Researching the Unconscious: Principles of Psychoanalytic Method

347 Pages·2019·3.275 MB·English

by  Michael Rustin

“How can psychoanalysis be a research activity when its task is not a
generalizing one, but a particularizing one, that is, to impart the nuance
and convey complexity? Michael Rustin has some fascinating and
learned answers to this question. He shows how psychoanalysis does
generate knowledge and should respect its own methods of doing so.
Read him and learn!”
—Anne Alvarez, PhD, MACP, Consultant Child and
Adolescent Psychotherapist
“Michael Rustin is an outstanding contributor to the development of
psychoanalytic studies, and author of several works of seminal impor-
tance in British sociology. In this lucid and rational book, he distils his
thinking from many years of teaching and scholarship to offer a per-
suasive defence of psychoanalysis as a rational and progressive social
science of huge cultural significance. The book is crucial reading for eve-
ryone interested in the standing of psychoanalysis as a human science.”
—Stephen Frosh, Department of Psychosocial Studies,
Birkbeck, University of London, UK
“This is an impressive work. Rustin is uniquely equipped to show
how methods of research consistent with psychoanalytic approaches
can produce an objective body of knowledge. His book continues the
remarkable tradition of Jaspers and Ricoeur. It provides a great deal
of what researchers and mental health therapists will need to meet the
challenges of the future.”
—David Taylor, psychoanalyst and Visiting Professor,
UCL Psychoanalysis Unit, UK

RESEARCHING THE UNCONSCIOUS
Researching the Unconscious provides an exposition of key issues in the
philosophy and methods of the social sciences that are relevant to psychoanalysis,
both as a clinical practice and as a human science.
These include the debates initiated by Thomas Kuhn’s theory of scientific revo-
lutions, the “actor-network theory” of Bruno Latour, the ideas of philosophical
realism, distinctions between “meaningful” and “causal explanation”, and the rel-
evance of complexity theory and “part–whole analysis” to psychoanalysis. The
book goes on to discuss specific forms and methods of psychoanalytic research,
including the role of case studies, of outcome research, and of “grounded theory”
as a key methodological resource, of which it provides a detailed example. The
book concludes by outlining principles and methods for psychoanalytic research
in the wider contexts of infant observational studies, society, and culture.
Michael Rustin provides a unifying account of the methodological princi-
ples that underlie the generation of knowledge in psychoanalysis, in the light of
recent developments in the philosophy and sociology of science. In doing so, it
provides a coherent rationale for psychoanalytic investigation, which will be of
value to those pursuing research in this field.
Researching the Unconscious is unusual in its being based both on a deep
understanding of and respect for psychoanalytic clinical practice and on its
author’s wider knowledge of the philosophy and sociology of science. It is unique
in its comprehensive approach to the principles of psychoanalytic research.
Michael Rustin is a Professor of Sociology at the University of East London, UK.
He has been a significant contributor to psychoanalytic debate over many years
and is the author and editor of many books, including The Good Society and
the Inner World (1991), Reason and Unreason (2001), and, with Margaret Rustin,
Mirror to Nature (2002) and Reading Klein (2017). He has played a major role in
the development of postgraduate and doctoral research at the Tavistock Clinic. He
is an Associate of the British Psychoanalytical Society.
Tavistock Clinic Series
Margot Waddell, Jocelyn Catty, & Kate Stratton (Series Editors)
Recent titles in the Tavistock Clinic Series
Addictive States of Mind, edited by Marion Bower, Rob Hale, & Heather Wood
Assessment in Child Psychotherapy, edited by Margaret Rustin and Emanuela Quagliata
Childhood Depression: A Place for Psychotherapy, edited by Judith Trowell, with Gillian Miles
Conjunctions: Social Work, Psychoanalysis, and Society, by Andrew Cooper
Consultations in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, edited by R. Peter Hobson
Contemporary Developments in Adult and Young Adult Therapy. The Work of the Tavistock
and Portman Clinics, Vol. 1, edited by Alessandra Lemma
Couple Dynamics: Psychoanalytic Perspectives in Work with the Individual, the Couple,
and the Group, edited by Aleksandra Novakovic
Doing Things Differently: The Influence of Donald Meltzer on Psychoanalytic Theory and
Practice, edited by Margaret Cohen & Alberto Hahn
Inside Lives: Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality, by Margot Waddell
Internal Landscapes and Foreign Bodies: Eating Disorders and Other Pathologies, by
Gianna Williams
Living on the Border: Psychotic Processes in the Individual, the Couple, and the Group,
edited by David Bell & Aleksandra Novakovic
Making Room for Madness in Mental Health: The Psychoanalytic Understanding of
Psychotic Communication, by Marcus Evans
Melanie Klein Revisited: Pioneer and Revolutionary in the Psychoanalysis of Young
Children, by Susan Sherwin-White
Oedipus and the Couple, edited by Francis Grier
On Adolescence Margot Waddell
Organization in the Mind: Psychoanalysis, Group Relations, and Organizational
Consultancy, by David Armstrong, edited by Robert French
Psychoanalysis and Culture: A Kleinian Perspective, edited by David Bell
Researching the Unconscious: Principles of Psychoanalytic Method Michael Rustin
Reason and Passion: A Celebration of the Work of Hanna Segal, edited by David Bell
Short-Term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy for Adolescents with Depression: A Treatment
Manual, edited by Jocelyn Catty
Sibling Matters: A Psychoanalytic, Developmental, and Systemic Approach, edited by
Debbie Hindle & Susan Sherwin-White
Social Defences against Anxiety: Explorations in a Paradigm, edited by David Armstrong &
Michael Rustin
Surviving Space: Papers on Infant Observation, edited by Andrew Briggs
Talking Cure: Mind and Method of the Tavistock Clinic, edited by David Taylor
The Anorexic Mind, by Marilyn Lawrence
The Groups Book. Psychoanalytic Group Therapy: Principles and Practice, edited by
Caroline Garland
Therapeutic Care for Refugees: No Place Like Home, edited by Renos Papadopoulos
Thinking Space: Promoting Thinking about Race, Culture, and Diversity in Psychotherapy
and Beyond, edited by Frank Lowe
Towards Belonging: Negotiating New Relationships for Adopted Children and Those in
Care, edited by Andrew Briggs
Turning the Tide: A Psychoanalytic Approach to Mental Illness. The Work of the Fitzjohn’s
Unit, edited by Rael Meyerowitz & David Bell
Understanding Trauma: A Psychoanalytic Approach, edited by Caroline Garland
Waiting to Be Found: Papers on Children in Care, edited by Andrew Briggs
“What Can the Matter Be?”: Therapeutic Interventions with Parents, Infants, and Young
Children, edited by Louise Emanuel & Elizabeth Bradley
Young Child Observation: A Development in the Theory and Method of Infant Observation,
edited by Simonetta M. G. Adamo & Margaret Rustin
RESEARCHING THE
UNCONSCIOUS
Principles of
Psychoanalytic Method
Michael Rustin
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
 2019 Michael Rustin
The right of Michael Rustin to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Rustin, Michael, author.
Title: Researching the unconscious : principles of psychoanalytic
method / Michael Rustin.
Description: New York City : Routledge, 2019. |
Series: Tavistock clinic series | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018042267 (print) | LCCN 2018043194 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780429020339 (Master) | ISBN 9780429671982 (Pdf) | ISBN
9780429670497 (ePub) | ISBN 9780429669002 (Mobipocket) | ISBN
9781138389199 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781782204374 (pbk. :
alk. paper) | ISBN 9780429020339 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Psychoanalysis. | Subconsciousness. | Research—
Methodology.
Classification: LCC BF175 (ebook) | LCC BF175 .R87 2019 (print) |
DDC 150.19/5—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018042267
ISBN: 978-1-138-38919-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-78220-437-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-02033-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Palatino
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
In memory of my friends
Stuart Hall, Doreen Massey, and
Robin Murray

CONTENTS
SERIES EDITORS’ PREFACE xi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiv
PREFACE xv
1 Introduction 1
2 Psychoanalysis as a scientific paradigm 13
3 The consulting room as the psychoanalytic laboratory 30
4 Philosophical realism and its relevance 47
5 Meanings and causes in psychoanalytic explanation 60
6 On classification 77
7 Case-study methods in psychoanalysis 95
8 Parts and wholes: different kinds of explanation 111
ix