In response to a perceived lack in this area, this study has investigated how White trainee counselling psychologists construct their experience of training in the area of racial difference, and how they discursively explore and negotiate their own potential for racial prejudice within the therapeutic encounter. Using the framework of Critical Discursive Psychology (CDP), data from eight interviews and two focus groups have been discursively analysed and are presented as one of an ever evolving number of possible analyses. The present analysis of the data has found that as the participants grapple with their professional identities as counselling psychologists in training, they inhabit one of three omnipresent discursive fields, which in turn create distinct subject positions. The discursive fields of ‘colour-blindness’, ‘interculturalism’ and ‘pluralism’ all offer the trainees alternative constructions of practice which are drawn on depending on which professional representation appears to be at stake. In particular, the participants struggle to balance the desire for value free openness associated with a pluralistic approach, alongside a need for professional competency characterised by a dependence upon generalised understandings of other racialised groups as supported by an intercultural perspective. However, whilst trainees themselves wrestle with matters of ethics and competence, the present analysis highlights the unintended contributions to racism and racial prejudice which are created when the trainees inhabit alternative discursive fields and their related subject positions. Throughout this process of professional positioning, this study identifies how incidents of racial prejudice appear in the trainees talk, both directly and indirectly. This deconstructive process offers a window into the presence of unintentional racism, and generates some suggestions for the practical application of the findings presented. In addition, via a reflective process these findings are discussed and there is a questioning of the methods used, including an examination of how the interviews/focus groups were conducted and how the data were analysed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:588684 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | O'Driscoll, Sharon T. |
| Contributors | Dickerson, Paul ; Gaitanidis, Anastasios |
| Publisher | University of Roehampton |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/a-discursive-analysis-of-how-white-trainee-counselling-psychologists-construct-their-experience-of-training-in-the-area-of-racial-difference-and-negotiate-their-own-potential-for-racial-prejudice-within-the-therapeutic-encounter(d0387acd-fbe8-4fc0-9be2-a8405480e8ca).html |
Page generated in 0.0024 seconds