UNDER THE SHADOW OF RECESSIONA NARRATIVE EXPLORATION OF YOUNG GREEK GRADUATES’ EXPERIENCE OF RECESSION

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Abstract

Since the recession has hit Greece, individuals have not only experienced financial loss but they have seen their whole life overhauled by the crisis. The purpose of this study is to explore how young Greeks who have recently graduated, or who are about to graduate, perceive their lives and futures at this time of severe economic crisis. More particularly, I tried to focus on their feelings (such as worries and hopes) about how the recession has impacted their lives and their feelings regarding their futures. Research has shown that during periods of recession, young individuals are affected the most and for that reason I chose this population as the target group of my research. Coming from the perspective of developmental and life-span theories that in order to achieve healthy psychological development, individuals need to go through particular tasks during their life span; I was particularly interested to see how the recession has psychologically affected young individuals who, even though they have recently ended two of the main markers that identify their transition to adulthood (education and gaining a professional qualification) due to the recession they were unable to move to the stages which are employment and financial in-dependence. I wanted to listen to these individuals’ stories and see how they perceive their lives and futures and what their feelings are during the period of recession. In a narrative framework, following an unstructured interview and asking the participants one main question, ‘What are your thoughts and feelings about your life and your future during the period of recession?’, the participants were allowed to express their stories and what they considered as important, creating in that way unique narratives that represented their own processes. The main themes that were identified from the stories are: ‘Their career choice and their hopes for employment prospects’, ‘Broken dreams and collecting the pieces’, ‘Impact of recession on the individual’, ‘Impact of recession on other aspects of their life’ and ‘Participants’ feelings about their future’. Presenting and exploring the participants’ stories I attempted to gain a better understanding and awareness of how the recession has impacted them psychologically, investigating their psychological needs finding ways to support them. The realisation of the significant losses that were described by the participants drove the researcher to turn to bereavement counselling theory trying to identify ways to psychologically support individuals who experience similar losses and clinical interventions were suggested.

Layman's Abstract

Since the recession has hit Greece, individuals have not only experienced financial loss but they have seen their whole life overhauled by the crisis. The purpose of this study is to explore how young Greeks who have recently graduated, or who are about to graduate, perceive their lives and futures at this time of severe economic crisis. More particularly, I tried to focus on their feelings (such as worries and hopes) about how the recession has impacted their lives and their feelings regarding their futures. Research has shown that during periods of recession, young individuals are affected the most and for that reason I chose this population as the target group of my research. Coming from the perspective of developmental and life-span theories that in order to achieve healthy psychological development, individuals need to go through particular tasks during their life span; I was particularly interested to see how the recession has psychologically affected young individuals who, even though they have recently ended two of the main markers that identify their transition to adulthood (education and gaining a professional qualification) due to the recession they were unable to move to the stages which are employment and financial in-dependence. I wanted to listen to these individuals’ stories and see how they perceive their lives and futures and what their feelings are during the period of recession. In a narrative framework, following an unstructured interview and asking the participants one main question, ‘What are your thoughts and feelings about your life and your future during the period of recession?’, the participants were allowed to express their stories and what they considered as important, creating in that way unique narratives that represented their own processes. The main themes that were identified from the stories are: ‘Their career choice and their hopes for employment prospects’, ‘Broken dreams and collecting the pieces’, ‘Impact of recession on the individual’, ‘Impact of recession on other aspects of their life’ and ‘Participants’ feelings about their future’. Presenting and exploring the participants’ stories I attempted to gain a better understanding and awareness of how the recession has impacted them psychologically, investigating their psychological needs finding ways to support them. The realisation of the significant losses that were described by the participants drove the researcher to turn to bereavement counselling theory trying to identify ways to psychologically support individuals who experience similar losses and clinical interventions were suggested.

Keyword(s)

counselling psychology, recession, young graduates, loss, shattered dreams; non-death related grief, developmental psychology

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