Research conducted with Montreal schizophrenics who frequent alternative groups for the mentally ill was aimed at exploring their strategies of identity reconstitution. Applying Paul Ricoeur's concept of the "narrative identity" and its emphasis on the recollection, interpretation, and narrations of events, the content of schizophrenics' life narratives was analyzed to establish the manner in which identity and experience were fashioned, and what role social and cultural elements played in this process of transformation. The results of this research indicate that schizophrenics who try to position themselves anew frequently tend to reject biomedical meanings and definitions as a privileged frame of reference. Instead of the biomedical paradigm and its usually negative connotations, explanations of supernatural and autobiographical origins are preferred. Drawing on our culture's diverse references in some kind of unique-amalgamation of meaning frames, highly individualized and distinctive identities are constructed. These identities, although unusual or 'abnormal' when looked at from the point of view of mainstream society, often constitute significant steps in the personal growth and well being of people who suffer from schizophrenia.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.27959 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Mittmannsgruber, Ingrid. |
| Contributors | Corin, Ellen (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Anthropology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001615935, proquestno: MQ37224, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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