Based on longitudinal fieldwork with unemployed managers and professionals in their 50s, the article examines the meaning of job loss to these people and charts their subsequent efforts to restore their lives. The article identifies core similarities in their experiences and discerns different...

This paper presents a narrative analysis of autism. It follows much of the literature on illness and narrative by emphasising the moral quality of illness narratives and the role it plays in creating coherence out of the disordering effects of autism on family life. In particular, the...

Gender is a concept that is frequently discussed in the literature on stress, coping and illness. Research has reported that women are more vulnerable than men are to stressful events and use different strategies to cope with them. Furthermore, it is often asserted that these gender-based...

This study examines the social construction of normal family life among the parents of children with high functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome. The meaning of the concept of normal family life is reviewed, and a constructionist perspective is employed to understand the parents' evaluations...

This study examines the relationship between parents of autistic children and the treatment centre staff at a state autistic association. There are three main points of disagreement between parents and staff including: the prospect of a cure, the nature of the child's affection, and the...