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Self-esteem, happiness and the therapeutic fad cycle

Ashley Frawley Orcid Logo

The Routledge International Handbook of Global Therapeutic Cultures, Pages: 139 - 152

Swansea University Author: Ashley Frawley Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429024764

Abstract

In this contribution, I explore strong parallels across emotions as social issues in terms of advocacy, rhetoric and marked tendencies to rise, expand and give way to new vocabularies which nonetheless mark out very similar claims. In particular, I sketch out the cyclic nature of therapeutic fads su...

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Published in: The Routledge International Handbook of Global Therapeutic Cultures
Published: London Routledge 2020
Online Access: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429024764
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa54785
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first_indexed 2020-07-22T15:39:31Z
last_indexed 2023-01-11T14:33:00Z
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spelling v2 54785 2020-07-22 Self-esteem, happiness and the therapeutic fad cycle 9279d7a34ced689e04eb6bdc56e74a64 0000-0002-4691-4612 Ashley Frawley Ashley Frawley true false 2020-07-22 CSSP In this contribution, I explore strong parallels across emotions as social issues in terms of advocacy, rhetoric and marked tendencies to rise, expand and give way to new vocabularies which nonetheless mark out very similar claims. In particular, I sketch out the cyclic nature of therapeutic fads surrounding self-esteem and happiness. As self-esteem was questioned as a panacea for social problems, happiness emerged as a powerful new discourse that performed very similar functions. Focusing on these cases, I draw on my earlier research on the construction of happiness as a social problem (Frawley, 2015, 2018) and Hewitt’s (1998) study of self-esteem to illustrate a growing tendency to problematise apparently positive emotional signifiers. Beginning with a discussion of fads and social problem cycles, I move to a discussion of ethnopsychology, or cultural assumptions about human psychology and human nature. I then describe key aspects of therapeutic fad cycles focusing on happiness and self-esteem as problematised positive emotional signifiers, from a ‘prehistory’ phase to discovery, adoption, expansion and exhaustion. Book chapter The Routledge International Handbook of Global Therapeutic Cultures 139 152 Routledge London social problems, happiness, self-esteem, social construction, therapy culture, fads 25 8 2020 2020-08-25 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429024764 https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429024764 COLLEGE NANME Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy COLLEGE CODE CSSP Swansea University 2023-06-28T16:49:53.5177002 2020-07-22T15:34:16.5516156 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Ashley Frawley 0000-0002-4691-4612 1
title Self-esteem, happiness and the therapeutic fad cycle
spellingShingle Self-esteem, happiness and the therapeutic fad cycle
Ashley Frawley
title_short Self-esteem, happiness and the therapeutic fad cycle
title_full Self-esteem, happiness and the therapeutic fad cycle
title_fullStr Self-esteem, happiness and the therapeutic fad cycle
title_full_unstemmed Self-esteem, happiness and the therapeutic fad cycle
title_sort Self-esteem, happiness and the therapeutic fad cycle
author_id_str_mv 9279d7a34ced689e04eb6bdc56e74a64
author_id_fullname_str_mv 9279d7a34ced689e04eb6bdc56e74a64_***_Ashley Frawley
author Ashley Frawley
author2 Ashley Frawley
format Book chapter
container_title The Routledge International Handbook of Global Therapeutic Cultures
container_start_page 139
publishDate 2020
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429024764
publisher Routledge
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
url https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429024764
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description In this contribution, I explore strong parallels across emotions as social issues in terms of advocacy, rhetoric and marked tendencies to rise, expand and give way to new vocabularies which nonetheless mark out very similar claims. In particular, I sketch out the cyclic nature of therapeutic fads surrounding self-esteem and happiness. As self-esteem was questioned as a panacea for social problems, happiness emerged as a powerful new discourse that performed very similar functions. Focusing on these cases, I draw on my earlier research on the construction of happiness as a social problem (Frawley, 2015, 2018) and Hewitt’s (1998) study of self-esteem to illustrate a growing tendency to problematise apparently positive emotional signifiers. Beginning with a discussion of fads and social problem cycles, I move to a discussion of ethnopsychology, or cultural assumptions about human psychology and human nature. I then describe key aspects of therapeutic fad cycles focusing on happiness and self-esteem as problematised positive emotional signifiers, from a ‘prehistory’ phase to discovery, adoption, expansion and exhaustion.
published_date 2020-08-25T16:49:49Z
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