Publication (142 pages).

A medical construction of hoarding behaviour is the construction of subjective
claims about the behaviour; it does not refer specifically to the objective
conditions of the behaviour, only the subjective reactions.
In the social problem sphere pinpointing where hoarding falls is a complex task.
I have chosen to approach the situation using social problem construction theory
because it provides a method for dealing with the varying accounts of hoarding.
Using this approach I identify two existing constructions of hoarding, one
within the medical sphere and one within the moral sphere. To these I add my
own construction that considers the social structures in consumer society alongside
the objective behaviours of hoarding. Before addressing these constructions
I will provide an overview of social construction theory, including key processes
and the terminology used for constructing differing accounts of the behaviour.
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