Autoethnographic ethics and rewriting the fragmented self

Author: GRANT, A.

Source: Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing, Volume 17, Number 2, March 2010 , pp. 111-116(6)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

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Abstract:

Accessible summary

• This paper juxtaposes my own mental health problems with autoethnographic ethics relevant to my subject matter.

• Autoethnographic ethics are treated according to their historical development in the social sciences.

• It is argued that culture flows through self and vice versa. Abstract

The paper begins with a summary of severe mental health difficulties I had in recent years. The narrative then turns to the crisis of representation in the social sciences which gave rise to autoethnographic ethics. Autoethnographic writing is compared and contrasted with realist writing, the former being seen to be accorded with several advantages when `writing the self'. It is argued that culture flows through self and vice versa, and that this is captured well in autoethnographic work. The various forms of ethics are brought to light in relation to my experiences of state acute mental health care.

Keywords: ethics; men's mental health; mental health; mental health settings; nursing theory

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2009.01478.x

Publication date: 2010-03-01