This study explores the powerful influence of therapeutic imperative in Anglo-American societies where nearly every sphere of life has become subject to a new emotional culture. It suggests that the cultural turn toward the realm of the emotions coincides with a radical redefinition of personhood.



First published in 2004. Therapy Culture explores the powerful influence of therapeutic imperative in Anglo-American societies. In recent decades virtually every sphere of life has become subject to a new emotional culture. Professor Furedi suggests that the recent cultural turn towards the realm of the emotions coincides with a radical redefinition of personhood. Increasingly, vulnerability is presented as the defining feature of people's psychology. Terms like 'at risk', 'scarred for life' or 'emotional damage' evoke a unique sense of powerlessness. Furedi questions widely accepted thesis that the therapeutic culture is primarily about imposing a new conformity through the management of people's emotions. Through framing the problem of everyday life through the prism of emotions, therapeutic culture incites people to feel powerless and ill. Drawing on developments in popular culture, political and social life, Furedi provides a path-breaking analysis of the therapeutic turn.