Voices from the Ground Up: The Use of Narrative in Understanding Recovery from Serious Mental Illness
Julian Rappaport argues that our role as social scientists is to use our tools to assist others in their efforts to “turn tales of terror to tales of joy.” He suggests that the application of a narrative approach to research is consistent with this goal, because it spans levels of analysis and has the capacity to promote both personal and social change. Narrative research allows us to explore individuals' own stories about their lives and contributes to description and analysis of the settings and cultural narratives that assist individuals in making meaning of their experiences. This chapter draws on work from a long-term collaboration with Schizophrenics Anonymous (SA), a mutual-help organization for individuals experiencing a schizophrenia-related illness, as an example of how a narrative approach can help us to understand and facilitate the experience of recovery from serious mental illness.
Keywords: narrative approach, Schizophrenics Anonymous, mental illness, social science research, Julian Rappaport
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