Women's Health

The editor, Jane Ussher is Associate Professor at the Centre for Critical Psychology at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, and has published widely in the field of the Psychology of Women. She was a member of the group that founded the Psychology of Women Section of The British Psychological Society, acting as its honorary secretary from 1988-1991, and chair from 1991-1992. She is also editor of the Routledge Women and Psychology series. Her previous publications include The Psychology of the Female Body (Routledge, 1989), Women's Madness: Misogyny or Mental Illness (Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1991) and Fantasies of Femininity: Reframing the Boundaries of Sex (Penguin, 1997).

• List of contributors xPreface xxAcknowledgements xxIntroductionWomen’s health: Contemporary concerns 1Jane M. UssherSection One: An Overview of Critical Issues in Women’s Health1 Psychology of women’s health: A critique 26Christina Lee2 Qualitative methods and women’s health research 40Michael Murray and Kerry Chamberlain3 Choosing a life span developmental orientation 50Sheila GreeneSection Two: Young Women’s Health4 Young Asian women and self-harm 59Harriette Marshall and Anjum Yazdani5 Girls on “E”: Social problem or social panic? 69Maria Pini6 Women and substance abuse: Problems of visibility and empowerment 76Helen Keane7 Young lesbians and mental health: The closet is a depressing place to be 83Julie Mooney-Somers and Jane Ussher8 Femininity as a barrier to positive sexual health for adolescent girls 93Deborah L. TolmanSection Three: Sexuality and Sexual Health9 ‘I couldn’t imagine having sex with anyone else’ Young women’s experience of trustworthiness in heterosexual relationships 105Niamh Stephenson, Susan Kippax and June Crawford10 Reclaiming women’s sexual agency 114Lynne Segal11 The social construction of women’s sexuality: The dangers of pharmaceutical industry interest 124Leonore Tiefer12 Rape: Cultural definitions and health outcomes 129Nancy Felipe Russo, Mary P. Koss and Luciana Ramos Lira13 Sexual assault and domestic violence: Implications for health workers 143Sue Lees14 Naming abuse and constructing identities 154Rosaleen Croghan and Dorothy Miell15 Sexual harassment and stress: How women cope with unwanted sexual attention 160Alison Thomas16 Women’s sexual health: An overview 172Sylvia Smith17 Contraception choice: A biopsychosocial perspective 180Beth Alder18 Menopause and sexuality 190Lorraine Dennerstein19 Living on the edge: Women with learning disabilities 196Jan BurnsSection Four: Physical Health and Illness20 Women living with HIV in Britain 204Corinne Squire21 Gynaecological cancer 218Marian Pitts and Eleanor Bradley22 Cervical screening 224Julie Fish and Sue Wilkinson23 Breast cancer: A feminist perspective 230Sue Wilkinson24 Partner support for women with breast cancer: A process analysis approach 237Nancy Pistrang25 Chronic pelvic pain 244Marian Pitts, Linda McGowan and David Clark Carter26 Women and somatic distress 249Annemarie KolkSection Five: Reproductive Health27 ‘PMS research: Balancing the personal with the political’ 255Jacqueline Reilly28 What does systems theory have to do with premenstrual complaints? 266Wendy Vanselow29 Menstrual cycle and eating behavior 271Louise Dye30 Hormones and behavior: Cognition, menstruation and menopause 278John T. E. Richardson31 Sex hormones as biocultural actors: Rethinking biology, sexual difference and health 283Celia Roberts32 Reproduction: A critical analysis 290Carol A. Morse33 Pregnancy: A healthy state? 296Harriet Gross34 Screening: A critique 302Maeve Ennis35 Childbirth 307Jane J. Weaver36 Motherhood and mothering 312Anne Woollett and Harriette Marshall37 Competing explanations of postpartum depression: What are the benefits to women? 320Paula Nicolson38 Deconstructing ‘Hysterectomized Women’: A materio-discursive approach 329Pippa Dell39 The experience of abortion: A contextualist view 339Mary BoyleSection Six: Bodies and Body Image40 Body image 356Sarah Grogan41 Anorexia nervosa 363Helen Malson42 Looking good and feeling good: Why do fewer women than men exercise? 372Precilla Y. L. Choi43 Gender, culture and eating disorders 379Mervat Nasser44 Women with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) 387Celia Kitzinger45 Transgender issues 394Louise K. NewmanSection Seven: Mental Health46 Understanding depression in women: Limitations of mainstream approaches and a material-discursive alternative 405Janet M. Stoppard47 Women’s narratives of recovery from disabling mental health problems: A bicultural project from Aotearoa/New Zealand 415Hilary Lapsley, Linda Waimarie Nikora and Rosanne Black48 Women, stress and work: Exploring the boundaries 423Rebecca Lawthom49 The socio-political context of abortion and its relationship to women’s mental health 431Jean Denious and Nancy Felipe Russo50 Women and psychosis 440Emmanuelle Peters51 Women and dementia: From Stigma towards celebrations 447Kate Allen52 The experience of childhood sexual abuse: A psychological perspective of adult female survivors in terms of their personal accounts, therapy, and growth 455Christine D. Baker53 Psychodynamic psychotherapy 461Janet Sayers54 Self-psychology 465Anna GibbsSection Eight: The Health of Older Women55 Representations of menopause and women at midlife 470Antonia C. Lyons and Christine Griffin56 Psychological well-being in aging women 476Linda Gannon57 The paradox of older women’s health 485Rosemary Leonard and Ailsa Burns58 Working with older women: Developments in clinical psychology 489Frances J. BatyIndex 497

'Brillant! This exciting collection should be on the bookshelf and reading list of everyone concerned with women's health issues. It can only be hoped that the ground-breaking work presented here will be as widely read and taught as it richly deserves to be.'Professor Valerie Walkerdine, Centre for Critical Psychology, University of Western Sydney, Australia. 'This volume provides a comprehensive and confident treatment of this vast and vital topic ... In this book the psychology of women's health has come of age.' Dr Wendy Hollway, School of Psychology, University of Leeds