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Family Response To A Diagnosis Of Serious Mental Illness In Teens And Young Adults: A Multi-Voiced Narrative Analysis, Douglas J. Engelman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Narratives are stories, stories persuade, persuasion is necessary to develop social problem consciousness, and social problem consciousness is a necessary element of mobilization toward social change. Thus, narratives are intrinsic to social change, both in the form of policy and legislation, and as evidenced by transformations in culture and consciousness. In this dissertation I analyze narratives about mental illness in families because they reflect what we think of as common, everyday understandings about these experiences. Through these analyses, I hope to learn how individuals and families understand the diagnosis of mental illness through stories they tell about how they cope …