Postmigratory Perceptions of Female Genital Mutilation: Qualitative Life History Research

Introduction Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a practice, in breach of human rights, which currently extends to European countries. Given that migration to a Western country can involve cultural change, the aim of the present study is to explore the experiences and perceptions of sub-Saharan women regarding FGM/C following migration to Spain. Method A qualitative exploratory research design utilizing life history methodology was applied. Participants ( n = 24) were recruited until data saturation was reached. Results Sub-Saharan women describe their experience of FGM/C. Once in Spain, they begin to demystify the justifications for which FGM/C is practiced and to break the taboo that surrounds the practice. Discussion Migration leads individuals to reflect on the traditional practices from their countries of origin. The nursing profession must accompany migrant women throughout their process of change and provide objective information from a position of cultural understanding, avoiding attitudes that might create a sense of revictimization while their resultant health consequences are being attended to.

Conceptualising patterns of career commitment: the leaving process in hospitality

Purpose This paper aims to examine the interplay between self-efficacy and career inheritance and its influence on career commitment in the hospitality sector. High labour turnover, unclear career paths and the transient nature of the work available in hospitality render it a suitable industry context that allows us to explore career commitment patterns. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on life history methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with hospitality professionals holding a relevant degree but no longer employed in the hospitality industry. Findings The findings revealed the interplay between self-efficacy, career inheritance and career commitment, as well as the speed of decline of career commitment, visualised as patterns of the leaving process. Although an infinite number of variations are possible, data unveiled the three main patterns. Research limitations/implications The schematic illustrations of the patterns of the leaving process are not representative. The purposive sample comprises only ex-hospitality professionals, and generalisations can be considered in future studies. Practical implications This newly conceptualised understanding of career commitment enables researchers to reconsider the fundamental reasons why individuals leave the hospitality industry, whilst also offering hospitality managers deeper insights into how the three identified patterns could inform recruitment and selection. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature through its meaningful theoretical extension in the context of career development studies. The unique concept of the leaving process addresses the prevalent issue of turnover and generates important implications.

Imprisoned mothers in Victorian England, 1853–1900: Motherhood, identity and the convict prison

This article explores the experiences of imprisoned mothers in the Victorian convict prison system. It argues that motherhood, of central importance to the ideals of Victorian femininity, was disrupted and fractured by women’s long-term imprisonment. Using ‘whole life’ history methodology, the article draws on research into 288 women imprisoned and then released from the prison system, of whom half were mothers. It illuminates how the long-term prison system dealt with pregnancy, childbirth and family contact for female prisoners. It argues that while institutional or state care was often an inevitable consequence for children of single or widowed mothers, women used their limited resources and agency to assert their identity as mothers and direct outcomes for their children. But for others, prolific offending and multiple long sentences would render any chance of motherhood impossible.

Working in rural areas – the experiences of Umthombo Youth Development Foundation graduates

Background: Recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals (HCPs) for rural areas is challenging throughout the world. Although rural origin HCPs have been identified as being the most likely to work in rural areas, only a small number of rural-origin South African scholars are trained as HCPs each year and many do not return to work in rural areas.Aim: The aim of this article was to present the experiences of rural-origin HCPs who returned to work in a rural area after graduation.Setting: Umthombo Youth Development Foundation has been running an innovating rurally-based scholarship scheme since 1999. By December 2013, 184 students supported by the scheme had graduated and all had returned to work in a rural area for a period of time.Methods: This was a qualitative study using a life history methodology to explore the educational experience of six rural-origin HCPs working in rural areas.Results: The four themes that emerged from the data were: (1) contribution to service delivery; (2) professional development (3) the challenges and frustrations of working in rural hospitals; and (4) the impact of working as an HCP.Conclusion: Rural-origin HCPs are willing to return and work in rural areas. However, context and content factors need to be addressed if a work-back scholarship scheme is to be along-term strategy for the recruitment and retention of HCPs.

Soccer and homosexuality: The conflicts that lie within the affective game of the coach-adolescent athlete relationship

Discussions regarding homosexuality within a sports context are mediated by emotional nuances, especially in the world of soccer, where practitioners are required to have attributes such as strength, masculinity and aggressiveness. As a consequence, this work aimed to analyze the symbolic representation of homosexual relationships between adolescent soccer players and their coaches; and, furthermore, to understand the intention behind homoerotic relationships that are established between members of the management team and its players. In this study, researchers used the life history methodology, with participation from three adolescent athletes, ages 14, 15 and 16, and three former athletes, ages 26, 28 and 45, who we called speakers. Based on the collection and analysis of research participants' testimonies, homosexual relations were found to have occurred between athletes and coaches, or between athletes and other members of the management team, as a part of a "social contract" that is exclusively linked to their professional objectives. These relationships appear to be purely objective; authentic affective links are absent, due apparently to the transient nature of the athletes in these groups. Too, this context is usually marked by the athlete's physical and emotional vulnerability, and the agreements he makes within this context are accompanied with moral dilemmas, because such adolescents idealize the coach as a paternal archetype.

Studying Library Technicians’ Professional Lives Using Life History

Within the libraries and other information organizations, paraprofessionals have taken on ever more important roles. Given the prominence of paraprofessionals in the LIS workplace, their organizational roles and career paths are understudied. Using life history methodology, this study will address this gap in the LIS literature.Au sein des bibliothèques et autres organismes d’information, les paraprofessionnels assument des rôles de plus en plus importants. Compte tenu du nombre de paraprofessionnels dans le milieu des BSI, leurs rôles organisationnels et leurs plans de carrières demeurent sous étudies. À l’aide d’une méthodologie du cycle de vie (life history), cette étude comble un vide dans la littérature des BSI.

Gendering Food

One of the central questions in feminism is whether gender matters. In the case of food activism, gender is also a controversial issue. In particular, one may ask how foodways—the beliefs and behaviors surrounding food production, distribution, and consumption—constrain and empower men and women to become political actors, or how gender power and identity are enacted in food activism. In this article, the author reviews the literature on food and gender and examines how gender can enlighten the study of food activism. She draws on her own ethnographic research on food, culture, and gender in Sardinia and Florence in Italy, and in Pennsylvania and Colorado in the United States. Using a food-centered life history methodology, the author has investigated people's depictions of the role of food in their lives. Her findings show that women use food as a medium to talk about their experiences, their cultures, and their beliefs. Thus, food allows the public to become aware of lives that would otherwise go unnoticed—the lives of ordinary women.

Genesis of self-identity as DisOther: Life histories of people who stutter

This paper explores the processes shaping self-identity formation as DisOther and the actions of participants who stutter. It illuminates the experiences of adults who stutter using a biographical, narrative, life history methodology. The participants were seven South African adults of diverse racial, social and economic backgrounds from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Five males and two female were invited to participate via purposive and convenience sampling processes. Their stories of living with stuttering in their life worlds over time were constructed via biographical interviews using personal, social and temporal lenses typical of life history methodology. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. The data were analysed at two levels using a combination of strategies. The first level entailed a narrative analysis that was represented as research stories for each participant. The cross-case and thematic analysis of research stories constituted the second level analysis of narratives. The findings explain the complex and interrelated personal and social processes over time which contribute to the genesis of self-identity formation as DisOther. Social inscriptions of difference occurred in immediate home, school and work contexts over time via multiple processes such as labelling, norming, judging and teasing. Personal processes included discoveries of difference via critical events, repeated reinforcement of difference, self-judgement and temporal burdening. Furthermore, the actions participants took in negotiating stuttering were examined. The implications of the findings and limitations of the study are presented.