The Talking Cure in Everyday Life

Gender, Generations and Friendship

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2321876
AutoresJulie Mcleod (0000-0002-4083-8700, The University of Melbourne), Katie Wright (0000-0002-1562-7194, The University of Melbourne)
Año2009
Volumen43
Número1
Páginas122-139
Fecha de publicación2009-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0038-0385 • E-ISSN: 1469-8684
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0038038508099101
OpenAlexW2071331529
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas38
Referencias citadas28

This article examines the insinuation of therapeutic culture into everyday life from the vantage point of a qualitative cross-generational study of economically marginalized young women and their mothers. Against dominant assessments of therapeutic culture - as representing cultural decline, social regulation or transformation - we draw on interview narratives to analyse its practical and situated effects. We argue that desires for disclosure and open communication are not trivial or narcissistic and instead interpret them as productive emotional strategies for managing difficult circumstances, and for engendering a sense of competence and possibility.Thus a concern with'talkingthings through' is neither ineffectual nor adequately understood as a manifestation of an ahistorical feminine alignment with emotions and interior life. While we do not dismiss regulatory aspects of therapeutic culture, our analysis offers an alternative and empirically based account of the ways cultural imperatives are enacted across generations

Everyday life · Early Childhood Education and Development · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics