A Feminist Exploration of the Embodiment of Childhood Trauma in Anorexia Nervosa
Year: 2023
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The impact of childhood trauma on the development of anorexia nervosa is a neglected area of research in the field of eating disorders. To address the gaps in the literature, I explore the subjective processes in women with anorexia who have histories of childhood trauma and contribute to the theoretical and methodological research practice in the field of eating disorders. This was achieved by developing the feminist conceptual framework of embodiment to examine the embodied aspects of women’s experiences and make a theoretical contribution to the field of eating disorders. I then applied the theory of embodiment and innovative arts-based methods to analyse the body maps and narratives of women with anorexia and histories of child abuse. The main findings add new information about the embodied traumatic processes in anorexia, particularly the impact on women’s gendered and sexual subjectivities. The final chapter presents the methods and protocols for the collection and analysis of body maps and narratives, and contributes to the methodological research practice in the field of eating disorders. Overall, the research contributed to understanding the meanings, subjectivities, and personhood of women with histories of childhood abuse in anorexia and made a theoretical and methodological contribution to the field. Arts-based visual methods ask the participant to look beneath the body's surface to explore how they make sense of their embodied traumatic processes and impart meanings into food and bodily practices. The meanings communicated through women's bodies and their practices shape and constrain their negotiation of their gendered subjectivities, particularly their sexual subjectivities. Future research can explore the use of arts-based methods in treatment programs for eating disorders offering scope for a shared understanding of the embodied meanings of food and eating behaviours and their impact on feminine subjectivities.
Author: Malecki, Jennifer
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6991248273