Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemYoung people and their resources( 2001)This paper examines approaches taken to the study of stress and coping, with particular reference to adolescents. The Conservation of Resources model of stress and coping is considered and its companion research tool (the COR Evaluation) is modified for use with a group of Australian adolescents. The modified version is shown to be a reliable and valid tool for use with young people. Adolescents indicated that they value the resources described in the modified COR questionnaire. In addition, this sample of students saw themselves as having between some to a good amount of these resources, and would find it stressful to lose them. When the Resources scores were compared with the results of the Adolescent Coping Scale, it was found that those students who scored as productive copers were those students who reported themselves as high in resources, while those students who scored highly on non-productive coping were low in resources. When the scale relating to having resources was factored, it appeared that productive coping related strongly to the four resource factors of Purpose, Friends, Self-satisfaction, and Family; whereas non-productive coping was negatively correlated with Purpose, Self-satisfaction and Family, but not Friends. Non-productive copers did not see loss in any of the factors as stressful, and were not impacted particularly by gain. If young people who have resources cope more productively than those who do not regard themselves as having resources, there are interesting implications for treatment and education. Certainly it would be desirable to understand more completely the relationship between non-productive coping and resources so that more effective assistance can be given to those young people. The resources approach offers us a new perspective on stress and coping in adolescence, which has implications for treatment, educational development, and future research.
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ItemArt and the art of coping( 1998)Consider the conscious not as a purely passive but as an independent active factor... artistic forms not as a facade but as an extremely important mechanism and technique... and include in its sphere of investigation the sum total of human life... Art is the social technique of emotion, a tool of society which brings the most intimate and personal aspects of our being into the circle of social life. (Vygotsky, 1971, p. 249). This thesis reports how young adolescents increased their awareness of themselves and their coping skills experientially through the arts in the context of a teacher/student relationship. Through a series of art sessions the students become aware of significant issues in their lives. The unfolding of meanings occurred in relationship with a teacher or in collaboration with peers. The relationship became a key to self-understanding: this key is called 'intersubjectivity'. Facilitating students' shift in awareness and uncovering the meaning made by the students of their experiences was grounded in the methodology and procedures of existential, experiential phenomenology. This thesis is a study of three case studies. In these case studies the students communicated metaphorically through the arts their feelings and thoughts about concerns and how they cope with these concerns. This communication occurred in the context of a relationship with a teacher and/or peers. The students explored their lived-experience, concerns and ways of coping with concerns through the arts, that is in drawing, painting, pottery, movement, dialogue and written form. Students explored their coping skills also by completing the Adolescent Coping Scale (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993) and reflecting on their experiences of coping through the arts. The next level of the experience for the student involved them reviewing their art and text and describing themes and the essence(s) of their experiences, this was mostly a creative and reflective process in the arts. This study illuminates the processes that facilitate the development of awareness and coping skills. It marks arts expressions as modes of inquiry and validates the significance of the intersubjective relationship in developing young people's awareness of themselves and their coping skills. The intersubjective relationship in this study was empathic, didactic and encouraging; the teacher reflected student's expressions, and encouraged and taught skills, while maintaining a focus on coping.