Premium
Narratives, anchored narratives and the interface between law and psychology: A commentary on Jackson (1996)
Author(s) -
Morley Ian E.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
legal and criminological psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 2044-8333
pISSN - 1355-3259
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00325.x
Subject(s) - narrative , semiotics , epistemology , sociology , narrative inquiry , sensemaking , psychology , philosophy , linguistics , computer science , knowledge management
Jackson (1996) has used a theory of structural semiotics (based on the work of Greimas) to provide a critique of Wagenaar, van Koppen & Crombag's theory of anchored narrative (and other cognate work). Here, his critique is located within a wider framework of research and theory in psychology and philosophy. I conclude that the concept of narrative has been used both to talk about the practices of sense making and to identify those reflective practices which constitute good thinking. I argue that the work of Wagenaar and his colleagues combines these themes in interesting and important ways. I argue that the work of philosophers such as Goldman (1986) provides a satisfactory epistemological foundation for work in this tradition. It is concluded that, whilst Jackson makes a number of important points, he does not succeed in showing that Greimas' semiotic conception of narrative provides a more useful framework for understanding explanation‐based decision making.