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A qualitative investigation into the cultural master narrative for overcoming trauma and adversity in the United Kingdom.

Blackie, L. E. R.; Colgan, J. E. V.; McDonald, S; Mclean, K. C.

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Authors

J. E. V. Colgan

K. C. Mclean



Abstract

Research in the field of narrative psychology has found that redemption—a narrative sequence in which people recount emotionally negative experiences as having positive endings—is a useful mechanism for coping with adversity. Redemption has been viewed as a cultural master narrative in North America, providing individuals with a socially valued script for narrating challenging life experiences. Presently little research has examined the presence and function of the redemption narrative outside of North American contexts. The aim of this qualitative study, therefore, was to identify themes in U.K. individuals’ narratives of trauma and adversity to gain insight into the content of the master narrative for meaning-making in the U.K. Sixty-five participants (57 females, Mage = 21.97, SD = 7.24) with little to no experience of lifetime adversity were recruited into an online survey. Participants answered open-ended questions adopting the perspective of a survivor from a selected U.K. national tragedy, focusing on how they felt survivors could recover from trauma. We identified 2 themes in our thematic analysis that were relevant to recovery: recuperation and redemption. Recuperation was most commonly reported, it was described as a gradual lessening of symptoms over time and the ability to cope with the lasting emotional and physical scars. Our findings suggest that redemption is not necessarily the dominant cultural script in the U.K. for guiding recovery in the aftermath of trauma. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Citation

Blackie, L. E. R., Colgan, J. E. V., McDonald, S., & Mclean, K. C. (2023). A qualitative investigation into the cultural master narrative for overcoming trauma and adversity in the United Kingdom. Qualitative Psychology, 10(1), 154-170. https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000163

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 19, 2019
Online Publication Date Jan 27, 2020
Publication Date 2023
Deposit Date Jan 8, 2020
Publicly Available Date Jan 8, 2020
Journal Qualitative Psychology
Print ISSN 2326-3598
Electronic ISSN 2326-3601
Publisher American Psychological Association
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Issue 1
Pages 154-170
DOI https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000163
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3687885
Publisher URL https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fqup0000163
Additional Information ©American Psychological Association, 2020. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: https://doi.org/10.1037/qup0000163

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