'Gleaning the Grain from the Threshing-Floor in The
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‘GLEANING THE GRAIN FROM THE THRESHING-FLOOR IN THE MIDST OF A STORM’ - AN INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS’ EXPERIENCE OF WORKING AS EXPERT WITNESSES IN THE FAMILY COURT A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities. 2018 Joanne Greer School of Environment, Education and Development CONTENTS TABLE OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................. 5 ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... 6 DECLARATION .................................................................................................................... 7 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT .................................................................................................... 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... 9 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Background ................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Rationale ....................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Aims .............................................................................................................. 14 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 15 2.1 The Role of the EP.......................................................................................... 16 2.1.1 Introspection or reflective practice? .................................................................. 16 2.1.2 What EPs actually do .......................................................................................... 16 2.1.3 EPs as scientist-practitioners ............................................................................. 18 2.1.4 Child-centred approach...................................................................................... 23 2.1.5 The role of the EP: Promoting social justice ...................................................... 24 2.1.6 The context of EP practice ................................................................................. 25 2.1.7 Standards and expectations ............................................................................... 26 2.2 Role of the Psychologist as Expert Witness: Expectations .............................. 28 2.3 Context .......................................................................................................... 31 2.3.1 The modernisation of family justice and guidance for expert witnesses .......... 32 2.3.2 Admissibility criteria: Turner, Frye and Daubert ................................................ 36 2.3.3 ‘The Ireland Report’ ........................................................................................... 37 2.3.4 The Children and Families Act 2014 ................................................................... 40 2.3.5 Experts discredited ............................................................................................. 40 2.4 Chapter Summary .......................................................................................... 43 3 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................... 44 3.1 Aims and Research Question ......................................................................... 45 3.2 Methodological Overview .............................................................................. 45 3.3 Positionality ................................................................................................... 47 3.4 At the Start of the Hermeneutic Circle: A Reflexive Account .......................... 50 3.5 The Title ........................................................................................................ 55 3.6 Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: An Overview ............................... 57 3.7 Theoretical Underpinnings of IPA .................................................................. 58 2 3.7.1 Phenomenology ................................................................................................. 58 3.7.2 Hermeneutics ..................................................................................................... 61 3.7.3 Idiography .......................................................................................................... 63 3.8 Rationale for selecting IPA ............................................................................. 63 3.9 Procedures .................................................................................................... 67 3.9.1 Participants ........................................................................................................ 67 3.9.2 Data collection ................................................................................................... 68 3.10 Process of Data Analysis ................................................................................ 73 3.11 Ensuring Credibility and Trustworthiness ....................................................... 76 3.12 Supervision .................................................................................................... 79 3.13 Use of the Literature ...................................................................................... 81 3.14 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................... 83 4 INDIVIDUAL CASE FINDINGS .................................................................................... 86 4.1 Chapter Overview .......................................................................................... 86 4.2 Grace: Person-in-context and Analysis of Interview A .................................... 88 4.3 Grace: Reflections on Interview A and Analytic Process ............................... 113 4.4 Grace: Analysis of Interview B ...................................................................... 115 4.5 Grace: Reflections on Interview B and Analytic Process ............................... 133 4.6 Clara: Person-in-context and Analysis of Interview A ................................... 134 4.7 Clara: Reflections on Interview A and Analytic Process ................................ 154 4.8 Clara: Analysis of Interview B ....................................................................... 155 4.9 Clara: Reflections on Interview B and Analytic Process ................................ 170 4.10 Chapter Reflection ....................................................................................... 171 5 CROSS-CASE ANALYSIS .......................................................................................... 172 5.1 Chapter Overview ........................................................................................ 172 5.2 Discussion of Focus Points ........................................................................... 174 5.2.1 Focus Point 1: The role of being an EP and an expert witness ........................ 174 5.2.2 Focus Point 2: Maintaining a phenomenological attitude ............................... 190 5.2.3 Focus Point 3: Personal and professional identity ........................................... 194 5.2.4 Focus Point 4: The court................................................................................... 199 5.2.5 Focus Point 5: The experience of the interview ............................................... 207 6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS ........................................................ 211 6.1 Summary of Findings ................................................................................... 211 6.2 Limitations of Research................................................................................ 215 6.3 Implications for Theory ................................................................................ 218 6.4 Implications for EP Practice ......................................................................... 220 3 6.5 Implications for Future Research ................................................................. 221 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 225 Appendix 1: Participant Information Sheet .................................................................... 245 Appendix 2: Participant Consent Form ........................................................................... 248 Appendix 3: Semi-Structured Interview Schedule for Interview A .................................. 249 Appendix 4: Transcript Extract from Grace Interview A .................................................. 251 Appendix 5: Possible questions / prompts for Interview B ............................................. 255 Appendix 6: Admissibility Criteria .................................................................................. 256 Word Count: 61,617 4 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure A - Grace: Thematic Map Interviews A and B ......................................................... 89 Figure B - Clara: Thematic Map Interviews A and B ........................................................ 136 Figure C - Focus Point 1: The role of being an EP and an expert witness ......................... 174