Stubbs, Jessica;
(2025)
“It could be the slight little crack in injustice’s grip on people’s lives and identities”.
A Grounded Theory exploration of how narrative-informed practitioners draw on a creative stance in their practice.
Doctoral thesis (D.Clin.Psy), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This thesis explores the perspectives of narrative-informed practitioners drawing on creativity in their practice in disrupting dominant discourses. It explores whether and how creativity as a stance or way-of-being can support practitioners to engage in anti-oppressive, social justice-informed practices. Part one is a Conceptual Introduction, which aims to introduce and define key concepts and summarise the existing research relating to each concept. This introduces key issues associated with drawing on narrative-informed practices and creativity within systems such as the NHS and community/voluntary sectors. It also highlights gaps in the literature, whereby the main focus is on creative techniques and methods. The researcher’s position and study rationale are also introduced. Part two outlines the Grounded Theory qualitative methodology, exploring the meanings of creativity in participants’ practice. 26 narrative-informed practitioners took part in semi-structured interviews. It explores the ethical positioning and values that creativity invokes for participants and what this ‘creative stance’ enables in practice. The analysis produced a conceptual framework, organised around one core category, ‘Finding the Cracks’, and six main categories: ‘Creativity as a Stance’, ‘Creativity as Energy’, ‘Creativity and Narrative Therapy’, ‘Conditions for Creativity’, ‘Expanding Practices’, and ‘Engaging in Movement’. Part two then examines how the framework met the study’s aims, critique, and limitations, concluding with recommendations and questions to encourage practitioner reflections. Part three presents a critical appraisal of the research process, reflecting on the topic, preparation, recruitment, data collection and analysis, the development of the conceptual framework, and impact. It also reflects on the researcher’s personal and professional experiences throughout the research.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | D.Clin.Psy |
| Title: | “It could be the slight little crack in injustice’s grip on people’s lives and identities”. A Grounded Theory exploration of how narrative-informed practitioners draw on a creative stance in their practice |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10211140 |
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