Angela Blanchard
School of Psychology
Handing down childhood emotional neglect: “…Her mum was the
same with her”
The purpose of my research is to explore the experience of childhood emotional
neglect to increase understanding of the phenomenon. I aim to bridge the gap
between a subjective, autobiographical account and the objective, third person
account, by adding the participants’ own voices to a rigorous study. My
autoethnographic approach combines elements of autobiography (telling my own
story) and ethnography (telling the story of a group of people). I aim to create an
evocative representation of childhood emotional neglect by drawing on literary and
creative writing styles and examining the experience in its social and historical
contexts. In this poster I present some of the intergenerational aspects that I have
identified in the data so far, using thematic analysis to ensure rigour as well as
interpretation and creativity. In the words of one participant, “She never used to hug
me or anything… and she said that her mum was the same with her.” The
participants offer a range of justifications and explanations, including maternal
separation, war-time evacuation, hospital practices around childbirth and childrearing beliefs. In my poster I illustrate some of these themes using the participants’
own words.
Postgraduate Conference 2016
Page 21