Paranoia: a social account

Article

Cromby, John and Harper, D. 2009. Paranoia: a social account. Theory & Psychology. 19 (3), pp. 335-361.
AuthorsCromby, John and Harper, D.
Abstract

Both psychology and psychiatry are dominated by individualistic accounts of paranoia (and indeed, other forms of distress). As a corrective to these, this paper provides a social account of paranoia grounded in a minimal notion of embodied subjectivity constituted from the interpenetration of feelings, perception and discourse. Paranoia is conceptualised as a mode or tendency within embodied subjectivity, co-constituted in the dialectical associations between subjectivity and relational, social and material influences. Relevant psychiatric and psychological literature is briefly reviewed; relational, social structural and material influences upon paranoia are described; and some implications of this account for research and intervention are highlighted.

Keywordsembodiment; neuroscience; psychotherapy; social psychology; Vygotsky
JournalTheory & Psychology
Journal citation19 (3), pp. 335-361
ISSN0959-3543
1461-7447
Year2009
Accepted author manuscript
License
CC BY-ND
Web address (URL)http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959354309104158
http://hdl.handle.net/10552/650
Publication dates
Print2009
Publication process dates
Deposited09 Mar 2010
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Citation:
Cromby, J. & Harper, D.J. (2009) ‘Paranoia: a social account.’ Theory & Psychology, 19 (3) 335–361.

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