Self construction in schizophrenia: a discourse analysis.
OBJECTIVE
Lysaker and Lysaker (Theory and Psychology, 12(2), 207-220, 2002) employ a dialogical theory of self in their writings on self disruption in schizophrenia. It is argued here that this theory could be enriched by incorporating a discursive and social constructionist model of self. Harr's model enables researchers to use subject positions to identify self construction in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia that the dialogical model, using analysis of narrative, does not as easily recognize.


METHODS
The paper presents a discourse analysis of self construction in eight participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Transcripts from semi-structured interviews are analysed, wherein focus falls on how participants construct self in talk through the use of subject positioning.


RESULTS
The findings indicate that Harr's theory of self and the implied method of discourse analysis enables more subtle and nuanced constructions of self to be identified than those highlighted by Lysaker and Lysaker (Theory and Psychology, 12(2), 207-220, 2002). The analysis of subject positions revealed that participants constructed self in the form of Harr's (The singular self: An introduction to the psychology of personhood, 1998, London: Sage) self1, self2, and self3. The findings suggest that there may be constructions of self used by people diagnosed with schizophrenia that are not recognized by the current research methods focusing on narrative. The paper argues for the recognition of these constructions and by implication a model of self that takes into account different levels of visibility of self construction in talk.
Meehan
Trudy
T
Carew House, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Ireland. trudymeehan@eircom.net
MacLachlan
Malcolm
M
D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D033262:Narration; D028723:Personhood; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D011582:Psychological Theory; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D014705:Verbal Behavior