Pollner-McDonald-Wikler1985

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Pollner-McDonald-Wikler1985
BibType ARTICLE
Key Pollner-McDonald-Wikler1985
Author(s) Melvin Pollner, L. McDonald-Wikler
Title The social construction of unreality: A case study of a family’s attribution of competence to a severely retarded child
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Family, Mental-retardation, Family Conversation, Reality Work
Publisher
Year 1985
Language
City
Month
Journal Family Process
Volume 24
Number 2
Pages 241–254
URL Link
DOI 10.1111/j.1545-5300.1985.00241.x
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

Some families develop unusual or extreme versions of reality and sustain them in the face of a torrent of ostensibly discrediting and disconfirming information. Although the psychological dynamics and functions of such shared constructions have been amply considered, little is known about the routine transactions through which these unusual versions of reality are created and maintained. This paper examines the “reality work” of a family that attributed high levels of performance and competence to the severely retarded youngest child. Observation of videotaped interaction between family members and the child revealed practices that presupposed, “documented,” and sustained the family's version of the child's competence. The practices are similar to those characteristic of interaction between adults and preverbal children. The implications of this similarity for the analysis of cases of folie à famille are discussed.

Notes