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The Nordic welfare states – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – declared gender equality as a political ambition at an early stage. Consequently, research that documented the living conditions of women and their subordination... more
The Nordic welfare states – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – declared gender equality as a political ambition at an early stage. Consequently, research that documented the living conditions of women and their subordination in public and private social arenas has received some institutional and financial support. This chapter describes the development of feminist psychology within this context and
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This special issue of Feminism & Psychology has its origins in the Nordic countries. The scholars who have written the articles as well as we who have edited the issue, are all affiliated with universities and research institutes in... more
This special issue of Feminism & Psychology has its origins in the Nordic countries. The scholars who have written the articles as well as we who have edited the issue, are all affiliated with universities and research institutes in Denmark, Norway or Sweden.1 The articles report on studies that the researchers have carried out in a Nordic context. Why a ‘Nordic’ special issue? Is there anything special enough about feminism and psychology in these countries to warrant a special issue of this journal? We felt so when undertaking the task to edit the issue. We will point briefly to some of the reasons before presenting the research articles in the issue. The five Nordic countries are well known internationally for their history of gender equality politics, beginning in the 1950s and 1960s – especially the increasing numbers of women in political assemblies and governments and their comprehensive national welfare systems. Their ‘women-friendly’ welfare ideologies and policies are often seen as setting these countries apart from most other Western countries. When the state is felt to be a ‘friend’, there will be different connotations to being a feminist, as well as being a woman, than when the state is seen as an enemy. For instance, being able to use state-sponsored reforms and supports as levers in negotiations both at home and at work will inevitably have an impact on most women’s – and consequently many men’s – life choices. Thus, at least some aspects of women’s choices and personal actions in these countries can be understood by relating them to changes in the workings of these public support systems, and feminist research has highlighted such change processes. In
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ABSTRACT When young men unexpectedly take their own lives, those close to the deceased will ask themselves if there were any signs that might have indicated suicide in the near term. Ten young men, aged 18-30, were selected from a... more
ABSTRACT When young men unexpectedly take their own lives, those close to the deceased will ask themselves if there were any signs that might have indicated suicide in the near term. Ten young men, aged 18-30, were selected from a psychological autopsy study of suicides among individuals with no prior psychiatric treatment and no previous suicide attempts. In-depth interviews with mothers, fathers, friends, siblings and ex-partners for each suicide, as well as six suicide notes, were analysed. Guided by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), we explored possible warning signs of suicide. According to these informants, the young men did not disclose any plans of suicide or direct request for help prior to death. Rather four indirect signs, related to the psychological condition of the young men in the period prior to ending their life, emerged: 1) irreversibility of a mistaken decision; 2) desperation; 3) death as a threat; and 4) death as a place to go. Talk or actions indicating suicidality, as well as worrisome indirect appeals for emotional support, should always be taken seriously and investigated directly with the person, as appropriate responses to these signs may have the potential to save lives.
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This study explores the developmental history of ten young men who completed suicide in the transition to adulthood. The young men, aged 18-30, had no previous history of suicide attempts or treatment in mental health. In-depth interviews... more
This study explores the developmental history of ten young men who completed suicide in the transition to adulthood. The young men, aged 18-30, had no previous history of suicide attempts or treatment in mental health. In-depth interviews with four to eight informants for each suicide were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three developmental issues from early age onwards emerged: (a) unsuccessful in becoming independent; (b) weakened competence to deal with shame; and (c) trapped in anger. The capacity to regulate emotions like shame and anger could make certain men vulnerable to suicide when facing adult challenges and defeats.
Research Interests: Psychology, Anger, Death Studies, Personality, Depression, and 15 moreSuicide, Suicide prevention, Medicine, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Shame, Humans, Male, Young Adult, Autopsy, Self Concept, Adult, Psychological Stress, Internal- External Locus of Control, Attempted Suicide, and attitude to health
This study explored the final stages of the suicide process among six men characterized as maladaptive perfectionists. These men, aged 22 to 58, had no history of suicide attempts or mental health treatment. In-depth interviews with 5 to... more
This study explored the final stages of the suicide process among six men characterized as maladaptive perfectionists. These men, aged 22 to 58, had no history of suicide attempts or mental health treatment. In-depth interviews with 5 to 9 informants for each person were analyzed by using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three themes emerged from the analysis: (a) a cracking façade; (b) a total loss of coping ability; and (c) a total escape. Suicide was related to a shameful defeat that was not reversible, and a loss of the ability to handle such feelings of defeat and shame.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Personality, Suicide, Perfectionism (Psychology), Medicine, and 15 moreInterpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Social Desirability, Humans, OMEGA, Male, Young Adult, Social Adjustment, Middle Aged, Autopsy, Self Concept, Adult, Psychological Models, Internal- External Locus of Control, attitude to health, and Spouses
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Editor´s Introduction: Special issue of feminism and psycology in the context of Nordic welfare ideologies and policies
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How do emotions enter into children’s negotiated understandings and situated uses of categories of identity? This question guided a revisit to an ethnographic study of a multi-cultural context in Oakland, California. A focus group... more
How do emotions enter into children’s negotiated understandings and situated uses of categories of identity? This question guided a revisit to an ethnographic study of a multi-cultural context in Oakland, California. A focus group discussion among four Chinese American girls just graduating from elementary school and an interviewer, also Chinese American, was chosen for closer study. This secondary analysis focuses on how the girls engaged in school events and how in the interview they shared experiences of being excluded and rejected by peers. Thus, both reports about life in school and lived life in the group discussion were analyzed in ways that followed the girls’ individual and collective emotional dynamics. Emotional tension between using and being used by categories drove their stories about belonging, exclusion and subordination, and resistance. The girls’ handling of social identities in relation to language use, required activities, and girly appearance in school demonstrated how they were able to draw on an eclectic and intersecting mix of categories. In the containing setting of the focus group, the girls processed their raw emotional experience of being taunted and humiliated. In the process they could challenge and destabilize the meanings attached to the categories of identity used against them. Therefore, intersectional analyses cannot take any specific meanings of social categories such as gender, ethnicity/race, and age, as the starting points. Rather, in each specific instance, the meanings of social categories will emerge as the results of the analysis.
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was mainly because the principle of justice as balancing individual rights was associated with male hegemony in science as well as in society, while Gilligan incorporated the silenced voice of women, drawing upon gender-specific life... more
was mainly because the principle of justice as balancing individual rights was associated with male hegemony in science as well as in society, while Gilligan incorporated the silenced voice of women, drawing upon gender-specific life experiences. Gilligan was named Woman of the Year by the feminist magazine Ms. in 1984. She became a frequently cited theorist among authors from neighboring disciplines who claimed that women tend to develop differently from men, and in ways that are not easily recognized. Opponents as well as proponents of this idea were numerous, as were the reinterpretations of what she had actually claimed and proved. Gilligan herself became one of her own followers and defenders, bringing her own arguments further with new studies of the voices and development of selves in young women. How could this happen? The story of Gilligan’s book relies on the many analogies it evoked and the capacity of these analogies to enter and move other debates. Here was a young female scientist breaking away from her wellestablished male mentor, Lawrence Kohlberg, and turning her intellectual weapons at his theory. Until then there had been linear progress from Jean Piaget’s studies of conceptual knowledge among children to Kohlberg’s studies of moral reasoning. Kohlberg claimed that the advancement through stages in moral reasoning was analogous to acquiring understanding of logical operations. He created a psychological implementation of the political philosopher John Rawl’s definition of moral as the realm of abstract universal principles formulated by disembodied subjects. This script a female researcher questioning the universalism as it is assumed by established male researchers brings questions of gender to the forefront in several ways. It mirrors an emblematic claim of feminist theory: that there is a bias in modernist theories of knowledge that male proponents don’t
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Haavind, H. (1988). Should a gender neutral view of man be counted as a scientific ideal? Nordisk Psykologi, 40, 309–324. Psychology as a modern social science has been developed through the construction of neutral positions for the... more
Haavind, H. (1988). Should a gender neutral view of man be counted as a scientific ideal? Nordisk Psykologi, 40, 309–324. Psychology as a modern social science has been developed through the construction of neutral positions for the observation of human behavior. Gender neutrality in psychology is presented as a platform consisting of six legs. The building of the platform has solved certain theoretical problems and contributed to widening possibilities for social action. However, the neutral positions are based on certain presuppositions about reality. When these are explicitly formulated, it is demonstrated that masculinity has been transformed into an abstract norm for humanity. The article advocates the establishment of a gender specific view of man as an explicit frame for the understanding of human behavior. This recommendation leads psychology away from a vision of the individual capacities of man, towards a vision of the kinds of relations men and women may create, and shows how steps in self-refl...
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Abstract During four years (1978–82), 25–30 Norweigian women social scientists formed a research network of small local groups, studying ‘Women's mutual relations’ in various settings. Women's friendships, their cooperation in... more
Abstract During four years (1978–82), 25–30 Norweigian women social scientists formed a research network of small local groups, studying ‘Women's mutual relations’ in various settings. Women's friendships, their cooperation in factories and local communities and in women's organizations were the focus of our research. This article, however, is not about the results of our research—although some of them are reported in the notes—but we describe the organization of our association, its purposes, structure and positive results, as well as our tendencies to build up conflict, fractionalism and withdrawal. The research network was established in opposition to male social science, both with respect to the choice of its main themes and its organizational form. A supportive work style, a ‘horizontal’ structure and a playing down of conflicts was more or less deliberately chosen by the network members. We discuss here some of the types of conflict that developed in the network, and the ways we dealt with them. Most conflicts were either solved ‘talking through’ or handled by avoidance. We ask the question if deliberate conflict avoidance is functional for a feminist network of organization. The case is made for a ‘horizontal network organization as a positive and fruitful supplement to usual academic organization structure.
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First-person narratives are meaning-making devices that can be used as powerful tools to direct developmental changes. For young people who have endured difficulties in their lives, the selection and configuration of such experiences may... more
First-person narratives are meaning-making devices that can be used as powerful tools to direct developmental changes. For young people who have endured difficulties in their lives, the selection and configuration of such experiences may contribute in significant ways to how they come to understand themselves and what possibilities they hold. Repeated interviews with young people living in residential homes provided by Child Protection Services have demonstrated how the young people give accounts of their past and present as well as their future prospects. Some tell stories that speak of how things have turned out well despite everything that has troubled them. The hindrances to their development are turned around and adversity is spoken of as something from which they have benefitted. Others dwell on how things might have been better if only previous conditions had been otherwise. They get “stuck” because the things that could have made a difference belong to the past. The exploration of narrative configurations in the format of ”Despite all” and ”If only” may illuminate how personal accounts of events have significance in terms of subjectivation and further development. The configuration of self-narratives offers alternative understanding of how out- of-home placement sometimes fails as a measure to support development and how some young people manage despite adversity.
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Supplemental material, Appendix_B_JAR_rev for Discovering One's Own Way: Adolescent Girls' Different Pathways Into and Out of Self-Harm by Line Indrevoll Stänicke, Hanne Haavind, Frida Gullestad Rø and Siri Erika Gullestad in... more
Supplemental material, Appendix_B_JAR_rev for Discovering One's Own Way: Adolescent Girls' Different Pathways Into and Out of Self-Harm by Line Indrevoll Stänicke, Hanne Haavind, Frida Gullestad Rø and Siri Erika Gullestad in Journal of Adolescent Research
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The present paper presents a case study of long-term (121 sessions over three years), integrative therapy with "Cora," a client with a history of severe relational trauma that had led to difficulty in forming close... more
The present paper presents a case study of long-term (121 sessions over three years), integrative therapy with "Cora," a client with a history of severe relational trauma that had led to difficulty in forming close relationships, and a history of hospitalization resulting from a series of suicide attempts. Despite these challenges, Cora reported a highly satisfactory outcome at the end of therapy. Using the format of a theory-building case study (McLeod, 2010; Stiles, 2007), qualitative analysis of session evaluations, session transcripts, and post therapy interviews were used to investigate how both the client and therapist understood the process of therapy and why it had been successful. Data from quantitative process and outcome measures were analyzed to provide contextual information. In spite of repeated challenges and difficult therapeutic situations, Cora and the therapist were able to establish a recurring pattern of interaction that they found relevant and product...
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This study aimed to explore how the life history of suicide victims with no history of treatment in mental health care or of attempted suicide seemed to presdispose them to maladaptive perfectionism. The study is part of an ongoing... more
This study aimed to explore how the life history of suicide victims with no history of treatment in mental health care or of attempted suicide seemed to presdispose them to maladaptive perfectionism. The study is part of an ongoing psychological autopsy study. It aimed to produce a phenomenological understanding of the vulnerability to suicide related to perfectionism, based on the life history of six male suicide victims aged 22 to 58. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyze the interview data of 41 key informants. Three main themes emerged: (a) exposure to high expectations combined with little recognition and warmth; (b) reduced ability to cope with failures and weaknesses; and (c) fear of emotional rejection. Together these themes illustrate that feelings of shame, mainly resulting from an unfulfilled need for attachment, a desire for love and recognition may relate to maladaptive perfectionism, which influences the suicidal process. The results may have important implications for suicide prevention programs.
Research Interests: Psychology, Suicide, Perfectionism (Psychology), Medicine, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, and 14 moreShame, Social Desirability, Humans, OMEGA, Male, Young Adult, Feeling, Social Adjustment, Vulnerable Populations, Self Concept, Adult, Psychological Models, Internal- External Locus of Control, and attitude to health
Persistent medically unexplained symptoms have debilitating consequences for adolescents, dramatically altering their social world and future aspirations. Few studies have focused on social and moral aspects of illness experience relevant... more
Persistent medically unexplained symptoms have debilitating consequences for adolescents, dramatically altering their social world and future aspirations. Few studies have focused on social and moral aspects of illness experience relevant to adolescents. In this study, the aim is to explore these aspects in depth by focusing on a single case and to address how young people attempt to create social accountability in a search for meaning when facing illness and adversity. The study is based on a view of meaning as dialogically constituted during the research process, which calls for the use of collaborative film methodology and life-mode interviewing. With a dialogic-performative approach to a narrative emplotment of medically unexplained symptoms, we present Peter as intentional and purposive, and as a person who in a reflective process of meaning making claimed his own voice and developed his own strategies of coping with his illness. The analysis brings forward a narrative of suffe...
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The changing organization of events in time has two facets – the making of history and the making of personal development – that are rarely examined in close conjunction. In this chapter I seek to bring history and development together... more
The changing organization of events in time has two facets – the making of history and the making of personal development – that are rarely examined in close conjunction. In this chapter I seek to bring history and development together through a set of analytic procedures that my co-researchers and I are using as we study how a group of children in contemporary Norway are transferring themselves from the age of twelve to fourteen. These children are moving through an age-related social transformation. The institutional marker is the transfer from elementary school (which children in Norway attend between ages 6 and 12) to secondary school (for ages 13 to 15). As they make the transition, children draw on discursive markers to prove themselves as teenagers, and thus, not children any more. This is a personal change where youths-in-the-making leave something behind, and, in the process, may claim to be more themselves. Together and separately the children are leaving a social arrangem...
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Kjaerlighet i var tid â hva er det som skjer? Dette er vel et sporsmal som roper etter en feministisk analyse. Anna G. JA³nasdA³ttir og Ann Fergusson gir svar â sammen med 17 andre forfattere. Dermed foyer de seg inn i rekken av... more
Kjaerlighet i var tid â hva er det som skjer? Dette er vel et sporsmal som roper etter en feministisk analyse. Anna G. JA³nasdA³ttir og Ann Fergusson gir svar â sammen med 17 andre forfattere. Dermed foyer de seg inn i rekken av samfunnsforskere som studerer kjonnsrelasjoner nar slike relasjoner er under sosial og kulturell endring. Det er det heteroseksuelle kjaerlighetsformatet det dreier seg om. Ikke fordi disse forfatterne avviser kjaerlighet mellom personer av samme kjonn, men fordi det er heterofiliens gate de sirkler omkring. Hva er det som star pa spill nar en mann og en kvinne beveger seg inn i et felles kjaerlighetsprosjekt? I sin videste forstand er kjaerlighet den subjektive opplevelsen av a elske en annen person pa en mate som kan fa denne andre til a elske igjen. Men her er det et mer spesifikt fenomen de er ute etter: Det gjelder kjaerlighet som er kjennetegnet ved (A) at erotiske praksiser og/eller forestillinger og fantasier inngar som et konstituerende element,...
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This study explores suicide in relation to perfectionism among individuals who died by suicide with no history of treatment in mental health care or of suicide attempts. The study is part of an ongoing psychological autopsy study... more
This study explores suicide in relation to perfectionism among individuals who died by suicide with no history of treatment in mental health care or of suicide attempts. The study is part of an ongoing psychological autopsy study (PA-study). It aimed to produce a phenomenological understanding of the dynamics/processes from perfectionism to suicide among 6 men aged 22 to 58. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyze the interview data of 41 key informants. Based on the informants' narratives, it seemed that perfectionism left these men less able to cope with their (self-perceived) inability to meet their high expectations. Four themes emerged from analysis: 1) striving for success; 2) fear of failure; 3) keeping up the façade; and 4) rigidity. The results may be important in the prevention of nonclinical suicides, a group that is particularly difficult to identify, especially if the deceased have been regarded as very successful in many areas.
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In this article the aim was to explore how therapists handle suicide risk assessment in connection with patient’s experience of alliance in psychotherapy. In a naturalistic, longitudinal study, 19 suicidal patients were interviewed three... more
In this article the aim was to explore how therapists handle suicide risk assessment in connection with patient’s experience of alliance in psychotherapy. In a naturalistic, longitudinal study, 19 suicidal patients were interviewed three times: just before they started in therapy (T1), during the early phase (T2), and again after one year (T3). 17 therapists were interviewed separately at T2 and T3. The interviews explored the personal experiences of both patients and therapists, including their handling of suicidality and the quality of their relationships. An interpretative-phenomenological approach was used to analyze the research interviews case by case, as seen from the perspective of both therapist and patient in each dyad. Because of their duties within the Norwegian Healthcare System, all therapists are obliged to follow the National Guidelines in suicide risk assessment. The results indicate that there are two pitfalls for therapists: to avoid the topic of suicidality and u...
... trend. 9 Min poäng var att FSEBS:s evolutions Side: 442. berättelser i detta skiljer sig avsevärt från den äldre eugeniken. Däremot ... boken. Som bland andra sociologerna Adele E. Clarke och Nikolas Rose har påpekat (Clarke m.fl.... more
... trend. 9 Min poäng var att FSEBS:s evolutions Side: 442. berättelser i detta skiljer sig avsevärt från den äldre eugeniken. Däremot ... boken. Som bland andra sociologerna Adele E. Clarke och Nikolas Rose har påpekat (Clarke m.fl. 2003 ...
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2 Early relationship struggles: A case study of alliance formation and reparation Aim: A good alliance established during the early sessions of psychotherapy will most likely lead to a good outcome. As a result, there is much to learn... more
2 Early relationship struggles: A case study of alliance formation and reparation Aim: A good alliance established during the early sessions of psychotherapy will most likely lead to a good outcome. As a result, there is much to learn from a case in which both the patient and therapist regarded the alliance as being poor for an extended period (the first 15 sessions), yet still managed to develop a solid and stable alliance and reached a successful completion of therapy. The aim is to give a close inspection of this reparation process. Methods and analysis: Ratings on the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) were used to guide the strategic selection of a case in which a depressed woman in her thirties sought help from an experienced senior male psychotherapist. A detailed analysis of the therapeutic dialogue brought forth what the parties expected from each other and how they responded to explicit and implicit expressions about how to proceed. Post-termination interviews revealed their...
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This study explores suicide in relation to perfectionism among individuals who died by suicide with no history of treatment in mental health care or of suicide attempts. The study is part of an ongoing psychological autopsy study... more
This study explores suicide in relation to perfectionism among individuals who died by suicide with no history of treatment in mental health care or of suicide attempts. The study is part of an ongoing psychological autopsy study (PA-study). It aimed to produce a phenomenological understanding of the dynamics/processes from perfectionism to suicide among 6 men aged 22 to 58. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyze the interview data of 41 key informants. Based on the informants ’ narratives, it seemed that perfectionism left these men less able to cope with their (self-perceived) inability to meet their high expectations. Four themes emerged from analysis: 1) striving for success; 2) fear of failure; 3) keeping up the façade; and 4) rigidity. The results may be important in the prevention of nonclinical
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Shared care and chain of care are core concepts for analysing empirical variation of care arrangements for small children, involving more than one caregiver. The Norwegian context exemplifies an increased tendency among mothers to share... more
Shared care and chain of care are core concepts for analysing empirical variation of care arrangements for small children, involving more than one caregiver. The Norwegian context exemplifies an increased tendency among mothers to share the care of their young child with a co-parent at home, and with professional care providers at day care centres. Instead of drawing on prevailing psychological models and standards to assess the quality of arrangements of care during early childhood, we have tried to learn from how caregivers go about in their practice. In this respect we count parents as well as care providers in childcare centres as practitioners. Based upon parents’ detailed descriptions of their children’s everyday life, the paper analyses how parents involve others in the chain of care that they organise. Three cases of sharing are presented and discussed: same-gendered parents who demonstrate intensive parental sharing, parents who share with professional caregivers at day car...
Editor´s Introduction: Special issue of feminism and psycology in the context of Nordic welfare ideologies and policies