Iina Lousa
Academic Writing, Reading and
Communication, XENY002 Ryhmä 4 (PSY)
2011
 Background
 Research question
 Purpose for study
 Hypotheses
 Critical sources
 How is this research done
 Summary
How can J.K. Rowling’s Harry
Potter-books help us in our
lives?
 The purpose of this study is to examine in what ways can
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter –books be helpful in our lives
 This holds questions like:
Why are HP-books so popular?
Why do some people experience the books helpful in their lives?
In what things (or characters) can we relate to in the books?
What messages does HP hold?
What kind of values can we learn from HP?
How can we use the ideas of HP in helping people (for example in
different therapies)?
 Does HP include thoughts/concepts from positive psychology?
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Reading Harry Potter can help us in our lives
Reading HP can give us more courage and hope
Reading HP helps us find our “inner child”
We can learn about life from HP
We can learn various values from HP, for example loyalty,
equality, love and respect for friendship.
It is easy to identify with the characters in the book
Themes in the books have similarities to different therapy
methods
HP –books can be succesfully used in therapy
HP- books promote the ideas of positive psychology
 What psychoanalytical themes are there in the books,
and how can they be used in group psychotherapy for
adolescents with mental health problems. (Noctor,
Colman. (2006). Putting Harry Potter on the
Couch. Clinical Child Psychology and Prychiatry, 11,
579-589.)
 Why are the books so popular and what is their appeal.
(Tucker, Nicholas. (1999). The Rise and Rise of Harry
Potter. Children’s Literature in Education, 30, 221-234.)
 How can the books help a young gay man find support for
his ”queer” identity. (Nylund, David. (2007). Reading Harry
Potter: Popular culture, queer theory and the fashioning of
youth identity. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 26, 13-24.)
 What similarities are there between the themes or
characters in the book, and different therapy methods.
How can the books be used in psychotherapy. (Mulholland,
Neil. (2007). Using Psychological Treatment with Harry. In
Neil. Mulholland (Eds.), The psychology of Harry Potter: an
unautorized examination of the boy who lived. (265-282).
Dallas: Benbella books)
 The research is done by examining different research
articles written about the books (especially from
psychological perspective)
 (After that I will analyze the articles, how they fit into
my research and compare them with my own reading
experience of the books)
In this presentation I have talked about..
 Why am I interested in this topic
 What is my research question (How can J.K.
Rowling’s Harry Potter-books help us in our lives?)
 The purpose of my study
 Some of the hypotheses I have come up so far
 My main critical sources and their basic ideas
 How am I going to carry out my additional research
Thanks and have an nice holiday!