Over the past few decades new ways of conceiving the relation between people, practices and institutions have been developed, enabling an understanding of human conduct in complex situations that is distinctive from traditional psychological and sociological conceptions. This distinctiveness is derived from a sophisticated analytic approach to social action which combines conversation analysis with the fresh treatment of epistemology, mind, cognition and personality developed in discursive psychology. This text is the first to showcase and promote this new method of discursive research in practice. Featuring contributions from a range of international academics, both pioneers in the field and exciting new researchers, this book illustrates an approach to social science issues that cuts across the traditional disciplinary divisions to provide a rich participant-based understanding of action.
1. Discursive research - themes and debates Alexa Hepburn and Sally Wiggins; Part I. Psychology in Action: 2. Managing subjectivity in talk Derek Edwards; 3. Emotions in meeting talk Pirjo Nikander; 4. Negotiating consciousness: parapsychology and the social organisation of reports of mental states Simon Allistone and Robin Wooffitt; 5. Apologizing-in-action: on saying 'sorry' to indigenous Australians Martha Augoustinos, Amanda LeCouteur and Katherine Fogarty; 6. Mind, mousse and moderation Jonathan Potter and Claudia Puchta; Part II. Professionals and Clients: 7. When patients present serious health conditions as unlikely: managing potentially conflicting issues and constraints Anita Pomerantz, Virginia Teas Gill and Paul Denvir; 8. Thinking errors and arguing: cognitive distortion as a members' category in sex offender group therapy talk Clare MacMartin and Curtis D. LeBaron; 9. Members' and analysts' interests: 'formulations' in psychotherapy Charles Antaki, Ivan Leudar and Rebecca Barnes; 10. 'Suppose it wasn't possible for you to go any further with treatment, what would you do?' Hypothetical questions in interactions between psychiatrists and transsexual patients Susan Speer and Ceri Parsons; Part III. Youth and Institutions: 11. Doing reluctance: managing delivery of assessments in peer evaluation Jakob Cromdal, Michael Tholander, and Karin Aronsson; 12. A valid person: non-competence as a conversational outcome Alessandra Fasulo and Francesca Fiore; 13. Discursive practices in talking problems during a school-family meeting Richard Buttny and Sandy Kellog Rath; 14. Food abuse: mealtimes, helplines and 'troubled' eating Sally Wiggins and Alexa Hepburn; 15. Discursive research: applications and implications Sally Wiggins and Alexa Hepburn.
