Bücher von Ivana Markova

This book develops a theory of social knowledge drawing on social representations and dialogicality. It argues that dialogicality, the capacity of the human mind to conceive, create and communicate about social realities in terms of the other, is the sine qua non of the human mind.

An introduction to understanding focus groups as analytical means exploring socially shared knowledge. This book examines how to analyse interaction and ideas expressed in focus groups. It considers different kinds of interdependencies among participants who hold diverse positions. It explores circulations of ideas and contents in focus groups.

Dialogue has become a central theoretical concept in human and social sciences as well as in professions such as education, health, and psychotherapy. This 'dialogical turn' emphasises the importance of social relations and interaction to our behaviour and how we make sense of the world; hence the dialogical mind is the mind in interaction with others - with individuals, groups, institutions, and cultures in historical perspectives. Through a combination of rigorous theoretical work and empirical investigation, Markova presents an ethics of dialogicality as an alternative to the narrow perspective of individualism and cognitivism that has traditionally dominated the field of social psychology. The dialogical perspective, which focuses on interdependencies among the self and others, offers a powerful theoretical basis to comprehend, analyse, and discuss complex social issues. Markova considers the implications of dialogical epistemology both in daily life and in professional practices involving problems of communication, care, and therapy.

Questions concerning the nature of insight in patients with mental illness have interested clinicians for a long time. To what extent can patients understand disorders which affect their mental function? Does insight carry a prognostic value? Is impaired insight determined by the illness or are other factors important? Despite considerable research examining insight in patients with psychoses, non-psychotic disorders and chronic organic brain syndromes, results are inconclusive and insight remains a source of some mystification. Ivana S. Markova examines the problems involved in studying insight in patients with mental illness in order to provide a clearer understanding of the factors that determine its clinical manifestation. She puts forward a new model to illustrate the relationship between different components of insight in theoretical and clinical terms, and points to directions for future research.