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Biographical disruption or reinforcement? : men's life histories of emotional distress
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Bradley, Alan (2006) Biographical disruption or reinforcement? : men's life histories of emotional distress. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b2217202~S1
Abstract
The main focus of this thesis has been an investigation into the lives of men who have
experienced some form of mental health problem. It has been suggested that mental
illness may not be the most helpful way of conceptualising these experiences, as it
presupposes the validity of the medical model of explanations and meanings. Instead it
has been proposed that the term 'emotional distress' allows for the embodied nature of
the experiences, and distances them from medical definitions. The key sociological
concept used in the thesis is that of biographical disruption, a notion used by Bury (1982)
in the context of chronic illness, and one of the aims of the research has been to establish
the usefulness of this concept to research on experiences of emotional distress. The
chosen methodology in achieving this aim is that of life-history narratives, which have
been used in the study to illustrate the ways in which emotional distress emerges from
and impacts upon the lives of individuals. Eight men provided life-history narratives, and
these were supplemented by published (auto)biographical accounts, and by my own
experiences as a mental health service user. As men were identified as the focus for the
research, an investigation into the role of masculinity as a factor which mediates these
expenences was also undertaken. Thus, the contribution that the study makes to
sociological knowledge is to extend the concepts which have been applied to chronic
illness, into the field of emotional health, with a particular focus on biography, on the role
of masculinity, and on embodiment and emotions. It also contributes to an understanding
of emotional distress, an experience which is often hidden form view. The thesis
concludes that all of these sociological ideas are indeed valuable in the search for
meaning in the experience of emotional distress.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HM Sociology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Men -- Mental health -- Case studies, Mental illness -- Case studies, Distress (Psychology), Masculinity | ||||
Official Date: | September 2006 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of Sociology | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Williams, Simon J. (Simon Johnson), 1961- | ||||
Sponsors: | Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC) | ||||
Extent: | [viii], 274 leaves | ||||
Language: | eng |
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