Psychological Agency: Theory, Practice, and Culture

273 Pages·2008·2.72 MB·English

by  Roger Frie

Psychological agency PSychology P
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edited by roger Frie o
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agency is a central psychological g
“This is a most impressive and original
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phenomenon that must be accounted for c
book: an ambitious, far-reaching enquiry a Psychological
in any explanatory framework of human into the psychodynamic conditions of human l
action. according to the diverse group of a
agency. These essays represent an important
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scholars, researchers, and clinicians who contribution to assessing the complex e
have contributed chapters to this book, n
relation of agency to the culture of c Agency
psychological agency is not a fixed entity that contemporary psychoanalysis.” y
conforms to traditional definitions of free will
anthony elliott, Flinders University,
but an affective, embodied, and relational
australia and Visiting Research chair,
processing of human experience. agency
open University, UK
is dependent on the biological, social, and
cultural contexts that inform and shape who
“in this fine volume, ably edited and
we are. yet agency also involves the creation
introduced by roger Frie, ten psychologists
of meaning and the capacity for imagining
and psychoanalysts consider the nature of
new and different ways of being and acting
agency and autonomy in our post-postmodern
and cannot be entirely reduced to biology or
age. Without jettisoning valuable insights,
culture. This generative potential of agency is
they move beyond deconstruction to a more
central to the process of psychotherapy and
balanced position— one that puts the self in
to psychological change and development.
its place while still giving it its due. This timely
The chapters explore psychological
book dovetails with current debates about the
agency in theoretical, clinical and
embodied and embedded nature of the
developmental, and social and cultural
person; it should have a major impact on
contexts. Psychological agency is presented
current theory and practice in both psychology
as situated within a web of intersecting
and psychoanalysis.”
biophysical and cultural contexts in an
louis sass, author of Madness and
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ongoing interactive and developmental Modernism and The Paradoxes of Delusion r
process. Persons are seen as not only ie
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shaped by but also capable of fashioning “Psychological agency is a must-read. roger d Theory, PracTice, and culTure
and refashioning their contexts in new and iT
Frie is to be congratulated for producing a o
meaningful ways. The contributors have r
strikingly insightful and intelligible volume.”
all trained in psychology or psychiatry, and
george s. howard, Professor of Psychology,
many have backgrounds in philosophy;
University of notre Dame
wherever possible they combine theoretical
discussion with clinical case illustration.

The MiT Press
roger Frie is associate Professor in the
Massachusetts institute of Technology
Faculty of education at Simon Fraser
cambridge, Massachusetts 02142
university. his recent books include
http://mitpress.mit.edu
understanding experience: Psychotherapy
and Postmodernism and Psychotherapy
as a human Science. 978-0-262-56231-7
RogeR FRie
eDiTeD By
Psychological Agency

Psychological Agency
Theory, Practice, and Culture
edited by Roger Frie
A Bradford Book
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any
electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information
storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.
MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales
promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected] or
write to Special Sales Department, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge,
MA 02142.
This book was set in Stone Sans and Stone Serif by SPi Publisher Services, Puducherry,
India and was printed and bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Psychological agency : theory, practice, and culture / [edited by] Roger Frie.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-262-06267-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-262-56231-7
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Self. 2. Agent (Philosophy) I. Frie, Roger, 1965–
BF697.P755 2008
155.2—dc22
2008017556
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction: The Situated Nature of Psychological Agency 1
Roger Frie
I Theoretical Contexts 33
1 The Agency of the Self and the Brain’s Illusions 35
Arnold Modell
2 Becoming Agents: Hegel, Nietzsche, and Psychoanalysis 51
Elliot L. Jurist
3 Understanding Persons as Relational Agents: The Philosophy of John
Macmurray and Its Implications for Psychology 73
Jeff Sugarman
II Clinical and Developmental Contexts 95
4 Perspectival Selves and Agents: Agency within Sociality 97
Jack Martin
5 Agency and Its Clinical Phenomenology 117
Jill Gentile
6 Agency as Fluid Process: Clinical and Theoretical Considerations 137
Pascal Sauvayre
7 Dimensions of Agency and the Process of Coparticipant Inquiry 155
John Fiscalini
vi Contents
III Social and Cultural Contexts 175
8 Psychological Agency: A Necessarily Human Concept 177
Adelbert H. Jenkins
9 Sexual Agency in Women: Beyond Romance 201
Linda Pollock
10 Navigating Cultural Contexts: Agency and Biculturalism 223
Roger Frie
Contributors 241
Index 243
Preface
This book is premised on the belief that agency is a central psychological
phenomenon that must be accounted for in any explanatory framework of
human action. Broadly speaking, psychological agency refers to the human
capacity for refl ective action, and is based on the potential to imagine and
create new ways of being and acting in the world. This generative potential is
only possible within the collective meanings and social and material rela-
tions that shape our lives.
It is essential, in my view, that agency be seen as a situated psychological
phenomenon. Psychological agency is not a fi xed entity that conforms to
traditional defi nitions of free will. It is an active process of meaning con-
struction that is dependent on the self-interpretation of individuals and is
grounded in biology, society, and culture. As such, agency can never be
divorced from the contexts in which it exists, yet neither can it be wholly
reduced to these contexts. Agency is based on the embodied, affective poten-
tial for refl ective understanding and, as such, is central to the process of psy-
chotherapy and psychological change and development.
Agency is a lived phenomenon that is evidenced in everyday experience
and in those therapy clients who seek help for problems in living. The ques-
tion of agency also relates to how we choose to live our lives and the respon-
sibility we have for the decisions we make. As such, agency is both a
psychological concept with direct clinical implications and a central philo-
sophical issue pertaining to the ethics of choice. Because it is such a multidi-
mensional concept, I believe that agency can only truly be appreciated and
understood from a multidisciplinary perspective. In developing this book, I
therefore invited a diverse group of scholars, researchers, and clinicians to
provide discussions of agency that expand our appreciation of the complex-
ity of the agential process. The contributors are all trained in either psychol-
ogy or psychiatry, and many have academic philosophical backgrounds that
they bring to bear in their explication of agency.
viii Preface
I have divided the book into three separate sections: theoretical con-
texts, clinical and developmental contexts, and social and cultural con-
texts. Each chapter, to a greater or lesser extent, touches on all three of
these areas. I also asked contributors, where ever possible, to combine
theoretical discussion with clinical case illustrations. Taken together, the
chapters demonstrate that agency cannot be fully appreciated from any
single disciplinary outlook, but, especially when considering its clinical
implications, must be considered from multiple perspectives. As a group,
the contributors approach and defi ne agency as a central topic in clinical
and theoretical psychology, yet their discussions also draw on the fi elds of
philosophy and neuroscience and to a lesser extent, on sociology and
anthropology. An underlying theme throughout the book is the utility of
a contemporary psychodynamic perspective for understanding the affec-
tive dynamics at work in the emergence, development, and experience of
agency.
This book developed over a number of years and with the help, both direct
and indirect, of many people. I would like to thank fi rst and foremost my
students and clients. It is through the process of mutual refl ection on the
nature of psychological agency, whether in a pedagogical or clinical setting,
that I have learned to appreciate both its importance and its complexity.
Working in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and the
Department of Psychology at Long Island University, as well as at various
doctoral and postdoctoral institutes, has enabled me to understand and
appreciate the interconnections between theory, practice, and research,
and to draw on each of these in formulating my approach to agency. In
addition, my earlier academic training in continental philosophy in Cam-
bridge and Berlin has been enormously helpful to my elaboration of agency
as a “metatheoretical” subject. The majority of my published work to date
has been geared towards developing the interconnections between the dis-
ciplines of psychology, philosophy, and psychoanalysis. I continue to
believe strongly that clinical training in the mental health professions can
benefi t from the study and recognition of the philosophy of human devel-
opment and experience. Unfortunately, pervasive disciplinary boundaries,
reinforced by economic and social forces, often present challenges for sub-
stantive cross-disciplinary exchange. I hope that this book can help to f oster
such dialogue.
I wish to express my gratitude to Tom Stone, Senior Editor at The MIT
Press, for taking on and supporting this project and to Sandra Minkkinen for
her advice through the editing stage. I also owe thanks to the contributors to
this book for their shared enthusiasm and belief in the value of the study of
Preface ix
psychological agency. My work on agency has benefi ted greatly from discus-
sions with many friends and colleagues over the past several years; I wish to
acknowledge in particular John Fiscalini, Elliot Jurist, Jack Martin, Donna
Orange, and Jeff Sugarman. However, I am without doubt most indebted to
my family for their support: to Emily for her enthusiasm and boundless
energy, and to Elena and Andreas for their wonderfully imaginative and end-
lessly creative acts of agency. It is to them that I dedicate this book.