Table Of Contenti
A New Narrative for Psychology
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Explorations in Narrative Psychology
Mark Freeman
Series Editor
Books in the Series
Speaking of Violence
Sara Cobb
Narrative Imagination and Everyday Life
Molly Andrews
Narratives of Positive Aging: Seaside Stories
Amia Lieblich
Beyond the Archive: Memory, Narrative, and the Autobiographical Process
Jens Brockmeier
The Narrative Complexity of Ordinary Life: Tales from the Coffee Shop
William L. Randall
Rethinking Thought: Inside the Minds of Creative Scientists and Artists
Laura Otis
Life and Narrative: The Risks and Responsibilities of Storying Experience
Edited by Brian Schiff, Sylvie Patron, and A. Elizabeth McKim
Not in My Family: German Memory and Responsibility After the Holocaust
Roger Frie
A New Narrative for Psychology
Brian Schiff
iii
A New Narrative
for Psychology
Brian Schiff
1
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1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.
© Oxford University Press 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
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by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction
rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schiff, Brian, author.
Title: A new narrative for psychology / Brian Schiff.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2017] |
Series: Explorations in narrative psychology | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016056183 | ISBN 9780199332182 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Psychology—Research. | Narrative inquiry (Research method)
Classification: LCC BF76.5.S295 2017 | DDC 150.72—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016056183
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
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To Mathilde, Ella, Max, and Annabelle, for all your love and for our shared
hopes for the future.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
PART I
Introduction: What’s the Problem? 3
1. Out of Context 9
2. Out of the Head 23
PART II
3. Turning to Narrative 43
4. How Narrating Functions 71
5. Making It So 99
PART III
6. Interpreting Interpretations 131
7. Interpreting Ben’s Survival 159
8. Interpretation in Practice 177
9. Reasoned Interpretations 193
Conclusion: Unity in Psychology? 217
References 237
Index 253
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Although, in many ways, I have always been a psychologist, I have always
had a feeling that the psychology that I studied was inadequate to get at the
problems that really bothered me—a bout the mystery of my life and the
puzzling lives of others. I know that many of us feel the same way.
This book is primarily addressed to the next generation of psychologists,
those interested in the discipline casually or as a career, who wish to know
something more, or something more deeply, about persons and why we
live the lives that we do, and to those who, optimistically and idealistically,
want to understand others and begin the process of change and renewal
that the discipline and this world so desperately need. I sincerely hope that
this work will be the starting point in your reflections.
I am infinitely indebted to my colleagues who read through various drafts
of this manuscript and generously gave me their insights and critiques: Jens
Brockmeier, Matti Hyvärinen, Jim Lamiell, Hanna Meretoja, Bill Randall,
Brent Slife, Brett Smith, and the members of the Personological Society.
But I would like to most especially thank my series editor and friend, Mark
Freeman, who read through the entire manuscript and told me, frankly,
how to make it better. Mark, I hope that I did the argument justice.
I would like to acknowledge the support of the Cherrick Center for
the Study of Zionism, the Yishuv and the State of Israel, and the Harry
S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, who funded
my research on Palestinian students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
that is featured in this book.
I want to thank the administration at the American University of Paris
for believing in this project and believing in me— thank you, Celeste
Schenk, Valerie Gille, Neil Gordon, and Scott Springer.
I would also like to thank Abby Gross, Courtney McCarroll and the staff
at Oxford University Press for your hard work and commitment to this
book.
