Psychology without foundations offers a range of philosophical and theoretical resources that con... more Psychology without foundations offers a range of philosophical and theoretical resources that contribute to a vision of psychology as a transdiscipline. The guiding theme is that we need to rethink our relationship to foundations and to affirm the paradox that foundations must be continually self-constructed. A case is made for a ‘reflexive’ or ‘creative’ (non)foundationalism that might give rise to a ‘psychology of the second order’. The psychological resists any easy determination. We must seek an ‘image of the psychological’ as it appears across the most diverse of terrains. To this end the book assembles a range of thinkers that share an orientation to reality as multiply mediated process or becoming. Following an introductory chapter, the philosophies of Alfred North Whitehead and Michel Serres are drawn upon to introduce these twin concepts of process and mediation. Each of the following six chapters takes a key thinker as a guide to an important psychological topic. These include Niklas Luhmann (on communication); Antonin Artaud (on embodiment); Baruch Spinoza (on affect); Henri Bergson (on memory); Michel Foucault (on subjectivity) and Giles Deleuze (on life). A final chapter proposes a concept of experience based on the relations between power (or affect), image (or percept), proposition (or concept) and enunciation (or discourse) in order to make the arts of existence or the art of living the central object of Psychology. The book is envisaged as a work-assemblage rather than systematization and as an intervention into the current impasse between critical psychology and the ‘mainstream’.
Focusing on social practices of remembering and forgetting this book develops an argument for how... more Focusing on social practices of remembering and forgetting this book develops an argument for how to study the social psychology of experience. The content is theoretically grounded in the classic works of Frederick Bartlett (on psychological schema as ‘socially organized settings’); Maurice Halbwachs (on the sociology of ‘collective frameworks’ in memory) and Henri Bergson (on the philosophical discussion of ‘durations’ in experience). The significance of their ideas for developing a contemporary psychology of experience is illustrated with material from studies focused on settings at home and at work, in public and commercial organizations where remembering and forgetting are matters of concern, involving language and text based communication, objects and place. The overall argument extends beyond spatial metaphors concerning the passage of time and the consequences this has for the content of experience as finite. Instead the indivisible and continuous nature of experience is explored. This moves away from experience as lived in some linear unfolding of time where memory is taken as the vehicle for linking past, present and future whether individual or collective. Memory is still placed at the centre of lived experience, not as the storehouse of that experience, but instead as a relational process at the intersection of different durations of living. Of particular interest is how we endure in time and how our rhythm of living is slowed or quickened in relation to the durations of others. In other words we seek to demonstrate selfhood as the shifting intersection of experiences of which our present consciousness is only the leading edge. Overall issues raised in contemporary discussions of social memory are addressed whilst arguing for a psychology of experience that is not tied to spatialised views of time.
In Dasein there lies an essential tendency towards closeness. All the ways in which we speed thin... more In Dasein there lies an essential tendency towards closeness. All the ways in which we speed things up, as we are more or less compelled to do today, push us on towards the conquest of remoteness (Heidegger, 1962, p. 140). I To get us under way, consider a now familiar image: the manager who has his/her secretary print out his/her e-mails and stack them high for subsequent perusal. Not quite apocryphal enough, this practice-the source of many cartoons and much "back stage" grumbling-expresses a not-so-subtle judgement about information technology. We suppose that it breaks roughly into two distinct elements. The first is a suspicion about the quality of what is communicated. Much of it is thought to be trivial, narrow in its content or simply superfluous and counter-productive to ordinary thinking: in short, inessential. It takes time, after all, to say anything worthwhile, and by its very nature information technology inverts our sense of the temporal. The second is what might be called a mis-attunement to technology. The medium itself feels wrong, strangely inauthentic, perhaps because it seems to require so little effort. It is not the means by which great oratory is heard, certainly, but more than this there is a sense of risking disruption, of falling foul of poor mediation, that makes information technology seem a weak substitute for the handwritten word or conversation. And one can almost audibly hear these beliefs hardening in response to the recent spectacle of the Hollywood movie star who faced down poor reviews with the claim that, in his milieu, the Internet, and not professional film critics, was the prime source for instant, accurate information. Instantaneity corrupts or distracts, then? Or simply speeds without direction? We are up against a well-worn diagnosis for modern times, one whose origins are entirely coeval with the passage to modernity itself. As Thoreau has it during the mid-nineteenth century:
The relationship between place and remembering has been a longstanding matter of phenomenological... more The relationship between place and remembering has been a longstanding matter of phenomenological concern. The role of the ‘lived body’ in mediating acts of remembering in context is clearly crucial. In this paper we contribute to an ‘expanded view of memory’ by describing how remembering difficult or problematic events ― ‘vital memories’ ― draws upon inter-subjective and inter-objective relations. We discuss two conceptual tools that provide an analytic framework ― the concept of ‘life space’ drawn from Kurt Lewin (1936) and the idea of the ‘setting specificity’ of remembering. From this perspective we can see that the ‘lived body’ does not constitute a singular unity but rather a ‘plurality’ of potential bodies that have ‘operative solidarity’ (cf. Simondon, 2009) with the material relations in which they are constituted. Drawing on the work of Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, we argue that ‘body memories’ need to be analysed from within the embodied material-relational perspective wherein they are afforded.
As its title indicates, this issue of ARCP introduces Deleuze’s project on a philosophy of differ... more As its title indicates, this issue of ARCP introduces Deleuze’s project on a philosophy of difference in its critical intersection with psychology. After a general introduction, this special issue employs the distinctions Philosophy/Science/Art articulated in his later work with Felix Guattari – What is Philosophy? – to frame an interrogation of the ways in which his project makes psychology rethink many of its disciplinary foundations and brings a gust of fresh (and critical) air to its practices.
A consensus has developed among social and biological scientists around the problematic nature of... more A consensus has developed among social and biological scientists around the problematic nature of genetic ancestry testing, specifically that its popularity will lead to greater genetic essentialism in social identities. Many of these arguments assume a relatively uncritical engagement with DNA, under ‘high-stakes’ conditions. We suggest that in a biosocial society, more pervasive ‘low-stakes’ engagement is more likely. Through qualitative interviews with participants in a study of the genetic legacy of the Vikings in Northern England, we investigate how genetic ancestry results are discursively worked through. The identities formed in ‘becoming a Viking’ through DNA are characterized by fluidity and reflexivity, rather than essentialism. DNA results are woven into a wider narrative of selfhood relating to the past, the value of which lies in its potential to be passed on within families. While not unproblematic, the relatively banal nature of such narratives within contemporary society is characteristic of the ‘biosociable’.
Individuals with mental health problems are considered to be part of a group labeled ‘vulnerable’... more Individuals with mental health problems are considered to be part of a group labeled ‘vulnerable’ in forensic psychology literature and the legal system more generally. In producing witness statements, there are numerous guidelines in the UK, designed to facilitate the production of reliable and valid accounts by those deemed to be vulnerable witnesses. And yet, it is not entirely clear how mental health impacts on reliability and validity within the judicial system, partly due to the diversity of those who present with mental health difficulties. In this paper, we set out to explore how legal professionals operating in the UK understand the impact of mental distress on the practical production of witness testimonies. Twenty legal professionals, including police officers, judges, magistrates and detectives were involved in a semi-structured interview to examine their knowledge and experience of working with mental health problems, and how they approached and worked with this group. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data and specific themes relevant to the overall research question are presented. These include a) dilemmas and deficiencies in knowledge of mental health, b) the abandonment of diagnosis and c) barriers to knowledge: time restrictions, silence, professional identity and fear. Finally, we explore some of the implications of these barriers, with regard to professional practice.
The focus on practice of remembering has been highly productive for memory studies, but it create... more The focus on practice of remembering has been highly productive for memory studies, but it creates difficulties in understanding personal commitment to particular versions of the past. Autobiographical memories of difficult and distressing past episodes -or 'vital memories'require extensive and ongoing management. We describe the issues that arise when vital memories are expressed across a range of specific interactional contexts. Seven themesautobiography, agency, forgetting, ethics, affect, space, and institutional practices -are discussed. Each theme draws out a particular facet of the relationship between the content and contexts of vital memories and demonstrates that whilst vital memories frame problematic experiences, they remain essential for those who express them.
Individuals with mental health problems are considered to be part of a group labeled ‘vulnerable’... more Individuals with mental health problems are considered to be part of a group labeled ‘vulnerable’ in forensic psychology literature and the legal system more generally. In producing witness statements, there are numerous guidelines in the UK, designed to facilitate the production of reliable and valid accounts by those deemed to be vulnerable witnesses. And yet, it is not entirely clear how mental health impacts on reliability and validity within the judicial system, partly due to the diversity of those who present with mental health difficulties. In this paper, we set out to explore how legal professionals operating in the UK understand the impact of mental distress on the practical production of witness testimonies. Twenty legal professionals, including police officers, judges, magistrates and detectives were involved in a semi-structured interview to examine their knowledge and experience of working with mental health problems, and how they approached and worked with this group. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data and specific themes relevant to the overall research question are presented. These include a) dilemmas and deficiencies in knowledge of mental health, b) the abandonment of diagnosis and c) barriers to knowledge: time restrictions, silence, professional identity and fear. Finally, we explore some of the implications of these barriers, with regard to professional practice.
This article introduces some early data from the Leverhulme Trust-funded research programme, ‘The... more This article introduces some early data from the Leverhulme Trust-funded research programme, ‘The Impact of the Diasporas on the Making of Britain: evidence, memories, inventions’. One of the interdisciplinary foci of the programme, which incorporates insights from genetics, history, archaeology, linguistics and social psychology, is to investigate how genetic evidence of ancestry is incorporated into identity narratives. In particular, we investigate how ‘applied genetic history’ shapes individual and familial narratives, which are then situated within macro-narratives of the nation and collective memories of immigration and indigenism. It is argued that the construction of genetic evidence as a ‘gold standard’ about ‘where you really come from’ involves a remediation of cultural and archival memory, in the construction of a ‘usable past’. This article is based on initial questionnaire data from a preliminary study of those attending DNA collection sessions in northern England. It presents some early indicators of the perceived importance of being of Viking descent among participants, notes some emerging patterns and considers the implications for contemporary debates on migration, belonging and local and national identity.
How do memorials act to transmit memory through the organization of space? In this paper we contr... more How do memorials act to transmit memory through the organization of space? In this paper we contrast a ‘preservation’ model of the endurance of encoded memory with a ‘meshwork’ model which treats memory as emergent on the perdurance of the memorial site. Developing a theoretical framework from Tim Ingold’s (2011; 2013) work, we describe how memorialization receives its spatial form through a collective work of braiding together multiple threads of activities and material flows. To illustrate, we examine the spatial and temporal organization of the Hyde Park 7/7 memorial from its initial designs, through to installation and contemporary use. We draw on interview data featuring various stakeholders in the 7/7 memorial project to analyse the relationship between memorial space and material relations. We develop an approach to organizational space as an unfinished meshwork that folds together wanted and unwanted memory, making the historical a matter of ongoing live concern but with the absence of a permanent guiding narrative.
Abstract In this article we explore how teachers can draw upon the language of stress to perform ... more Abstract In this article we explore how teachers can draw upon the language of stress to perform strategically important and often politically sensitive social acts. Our aim will be to show that the description of teaching problems as a matter of 'stress' has important social and political implications for teachers. To do this we draw upon interviews with Scottish secondary school teachers; these interviews have been subjected to close textual analysis, informed by some of the basic principles of discursive psychology.
In this paper, we explore how adoptive parents manage and order visual information relating to th... more In this paper, we explore how adoptive parents manage and order visual information relating to their adoptive child's birth or foster family. More specifically, our task is to make sense of the ways in which the memories that children have of their past families are (re)constructed and managed within the context of present adoptive parental concerns. Life story books have become a dominant way in which narratives of the child's past family are formed. The aim of this book is to provide the child with relevant information, objects, possessions and images of the past and to create a coherent narrative between the past and the present. Parents are encouraged to make use of visual images, consisting mainly of photographs of birth families and foster carers to order the autobiography of the child. To date, there is no research that has examined how the process is experienced by parents and children. In order to examine how parents made use of visual information in particular, we carried out two focus groups with adoptive parents who participated in an adoption agency support group. A social remembering approach informed the questions asked, and a discursive analysis of the data was developed. The main analytical focus in this paper is on how photographs, objects and places serve as active participants in the production of the adoptive children's memory.
Psychology without foundations offers a range of philosophical and theoretical resources that con... more Psychology without foundations offers a range of philosophical and theoretical resources that contribute to a vision of psychology as a transdiscipline. The guiding theme is that we need to rethink our relationship to foundations and to affirm the paradox that foundations must be continually self-constructed. A case is made for a ‘reflexive’ or ‘creative’ (non)foundationalism that might give rise to a ‘psychology of the second order’. The psychological resists any easy determination. We must seek an ‘image of the psychological’ as it appears across the most diverse of terrains. To this end the book assembles a range of thinkers that share an orientation to reality as multiply mediated process or becoming. Following an introductory chapter, the philosophies of Alfred North Whitehead and Michel Serres are drawn upon to introduce these twin concepts of process and mediation. Each of the following six chapters takes a key thinker as a guide to an important psychological topic. These include Niklas Luhmann (on communication); Antonin Artaud (on embodiment); Baruch Spinoza (on affect); Henri Bergson (on memory); Michel Foucault (on subjectivity) and Giles Deleuze (on life). A final chapter proposes a concept of experience based on the relations between power (or affect), image (or percept), proposition (or concept) and enunciation (or discourse) in order to make the arts of existence or the art of living the central object of Psychology. The book is envisaged as a work-assemblage rather than systematization and as an intervention into the current impasse between critical psychology and the ‘mainstream’.
Focusing on social practices of remembering and forgetting this book develops an argument for how... more Focusing on social practices of remembering and forgetting this book develops an argument for how to study the social psychology of experience. The content is theoretically grounded in the classic works of Frederick Bartlett (on psychological schema as ‘socially organized settings’); Maurice Halbwachs (on the sociology of ‘collective frameworks’ in memory) and Henri Bergson (on the philosophical discussion of ‘durations’ in experience). The significance of their ideas for developing a contemporary psychology of experience is illustrated with material from studies focused on settings at home and at work, in public and commercial organizations where remembering and forgetting are matters of concern, involving language and text based communication, objects and place. The overall argument extends beyond spatial metaphors concerning the passage of time and the consequences this has for the content of experience as finite. Instead the indivisible and continuous nature of experience is explored. This moves away from experience as lived in some linear unfolding of time where memory is taken as the vehicle for linking past, present and future whether individual or collective. Memory is still placed at the centre of lived experience, not as the storehouse of that experience, but instead as a relational process at the intersection of different durations of living. Of particular interest is how we endure in time and how our rhythm of living is slowed or quickened in relation to the durations of others. In other words we seek to demonstrate selfhood as the shifting intersection of experiences of which our present consciousness is only the leading edge. Overall issues raised in contemporary discussions of social memory are addressed whilst arguing for a psychology of experience that is not tied to spatialised views of time.
In Dasein there lies an essential tendency towards closeness. All the ways in which we speed thin... more In Dasein there lies an essential tendency towards closeness. All the ways in which we speed things up, as we are more or less compelled to do today, push us on towards the conquest of remoteness (Heidegger, 1962, p. 140). I To get us under way, consider a now familiar image: the manager who has his/her secretary print out his/her e-mails and stack them high for subsequent perusal. Not quite apocryphal enough, this practice-the source of many cartoons and much "back stage" grumbling-expresses a not-so-subtle judgement about information technology. We suppose that it breaks roughly into two distinct elements. The first is a suspicion about the quality of what is communicated. Much of it is thought to be trivial, narrow in its content or simply superfluous and counter-productive to ordinary thinking: in short, inessential. It takes time, after all, to say anything worthwhile, and by its very nature information technology inverts our sense of the temporal. The second is what might be called a mis-attunement to technology. The medium itself feels wrong, strangely inauthentic, perhaps because it seems to require so little effort. It is not the means by which great oratory is heard, certainly, but more than this there is a sense of risking disruption, of falling foul of poor mediation, that makes information technology seem a weak substitute for the handwritten word or conversation. And one can almost audibly hear these beliefs hardening in response to the recent spectacle of the Hollywood movie star who faced down poor reviews with the claim that, in his milieu, the Internet, and not professional film critics, was the prime source for instant, accurate information. Instantaneity corrupts or distracts, then? Or simply speeds without direction? We are up against a well-worn diagnosis for modern times, one whose origins are entirely coeval with the passage to modernity itself. As Thoreau has it during the mid-nineteenth century:
The relationship between place and remembering has been a longstanding matter of phenomenological... more The relationship between place and remembering has been a longstanding matter of phenomenological concern. The role of the ‘lived body’ in mediating acts of remembering in context is clearly crucial. In this paper we contribute to an ‘expanded view of memory’ by describing how remembering difficult or problematic events ― ‘vital memories’ ― draws upon inter-subjective and inter-objective relations. We discuss two conceptual tools that provide an analytic framework ― the concept of ‘life space’ drawn from Kurt Lewin (1936) and the idea of the ‘setting specificity’ of remembering. From this perspective we can see that the ‘lived body’ does not constitute a singular unity but rather a ‘plurality’ of potential bodies that have ‘operative solidarity’ (cf. Simondon, 2009) with the material relations in which they are constituted. Drawing on the work of Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, we argue that ‘body memories’ need to be analysed from within the embodied material-relational perspective wherein they are afforded.
As its title indicates, this issue of ARCP introduces Deleuze’s project on a philosophy of differ... more As its title indicates, this issue of ARCP introduces Deleuze’s project on a philosophy of difference in its critical intersection with psychology. After a general introduction, this special issue employs the distinctions Philosophy/Science/Art articulated in his later work with Felix Guattari – What is Philosophy? – to frame an interrogation of the ways in which his project makes psychology rethink many of its disciplinary foundations and brings a gust of fresh (and critical) air to its practices.
A consensus has developed among social and biological scientists around the problematic nature of... more A consensus has developed among social and biological scientists around the problematic nature of genetic ancestry testing, specifically that its popularity will lead to greater genetic essentialism in social identities. Many of these arguments assume a relatively uncritical engagement with DNA, under ‘high-stakes’ conditions. We suggest that in a biosocial society, more pervasive ‘low-stakes’ engagement is more likely. Through qualitative interviews with participants in a study of the genetic legacy of the Vikings in Northern England, we investigate how genetic ancestry results are discursively worked through. The identities formed in ‘becoming a Viking’ through DNA are characterized by fluidity and reflexivity, rather than essentialism. DNA results are woven into a wider narrative of selfhood relating to the past, the value of which lies in its potential to be passed on within families. While not unproblematic, the relatively banal nature of such narratives within contemporary society is characteristic of the ‘biosociable’.
Individuals with mental health problems are considered to be part of a group labeled ‘vulnerable’... more Individuals with mental health problems are considered to be part of a group labeled ‘vulnerable’ in forensic psychology literature and the legal system more generally. In producing witness statements, there are numerous guidelines in the UK, designed to facilitate the production of reliable and valid accounts by those deemed to be vulnerable witnesses. And yet, it is not entirely clear how mental health impacts on reliability and validity within the judicial system, partly due to the diversity of those who present with mental health difficulties. In this paper, we set out to explore how legal professionals operating in the UK understand the impact of mental distress on the practical production of witness testimonies. Twenty legal professionals, including police officers, judges, magistrates and detectives were involved in a semi-structured interview to examine their knowledge and experience of working with mental health problems, and how they approached and worked with this group. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data and specific themes relevant to the overall research question are presented. These include a) dilemmas and deficiencies in knowledge of mental health, b) the abandonment of diagnosis and c) barriers to knowledge: time restrictions, silence, professional identity and fear. Finally, we explore some of the implications of these barriers, with regard to professional practice.
The focus on practice of remembering has been highly productive for memory studies, but it create... more The focus on practice of remembering has been highly productive for memory studies, but it creates difficulties in understanding personal commitment to particular versions of the past. Autobiographical memories of difficult and distressing past episodes -or 'vital memories'require extensive and ongoing management. We describe the issues that arise when vital memories are expressed across a range of specific interactional contexts. Seven themesautobiography, agency, forgetting, ethics, affect, space, and institutional practices -are discussed. Each theme draws out a particular facet of the relationship between the content and contexts of vital memories and demonstrates that whilst vital memories frame problematic experiences, they remain essential for those who express them.
Individuals with mental health problems are considered to be part of a group labeled ‘vulnerable’... more Individuals with mental health problems are considered to be part of a group labeled ‘vulnerable’ in forensic psychology literature and the legal system more generally. In producing witness statements, there are numerous guidelines in the UK, designed to facilitate the production of reliable and valid accounts by those deemed to be vulnerable witnesses. And yet, it is not entirely clear how mental health impacts on reliability and validity within the judicial system, partly due to the diversity of those who present with mental health difficulties. In this paper, we set out to explore how legal professionals operating in the UK understand the impact of mental distress on the practical production of witness testimonies. Twenty legal professionals, including police officers, judges, magistrates and detectives were involved in a semi-structured interview to examine their knowledge and experience of working with mental health problems, and how they approached and worked with this group. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data and specific themes relevant to the overall research question are presented. These include a) dilemmas and deficiencies in knowledge of mental health, b) the abandonment of diagnosis and c) barriers to knowledge: time restrictions, silence, professional identity and fear. Finally, we explore some of the implications of these barriers, with regard to professional practice.
This article introduces some early data from the Leverhulme Trust-funded research programme, ‘The... more This article introduces some early data from the Leverhulme Trust-funded research programme, ‘The Impact of the Diasporas on the Making of Britain: evidence, memories, inventions’. One of the interdisciplinary foci of the programme, which incorporates insights from genetics, history, archaeology, linguistics and social psychology, is to investigate how genetic evidence of ancestry is incorporated into identity narratives. In particular, we investigate how ‘applied genetic history’ shapes individual and familial narratives, which are then situated within macro-narratives of the nation and collective memories of immigration and indigenism. It is argued that the construction of genetic evidence as a ‘gold standard’ about ‘where you really come from’ involves a remediation of cultural and archival memory, in the construction of a ‘usable past’. This article is based on initial questionnaire data from a preliminary study of those attending DNA collection sessions in northern England. It presents some early indicators of the perceived importance of being of Viking descent among participants, notes some emerging patterns and considers the implications for contemporary debates on migration, belonging and local and national identity.
How do memorials act to transmit memory through the organization of space? In this paper we contr... more How do memorials act to transmit memory through the organization of space? In this paper we contrast a ‘preservation’ model of the endurance of encoded memory with a ‘meshwork’ model which treats memory as emergent on the perdurance of the memorial site. Developing a theoretical framework from Tim Ingold’s (2011; 2013) work, we describe how memorialization receives its spatial form through a collective work of braiding together multiple threads of activities and material flows. To illustrate, we examine the spatial and temporal organization of the Hyde Park 7/7 memorial from its initial designs, through to installation and contemporary use. We draw on interview data featuring various stakeholders in the 7/7 memorial project to analyse the relationship between memorial space and material relations. We develop an approach to organizational space as an unfinished meshwork that folds together wanted and unwanted memory, making the historical a matter of ongoing live concern but with the absence of a permanent guiding narrative.
Abstract In this article we explore how teachers can draw upon the language of stress to perform ... more Abstract In this article we explore how teachers can draw upon the language of stress to perform strategically important and often politically sensitive social acts. Our aim will be to show that the description of teaching problems as a matter of 'stress' has important social and political implications for teachers. To do this we draw upon interviews with Scottish secondary school teachers; these interviews have been subjected to close textual analysis, informed by some of the basic principles of discursive psychology.
In this paper, we explore how adoptive parents manage and order visual information relating to th... more In this paper, we explore how adoptive parents manage and order visual information relating to their adoptive child's birth or foster family. More specifically, our task is to make sense of the ways in which the memories that children have of their past families are (re)constructed and managed within the context of present adoptive parental concerns. Life story books have become a dominant way in which narratives of the child's past family are formed. The aim of this book is to provide the child with relevant information, objects, possessions and images of the past and to create a coherent narrative between the past and the present. Parents are encouraged to make use of visual images, consisting mainly of photographs of birth families and foster carers to order the autobiography of the child. To date, there is no research that has examined how the process is experienced by parents and children. In order to examine how parents made use of visual information in particular, we carried out two focus groups with adoptive parents who participated in an adoption agency support group. A social remembering approach informed the questions asked, and a discursive analysis of the data was developed. The main analytical focus in this paper is on how photographs, objects and places serve as active participants in the production of the adoptive children's memory.
Recollection of child sexual abuse involves complex issues of agency-both in the past and in the ... more Recollection of child sexual abuse involves complex issues of agency-both in the past and in the present. Adult women survivors face the further obstacle of ingrained cultural tendencies to question women's testimony. Ambiguity and ambivalence are found in adult women's accounts of their past abuse and present particular dilemmas. Drawing on social remembering approaches developed in memory studies, it is argued that recollections have to negotiate issues of incidence and intentionality in the past as well as the potential contribution made by non-human participants (e.g. objects, spaces, bodies). Using examples from interviews with survivors of child sexual abuse, we illustrate how objects (largely domestic objects and spaces) emerge in the memories as a way of posing and subsequently disposing ambiguity. Objects, as well as humans, 'modify the state of affairs' and serve as the means to punctualize recollected episodes. An analytic approach sensitive to the role of objects in recollection, which is grounded in material-semiotics, is offered.
A weakness of contemporary 'forensic' models of memory is their reliance on the belief that 'a ch... more A weakness of contemporary 'forensic' models of memory is their reliance on the belief that 'a chain of successive memories' creates a sense of continuity and stability in the self. This literal presentation of memory forecloses an attending to its practical use (in specific contexts and moments in time) and the subsequent ambivalences individuals experience when trying to make sense of past episodes of child sexual abuse. Drawing variously on Haaken, Campbell and Bergson, we use these approaches to call for a reworking of memory by inviting an engagement with its relational, practical and collective qualities. This paper examines these reworkings of the concept of memory and explores issues of social space, the localized contexts of remembering and the manner through which memories transform understandings of agency and action, with specific attention to how the past and present intertwine in regard to managing adult survivor identities.
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A thematic analysis was conducted on the data and specific themes relevant to the overall research question are presented. These include a) dilemmas and deficiencies in knowledge of mental health, b) the abandonment of diagnosis and c) barriers to knowledge: time restrictions, silence, professional identity and fear. Finally, we explore some of the implications of these barriers, with regard to professional practice.
A thematic analysis was conducted on the data and specific themes relevant to the overall research question are presented. These include a) dilemmas and deficiencies in knowledge of mental health, b) the abandonment of diagnosis and c) barriers to knowledge: time restrictions, silence, professional identity and fear. Finally, we explore some of the implications of these barriers, with regard to professional practice.
A thematic analysis was conducted on the data and specific themes relevant to the overall research question are presented. These include a) dilemmas and deficiencies in knowledge of mental health, b) the abandonment of diagnosis and c) barriers to knowledge: time restrictions, silence, professional identity and fear. Finally, we explore some of the implications of these barriers, with regard to professional practice.
A thematic analysis was conducted on the data and specific themes relevant to the overall research question are presented. These include a) dilemmas and deficiencies in knowledge of mental health, b) the abandonment of diagnosis and c) barriers to knowledge: time restrictions, silence, professional identity and fear. Finally, we explore some of the implications of these barriers, with regard to professional practice.