Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
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Item Walking the Woods: The Lived Experience of Sexual Assault Survival for Women in College(2012) Monahan-Kreishman, Mollie Marie; Hultgren, Francine; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: WALKING THE WOODS: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVAL FOR WOMEN IN COLLEGE Mollie M. Monahan-Kreishman, Doctor of Philosophy 2012 Dissertation directed by: Professor Francine Hultgren Department of Teaching, Learning, Policy and Leadership This phenomenological study explores the lived experience of sexual assault survival for women in college. Through a grounding in the philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology (Gadamer, 1960/2000; Heidegger, 1927/1962, 1968, 1928/1998, 1971/2001, 1950/2002), this work uncovers the lives of six sexual assault survivors who lived through rape during their university years. The research activities designed by van Manen (1997) provide the methodological framework for the study. Within this framework, the researcher is able to bring readers into a visceral feeling of the lived experience. Deep, rich meaning is brought forth from the words of each rape survivor. The six survivors in this study remained at their respective universities for one to four years following the rape. They identified as American Indian, Taiwanese American, Italian American, European American, Caucasian, and White. At the time of the study, participants ranged in age from their late twenties to early forties. They attended different universities across the country. Hermeneutic phenomenological conversation revealed one overarching theme of the all en-COMPASS-ing nature of rape survival in college. In other words, after being raped in college, the experience continued to be intimately connected to everything they would live through thereafter. The first of two sub-themes, stoppings, uncovered experiences that halt survival from the outside, the inside, through (re)iterations of the rape, through divisions, and through loss of control. The second of two sub-themes, movings, uncovered experiences that progress rape survival, such as moving away from campus, reclaiming reiterations, reclaiming voice, reclaiming strength, reclaiming body, reclaiming reactions, reclaiming foundation, and the movement from victim to survivor. From this work, two main sets of pedagogical implications come into view. The first, being with, examines the personal ways in which we, as college and university professionals, can authentically listen and respond to women surviving rape. The second, being-for, examines the campus world, and the possibilities brought forth when faculty, staff, students, friends, family and survivors come together in the creation of communities that pause and focus on what survivors need in order to survive.Item The Lived Experience Of Latina/o Peer Mentees: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Approach(2012) Gomez Riquelme, Luis Angelo; Hultgren, Francine; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research is about the peer mentee experience of Latina/o students. For this purpose, a group of nine participants were selected, who were part of a peer mentoring program in a Mid-Atlantic public university. The experiences they shared were interpreted through the methodological lens of hermeneutic phenomenology. The purpose of this study is to begin filling in one of the voids in the mentoring practice, which is the experience of peer mentees, and what this study reveals is that the peer mentee experience is the result of loneliness and prejudice that Latina/o students are able to overcome when they have a good peer mentoring experience. This interpretation is done following Clark Moustakas' philosophy of being. Peer mentees receive guidance and help alleviating their solitude, which in this study is interpreted as being-with. Consequently, peer mentees find purpose and are reminded of the reason why they stay in college, which herein is interpreted through the existential concept of being-for. Finally, this study also reveals that being a peer mentee can help finding or making sense of being in college and recovering a sense of belonging, which is interpreted through the phenomenological concept of being-with. The recommendations of this study to improve this practice involve fostering community, creating a sense of belonging, and advocating for a pedagogical experience that is liberated of prejudices and assumptions about Latinas/os, in addition to continuing the support of peer mentoring.Item Re-Dis-Covering Identity: A Phenomenological Study Exploring the Ontological Complexities of Being Gay(2008-07-28) Eddy, Wallace; McEwen, Marylu K.; Hultgren, Francine H.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This phenomenological study explored the lived experience of gay men. The study of identity in student affairs and higher education is grounded in student and human development theory. Does theory explain identity for gay men? How do gay men make meaning of their experience? This study is conducted in the tradition of hermeneutic phenomenology. This methodology is based in the work of Heidegger, Gadamer, Ricoeur, Derrida, Levinas, and Sartre as key philosophers in phenomenological inquiry. Although these philosophers ground the methodology, van Manen offers the set of research activities that come together and offer ways to organize the exploration of this phenomenon. Through exploration of existential sources, the themes of being an imposter in majority culture, living a double life, the power of words to hurt or connect, and the notion of "the closet" emerged. Once these themes from the existential sources were uncovered, participants who live the phenomenon under investigation were sought. Working with six college students, I looked deeper into how the phenomenon manifests itself and how gay men make meaning of their lived experience. The theme of identity emerged as paramount. Specifically, the gay men participating in this study describe their identity as both complicated and, at times, ineffable; they knew who they were, but found theoretical descriptions of them limited and limiting. Gay men also find that their identity plays a pivotal role in the connections they are able or are not able to make with others - sometimes being gay hinders, and at other times it helps make connections. From my work with these men, I suggest to educators that we need to stay attuned to the pedagogical environment, allow gay role models to be available, and educate future teachers about the potential crises and anxieties faced by gay men in middle and high school due to bullying. Finally, I suggest to those who teach developmental theory that it be underscored that theory is not a panacea and can never fully describe human beings. The concern I have is with the over application of theory in place of listening to and engaging with students.