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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

The application of postmodern thought to the clinical practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

The purpose of this article has been to acquaint psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists with some of the most current ideas in philosophy and psychology, which have crucial implications for our professional organizations and our clinical work. The basic stance of this postmodern thinking constitutes a challenge to what is called foundationalism, which dominated scientific and philosophical thought until recently. In place of foundationalism, even in the production of scientific or philosophical works, we could hope for an ongoing dialogue between a king or queen who states the basic theoretical orientation, the loyal opposition that looks for inconsistencies and kinks in it, the jester who deconstructs the whole thing and introduces parenthetical digressions, and finally, a secret society of organization that functions to hold the adherents of the theory together and provide them with a unifying ego ideal. Postmodern thought is described and there is some discussion of its "four horsemen," Derrida, Rorty, Foucault, and Lyotard, who in general question the possibility of whether any form of interpretation can be thought of as related to reality or the truth. My own point of view is that an intermediate position is necessary rather than a binary opposition between nihilism and foundationalism or more specifically, postmodernism and traditional psychoanalysis. That is to say, within certain horizons and with an understanding of the cultural and historical referents that always affect and delimit both the patient and the therapist, it is still possible to reach conceptions about what is going on both in the psychoanalytic process and the psyche of the patient that have at least a tentative "truth." Careful attention to the patient's material following an interpretation can provide clues about the validity of our conception at the time. But the horizons and historicity that delimit all "truth" reduce the authority and the stature of the analyst, make the analyst less of an arbiter of what is "reality," and focus greater attention on the therapist-patient dyad, which is consistent with the modern trend in psychoanalytic treatment anyway. The notion of social constructions as constituting the psychoanalytic process was discussed and it was suggested that this notion suffers from the lack of sufficient attention to the historical determinants of how a given individual reacts in a given situation. A patient will react differently to different therapists, depending on the transference or projective identifications that the patient brings to the treatment, regardless of the interpersonal interaction. This is in opposition to the idea that transference is primarily an effect of the therapist-patient dyad, and preserves a major aspect of traditional Freudian theory. The dangers of postmodern thought disintegrating into nihilism are described, and the limitations of so-called postmodern thought are discussed, including the intrinsic paradoxical nature of any postmodern proposition. At the same time, postmodern thought is useful in calling attention to the "space of the Other" in human affairs, to the tendency to form binary oppositions in which the second element in each binary pair is part of the Other and is depreciated, and to remind us that there are always further interpretations of the narrative that emerges from the psychoanalytic situation. The feminization of psychotherapy and its relationship to feminism are important current issues. Postmodern thought is valuable in responding to the common complaint of feminists about Nietzsche's attitude toward women; postmodernist approaches emphasize the ambiguous and the allegorical aspects of Nietzsche's thought, to the extreme orf Derrida's contention that Nietzsche is not really interpretable at all. At the same time feminists legitimately object to postmodernist erosion of the grounds for political action. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)

Female↗
PubMed1990

Postmodernism and medical anthropology: words of caution.

Of late, discourse in anthropology increasingly has been set within the frame of postmodernism. While debate continues as to whether postmodernism represents a particular period or an historically conditioned perspective (or interrelated set of perspectives) within the social sciences and beyond, it is clear that assessment is needed of the impact of postmodernism on work within the field. This paper represents a critique of the potential effect of postmodernism within medical anthropology. It is the argument of this paper that despite the postmodern eschewal of so-called grand theory, postmodern writers in anthropology smuggle a theoretical perspective into their work. The problems of this perspective in terms of the critical turn within medical anthropology are examined.

Anthropology↗
PubMed1997

Postmodern research: no grounding or privilege, just free-floating trouble making.

Postmodernism has been criticized as failing to offer, on the one hand, authoritative explanations for social phenomena that might provide a scientific basis for policy formation or, on the other, the philosophical justification for emancipatory work-its radical scepticism about claims to knowledge leaving its advocates, including many nurses, with little scope to transform oppressive social and political regimes. Various approaches to this important problem have been offered, both philosophical and methodological. Some critical theorists have rejected certain aspects of postmodernism as dangerous and distracting. Some more accommodating solutions are troubled by unacknowledged inconsistencies. Others embrace postmodernism's unavoidable ambiguity (towards the Enlightenment for instance) with a lighter heart. In this paper I will review some of the criticism of postmodernism and some proposed solutions to these problems. Using recent research into the impact of managerialism on nursing within the UK National Health Service as an example and drawing on deconstructive literary theory, I conclude by accepting a rhetorical agonistics of undecidability. I take postmodernism as a mandate for causing trouble for those groups who are currently having their say and whose version of truth and rationality has achieved domination over others. I do not take postmodernism as a place from which to champion the cause or privilege the view of any particular group.

Feminism↗
PubMed1994

Existentialism and postmodernism. Continuities, breaks, and some consequences for medical theory.

Since existentialism lost its influence in philosophy in the 1960s, postmodern theory has taken over criticizing basic concepts of western thought. From a postmodern point of view, the main shortcomings of existentialism is that it criticizes traditional unitarian concepts, while re-inventing new unitarian models. Against these unitarian approaches postmodernism holds that the world can only be described in terms of difference. In this article the postmodern program and its differences from existentialism are explained in reference to three concepts of western philosophy: subject, truth, and ethics. Applying these concepts, the relevance of postmodernism for medical theory is illustrated.

Ethics↗
PubMed1999

The pleasure of the bottomless: postmodernism, chaos and paradigm shifts.

In her paper Reconstructing Nursing: Evidence, Artistry and the Curriculum, Marks-Maran (1999) attempted to outline a new postmodern paradigm for nursing. Whilst I fully support this timely discussion of new insights into nursing theory and practice, Marks-Maran unfortunately presents a very idiosyncratic version of postmodernism which is both simplistic and, at times; inaccurate. My main concern, however, is with her assertion that postmodernism offers a new paradigm for nursing, since she misses the fundamental point that postmodernism is not a critique or replacement for the modernist paradigm, but a challenge to the very notion of paradigms. Rather than attempting to replace the modernist paradigm of nursing, then, postmodernism offers what Spivak called 'the pleasure of the bottomless' in which the perceived certainties of science are decentred and the authority by which all knowledge claims are made is questioned.

Humans↗
PubMed1995

Preparing modern nurses for postmodern families.

Postmodern insights that have occurred across the social sciences and in limited areas of nursing are focused on the field of family nursing. The article describes postmodern families against the background of cultural changes that have influenced the conditions of those families. Nurses can practice more appropriately if they have an understanding of how postmodern thought has influenced the science and subsequent theoretical explanations of families. Initial insights are offered relating postmodernism and theories of family therapy. Practice roles are described that are believed to be more appropriate and effective when nursing occurs in the context of diversity, relativity, and value plurality that characterizes postmodern families.

Family↗
PubMed1995

Postmodernism and knowledge development in nursing.

Postmodernism as a concept and periodizing point between centuries has been defined as both the beginning and the end of modernity. This article explores some of the dimensions of this moment and movement between centuries and the implications of the postmodern condition on the nursing profession. Amidst the health care reform angst of deconstructing and reconstructing, challenges and opportunities await nursing's evolution into its own postmodern paradigm. Manifestations of such a postmodern paradigm are already reflected in the epistemological shifts of nursing science and knowledge development. Challenges posed for nursing science by this disorientingly free-floating era are brought to light--away from the reaction worldview, past the reciprocal and into the transformative-simultaneous, whereby nursing can emerge within its own unique postmodern discipline.

Health Care Reform↗
PubMed1994

Style and responsibility: medicine in postmodernity.

To what extent can postmodern developments be observed in modern medicine and which theories of postmodern philosophy can we draw on with regard to medicine's theoretical problem? This article explores these questions with special emphasis on the epistemological status of medicine, the concept of disease, and the anthropological model. It is examined whether medicine's inherent duty to act can be questioned in the light of the plurality that characterizes postmodernity. It is concluded that, according to postmodern philosophy, medicine should be characterized by a justified variety of paradigms. Cooperation within the variety must continue to be guaranteed, always in favor of the constitutive moral duty of medicine.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1999

Postmodern health economics.

Postmodernism and health economics are both concerned with questions about choices and values, risk and uncertainty. Postmodernists seek to respond to such questions in the context of a world of uncoordinated and often contradictory chances, a world devoid of clear-cut standards. Health economics seeks to respond using the constructs of modernity, including the application of reason to generate better order. In this article we present two sorts of voice. First we introduce postmodernism and those seeking to contribute to economics from a postmodern perspective. Second, we consider critics of a prevalent neo-classicism within health economics both from outside that paradigm and from those more closely associated with it. It is increasingly evident that (health) economics, as presently constituted, is failing both in its descriptive powers and its prescriptive possibilities. Postmodernism offers not just an alternative theoretical approach but the possibility of both expanding the scope of health economics and grounding it more appropriately in the everyday experience of those engaging with health systems.

Causality↗
PubMed1997

The art of nursing in a 'postmodern' context.

Notions of the 'postmodern' pervade various fields of study, but have rarely been applied to the practice and theory of nursing. This paper uses some conceptions of the 'postmodern' to remedy this. Though there are many contested usages of the term, here 'postmodern' will be used broadly in a periodical sense to trace changes in society and culture from the 'modernism' of the 18th and 19th centuries to current concerns about 'postmodernism'. How these changes have been reflected in nursing practice and nursing theory will be explored. The changing use of the term 'modern' to describe up-to-date practice will be addressed in the course of this. It is suggested that contextualizing nursing as a social/cultural activity in this way offers perspectives which will help us untangle the conflicting agendas and issues which form the fabric of the social world in which current nursing takes place, enabling us to act more effectively in promoting our own professional agendas.

History of Nursing↗
PubMed1996

Live supervision and family systems nursing: postmodern influences and dilemmas.

Evolving nursing practices in a graduate nursing education programme that offers live clinical supervision in family systems nursing can be conceptualized within a postmodern perspective. Postmodernism is described as a debate about knowledge that questions traditional foundational theories or explanations in science, culture, religion and literature. Practices of a clinical supervision system, i.e. a graduate student, supervisor, and clinical team, illustrate postmodern influences on clinical work with families. Dilemmas posed by contemporaneity of modern and postmodern influences are also explored.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1997

Postmodern feminist emancipatory research: is it an oxymoron?

Many nurse-researchers who use feminist methods believe that postmodernism undermines the scientific and emancipatory aspirations of our discipline and they are therefore wary of postmodern theories. One of the main threats of postmodernism is the critique of humanism because humanism forms the ethical foundation for both nursing and feminism. These critiques expose the dark underside of humanistic ideals and show how, paradoxically, humanism has functioned to oppress people. The arguments presented here help emancipatory researchers to defend their practices, both in relation to research participants and in the ways in which the subjects is theorized. The conclusion is that postmodernism can be compatible with politically motivated, humanistically-based inquiry.

Ethics, Nursing↗
PubMed1994

Psychoanalytic "problems" and postmodern "solutions".

A number of recent revisions of psychoanalytic theory implicitly draw on postmodern conceptualizations of human selves and human subjectivity. Though postmodern ideas have a wide currency in the humanities and in literary criticism, and are increasingly represented in critiques of science, psychoanalytic clinicians are generally less familiar with the body of writings that encompass postmodernist thought. This paper discusses the evolution of postmodernism and its emergence into psychoanalytic theory using the work of Roy Schafer and Irwin Hoffman as cases in point. I will suggest that when postmodernism is applied to psychoanalytic practice, the result is only a partial solution, at best, to the problems of metapsychology postmodernist revisions were intended to resolve.

Culture↗