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Meaning in hoarding: perspectives of people who hoard on clutter, culture, and agency
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 09:03 authored by David OrrDavid Orr, Michael Preston-Shoot, Suzy BrayeHoarding has become increasingly prominent in clinical practice and popular culture in recent years, giving rise to extensive research and commentary. Critical responses in the social sciences have criticised the cultural assumptions built in to the construct of ‘hoarding disorder’ and expressed fears that it may generate stigma outweighing its benefits; however, few of these studies have engaged directly with ‘hoarders’ themselves. This paper reports on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with ten individuals living in England, who received assessment and intervention for hoarding from Social Services. Their narratives drew on the cultural repertoire of values and discourses around waste and worth, the mediation of sociality and relationships through material objects, physical constraints on keeping order, and the role played by mental health. Analysing these perspectives anthropologically shows how dominant models of hoarding, such as the DSM-5 paradigm, potentially lend themselves to reductionist understandings that efface the meaning ‘hoarding’ may have and thereby deny agency to the person labelled as ‘hoarder’. More culturally informed analysis, by contrast, affords insights into the complex landscape of value, waste, social critique, emotion, interpersonal relationships and practical difficulties that may underlie hoarding cases, and points the way to more person-centred practice and analysis.
Funding
Self-Neglect Research; G1109; Department of Health, England
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Anthropology & MedicineISSN
1364-8470Publisher
Taylor & FrancisExternal DOI
Issue
3Volume
26Page range
263-279Department affiliated with
- Social Work and Social Care Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2017-11-27First Open Access (FOA) Date
2019-06-12First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2017-11-27Usage metrics
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