Raising class consciousness: Exploring the psychological configurations of social class.

摘要

This theoretical project is concerned with the psychological configurations of social class. A review of ethnographic and autobiographic literature explores the need to consider class as a subjective, internal, psychological construct. It is revealed, however, in a review of the psychological literature, that issues of social class remain relatively under-examined, when compared to other contextual variables such as race and gender. It is suggested that psychological theories possess the conceptual tools to explore and understand the avenues of internalization and expression of social class. By utilizing three clinical examples, psychoanalytic theory is offered as one framework for discerning the processes by which social class becomes incorporated into the self. The project concludes with a discussion of theoretical and clinical topics implicated in the conceptualization of social class as a psychological construct.