Identity as "knowing your place": The narrative construction of space in a healthcare profession. (March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: van Vuuren, Mark; Westerhof, Gerben J
• Other Names: Sools Anneke M guest-editor.; Murray Michael guest-editor.; Westerhof Gerben J guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of health psychology. Volume 20:Number 3(2015:Mar.)
• Page Start: 326
• Page End: 337
• Publication Date: 2015-03
• Subjects: identity work -- narrative -- place -- space; Clinical health psychology -- Periodicals; 613.019
• DOI: 10.1177/1359105314566614
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-1053

Abstract

The construction of space in which a story takes place can have important consequences for the evaluation of health interventions. In this article, we explore the ways professionals narratively position themselves in a situation, treating identity literally as "knowing one's place." More specifically, we explore the spatial language health professionals use to describe their work. Using descriptions of professionals in a drug habilitation organization, we illustrate how they use route (i.e. an active tour through the space), survey (i.e. a stationary viewpoint from above), and gaze perspectives (i.e. a stable viewpoint onto a place) to explain the work situations they encounter. Each of these perspectives facilitates a different mode of evaluation in terms of distance, emotion, and identity. We propose opportunities for research and implications of the ways in which spaces and spatial perspectives set the scene in the narratives of healthcare professionals.