'Working at Disability': a qualitative study of the meaning of health and disability for women with physical impairments

Seven women with cerebral palsy and one woman with a spinal cord injury were interviewed about the meaning of health and disability in their lives. The most compelling feature of their narratives was the pressure to define their health by able-bodied standards. These women 'worked at' fitting their bodies and experiences into the limited societal understanding of a body. Paradoxically, the women seemed to come to a deeper personal understanding of disability and themselves through this work. The women's stories of health, impairment and disability, as told in the interviews, blended into rich chapters of their life stories.     

Decontextualizing disability in the crime mystery genre: the case of the invisible handicap

The depiction of physical impairments in popular culture reflects as well as shapes public attitudes towards persons with disabilities. Scholars have begun to document images of disabilities (the 'what') in venues such as literary fiction, motion pictures, advertisements, and television programming but there has been less attention directed toward exploring the techniques through which images are delivered (the 'how'). In this paper we explore how the story telling devices of disability—in-dialogue versus disability-in-action and the endowment of characters with compensating characteristics are employed in one segment of popular culture—literary fiction, one genre within this class—the detective novel, and one type of physical impairment—the deaf detective. Our findings suggest that the use of these devices is historically rooted and how they transform handicaps and disabilities into physical impairments thus decontextualizing what is essentially a social issue into one that is ascribed to individuals.     

Toward a carnivalesque analysis of hacking: A qualitative study of Iranian hackers

This study sought to analyze Iranian hackers’ lived experiences based on the concept of the carnival of crime in cultural criminology. Fifty-four in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with young hackers. Moreover, their behaviors were observed along with those of other hackers. The data were coded through a thematic analysis using MAXQDA software. The study's findings indicated that cyberspace had created a carnivalesque utopia that allowed the young Iranian hackers to experience the pleasure of crime. By trespassing the rational frameworks of the modern world and altering the trends of knowledge creation as a means for subjugation, Iranian hackers contribute to the meaning-construction policies of those in power and challenge authoritarian aesthetics by invading their electronic domain. It was also found that the carnivalesque lives of hackers provided them with a variety of opportunities for disrupting the rhythms of production and creating an underground carnivalesque economy based on their level of knowledge.     

A qualitative exploratory study of substance abuse prevention outcomes in a heterogeneous prevention system

The prevention of abuse of alcohol and other drugs is a concern for parents, policy-makers, educators, and social service professionals. Prevention programs are sponsored by many different types of social and educational agencies using a variety of intervention strategies. This article reports a study of a sample of such programs in the state of Nevada. The overall prevention system in the state espouses a "risk and resiliency" approach to prevention. Focus group methodology was used to study perception of outcomes of these programs from the viewpoints of various program stakeholders (youth participating in the programs, parents of participants and program staff). Analysis of the qualitative data yielded findings about potential outcomes as well as implicit program theories. Implications for future planning efforts as well as further evaluation efforts are discussed.     

Pulsar: a qualitative study of a substance abuse prevention program

The purpose of this study was to explore the risk, protective factors, and resiliency characteristics of students selected to participate in the Police, Public Educators and Peers Utilizing the Leadership Skills of Students At Risk/As Resources (PULSAR) program. The study is significant as it employed qualitative methods and a resiliency-focused framework to evaluate a substance abuse prevention program. Findings revealed that the PULSAR program: facilitated self-reflection on student negative attitudes toward substance abuse and positive attitudes toward school; allowed students to gain skills that addressed individual needs; and fostered relationships between the students and adult facilitators in a safe environment. These results speak to increased protective factors and resiliency characteristics, but were not found to be constant with each student. Implications for continued research on the PULSAR program are addressed.     

Rabbinical response to domestic violence: A qualitative study

Clergy, including Rabbis, though not specifically trained to provide domestic violence (DV) counseling, are often now considered formal helpers because of the active role they have taken in addressing DV issues among congregants. Participants were presented with two vignettes about couples engaged in conflict and asked to describe how they would respond to each. The Rabbis in this sample, while willing and desiring to help, also talked much about their discomfort with providing advice, as they did not feel qualified to help or to provide advice. Implications for social work practitioners and educators will be discussed.     

Toward total student health: A qualitative pilot study

Objective: Colleges should aim to cultivate healthy behaviors among students by addressing alterations in wellness students view as important. The purpose of this study was to determine the self-perceived wellness-related concerns and behaviors of college students. Participants: Thirty-seven undergraduate students participated in this study between January and March 2017. Methods: Focus groups served as a data collection method. Groups were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Directed and conventional approaches to data analyses were employed. Results: Participants expressed concern regarding four campus wellness topics: nutrition, economics, mental health, and campus safety. Participants offered solutions for improving campus wellness, representing a fifth theme. Conclusions: Health concerns for college students and realistic solutions to address concerns were identified across focus groups. Overall, students cared about their own health, as well as the well-being of other students. Future directions include conducting a Web-based survey among students to assess prevalence and impact of select health and wellness topics.     

Everyday life of persons with intellectual disability living in residential settings: a systematic review of qualitative studies

This article presents a systematic review of studies published between November 2010 and November 2014 about the everyday life of adults with intellectual disability as viewed from their own perspective. Everyday life refers to an interdisciplinary concept including approaches attentive to the mundane and to ordinary routines of social relations and practices. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. The review was carried out as an interpretive synthesis. Findings from the included studies revealed neglect of participation regarding the wishes, self-determination, choice and control of persons with intellectual disability in their everyday lives. This neglect demonstrates the limitations persons with intellectual disability face as agents and adult citizens in their everyday life, and shows violation of fundamental human rights.     

Development of a framework for classifying threat and neglect in childhood: A qualitative study

Quantification of childhood adversity has typically involved a cumulative risk approach in which total number of discrete adversities serves as an index of overall risk. However, this approach fails to account for the growing evidence of differential outcomes following exposure to childhood adversities. An alternative approach adopts a dimensional perspective, with growing evidence for distinct developmental impacts associated with exposure to threat (violence/abuse) and deprivation (neglect). This study developed a framework for the classification of these dimensions through a thematic analysis of health practitioners' views and accounts of different forms of childhood adversity. Ten health practitioners experienced in working with children with challenging behaviours and neurodevelopmental disorders participated in semi-structured interviews regarding definitions and examples of six categories of adversity: physical/emotional/sexual abuse, physical/emotional neglect, and domestic and family violence. The qualitative analysis identified 23 themes across the six categories of adversity, along with two overarching themes regarding ambiguity of classifying exposures and non-specific outcomes of exposures. Themes were integrated to provide a framework and checklist for classifying indicators of exposure to threat and deprivation. The findings offer a framework and checklist for the assessment of threat and deprivation that will allow for further testing of the dimensional risk model.     

Gambling-related embezzlement in the workplace: a qualitative study

People with severe gambling problems typically first spend all their available money on gambling and then resort to borrowing, selling personal property and other ways of procuring more money for gambling. Some problem gamblers commit economic crimes. This investigation examined gambling-related embezzlement in the workplace, an aspect of problem gambling that may severely harm the gambler, significant others and the employer. The methods used are the study of newspaper articles and qualitative interviews with 18 informants, including professionals in workplace security and drug-use prevention, therapists specializing in problem gambling treatment, counsellors from mutual support societies, and recovered problem gamblers who had embezzled. Gambling-related embezzlement often progresses in a characteristic sequence shaped by specific processes in which the gambler’s thoughts and emotions interact systemically with the monetary losses caused by participating in commercial gambling and the opportunity to embezzle money in the workplace. In this study, criminological theory of white collar crime usefully complemented psychological theories of problem gambling. It is concluded that a processual perspective, in addition to consideration of psychological and environmental factors, is valuable for understanding the progression to severe problem gambling.     

Transition to adulthood and recession: a qualitative study

While the transition to adulthood has been broadly examined, less is known about the impact of economic recession on the well-being and psychosocial functioning of young people. The present study used qualitative interviews with 12 college students to understand their experience. Consensual qualitative research was used to analyse data and develop core themes around young people's experiences. Interviews focused on how young people perceived the impact of the economic recession on their social context and on emotional, behavioural, and interpersonal dimensions. Although students showed a proactive attitude in dealing with the crisis, findings highlighted a negative impact on psychological functioning characterized by feelings of instability and helplessness and by difficulties in planning for the future. Other general themes emerged, including disengagement from community participation expressed by feelings of isolation, lack of interest, and distrust. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.     

The core variables of symbolic-experiential therapy: a qualitative study

Symbolic-experiential therapists have been criticized for not adequately operationalizing symbolic theory and empirically validating their methods. Although pioneering researchers have noted that the task of studying and evaluating humanistic therapies is complex, we agree that all therapists need to be held accountable for their interventions. In this article we identify the core variables underlying symbolic-experiential therapy that emerged from a research study using grounded theory. The inductively derived conceptual framework for symbolic-experiential therapy included: (a) Generating an interpersonal set; (b) creating a suprasystem; (c) stimulating a symbolic context; (d) activating stress within the system; (e) creating symbolic experience; and (f) moving out of the system.     

Gay men's experiences coming out online: A qualitative study

The current study employed qualitative methodology to investigate the experiences of 12 gay men who came out online, using Facebook. Analysis of coding data yielded several key themes. First, gay men discussed a range of experiences that influenced their online disclosure, including homophobia, internalized homophobia, and previous salient sexual identity disclosures. Participants also commonly expressed a variety of goals and concerns about coming out online, including improving relationships and loss of friends, respectively. Finally, gay men identified several benefits to coming out on Facebook, including increased efficiency in coming out as compared to face-to-face disclosures, increased authenticity, and decreased ambiguity about their sexuality. Results are discussed within the context of literature on men's coming-out experiences and online identity management.     

Risking the qualitative study of risk

The topic of risk has received extensive coverage in recent years. Hundreds of articles and numerous books have dealt with risk in occupations, safety, medicine, public health, and environmental pollution. However, in qualitative studies the subjective assessment of risk in everyday life have been badly neglected. Some of the reasons for this neglect, and its consequences for risk research, have been outlined in this paper.     

Charities, Authority and Disabled People: a qualitative study

Disabled people are greatly under-represented in positions of authority within traditional charities. Using qualitative data from original empirical research, this paper identifies some of the causes of their exclusion. The values, attitudes and beliefs of those who govern traditional charities accord largely with the 'personal tragedy' or medical model of disability, and a major consequence of this perspective is that disabled people are confined to roles in which they have little opportunity to exercise power in the traditional voluntary sector.