André Guirland Vieira

O brincar simbólico e a organização narrativa da experiência de vida na criança

The present work studies the narrative and the image as elements of the language of symbolic play. With this objective a child was observed during approximately one year while in a psychotherapeutic process. The childs symbolic play in the sandplay was analyzed concerning narrative organization and construction of meaning based on Jungs Analytical Psychology theory and method, and Bruners narrative theory. The study shows that symbolic play is a form of language, and through it the child constructs a text that presents itself as a narrative or as an image; that this text is filled with cultural elements which show themselves as new narratives or images that mix with the ones the child had constructed. Also, it shows that the child organizes his/her life experience and that of the world by means of this text; that the narratives produced by symbolic play are similar to those produced by the cultural history of mankind; and, finally, that symbolic play has a cognitive function of organizing the childs life experience.

Fatherhood in Adolescence: A Qualitative Study on the Experience of Being an Adolescent Father

The present study, descriptive case series, deals with the theme of teenage parenthood. The objective was to apprehend the phenomenon of teenage parenthood through the trajectory of the parents, their perceptions and experience, as well as their life projects compared with adolescents who are not parents, aged between 14 and 20 years. For each case selected, another young man at the same age who was not a parent was sought in the same neighborhood. Thirty adolescent parents participated in the study and other 30 adolescents who were not parents. The instrument consisted of closed questions about: socio-demographic characteristics and economic classification. A semi-structured interview addressed: sexual life, teenage pregnancy, meaning of parenthood during adolescence, experience of parenting in adolescence, life projects before and after paternity and message to other teenagers who were not parents. The quantitative variables were obtained through descriptive statistics. The interview questions were analyzed by using the technique of thematic content analysis. The profile of the teenage parents revealed low economic class, low education and high levels of school truancy, with financial responsibility and cohabitation with the mother of the baby. In most cases, the responsibility for contraception is placed on the woman. In few cases the pregnancy was planned. Although the assessment of the experience is predominantly negative, parents point out positive aspects of the experience of parenthood, always emphasizing the increased responsibility and the change in their lifestyle as a teenager. The results point to the need for consideration of the teenage parents for an understanding of the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy.

A construção narrativa da identidade = Narrative construction of identity

This paper aims to present the narrative construction of the self and the identity from the perspective of Vygotskys Socio-historical Psychology. It also shows the development of narrative construction in Cultural Psychology, particularly in the writings of Jerome Bruner up to contemporary authors, highlighting the work of Hubert Hermans, Dan McAdams, Tilmann Habermas and Robyn Fivush. The concept of the narrative self appears as a development of the narrative paradigm and as an important contribution to the study of the internalization of higher psychological functions and to the understanding of the construction of the socio-historical subject. The identity as a space for the construction of the psychological subject seems to be a privileged place where we can observe the development of the narrative paradigm in terms of negotiation of meaning between biographical events and the individual.