Psychology, Discourse And Social Practice - From Regulation To Resistance (Hardcover)

Written by expert practitioner-researchers, this co-authoured book explores how psychology legislates on normality and then uses its "expert" knowledge to turn social marginalism into pathology. Chapters address a range of cultural and institutional arenas in which inequalities structured around categories of gender, race, class and sexuality are reproduced by psychological practices: from self-help books to special hospitals, from school exclusions to Gender Identity Clinics, from mothering magazines to mental health services. Far from documenting just the damage, this book identifies the ways in which both professionals and users of sevices can act to counter psychology's abuses. A practical intervention as well as theortical critique, the text offers examples of how change can be effected.