A New Narrative for Psychology

Brian Schiff

Explorations in Narrative Psychology

Presents the argument that narrative study opens the door to meaning in context as a core component of scientific psychology
Offers a solid and compelling history of narrative psychology to ground contemporary research and understanding
Engages mainstream psychologists in a conversation about the importance of narrative psychology as a scientific discipline

A New Narrative for Psychology

Brian Schiff

Explorations in Narrative Psychology

Description

How can a narrative perspective help us advance our understanding of the fundamental problems of human psychology and better appreciate persons in diverse social and cultural contexts? In A New Narrative for Psychology, author Brian Schiff offers researchers and scholars a new way to study and think about people and the goals of psychological understanding today. By providing a challenging critique of contemporary methods and addressing what these approaches to psychological research leave unexplored, Schiff presents readers with a cutting-edge approach for getting at the thorny problem of meaning making in human lives.

While serving as a helpful guide for psychology scholars, this volume is also an excellent place to start for readers who might be unfamiliar with narrative psychology. Here, Schiff carefully considers the history of the field and its place within contemporary psychology by offering a fresh and innovative theoretical perspective on narrative as an active interpretative process present in most aspects of our everyday lives. Further, Schiff expertly grounds this research for readers in clear, vivid illustrations of what can be learned from the intensive study of how people narrate their experiences, selves, social relationships, and the world today.

A New Narrative for Psychology is an invitation to a fascinating conversation about the critical questions of the discipline, the most effective strategies for approaching them, and an exciting glimpse into the future of narrative psychology.

A New Narrative for Psychology

Brian Schiff

Explorations in Narrative Psychology

Acknowledgements
Dedication

PART ONE
Introduction: What's the Problem?
Chapter 1: Out of Context
Chapter 2: Out of the Head

PART TWO
Chapter 3: Turning to Narrative
Chapter 4: How Narrating Functions
Chapter 5: Making It SoEL

PART THREE
Chapter 6: Interpreting Interpretations
Chapter 7: Interpreting Ben's Survival
Chapter 8: Interpretation in Practice
Chapter 9: Reasoned Interpretations
Conclusion: Unity in Psychology?

References

A New Narrative for Psychology

Brian Schiff

Explorations in Narrative Psychology

Author Information

Brian Schiff is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology and Director of the George and Irina Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights and Conflict Prevention at the American University of Paris. A graduate of The University of Chicago's Committee on Human Development, Schiff's research uses narrative in order to examine the meeting place between person, social relationships and culture. Schiff is the 2016 recipient of the Theodore Sarbin Award from the American Psychological Association. He is editor of Rereading Personal Narrative and Life Course, New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, and co-editor of Life and Narrative: The Risks and Responsibilities of Storying Experience.

A New Narrative for Psychology

Brian Schiff

Explorations in Narrative Psychology

Reviews and Awards

"Schiff's book has the ambitious aim to re-introduce narrative as the general theory and method for psychological research... The work's greatest strength is its vividness. By using examples of everyday life, couple stories, or a conversation between a mother and her son, Schiff involves the reader and gives him a clear understanding of his advocated manner of working. An important contribution to the debate on contemporary psychology's future." -- KULT Online

"Readers with a more philosophically and historically grounded understanding of what scientific psychology can and should be (and, in some relatively small circles, has long been and continues to be) will find Schiff's perspective on narrative psychology at once theoretically invigorating and methodologically liberating. In the present author's view, this makes A New Narrative for Psychology a most commendable addition to the literature." -- Theory & Psychology

"In this lucid and thoughtful book, Brian Schiff makes a forceful argument for why a narrative perspective is necessary for scientific psychology. His ideas are provocative, timely, and sure to evoke lively debate." --Ruthellen Josselson, Professor of Psychology, Fielding Graduate University

"Brian Schiff embarks on rejuvenating the famous project of narrative psychology; and while doing so, he manages to reshape the entire discipline of psychology. Schiff 's argument is brilliant and provocative, as it is convincing and called for. This book inspires and launches discussion about the future of psychology, and narrative studies in all corners of human sciences." --Matti Hyvärinen, Professor of Sociology, University of Tampere

"An insightful, eminently readable critique of the modus operandi of mainstream psychology, and a clarion call for the discipline to tackle its central mission, how, as persons, we make and re-make meaning of our lives and our relationships day in and day out-a process that is nothing if not narrative at heart." --William L. Randall, Professor of Gerontology, St. Thomas University

"Across the professions, we now place a premium on 'evidence-based practice.' In academic life, we now place a premium on the scholarship of teaching and learning. Professor Schiff's [book] articulates a liberal arts AND sciences method to deepen [students'] adventure in learning." --Thomas V. McGovern, review in PsycCRITIQUES

"The book by Brian Schiff reminds us that the debate over the nature of psychology as a science, and as having a potential contribution to solving many human problems, continues...The continuing dominance of positivist approaches within psychology can for some be dispiriting, but the parallel growth of interest in qualitative methods is surely a sign that that the debate continues. However, as the discipline has grown in diversity, there is the prospect of it splintering into different disciplines. Schiff's book is an enthusiastic call for a form of integration based upon placing narrative meaning making at its centre.

Narrative is the spectre which is haunting psychology, and Schiff argues that it offers the prospect of a refreshed discipline...Schiff's book...is a call for a psychology which is human centred but is self-critical and concerned about its potential impact in the world. While much of contemporary psychology attempts to strengthen its foundations with ever more concern for detailed statistical methods, Schiff offers a more imaginative and exciting guide." --Narrative Works

A New Narrative for Psychology

Brian Schiff

Explorations in Narrative Psychology

From Our Blog

Psychology's silent crisis

Rarely do esoteric academic debates, especially those concerning methodology, make their way into the popular press. But, for the past two years, a major controversy on the replication of psychological research has spilled into public view and shows few signs of abating. However, the debate is silent about the far more problematic conceptual crisis that challenges the core principles of scientific psychology.

Posted on August 2, 2017

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