title: The use of self in adolescent sexual offending therapy: A autoethnographic case study

authors: Tootell, Andrew

subjects: adolescent sexual offending therapy

abstract: This thesis is a single case study of my work as therapist with four different participants from a community-based treatment programme for adolescents who have sexually offended. Using an autoethnographic approach, the study seeks to contribute to understanding of how the therapeutic use of self can work to enhance the effectiveness of the treatment process. Central to this argument is the principle of optimal responsiveness, developed by Howard Bacal (1985). Optimal responsiveness is founded in specificity theory, which argues that we cannot predict in advance what intervention is going to be effective, because of the uniqueness of each therapeutic encounter: hence the importance of the individual practitioner‟s clinical judgment. I locate the theoretical understanding of the therapeutic use of self in the tradition of judgment-based practice (Polkinghorne, 2004). The research explores two questions: How might the therapist use their experience of self (their subjective and intersubjective experience) to guide their sense of being optimally responsive? How might research into the therapist‟s experience of their use of self in therapy contribute to the integration of the personal and professional self of the therapist? The findings are expressed in the form of four autobiographic stories and four therapy stories. The autobiographic stories show how the personal life experience of the therapist is integrated with the process of clinical judgment. The findings are analysed from the perspectives of systemic-narrative therapy and relational psychoanalytic therapy. I identify a number of examples of how the use of self mediated a variety of intentional therapeutic interactions such as reflexive questions, interpretations and self-disclosures and spontaneous interactions such as playful improvisations and the experience of intimacy. I argue that self reflexivity is at the heart of these processes. The thesis shows the relevance of autoethnographic case study research to the practice of therapy in general and it shows how case study research can complement experimental research. This research also has a number of important implications for professionals working as therapists in the sexual offending fields. I argue that the risk-need-responsivity rehabilitation model will be strengthened by giving closer attention to the neglected principle of professional discretion; and that the effective implementation of evidence-based procedures is dependent upon the practical wisdom of practitioners. The research alerts therapists to the importance of paying attention to integrating their professional and personal selves as part of their ongoing professional development. The research highlights the relevance of the subjective experience of cultural discourse, in particular the social construction of masculinities, an area that often goes under-represented in the delivery of adolescent sexual offending programmes. The findings also support the argument that the experience of caring for and being cared for is central to treatment, and that self reflexivity can be both a process and an outcome goal for all therapy participants, both client and therapist. Finally, my research also demonstrates how the practice of honest introspection by the therapist can mitigate against the temptation (which is always there) to get caught up in viewing the person who committed an offence as the “other”.

text: The use of self in adolescent sexual offending therapy: A autoethnographic case study This thesis is a single case study of my work as therapist with four different participants from a community-based treatment programme for adolescents who have sexually offended. Using an autoethnographic approach, the study seeks to contribute to understanding of how the therapeutic use of self can work to enhance the effectiveness of the treatment process. Central to this argument is the principle of optimal responsiveness, developed by Howard Bacal (1985). Optimal responsiveness is founded in specificity theory, which argues that we cannot predict in advance what intervention is going to be effective, because of the uniqueness of each therapeutic encounter: hence the importance of the individual practitioner‟s clinical judgment. I locate the theoretical understanding of the therapeutic use of self in the tradition of judgment-based practice (Polkinghorne, 2004). The research explores two questions: How might the therapist use their experience of self (their subjective and intersubjective experience) to guide their sense of being optimally responsive? How might research into the therapist‟s experience of their use of self in therapy contribute to the integration of the personal and professional self of the therapist? The findings are expressed in the form of four autobiographic stories and four therapy stories. The autobiographic stories show how the personal life experience of the therapist is integrated with the process of clinical judgment. The findings are analysed from the perspectives of systemic-narrative therapy and relational psychoanalytic therapy. I identify a number of examples of how the use of self mediated a variety of intentional therapeutic interactions such as reflexive questions, interpretations and self-disclosures and spontaneous interactions such as playful improvisations and the experience of intimacy. I argue that self reflexivity is at the heart of these processes. The thesis shows the relevance of autoethnographic case study research to the practice of therapy in general and it shows how case study research can complement experimental research. This research also has a number of important implications for professionals working as therapists in the sexual offending fields. I argue that the risk-need-responsivity rehabilitation model will be strengthened by giving closer attention to the neglected principle of professional discretion; and that the effective implementation of evidence-based procedures is dependent upon the practical wisdom of practitioners. The research alerts therapists to the importance of paying attention to integrating their professional and personal selves as part of their ongoing professional development. The research highlights the relevance of the subjective experience of cultural discourse, in particular the social construction of masculinities, an area that often goes under-represented in the delivery of adolescent sexual offending programmes. The findings also support the argument that the experience of caring for and being cared for is central to treatment, and that self reflexivity can be both a process and an outcome goal for all therapy participants, both client and therapist. Finally, my research also demonstrates how the practice of honest introspection by the therapist can mitigate against the temptation (which is always there) to get caught up in viewing the person who committed an offence as the “other”.

year: 2010

title: Damage identification in skeletal structures: A dynamic stiffness approach

authors: De Los Rios Giraldo, Julian Octavio

subjects: Damage identification

abstract: The present work is devoted to investigate ways of identifying cracks in skeletal structures by frequency monitoring. This is a challenging problem as the number of cracks, their severity and location all need to be found. It has been shown that roving bodies with rotary inertia could be used to find the total number of cracks and their locations without any knowledge of their severity. The Dynamic Stiffness Method was chosen due to its capabilities in enabling an exact solution while facilitating addition of new elements such as springs and masses to the structure in the same way as in the approximate Finite Element Method (FEM). Using the Dynamic Stiffness Matrices (DSM), it was possible to derive an interesting and useful relationship between the determinants of the DSM of the following: the original undamaged structure, the cracked structure and the structure with a hinge at the potential crack location. This relationship is a simple equation which gives the determinant of the cracked structure as the sum of the determinant of the undamaged structure multiplied by the rotational stiffness of the beam at the crack and the determinant of a structure with a hinge at the same crack location.

Experimental results from literature are used to validate the application of the found features in beam structures and frameworks to identify damages or dynamic properties. A semi-experimental methodology is proposed to treat multi-cracked structures where, as a first step, the roving inertia method is used to identify the number and location of the cracks in a simple way without the need to perform any calculations or theoretical analysis. The theoretical basis of this method is explained using the DSM. Experimental work was carried out on a cantilever beam to verify the applicability of the roving inertia method but no conclusive results were obtained. Further experimental investigations are needed to study the practical feasibility of the method. It is hoped that once the locations of all cracks are identified, the severity of the cracks can be found using the frequency measurements as the determinants of the DSM are linear functions of crack severity.

text: Damage identification in skeletal structures: A dynamic stiffness approach The present work is devoted to investigate ways of identifying cracks in skeletal structures by frequency monitoring. This is a challenging problem as the number of cracks, their severity and location all need to be found. It has been shown that roving bodies with rotary inertia could be used to find the total number of cracks and their locations without any knowledge of their severity. The Dynamic Stiffness Method was chosen due to its capabilities in enabling an exact solution while facilitating addition of new elements such as springs and masses to the structure in the same way as in the approximate Finite Element Method (FEM). Using the Dynamic Stiffness Matrices (DSM), it was possible to derive an interesting and useful relationship between the determinants of the DSM of the following: the original undamaged structure, the cracked structure and the structure with a hinge at the potential crack location. This relationship is a simple equation which gives the determinant of the cracked structure as the sum of the determinant of the undamaged structure multiplied by the rotational stiffness of the beam at the crack and the determinant of a structure with a hinge at the same crack location.

Experimental results from literature are used to validate the application of the found features in beam structures and frameworks to identify damages or dynamic properties. A semi-experimental methodology is proposed to treat multi-cracked structures where, as a first step, the roving inertia method is used to identify the number and location of the cracks in a simple way without the need to perform any calculations or theoretical analysis. The theoretical basis of this method is explained using the DSM. Experimental work was carried out on a cantilever beam to verify the applicability of the roving inertia method but no conclusive results were obtained. Further experimental investigations are needed to study the practical feasibility of the method. It is hoped that once the locations of all cracks are identified, the severity of the cracks can be found using the frequency measurements as the determinants of the DSM are linear functions of crack severity.

year: 2017

title: 'Kōrero Tuku Iho': Reconfiguring Oral History and Oral Tradition

authors: Mahuika, Nepia

subjects: History

abstract: The studies of oral history and oral tradition each have their own distinctive bodies of literature and preferred methodologies, yet share significant overlaps that make them difficult to differentiate. For many indigenous peoples, oral histories and traditions are key to their their past, present, and future lives, and are rarely considered separate. This thesis examines the differences and similarities between the studies of oral history and oral tradition. It explores how these areas of research converge and diverge in form, politics, practice, and theory, and the extent to which they resonate within a specific ‘indigenous’ context and community.
The thesis draws on the life narrative interviews of four generations of Ngāti Porou descendents, the second largest tribal group in New Zealand, whose home boundaries extend from Potikirua in the north to Te Toka-a-Taiau in the south on the East Coast of the North Island. Drawing on these voices, this study offers a commentary on the form and nature of oral traditions and histories from an indigenous perspective, and explores the ways they converge and depart from ‘international’ understandings. An exploration of these intersections offers insights to the ways oral history and oral traditions might be reconsidered as distinctive fields of study. Reconfigured through an indigenous frame of reference, this thesis challenges scholars of both oral history and oral tradition to expand their conceptions. Likewise, it urges indigenous scholars to consider more deeply the work of oral historians and oral traditionalists to further enhance their scholarship. Moreover, this thesis revisits the intellectual and conceptual territory that names and claims oral history and oral tradition, and invites all those who work in these areas to develop a more extensive comprehension of the interconnections that exist between each area of study.

text: 'Kōrero Tuku Iho': Reconfiguring Oral History and Oral Tradition The studies of oral history and oral tradition each have their own distinctive bodies of literature and preferred methodologies, yet share significant overlaps that make them difficult to differentiate. For many indigenous peoples, oral histories and traditions are key to their their past, present, and future lives, and are rarely considered separate. This thesis examines the differences and similarities between the studies of oral history and oral tradition. It explores how these areas of research converge and diverge in form, politics, practice, and theory, and the extent to which they resonate within a specific ‘indigenous’ context and community.
The thesis draws on the life narrative interviews of four generations of Ngāti Porou descendents, the second largest tribal group in New Zealand, whose home boundaries extend from Potikirua in the north to Te Toka-a-Taiau in the south on the East Coast of the North Island. Drawing on these voices, this study offers a commentary on the form and nature of oral traditions and histories from an indigenous perspective, and explores the ways they converge and depart from ‘international’ understandings. An exploration of these intersections offers insights to the ways oral history and oral traditions might be reconsidered as distinctive fields of study. Reconfigured through an indigenous frame of reference, this thesis challenges scholars of both oral history and oral tradition to expand their conceptions. Likewise, it urges indigenous scholars to consider more deeply the work of oral historians and oral traditionalists to further enhance their scholarship. Moreover, this thesis revisits the intellectual and conceptual territory that names and claims oral history and oral tradition, and invites all those who work in these areas to develop a more extensive comprehension of the interconnections that exist between each area of study.

year: 2012