Out of Control: Family Therapy and Domestic Disorder

In a unique comparative ethnography of two family therapy programs, Gubrium deftly shows how differing organizational perceptions make visible the social construction of domestic disorder. Contrasting images of home life–one viewing domestic order as a system of authority, the other as a configuration of emotional bonds–serve to highlight different senses of the family as being out of control and to recommend alternate forms of intervention. The idea that the reality of home life and domestic troubles are embedded in organizational activities and institutional images is an important commentary on the understanding of domestic life and the postmodern family. Out of Control provides stimulating reading for professionals and students in clinical psychology, family therapy, family studies, sociology, and qualitative methods.