RESUMEN
Filial piety involves the Confucian view that children always have a duty to be obedient and to provide care for their parents. Filial piety has been described as both a risk and a protective factor in depression and suicide. This qualitative study aimed to explore the role of filial piety in the suicidal behavior of Chinese women. Qualitative interviews were conducted with Chinese women with a history of suicidal behavior living in the Beijing area (n = 29). Filial piety data were extracted and analyzed in accordance with constructivist grounded theory. The women described five specific family and filial piety factors and how they influenced their ability to fulfill family role obligations, which was described as a nexus connecting these factors to depression, suicidal behavior, and recovery. The five factors were: 1) rigidity of parental filial expectations, 2) perception of family relationships as positive/supportive or negative/harsh, 3) whether filial piety is of high or low personal value in the woman's life, 4) any experiences of rebellion leading to punitive consequences, and 5) how much filial piety she receives from her children. These factors could inform suicide risk assessments in this population. They can be harnessed as part of recovery and protect against future suicidal behavior.
Asunto(s)
Padres , Ideación Suicida , Pueblo Asiatico , Niño , China , Femenino , Humanos , Relaciones Padres-Hijo , Factores ProtectoresRESUMEN
A cross-national qualitative suicide study was conducted by Tsinghua University and the University of Toronto with two samples of Chinese women in Beijing and Toronto. The aim of this article is to reflect on lessons learned from this collaborative study. A literature review guided the analysis. A focus group was conducted with members of both research teams. A semi-structured interview guide was developed to explore the researchers' experiences of participating in the cross-national study. Focus group transcript data and observations from authors informed the analysis, situated in the existing literature on cross-national qualitative health research and guided by Baistow's cross-national research frame. Our study highlights how cross-national research involves conceptual and practical challenges that require negotiation. Such research also holds many opportunities, including (1) using a different cultural lens to understand differences and clarify similarities cross-culturally; (2) co-constructing knowledge through collaboration; (3) deconstructing one's own assumptions; and (4) engaging in an inspiring and empowering experience in collaboration.
Asunto(s)
Cooperación Internacional , Investigación , Suicidio , Canadá , China , Grupos Focales , Humanos , Investigación Cualitativa , Investigación/organización & administraciónRESUMEN
Epistemic injustice occurs when therapists implicitly and explicitly impose professional and institutional power onto clients. When clients have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, this very fact further complicates and highlights the power disparity within the helping relationship. Inspired by the work of critical philosopher Miranda Fricker on epistemic injustice, and using critical theories of language and knowledge, this article analyzes audiotaped session transcripts between a client with a history of psychosis and a social worker in an outpatient mental health agency. Findings illustrate two main discursive interactional patterns in everyday clinical social work encounters: (1) how the therapist's utterances claim disciplinary power and construct the client's testimony in alignment with an institutional agenda, while pre-empting the client's lived experience; and (2) how the client, though actively resisting, is managed to perform the identity of being a mentally ill person. The authors close with suggestions of how to avoid these mishaps and work toward epistemic justice in mental health practice.
Asunto(s)
Enfermos Mentales/psicología , Rol Profesional/psicología , Relaciones Profesional-Paciente/ética , Justicia Social , Servicio Social/ética , HumanosRESUMEN
RATIONALE: Recent studies have highlighted higher rates of suicidal ideation and behaviour and associated themes of gender role stress in Chinese women residing in North America. However, qualitative studies, which privilege their voices in the discourse of suicide prevention and provide insight into their experiences, are lacking. OBJECTIVE: To gain an understanding of the life histories, patterns of distress and constructions of suicide of Chinese-Canadian women with a history of suicidal behaviour. METHODS: Ten women were recruited from four mental health programs in Toronto, Canada and participated in qualitative interviewing and analysis informed by constructivist grounded theory. RESULTS: Chinese-Canadian women describe experiencing "stress" or "pressure" leading to the exacerbation of depressive symptoms. Stress and pressure are managed through a coping strategy of endurance, informed by the cultural conception of "ren". Cultural influences contribute to the manifestation of stress and pressure as somatic symptoms and sleeplessness. Finally, the women describe feeling unable to endure through worsening distress, reaching a "breaking point"; suicidal behaviour is constructed as a strategy to disrupt this cycle. CONCLUSION: This study challenges the binary notion that suicidal behaviour is either a consequence of mental illness or a reaction to interpersonal stress. Rather, the women describe an ingrained pattern of enduring through psychosocial problems without acknowledging worsening anxiety, depressive and physical symptoms. The pattern of endurance also prevents early treatment of these difficulties, resulting in the intensification of symptoms until a breaking point is reached. Knowledge of these patterns and coping strategies can allow for earlier identification and intervention for women at risk to prevent the worsening of distress leading to suicidal thoughts and behaviour.
Asunto(s)
Identidad de Género , Suicidio/psicología , Adaptación Psicológica , Adulto , Pueblo Asiatico/etnología , Pueblo Asiatico/psicología , Canadá/etnología , Depresión/complicaciones , Depresión/etnología , Depresión/psicología , Emigrantes e Inmigrantes/psicología , Femenino , Humanos , Persona de Mediana Edad , Investigación Cualitativa , Factores de Riesgo , Estrés Psicológico/complicaciones , Estrés Psicológico/etnología , Estrés Psicológico/psicología , Suicidio/etnologíaRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: We sought the views of women who took part in an altruistic known oocyte donation program to provide insights into the dynamics of known oocyte donation in Canada. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face or by telephone with 15 Canadian women who had donated oocytes to a friend or a relative for family-building and 18 women who had received oocytes donated by a friend or a relative in the eight years prior to the interview. RESULTS: Donors and recipients recounted few problems with their experiences of oocyte donation. Donors' positive experiences were contingent on their desire to facilitate the family-building aspirations of a friend or relative and the trusting relationship they had with their recipient. These dynamics subsequently affected their perceptions regarding the embryos created using their oocytes and their relationship with any child born as a result of their donation. Most donors would not donate their oocytes to an anonymous recipient and would not support donating unused embryos created with their oocytes to an unknown recipient. CONCLUSION: Altruistic known donation is an important feature of oocyte donation programs in Canada, where commercial procurement of gametes is forbidden. Legal clarity, information, and psychosocial counselling are essential to minimize relationship problems in known oocyte donation.
Asunto(s)
Donación de Oocito/psicología , Donantes de Tejidos/psicología , Adulto , Altruismo , Canadá , Destinación del Embrión/psicología , Familia , Femenino , Amigos , Humanos , Donación de Oocito/legislación & jurisprudencia , PercepciónRESUMEN
This paper reports on a Canadian study of the views of 15 women who had altruistically donated oocytes to a friend or a relative for family building and 18 women who had received oocytes donated by a friend or a relative towards disclosure of the donation to both the donor-conceived child and the child(ren) of the donor. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with participants either in person or by telephone. The vast majority of donors and recipients reported concordance regarding disclosure. There was a greater tendency towards disclosure than for non-disclosure, especially where the donation had resulted in the birth of a child. Nevertheless, participants expressed considerable ambiguity around the optimum time for disclosure. The study highlights unique characteristics in co-ordinating disclosure plans to children in both families when the donors also had young child(ren) and how the relationships between donors and recipients and their families may be expected to impact on, and be impacted by, their disclosure decisions. These include the psychological and social costs that may occur when donors and recipients disagree regarding disclosure. Findings from this study contribute to the currently limited research evidence on disclosure to children in both donor and recipient families following known oocyte donation. This paper reports on a Canadian study of the views of 15 women who had altruistically donated oocytes to a friend or a relative for family building and 18 women who had received oocytes donated by a friend or a relative towards disclosure of the donation to both the donor-conceived child and the child(ren) of the donor. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with participants either in person or by telephone. The vast majority of donors and recipients reported concordance regarding disclosure. There was a greater tendency towards disclosure than for non-disclosure, especially where the donation had resulted in the birth of a child. Nevertheless, participants expressed considerable ambiguity around the optimum time for disclosure. The study highlights unique characteristics in co-ordinating disclosure plans to children in both families when the donors also had young child(ren), and how the relationships between donors and recipients and their families may be expected to impact on, and be impacted by, their disclosure decisions. These include the psychological and social costs that may occur when donors and recipients disagree regarding disclosure. Findings from this study contribute to the currently limited research evidence on disclosure to children in both donor and recipient families following known oocyte donation.
Asunto(s)
Revelación , Donación de Oocito/psicología , Donantes de Tejidos/psicología , Adulto , Altruismo , Canadá , Femenino , HumanosRESUMEN
Immigrant women from 5 ethnic-cultural communities (Korean, Hong Kong Chinese, Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada participated in a focus group study (13 focus groups of 102 participants) of Asian immigrant women's conceptions of mental health. Their responses challenge the predominant conceptualizations of mental health in North America, the popular characterization of Asian culture as collectivistic, and the stereotypic image of Asian women as defining themselves in family relations. In trying to live a life they desire and to quest for a better state of well-being, these women have asserted their agency to articulate multiple strategies of being.