The Social Construction of Anorexia Nervosa

Dr Julie Hepworth is Lecturer in the Department of Public Health at the University of Adelaide, Australia.

PART ONE: EARLY IDEAS ABOUT SELF-STARVATION AND ANOREXIA NERVOSA From Religion to Madness Religious and Medical Interpretations of Self-Starvation The Late Nineteenth-Century Medical Discovery of Anorexia Nervosa Early Social, Cultural and Feminist Theories of Anorexia Nervosa PART TWO: HEALTH CARE WORKERS' CONSTRUCTION OF ANOREXIA NERVOSA Constructions of Gender and Identity in Anorexia Nervosa The Multiplicity and Diversity of Causes of Anorexia Nervosa Clinical Treatments for Anorexia Nervosa PART THREE: POSTMODERNISM, THE BODY, AND THERAPY: IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Anorexia Nervosa, Postmodern Readings of the Body and Narrative Therapy Self, Psychotherapy and Participation in the Public Domain

`This brief and powerful book has very important things to say to a wider audience; to health care professionals, to therapists, and also to social scientists who deal with questions of femininity, the body, and poststructuralism' - Journal of Health Psychology `A readable book that contains simplified information of some complicated concepts. It will prove of benefit to those readers in the field of women and social studies' - European Eating Disorders Review `The concepts presented in this book are carefully argued, succinctly organized, and genuinely stimulating.... It provokes clinicians to think about treatment and the effect of diagnostic practices, it provokes researchers to ask different questions, and it provokes students to read beyond dominant and conventional texts. This is a timely and important publication that deserves to feature prominently in the ongoing study of anorexia nervosa' - Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology `This book is an intelligent, well-written and thought provoking addition to current literature on eating disorders' - Feminism and Psychology `For those working therapeutically with special interest in eating disorders the book is worthwhile reading broadening the contextual view in which a clinical approach is adopted' - Association for University and College Counselling Newsletter & Journal