Applied Phenomenology (Lecture 1) PDF

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Applied Phenomenology (Lecture 1) - An introduction into the module. ...

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PY3004: People & Healthcare Lecture 1:

Phenomenology “We explain nature, man we must understand” (Dilthey, 1969).  

We are all phenomenologists… “In everyday life each of us is something of a phenomenologist insofar as we genuinely listen to the stories that people tell us and reflect on our own perception.” (Halling, 2008)

Phenomenology – philosophical method for studying lived experience 

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“Phenomenology literally means the science of phenomena, the science which studies appearances, and specifically the structure of appearing – the how of appearing – giving the phenomena or manifest appearances their due, remaining loyal to the modes of appearing of things in the world” (Moran & Mooney, 2002). “Appearing” meaning – how things appear to us in our consciousness, how we experience them, perceive them, make sense of them.

Phenomenology = science of phenomena - Human science approach - Explaining nature and understanding human experience - Research questions = we are told about experiences by the participants - Meaning that is central to humanity – if we have a will to meaning then everything will be more at ease due to being able to make sense of things. - It’s a philosophical study = lived experience - Appearing = about perceptions and how we see/make sense of things (our experience)

Key principles of phenomenology     

We must step out of our ‘natural attitude’ & instead focus on concrete experience – “go back to the things themselves” (Husserl) We prioritise individuals’ first-hand experiences – instead of being driven by theory We need to get ‘experience close’ to understand how phenomena in the world appear to us in consciousness We have agency to attribute meanings to our experiences and to develop relationships with people and things in the world Understanding experience tells us something of what it means to be human

Individual lived experience     

What is sometimes missing in psychological research is the subjectivity of the ways we experience the world What the individual makes of experiences How we differ, how we’re the same By focusing on individuals’ subjective lived experience we get insight into what things are like for people, what they mean, their impact on daily life, relationships, and our sense of self By addressing these crucial aspects of human existence, we can develop systems of care that prioritise people

Stepping out of the ‘natural attitude’      

The ‘natural attitude’ is our most basic way of experiencing the world – with all our taken-forgranted assumptions & preconceptions There is no critique, we just get on with it As a consequence, much is hidden from view To engage in phenomenological research we need to step out of the natural attitude & enter the ‘phenomenological attitude’ This is tricky – we need to be open & let things appear to us, as if for the first time, putting aside our prior beliefs & assumptions In technical terms: to ‘bracket off’ our preconceptions about the phenomenon of study, and be open to participants’ experiences through focusing on the things themselves as they appear

Entering the ‘phenomenological attitude’    

In small groups, think about everything you know about Cervical Cancer It may not be very much, it doesn’t matter What assumptions/beliefs do you have about cervical cancer? Do you know how it is tested for? How it is treated?

Core principles of phenomenology The phenomenological reduction    

Aim: to capture & describe the whole experience Describe general features Treat every detail with equal importance Resist the temptation to theorise/add psychological jargon

Imaginative free variation   

Approach the phenomenon from different perspectives by imaginatively varying its features Switch roles, genders, power dynamics, etc. Anything & everything is possible

Essences  

Move from individual experience to the underlying structure of the phenomenon To discover the ‘treeness’of the tree’ - the essential qualities that compose a tree, in the absence of which the tree would cease to be a tree.

Doing phenomenology step-by 1. Enter the ‘phenomenological attitude’: we do this by putting our assumptions aside, being open to the data, being sensitive 2. Read the whole description 3. Breakdown into ‘meaning units’: small chunks (every few lines) 4. Describe each meaning unit in your own words 5. Use your imagination to vary elements of the meaning unit to see if it changes how you make sense of it 6. Write down the psychological significance of each meaning unit: what is important about it from a psychological perspective (might not be applicable to every meaning unit) 7. Review your analytic notes, reflect on the meaning of the phenomenon, write a brief description of its essence – the key features, what makes it what it is, without which it would no longer be that.

The Lifeworld 

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“Just as fish may take for granted the water they swim in, we as humans may find it difficult to notice and articulate the humanly qualitative nature of the world we live in.” (Todres et al., 2007: 55) Lifeworld = taking a step back, going beyond what you take for granted and to look for/see and question everything Husserl (1936/1970) saw the ‘lifeworld’ as the basis of all philosophy & human science research The lifeworld is the world as concretely lived It is our beginning place, it is our everyday, our everything (Galvin & Todres, 2013) “All experience whatsoever is ‘‘within a world’’, which is for each of us ‘‘my subjective world’’, nevertheless with certain ever-present characteristics. This is designated the ‘‘lifeworld’’.” (Ashworth, 2006: 215) We as individual experience things for ourselves, we are all human beings, individuals living within the world

SELFHOOD/ IDENTITY 

What does this situation mean for social identity, agency, ability to be active, do they have voice, marginalised?

SOCIALITY/ INTERSUBJECTIVITY 

What happens between 2 subjective people – space in between the 2 - how we interact online, face-to-face  all about relationships and how we communicate

EMBODIMENT    

All about the body How physical body impacts on the other elements of the outsode world How it makes you feel – anxious, abilities, disabilities How it impacts on how we engage with the world

TEMPORALITY 

Looking at time

SPATIALITY 

How is space laid out? How is this situation affected by how we picture out geography, the places we need to go, to be?

MOOD   

Atmosphere Penetrates all other areas of life Questioning all other aspect – identity, sociality, time etc

Lifeworld-led healthcare  

Lifeworld-led care is informed by the lifeworld It involves humanizing forces, it is holistic, it is involved with trying to understand a patient’s lifeworld through the elements of temporality, spatiality, intersubjectivity, embodiment, and mood or emotional attunement

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It assumes that caring practices are grounded in concrete lived experience It moderates technological progress by prioritising subjectivity Phenomenological research can help us create it (Todres et al., 2007)

The carer’s lifeworld  

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Person-centred approach to caring for people with dementia (Kitwood, 1997; Brooker, 2004) through ‘person-enhancing interaction’ A caring disposition AND set of care-giving skills & practices (Benner & Gordon, 1996: 43) the care cannot be embodied, caring cannot move ‘‘from concern to presence, from emotional interest to attention or attunement’’ The carer becomes an informal phenomenologist, setting aside preconceptions, by attending to the talk & activities of the person to discover the meanings of their lifeworld

The patient’s lifeworld        

The self may become disconnected with some objects, disassociated with others, but the “I” is still present (selfhood/identity) Relationships with others may only exist in the here & now, disappearing when not present (sociality/intersubjectivity) The body may just be, with no need for ‘dressing it up’ for others; movement of the body may steer interactions with others – use of touch (embodiment) Some past events maybe experienced as current, shared past events may cease to exist (temporality) Space may become boundariless & dizzying (spatiality) Projects become detached from contemporary life Discourse is performed but can be disconnected from the situation Mood-as-atmosphere features in talk & actions, which are heavily endowed with emotional meaning

Conclusion 

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The nub is that the carer becomes a kind of informal phenomenologist. Setting aside - no doubt with limited success and with considerable difficulty - presuppositions such as: o whether the ‘thing experienced’ by the person with dementia is real or not; o whatever previous opinion or scientific theory expects; and o personal assumptions about the lifeworld of the sufferer; the carer attempts to pay attention to the current experience for the experiencer.” (Ashworth, 2006: 223)

References: 

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Ashworth, P. (2006). Seeing oneself as a carer in the activity of caring: attending to the lifeworld of a person with Alzheimer’s disease. International Journal or Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-being, 1(4), 212-225. Brooks, J. & King, N. (Eds.) (2017). Applied qualitative research in psychology. London: Palgrave. Dahlberg, K. , Todres, L., &Galvin, K. (2009) Lifeworld-led healthcare is more than patient-led care: an existential view of well-being. Medicine, Health Care & Philosophy, 12(3), 265-271. Langdridge, D. (2007). Phenomenological psychology: theory, research & method. Harlow: Pearson Education....