformations, it is not designed to explicate to a sufficient degree the conditions under which such theories of self are activated and within which changes in identity occur and are maintained. For this reason it is essential to incorporate a sociological framework to understand the influence of the conditions within which such experiences are played out. Bourdieu's (1984, 1987) cultural, relational sociology is coupled with Harre's (1983, 1993, 1998) theory of personal and social being in that it brings together the individual and the society in a way which proves fruitful for ongoing analysis of the biographical data collected within the communication and psycho-social framework of the earlier research. Bourdieu's critique of a methodology based on biography points to the 'illusion' that is created through a biographical interview process. Taking this critique of biography into the study of interpersonal, intercultural relations meant a shift from the communication interactions and psycho-social analysis undertaken to an analysis of the various social constructions evident within the elements of the life account and a search for the cognitive imprint of social structures as durable dispositions within the persons. These dispositions are evident from within a social trajectory of the life and they are applied to the intercultural encounters recounted by the participants in their autobiographies. The addition of Bourdieu's (1984, 1987) sociology strengthens the ability to view the individual and the society through a single lens and to position the individual life course as secondary within a broader and primary analysis of social structure and social structuring as a means of interpreting lives. Its weakness lies in the degree of 'voluntariness' brought into effect as individuals both chart their course through life and are pushed and pulled by the various social forces at work within their trajectories. Within the scope of this thesis, these two approaches, that is, a psychological and a sociological one, are illustrated and incorporated into an interdisciplinary model for the study of interpersonal, intercultural relations. Further rigorous research to validate the components and the relationships of the model and to investigate these strengths and weaknesses more thoroughly is foreshadowed. This interdisciplinary model of interpersonal, intercultural relations is the major contribution of this work to the field of intercultural communication. Advances which are achieved through use of psychology, sociology and biographical research method as a tool through this study are also identified. The thesis concludes with a review of the contributions of the thesis and a discussion of the implications for future research on interpersonal, intercultural relations.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
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Muller, Heather Ruby. "Vincent van Gogh : a psychobiographical study." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1293.
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The aim of this study is to create a psychobiography of Vincent Van Gogh who was born in 1853 and died 1890. To Van Gogh art was not merely a means for an income, he converted all his aspirations and anguish into his art works. In doing so his art became the first example of a truly personal art, to him art was a deeply lived means of spiritual salvation, which he used as a means to transform himself. It was well known that Van Gogh was unstable and felt misunderstood in life, often asking “What is the use?” . He had a method of fusing what he saw in the world, and what he personally felt, into works of art that were revelations of himself. Van Gogh lived a lonely life, although for the last seventeen years of his life he wrote to his brother, Theo, almost daily. These letters give much insight to the thoughts and inner world of a much misunderstood individual. Most of these letters have been preserved and much else has been written about Van Gogh’s life and art. In our modern day he is deemed one of the most famous artists, yet in his lifetime he only sold one painting. This psychobiography employs a qualitative psychobiographical research method, which aims to describe Van Gogh’s psychological development in terms of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial developmental stages. Van Gogh was chosen as the research subject because of personal interest, his value as a famous artist, and because of the unique way in which he saw and related to the world.
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Krusek, Nicolas. "Rimsky-Korsakov's Antar Symphony : a biographical and analytical study." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/50206.
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Rimsky-Korsakov composed his Symphony No. 2, Antar, in 1868, during his apprenticeship to Balakirev and involvement with The Five. Based on an oriental tale by Osip Senkovsky, it was the first multi-movement, programmatic orchestral work in Russian music. Rimsky-Korsakov revised Antar twice, in 1875 – by which time he was a professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory – and 1897. This thesis will examine the original 1868 version of Antar by placing it in the context of his career and the influences that shaped his style. The first chapter presents a biographical sketch of Rimsky-Korsakov, with emphasis on his education and training, including his studies with Balakirev in the 1860s and his rigorous course of self-education in harmony, counterpoint, form, and orchestration in the 1870s. The second chapter begins with a summary of the tale by Senkovsky upon which the music is based, followed by an analysis of the themes, harmony, and orchestration of each movement of Antar. I will show how the form and character of the work are indebted to ideas espoused by Balakirev and The Five, including their fondness for program music, orientalism, unconventional scales and modes, and harmonic progressions based on common tones. I will also draw attention to aspects of the tonal organization and scoring that are elaborated in the composer’s textbook, the Practical Manual of Harmony. My objective is to show that Antar is both a summary of the fruits of Rimsky-Korsakov’s apprenticeship within Balakirev’s circle, as well as a foretaste of his mature compositional and theoretical interests.Arts, Faculty of
Music, School of
Graduate
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David, Jacqueline. "A spiritual pilgrimage : a biographical study of R.J. Campbell." Thesis, Durham University, 1991. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6254/.
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This thesis is a biography and study of the spiritual pilgrimage of R.J. Campbell (1867-1956). It details Campbell's life, considers the extent to which he was affected by the events of his time, and critically assesses his thought and influence. Chapter One outlines Campbell's formative years and shows the impact of Ulster Presbyterianism and family life upon him. The years 1867-80 are shown to be vital for an understanding of his adulthood and especially his religious leanings. The chapter ends with an account of his conversion to Congregationalism. The next chapter discusses Campbell's successful Brighton ministry. It deals with his emergence as a popular nationwide figure and traces the development of his theology. Chapter Three is concerned with Campbell's City Temple pastorate, the most controversial period of his life, both theologically and politically. A large section is devoted to the New Theology movement and Campbell's gradual disassociation from it. The chapter closes with an analytical account of his transition into Anglicanism. The fourth chapter deals with Campbell's Anglican years. It discusses the extent to which his theology actually changed, and the impact of his ministry. An important part of the thesis is the detailed bibliography. No bibliography of his work has been available up until now. Appendix A contains a selection of Campbell’s unpublished letters and Appendix B is a copy of the article which fostered the New Theology controversy.
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Conway, Michael Ambrose. "Approaches to automatic biographical sentence classification : an empirical study." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.440920.
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Tekcan, Rana. "The biographer and the subject a study on biographical distance." Stuttgart Ibidem-Verl, 2010. http://d-nb.info/1000247848/04.
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Del, Negro Gaia. "An auto/biographical, cooperative study of our relationships to knowing." Thesis, Canterbury Christ Church University, 2016. http://create.canterbury.ac.uk/16483/.
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In this thesis, I explore the relationship between knowing and self-construction among education professionals. The work addresses questions about our relationship with different ways of knowing; and within what I term a psychosocial framework, how the road to selfhood may lie in integrating different ways of knowing, including the rational, emotional, imaginal, embodied, creative, and spiritual. It also questions the tendency to idealize ‘experts’ and disembodied forms of knowledge that are widespread in (higher) education, and even in social and therapeutic work. Auto/biographically oriented co-operative inquiry was my chosen methodology. The research involved two groups of co-researchers based in two different countries, and included interviews with members of my own family. Exploration of my own reflexive relationship with my object of study shaped it into a quest for meaning and voice. I composed a multi-layered, multimedia, performative and circular textual understanding via processes of ‘spiralling’ and unfolding that were solidly rooted in a constructivist epistemology. I analysed both individual and group processes in the co-operative inquiry, looking at metaphors and engaging with crises of knowing and self to produce a fresh perspective on transformative research and professional becoming. I also drew on the ‘writing as inquiry’ approach to intertwine myself as knower with my interpretation, thus constantly interrogating the role of prose and poetic writing in pursuing authenticity and selfhood in relation to knowledge. In addition, I explored the evocative use of ‘cultural objects’ as a strategy for integrating subjective and objective sources of knowing. I conclude my dissertation by offering what has provisionally become – for me as author – a satisfying theory. Taking a view of the self as contingent, developmental and potentially agentic, I claim that by engaging more holistically with feeling, emotion, intuition, imagination and intellect, we may come to experience ourselves as more ‘real’ and integrated knowers.
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Pearce, Julian Mark. "A biographical study of men with chronic low back pain." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2012. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/348803/.
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Low back pain is a common condition that will affect 80% of the population at some point in their lives. For the majority of people the pain and associated disability will be resolved and they will resume normal activities. For a small proportion of this group however, the condition will remain unresolved with associated long-term pain and disability; this is termed chronic low back pain (CLBP). The costs associated with CLBP are high both physically and emotionally for the individual, and in terms of the economic burden placed on society pertaining to healthcare costs and lost productivity. CLBP is a multifaceted condition. Whilst a biopsychosocial model of care, as opposed to the traditional biomedical model, is advocated as the best approach for its management it has been suggested that the impact on the self-concept and identity of individuals with this condition has not been fully explored or addressed. This study employed a biographical approach with the aim of understanding the impact on the lives and identities of men living with CLBP. Five men were recruited and in-depth interviews were undertaken which were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. The identity of all the participants in the study had been affected by CLBP. Clear themes emerged that included feeling defined by their CLBP, experiencing feelings of frustration and anger, the inability to retain their masculine role, the impact on fatherhood, public and private identities, physicality and feeling a liability or burden to others. The support received from significant others was also highlighted. The participants detailed how exercise and education were major aspects in the management of their condition whilst resilience and the use of humour were also very apparent in their narratives as mechanisms to enable them to cope with CLBP.
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Marx, Milisa. "Margaret Hilda Thatcher: a psychobiographical study." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4548.
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Psychobiographies typically explore and describe historically significant, extraordinary and enigmatic individuals' psychological development through the lens of psychological theory. The primary aim of this psychobiographical study was to explore and describe the developmental life stages of Margaret Hilda Thatcher (1925 - 2013) through the application of Erik Erikson's theory of Psychosocial Development. Erikson's theory takes a holistic, biopsychosocial approach to the lifelong development of the individual, emphasising ego development. A secondary objective was to clarify the propositions of Erikson's theory by applying it to Thatcher's life. Margaret Thatcher was the leader of the Conservative Party in Great Britain and was the first ever female British Prime Minister. As a political leader, she was driven by conviction and regarded as controversial in that she divided the opinion of the British people. She served as Prime Minister for three consecutive terms and was eventually ousted by her peers. After leaving office, she received the title of Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven and later became a member of the highest order of knighthood in England: The Order of the Garter. Psychobiographical research is qualitative and follows a single, case study approach. Through using a purposive sampling strategy, Thatcher was selected as a research subject on the basis of interest value and uniqueness. Data were selected from primary and secondary sources, enhancing the validity of the study, and were analysed according to Alexander's nine identifiers of salience within the conceptual framework derived from Erikson's theory. When considering the findings of the research, it became evident that Margaret Thatcher's development coincides with those constructs proposed in Erikson's theory, and thus emphasised its value in understanding human development. The findings from this psychobiographical study contributed to the understanding of Thatcher's life and are likely to stimulate further research in psychology.
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Su, Hang. "Judgement and adjective complementation patterns in biographical discourse : a corpus study." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2015. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/6245/.
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This thesis, drawing on insights from Appraisal Theory, Pattern Grammar and Corpus Linguistics, explores the association between grammar patterns and attitudinal meanings. Particular attention is paid to adjective complementation patterns and Judgement, i.e. the ethical evaluation of human behaviour and character. Using a corpus compiled of biographical discourse, this study addresses four research questions: 1) whether the current JUDGEMENT system is sufficiently comprehensive and systematic to deal with the Judgement resources identified in this corpus, 2) what insights a detailed scrutiny of adjective-in-pattern exemplars can offer into the description and characterisation of attitudinal resources, 3) how local grammars of evaluation can be developed with the help of grammar patterns, and 4) what local grammars of evaluation may be useful for. It is suggested that the original JUDGEMENT system should be refined so as to enable it to deal effectively with the Judgement resources found. Drawing on evidence from both personality psychology and corpus analysis, Emotivity is proposed as a new sub-type of Judgement to account for those resources which construe attitudes towards emotional types of personality traits. The examination of adjective-in-pattern exemplars in terms of Attitude shows that grammar patterns are of limited use in distinguishing types of attitudinal meanings but that grammar patterns are a very useful heuristic to investigate attitudinal resources. Further, it is demonstrated that grammar patterns are a good starting point for the construction of local grammars of evaluation, which is exemplified by the local grammar of Judgement developed in the current study. Lastly, it is argued that local grammars of evaluation, in theory, provide an alternative way to model attitudinal meanings, and in practice, offer some insights into the automation of appraisal analysis. Other related issues (e.g. local grammar analyses of some special cases, replicability of the methodology) are also discussed.
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Parsons, Julie. "'Ourfoodstories@e-mail.com' : an auto/biographical study of relationships with food." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2920.
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Popular discourses and current government policy focus on the need for individuals and families to make healthy food choices, without acknowledging the social and cultural milieu in which these are embedded. A neo-liberal focus on responsible individualism is part of a middle class habitus that ensures foodwork and foodplay are located within distinct heteronormative cultural fields. In my thesis I explore narratives from seventy-five mainly middle class respondents who engaged in a series of asynchronous online interviews over nine months beginning in November 2010. The themes that emerged aligned with public policy debates on the family, healthy eating, eating disorders, ‘fat’ bodies and elite foodways. Hence, feeding the family ‘healthy’ meals ‘prepared from scratch’ was considered a means of acquiring social, symbolic and cultural capital. ‘Fat’ talk and ‘lipoliteracy’ or learning to read the body were ways of performing femininity, whilst elite foodways were utilised as forms of hegemonic masculinities. Hence, in a challenge to the individualisation thesis my research demonstrates the complexity of food relationships beyond individual consumer choice. Throughout I adopt an auto/biographical approach that stresses the interconnectedness of biography and autobiography, focuses on researcher reflexivity and is sensitive to respondent subjectivities. Respondents used a common vocabulary of individuality, whilst simultaneously embedding themselves in family and kinship relations. Indeed, family, gender, and class, were the means of anchorage in a sea of remembering that engendered a sense of ontological security. Foodways are, thus, part of a habitus that is gendered, classed, temporal and historical. Women in the study conformed to cultural scripts of heteronormative femininity, whilst men resorted to hegemonic masculinities to distance themselves from feminised foodways and care work. These identities were not part of a negotiated family model, but located in cultural fields that reinforced and naturalised gendered divisions, they were bound by gender and class.
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Griffin, Nathan David Stephens. "Queering veganism : a biographical, visual and autoethnographic study of animal advocacy." Thesis, Durham University, 2015. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11022/.
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I am vegan. This means I eschew animal products (such as meat, dairy and eggs) for ethical reasons. Academic interest in animal advocacy is expanding, as evidenced in the emerging field of Critical Animal Studies (Taylor and Twine, 2014). However, concurrent with a ‘criminalization’ of legitimate protest since 9/11 (Gilmore, 2013), empirical research suggests a tendency for mainstream media sources to ridicule, misrepresent and discredit vegans (Cole and Morgan, 2011). I examine the events and experiences that have been significant in shaping the biographies of vegan animal advocates. I use biographical interviews with twelve (12) vegans alongside visual methods, and autoethnography. Participants created comics -the narrative juxtaposition of words and images- about their lives, and I created an ‘autoethnographic’ comic about my biography as a vegan researcher, thus examining animal advocacy from a reflexive, situated vegan perspective. I found that vegan identity is often subject to normalizing processes (Foucault, 1977), and is necessarily fluid across social situations (as evidenced in descriptions of ‘coming out’ vegan). Vegan identity is performed and achieved in various embodied ways. These processes intersect with other social structures such as gender and sexuality. Access to cultural narratives about veganism is also significant in the experience of participants. The project contributes to the diverse fields of Biographical Research and Critical Animal Studies, adding rich biographical and visual data to existing empirical evidence around animal advocacy. It sets a precedent for the potential use of comics in research, particularly in connection with queer methodological approaches that challenge existing representational forms and focus on fluidity. It also offers novel applications for autoethnographic and visual biographical approaches.
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Constable, Gillian. "The experience of caring for someone with dementia : a biographical study." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2011. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/210223/.
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This research was about the lived experience of caring for someone with dementia. Six informal carers of people with dementia were interviewed. The carers were defined as ‘informal’ as they were family and friends, and therefore unpaid. Five of the carers were women who had or were supporting their mothers, and one was a man, who had cared for a friend. Three carers identified as lesbian or gay. I wanted to hear the stories of a group that are generally neglected in research (Turnball, 2002). Carers are diverse with a range of needs, and I wished to discover if services were ‘gay friendly’ or implicitly heterosexist. In addition I wanted lesbian and gay carers’ stories to be heard and their contribution to be recognised. The research is important as there are an estimated 750,000 people living with dementia in the UK and 500,000 partners, family members and friends are involved in caring for someone with dementia at a value of £6 billion a year, if care was provided by health and social care services (Department of Health, 2009). The research method was biographical in relation to the participants’ caring role. It explored three areas: the experience of caring, coping approaches and encounters with health and social care services. The interviews with carers took place in 2010 and the cared for had, or were living in: London, Wales, south-east and north-west England. The theoretical perspective of the research was person centred (Kitwood, 1997) set within the legislative and social policy framework for carers. The data was analysed primarily through pre-determined codes arising from the interview schedule and Skills for Care ‘Core Principles for Carers’ (2010) but also searching for patterns within and across cases. The findings were that the carers did not experience the person with dementia as a burden, but contact with health and social services was often problematic due to the fragmentation of services, lack of one practitioner co-ordinating care, and an absence of knowledge about carers’ legal entitlements. In addition services adopted a medical model of care focusing on the dementia of the cared for with limited interest in the cared for or carer’s biography, consequently services were not person centred, or gay friendly. Carers’ commitment to the person with dementia was on a continuum between the obligations of kinship and unconditional love. Positive aspects in the relationships endured in particular humour and shared activities. The messages for practice were that health and social care practitioners require training in person centred practice, as well as the legislation and policy framework for carers. Personalisation of services provides opportunities for shifting services from a task centred to person centred approach, including the development of gay friendly services .
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Cooke, James C. (James Clinton). "Malcolm Shepherd Knowles, the Father of American Andragogy : A Biographical Study." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1994. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278013/.
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This is a qualitative, single-subject, historical, and biographical study. Malcolm Shepherd Knowles is the subject of this research. The problem of the study is to explore the uniqueness of Malcolm S. Knowles in light of his contributions to adult education and to the andragogical model of adult learning.
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Bonato, Arianna <1997>. "Charlotte Brontë: When novels meet reality. A biographical study of Villette." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/21351.
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Charlotte Brontë’s life, correspondence and diaries have been studied endlessly, making clear that many events and characters included in her novels are based on real events. This paper analyses how far the similarities go, where the personal experience ends, and the imagination starts, considering the analysis of Brontë’s novels. After having provided a short social and cultural background of the Victorian age, the research examines Bronte’s biographies, her personal letters, and her acquaintances’ testimonies. In addition to this, in the central chapters, the study analyses Brontë’s novel Villette, to ascertain how much of her work is based on her personal experience, dwelling on the characterization of Lucy Snowe and the character’s development throughout the novel. The last part of the research presents a comparative study between the two major novels Villette and Jane Eyre.
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Giunchi, Marianna. "Perceived job insecurity, wellbeing and transitions : from biographical interviews to diary study approach." Thesis, Paris 10, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017PA100132/document.
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Objectifs - Les changements dans le monde du travail ont entraîné une augmentation de l’insécurité de l’emploi perçue chez les travailleurs, avec des conséquences négatives sur leur bien-être. Cette thèse vise à contribuer à la littérature sur l’insécurité de l’emploi en présentant trois études portant sur des aspects qui doivent être étudiés davantage : les expériences personnelles et subjectives d’insécurité, ses conséquences sur certains résultats de bien-être général, les ressources et les stratégies de coping pour y faire face comme facteurs qui peuvent réduire les perceptions et les conséquences de l’insécurité de l’emploi. Méthodologie - Les données ont été recueillies au moyen d’une approche multi-méthode, consistant en : une étude qualitative par entretiens biographiques, une étude quantitative par questionnaire auto-compilé et une étude par journaux de bord. Résultats - Dans l’ensemble, les résultats montrent que l’insécurité de l’emploi est une perception subjective et que les personnes dans la même situation peuvent rapporter différents niveaux d’insécurité. Les facteurs liés à la capacité des personnes à activer les ressources, personnelles et contextuelles, et à mettre en place des stratégies de coping efficaces contribuent à déterminer les niveaux d’insécurité perçus et ses conséquences sur le bien-être général et les trajectoires de vie. Limites – En général au niveau méthodologique les trois études ne permettent pas d’établir la direction de la relation entre les variables observées, elles utilisent des mesures d’auto-évaluation et une méthode d’échantillonnage de convenance. Implications pratiques - Les résultats de cette thèse encouragent le développement de l’accompagnement individuel et de l’orientation professionnelle et des pratiques d’assistance afin d’aider les personnes: a) à réfléchir sur leurs objectifs personnels et de travail; b) à identifier les meilleurs moyens d’activer les ressources personnelles et contextuelles; c) à élaborer des stratégies d’adaptation efficaces pour faire face à l’insécurité de l’emploi, aux transitions professionnelles et préserver leur bien-êtrePurpose – The changes in the labour market have led to an increase in perceived job insecurity among workers, with negative consequences on their wellbeing. This thesis aims to contribute to the literature on job insecurity by presenting three studies that deepen several aspects that need to be explored further: the personal and subjective experiences of job insecurity, its consequences on some general wellbeing outcomes, resources and coping strategies as factors that may reduce job insecurity perceptions and consequences. Design/Methodology – Data were collected through a multi-method approach, consisting of a qualitative study through biographical interviews, a quantitative study through a self-reported questionnaire and a diary-study. Results – Overall, findings show that job insecurity is a subjective perception and that people in the same situation can report different levels of insecurity. Factors related to the ability of people to activate resources, personal and contextual, and to put in place effective coping strategies contribute to determine to what extent job insecurity is perceived and its consequences on general well-being and trajectories in life. Limitations – Limitations of this thesis concern the methodology: in general, the three studies do not allow to state any direction of causality between the studied variables, they all use self-reported measures and a convenience sampling method. Practical implications – The results of this thesis encourage the development of practices of career support and career guidance, at individual level, in order to help people: a) to reflect on their personal and professional goals; b) to identify their best ways to activate personal and contextual resources; c) to develop effective coping strategies to address job insecurity, work transitions and to preserve their well-being
Obiettivi – I cambiamenti avvenuti nel mondo del lavoro hanno determinato nei lavoratori un aumento dell’insicurezza lavorativa percepita, con conseguenze negative sul loro benessere. Questa tesi si propone di contribuire alla letteratura sull’insicurezza lavorativa presentando tre studi che indagano alcuni aspetti che necessitano approfondimento: i vissuti personali e le esperienze soggettive d’insicurezza, le sue conseguenze su alcuni risultati di benessere generale, le risorse e le strategie di coping come fattori che possono ridurre le percezioni e le conseguenze dell’insicurezza lavorativa. Metodologia – I dati sono stati raccolti attraverso un approccio multi-metodo, composto da uno studio qualitativo tramite interviste biografiche, uno studio quantitativo tramite questionari auto-compilati e un diary-study. Risultati – Nell’insieme i risultati evidenziano che l’insicurezza lavorativa è una percezione soggettiva e che persone nella stessa situazione possono riportare diversi livelli d’insicurezza. Fattori legati alla capacità delle persone di attivare risorse, personali e contestuali, e di mettere in atto strategie di coping efficaci concorrono nel determinare i livelli d’insicurezza lavorativa percepita e le sue conseguenze su benessere generale e traiettorie di vita. Limiti – I limiti di questa tesi riguardano la metodologia: in generale tutti e tre gli studi non permettono di affermare la direzione di casualità tra le variabili osservate, utilizzano misure self-report e un metodo di campionamento di convenienza. Implicazioni pratiche – I risultati di questa tesi incoraggiano la messa a punto di interventi e pratiche di sostegno e orientamento alla carriera, a livello individuale, in modo da aiutare le persone: a) a riflettere sui loro obiettivi personali e di lavoro b) ad identificare i modi migliori per attivare risorse personali e contestuali c) a mettere a punto strategie di coping efficaci per affrontare l’insicurezza lavorativa, le transizioni lavorative e preservare il proprio benessere
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Crosthwaite, Elaine Ann. "Lifelong learning : a biographical study of the student experience in higher education." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.403887.
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McGarry, Spencer Ross. "Developing a victimological imagination : an auto/biographical study of British military veterans." Thesis, Liverpool Hope University, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.569231.
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British soldiers have been fighting and returning from conflict for centuries, however in the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq it has become noticeable that not only are many young men and women experiencing physical, psychological and social hardships both during and after military service, but the conditions under which these difficulties occur have been brought into question. This has been particularly the case in relation to British soldiers being poorly equipped and 'overstretched' during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, military hospitals closing at a time when they are needed most, in addition to there being an insufficient framework of social support when returning to civilian life. All of this against the backdrop of rising military death tolls, an awareness of British military veterans populating the prison system and probation services, a defence spending review cutting jobs and services from the British military, and claims that the Military Covenant has been 'broken'. Much is known about these hardships, particularly in academic disciplines such as psychology and military sociology but taken in the round these issues speak of the vulnerability that British soldiers face, but not of their victimization. This is hardly surprising given that victimology has paid the topics of war and soldiering virtually no attention. Therefore this thesis is an auto/biographical study of the military lives of six British military veterans with collective experiences of four decades of conflict, and a particular focus on recent service in Iraq. The study employs a Biographical-Narrative-Interpretive Method to gather the life stories of these British military veterans via both unstructured and semi-structured interviews. These interviews have been exposed to Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to draw out themes from their data which include: choice, military life, defence acquisition, the Military Covenant, experiencing, witnessing and perpetrating in conflict, and responses to victimization and survival. Each set of themes are analysed in relation to one of the three perspectives of victimological theory (positivist, radical and critical) to help frame participants experiences in the following victim typologies: ideal and undeserving victims, victims of crime, tertiary victims, victimological 'others' and non-victims. These typologies are then connected to broader victimological debates that include: military lifestyle, human rights, 'otherness ', and a critical questioning of the gendered concepts of the 'soldier' and the 'victim ', What this thesis contends is that the difficulties that British soldiers face during military service and thereafter can be understood as victimizing, but this has been neglected from criminological and victimological discourse. Although it is acknowledged that such terminology as 'victim' is often not compatible with 'soldiering', such an approach offers not only a uniquely different insight into the lives of British military veterans, but also offers the disciplines of criminology and victimology much to think about in relation to who they include and exclude from their analysis.
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Moss, Linda. "Gendered learning, managers' stories and the corporate environment : an auto/biographical study." Thesis, University of Kent, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.250288.
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Rehal, M. "Strengthening 'community'? : an ethnographic and auto/biographical study of Sure Start Greendale." Thesis, Canterbury Christ Church University, 2016. http://create.canterbury.ac.uk/17740/.
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This is an ethnographic, auto/biographical study of Sure Start Greendale which is situated on the outskirts of a seaside town in the south east of England. I undertook the research while I was Director of the programme. The thesis is written from the perspective of key participants in the programme, as well as my own learning biography, background in health visiting and practice as leader of a new high profile government initiative called Sure Start. It is highly reflexive and written in a narrative genre. Sure Start aims to give young children living in communities similar to Greendale a better start in life by creating opportunities for them and their parents and by eradicating child poverty. This research explores, through auto/biographical and focus group interviews with parents, community workers and representatives from partner agencies, perspectives of the Greendale area prior to Sure Start, the impact of the Sure Start programme and the new building, and their notions of community prior to and post the establishment of the Sure Start programme. The voices of parents, community workers and partner agencies are heard through an interpretative, analytical approach in a process of shared learning. Issues relating to insider research are discussed in detail. Auto/biographical interviews indicate the challenges of partnership working, the impact of poverty on children and their parents, and the complex ways in which Sure Start helped to renew a sense of community. The main finding of the research was that the Sure Start Greendale programme was able to engage to varying degrees a suspicious and sceptical community and support parents to access services and develop relationships with other parents. Sure Start Greendale was the enabler of communication in the estate and the community workers played a major role in building social capital and reducing social isolation. This research is important as it is the only ethnographic, auto/biographical, insider researcher’s account of a Sure Start Programme, covering a period of eight years. The study adds to the body of knowledge about Greendale and similar communities and factors that assist community renewal.
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Gale, Laura. "Understanding community coaches' experiences of everyday coaching practice : a narrative-biographical study." Thesis, University of Hull, 2013. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:10424.
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Burnham, Simon James. "Who says? : a biographical study of educational psychologists' beliefs about 'reliable evidence'." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2009. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/143595/.
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This thesis describes a biographical research study in which eight educational psychologists took part in interviews with the researcher, who is also an educational psychologist, on the subject of 'reliable evidence'. As part of this process participants were asked to discuss the personal and professional influences that have shaped their epistemological positioning and practice as applied psychologists. The research is located within broader themes in the literature that encompass debates about the relative merits of qualitative and quantitative approaches, the scientific tradition in psychology, evidence based practice, and the turn towards standpoint perspectives in the social sciences. It is argued that a broadly positivist epistemology remains dominant within psychology as a professional discipline and that this creates tensions for many practitioner-psychologists who find its assumptions incompatible with the majority, if not all, of their work. Thematic analysis of the interviews reveals that the participants see only a very blurred boundary between their personal and professional lives and that this influences their positioning on questions of methodology and the establishment of knowledge claims. There is scepticism amongst the participants about the value of concepts such as 'reliable evidence', and concern that 'science', as the British Psychological Society has defined that term, is of relatively limited use to them and their colleagues in educational psychology. Participants feel that the generic practice of educational psychologists - work that is principally with individual children and young people, parents, teachers and other professionals - is not valued as highly within their profession as research and systemsbased work that seeks to bring about change at an organisational level. This is because the generic practice of an educational psychologist requires a highly pragmatic 'real world' approach, whereas research and systems-based work are widely perceived to offer more opportunities to implement a rigorous and scientific methodology capable of generating 'reliable evidence'. The thesis concludes by proposing that a pragmatic epistemology can be applied to the research and generic practice elements of the work of educational psychologists through the adoption of the 'bricoleur' model, which could help address the disjuncture that educational psychologists perceive between those two aspects of their role.
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Veale, Francisca. "Making a difference : female social workers' lives and identities : a biographical study." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2012. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/340977/.
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This thesis investigates the motivations of female social workers in their decision to embark on the study of and work in the profession. The thesis also offers some recommendations for the education of social workers. The historical emergence of social work as a profession and the role women have played in shaping the profession and building traditions, in the United Kingdom, are explored. The biographies of some significant women, the ‘early pioneers’ of social work, are reviewed (albeit succinctly) to ascertain their motivation to help and make a difference in the lives of other people. The hypothesis that women are socialised into a caring role by the patriarchal structures of society is discussed as a possible explanation as to why the social work profession consists predominantly of women. A small-scale research project, which utilises a mixed-method approach from a feminist standpoint and an auto/biographical paradigm, investigates the biographies and motivational factors of female social work students and women social workers. In an endeavour to find some tradition-building factors which might predict women’s engagement with social work, the socio-economic and demographical data from the early pioneers and the research project’s cohorts are taken into consideration. Furthermore, the categories of ‘social justice fighter’ (Adams et al. 2002; Thompson 2002), and ‘wounded helper’ (Brandon 1976; Charon 2006; Frank 1995) are introduced with the intention to ascertain whether there are common factors which influence women’s wish to help others and their choice to become social workers. The preliminary findings of the thesis suggest that financial gain is not the main stimulus for women becoming social workers, but that altruistic motives and the idea of social justice influences their career choice. The research findings further suggest that life experiences (positive as well as negative) influence the decision to become a social worker. The findings in the thesis are compared and discussed with similar studies in the field (Parker and Merrylees 2002, Redmond et al. 2008, Stevens et al. 2012). Summarising, the thesis proposes recommendations for social work education and the curriculum: - a thorough selection process that investigates the personality, moral values and the motivation of social work entrants by using biographical interviews and narratives; - reflective and analytical processes are required to be an integral part of the curriculum, thus facilitating students to address any latent emotional and/or traumatic life experience which otherwise might lead to detrimental transference in the social work interaction with clients; - a deconstruction of gender issues and perceptions as part of the curriculum thereby encouraging more men to enter social work as students, lecturers and professionals; - a pro-active promotion of a more positive image of social workers should be on the curriculum with the aim of altering public perception of the social work profession.
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Stevens, Micheline. "A biographical study of the early beneficiaries : the Jewish Education Aid Society." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2016. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/401670/.
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In Britain, during the latter years of the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, there was a plethora of philanthropic organisations introduced and managed by members of the established Anglo-Jewish community. The purpose of these organisations was, in part, to demonstrate that the influx of Eastern European Jewish immigrants was not a burden on Britain as a whole. In other words the aim was to show that Jews were prepared to care for their own people, financially and morally. Much has been written about the larger organisations but little, if anything, is recorded about some of the smaller societies which usually pursued a narrow and defined purpose. One such was the Jewish Education Aid Society. This thesis charts the affairs of this particular organisation beginning with its inception in 1896 as the Jewish Education Aid Committee and its re-structuring, in 1907, as the Jewish Education Aid Society. The thrust of the work is addressed in a general chapter covering the organisation and work of both the Committee and the Society, and touching on the lives of some of the early recipients. This is followed by three detailed case studies the purpose of which is to explore in depth the lives of these particular individuals and their immediate family members. These beneficiaries fulfilled the requirement for assistance, namely that each was a member of an impecunious Jewish family and was extremely talented, either academically or artistically. Support, financial and social, was given in order to develop their talents and future careers. The three recipients selected were all members of larger family units, thus the impact of such assistance within this structure has also been considered. It is this aspect of the Jewish immigrant’s experience, as the recipient of philanthropy, that is seldom addressed. This work aims to address the balance and is the first to explore the impact of British Jewish philanthropy from the ‘bottom up’.
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Collier, E. H. "A biographical narrative study exploring mental ill health through the life course." Thesis, University of Salford, 2012. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/32510/.
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This thesis is about people with mental health problems who happen to be older, rather than older people with mental health problems. Health policy that has focused on older people as a category has maintained a narrow focus on recognising depression and dementia, with older people being excluded from mental health policy aimed at adults of working age. This has resulted in age discriminatory practices, but in addition, the unique needs of people who have lived long term with mental ill health into later life have been ignored. Older people have been often conceptualised as consumers of care rather than citizens with aspirations and research about long term experience of mental ill health and recovery commonly excludes older people. This study aimed to redress this marginalisation and lack of knowledge by exploring the experience of long term mental ill health to older age from a strengths perspective congruent with recovery principles. The study is based on a social constructionist epistemology and narrative inquiry methodology. The research questions were: 1) How does living with long term mental ill health affect achievement and 2) How does long term mental ill health affect life in the present? People who were aged over 50 and who had at least 20 years duration of mental ill health that started before the age of 45 were included. Seven people were recruited though posters placed in GP surgeries, leisure centres and libraries and contacts through mental health services. Four women and three men between the ages of 52 and 76 participated. The study develops the curriculum vitae as a research tool, a method unique in mental health research, in order to root the enquiry within participant relevancies and perspectives to ensure that this previously unheard voice is captured. This tool is congruent with a biographical method that informs the development of two personalised interviews and enables the implementation of this method within a recovery (strengths) frame of reference. The resulting individual narratives were interpreted with reference to the principles of over reading and life course theory. A collective text was also developed which discusses the key findings. The novel approach taken in this research study resulted in an original contribution to current knowledge which provides evidence that can be used to challenge beliefs about people who have lived a lifetime with mental ill health. The study revealed a lifelong process where participants returned to their early life in making sense of their experiences. Long term mental ill health appeared to create an environment whereby participants maximised their chances of success by avoiding stress which has a myriad of personally relevant causes. This appeared to be achieved by keeping silent, which, whilst self-protective, nevertheless potentially exacerbated their stress further and resulted in further stressful consequences. In later life the changed sociocultural and personal environment became part of an autobiographical reasoning that sustained self-theory. This created a situation whereby the participants felt better but also worse at the same time, where personal growth co-existed alongside stress burnout but was coupled with a renewed sense of hope in later life. The implications for health and social care are discussed in relation to policy, practice, research and education in the context of age equality, recovery and long term conditions. Recommendations include: to focus on extensive durations of mental ill health as a special characteristic, to review the of use stress assessments and trauma histories in practice and research, for practitioners to establish the hopes and aspirations of older people who come into contact with services and for researchers to examine the presence of hope in older people with long term mental health problems.
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Abdou, Shaymaa Hussein Samy Moha. "Narratives of selfhood : a study of the Arabic biographical novel, 1967-2010." Thesis, Durham University, 2016. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11443/.
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Scholarship on the Arabic novel often approaches it in light of questions of national consciousness, identity formation and contact with the West. This study relates the traditional fictional narrative of individual self-development found in biographical subgenres of the novel such as the Bildungsroman, autobiographical and confessional novels with these scholarly enterprises. It explores how biographical forms, as found in the post-1967 Arabic novel, have reflected an individualistic worldview that began as a reaction to certain collectivist ideas inherited from a previous generations of writers and intellectuals. The individualism of biographical forms is shown to be a reaction to the literary conventions associated with the themes of national identity and the Western encounter. The New Sensibility movement that evolved during the period that the study covers is analysed in relation to various Arabic texts from eight countries. Theories of intertextuality provide the interpretive tools to discuss the links between those novels and the changes in genres over time. Gérard Genette’s concept of hypertextuality is one of such tools used to analyse the relationship between the contemporary texts and their predecessors, and Bakhtin’s ideas on utterances and speech genres allow me to interpret the implied writers’ views on the values associated with the literary convention in which they are participating. I use three prototypical narratives to summarise the elements of the established literary conventions and the presuppositions of the writers and readers. The study focuses on two recurrent themes in the contemporary biographical novel; political activism and immigration. It shows how these two topics were developed literary codes that contemporary writers gave new significations. In prototypical narratives, they were literary vehicles for imagining a unified community, and in the late twentieth century they transformed into narratives of self-discovery and individualistic emphasis on uniqueness and agency. By focusing on certain attributes of the biographical form, such as the spontaneous desire of the individual and the persistent motif of the double, I show how this particular subgenre of the novel was used to disturb the collectivist ideologies and stable speech genres that had become prevalent by the latter half of the twentieth century.
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Kolesky, Candice. "Ernesto "Che" Guevara : a psychobiographical study." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1512.
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Psychobiography is a qualitative approach to exploring and understanding the life story of an individual through the lens of psychological theory. The application of theory is typically done on the finished lives of well-known or enigmatic people. This study explores and describes the psychological development across the lifespan of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, by applying the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler. Che Guevara was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, and major figure of the Cuban Revolution. Since his death, his image has become a symbol for revolution within popular culture. Extensive data has been examined in this work to ensure an accurate description of Guevara’s life. Alexander’s model of identifying salient themes was used to analyze the data within a conceptual framework derived from the theory. Guevara was fiercely loyal to his cause, at the expense of the lives of many Cuban citizens as well as his own family, whom he spent little time with. He justified this with his firmly held belief that the end justified the means and that he was always fighting for the greater good. He quite literally dedicated his life to his cause, which is the reason that he has become a modern day symbol for revolution. It is however unfortunate that this came at such a great personal expense.
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Harwood, Craig Sean. "A psychobiographical study of Sybrand Gerhardus(Brand)Pretorius." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7567.
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The South African businessman, Brand Pretorius, was born in the rural Orange Free State town of Steynsrus in 1953. Pretorius rose to prominence in the motor industry in South Africa and he retired in 2011 as Chairman of McCarthy Motor Holdings Limited the largest motor retailer in South Africa. Pretorius was selected for this psychobiographical study by means of purposive sampling, given his extraordinary business achievements. Pretorius is publicly recognised as one of South Africa’s most successful businessmen and leaders. Psychobiographical research typically takes into consideration the entire life of an individual with the aim of uncovering the story of an individual’s life through the lens of a particular theory. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the leadership development of Brand Pretorius juxtaposed against the model of authentic leadership proposed by Avolio and Luthans (2003). The life history of Brand Pretorius was studied using a qualitative single-case study design. The psychobiographical research method allowed the single-case to be studied spanning his entire career. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. Conceptual matrices were used to organise and integrate the findings against the model of authentic leadership. The use of multiple data sources increased the validity and reliability of the research process and findings. To ensure ethical integrity the researcher obtained informed consent from Pretorius. The findings of this research study indicate that Pretorius was able to successfully display the authentic leadership dimensions of self-awareness, internalised moral perspective, balanced processing, relational transparency and positive psychological capacities throughout the course of his career.
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Eichsteller, Marta J. "'Becoming a citizen of the world' : sociological study of biographical narratives of new cosmopolitans." Thesis, Bangor University, 2013. https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/becoming-a-citizen-of-the-world--sociological-study-of-biographical-narratives-of-new-cosmopolitans(4679453c-35bb-45e6-8942-e645d8840f12).html.
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Studies of identity constitute one of the most dynamic areas of sociological inquiry. In the light of global changes - economic, political and cultural - the overall structure of social and personal identifications is under a constant process of reconstruction. 'Becoming a Citizen of the World' is a research project designed to explore how identities change, especially in circumstances of transnational mobility, and to engage with theoretical discussions on cosmopolitanism. The inquiry is based on the analysis of 25 autobiographical narrative interviews with transnational individuals. The process of analysis employs three different analytical models - the formal structural analysis of Schutze, the narrative ethnography of Gubrium and Holstein, and the fuzzy set analysis of Ragin. The overall research process focuses on two main strands of the academic discussion: theoretical, dealing with transnationality and identity; and methodological, exploring innovative analytical approaches to biographical data. The investigation of cosmopolitan ism focuses on biographical dispositions, perceptions of mobility and identity adjustments. It considers biographical elements that constitute empirical indicators for cosmopolitan ism and the idea that cosmopolitan ism is an outcome of the reconstruction of overall identity configurations. The methodological discussion examines the differences between analytical models - allowing for a systematic exploration of the different levels of transnational biographical experience, including meaning-making, transnational practices and emotional attachments, which add up to the formation of identifications beyond the nation state. It engages with the issues of validity, generalisation and dissemination of biographical research, and contributes to the discussion concerning methodological cosmopolitanism. The multi-dimensional findings suggest that autobiographical narrative data offer fascinating insights into identity formation processes and that the data can be analysed most effectively through a combination of complementary analytical models, each of which provides a unique perspective on the subjective experiences of transnational individuals.
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Moolman, Bilué Anton. "Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill: a psychobiographical study." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1009434.
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Psychobiography is a qualitative approach to exploring and understanding the life story of an individual through the lens of psychological theory. The application of theory is typically conducted on the finished lives of well-known or enigmatic people. This study explores and describes the psychological development across the lifespan of Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, by applying the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler. Winston Churchill voted the greatest Briton of the twentieth century, was an author, painter, adventure, soldier, politician and Prime Minister that led the United Kingdom during World War Two. Extensive data has been examined in this work to ensure an accurate description of Winston Churchill‘s life. Alexander‘s model of identifying salient themes was used to analyse the data within a conceptual framework derived from the theory. Churchill‘s difficult childhood motivated him to succeed, his passion for the nation of Britain and his dislike of the Nazi regime meant that Churchill was always abreast with current affairs, anticipating every possible scenario of attack. When the time came to fight the Nazi‘s Churchill was ready to die for his country. The research findings highlight Churchill‘s ability to rise above his childhood stigmas and surpass all expectations and so cementing his name into the history of a country he loved and a democratic world he hoped for. Alfred Adler‘s Individual Psychology proposes that an individual‘s potential weaknesses can be used as a means to strive and achieve greatness within their sphere of influence.
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Eckley, Shannon Rose. "Josephine Baker: a psychobiographical study." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1007850.
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Psychobiographies examine an entire full life, from birth to death, with the aim of understanding the psychological development of that life. Psychobiographical research is a qualitative method of research, and is done by the use of both biography, and the application of relevant psychological theory. While the scientific merit of this type of research continues to be questioned and debated, interest in this area of research continues to grow on both a national, and international level. This particular research study aimed to explore the extraordinary and inspiring life of slave, dancer, singer, lover, soldier and mother, Josephine Baker (1906 – 1975), by applying Alfred Adler’s (1929) theory of personality namely, Individual Psychology. Josephine Baker was chosen by means of purposive sampling. The research study made use of a qualitative psychobiographical research method, which aimed to explore and describe the lived life and personality development of Josephine Baker, in terms of Alfred Adler’s (1929) theory of Individual Psychology. The data collection for this research study made use of a framework, as a means of selecting relevant data which formed a matrix, which in turn became a descriptive framework to organise and integrate the data (see Appendix A). The analysis thereof was done by the means of analytic generalisation (Yin, 1994). To assist in identifying salient data, analytical criteria namely, Alexander’s (1988) guidelines for the extraction of salient data were utilised (see Appendix B). This model also assisted in ensuring an accurate and complete description of Josephine Baker’s life in relation to the psychological theory used namely Alfred Adler’s theory of Individual Psychology. The findings of the study indicate that Josephine’s life paralleled Adler’s (1929) theory in many ways, and also indicated that the person she became was also strongly influenced by many familial, social, historical and cultural events of the time. This study has therefore shown that to date, there is still great value and relevance in Adler’s (1929) theory of Individual Psychology, even though it was proposed and developed almost a century ago. Consequently, recommendations regarding further psychiobiographical research in this area in the future have been made.
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van, Someren Janine. "Women's sporting lives : a biographical study of elite amateur tennis players at Wimbledon." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2010. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/176301/.
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The history of amateur tennis pre and post the Second World War is dominated by the sporting biographies of male players with women’s stories largely ignored. This research addressed the issue of women tennis players’ marginalisation through a biographical analysis of the women’s amateur circuit with particular emphasis on the previously untold story of four British tennis players: Mrs. Phyllis King (née Mudford, who competed at the Wimbledon Championships 1928-1953), Mrs. Joan Hughesman (née Curry, Wimbledon 1939-1960), Mrs. Joy Michelle (née Hibbert, Wimbledon 1947- 1957), Mrs. Christine Janes (née Truman, Wimbledon 1957-1974). The lives of the women were investigated utilising biographical methods of life story interviews and analysis of life documents including published biographies and archival and media sources. Gender and social class emerged as key themes which were explored through the microcosm of women’s tennis shedding new light on a wide range of issues from the influence of family, gender role expectations and life on the amateur tennis circuit. The findings reveal the significance of fashion in British tennis whereby it is argued that choice of clothing was a form of gender compliance. Further to this the contributions of fashion designer Teddy Tinling is recognised as a key factor in changing the shape of women’s tennis post the Second World War. The research reveals the key role sport played in shaping the women’s identity from the onset of their playing careers through to their retirement from sport
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Augsperger, Carolyn Pearl. "Unionism, faith, and minorities : a political biographical study of Sir Douglas Savory, M.P." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2016. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.705639.
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This dissertation examines the career of Sir Douglas Savory, M.P., a British/lrish unionist and Conservative politician. The two main themes examined in this dissertation are the influence of both Ulster unionism and evangelical Anglicanism on Savory's political thought and activities. The dissertation gives insight into developments within twentieth century Ulster unionism and the construction of Northern Irish public culture. Examining Savory's career shows how a particular individual who began as an outsider cultivated a place at the heart of Northern Irish public life, through education, religion, and politics. The way in which he rose to prominence demonstrates the role of Queen's University Belfast and its academics in formulating policy in government. Savory became a key figure in unionist propaganda, publishing a series of pamphlets disseminating unionist political ideas during the Second World War and post-war period. The influence of religion on Savory's political thought and ideas gives particular insight into the religious strand within unionism. Savory's unionism and evangelical Protestantism made him an active campaigner on behalf of numerous causes beyond Northern Ireland, including religious minorities such as the Waldensians and the Moravians, political minorities such as the Heligolanders and the Danish-speaking people of South Schleswig, and Poland. He was motivated to defend groups with which he identified; in almost all cases, he perceived the groups for which he advocated as facing analogous plights to that faced by Ulster unionists. This demonstrates that his interest in these groups, while genuine, was also shaped by a degree of self-interest, as the way he framed these groups also helped to legitimise Ulster unionists. This dissertation examines themes of relevance to both Ulster unionism and evangelical Anglicanism, adding to scholarly understanding of these systems of thought and belief.
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Akili, Bashar. "Maria Jane McIntosh a woman in her time : a biographical and critical study." Thesis, Online version, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos.280933.
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Kitching, Philip Herman. "A psychobiographical study of John Winston Lennon." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1010847.
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Psychobiography can be viewed as the re-writing of an individual’s life story previously undetected. In general it consists of a combination of two central elements: biography and psychological theory that aim to explain the particular individual’s psychological development. This particular study serves to explore the extraordinary life of renowned singer, songwriter, artist and activist, John Winston Lennon (1940-1980). The basis for this investigation will take the form of notable biographical accounts of the subject’s life, together with Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler’s (1938) theory of Individual Psychology, which recognizes the importance of human society for the development of individual character and the orientation of every single action and emotion in the life of a human being. Adler’s theory further explores that the main motives of human thought and behaviour are an individual’s striving for superiority and power, partly in compensation for his feeling of inferiority. The psychobiographical data collection and analysis for this research thesis will be guided by Yin’s (1994) theory of ‘analytic generalisation’, which uses a theoretical framework in selecting relevant data which develops a matrix as a descriptive framework for organizing and integrating that data, and Alexander’s (1988) analytical model which focuses on lifting out themes through principal identifiers of salience was used and applied. John Winston Lennon expressed his personal experiences and ideals through his songs and became the spokesman for his generation on modern day issues such as feminism and world peace. It is however, unfortunate that Lennon throughout his life remained a boy who felt rejected and unloved by his parents and strove to be superior in all aspects of his rich life in an attempt to acquire the love and acceptance that was not bestowed on him as a child.
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Ramasamy, Kameshnee. "Milton Hyland Erickson: psychobiographical study." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/14444.
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Historically psychobiography has focused to a large extent on the study of pathology in human development. In recent years, scholars in the field of psychobiography have recommended that studies with a eugraphic focus be undertaken, thereby investigating optimal human development. Milton Hyland Erickson (1901-1980) was an American psychologist and psychiatrist. An extraordinary creative individual who conducted pioneering work in the field of hypnosis. Whilst vast publications of his academic work exist and his work is continued through the Milton H. Erickson Foundation and its global subsidiaries, in comparison, his life story has not been the focus of much study. The psychobiographical merit of Erickson as the subject of the study was based on his involvement in interesting and important events, as well as his resilient attitude towards life, during even dire moments. The focus of this psychobiography was to conceptualise Erickson’s life in terms of the principles of Adler’s Individual Psychology and Peterson and Seligman’s Character Strengths and Virtues Classification. Through this process it was aimed to provide descriptions and interpretations of Erickson’s personality in order to illuminate aspects such as his creativity, service to others, and optimism. The study is written from the first person perspective and is rooted in the interpretive paradigm. It utilises a qualitative research approach in order to gain an in-depth understanding of Erickson’s finished life and thereby taking into account contextual factors. The two theoretical frameworks guided the iterative data collection and data analysis processes and the data were organised into a descriptive framework. The method of data analysis was idiographic thus describing the uniqueness of Erickson life. Strategies such as the triangulation of data sources and theory, focusing on aspects of saliency, trustworthiness, and ethics were employed to ensure reliable data extraction and interpretation. The study revealed that both theoretical frameworks were appropriate in their description and interpretation of Erickson’s personality and character strengths. Of significance was the protective role that creativity, social interest, hope, and optimism played against trauma and these emerged as central themes in Erickson’s life in terms of his psychological wellbeing. The findings on creativity and social interest are supported by existing research and theory but also highlight perspectives for future research. Creativity is a key component of knowledge production and therefore research in this area could improve our understanding of how it can be nurtured and developed across the lifespan. Whilst the construct of social interest was integral to this study its validity in terms of providing adequate explanations of how individuals balance their own needs against the needs of others was examined and suggestions of where the theory can be elaborated were highlighted.
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Lowson, Alice Adelaide Booker. "Routing-out portable antiquities : a biographical study of the contemporary lives of Tamil antiquities." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/29594.
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Developing the idea of an ‘object biography’, as defined by Kopytoff (1986), this thesis challenges a fixed, static concept of antiquities and their present meanings by focusing on the routes they travel through space and time as they circulate through the hands of unauthorised finders, dealers and collectors. The research has been carried out in India, focusing on the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As a non-Western country with a period of colonial history, India is an ideal location to explore not just the diversity and mutability of these meanings but also the tensions between authorized and divergent viewpoints regarding the value and management of the past. My methodology has drawn on theoretical models from the social sciences that approach the production of meaning in and through material culture as an organic and on-going process of human-object relations. Through a process of qualitative surveying using purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews, two distinct object case studies have been devised and investigated: the circulation of structural and household antiques from the 19th and 20th century houses of the Nagarathar Chettiars, and the excavation of coins, beads, jewellery and figurines in the riverbeds of Tamil Nadu and their subsequent sale, collection and circulation. In the course of fieldwork I have recorded over 55 hours of interactions with 107 respondents in locations across Tamil Nadu, as well as Bangalore, Mumbai, Jodhpur and London. I have supported this data with photographs, fieldnotes, and internet sources. In my analysis of this data I have argued that many people in Tamil Nadu and South India feel a sense of distance and alienation from the world of ‘heritage’ as defined and managed by the government, while at the same time people are engaged in their own processes of meaning-making through the old objects they engage with and circulate on a daily basis. The objects studied in this thesis are not seen as pertaining to the ‘sleeping’ realm of antiquities and authorized heritage, but to the ‘waking’ realm of active circulation, use and transformation. Furthermore, in the variety of ways that people engage with and transform these objects we can see the negotiation of relationships with the past and identities in the present at a time of rapid social and economic change in India.
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Emmett, David Neil. "W.F.P. Burton (1886-1971) and Congolese agency : a biographical study of a Pentecostal mission." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2017. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/7357/.
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This thesis contributes originally to pentecostal historiography through bringing a pre-eminent figure in early British Pentecostalism into the limelight showing how Pentecostalism in Belgian Congo was pioneered by him alongside local agency. Together they furthered its development in the southeastern Katanga and Kasai provinces. Central to W.F.P. Burton’s contradictory and complex personality was a passionate desire to see the emancipation of humankind from the spiritual powers of darkness believing only Spirit-empowered local agency would enduringly prove effective. This thesis unevenly portrays Burton’s Congolese years by parsing biographical landmarks alongside his persistent attempts to co-labour with local agency. Burton’s ambitions might have been circumscribed by his birth into a notable family. Burton though, lived with a faith which believed for Spirit intervention in church communities converting lives, bringing physical healing and transforming regions. In the maelstrom following Congolese Independence, Burton’s belief in his own brand of indigenisation made him an outlier even among Pentecostals. This thesis argues such pentecostal faith engendered an idealism which frustratingly conflicted with those not sharing it in the way he understood and pursued it. It thus serves Pentecostals (holding a similar faith) and historians by clarifying his ideals and revealing the reasons for his frustrations.