Institutional Selves: Troubled Identities in a Postmodern World - Couverture souple

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0195129288 ISBN 13 : 9780195129281

Editeur : Oxford University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Today, identities are created and selves are constructed in more organizational settings than ever before. Institutions large and small-from psychiatric hospitals, schools, and prisons to job clinics, counseling centers, and support groups-are virtually in the business of self construction. New institutions not only produce new forms of identity by presenting additional options for who and what we are but also place practical limits on the range of possible selves we can be.
Institutional Selves acknowledges the socially practical self we live by. It brings together nine distinctive chapters that collectively address the institutional construction of troubled identities. From the victims and villains of television talk shows, to battered women in support groups, to the violent selves of prison inmates, this book illustrates how selves are organizationally informed and structured in institutional practice. The institutional construction of selves is an especially interesting issue as social problems, their causes, and their victims are endlessly reinterpreted by the various organizations devoted to helping resolve associated troubles. This book deals with fundamental and complex issues in a well-illustrated, multi-faceted manner. It provides common vocabulary that offers students a consistent language for discussing the construction of troubled identities. The style of the book is accessible and appropriate to a wide range of undergraduate students in sociology. The book neither "talks down" to the novice nor strains the patience of more experienced researchers. It can be used to lay the foundation for discussion of how the self is constructed in today's world by linking the social psychology of the self to the organizational processing of deviance and social problems.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Today, identities are conferred and selves are constructed in more organizational settings than ever before. Institutions large and small - from Psychiatric hospitals, schools, and prisons, to job clinics, counselling centres, support groups - virtually instruct us about who and what we are as part of the work they do in processing lives and personal troubles. Some see this negatively, as if the self might somehow escape these developments. But there is a more balanced view that acknowledges the socially practical self we live by, which is constructed in light of these new and diverse opportunities. If organizations inevitably shape selves in today's world, they do so by providing the resources, not just the constraints, that enter into the process. New institutions produce new forms of self by presenting new options for who and what we are and can be, while they also place practical limits on the range of possible identities. This is the leading theme of Institutional Selves. The book brings together nine distinctive chapters that collectively address the institutional construction of troubled selves. From the victims and villains of television talk shows, to battered women in support groups, to the violent selves of prison inmates, the chapters show how personal identity is structured in response to the pragmatic demands of everyday life in the ubiquitous settings where personal troubles are under increasing consideration.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press
• Date d'édition: 2000
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0195129288
• ISBN 13: 9780195129281
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 212
• Éditeur: Gubrium Jaber F.
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Ufficio Anagrafiche Messaggerie; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; 20090; Italie