Family therapy beyond postmodernism: some considerations on the ethical orientation of contemporary practice

Ethics is a subject that is self-evidently important for systemic therapy, as for therapy generally, yet arguably it is one that has not received nearly as much attention in the literature as it warrants. This paper looks at the historical context for the marginalization of ethical discourse and suggests that the contemporary influence of postmodernist and hermeneutic thinking reinforces this tendency. Flaskas' (2002) recent argument for the reclamation of an idea of truth and reality as a social and emotional process is considered, and it is suggested that this needs supplementing with a perspective on truth and reality as an ethical process. Consideration is given to the enduring influence within postmodernist approaches of the modernist Kantian conception of ethics as centred in individual consciousness. I argue that important elements of contemporary systemic practice (for example, the reflecting team approach) are also pointing towards a different formulation of ethics that is focused more specifically on processes of communication. In elaborating this theme the paper draws on the work of the German social theorist Jürgen Habermas who writes on the ethics of communication.     

Reclaiming the Idea of Truth: Some Thoughts on Theory in Response to Practice

This paper examines the idea of truth, its place in therapy and in the history of systemic theory. Beginning with some practice fragments, the theory exploration considers the idea of truth in the modernist frame, the paradox of the modernist metaphor in describing the activity of therapy, and the peculiarities of the idea of truth in the earlier systemic therapies. Postmodernist and social constructionist ideas are then explored, and meaning is identified as the concept which currently occupies the place of an idea of truth in systemic discourse. It is argued that meaning as a concept is insufficiently attached to an idea of (external) reality or to an understanding of the relationship of the individual to knowledge of her/his experience of the world. Reclaiming the idea of truth as an emotional and social process has more potential to meet the complexities of human experience in thinking about the process of therapeutic change.     

Postmodernism: Its Origins and its Threat to Psychoanalysis

Postmodernism originated in an overreaction to "modernist" sociocultural trends of the past few centuries. Flaws of postmodern writers include: ignorance and distortion of the history of science and philosophy; the erroneous assumption that such faults of some natural scientists as reductionism and narrowness are intrinsic to the entire enterprise, even to rationality; overgeneralizing such valid criticisms to the level of metaphysical relativism; and deliberately obscure and pretentious writing. Its vogue is a threat to science in general and to psychoanalysis in particular. Psychoanalysis was vulnerable to a postmodernist attack because of Freud's rejection of scientific standards for his creation, his na¨ L ve realism, and his authoritarian heritage plus certain weaknesses of theory, technique, and organization resulting from it. Analysts are urged to stay close to clinical observation and abstain from generalizing outside their realm of expertise.     

Psychiatry in the labyrinth: Deconstructing deviancy

Abstract

Deviancy is a key concept in psychiatry and other therapeutic disciplines, because it dramatizes the way in which they depend on the establishment of norms, in order to justify their theory and practice. The writings of Derrida as well as Goethe provide a different view: that “deviation” from a “norm” can be fundamentally important to the well‐being of the norm. Thus deviancy can be viewed not as something to be “corrected” but rather as a creative possibility to be encouraged and shaped in productive ways. As a case of “deviancy” we have selected the writings of John Perceval, whose Narrative provides a critique of the mental‐health establishment of his day, particularly the asylum, and offers an alternative to 19th‐century views of “lunacy.” We see his “schizophrenic” commentary on his “psychosis” and its treatment as analogous to the deconstructive, “schizophrenic” discourse of postmodernity which is similarly critical of the reigning, modernist psychiatric order.     

Transsexualism and the Church

Abstract

Transsexualism raises many perplexing issues for Christians. This paper first reviews the scientific evidence, especially that relating to the biological aspects, and then issues relating to transsexualism as a social construct. It is suggested that it is wise to reject both the idea that transsexualism is completely determined by biological factors, and that it is nothing but a social construct. There are also intriguing issues about specifically religious attitudes to transsexualism, that are in some ways similar to those raised by eunuchs. Two recent Christian contributions to the Christian discussion of transsexualism are then reviewed—the scholarly work of Oliver O'Donovan, and the more popular report of the Evangelical Alliance. The latter raises interesting issues for discussion, but its negative attitude to transsexualism is not always justified by the arguments presented. Finally, practical issues facing the Church are considered, including those relating to transsexual clergy.     

Avoiding Authoritarianism: On the Problem of Justification in Contemporary Critical Social Theory

Abstract

Critical social theories look critically at the ways in which particular social arrangements hinder human flourishing, with a view to bringing about social change for the better. In this they are guided by the idea of a good society in which the identified social impediments to human flourishing would once and for all have been removed. The question of how these guiding ideas of the good life can be justified as valid across socio‐cultural contexts and historical epochs is the most fundamental difficulty facing critical social theories today. This problem of justification, which can be traced back to certain key shifts in the modern Western social imaginary, calls on contemporary theories to negotiate the tensions between the idea of context‐transcendent validity and their own anti‐authoritarian impulses. Habermas makes an important contribution towards resolving the problem, but takes a number of wrong turnings.     

Religious and Political Violence: Globalising Syncretism and the Governance State*

Abstract

In this paper we argue that the conjunctions of religion and politics through eruptions of violence are codetermined and codependent through syncretic manifestations rather than a result of some kind of basic clash between different, self-contained systems of ideas and values. The vicissitudes of religious fervour are linked to issues of development and social change in which long-cherished traditions are confronted by seemingly inexorable forces beyond the control of those being affected by them. Religious violence is a political movement which should be understood as not being outside modernisation in the sense of being opposed to it; it is in fact part of the development of modernisation. Resistance arises from the experience of being excluded from the fruits of modernity while at the same time being enmeshed within the multiple social relations underpinning the production and distribution of those ‘fruits’. Whether from a postmodern or from a more conventional perspective a totalising analysis organised around master concepts like ‘globalisation’ or ‘civilisation’ is often developed to explain the intersections of religion and violence. We reject these approaches in favour of one predicated on the idea of the ‘governance state’. It is our argument that this better captures the core axis of analysis – namely the changing nature of the state and its management of populations and the concomitant forms of resistance by those subjected to it in an era in which such ‘modernities’ are played out.     

Some reflections on spirituality,religion and mental health

For both religion and psychiatry context is becoming more important. Object relations theory, and especially the concept of a transitional object, may be a means of linking religious thinking and psychoanalysis together. The distinction between religion and spirituality is important, though not absolute. Two factors emerge from this engagement: 1) critical questioning at the boundary of each discipline; and 2) both spirituality and mental health are related to life in a specific society. The link between religion and irrational behaviour is important, religion being a primary means of acknowledging the irrational facets of everyday life. But delusion must not be confused with illusion: between these two imagination, art and religion flourish. Each of these is dangerous, since they connect the ‘normal’ with the ‘riskily marginal’. In a multicultural society behaviour which may be acceptable in one context may in another be regarded as a sign of illness. This is particularly true of religious behaviour. Three key issues are examined: 1) the social function of spirituality and religion; 2) the idea of personal wholeness; and 3) the link between external and internal validation of the individual's spirituality. The boundary between psychotic and religious behaviour is a difficult one to discern. Yet neither medical nor spiritual explanations alone seem sufficient. There is a complementary mapping of the complications of human experience.     

Observer memories may not be for everyone

ABSTRACT

Six studies explored the preponderance of people who experience third-person perspective observer memories during autobiographical memory retrieval. The concept of first-person field versus observer memories has been extensively used in the areas of cognitive, social, and clinical psychology. An implicit assumption is the idea that most people use both of these perspectives. What varies are the circumstances that bias people to use one perspective over another for a given autobiographical memory. We challenge that assumption across six studies by showing that, while there are some people who report to regularly have observer memories, there are also those that report to rarely or never have them. These reports were found to be related to levels of reported dissociative experiences. We discuss how this difference in the experience of observer memories may also reflect other innate characteristics, and may correspond to predispositions for various pathologies, including depression, social phobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder.     

The (social) construction of the world – at the crossroads of Christianity and Humanism

Abstract

In early modem philosophy the motive of logical creation emerged in reaction to the Greek-Medieval legacy of a realistic metaphysics. The dominant nominalistic trends of thought since Thomas Hobbes and Inimanuel Kant explored its rationalistic implications. The latter drew the radical (humanistic) conclusion that the laws of nature are present in human thought a priori (i.e. before all experience). The irrationalistic side of nominalism emphasized the uniqueness and individuality of events - thus leading to the historicism of the 19th century and the subsequent linguistic turn. Kant influenced Husserl who, in turn, provided the point of departure for the ideas of Schutz, Berger and Luckmaim - compare the joint work of Berger and Luckmann: Social construction of reality (1967). The contemporary “postmodem” idea that we create the world in which we live (either through thought, through language or through social practices) merely continues core elements of (early) modem philosophy.

The underlying idea of autonomy highlights the difference between modern Humanism and a Christian view of reality, for in the latter human subjectivity is appreciated as being correlated with universal and constant principles that can only assume a positive shape through human activities of positivization (form-giving). The autonomy ideal of modern Humanism reifies the typical human freedom to positivize underlying principles. At the same time this reification on the one hand collapses the distinction between conditions and being conditioned and on the other it does not provide a basis for supra-individual standards of behaviour.     

Normativity I – The Dialectical Legacy

Abstract

With Habermas it is important to realize that one has to differentiate between moral and non-moral (a-moral) norms, which is different from what is immoral. However, since the Renaissance reflections on human freedom were caught up in the dialectic of necessity (nature) and freedom. A brief sketch is given of the development of this dialectic within modern philosophy – as it was manifested in the thought of Descartes, Hobbes, Leibniz, Locke, Berkely, Hume, Kant, Schelling, Hegel, Comte, Marxism, the Baden school of neo-Kantianism (Windelband, Rickert, Weber) and existentialism (Jaspers, Merleau-Ponty). The influence of the neo-Kantian opposition of facts and values within social thought is briefly highlighted, followed by a brief characterization of the normative inclination of human beings. Then some of the problems entailed in the modern concept of freedom are analyzed in relation to the idea of autonomy. This idea is burdened by the problem that the conditions for being human have to coincide with what meets these conditions, namely the human being. In addition it is difficult to derive collective norms from the autonomy of a single individual. The alternative avenue suggested by the idea of ontic normativity will be investigated in a separate article, exploring the way towards a more integral understanding of normativity.     

RESPONSE TO CRITIQUES OF RELIGION IN AN AGE OF SCIENCE

Abstract. In replying to the four thoughtful critiques of my first Gifford volume I try to clarify the differences among us. I defend my use of Kuhn's concept of paradigms against Nancey Murphy's use of Lakatos's concept of research programs and then compare both of us with advocates of the “strong program” in the social construction of science. Sallie McFague identifies me with the empiricist, objectivist, “modernist” tradition and contrasts it to her own “postmodernist” acceptance of cultural relativism and the social construction of science, but I argue that I am seeking an intermediate position that redefines objectivity rather than rejecting it. Some themes common to feminist and process theology are also examin ed. In dialogue with Bob Russell I discuss the metaphysical and theological implications of the unity of space and time in relativity, the beginning of time in recent cosmology, and the thesis that God acts by determining events in indeterminate quantum systems. Finally I compare John Cobb's indebtedness to Whitehead with my own and suggest that I am more willing to adapt or modify process thought in the interpretation of scientific theories and religious experience.     

A contemporary integration of modern and postmodern trends in psychoanalysis

Postmodernism has appeared on the psychoanalytic horizon and with it brought change and some confusion. Although many link or even conflate it with relational and intersubjectivity theory, those views are as subject to a postmodernist critique as other analytic orientations. Postmodernism can also be seen as usefully informing the concepts of psychoanalytic narrative and psychoanalytic space. It should not be viewed as an organized theory or movement that would entirely replace modernist ideas in psychoanalysis. Indeed, valid critiques of both modern and postmodern psychoanalytic positions have been advanced. In this climate the need for a viable integration remains urgent. Bruno Latour's development of the concept of hybrid structure as a way of dealing with the same kind of impasse in the field of science studies is presented, along with its applicability to the dilemma faced by psychoanalysis.     

Imaging or Imagining? A Neuroethics Challenge Informed by Genetics

From a twenty-first century partnership between bioethics and neuroscience, the modern field of neuroethics is emerging, and technologies enabling functional neuroimaging with unprecedented sensitivity have brought new ethical, social and legal issues to the forefront. Some issues, akin to those surrounding modern genetics, raise critical questions regarding prediction of disease, privacy and identity. However, with new and still-evolving insights into our neurobiology and previously unquantifiable features of profoundly personal behaviors such as social attitude, value and moral agency, the difficulty of carefully and properly interpreting the relationship between brain findings and our own self-concept is unprecedented. Therefore, while the ethics of genetics provides a legitimate starting point—even a backbone—for tackling ethical issues in neuroimaging, they do not suffice. Drawing on recent neuroimaging findings and their plausible real-world applications, we argue that interpretation of neuroimaging data is a key epistemological and ethical challenge. This challenge is two-fold. First, at the scientific level, the sheer complexity of neuroscience research poses challenges for integration of knowledge and meaningful interpretation of data. Second, at the social and cultural level, we find that interpretations of imaging studies are bound by cultural and anthropological frameworks. In particular, the introduction of concepts of self and personhood in neuroimaging illustrates the interaction of interpretation levels and is a major reason why ethical reflection on genetics will only partially help settle neuroethical issues. Indeed, ethical interpretation of such findings will necessitate not only traditional bioethical input but also a wider perspective on the construction of scientific knowledge.     

The physician as moral entrepreneur

This paper argues that the work of the contemporary physician is at least in part the work of a moral entrepreneur. The effects of religious affiliation and religiosity on the decision making of a modern doctor are examined in an analysis of the responses of 231 physicians to a mailed questionnaire. Decision-making issues were considered to be those with social/moral implications. Religious physicians tend to favor clergy involvement in social and procreative issues. Roman Catholic physicians oppose the involvement of the medical profession in birth control issues.     

Perceptions of informal sanctioning and the stigma of involuntary childlessness

This study systematically examines the role of informal social response in the emergence of involuntary childlessness or infertility as a stigmatizing attribute. Seventy‐one involuntarily childless women provide detailed instances of perceived informal social sanctions related to their infertility. Subjects perceive that normals consider infertility to be caused by psychological or sexual malfunctioning, or by the woman in the dyad. Infertility is also seen by some to act as a master status. Subjects categorize other infertile individuals in terms of stigma and consider male infertility to be more stigmatizing than female infertility. Social sanctions and social control are shown to be relevant to an understanding of the experience of involuntary childlessness.     

Experiences with stigmatization among transgender individuals after transition: A qualitative study in the Netherlands

Abstract

Background: Transgender individuals belong to one of the most stigmatized groups in society. Although the social stigma of transgender individuals has been examined many times, post transition stigma experiences among transgender individuals have received limited research attention. The aim of this study was to examine experiences with stigmatization among Dutch transgender individuals after their transition.

Method: Ten trans women (age: M?=?58.50, SD?=?9.49) and 10 trans men (age: M?=?42.90, SD?=?13.62) participated in face-to-face semistructured interviews. Grounded theory was used to conceptualize and analyze the data. We examined the positive and negative reactions that transgender individuals experienced in the period after their transition. Furthermore, we explored differences between experiences of trans men and trans women. Finally, we examined differences between cisgender men and women regarding their reactions toward transgender individuals.

Results: Participants reported improved psychological well-being since transition. However, they still experienced different forms of stigmatization. Trans women appeared to experience stronger social stigma than trans men. Trans women also experienced lower social status after their transition. They mainly experienced negative responses from cisgender men. Participants emphasized the importance of social and peer support.

Conclusion: The current study findings demonstrate the presence of stigmatization after transition and argue for psychological aftercare. Social and peer support appeared to be important for coping with stigmatization, and improving the social network of transgender individuals is beneficial. Health providers and researchers are recommended to promote the development of constructive coping skills for transgender individuals with interventions especially targeting trans women.