Reclaiming the borderlands : a relational and transnational feminist approach to the history and treatment of borderline personality disorder

Author

Rebecca G. Hawes-Sivitz, Smith College

Publication Date

2012

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Department

School for Social Work

Keywords

Feminist theory, Feminist theory-Political aspects, Borderline personality disorder, Borderline personality disorder-Treatment, Psychodynamic psychotherapy, Transnational feminism, Feminist, Relational, Psychodynamic, Borderlands, Splitting, Self-states, Binary, Social identity

Abstract

This paper utilizes transnational feminist theory to both deconstruct the history of borderline personality disorder and to contextualize treatment within a relational psychodynamic frame. Using transnational feminist understandings of the borderland and splintering self-states, the concept of borderline personality disorder is reframed and explored through a historical perspective. Relational psychodynamic theory is considered as a response to this deconstruction, offering a contemporary perspective, which acknowledges the structural oppressions intrinsic in mental illness. Additionally this paper argues that this perspective highlights a path to engage authentically with intersections of self-states rather than at the poles of binary constructions of identity and self.

Language

English

Comments

iii, 40 p. Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2012. Includes bibliographical references (p. 36-40)

Limited Access until August 2017

Recommended Citation

Hawes-Sivitz, Rebecca G., "Reclaiming the borderlands : a relational and transnational feminist approach to the history and treatment of borderline personality disorder" (2012). Masters Thesis, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/912