Doctoral theses
In 2011, 43 candidates were awarded the PhD degree by the Faculty. Please see the following list with summaries of some of the most recent theses. Search in Diva for more.
| Aina Sundt Gullhaugen Redefining psychopathy? | |
| The concept of psychopathy is unlike most other mental disorders in the lack of observations of vulnerability and pain in those affected. Rather, the psychopath's callous and self-centered ways are known to evoke suffering in others. Measures are developed to identify these characteristics in a reliable way. However, increased accuracy has not led to better treatment. As a consequence, this study aimed to investigate whether the current understanding of psychopathy is changing, or should be changed, and if central changes in the concept and measurement of psychopathy require a modification of the way we handle the problem today? Hallmarks of the current paradigm were challenged through 3 research questions:
The first article of the thesis reviews previously published (1980-2009) cases of offenders with severely psychopathic traits (n=11). Vulnerability and pain in psychopaths were consistent with empirical evidence and concepts associated with object relations theory, Reid (1986) and Martens' (2002) clinical experience of suffering in psychopaths, and comorbid symptom- and personality pathology, as indicated by the authors' assessment and the selfreport of individual offenders. Articles two and three draw from an in-depth investigation of Norwegian high-security and detention prisoners with possible and strong indications of psychopathy (n=16) and controls (n=35). Results indicate important nuances in psychopathic offenders' affective and interpersonal functioning in terms of relational uncertainties and pain, and a greater emotional range than what is previously reported. Results further indicate a link between empirical findings and clinical theory describing structural affective, relational and defensive nuances in pathologically extreme self-states, which should be considered in future treatment of psychopathy. Results are incongruent with Cleckley's (1941; 1988) recognized description, and the wellestablished primary-secondary psychopathy distinction (Karpman, 1941), and in agreement with the dimensional model of self- and interpersonal functioning advised in APA's (2010) proposed revision of personality diagnoses. Future work should focus on the vulnerability and suffering, nuances and adjacent treatment of psychopathy. Such an approach would represent a paradigm shift in this field. |
| Roger Andre Federici Principal self-Efficacy | |
| One purpose of the present thesis was to develop and test the factor structure of a multidimensional and hierarchical Norwegian Principal Self-efficacy Scale. The scale was designed to capture principals' self-efficacy in relation to different areas of responsibilities and relations. The development of the instrument was initiated with qualitative interviews with principals from different schools. Eight categories were derived from the interviews and a questionnaire was developed on the basis of these categories. Another purpose of the research was to investigate relations between principals' self-efficacy and other work related psychological concepts and perceived contextual conditions. The research was conducted in two phases, a pilot and a main study. Participants in the pilot study were 300 principals of the population of Norwegian principals. Participants in the main study were 1818 principals from the same population. Data were collected by means of electronic questionnaires and analyzed be means of confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling. The results clearly support the conceptualization of principal self-efficacy as a hierarchical and multidimensional construct. Moreover, the findings supported expectations that were derived from self-efficacy theory and previous research indicating that perceived self-efficacy influences individual' cognitions and emotions, and determines how environmental opportunities and impediments are perceived. |
| Sigrun Saur Stiklestad Planlagte lesbiske familier — kontroverser og kunnskap | |
| The topic of the thesis is families with same sex parents as a phenomenon with particular focus on the growth trend of planned lesbian families in Norway. The attention is first and foremost on understanding this type of family in the light of changes in society. An important concern has been to examine key development areas with the growth trend of lesbian families, in light of the changing family policy and legal framework. The design of the project is linked closely to the formal legal rights related to lesbian planned families, a political process that has accelerated quickly during the project period. The empirical data for the thesis is primarily qualitative in-depth interviews with lesbian mothers and documents as the basis for qualitative content analysis. The thesis put focus on families with same sex parents as a phenomenon, describing the diversity of families with same sex parents. The thesis also demonstrates that the biological principle, as a basis for children and family legal rights, is given different priority and applied in different ways. In this way the biological principle is "undressed", in the sense of being a universal principle. The project also shows that research-based knowledge about child rearing was given such a low priority in the development of the legal framework on assisted conception for lesbian couples that it created doubt about the status of knowledge in the area. At the same time it appears that there is more research-based knowledge on children's situations that collectively supports the adoption of this law. The project also raises questions regarding the introduction of assisted conception, and with that the possibility of establishing co-maternity. Since the possibility of establishing co-maternity is invariably associated with assisted conception, the lesbian couples might face a possible (ethical) dilemma. This dilemma consists of choosing a donor instead of a father, in order to ensure legal ties between the social mother and the child, and to ensure equality between the two adults in the relationship. Finally, parallels are drawn between the key developments in the growth trend of lesbian families and the current debate regarding surrogates. |
| Randi Kroken Forvandling av ansvar | |
| This dissertation (monograph) bases itself on an extended case study of the conditions for action influencing decisions made by child protection professionals having responsibility for vulnerable children and adolescents. The field of child protection is impacted upon by processes and institutions found in local and national welfare states located at some distance from where the actions of these professionals are actually carried out. In order to illustrate in detail the contradictory character of the exercise of responsibility in the field of child protection, several analytic perspectives have been employed to examine the key operations carried out by professionals. The first perspective used is a proximal-ethical one; the second is a universalistic perspective while the third involves indirect management seen in light of Michel Foucault's notion of governmentality. The empirical material for the study is drawn from data collected at a child protection agency in a medium-sized Norwegian county in 2007 and 2008. Using methods combining field work, interviews and analyses of relevant documents, this extended case study has aimed to shed light on how the welfare state as a system has influenced the management of responsibility in the front lines of child protection work. One of the study's main findings suggests that a gender-based and complementary division of labor has developed within the Norwegian welfare state. This has led to focusing child protection's responsibility first and foremost on private relationships within the family rather than on problems created by society. Reforms in public administration have created a situation where the public portions of this responsibility are increasingly managed by politicians and leaders at higher levels of municipal/county hierarchies as well as of state-level child protection bureaucracies. The child protection reforms initiated by the state in 2004 appear to have created an epistemic division of division of labor giving the municipal and county child protection agencies unlimited responsibilities in contrast to the responsibilities of the state child protection bureaucracy which have become more limited and specialized. There exists, it appears, a paradoxical relationship between the goal rationality of the welfare state system and the moral and emotional engagement of its individual child protection professionals. This represents a distinctive dynamic where increasing distance between top and bottom of the welfare state hierarchy have provided the foundation for reinforcing this division. Ambitious goals of the welfare state seldom seem to be confronted by their practical consequences. In this way, it has been possible for creating the hope that child protection works for the best interests of the child whilst the welfare state works as a rational system. |
| Truls Ryum "Contribution of the therapeutic bond, therapist interventions and their interaction to outcome in psychotherapy" | |
| Empirical research has established that both individual and group psychotherapy is effective for a broad range of psychiatric disorders, but less is known about the processes associated with positive treatment outcomes. The aim of the present thesis was to examine the individual and combined contribution of two essential aspects of the Generic Model of Psychotherapy to outcome, namely the therapeutic bond (therapeutic alliance; group climate) and therapist interventions (homework assignments; transference work). Data was taken from two previously published randomized controlled trials. The first trial examined the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) for patients with comorbid disorders, whereas the second trial examined the effectiveness of short-term dynamic psychotherapy (STDP) and cognitive therapy (CT) for patients with cluster C personality disorders. Paper I found support for the use of a trans-theoretical measure of group climate as a predictor of long-term follow-up outcome in CBGT for comorbid disorders, particularly the dimension of engagement. In paper II, early ratings of therapist competence in assigning homework was found to predict both mid- and post treatment outcomes in CT with cluster C personality disorders. The use of homework assignments was not observable in STDP. This finding emphasizes the quality of homework assignments as an important and measurable therapist skill essential for treatment outcome, at least in CT. Paper III reported that a stronger emphasis on transference work, especially in the context of a weak therapeutic alliance, was associated with a smaller reduction in interpersonal problems at treatment termination in STDP and CT with cluster C personality disorders. The findings demonstrate the "risks" involved in having a stronger emphasis on transference work, especially in the context of a weak therapeutic alliance early in treatment. The results add to the importance of examining the contribution of the therapeutic bond, therapist interventions and their interaction to outcome in psychotherapy, and have noteworthy clinical implications for practicing therapists. |
