Reconstruction of Autonomy in Transactional Analysis Brajovic Car, K
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Tilburg University Reconstruction of autonomy in transactional analysis Brajovic Car, K. Publication date: 2013 Link to publication in Tilburg University Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Brajovic Car, K. (2013). Reconstruction of autonomy in transactional analysis: From classical transactional analysis to a social constructionist perspective on autonomy in partnership. [s.n.]. 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Download date: 30. sep. 2021 Reconstruction of Autonomy in Transactional analysis: From classical Transactional analysis to a Social constructionist perspective on Autonomy in partnership Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan Tilburg University op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof. dr. Ph. Eijlander, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties aangewezen commissie in de Ruth First zaal van de Universiteit op dinsdag 12 november 2013 om 14.15 uur door Kristina Brajović Car geboren op 25 november 1977 te Belgrado, Servië RECONSTRUCTION OF AUTONOMY IN PARTNERSHIP Promotores: Prof. dr. H. Anderson Prof. dr. J.B. Rijsman Overige commissieleden: Prof. dr. M. Hadzi Pesic Prof. dr. G. Loots Prof. Dr. T. Mandic Prof. Dr. G. Simon With special gratitude for the research team from CeSID, Serbia 2 RECONSTRUCTION OF AUTONOMY IN PARTNERSHIP Abstract The goal of the study was to rethink the transactional analysis concept of personal autonomy through the prism of social constructionism. The research material was generated and collected from multiple sources: focus groups with the clients, statistical data, semi- structured interviews with couples, as well as a survey among therapists. Deconstruction and critical analyses of the dominant transactional analysis interpretations of autonomy, informed by research results, were performed with an aim to contribute to the relativization of the autonomy/script dichotomy, as well as the autonomy/symbiosis dichotomy. Interpretative analysis of the interview content was performed in collaboration with both the assistant researcher and the participants themselves. It was based on multiple theoretical platforms and introduced relational alternatives to personal autonomy. Partnership, as a minimal social unit, was the chosen context for constructionist inquiry. Eight Serbian heterosexual couples provided a specific practical context and grounding for the inquiry. The research pointed out that a specific quality of partnership reality is reflected on the process of determining and defining the concepts that are discussed in the context of partnership. The research results provided a broad and in-depth insight into qualitative differences that are occurring during the process of generating meanings of the autonomy as a concept, among couples satisfied with their relationship, as opposed to couples who exhibited dissatisfaction with their relationship. Those differences were demonstrated throughout the research process in terms of partnership roles, gender roles and power distribution between partners, as well as their influence on the interpretative process. Throughout the research, special attention was given to identifying and understanding therapeutic elements of the research interviewing process. 3 RECONSTRUCTION OF AUTONOMY IN PARTNERSHIP CONTENT: Situating Dissertation Problem and Inquiry….………………………………………………….…………………..……….8 Autonomy under Question.……………………………………………………………………………………...……………11 CHAPTER 1. Introducing the Context of the Study………………………………………………………..………............20 The Notion of Autonomy in the Humanistic Psychotherapy Discourse…………………..……………………………........22 Autonomy versus Group Identity.…………………………………………………………………………………….….........27 Different Partnership Roles Represented in the Dominant Models of Serbian Family……...………………………...........29 CHAPTER 2. Transactional Analysis – the Genealogy…………………………………………………………………….32 Antecedent Theoretical Influences on Transactional Analysis……………………………………………………………....32 Key Concepts in a TA………………………………………………………………………….…………………..…..............35 The Sine Qua Non of TA in Practice……………………………………………………………………………..….............39 CHAPTER 3. Dominant Voices among TA Interpretations of the Concept of Autonomy………………………............43 Eric Berne on Autonomy………………………………………………………………............................................................43 Claude Steiner on Autonomy.....................................................................................................................................................46 Muriel James on Autonomy.......................................................................................................................................................47 Fanita English on Autonomy.....................................................................................................................................................50 Richard Erskine on Autonomy…………………………………………………………….......................................................51 Charlotte Sills on Autonomy......................................................................................................................................................52 William Cornell on Autonomy...................................................................................................................................................54 James Allen & Barbara Allen on Autonomy………………………………………………....................................................56 Summary………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………58 4 RECONSTRUCTION OF AUTONOMY IN PARTNERSHIP CHAPTER 4. Transactional Analysis and Partnership………………………………………………………………........59 TA Theory and Family Dynamic………………………………………………………………………………………...........59 The Analytic Perspective and Partnership……………………………………………………………………………............62 TA Researches on the Interpersonal Dynamic……………………………………………………………………………......66 Practical Aspects of TA Couple Counseling… ………………………………………………………………………….........73 Different Perspective on Compatibility and Adaptation in Partnership: The Notion of Power in Partnership………….…75 CHAPTER 5. The Social Constructionism and Couple Counseling....................................................................................81 Process of Transformation.………………………………………………………………………………………………........81 Etiology of Symptoms and Therapist „Neutrality“………………………………………………………………….……......82 The Influence of Social Constructionism on the Practice of Couple Counseling and Therapy ……………………....……85 Contractual Method as Reflexive Practice: Transactional Analysis from the Viewpoint of Social Constructionism……...89 TA and the Concepts of Structural Determinism and Autopoesis………………………………………………………..…..95 CHAPTER 6. Methodology……………………………………………………………………………………………..........98 Research Goals and Selected Methods......................................................................................................................................98 Methodological Triangulation………………………………………………………………………………………….........101 Steps of the Inquiry……………………………………………………………………………………………………...........103 CHAPTER 7. Discussion on the Research Results………………………………….…………………………………......135 Results of the Thematic Analysis of the Interviews Content: The Meaning that Partners Attribute to the Idea of Autonomy in Partnership……………………………………………………………………………………………….......136 Part One: Autonomy and Partnership as Viewed through the Interview………………………………………….……….144 Implications for Couple Therapy…………………………………………………………………………………..…….......144 Rules, Conventions and Believes that Guide Mutual Conversation about Autonomy..………...………………….............149 5 RECONSTRUCTION OF AUTONOMY IN PARTNERSHIP Satisfied Couples…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...…149 Dissatisfied Couples………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…155 Comparison between Responses of Satisfied and Dissatisfied Couples……………………………………….………........159 Comparative Analysis of Beliefs, Rules, and Conventions on Autonomy and Partnership….……………………..….......160 Identifying Oscillations or Possible Differences in Expression of Power Depending on a Subject of Conversation: Partners Equality?....................................................................................................................................................................163 Satisfied Couples…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..……163 Dissatisfied Couples…………………………………………………………………………………………………..………167 Comparative Analysis on Power Issues in Relation to Personal Autonomy and Partnership…………..…….………..…170 Part Two: Deconstructing the Fundamental TA Concept of Autonomy…………..………………………..……................173 Focus Group from Research Pilot Phase……………………………………………………………………….……….......181 The Results of the Therapists Survey………….……….………………………………………..………………….….…….184 Alternative Interpretations