Gender and Culture in Psychology: Theories and Practices

by Eva Magnusson, Jeanne Marecek

Overview

Gender and Culture in Psychology introduces new approaches to the psychological study of gender that bring together feminist psychology, socio-cultural psychology, discursive psychology and critical psychology. It presents research and theory that embed human action in social, cultural and interpersonal contexts. The book provides conceptual tools for thinking about gender, social categorization, human meaning-making, and culture. It also describes a family of interpretative research methods that focus on rich talk and everyday life. It provides a close-in view of how interpretative research proceeds. The latter part of the book showcases innovative projects that investigate topics of concern to feminist scholars and activists: young teens' encounters with heterosexual norms; women and men negotiating household duties and childcare; sexual coercion and violence in heterosexual encounters; the cultural politics of women's weight and eating concerns; psychiatric labelling of psychological suffering; and feminism in psychotherapy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781139234573
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/02/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	759 KB

About the Author

Eva Magnusson is Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies at the University of Umeå, Sweden. She is also affiliated with, and teaches at, the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Umeå (and is a past chair of the Centre).
Jeanne Marecek is William R. Kenan Professor Emerita of Psychology at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, USA, where she also has been a member of the Program on Gender and Sexuality Studies and the Asian Studies Program.

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Gender and culture in psychology: a prologue; 2. Categories and social categorization; 3. Laying the foundation; 4. Theories of gender in psychology: an overview; 5. A turn to interpretation; 6. Doing interpretative psychological research; 7. Discursive approaches to studying gender and culture; 8. Gender and culture in children's identity development; 9. Identity and inequality in heterosexual couples; 10. Coercion, violence and consent in heterosexual encounters; 11. Women's eating problems and the cultural meanings of body size; 12. Psychological suffering in social and cultural contexts; 13. Feminism and gender in psychotherapy; 14. Comparing women and men: a retrospective on sex difference research; 15. Psychology's place in society and society's place in psychology.

Editorial Reviews

"Gender and Culture in Psychology: Theories and Practices is a dense and informative book that should be required reading for all psychologists and other social scientists. The authors, Eva Magnusson and Jeanne Marecek, provide a synopsis of contemporary approaches to the psychology of gender with clarity, brevity, depth, and eloquence.... In sum, this is a useful book for those new to the psychology of gender, as well as for experts in the field. It seems to speak to everyone and to apply beyond the cultures where it was researched. It calls the reader to question the “status quo” and to examine how one’s own identity is tied to culture.... Overall, this book represents an accessible, concise account of current directions in the psychology of gender."
Dr. Judith L. Gibbons, Saint Louis University, Regina Fanjul de Marsicovetere, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and Ruby Batz, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, PsycCRITIQUES


"...In Gender and Culture in Psychology, Eva Magnusson and Jeanne Marecek offer us ways of thinking about the nature and production of psychological knowledge as historically and culturally situated.... Magnusson and Marecek powerfully remind us that meaning is essential, that meaning is contextual, and that interpretative methods reveal meaning. Graduate students in psychology and related fields, as well as their teachers and mentors, will benefit enormously from the work they have done in the interest of helping us understanding our humanness."
—Dana Becker, Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Sex Roles


"...Writing from the perspective that gender is a social practice, the authors ably and cogently bring together multiple disciplines within psychology—including feminist, discursive, sociocultural, and critical approaches—to argue for the use of potentially richer, less reductive, and more interpretative research methods. Even those schooled primarily in quantitative methods of analysis, with only glancing exposure to qualitative analysis, will find the book accessible, even motivating.... Magnusson and Marecek's book is a wonder of both brevity and exegesis.... Highly recommended..."
—L. E. Barnes-Young, American Military University, CHOICE


"...Magnusson and Marecek provide clear explanations of important concepts related to gender and culture, a succinct introduction to feminist interpretive and discursive research methods with examples of research projects completed in this tradition, and a useful critique of psychology as a discipline..."
—Cathleen Power, Westminster College, Salt Lake City, UT, Psychology of Women Quarterly

From the Publisher