"Material Discourses of Health and Illness applies discursive approaches to the field of health psychology, exploring the way in which the meaning, context and consequences of bodily phenomena are created and transformed by human activity. Whereas the traditional biomedical model treats illness as an objective physical state, discursive analyses show how the significance and experience of health and illness are jointly shaped by the beliefs and behaviour of sufferers and health workers, and by biomedical technology, media images and government policy. This book provides practical examples of how discursive approaches can be applied to the field of health psychology, ranging from eating behaviour and childbirth to dialysis, deafness and AIDS. Each chapter explains and justifies a different approach, reflecting on its practical utility as well as its limitations. This imaginative and timely reconciliation of discursive and materialist perspectives will interest a wide readership of health and social psychologists, sociologists, feminists and anthropologists."
"Accessible introduction to social constructionist and discursive approaches to the field of health psychology which, unlike traditional models uses the person's experience and feelings as the central focus of interest."@en