1st Edition

Identity Construction and Illness Narratives in Persons with Disabilities

Edited By Chalotte Glintborg, Manuel L. de la Mata Copyright 2021
    154 Pages
    by Routledge

    154 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book investigates how being diagnosed with various disabilities impacts on identity. Once diagnosed with a disability, there is a risk that this label can become the primary status both for the person diagnosed as well as for their family. This reification of the diagnosis can be oppressive because it subjugates humanity in such a way that everything a person does can be interpreted as linked to their disability.

    Drawing on narrative approaches to identity in psychology and social sciences, the bio-psycho-social model and a holistic approach to disabilities, the chapters in this book understand disability as constructed in discourse, as negotiated among speaking subjects in social contexts, and as emergent. By doing so, they amplify voices that may have otherwise remained silent and use storytelling as a way of communicating the participants' realities to provide a more in-depth understanding of their point of view.

    This book will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, sociology, medical humanities, disability research methods, narrative theory, and rehabilitation studies.

    Chapter 1: Narrative inquiry in disability research
    Chalotte Glintborg & Manuel L. de la Mata

    Chapter 2: Narrative identity is social context
    Manuel L. de la Mata, Andrés Santamaría, Mercedes Cubero & Rosario Cubero

    Chapter 3: Stories of self when living with aphasia in a digitalised society
    Helena Taubner, Malin Hallén & Åsa Wengelin

    Chapter 4: "We got a second chance" Couple narratives after being affected by an acquired brain injury
    Chalotte Glintborg & Cecilie M. S. Thøgersen

    Chapter 5: Narrative Identity and dementia: The problem of living with fewer available resources
    Lars-Christer Hydén & Mattias Forsblad

    Chapter 6: Recovery stories of people diagnosed with severe mental illness: Katabatic and Anabatic narratives
    Francisco Javier Saavedra Macias

    Chapter 7: (Re)constructing identity in aphasia: A preliminary study about how people with aphasia describe and narrate their selves.
    Sara Yuste, Andrés Santamaría, Mercedes Cubero and Manuel L. de la Mata.

    Chapter 8: Narratives and identity construction of children with a developmental speech and language disorders
    Kristine Jensen de López & Rena Lyons

    Chapter 9: Hope in offenders’ narratives of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
    Nichlas Permin Berger & Lars Fynbo

    Chapter 10: Conclusion and future perspectives
    Chalotte Glintborg & Manuel L. de la Mata

    Biography

    Chalotte Glintborg is a scientist from Aalborg University, Denmark, who specializes in rehabilitation psychology and holds a PhD in psychology. Her research has centred on exploring first-person perspectives on the emotional consequences of living with illness/disabilities, e.g. identity problems, distress, shame, and depression, etc.  

    Manuel L. de la Mata is full professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Seville, Spain, and the head of the Laboratory of Human Activity Research Group and holds a PhD in psychology. His recent research has centred on the narrative construction of self and autobiographical memory in cultural context, and gender and culture.