TY - JOUR AU - Papalini, Vanina PY - 2017/01/28 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - To Cure or to Heal: Different Ways to Appropriate Therapeutic Readings JF - Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research JA - FQS VL - 18 IS - 1 SE - Single Contributions DO - 10.17169/fqs-18.1.2326 UR - https://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2326 SP - AB - <p>In Argentina, as is common in most Latin American countries, therapies addressed to wellness or healing are commonly shared in groups or communities. In contrast, self-help books emphasize personal appropriation and individual treatment. Research on the appropriation of self-help books is based on the premise that reading material is an essential therapeutic resource.</p><p>The aim of this article is to present different ways of using and interpreting self-help books. Using grounded theory methodology, I explore the importance of an interpersonal context as a proper sphere for dealing with suffering. The research is based on interviews, field notes, and analysis of documents. My main findings start with differentiating two categories: <em>curing</em> as an objective perspective to the remedy of disease, and <em>healing</em> as the subjective feeling of health. Up from here, three dynamics of treatment based on self-help books had been reconstructed: I show that self-help books, as well as faith-based therapeutic groups, focus on the healing perspective whereas therapeutic groups with a qualified coordinator are mostly involved in the perspective of cure. Support groups – i.e., mutual aid groups – fluctuate between healing and curing.</p><p>URN: <a href="http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1701216">http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1701216</a></p> ER -