Positioning and re-positioning of individual and family relationships in relation to anorexia/bulimia: An auto-ethnographical informed study

Abstract

Emerging from a ten-year long struggle with anorexia and bulimia and moving into a post-structuralist, narrative-guided counselling frame has drawn me to thinking about how knowledge shapes life. Anorexia and bulimia have been and are of growing concern as the glamorisation of thinness persists (Brumberg, 1988, cited in Olsen, 2000, p. 29), and the 'cultural fascination' and 'high profile' of eating disorders continues (Malson, Finn, Treasure, Clarke, Anderson, 2004, p. 5). Movements have been made towards an exploration of 'insider' knowledge and meanings around eating disorders, and how eating disorders are discursively produced and regulated. Through this research, which is informed by practices of auto-ethnography and aspects of bibliotherapy and participatory action research, I explore the meanings and experiences that members of my family speak of in relation to anorexia and bulimia. By utilizing aspects of the research practices of auto-ethnography and participatory action research I attempt to communicate my own story, while at the same time weaving alongside the stories of my family members.

Malson, H., Finn, D.M., Treasure, J., Clarke, S., Anderson, G. (2004). Constructing 'the eating disordered patient': A discourse analysis of accounts of treatment experiences. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 14, 473-489. Olsen, M.E. (2004). Listening to the voices of anorexia: The researcher as an outsider witness . In M.E. Olsen, (Ed.), Feminism, community and communication (pp.25-46). New York: Haworth.