47 Thesis Transwomen‘s Memories of Parental Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Study Submitted to the University of Hertfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology Georgina Eleanor Mary Dearden July 2009 Word count: 31,420 Volume I Georgina Eleanor Mary Dearden 48 Acknowledgements Firstly, a sincere thanks to all the participants for bravely sharing their stories. Huge appreciation to Nick Wood for his eternal availability, John Rhodes for companionship through the anguish of analysis and Erasmo Tacconelli for recruitment brilliance and an admirable determination to support the needs of those most vulnerable among us. Finally, thanks to my girls and to Harry, I would never have made it through without you. Volume I Georgina Eleanor Mary Dearden 49 Contents Page 1.4 Aims and research questions 75 3.1 Service user led research 76 3.2 Which qualitative approach 76 3.3 Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis 77 3.2 Inclusion and exclusion criteria 79 3.4 Unique ethical considerations for the transsexual population 81 3.1 Semi–structured interviews 82 3.1 Construction of semi-structured interview 82 3.3 Challenges of interviewing 83 3.5 Pilot interview 83 Volume I Georgina Eleanor Mary Dearden 50 3.8 Recording and transcription 84 3.1 The analytical process 84 3.1 Stages of analysis 85 3.2 The writing process 86 3.8 Validity and reliability 87 3.1 Providing credibility checks 87 3.3 To member check or to not member check 88 3.5 Strengths and limitations 144 6.
Conclusions 147 Volume I Georgina Eleanor Mary Dearden 51 1. Abstract This project presents an in-depth idiographic study of how a developing Transwoman identity impacts upon parental relationships in childhood and how these relationships impact sense of self and later relationships. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Transwomen and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis applied to the transcripts. Two major themes emerged: the struggle to belong and the complex journey to becoming me.
The theme the struggle to belong consists of six super ordinate themes: the disappointing feminine me, trying to belong, the unacceptable me, disconnection from others and self, the struggle in new relationships, and the influence of context. The second major theme, the complex journey to becoming me, comprises two super ordinate themes: the complexity of realising me and reconnection while still being me. The results are mainly discussed using theories of Parent Child Connectedness (PCC) and psychological autonomy. Areas for future research are highlighted.
This study provides a valuable insight into the complex experience of negotiating a transsexual childhood which will be useful for professionals working with people with gender identity issues. Volume I Georgina Eleanor Mary Dearden 52 2. Introduction “I was telling you earlier about the three elements in my morals. They are the refusal to accept as self-evident the things that are proposed to us; the need to analyze and to know, since we can accomplish nothing without reflection and understanding thus, the principle of curiosity; and the principle of innovation: to seek out in our reflection those things that have never been thought or imagined.
Thus: refusal, curiosity, innovation. Overview My position and the position of this research will be elaborated at the beginning of the introduction followed by a review of the literature which will summarise psychological theories on gender and transsexual aetiology and development as well as reviewing treatment for transsexual people and the role of psychology in transsexual research.1 My position My interest in this project combines my long term interest in working with children and families and how they negotiate complex experiences with my more recent interest triggered by lectures on gender and sexuality about the complex position of people growing up with transsexual feelings. I thought of my own difficulties growing up without these added complications and wondered how people managed to negotiate this experience. At the same time, I felt ignorant as I had not encountered anyone who had had these experiences.
A brief review of the literature highlighted the significant stigma attached to the transsexual experience and the associated maltreatment of and violence towards transsexual people. These findings led me to take an empathic position within this research which values the views of the transsexual population and avoids pathologising their experience.2 Research position In order to facilitate my own research position, this research also takes an empathic position. It draws upon constructivist ideas which prioritise the experience of the individual as a knowing being while recognising the existence of multiple realities (Magoon, 1977; Ponterotto, 2005). The aim of this position is to prioritise the views of the transsexual experience rather than forcing their experiences into preconceived ideas.
Volume I Georgina Eleanor Mary Dearden 53 2.3Literature Gender and sex Different definitions of gender and sex have been proposed within Western culture. Some theorists propose that sex is the biological gender of female or male depending on anatomical features and gender is the social traits associated with each sex (Deaux, 1985; Newman, 2002). Maccoby (1988) on the other hand proposed that sex and gender should be used interchangeably because biology and social influences interact and are difficult to separate. A distinction is often made between gender identity and gender role (Golombok & Fivush, 1994).
Gender identity has been suggested as an individual‘s basic sense of female or male. Gender role is considered to be the behaviours, attitudes and characteristics that society proposes are appropriate for a specific gender. Hence, gender role is affected by society‘s current dominant discourses. Gender role can be observed through behaviours such as play, dress and personality traits.
Within Western culture, it is believed that the majority of individuals have a biological sex that is consistent with their gender identity. Gender identity is also linked to gender role although the extent of the association differs amongst individuals. Gender typicality is the extent that an individual‘s behaviour conforms to culturally determined gender roles. The following section will explore theories of gender development.
Biological perspective The most commonly understood determination of sex and gender is the absence or presence of the Y chromosome, with males having the XY chromosome and females having the XX chromosome. However, biological understandings of sex and gender have developed further suggesting that the relationship between sex and gender is not as simple as previously thought. Firstly, some individuals have different chromosomal combinations to XY or XX. In addition, prenatal androgens have been shown to effect the development of gender via the existence of conditions such as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) and Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS).
In CAH, the foetus is exposed to high levels of testosterone during development and subsequently the girls have been found to demonstrate increased ―masculine‖ behaviours. In CAIS, males are unable to utilise androgen and as infants appear to be normal girls and develop a female identity. Recent twin studies have also supported the idea of a genetic component to gender. Van Beijsterveldt, Hudziak & Boomsma (2006) in a study in the Netherlands found that genetic factors explained 70% of Volume I Georgina Eleanor Mary Dearden 54 the variance of atypical gender behaviours.
However, it is unlikely that biology is the only factor determining gender and research completed on a British twin sample by Knafo, Iervolino & Plomin (2005) showed that gender behaviour was significantly influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Psychodynamic Freud (1931/1967) proposed a psychodynamic understanding of psychosexual development which entails a child progressing through three stages: oral, anal and phallic. Each stage involves a conflict between primitive desires and the expectations of society. Chodorow (1978) reformulated Freud‘s theories focusing on early experiences of mothering.
She proposed that both boys and girls view the mother as the centre of the world and provider of all support and care. During this process, the infant merges and identifies with the mother. As the mother and daughter are female, they mutually identify with each other and maintain a sense of interpersonal integration. However, the son and mother do not have the same sense of shared identity.
Therefore males despite initial identification with the mother, classify themselves in terms of difference from females. Development of the female self-concept is linked to these early experiences of interpersonal relatedness. Contrastingly, development of the male self-concept is linked to early experiences of separation from femininity along with the availability of an alternative male ‗model‘ with which to identify as well as rival with for maternal affection. The impact of this model was possibly influenced by how Freudian thinking dominated psychological thinking at the time.
However, this model has since been criticised for its lack of evidence base as only case studies, which are vulnerable to potential bias, have been provided to support theoretical claims. Social learning theory Social Learning Theory was developed as an overarching theory to explain social development including gender identity and role development (Bandura, 1977; Mischel, 1966). It proposes that social learning occurs through two processes: reinforcement and modelling. Reinforcement affects learning as positive reinforcement such as praise leads to repetition of desired behaviours and lack of reinforcement leads to behaviour extinction.
Modelling suggests that children learn behaviour from available models. A review by Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) and a meta-analysis by Lytton and Romney (1991) support the idea that parents encourage their child‘s participation in gender typical behaviour. Volume I Georgina Eleanor Mary Dearden 55 Furthermore, research has shown that in Western families where the parents display similar gender roles the children show less typical gender role behaviour than in families which have traditional gender roles (Turner & Gervai, 1995). In addition, as described, UK twin studies have demonstrated the importance of shared environment as well as biology in the development of gender typical behaviour (Iervolino, M., Golombok, Rust, & Plomin, 2005; Knafo et al.
Social leaning theory may be a helpful way to consider the impact of parental influence upon gender behaviour as long as it is recognised that other factors also contribute to gender behaviour. At the same time, social learning theory could be further developed by considering influence as bi-directional with the child also able to influence the parent. Cognitive theory Kohlberg (1966) applied Piaget‘s (1954) model of stages of cognitive development to propose a cognitive developmental approach to gender identity development. He proposed that children‘s understanding of gender is affected by their stage of cognitive development.
He suggested that children progress through stages until they come to understand gender as constant. By the age of two, children move into the first stage called ‗gender identity‘ where children can label themselves and others as female or male based on physical characteristics. Around three years of age, children move to the ‗gender stability‘ stage where it is understood that if you are female you will always be female. During this stage, gender is perceived as stable across time but is not stable across situation.
At age five, children reach the final ‗gender constancy‘ stage where they realise gender is constant over time and place. Kohlberg suggested that the impact of modelling depends on a child‘s understanding of gender constancy. Slaby & Frey (1975), in a study of 55 American children, demonstrated that children place more attention on the model they are similar to as constancy increases which they understood as a form of self-identification and self-socialisation. Furthermore, in a study of over 8,000 Dutch twins, Gender Atypical Behaviour (GAB) were shown to decrease as children get older and by the age of six or seven, gender typical behaviours are well established (van Beijsterveldt et al.
During the 1970‘s, gender schema theory proposed that children form gender related schemas of themselves and others and that these schemas influence children‘s thinking and behaviour. In contrast to Kohlberg‘s cognitive developmental approach, gender-schema theory proposes Volume I Georgina Eleanor Mary Dearden 56 that a basic understanding of gender is all that is required to stimulate children‘s behaviour. For further information see Martin and Ruble (2004). Although cognitive models can be considered a useful component of a holistic view of gender, they also can be critiqued for suggesting a linear process to gender development and, therefore, excluding any possibility of variations within the gender experience.
