Invited Commentary: Race, Ethnicity, and Racism in Epidemiologic Research-Perspectives from Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP)

In 2023, Martinez et al. examined trends in the inclusion, conceptualization, operationalization and analysis of race and ethnicity among studies published in US epidemiology journals. Based on a random sample of papers (N=1,050) published from 1995-2018, the authors describe the treatment of race, ethnicity, and ethnorace in the analytic sample (N=414, 39% of baseline sample) over time. Between 32% and 19% of studies in each time stratum lacked race data; 61% to 34% lacked ethnicity data. The review supplies stark evidence of the routine omission and variability of measures of race and ethnicity in epidemiologic research. Informed by public health critical race praxis (PHCRP), this commentary discusses the implications of four problems the findings suggest pervade epidemiology: 1) a general lack of clarity about what race and ethnicity are; 2) the limited use of critical race or other theory; 3) an ironic lack of rigor in measuring race and ethnicity; and, 4) the ordinariness of racism and white supremacy in epidemiology. The identified practices reflect neither current publication guidelines nor the state of the knowledge on race, ethnicity and racism; therefore, we conclude by offering recommendations to move epidemiology toward more rigorous research in an increasingly diverse society.

Media portrayals of psychotropic agents in AD/HD treatment: A social constructionist approach

In recent decades there has been a significant increase in diagnosing children and adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), and in the use of pharmacological treatment with Ritalin, Concerta and Strattera for AD/HD. This development has given rise to scientific criticism, claiming that the pharmaceuticals prescribed by doctors are, to a large extent, ineffective or harmful. This study discusses media's portrayal of treatment of AD/HD. The aim of the article is to develop a social constructionist perspective, highlighting how scientific critique of pharmaceuticals for AD/HD is handled in the mass media. The authors introduce the concept of "psychopharmacological extensibility," which demonstrates the importance of collective definitional processes in society. Psychopharmacological extensibility reflects the fact that the perception of AD/HD agents as beneficial medicines or harmful drugs is open to interpretation and dependent on social factors related to context, power, rhetoric, and marketization. The empirical data are based on 211 articles from eight of the largest newspapers in Sweden, published between 2002 and 2021. The result shows that Swedish mass media, in numerous ways, neglects or undermines the scientific criticism made, thereby facilitating an increased use of the diagnosis and of psychotropic agents in society.

Psychopathology and Metaphysics: Can One Be a Realist About Mental Disorder?

Metaphysical realism about mental disorder is the thesis that mental disorder exists mind-independently. There are two ways to challenge metaphysical realism about mental disorder. The first is by denying that mental disorder exists. The second is by denying that mental disorder exists mind-independently. Or, differently put, by arguing that mental disorder is mind-dependent. The aim of this paper is three-fold: (a) to examine three ways in which mental disorder can be said to be mind-dependent (namely, by being causally dependent on the human mind, by being weakly dependent on human attitudes, and by being strongly dependent on human attitudes), (b) to clarify their differences, and (c) to discuss their implications regarding metaphysical realism about mental disorder. I argue that mental disorder being mind-dependent in the first two senses is compatible with metaphysical realism about mental disorder, whereas mental disorder being mind-dependent in the third sense is not.

A Discourse of Deviance: Blame, Shame, Stigma and the Social Construction of Head and Neck Cancer

Cancer of the head and neck is a confronting condition, as the disease and its treatments alter the appearance and function of body organs associated with physical appearance and identity. Many of the risk factors for head and neck cancers, including tobacco, alcohol, and human papilloma virus, can also have significant negative social and moral permutations. Language and action (discourse) plays an important role in constructing disease and illness and shape the way it is managed, both institutionally and socially. This research used a critical constructionist lens to investigate how the common discourses surrounding head and neck cancer are constructed within the healthcare context and how this influences patients and healthcare professionals' responses to the illness. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field noting, journaling and literature reviews. Analysis was guided by a three-dimensional approach to critical discourse analysis that investigated text, discursive practices, and social context. The overarching finding was that deviance dominates the common discourse and shapes head and neck cancer and responses to it. Deviance is channelled through metaphors, adjectives, descriptors, and collective nouns and is made overt through labelling, avoidance, blaming, shame, and categorization. Discourse is contextualized by a sociocultural understanding that when someone deviates from what is perceived as normal, they are devalued. Open dialogue and reflection on head and neck cancer discourse could enable better understanding of how people experience their condition and inform more supportive responses.

Stemming the "ageism pandemic": A qualitative inquiry with older adults in residential care facilities during the Covid-19 outbreak

The Covid-19 pandemic added to collective concerns, making health risks salient especially for the older population. The health emergency exacerbated an already widespread negative representation of aging, and phenomena such as ageism. With the present qualitative inquiry, 21 episodic interviews were collected with the aim of understanding the experience of older adults in residential care facilities, exploring their ideas of aging and the viewpoints that helped them to respond to the pandemic successfully. A thematic analysis was conducted using NudIst software. The results show that participants described multiple personal and relational resources they used to cope with the pandemic, and they were able to express counter-narratives to the ideas of aging as coinciding with decline, and of lockdown as a source of distress alone. The paper concludes with reflections on the relevance of research capable of challenging unhelpful dominant discourses and averting the risk of them turning into negative prophecies.

Encircling discourses-A guide to critical discourse analysis in caring science

AIM

The aim of this article was to introduce Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA) in caring and nursing science, to provide a guide on how to perform such an analysis, and to describe the wider context of discourse epistemology.

DESIGN

The article is designed as a methodological paper, including (a) epistemological roots of discourse analysis, (b) an overview of discourse analytical research within caring and nursing science which points out an increased trend, and (c) a guide to conducting a CDA.

ANALYSIS

It is important that discourse analysis is available and accessible to nursing and caring researchers. Through the process of encircling discourses, valuable insight is given into fields that otherwise would be lost or would not be available.

CONCLUSION

Our summary stance is that discourse analysis as it is presented in this article is strongly advisable for use in nursing and caring sciences.

Victims or perpetrators, agency, and politics of intimate partner violence in the social construction of health and wellbeing: a qualitative study from Kenya

Deeply rooted cultural beliefs and norms relating to the position and the responsibilities assigned to men and women play a significant role in propagating intimate partner violence (IPV). It is yet to be understood in what ways experiences of IPV contribute to how people socially construct their health and wellbeing as they navigate the tensions created by the prevailing sociocultural systems. To address this knowledge gap, we employed a social constructionist perspective and the eco-social model to explore how Kenyans aged 25-49 years socially construct their health and wellbeing in relation to their experiences of IPV. We conducted nine in-depth interviews and ten focus group discussions in four counties in Kenya between January and April of 2017. Textual analysis of the narratives reveals that although men are usually framed as perpetrators of violence, they may also be victims of reciprocal aggression by women, as recently witnessed in cases where women retaliate through gang attacks, chopping of male genitalia, and scalding with water. However, women are still disproportionately affected by gender-based violence because of the deeply rooted gender imbalances in patriarchal societies. Women experience social stigma associated with such violence and when separated or divorced in situations of unsafe relationships, they are viewed as social misfits. As such, most women opt to stay in unhealthy relationships to avoid social isolation. These experiences are not only unhealthy for their psychological wellbeing but also for their physical health and socioeconomic status and that of their offspring.

Constructing Professional Intervention with IPV Across Generations in a Faith-Based Society: An Intersectional Perspective

The intersectionality between the social and personal dimensions influencing the construction of intimate partner violence in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community is examined by studying attitudes toward professional intervention among community members coping with IPV. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 38 information-rich participants coping with IPV, from three generations in the ultra-Orthodox community. Three themes emerged: "Don't think you can do it alone": Professional intervention as a preferred option; "I did everything to hide the situation": The end of the era of shame?;"If it's not his problem, then it's my problem": Professional intervention as a concept of reference. The study findings indicate the ways in which professional intervention among ultra-Orthodox couples coping with IPV is affected and affects the community.

Is scientific knowledge socially constructed? A Bayesian account of Laboratory Life

In the book Laboratory Life Latour and Woolgar present an account of how scientific "facts" are formed through a process of microsocial interactions among individuals and "inscription devices" in the lab initially described as social construction. The process moves through a series of steps during which the details and nature of the object become more and more certain until all qualifications are dropped, and the "fact" emerges as secure scientific knowledge. An alternative to this account is described based on a Bayesian probabilistic framework which arrives at the same end point. The motive force for the constructivist approach appears to involve social processes of convincing colleagues while the Bayesian approach relies on the consistency of theory and evidence as judged by the participants. The role of social processes is discussed in Bayesian terms, the acquisition and asymmetry of information, and its analogy to puzzle solving. Some parallels between the Bayesian and constructivist accounts are noted especially in relation to information theory.

Contextualizing drug use and pharmacological harm in the United States: a socio-historical overview

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to navigate through the socio-historical modulations in American tolerance for different psychoactive substances, and propose a theoretical synthesis formed by two vanguard philosophical doctrines, objectivism, and constructivism. Our approach is grounded on the analysis of social historical context and objective harms that have influenced drug use tolerance in the United States based on key historical events such as: heavy drinking at the dawn of nineteenth century, the establishment and repeal of prohibition, late nineteenth century opiate and cocaine tolerance followed by early twentieth century prohibition, post-prohibition drug concerns such as marijuana prohibition in the 1930s, heroin concerns and medical depressant use in the 1950s, poly-drug use in the 1960s, crack cocaine use in the 1980s, and finally modulations in tolerance for peyote use. Evidence supports the notion of drug harms reduction for the privileged, and criminalization of drug use by marginalized groups. Over long spans of history, however, more objectively harmful drugs are rejected, while drugs that can be used regularly without serous dysfunction are tolerated and normalized. We argue that a framework of social status and pharmacological harm can account for the vacillating policy responses that have emerged to different drugs at different times. Our approach informs the role of socio-cultural conflict in drug policy development and infuse the need for empirical research on the effect of socioeconomic positioning on attitudes of medicalization and legalization of marijuana and opioid policy in contemporary America.

'Out of the frying pan into the fire': a qualitative study of the impact on masculinity for men living with advanced prostate cancer

Background

Studies have highlighted how advanced prostate cancer causes biographical disruption and presents challenges to masculine identities for men. This article draws on a wider study that focused on the experiences of men living with advanced prostate cancer and their caregivers. Although men's experience of advanced illness is not overlooked in the literature, only a small body of work has taken an in-depth look at men's experiences with advanced prostate cancer and their caregivers in a non-Westernised cultural and social context.

Objective

To explore how advanced prostate cancer impacts on men's masculine identity from the perspective of patients and their caregivers.

Methods

A qualitative study of men living with advanced prostate cancer (n = 23) and family caregivers (n = 23) in Ghana. We used the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ) as the reporting guideline.

Results

The findings from this study highlight profound challenges for most men to their masculine identities, from both the treatment and the symptoms of advanced prostate cancer within a non-Westernised, patriarchal society. Four main themes were developed. These were the impact on masculinity in terms of: (1) physical changes, (2) sexual ability, (3) socio-economic roles and (4) expressing emotions. Changes in physical appearance, feeling belittled, having no active sexual life and the inability to continue acting as provider and protector of the family made some men describe their situation as one of moving out of the 'frying pan into the fire'.

Conclusion

This study revealed the impact of advanced prostate cancer on masculine identity. These narratives add a new dimension to what is already known about the impacts on men's masculine identities when dealing with advanced prostate cancer. This knowledge can help improve the care provided to men with advanced prostate cancer with emphasis on the cultures, beliefs and aspirations of these men and their caregivers.

Battles over 'unruly bodies': Practitioners' interpretations of eating disorders and the utility of psychiatric labelling

Our article offers a critical appraisal of psychiatric medical constructions of eating disorders (EDs) by highlighting the complexity of professional discourses, power plays, claims and counterclaims in ongoing struggles over 'unruly bodies.' Inductive thematic analysis of data from five studies was undertaken, covering thirty semi-structured interviews with UK health-care professionals working in the ED field. Professionals engaged in various struggles over eating disorders, which were compounded by the labelling process itself. Although person-centredness was valued, encounters with ED patients were frequently framed as outstandingly problematic in terms of treatment resistance, with clients' unruliness spurred on by ED competitiveness on social media and in-hospital rivalries. Paradoxically, the labelling of eating disorders created further expectations in terms of achieving specific weight levels and diagnostic labels, reportedly resulting in lay competition over who was sickest, which was mirrored by treatment priorities within an overstretched public health system. Narratives also highlighted interesting tensions between professionals rationalising their work with patients and acknowledging themselves as potentially vulnerable to societal pressures promoting EDs. Arguably, while lay narratives around EDs continue to be framed by authorities as unruly behaviours in deviant individuals, the gap between officially sanctioned and illicit ED discourses will only grow.

Regulating genetic engineering guided by human dignity, not genetic essentialism

How might a liberal democratic community best regulate human genetic engineering? Relevant debates widely deploy the usually undefined term "human dignity." Its indeterminacy in meaning and use renders it useless as a guiding principle. In this article, I reject the human genome as somehow invested with a moral status, a position I call "genetic essentialism." I explain why a critique of genetic essentialism is not a strawman and argue against defining human rights in terms of genetic essentialism. As an alternative, I propose dignity as the decisional autonomy of future persons, held in trust by the current generation. I show why a future person could be expected to have an interest in decisional autonomy and how popular deliberation, combined with expert medical and bioethical opinion, could generate principled agreement on how the decisional autonomy of future persons might be configured at the point of genetic engineering.

Physicians' Conceptions of the Dying Patient: Scoping Review and Qualitative Content Analysis of the United Kingdom Medical Literature

Most people in high income countries experience dying while receiving healthcare, yet dying has no clear beginning, and contexts influence how dying is conceptualised. This study investigates how UK physicians conceptualise the dying patient. We employed Scoping Study Methodology to obtain medical literature from 2006-2021, and Qualitative Content Analysis to analyse stated and implied meanings of language used, informed by social-materialism. Our findings indicate physicians do not conceive a dichotomous distinction between dying and not dying, but construct conceptions of the dying patient in subjective ways linked to their practice. We argue that the focus of future research should be on exploring practice-based challenges in the workplace to understanding patient dying. Furthermore, pre-Covid-19 literature related dying to chronic illness, but analysis of literature published since the pandemic generated conceptions of dying from acute illness. Researchers should note the ongoing effects of Covid-19 on societal and medical awareness of dying.

The Social Construction of Cannabis in Social Work

The social construction of cannabis has important implications for policy, research, practice, and education in social work. The objective of this article is to chart the construction of cannabis in articles published in social work journals across the past half century. The author critically reviews empirical articles with references to cannabis published in 15 key social work journals between 1970 and 2018. Systematic searches resulted in a combined set of 510 articles, of which 244 matched the inclusion criteria for this study. A content and thematic analysis of the corpus identified the dominant construction of cannabis in social work research literature as a harmful substance undifferentiated from other drugs. This construction was challenged by a minority of the articles in three ways: (1) by differentiating between use and abuse and between cannabis as a soft drug and a hard drug; (2) by highlighting social inequality as an important component of any consideration of social work policy and practice with regard to cannabis use; and (3) by considering the possible positive effects of cannabis use. This article calls for a revision of the construction of cannabis use in social work.

Who deserves what and why during the COVID-19 pandemic: Applying the CARIN principles of deservingness to the American welfare state

How does the public decide who is deserving of welfare benefits? To shed light on this question, we investigate whether the CARIN principles of deservingness-specifically the ideas of control, attitude, reciprocity, identity, and need-impact the public's perception of American welfare target groups. We draw contrast between traditional welfare programs and pandemic-related programs to gain a more comparative understanding of the principles' effects as well as to determine what role the pandemic may play in shaping welfare perceptions. We report that positive, deserving social constructions exist for recipients of both traditional and pandemic-related welfare programs, and we find evidence that the distinction between traditional and pandemic-related programs is important for deservingness perceptions in the US. Overall, these results suggest the importance of the CARIN criteria in an American context.

Exploring the social power of Christmas: a prospective qualitative study of assigning meaning to Christmas along the life course

This article relies on a prospective qualitative study, that provides valuable insight into the mechanism through which the meaning of holidays is built over time. Following a life course perspective, the article analyses the continuities as well as the twists and turns of the meaning of Christmas in relation to significant turning points that occur along the paths of individual lives in transition to adulthood. Grounded on an inductive approach, the study draws on longitudinal qualitative data collected through solicited diaries, kept by 14 young Romanian adults, around Christmas time, along four panel waves (2004, 2010, 2016, 2020). Results show that there is no universal configuration of the meaning of Christmas, but rather a diversity of personalised dynamic configurations, in line with individuals' subjective realities, which are sensitive to family traditions passed down during socialisation, and constantly updated with each generation that assumes them, but also to significant life events that occurred on their early adult life course trajectories, determining a re-evaluation of attitudes about self, life, religion and others. The article concludes that Christmas, as a social construct, is a malleable bearer of values, which acts both as a 'sword' and as a 'shield' that diarists use according to the needs, wishes and challenges that arise in their transition from adolescence to enhanced adulthood.

Social Construction of Target Populations: A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Policy Approaches to Perinatal Illicit Substance Screening

Perinatal illicit substance use is a nursing and public health issue. Current screening policies have significant consequences for birthing individuals and their families. Racial disparities exist in spite of targeted and universal screening policies and practices. Thus, new theoretical approaches are needed to investigate perinatal illicit substance use screening in hospital settings. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the social construction of target populations theory in the context of perinatal illicit substance use screening. Using the theoretical insights of this theory to interrogate the approaches taken by policy makers to address perinatal illicit substance use and screening provides the contextual framework needed to understand why specific policy tools were selected when designing public policy to address these issues. The analysis and evaluation of this theory was conducted using the theory description and critical reflection model.

Between Mainstream and Marginality: The Case of Men and Women of Mixed-Orientation Relationships

The literature regarding mixed-orientation relationships (MORs) focuses on individual and relationship aspects. Our study, informed by the social construction of reality theory, illuminates social aspects by examining social attitudes toward MORs as they are experienced and perceived by individuals of MOR. Within the scope of this study, we focused on self-identified non-straight men (gays, bisexuals, or men who have sex with men) who are in a relationship with self-identified straight women. Based on the phenomenological paradigm, we conducted 38 interviews with men and eight with women currently in MOR. The findings show that individuals of MOR primarily encounter negative attitudes from people in society regarding themselves and the nature of their relationship. Participants perceived that others viewed their relationships in terms of conflict, impossibility, or transitional stage. Social attitudes individuals of MOR encounter affect the degree of closeness of these couples to others in their social environment, resulting in constant tension between the participants' desire to be open to and close to others and the need to conceal and keep a distance. We argue that the dialectical tensions between disclosure-concealment and autonomy-closeness are related to the marginalization of these couples as a social category.

"I Didn't See It as a Problem, I Thought It Was Going to Be Taken Away": Narratives From Family Members of Users in Rehab

There are multiple discourses on addictions that influence the way in which relatives interpret the substance use of a family member. The purpose of this study is to understand the influence of these discourses on the construction of use as a problem by relatives of people in recovery. Narratives were obtained on the path of the illness to identify the phases in the construction of use as a problem and the influence of the discourses on each phase. The process has four successive phases: normalization, impasse, exasperation, and adoption of the treatment ideology. This process goes from the legitimization of use to its moral interpretation and subsequently to the transition to medical discourse. It is concluded that it is important to reduce the influence of the moral discourse in order to facilitate timely detection and early care, as well as to design interventions focused on the reconstruction of use as a problem.

Racism and mental health and the role of mental health professionals

The concept of "race" and consequently of racism is not a recent phenomenon, although it had profound effects on the lives of populations over the last several hundred years. Using slaves and indentured labor from racial groups designated to be "the others," who was seen as inferior and thus did not deserve privileges, and who were often deprived of the right to life and basic needs as well as freedoms. Thus, creation of "the other" on the basis of physical characteristics and dehumanizing them became more prominent. Racism is significantly related to poor health, including mental health. The impact of racism in psychiatric research and clinical practice is not sufficiently investigated. Findings clearly show that the concept of "race" is genetically incorrect. Therefore, the implicit racism that underlies many established "scientific" paradigms need be changed. Furthermore, to overcome the internalized, interpersonal, and institutional racism, the impact of racism on health and on mental health must be an integral part of educational curricula, from undergraduate levels through continuing professional development, clinical work, and research. In awareness of the consequences of racism at all levels (micro, meso, and macro), recommendations for clinicians, policymakers, and researchers are worked out.

What mental health nurses have to say about themselves: A discourse analysis

Mental health nursing is largely invisible within public discourse. When mentioned at all in news media, it is usually a signifier of an occupation connoting where a nurse works. There is rarely a presumption of expertise in any sphere or articulation of a unique skill set or defining features which differentiate the mental health nurse from other nurses. This paper sought to examine the professional discourse around mental health nursing as inferred from a review of papers published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing in 2019. A discourse analysis of full-text papers (n = 117) was undertaken exploring references to mental health nurses or nursing and what this communicated about the field. The discourse clustered around three themes: The invisible or absent mental health nurse, ambiguous and blended identities, and a group of low attributed value and sophistication. There were few examples of authors presenting mental health nurses in a way which counters stereotypes of the dominant discourse about mental health nurses as a lesser skilled occupational group. Academics, editors, authors, and practitioners are urged to contribute to the construction of discourse around mental health nursing expertise which differentiates it from other branches of nursing and other distinctive disciplines.

Understanding conflicting cultural models of outdoor cats to overcome conservation impasse

Many conservation conflicts are scientifically complex yet are rooted in value conflicts, which result in an impasse. Additional biological information alone is insufficient to resolve this type of conflict. Conceptual models that articulate the material aspects of a system are increasingly used to identify areas where parties disagree. Yet, modeling processes typically follow the conveners' rules for discussing and assessing the topic, which can exacerbate conflict. Researchers have identified a need for processes that require participants to reflect on the limits of their own philosophical assumptions and acknowledge other perspectives. Cultural models are a promising tool for this purpose because they include nonmaterial beliefs, morals, and values that guide people's understanding of how to interact with an issue, sometimes subconsciously. We explored how cultural models used with conceptual models can improve understanding of value conflicts and used outdoor cat management as a case study. We conducted interviews and focus group discussions with wildlife conservation and cat welfare professionals involved in outdoor cat policy discussions in Hawaii and Washington, D.C. From these conversations, we developed a conceptual model of the outdoor cat management system and cultural models that led stakeholders to weigh elements of the conceptual model differently. Although wildlife conservation professionals generally spoke about outdoor cats as invasive species, cat welfare professionals spoke about them as homeless pets. These conflicting conceptualizations of what an outdoor cat is may help explain the root of many long-standing disagreements. Examining how and when stakeholders invoke different cultural models allowed us to identify management actions that work with, rather than challenge, those models. Dialogue that embraces conflicting cultural models can be difficult and uncomfortable, but has great potential to overcome conservation impasse and achieve lasting conservation results.

Guidelines as governance: Critical reflections from a documentary analysis of guidelines to support user involvement in research

Although guidelines to regulate user involvement in research have been advocated and implemented for several years, literature still describes the process as challenging. In this qualitative study, we take a critical view on guidelines that are developed to regulate and govern the collaboration process of user involvement in research. We adapt a social constructivist view of guidelines and our aim is to explore how guidelines construct the perception of users and researchers and thus the process of involvement. Twenty-two guidelines published between 2006 and 2019 were analyzed iteratively. The analysis focuses on values which are emphasized in the guidelines on the distribution of entities, knowledge, and tasks between users and researchers. The analysis indicates that users and researchers are constructed differently; researchers are mainly constructed as responsible initiators and caretakers, while users are constructed as powerless and vulnerable. The guidelines portray the collaboration process as harmonious and assume a normative perspective. In doing so, challenges described in the literature related to power imbalances are not addressed. Based on these findings, we ask if these guidelines might function to maintain existing power imbalances between users and researchers.

Mindfulness and the 'psychological imagination'

We analyse the rise of 'mindfulness' in English language media discourses and contextualise it in terms of its expression of a persistent underlying 'psychological imagination' in contemporary thinking about social problems. An inversion of C. Wright Mills' much-cited sociological imagination, the psychological imagination draws on medical-scientific authority to treat social problems as private concerns rooted in individual biology, mentality and behaviour. We analyse the roles which academic claims-making, commercial interests and mass mediatisation have played in the rise of mindfulness from the late 1970s onwards. We first map the translation of mindfulness from Buddhist philosophy into Western psychotherapy and popular psychology before considering its emergence and expression in the public sphere of news media claims-making. We argue that where the sociological imagination 'promised' above all the treatment of private troubles as public issues and insights into the 'human variety' produced by myriad ways of living, the psychological imagination promises the isolation of public issues as private concerns rooted in individual biology, mentality and behaviour. The psychological imagination permeates the expression of mindfulness as a solution to social ills and symbolises the comparative decline of assumptions implicit in Mills' 20th century rousing call to social scientists.