Damaged, deficient or determined? Deconstructing narratives in family therapy

Author(s): Kottler, A.

Journal/Book: S Afr J Psychol. 1996; 26: P O Box 1758, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. Bureau Scientific Publ. 123-134.

Abstract: This study attempts to challenge the prevailing understanding of family problems within the field of family therapy. Drawing on post-structuralist approaches to knowledge, truth and power, we suggest that the problems experienced by the families cannot be seen to have an objective existence, or to be internal to the 'family unit'. Rather, the problem-saturated narratives presented by families are shaped by an investment in socially constructed knowledges which ascribe meaning to experience. A discourse analytic approach is used to explore the dominant narratives of a coloured South African family presenting for family therapy. Discourses of civilization, ideal mothers and families, and therapy are considered to have informed these narratives. An analysis of the implications of these discursive investments, and the contradictions within and between these discourses, is conducted. This analysis suggests the manner in which this family is subjugated and rendered damaged and deficient through an aspiration to unobtainable and contradictory ideals. The study also examines the way in which the truth claims of these discourses are challenged by a therapist adopting a narrative approach to family therapy.

Note: Article A Kottler, Univ Cape Town, Dept Psychol, Child Guidance Clin, Chapel Rd, ZA-7700 Johannesburg, South Africa

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