Psychobiography research design

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  • In this paper, I (a) present a brief history of the psychobiography tradition, (b) describe how to conduct good psychobiographical research and (c) discuss the.

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    Psychobiography as an Effective Research Methodology for the Advocacy of Abused and Neglected Youth in South Africa

    Abstract

    This study examines the life of Tlali (a pseudonym), an 18-year old African Sotho from the Eastern Cape, South Africa, utilizing psychobiography as research methodology for the advocacy of abused and neglected ungdom. The African self as a synoptic aggregate has eight complementary dimensions: embodied; generative; communal; narratological; melioristic; structural; liminal; and spiritual (Nwoye in Dialect Anthropol 30:119–146, 2006). These blend together like an invisible mesh, resulting in a cohesive holistic fabric of the self. Tlali described his transformation, after only eight months at a state ungdom care and education center (YCEC) on the violent Cape Flats in Cape Town, as a sudden “boom”. This paper sets out to examine, from an African psychological perspective, the naturlig eller utan tillsats of institutional trauma healing in communities suffering from the effects of

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    Blogroll

    What is psychobiography? I’ll begin by saying what it is NOT, because what it’s NOT is what most people think it IS.

    … But first, a link to a 2017 overview I wrote for American Psychologist along with Stephanie Lawrence > Psychobiography-AP

    … Also, a link to a five minute clip in which I talk a bit about the field > HERE

    1. Psychobiography is NOT pathography. If you come across a psychobiography whose aim is to diagnose a person, chances are GOOD that it is BAD. People are not diagnoses. A diagnosis is a name—a label—not a true explanation. What we want to know is how someone became who she is, not what her DSM-derived “disease” might be. I talk a lot about this subject in chapter one of my Handbook of Psychobiography. You can check that out for more detail. Here’s a little illustration I use in my psychobiography courses. Say a mother tells a psychiatrist, My son hears voices. Why, she asks? The psychiatrist answers, Well, sor

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      Qualitative Methodology: Psychobiography

      Abstract

      The aim of the current article is to explain and define what a psychobiography is and distinguish it from other concepts such as life story, pathography, psychohistory or case study. We review the history of this approach from its origins to the present, showing its evolution and acceptance throughout these years. Afterwards, we explain its predictive, educative and scientific characteristics and we present the main processes to develop a psychobiography. Lastly, the article presents some common criticisms of this approach as well as responses to them.

      Keywords:Psychobiography; Personality; Personality psychology; Qualitative methodology; Qualitative measures; Qualitative inquiry

      Introduction: What is a Psychobiography?

      “A psychobiography can be explained as the efficient use of psychological theory to convert the subject’s life into a coherent and illuminating story” [1]. The aim of a psychobiography is the understanding of

    2. psychobiography research design