Pedro Pablo Sampaio Martins

Family as a Discursive Achievement: A Relational Account

Beginning with an understanding of family as a social construction, this article suggests that people actively make meanings about family during social interchanges. The idea is that family can be conceived as a discursive achievement: Family is defined in terms of what people who are drawing on various available socially produced discourses describe together as family. We propose that different realities regarding family are created via social processes of negotiating meaning in the interactive moment. Therefore, there are many different versions of family, and each of them has diverse implications for the social world. Examples of these implications for psychological theories, research, and family therapy are also presented, in considering how they might be useful in the field of psychology.

THE MANAGEMENT OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS TALK IN A SUPPORT GROUP

The comprehension of the health-disease process from a multifactorial perspective has allowed important transformations in the healthcare practices. In this article, we discuss the use of the support group as a resource for mental health care, analyzing how conversations about social issues are managed in this context. Based on contributions from the social constructionist movement, we analyzed the transcripts of the conversations developed in meetings of a support group offered to patients of a mental health outpatient clinic. The analysis of the meaning making process indicates that the discourse of the social influence on mental health is not legitimized, due to a predominant individualistic discourse, which psychologizes care and is centered on the emotional analysis of the problems of the quotidian. We argue that this mode of management brings limits to the construction of the group as a device for promoting autonomy and encouraging the social transformation processes.

A terapia focada na solução e suas aproximações ao discurso construcionista social

The aim of this study is to contribute to the reflection regarding the heterogeneous constitution of social constructionist psychotherapy, characterized by different vocabularies and postures. This article analyses the relationship between the social constructionist discourse and Solution-focused Therapy concepts and practices, which are described by some authors as sharing the emphasis promoted by social constructionism. Through a selection of the literature and conceptual and comparative analysis, we identified points of similarity - especially the emphasis in potentialities and action and the abandoning of the quest for essential descriptions about the clients reality - and also differences - the directive and specialist therapeutic stance, the focus on behavioral changes and the individualist concept of self sustained by Solution-focused Therapy. We concluded that Solution-focused Therapy can be a useful discursive option and we invite a reflection about its implications in each therapeutic context.

Family Participation in Mental Health Treatment as Daily Practice in a Day Hospital

Changes in Brazilian mental healthcare gave rise to an important debate about the place of family in treatment. In the context of this debate, this article aims to understand how family members of patients, who were seen in a Day-Hospital, make meaning about their participation in treatment. Ten interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis pointed to five different forms of family participation in treatment. These forms are: family support, learning about the mental illness, transformation of family relationships, offering support to the family member who is being treated, and mutual care between different families. The way family support is constructed in daily practices (particularly through the investment in the quality of relationships between professionals, patients, and family members) is discussed.

Por una democracia participativa: una entrevista con John Shotter

John Shotter is an Emeritus Professor of Communication at the Department of Communication, University of New Hampshire (United States of America). He is also a Research Associate at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural & Social Science (CPNSS), London School of Economics, in London (United Kingdom). He is one of the founders of the social constructionist movement in the human sciences, and especially in psychology. In dialogue with many

Envisioning a participatory democracy: an interview with John Shotter

John Shotter is an Emeritus Professor of Communication at the Department of Communication, University of New Hampshire (United States of America). He is also a Research Associate at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural & Social Science (CPNSS), London School of Economics, in London (United Kingdom). He is one of the founders of the social constructionist movement in the human sciences, and especially in psychology. In dialogue with many

Por uma democracia participativa: uma entrevista com John Shotter

John Shotter is an Emeritus Professor of Communication at the Department of Communication, University of New Hampshire (United States of America). He is also a Research Associate at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural & Social Science (CPNSS), London School of Economics, in London (United Kingdom). He is one of the founders of the social constructionist movement in the human sciences, and especially in psychology. In dialogue with many