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UBC Theses and Dissertations

Voice : a single case narrative study Desrochers, Rose

Abstract

A single case narrative approach is utilized to investigate the life-time experience of voice. This study arises out of research in psychology, where the concept of voice has emerged as a metaphor by which women view and experience themselves, the world, and their place in it; a metaphor central to intellectual, ethical, identity development and self-worth. This research focuses on identifying in the metaphor of voice, the constituent components of that experience throughout a life-time. It examines voice within contexts, roles, relationships and socialization processes in which it occurs in order to document complex and interrelated components of that experience including social and psychic elements, problem areas, coping responses, strategies and attributes of voice. The choice of a co-researcher in this study, a singer/songwriter -- for whom an awareness of voice is heightened -- allows this study to serve as a revelatory case. Data included taped and transcribed accounts of interviews as well as songs written by the co-researcher. The co-researcher's story revealed danger areas for voice, in a loss of voice from age 12-24, including adolescence, marriage, motherhood, mother/daughter and father/daughter relationships. It illuminated adaptive and self-empowering strategies and highlighted elements of the metaphor including interaction/release, support, recognition, experimenting/stretching beyond confining ideals, being taken seriously, something to offer, and appreciation/being heard.

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