
Julia Goldman-Hasbun
Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology (PhD)
Research Topic
Moral Narratives, Emotions, and Beliefs in the Campus Free Speech Debate
G+PS regularly provides virtual sessions that focus on admission requirements and procedures and tips how to improve your application.
These videos contain some general advice from faculty across UBC on finding and reaching out to a potential thesis supervisor.
Theses completed in 2010 or later are listed below. Please note that there is a 6-12 month delay to add the latest theses.
In this thesis, I investigate the assumption made by identity development theorist that individuals intentionally construct and maintain a culturally valued self as they consider identity relevant goals and beliefs. Though this logic makes sense for positive identities—doctor, parent, or scientist—it becomes questionable when applied to construction of negative, or stigmatized, identities, such as that of a drinker. By interviewing 16 members of a metropolitan recovery community, I focus on how marginalized identities of alcohol misuse form absent of goal-based intention. In doing so, I show how stress processes and negative messaging from guardians, peers, and community members produce persistent painful emotions that contribute to psychological distress, hinder positive identity formation, and steer individuals toward spaces of consumption. Through each lost socially valued role, the drinker identity becomes more salient, achieving more importance in daily life and becoming central to individuals’ lives. More broadly, I advance current theoretical assumptions that dominated intervention strategies and recovery policy for decades.
View record
If this is your researcher profile you can log in to the Faculty & Staff portal to update your details and provide recruitment preferences.