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Identity, Life History and Commitment to Welfare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2006

PAUL HOGGETT ,
PHOEBE BEEDELL ,
LUIS JIMENEZ ,
MARJ MAYO  and
CHRIS MILLER
PAUL HOGGETT
Affiliation:
Centre for Psycho-Social Studies, University of the West of England, Coldharbour Lane, Frenchay, Bristol BS16 1QY email: [email protected]
PHOEBE BEEDELL
Affiliation:
University of the West of England
LUIS JIMENEZ
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences, University of Cardiff
MARJ MAYO
Affiliation:
Goldsmiths College
CHRIS MILLER
Affiliation:
University of the West of England
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Abstract

Using detailed extracts from two life histories, this article examines the nature of the personal identifications that often underpin the commitment of welfare workers to their jobs. We explore the paradox that it is those identifications such as class and gender, mediated through individual biography, that fix the ‘self as object’ and that also provide us with the resources for self-transformation. In this respect, the article not only throws light upon the psychical and emotional roots of commitment to the other, but also upon some of the impasses ‘identity theory’ currently finds itself in.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , October 2006 , pp. 689 - 704
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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