During the last decades immigration has been amongst the hottest issues of political debate in mo... more During the last decades immigration has been amongst the hottest issues of political debate in most European Countries. At the same time, research aiming to explore the common place representations of immigration in public discourse has proliferated. Most existing studies, however, tend to focus mainly on people aged over 25 years old, assuming more or less explicitly that teenagers or people in their early twenties are either unaware or disinterested in discussing major political issues. In contrast to the above assumption, the present study explored the construction of immigration in young people’s focus group discussions in Greece. The participants were 26 students in Athens and Thessaloniki (aged from 19-24 years old), who comprised four focus groups. The discussion in each group was organized on the basis of a plan of topics related to the reception of immigrants on the part of the Greek people and the consequences of the immigrants’ entrance in Greece. The analysis which used the conceptual and methodological tools of discursive and rhetorical psychology indicated that the construction of immigrants in Greece as “far more than the country can afford” was common place in participants’ discourse. A space metaphor, a representation of Greece as a bounded area the borders of which should be secured through immigration restriction and control was largely mobilized. Furthermore, immigration was mainly discussed within a frame of ‘law and order’. A metonymy was widespread in participants’ talk as the sub-category of ‘illegal immigrants’ was used in order to construct the whole category of ‘immigrants’.
Research project exploring the common place representations of immigration and racism in young pe... more Research project exploring the common place representations of immigration and racism in young peoples’ focus group discussions in Greece. The participants were 26 students in Athens and Thessaloniki, who comprised four focus groups. The discussion in each group was organized on the basis of a plan of topics related to the reception of racism and immigrants on the part of Greek people. The data analysis was based in the conceptual and methodological tools of discursive and rhetorical psychology and focused a) on the content of the arguments raised by the participants in order to talk about immigration and racism and b) on the organization of arguments and the rhetorical strategies used by the participants when they talk about these issues
During the last decades immigration has been amongst the hottest issues of political debate in mo... more During the last decades immigration has been amongst the hottest issues of political debate in most European Countries. At the same time, research aiming to explore the common place representations of immigration in public discourse has proliferated. Most existing studies, however, tend to focus mainly on people aged over 25 years old, assuming more or less explicitly that teenagers or people in their early twenties are either unaware or disinterested in discussing major political issues. In contrast to the above assumption, the present study explored the construction of immigration in young people’s focus group discussions in Greece. The participants were 26 students in Athens and Thessaloniki (aged from 19-24 years old), who comprised four focus groups. The discussion in each group was organized on the basis of a plan of topics related to the reception of immigrants on the part of the Greek people and the consequences of the immigrants’ entrance in Greece. The analysis which used the conceptual and methodological tools of discursive and rhetorical psychology indicated that the construction of immigrants in Greece as “far more than the country can afford” was common place in participants’ discourse. A space metaphor, a representation of Greece as a bounded area the borders of which should be secured through immigration restriction and control was largely mobilized. Furthermore, immigration was mainly discussed within a frame of ‘law and order’. A metonymy was widespread in participants’ talk as the sub-category of ‘illegal immigrants’ was used in order to construct the whole category of ‘immigrants’.
Several studies have demonstrated that catastrophizing is a type of cognitive error assumed to be... more Several studies have demonstrated that catastrophizing is a type of cognitive error assumed to be common to both depression and anxiety. Based on these findings, this literature review focused on the assessment of catastrophizing as a cognitive error and coping strategy. Twenty-two questionnaires were identified and their psychometric properties were reported. Furthermore, the differences between the questionnaires and items intended to assess catastrophizing were discussed in terms of structure and content. Even though it is premature to use available empirical data to draw conclusions about the superiority of any instrument for assessing catastrophizing, a number of important factors for the development of catastrophizing items has been identified. These factors are related to the structure (presence or absence of hypothetical situations), the valence (positive, negative or neutral items), the nature (ambiguous or anxiety-/depression-provoking), and the severity (presence of certain words with a substantial affective or evaluative meaning) of the items.
The first goal of this literature review was to address important issues in constructing a measur... more The first goal of this literature review was to address important issues in constructing a measure of self-esteem for street children. The issues arose and discussed were related to the cognitive developmental level of the target group; the multicultural assessment in association with the concept of self-esteem; the avoidance of biases; and psychometric issues. The second aim of this study was to evaluate existing psychometric tools used in assessing self-esteem. The tests were discussed in terms of their suitability for use with street children and their cross-cultural appropriateness. The third goal was to present information derived from the literature on research and assessment methods used with street children. Based on the existing literature, this paper offers practical and theoretical solutions for overcoming challenges in test development; creates an empirical framework for developing future cross-cultural and developmental sensitive methods for measuring the impact of Mobile School on self-esteem. Finally, a new qualitative method for conducting research with street children was developed based on one of the existing measures developed by the Evaluation Strategy Team of the Mobile School
Based on previous research on the colour-object interference phenomenon, the purpose of this stud... more Based on previous research on the colour-object interference phenomenon, the purpose of this study was to determine if distractor repetition and habituation to irrelevant stimuli would lead to reduction of interference and have a facilitatory effect on children’s general performance. Thirty-two children between 5.0 and 6.75 years of age participated in two conditions: high stimulus variability and low stimulus variability. The two conditions varied with regards to the number of presented stimuli, which included meaningful pictures and abstract shapes. The findings revealed colour-object interference in the high stimulus variability, but not in the low stimulus variability condition. Response times increased linearly over the experimental trials in both conditions. Furthermore, in the high stimulus variability condition, error percentages were higher when naming the colour of meaningful pictures than when naming colours of abstract forms. This study provides further support for the view that colour-object interference is an expression of executive attentional control. The reduction of interference in this particular selective attention task and stimulus set can be attributed to habituation to irrelevant stimuli as a result of distractor repetition.
Although the evidence for a parental role in the aetiology for the development and maintenance of... more Although the evidence for a parental role in the aetiology for the development and maintenance of anxiety in children would seem to highlight the importance of involving the parents in the treatment, the studies exploring the additive value of parental involvement in child treatment came up with contradictory results (de Groot et al., 2007; Bodden et al., 2008). According to the review of Creswell and Cartwright-Hatton (2007) it appears that CBT with parent involvement, in most cases, is better than no intervention. Yet, it is not proved whether it is significantly more effective than child-only CBT.
Η εργασία αυτή διερευνά τις αναπαραστάσεις της μετανάστευσης στην Ελλάδα και του ρατσισμού στο λό... more Η εργασία αυτή διερευνά τις αναπαραστάσεις της μετανάστευσης στην Ελλάδα και του ρατσισμού στο λόγο νέων που συμμετείχαν σε ομάδες εστίασης. Η ανάλυση του απομαγνητοφωνημένου υλικού που προέκυψε από τις ομάδες εστίασης βασίστηκε στις αρχές της Ανάλυσης Λόγου (Potter & Wetherell, 1987) και της Ρητορικής Ψυχολογίας (Billig, 1987) και επικεντρώθηκε στο περιεχόμενο των επιχειρημάτων που αναπτύσσουν οι συμμετέχοντες προκειμένου να μιλήσουν για τη μετανάστευση αλλά και για το ρατσισμό καθώς και στην οργάνωση των επιχειρημάτων και στις ρητορικές στρατηγικές που χρησιμοποιούν οι συμμετέχοντες όταν μιλούν για τα ζητήματα αυτά. Η ανάλυση των δεδομένων οργανώθηκε γύρω από τρεις βασικές θεματικές κατηγορίες. Συγκεκριμένα, οι πρώτες δύο αναφέρονται στην πιθανή σχέση της μετανάστευσης με την εγκληματικότητα και την οικονομική ανασφάλεια, ενώ η τρίτη εστιάζει στις αναπαραστάσεις του ρατσισμού έτσι όπως αυτές κατασκευάστηκαν στο λόγο των συμμετεχόντων. Μέσα σε κάθε κατηγορία, εμπεριέχονται αποσπάσματα που είναι αντιπροσωπευτικά κοινών γραμμών επιχειρηματολογίας που αναπτύχθηκαν στις ομάδες εστίασης.
Research project exploring the common place representations of immigration and racism in young peoples’ focus group discussions in Greece. The participants were 26 students in Athens and Thessaloniki, who comprised four focus groups. The discussion in each group was organized on the basis of a plan of topics related to the reception of racism and immigrants on the part of Greek people. The data analysis was based in the conceptual and methodological tools of discursive and rhetorical psychology and focused a) on the content of the arguments raised by the participants in order to talk about immigration and racism and b) on the organization of arguments and the rhetorical strategies used by the participants when they talk about these issues.
Godzisz, P. & Viggiani, G. (eds.) Running through Hurdles: Obstacles in the Access to Justice for Victims of Anti-LGBTI Hate Crimes, Warsaw: Lambda Warsaw Association, 2018
During the last decades immigration has been amongst the hottest issues of political debate in mo... more During the last decades immigration has been amongst the hottest issues of political debate in most European Countries. At the same time, research aiming to explore the common place representations of immigration in public discourse has proliferated. Most existing studies, however, tend to focus mainly on people aged over 25 years old, assuming more or less explicitly that teenagers or people in their early twenties are either unaware or disinterested in discussing major political issues. In contrast to the above assumption, the present study explored the construction of immigration in young people’s focus group discussions in Greece. The participants were 26 students in Athens and Thessaloniki (aged from 19-24 years old), who comprised four focus groups. The discussion in each group was organized on the basis of a plan of topics related to the reception of immigrants on the part of the Greek people and the consequences of the immigrants’ entrance in Greece. The analysis which used the conceptual and methodological tools of discursive and rhetorical psychology indicated that the construction of immigrants in Greece as “far more than the country can afford” was common place in participants’ discourse. A space metaphor, a representation of Greece as a bounded area the borders of which should be secured through immigration restriction and control was largely mobilized. Furthermore, immigration was mainly discussed within a frame of ‘law and order’. A metonymy was widespread in participants’ talk as the sub-category of ‘illegal immigrants’ was used in order to construct the whole category of ‘immigrants’.
Research project exploring the common place representations of immigration and racism in young pe... more Research project exploring the common place representations of immigration and racism in young peoples’ focus group discussions in Greece. The participants were 26 students in Athens and Thessaloniki, who comprised four focus groups. The discussion in each group was organized on the basis of a plan of topics related to the reception of racism and immigrants on the part of Greek people. The data analysis was based in the conceptual and methodological tools of discursive and rhetorical psychology and focused a) on the content of the arguments raised by the participants in order to talk about immigration and racism and b) on the organization of arguments and the rhetorical strategies used by the participants when they talk about these issues
During the last decades immigration has been amongst the hottest issues of political debate in mo... more During the last decades immigration has been amongst the hottest issues of political debate in most European Countries. At the same time, research aiming to explore the common place representations of immigration in public discourse has proliferated. Most existing studies, however, tend to focus mainly on people aged over 25 years old, assuming more or less explicitly that teenagers or people in their early twenties are either unaware or disinterested in discussing major political issues. In contrast to the above assumption, the present study explored the construction of immigration in young people’s focus group discussions in Greece. The participants were 26 students in Athens and Thessaloniki (aged from 19-24 years old), who comprised four focus groups. The discussion in each group was organized on the basis of a plan of topics related to the reception of immigrants on the part of the Greek people and the consequences of the immigrants’ entrance in Greece. The analysis which used the conceptual and methodological tools of discursive and rhetorical psychology indicated that the construction of immigrants in Greece as “far more than the country can afford” was common place in participants’ discourse. A space metaphor, a representation of Greece as a bounded area the borders of which should be secured through immigration restriction and control was largely mobilized. Furthermore, immigration was mainly discussed within a frame of ‘law and order’. A metonymy was widespread in participants’ talk as the sub-category of ‘illegal immigrants’ was used in order to construct the whole category of ‘immigrants’.
Several studies have demonstrated that catastrophizing is a type of cognitive error assumed to be... more Several studies have demonstrated that catastrophizing is a type of cognitive error assumed to be common to both depression and anxiety. Based on these findings, this literature review focused on the assessment of catastrophizing as a cognitive error and coping strategy. Twenty-two questionnaires were identified and their psychometric properties were reported. Furthermore, the differences between the questionnaires and items intended to assess catastrophizing were discussed in terms of structure and content. Even though it is premature to use available empirical data to draw conclusions about the superiority of any instrument for assessing catastrophizing, a number of important factors for the development of catastrophizing items has been identified. These factors are related to the structure (presence or absence of hypothetical situations), the valence (positive, negative or neutral items), the nature (ambiguous or anxiety-/depression-provoking), and the severity (presence of certain words with a substantial affective or evaluative meaning) of the items.
The first goal of this literature review was to address important issues in constructing a measur... more The first goal of this literature review was to address important issues in constructing a measure of self-esteem for street children. The issues arose and discussed were related to the cognitive developmental level of the target group; the multicultural assessment in association with the concept of self-esteem; the avoidance of biases; and psychometric issues. The second aim of this study was to evaluate existing psychometric tools used in assessing self-esteem. The tests were discussed in terms of their suitability for use with street children and their cross-cultural appropriateness. The third goal was to present information derived from the literature on research and assessment methods used with street children. Based on the existing literature, this paper offers practical and theoretical solutions for overcoming challenges in test development; creates an empirical framework for developing future cross-cultural and developmental sensitive methods for measuring the impact of Mobile School on self-esteem. Finally, a new qualitative method for conducting research with street children was developed based on one of the existing measures developed by the Evaluation Strategy Team of the Mobile School
Based on previous research on the colour-object interference phenomenon, the purpose of this stud... more Based on previous research on the colour-object interference phenomenon, the purpose of this study was to determine if distractor repetition and habituation to irrelevant stimuli would lead to reduction of interference and have a facilitatory effect on children’s general performance. Thirty-two children between 5.0 and 6.75 years of age participated in two conditions: high stimulus variability and low stimulus variability. The two conditions varied with regards to the number of presented stimuli, which included meaningful pictures and abstract shapes. The findings revealed colour-object interference in the high stimulus variability, but not in the low stimulus variability condition. Response times increased linearly over the experimental trials in both conditions. Furthermore, in the high stimulus variability condition, error percentages were higher when naming the colour of meaningful pictures than when naming colours of abstract forms. This study provides further support for the view that colour-object interference is an expression of executive attentional control. The reduction of interference in this particular selective attention task and stimulus set can be attributed to habituation to irrelevant stimuli as a result of distractor repetition.
Although the evidence for a parental role in the aetiology for the development and maintenance of... more Although the evidence for a parental role in the aetiology for the development and maintenance of anxiety in children would seem to highlight the importance of involving the parents in the treatment, the studies exploring the additive value of parental involvement in child treatment came up with contradictory results (de Groot et al., 2007; Bodden et al., 2008). According to the review of Creswell and Cartwright-Hatton (2007) it appears that CBT with parent involvement, in most cases, is better than no intervention. Yet, it is not proved whether it is significantly more effective than child-only CBT.
Η εργασία αυτή διερευνά τις αναπαραστάσεις της μετανάστευσης στην Ελλάδα και του ρατσισμού στο λό... more Η εργασία αυτή διερευνά τις αναπαραστάσεις της μετανάστευσης στην Ελλάδα και του ρατσισμού στο λόγο νέων που συμμετείχαν σε ομάδες εστίασης. Η ανάλυση του απομαγνητοφωνημένου υλικού που προέκυψε από τις ομάδες εστίασης βασίστηκε στις αρχές της Ανάλυσης Λόγου (Potter & Wetherell, 1987) και της Ρητορικής Ψυχολογίας (Billig, 1987) και επικεντρώθηκε στο περιεχόμενο των επιχειρημάτων που αναπτύσσουν οι συμμετέχοντες προκειμένου να μιλήσουν για τη μετανάστευση αλλά και για το ρατσισμό καθώς και στην οργάνωση των επιχειρημάτων και στις ρητορικές στρατηγικές που χρησιμοποιούν οι συμμετέχοντες όταν μιλούν για τα ζητήματα αυτά. Η ανάλυση των δεδομένων οργανώθηκε γύρω από τρεις βασικές θεματικές κατηγορίες. Συγκεκριμένα, οι πρώτες δύο αναφέρονται στην πιθανή σχέση της μετανάστευσης με την εγκληματικότητα και την οικονομική ανασφάλεια, ενώ η τρίτη εστιάζει στις αναπαραστάσεις του ρατσισμού έτσι όπως αυτές κατασκευάστηκαν στο λόγο των συμμετεχόντων. Μέσα σε κάθε κατηγορία, εμπεριέχονται αποσπάσματα που είναι αντιπροσωπευτικά κοινών γραμμών επιχειρηματολογίας που αναπτύχθηκαν στις ομάδες εστίασης.
Research project exploring the common place representations of immigration and racism in young peoples’ focus group discussions in Greece. The participants were 26 students in Athens and Thessaloniki, who comprised four focus groups. The discussion in each group was organized on the basis of a plan of topics related to the reception of racism and immigrants on the part of Greek people. The data analysis was based in the conceptual and methodological tools of discursive and rhetorical psychology and focused a) on the content of the arguments raised by the participants in order to talk about immigration and racism and b) on the organization of arguments and the rhetorical strategies used by the participants when they talk about these issues.
Godzisz, P. & Viggiani, G. (eds.) Running through Hurdles: Obstacles in the Access to Justice for Victims of Anti-LGBTI Hate Crimes, Warsaw: Lambda Warsaw Association, 2018
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Conference Presentations by Irini Serafeim
Papers by Irini Serafeim
Research project exploring the common place representations of immigration and racism in young peoples’ focus group discussions in Greece. The participants were 26 students in Athens and Thessaloniki, who comprised four focus groups. The discussion in each group was organized on the basis of a plan of topics related to the reception of racism and immigrants on the part of Greek people. The data analysis was based in the conceptual and methodological tools of discursive and rhetorical psychology and focused a) on the content of the arguments raised by the participants in order to talk about immigration and racism and b) on the organization of arguments and the rhetorical strategies used by the participants when they talk about these issues.
Books by Irini Serafeim
Research project exploring the common place representations of immigration and racism in young peoples’ focus group discussions in Greece. The participants were 26 students in Athens and Thessaloniki, who comprised four focus groups. The discussion in each group was organized on the basis of a plan of topics related to the reception of racism and immigrants on the part of Greek people. The data analysis was based in the conceptual and methodological tools of discursive and rhetorical psychology and focused a) on the content of the arguments raised by the participants in order to talk about immigration and racism and b) on the organization of arguments and the rhetorical strategies used by the participants when they talk about these issues.