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Chapter Two Part One – Literature review - Page 26
discoveries for over a century (Devereux, 1951; Freud, 1900/1953; Mimica, 2007;
Roheim, 1925; Schwartz, White, & Lutz, 1992; Spain, 1992), and has been said more
recently (LeVine & Sharma, 1997) to be more alive than it has ever been. Mimica’s
collection (2007) is among the latest products of this source. Given developments in
both fields, and in the wider intellectual context of the social sciences, the time seems
right to try and extend what is possible in terms of synergy between the fields.
The topic is important within the fields of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic
psychotherapy, and group therapy, and in training for those fields. Psychotherapeutic
clinical work in itself essentially constitutes a form of research, especially when
conducted under supervision or with access to consultation, (Farrell, 1996; Kvale, 1986;
Tuckett, 1994). However, beyond basic training, engagement in research by
practitioners is not extensive. Nor has the field engaged much of the attention of non-
clinical researchers, despite some fine examples of this (e.g. Schön, 1983). Research
about training, and in group work, is even more limited (Carter, 2002), not least because
of problems of access and complexity.
The construction of psychoanalytic clinical work as research links to what may well be
a significant turn in psychosocial research. Although an overwhelming case for the use
of qualitative approaches in this area has long been made, it can be argued that aspects
of previous paradigms still persist. A critical perspective on qualitative methodologies
suggests that many positivist features have survived, together with pressures to eschew
interpretation, for example in feminist and critical theory methodologies. A key concern
that leads to unease with interpretation is the wish to avoid disempowerment, but much
is missing from accounts that can appear overcome with this concern. There is a
considerable potential psychoanalytic contribution to research methodology that awaits