Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age [Paperback]

Frank Furedi (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 041532159X | ISBN-13: 978-0415321594 | Publication Date: December 20, 2003

Therapy Culture explores the powerful influence of therapeutic imperative in Anglo-American societies. In recent decades virtually every sphere of life has become subject to a new emotional culture. Professor Furedi suggests that the recent cultural turn toward the realm of the emotions coincides with a radical redefinition of personhood. Increasingly vulnerability is presented as the defining feature of people's psychology. Terms like people 'at risk', 'scarred for life' or 'emotional damage' evoke a unique sense of powerlessness. Furedi questions the widely accepted thesis that the therapeutic turn represents an enlightened shift towards emotions. He claims that therapeutic culture is primarily about imposing a new conformity through the management of people's emotions. Through framing the problem of everyday life through the prism of emotions, therapeutic culture incites people to feel powerless and ill. Drawing on developments in popular culture, political and social life, Furedi provides a path-breaking analysis of the therapeutic turn.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Therapy is indeed the new opium of the people, as Frank Furedi makes clear in this fascinating, readable - and disturbing - book.' - Virginia Ironside, The Independent

'Can it really be such a bad thing that we are now more aware of the place of mental health in our make-up? Furedi leaves us in no doubt that the therapy culture has invaded our media, our workplace, our intimate relationships and our politics. It is an interesting polemic. We should be grateful for the balance this book inspires'
- Community Care 25/4/04

About the Author

Frank Furedi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, Canterbury.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (December 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 041532159X
• ISBN-13: 978-0415321594
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,224,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating ideas but poorly edited, February 13, 2005

By 

Idea Lover (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age (Paperback)

Furedi's interesting book explores how self-reliance and problem-solving through informal relationships have been gradually replaced by a therapeutic culture that, by medicalising everyday behaviour, encourages helplessness and promotes new forms of social control.

This book was well worth the read because the ideas were so fascinating, but one could be put off by the atrocious copy editing. Compared with Furedi's earlier well-edited "Paranoid Parenting," "Therapy Culture" had numerous distracting grammatical and spelling errors. It would have deserved a higher rating had it been better edited.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good subject, poor execution, December 1, 2005

By 

J. Doe - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age (Paperback)

I was excited when I found out about this book, because I agree with the author's overall thesis. I really wanted to like the book, but I came away sadly disappointed.

Furedi has some interesting ideas, but his writing is needlessly dense and dreary. Granted, this is an academic work, but still -- a good editor could probably bring this book to life. As it stands, however, the overall subject matter is interesting, but the book is almost unreadable.

For a much better treatment of essentially the same topic, see "One Nation Under Therapy", by Christina Hoff Sommers and Sally Satel.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Book, September 8, 2009

By 

Cyber Gypsy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age (Paperback)

Personally I wasn't bothered by the writing style, as the others were. What I am interested in is what an author has to say, and Furedi has an important message.