Jan du Preez

Locating the researcher in the research: personal narrative and reflective practice

This paper illustrates how personal narrative and reflective practice are used as the basis for an ethnographic account that locates the researcher in the research endeavour. It provides an overview of narrative inquiry as a means of reflective practice. Two narrative approaches – life history/autobiographical narrative and autoethnography – are briefly introduced and evidence is presented of the application of these approaches in a number of discipline areas. This serves to highlight the relative dearth of literature reporting the use of autoethnography in particular in the counselling and psychology fields, either in terms of research or practical applications. After outlining the background of the author’s doctoral study, the paper illustrates how autoethnography is employed as an example of reflective practice. Concluding remarks address a reflection of the experience of writing the paper, including reference to criteria for evaluating autoethnographic writing.This paper illustrates how personal narrative and reflective practice are used as the basis for an ethnographic account that locates the researcher in the research endeavour. It provides an overview of narrative inquiry as a means of reflective practice. Two narrative approaches - life history/autobiographical narrative and autoethnography - are briefly introduced and evidence is presented of the application of these approaches in a number of discipline areas. This serves to highlight the relative dearth of literature reporting the use of autoethnography in particular in the counselling and psychology fields, either in terms of research or practical applications. After outlining the background of the authors doctoral study, the paper illustrates how autoethnography is employed as an example of reflective practice. Concluding remarks address a reflection of the experience of writing the paper, including reference to criteria for evaluating autoethnographic writing.

Autoethnography in Vocational Psychology: Wearing Your Class on Your Sleeve

This article addresses reflective practice in research and practice and takes the issue of consciousness of social class in vocational psychology as a working example. It is argued that the discipline’s appreciation of social class can be advanced through application of the qualitative research method autoethnography. Excerpts from an autoethnographic study are used to explore the method’s potential. This reflexive research method is presented as a potential vehicle to improve vocational psychologists’ own class consciousness and to concomitantly enhance their capacity to grasp social class within their own spheres of research and practice. It is recommended that autoethnography be used for research, training, and professional development for vocational psychologists.

Psychosocial wellbeing in active older adults: A systematic review of qualitative literature

ABSTRACT Physical activity and wellbeing in older adults is a global priority in combating negative economic consequences associated with population aging. Quantitative research using a medicalized model clearly associates physical activity with physiological health benefits. However, it is argued that a review of qualitative literature exploring individual experiences of active older adults can provide important insights into physical activity, aging, and wellbeing – specifically, how discourses of ageing and self-identity may interact with physical activity levels. A literature search on electronic databases PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, and ProQuest was used to identify qualitative studies of older adults who exercise or engage in competitive sport. Findings reveal that both groups tend to resist dominant negative stereotypes of ageing and view physical activity as central to self- identity. Yet approaches to ageing varied with the competitive sport group adopting a more negative view of the ageing process. Whilst results suggest that different levels of physical activity may impact on the psychosocial wellbeing of older adults, inconsistent definitions of exercise and competitive sport make it impossible to group these differences according to specific physical activity levels. More precise definitions of physical activity constructs in future research may provide a better understanding of these differences.

Recommendations for Male-Friendly Individual Counseling With Men: A Qualitative Systematic Literature Review for the Period 1995–2016.

Over the past few decades, there have been calls to customize therapy for men. Researchers have increasingly become aware of the impact of masculinity on men and their psychological health, their willingness to seek help, and their experience of therapy. Recommendations have been published for how to enhance engagement and therapeutic change for men in counseling. This article systematically collected and examined recommendations for individual male-friendly therapy from 44 sources written over a 21-year period to identify common themes using qualitative methodology. The resulting 4 themes included knowledge about men, masculinity, and socialization; therapist critical self-awareness and commitment; masculinity-informed treatment adaptations; and masculinity-informed tasks and goals. The themes were discussed in relation to relevant research and similar diversity-sensitive approaches, including different ways that masculinity knowledge was incorporated into treatment and the ethical implications of targeting traditional masculinity for change. Increased empirical research on male-friendly counseling is needed to validate existing recommendations.