Mark Rapley | University of East London (original) (raw)

Papers by Mark Rapley

Research paper thumbnail of Quality of life research: A critical introduction

Quality of life'is one of the fastest growing areas of research and policy. The concept has an in... more Quality of life'is one of the fastest growing areas of research and policy. The concept has an intuitive appeal as a measure of the well-being of individuals, communities and nations. It is increasingly promoted as an aid for political decisions and public funding. But what does the concept really mean? And how can it be operationalized in teaching and research? This is the first introductory text to offer a critical overview of the concept of quality of life and the ways in which it is researched.

Research paper thumbnail of Questions of context in studies of talk and interaction—Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis

The questions dealt with in this special issue of Journal of Pragmatics are doubly vexed. The fir... more The questions dealt with in this special issue of Journal of Pragmatics are doubly vexed. The first matter at issue is that the papers I have solicited take on some aspects of the debate within, and between, ethnomethodology (EM) and conversation analysis (CA)–and, by extension, wider approaches to discourse analysis and perhaps even pragmatics as a whole–as to whether and, if so to what extent, contextual particulars are relevant to the analyst's task in hand; therefore specifying, to some degree, what that task actually is.

Research paper thumbnail of If a girl doesn't say ‘no’…”: young men, rape and claims of ‘insufficient knowledge

Abstract Most psychological theories of rape tend to stress factors internal to both rapists and ... more Abstract Most psychological theories of rape tend to stress factors internal to both rapists and their victims in accounting for the phenomenon. Unlike such theories, social psychological and feminist accounts have drawn attention to social and cultural factors as productive of rape, and have criticized psychological accounts on the grounds that they often serve, paradoxically, to cement pre-existing 'common-sense'.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘You Couldn't Say “No”, Could You?’: Young Men's Understandings of Sexual Refusal

Abstract While several psychological theories of rape have been developed, Tannen's 'miscommunica... more Abstract While several psychological theories of rape have been developed, Tannen's 'miscommunication'model is dominant, informing 'expert'and popular accounts alike. Rape is constructed as an extreme example of miscommunication–whereby women's 'failure'to say 'no'is interpreted by men as sexual consent.

Research paper thumbnail of Call me mad, but...

THE whole thing started when we spotted an article in the West Australian on 22 May 2002 under th... more THE whole thing started when we spotted an article in the West Australian on 22 May 2002 under the headline 'Media often insulting to mentally ill: report'. Reporter Kate Gauntlett informed us that a 'watchdog' on behalf of sufferers of 'mental illnesses' had received a series of'complaints' about the media's apparent stigmatisation of these people and that it was listing these on its 'StigmaWatch' web page. At the foot of the article was a photo-montage featuring television personalities Sam Newman, Stan Zemanek and Cornelia Frances.

Research paper thumbnail of Genocide or a failure to gel? Racism, history and nationalism in Australian talk

Discourse & Society, Jan 1, 1999

Abstract In a context of wide media attention to public debates about the social, political and e... more Abstract In a context of wide media attention to public debates about the social, political and epistemic entitlements of different groups within Australian society, an understanding of the rhetorical resources and the discursive work doen by differing constructions ofrace', has become an important local issue. This article examines data from discussions between two groups of (non-indigenous) university students on a range of contemporary issues concerning race relations in Australia. Participants drew on four common discursive ...

Research paper thumbnail of " Just an ordinary Australian": Self-categorization and the discursive construction of facticity in" new racist" political rhetoric.

British Journal of Social Psychology, Jan 1, 1998

Research paper thumbnail of Quality of life'talk: the liberal paradox of psychological testing

Discourse & Society, Jan 1, 1996

Abstract The new discourse ofquality of life'is highly consequential... more Abstract The new discourse ofquality of life'is highly consequential for those whose lives are regulated by medical and psychological services, but at the heart of it there is a paradox. On the one hand, psychologists are committed to assessing the wellbeing of their clients; on the other hand, their theorization ofquality of life'and their diagnostic interview procedures cordon off its official definition from ordinary usages. This paper explores how interviewers try to solve the paradox bynaturalizing'their questioning, in spite of interviewees' ...

Research paper thumbnail of A conversation analysis of the 'acquiescence'of people with learning disabilities

Journal of community & applied social …, Jan 1, 1996

Research paper thumbnail of How to analyse talk in institutional settings: A casebook of methods

Page 1. How to Analyse Talk in Institutional Settings A Casebook of Methods Edited by Alec McHoul... more Page 1. How to Analyse Talk in Institutional Settings A Casebook of Methods Edited by Alec McHoul and Mark Rapley A Page 2. How to Analyse Talk in Institutional Settings A Casebook of Methods El) irtD BY Alec McHoul and Mark Rapley Page 3. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Invisible to Themselves or Negotiating Identity? The Interactional Management of'Being Intellectually Disabled'

Disability & Society, Jan 1, 1998

There seems to be a professional (and perhaps societal) consensus that the identity label of&... more There seems to be a professional (and perhaps societal) consensus that the identity label of'intellectual disabled'is an aversive, even'toxic'one. Indeed, Todd & Shearn (1995, 1997) have advanced the suggestion that parents' concerns over the toxicity of the label led them to bring up their children in ignorance of their disabilities, and thus produce people who are'invisible to themselves'. However, drawing on work in discursive psychology, we argue that their data (and further data from our own work) suggests rather that the social identity ...

Research paper thumbnail of 'This very difficult debate about Wik': Stake, voice and the management of category memberships in race politics

British Journal of Social …, Jan 1, 2001

Research paper thumbnail of Daily activity, community participation and quality of life in an ordinary housing network

Journal of Applied Research in …, Jan 1, 1996

Research paper thumbnail of Quality of life in a community-based service in rural Australia

Journal of Intellectual & Developmental …, Jan 1, 1997

The goal of community-based care is rhetorically constructed as promoting independence, participa... more The goal of community-based care is rhetorically constructed as promoting independence, participation in community and the enjoyment of rights as citizens. Although this philosophy is now widely accepted, debate still continues about the outcomes of this model of care. Whereas studies to date have relied on a small, consensual, set of objective indices of “engagement”, ability levels, and community activity to make external judgments about the quality of service users' lives, the inclusion of users' subjective perceptions has recently ...

Research paper thumbnail of From acquaintence to friendship Issues for people with learning disabilities

Research paper thumbnail of " Brilliant. Next Question...": High-Grade Assessment Sequences in the Completion of Interactional Units

Research on Language …, Jan 1, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of Factor analysis of the Schalock & Keith (1993) Quality of Life Questionnaire: a replication

Mental Handicap Research, Jan 1, 1995

Abstract The Quality of Life of people with learning disabilities has become a topic of much conc... more Abstract The Quality of Life of people with learning disabilities has become a topic of much concern to academics, policy makers, human service providers and evaluators. As yet there has been little progress towards the goal of developing an instrument which adequately reflects the subjective QOL perceptions of people with learning disabilities. To assist in die development of a psychometrically sound and internationally acceptable QOL measure, factor analyses of the Schalock & Keith (1993) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL. Q). ...

Research paper thumbnail of Beyond help: A consumers' guide to psychology

Research paper thumbnail of The ways that people talk about natural resources: Discursive strategies as barriers to environmentally sustainable practices

British journal of social …, Jan 1, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of 'Quality of Life'Talk and the Corporatisation of Intellectual Disability

Disability & Society, Jan 1, 1998

The notion of'Quality of Life'(QOL) has recently become... more The notion of'Quality of Life'(QOL) has recently become a key device in the intellectual disability research community. Despite considerable attention to operational definition and issues of measurement, little work has considered the historical and sociopolitical context of the construct. The view that QOL represents an evolution of Wolfensberger's (1972) Principle of Normalisation appears widespread. This paper argues that this view is naive. An historical study of the rhetoric of government and academia in the United Kingdom suggests that ...

Research paper thumbnail of Quality of life research: A critical introduction

Quality of life'is one of the fastest growing areas of research and policy. The concept has an in... more Quality of life'is one of the fastest growing areas of research and policy. The concept has an intuitive appeal as a measure of the well-being of individuals, communities and nations. It is increasingly promoted as an aid for political decisions and public funding. But what does the concept really mean? And how can it be operationalized in teaching and research? This is the first introductory text to offer a critical overview of the concept of quality of life and the ways in which it is researched.

Research paper thumbnail of Questions of context in studies of talk and interaction—Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis

The questions dealt with in this special issue of Journal of Pragmatics are doubly vexed. The fir... more The questions dealt with in this special issue of Journal of Pragmatics are doubly vexed. The first matter at issue is that the papers I have solicited take on some aspects of the debate within, and between, ethnomethodology (EM) and conversation analysis (CA)–and, by extension, wider approaches to discourse analysis and perhaps even pragmatics as a whole–as to whether and, if so to what extent, contextual particulars are relevant to the analyst's task in hand; therefore specifying, to some degree, what that task actually is.

Research paper thumbnail of If a girl doesn't say ‘no’…”: young men, rape and claims of ‘insufficient knowledge

Abstract Most psychological theories of rape tend to stress factors internal to both rapists and ... more Abstract Most psychological theories of rape tend to stress factors internal to both rapists and their victims in accounting for the phenomenon. Unlike such theories, social psychological and feminist accounts have drawn attention to social and cultural factors as productive of rape, and have criticized psychological accounts on the grounds that they often serve, paradoxically, to cement pre-existing 'common-sense'.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘You Couldn't Say “No”, Could You?’: Young Men's Understandings of Sexual Refusal

Abstract While several psychological theories of rape have been developed, Tannen's 'miscommunica... more Abstract While several psychological theories of rape have been developed, Tannen's 'miscommunication'model is dominant, informing 'expert'and popular accounts alike. Rape is constructed as an extreme example of miscommunication–whereby women's 'failure'to say 'no'is interpreted by men as sexual consent.

Research paper thumbnail of Call me mad, but...

THE whole thing started when we spotted an article in the West Australian on 22 May 2002 under th... more THE whole thing started when we spotted an article in the West Australian on 22 May 2002 under the headline 'Media often insulting to mentally ill: report'. Reporter Kate Gauntlett informed us that a 'watchdog' on behalf of sufferers of 'mental illnesses' had received a series of'complaints' about the media's apparent stigmatisation of these people and that it was listing these on its 'StigmaWatch' web page. At the foot of the article was a photo-montage featuring television personalities Sam Newman, Stan Zemanek and Cornelia Frances.

Research paper thumbnail of Genocide or a failure to gel? Racism, history and nationalism in Australian talk

Discourse & Society, Jan 1, 1999

Abstract In a context of wide media attention to public debates about the social, political and e... more Abstract In a context of wide media attention to public debates about the social, political and epistemic entitlements of different groups within Australian society, an understanding of the rhetorical resources and the discursive work doen by differing constructions ofrace', has become an important local issue. This article examines data from discussions between two groups of (non-indigenous) university students on a range of contemporary issues concerning race relations in Australia. Participants drew on four common discursive ...

Research paper thumbnail of " Just an ordinary Australian": Self-categorization and the discursive construction of facticity in" new racist" political rhetoric.

British Journal of Social Psychology, Jan 1, 1998

Research paper thumbnail of Quality of life'talk: the liberal paradox of psychological testing

Discourse & Society, Jan 1, 1996

Abstract The new discourse ofquality of life'is highly consequential... more Abstract The new discourse ofquality of life'is highly consequential for those whose lives are regulated by medical and psychological services, but at the heart of it there is a paradox. On the one hand, psychologists are committed to assessing the wellbeing of their clients; on the other hand, their theorization ofquality of life'and their diagnostic interview procedures cordon off its official definition from ordinary usages. This paper explores how interviewers try to solve the paradox bynaturalizing'their questioning, in spite of interviewees' ...

Research paper thumbnail of A conversation analysis of the 'acquiescence'of people with learning disabilities

Journal of community & applied social …, Jan 1, 1996

Research paper thumbnail of How to analyse talk in institutional settings: A casebook of methods

Page 1. How to Analyse Talk in Institutional Settings A Casebook of Methods Edited by Alec McHoul... more Page 1. How to Analyse Talk in Institutional Settings A Casebook of Methods Edited by Alec McHoul and Mark Rapley A Page 2. How to Analyse Talk in Institutional Settings A Casebook of Methods El) irtD BY Alec McHoul and Mark Rapley Page 3. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Invisible to Themselves or Negotiating Identity? The Interactional Management of'Being Intellectually Disabled'

Disability & Society, Jan 1, 1998

There seems to be a professional (and perhaps societal) consensus that the identity label of&... more There seems to be a professional (and perhaps societal) consensus that the identity label of'intellectual disabled'is an aversive, even'toxic'one. Indeed, Todd & Shearn (1995, 1997) have advanced the suggestion that parents' concerns over the toxicity of the label led them to bring up their children in ignorance of their disabilities, and thus produce people who are'invisible to themselves'. However, drawing on work in discursive psychology, we argue that their data (and further data from our own work) suggests rather that the social identity ...

Research paper thumbnail of 'This very difficult debate about Wik': Stake, voice and the management of category memberships in race politics

British Journal of Social …, Jan 1, 2001

Research paper thumbnail of Daily activity, community participation and quality of life in an ordinary housing network

Journal of Applied Research in …, Jan 1, 1996

Research paper thumbnail of Quality of life in a community-based service in rural Australia

Journal of Intellectual & Developmental …, Jan 1, 1997

The goal of community-based care is rhetorically constructed as promoting independence, participa... more The goal of community-based care is rhetorically constructed as promoting independence, participation in community and the enjoyment of rights as citizens. Although this philosophy is now widely accepted, debate still continues about the outcomes of this model of care. Whereas studies to date have relied on a small, consensual, set of objective indices of “engagement”, ability levels, and community activity to make external judgments about the quality of service users' lives, the inclusion of users' subjective perceptions has recently ...

Research paper thumbnail of From acquaintence to friendship Issues for people with learning disabilities

Research paper thumbnail of " Brilliant. Next Question...": High-Grade Assessment Sequences in the Completion of Interactional Units

Research on Language …, Jan 1, 2000

Research paper thumbnail of Factor analysis of the Schalock & Keith (1993) Quality of Life Questionnaire: a replication

Mental Handicap Research, Jan 1, 1995

Abstract The Quality of Life of people with learning disabilities has become a topic of much conc... more Abstract The Quality of Life of people with learning disabilities has become a topic of much concern to academics, policy makers, human service providers and evaluators. As yet there has been little progress towards the goal of developing an instrument which adequately reflects the subjective QOL perceptions of people with learning disabilities. To assist in die development of a psychometrically sound and internationally acceptable QOL measure, factor analyses of the Schalock & Keith (1993) Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL. Q). ...

Research paper thumbnail of Beyond help: A consumers' guide to psychology

Research paper thumbnail of The ways that people talk about natural resources: Discursive strategies as barriers to environmentally sustainable practices

British journal of social …, Jan 1, 2005

Research paper thumbnail of 'Quality of Life'Talk and the Corporatisation of Intellectual Disability

Disability & Society, Jan 1, 1998

The notion of'Quality of Life'(QOL) has recently become... more The notion of'Quality of Life'(QOL) has recently become a key device in the intellectual disability research community. Despite considerable attention to operational definition and issues of measurement, little work has considered the historical and sociopolitical context of the construct. The view that QOL represents an evolution of Wolfensberger's (1972) Principle of Normalisation appears widespread. This paper argues that this view is naive. An historical study of the rhetoric of government and academia in the United Kingdom suggests that ...