Occupational Therapy Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Journal
Journal of Occupational Science
Volume
4
Issue
24
First Page
470
Last Page
481
URL with Digital Object Identifier
https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2017.1369144
Abstract
Calls to ‘transcend the individual’ in occupational science have emerged in recognition of the boundaries of individualistic perspectives and the drive to develop a socially responsive science. In this article, we contend that transcending the individual does not equate to neglecting how individuals make sense of and experience occupation; rather, it requires looking at individual constructions of experiences and occupations in critically informed ways that highlight the socio-political influences on those constructions. This discussion article considers how critical narrative inquiry can be taken up as a methodological approach to interpretively link individual ‘stories’ with social ‘stories’ or discourses, enabling further understanding of occupation as a situated and transactional phenomenon. Drawing on data from a study that is attending to transactions of policy, service, and individual perspectives of long-term unemployment, we illustrate how a critical approach to narrative interpretation highlights boundaries, resistance, contradictions, and tensions that provide insights into the situated nature of occupation.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
