Studies of Life Positioning
A New Sociocultural Approach to Psychobiography
1st Edition
Published on 21. June 2024
176 pages
978-1-040-04806-1 (ISBN)
Description
This book illustrates how Life Positioning Analysis can be used as a theoretical and methodological approach to sociocultural psychobiography.
Life positioning psychobiography studies lives as they unfold within a world of interactivity. It recognizes and portrays us as social beings embedded and developing within our life relationships and circumstances and striving to make something of our lives. Here, Jack Martin presents both single-subject and dual-subject studies of social psychologist Stanley Milgram, former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, existential humanist Ernest Becker, American heiress and child advocate Dorothy Burlingham and her life partner, renowned psychoanalyst Anna Freud, and indigenous athlete Jim Thorpe and his college coach Glenn "Pop" Warner. These case studies provide vividly memorable demonstrations of how we are positioned by circumstances and others, and come to position ourselves as socioculturally constituted, psychological persons. In so doing, they offer a systematic framework for studying the lives of people that shows sociocultural and social psychological development without resorting to mentalistic theories, concepts, and interpretations.
The book will be of interest to students and scholars in areas related to sociocultural and developmental psychology, the psychology and sociology of personhood, theoretical psychology, qualitative methodology, and social science and life writing more generally.
Life positioning psychobiography studies lives as they unfold within a world of interactivity. It recognizes and portrays us as social beings embedded and developing within our life relationships and circumstances and striving to make something of our lives. Here, Jack Martin presents both single-subject and dual-subject studies of social psychologist Stanley Milgram, former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, existential humanist Ernest Becker, American heiress and child advocate Dorothy Burlingham and her life partner, renowned psychoanalyst Anna Freud, and indigenous athlete Jim Thorpe and his college coach Glenn "Pop" Warner. These case studies provide vividly memorable demonstrations of how we are positioned by circumstances and others, and come to position ourselves as socioculturally constituted, psychological persons. In so doing, they offer a systematic framework for studying the lives of people that shows sociocultural and social psychological development without resorting to mentalistic theories, concepts, and interpretations.
The book will be of interest to students and scholars in areas related to sociocultural and developmental psychology, the psychology and sociology of personhood, theoretical psychology, qualitative methodology, and social science and life writing more generally.
Reviews / Votes
"In Studies of Life Positioning: A New Sociocultural Approach to Psychobiography, Jack Martin makes an enormous contribution to the current discourse on methodological approaches to the study of individual human lives and their intersubjective and sociocultural matrices... The real strength of Martin's LPA framework is that it highlights how intersubjectivity, or the mutual understanding between individuals, emerges from the co-ordination and integration of different perspectives gained through social interactions."Heather Macdonald, Fielding Graduate University, USA, writing in Theory & Psychology, 1-3, 2025, doi/10.1177/09593543251320048
"One [strength] is Martin's ability to integrate both psychological and sociocultural perspectives and to show how psychological processes are intertwined with sociocultural contexts, and how both are crucial for developing an in-depth understanding of individual lives from interdisciplinary viewpoints. Another highlight of the book is Professor Martin's engaging writing style: he presents complex ideas in an accessible and intriguing way and opens up ideas for potential applications of the life positioning approach - even within the life of the readers... it is an innovative, thought-provoking and valuable contribution to the field of contemporary psychobiography. It provides a fresh perspective on the study of individual lives and is highly recommended for anyone interested in new theoretical and methodological approaches to psychobiography and exploring the complex interplay between individuals and their sociocultural worlds on a deeper level."
Claude-Helene Mayer, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
More details
Series
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
ISBN-13
978-1-040-04806-1 (9781040048061)
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Person
Jack Martin is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. He is a recipient of the Society of Theoretical and Philosophical Society's Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions. The focus of Jack's current work is on personhood and the study of lives, using positioning theories such as Position Exchange Theory and Life Positioning Analysis.
Content
Chapter 1: A Psychobiography of Life Positioning. Chapter 2: Stanley Milgram's Penchant for Revealing and Concealing. Chapter 3: Pierre Elliott Trudeau and the 1970 October Crisis in the Canadian Province of Quebec. Chapter 4: Ernest Becker's Quest for a Philosophical Anthropology by way of Human Evil. Chapter 5: The Symmetrical Relationship and Conjoint Agency of Dorothy Burlingham and Anna Freud. Chapter 6: The Asymmetrical, Manipulative Relationship Between Jim Thorpe and Pop Warner. Chapter 7: Revisitings, Reflections, and Critical Considerations.
