College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences - Doctoral Theses
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Item Childhood trauma and trauma-informed care in early intervention in psychosis(University College Cork, 2024) Hunt, Evan; Lambert, Sharon; Murphy, Mike; Lonergan, Edgar; O'Connor, Karen; Health Service ExecutiveThis doctoral thesis explores the integration of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) within Mental Health Services (MHS) and examines the prevalence and impact of childhood trauma in individuals experiencing First-Episode Psychosis (FEP). Through a systematic review, the research identifies core principles and practices of TIC in MHS, leading to the development of a framework that encompasses therapeutic environment, sociocultural responsiveness, and workforce development, providing a blueprint for operationalising TIC within mental healthcare. Building on this foundation, an empirical study establishes the demographic and clinical profile of service users accessing an Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service in Ireland. Findings reveal the complex and diverse needs of the population, including significant gender differences in age of onset, substance use, and functional impairments, emphasising the necessity for tailored interventions in EIP services. Further research investigates the prevalence of childhood trauma among FEP service users, revealing a high rate of trauma exposure (78%), with emotional abuse and neglect being most common. Gender differences were also found, with females reporting higher severity and cumulative trauma. These findings highlight the importance of integrating trauma-informed approaches into EIP services to address the multifaceted needs of individuals with psychosis. Finally, the thesis examines the longitudinal impact of childhood trauma on clinical outcomes in FEP. While trauma severity was linked to self-harm, it did not significantly affect other baseline clinical characteristics. Over the course of 12 months of treatment, significant improvements in symptomatology and functioning were observed, regardless of trauma history, highlighting the effectiveness of EIP services in supporting individuals with FEP. This research collectively emphasises the need for trauma-informed, individualised care to optimise outcomes for individuals with early psychosis.Item Digital Humanities: a bridge between computer vision and study of art(University College Cork, 2024) Xiao, Shuang; Murphy, Orla; Allen, Graham; China Scholarship CouncilFrom Humanities Computing to Digital Humanities, the development of digital technologies has brought many possibilities to the Humanities disciplines, including the exploration of painting research through deep learning. Such research currently focuses primarily on improving algorithmic performance, mainly derived from the field of computer vision, while technical barriers and disciplinary jargon make it difficult for Humanities scholars to engage in this type of research. However, effective interdisciplinary research requires communication and dialogue across multiple fields. On the one hand, the participation of Humanities scholars can make deep learning technologies more targeted in exploring painting research, thereby providing valuable research insights. On the other hand, Humanities scholars can critically examine deep learning, offering feasible suggestions for technological improvement, and identifying and avoiding potential ethical issues. Based on this research objective, this thesis conducts the following studies. The thesis first introduces the context of this research: “Digital Humanities,” “Artificial Intelligence,” “Computer Vision,” “Digital Art History,” and “Cultural Analytics.” and reviews existing research on deep learning in painting studies, critical research in Digital Humanities, and ethical issues in AI. Then, the thesis details the application process of deep learning in painting research in four parts: “Data Preparation,” “Model Training,” “Evaluation and Optimization,” and “Analysis and Interpretation,” each part including an introduction to basic knowledge, the application of technology (experiments), and reflections on deep learning. Chapter One, Data Preparation, introduces the basics of art image datasets, discussing how to assess, select, and clean image datasets. The experiment demonstrates how to organize datasets with code according to one’s research objectives, preparing for model training. The reflective section discusses the subjectivity and biases of datasets, the characteristics of art data itself, and the ethical, copyright, and technical limitations of datasets, proposing some targeted and feasible suggestions. Chapter Two, Model Training, uses CNNs as examples to introduce the internal structure of neural networks and various types of CNNs. The experiment demonstrates how to train a simple neural network model to predict the authors of paintings. Lastly, it reflects from a Humanities perspective on the potential issues that may arise during the model training process, including programming challenges, ethical issues and transparency of algorithms, the comparison between machine learning and human learning, and the effectiveness of transfer learning in art images. Chapter Three, Evaluation and Optimization, introduces methods for evaluating and optimizing models, and through experiments, evaluates and optimizes the model trained in Chapter Two. The reflection section discusses minimal computation, model accuracy, as well as issues with weights and biases. Chapter Four, Analysis and Interpretation, differentiates between model explanations from a computational perspective and model interpretations from a Humanities perspective. Based on the objectives and themes of painting research, it proposes five potential ways in which deep learning can assist painting research, including recognition of features and patterns, comparative studies, object detection, unsupervised clustering, and image generation, with detailed case explanations for each path. After completing the introduction and exploration of deep learning, this chapter ultimately suggests a research approach that combines Humanities and computing and discusses the value of AI-generated art based on current research trends. The biggest contribution of this thesis is in linking the fields of painting research and deep learning, which have vastly different research goals and methods, to form a research approach that allows for mutual communication and contribution. This approach represents a Digital Humanities research approach, promotes equal and dialogical exploration between Humanities research and Computer Science, where technology offers new insights and possibilities for Humanities research, and Humanities research provides critical suggestions for technological development.Item Framing justice in ‘unjust times’: critiquing Irish legal, political, and medical debates on the right to die(University College Cork, 2023) Keogh, James Patrick; Skillington, Tracey; O'Neill, MaggieAgainst the backdrop of notable legal challenges here in Ireland, this research examines the enduring discord between the widespread societal endorsement of assisted dying and the prevailing legislative rigidity that unequivocally rejects it. To support this investigation, a qualitative methodology was applied, involving frame analysis of legal case documents and semi-structured interviews, supplemented with elements of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). This approach helped identify the most dominant interpretive positions that constitute major sticking points of the right to die debate, and explore how these positions are shaped by ideologies, biases, and power dynamics that structure the exchange of ideas, arguments, and counter-positions. Drawing from critical definitions of justice (Forst, 2007; Honneth, 1995; Fricker, 2007) and Foucauldian considerations of power concerning both the physical and the body politic (Foucault, 1978), this study posits that end-of-life controversies are more usefully conceptualised as ‘pained’ experiences (Scarry, 1985), defined from the viewpoint of the suffering body. Providing detailed accounts of how justice regarding the right to die has been constructed in formal decision-making arenas and publicly challenged by an emerging social movement that considers it ‘unjust,’ this body of work observes the residual effects of a deeply conservative Catholic state on experiences of dying. Despite its loosening stranglehold on contemporary Irish society, a nexus of legal, political, and medical power structures continues to thwart efforts to legislate for assisted dying. These forces successfully frame the conditions for its possibility as morally reprehensible and as an extension of suicide, leaving legislators hesitant to take decisive action. Frustrated by the lack of progress on the issue and driven by the desperate pleas of loved ones, this study crucially documents the justifications employed by individuals for taking matters into their own hands and laying a claim upon death themselves. This subversive response, though shrouded in secrecy, speaks to the pressing nature of unfulfilled human needs and the desperate yearning for the fundamental requisites of compassion and agency. It represents a poignant manifestation of the stark realities faced by those entangled in end-of-life crises – realities that demand more urgent and heartfelt engagement from policymakers than currently offered.Item As others saw us: the French grand reporter on the island of Ireland in the 20th century(University College Cork, 2023) O'Hanlon, Oliver; Hassett, Dónal; Ó Drisceoil, DonalThis thesis analyses how the political perception of Ireland evolved in France during the course of the twentieth-century. It looks at the work of a number of grand reporter journalists from five different French newspapers who reported on Ireland at times of conflict in the twentieth-century. The two seminal periods of conflict in Irish history, the War of Independence and the violent sectarian conflict which lasted for almost thirty years, known colloquially as the “Troubles”, attracted unprecedented media attention from the world’s press. In this source-driven longue durée study of newspaper articles produced by the grands reporters journalists, I show how the form of writing that they produced, grand reportage, evolved over time. It moved from an entertaining and engaging style of writing that was primarily aimed at attracting the reader’s attention and making them buy the next day’s newspaper, in much the same way that the roman-feuilleton was used in a previous generation, to more of an accurate reflection of what was happening on the ground in Ireland. During the Troubles, grands reporters did not need to add any of the Gothic style elements that their confreres would have used in the 1920s to add an air of mystery to the first-person narrative in order to make it as interesting as possible. This transformation in the form of grand reportage was driven by changes in media practise which were prompted by competition from other forms of media. Grand reportage was no longer being used to boost newspaper sales but remained a feature of the French press and was used to boost a newspaper’s credibility, as we see in the case of a new newspaper, Libération, that chose to report from Ireland and other locations around the world to show that it was willing and able to compete with more established newspapers. I show how the political perception of Ireland in France shifted from one of a peripheral land or romanticised exotic L’île verte that was locked in seemingly intractable conflict, to one of a modern outward-looking state that was a peer with France through their common membership of the European Union.Item Meaning, Dasein and art: new paths to continuity in Heidegger's thought(University College Cork, 2024) Lan, Ying; Loughnane, Adam; China Scholarship CouncilThe question of meaning in Heidegger's thought has provoked debates on whether his project is fundamentally continuous, or if there might be a break, a “turn” or a discontinuity in his thinking. This study argues for continuity. This study argues that, in Heidegger's inquiry, this continuity thesis constitutes a path to the source of the question of the meaning of Being, the unfolding of the question itself, especially Heidegger's consistency in answering the question of the meaning of Being in the works exploring Dasein's essence, art and truth. Besides that, while dealing with this continuity-discontinuity debate, this study attempts to address some of the challenges and criticisms related to it to clarify Heidegger's claims better. Firstly, meaning theory originates from Heidegger's response to modern logic and method. Heidegger's theory of meaning is distinct from modern logic and phenomenology but closely related to them at the beginning of its formulation. The theory of meaning as a question of the meaning of Being originates in the differentiation between logic and reality. Heidegger attempts to develop a field to bridge the dichotomy, the pre-theoretical field of praxis. Secondly, Heidegger's unique interpretation of this question. The realization of this field of praxis first commences in the existential structure of human existence and continues as an origin of occurrence in the work of art. This interpretation is the cause of the dispute between continuity and discontinuity. The current interpretation takes a position of continuity because of the methodological choice to pursue the meaning of Being and because this question cannot be independent and separate in the interpretation of Dasein and in art, which jointly constitute Heidegger's claim at the very beginning. Based on an affirmation of the continuity of interpreting meaning, this thesis is committed to clarifying some of the misunderstandings or not-so-adequate readings of Heidegger and considering how Heidegger's theory of meaning might engage more productively with the more current issues of our time. Given the historical origin of theories of meaning, human practice cannot be pre-constructed but can only be an “adaptation” (Ereignis) as a meaningful way of Being. In other words, if we accept Heidegger's position, we cannot deliberately begin an artistic practice in order to acquire new intelligibility, but rather only have open to ourselves an adaptation to the context we have. More importantly, the adaptation is not a subjective creation or passive acceptance, but an active enactment of a given situation.