Pragmatist Epistemology and Jane Addams: Fundamental Concepts for the Social Paradigm of Occupational Therapy

Abstract

The objective of this manuscript is to contribute to the education of future occupational therapists within the current paradigm of the profession. To this purpose, some of the conceptual foundations of pragmatist epistemology and philosophical contributions of the philosopher Jane Addams are presented. Some pragmatist fundamentals such as the holistic vision of the human being, the paradox of separating "knowing from doing", and giving the usefulness of the activity and knowledge primacy in the process of human development, inspired the profession of Occupational Therapy in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century. Today, almost 100 years after the founding of the National Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy, pragmatism is still relevant to the profession. Specifically, its pertinence is related to the current scenario of the profession, and its powerful development in working scopes related to socio-community fields. This helps identify how we are on the verge of another paradigm, known as Social Paradigm of the Occupation. This new social understanding of the discipline allows us to understand the relevance of professional work in community or social contexts. Future research could address how the pragmatism contributes to the understanding of occupation as a social phenomenon within this new paradigm. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Transaccionalismo, Interseccionalidad Feminista y Método Narrativo: aportes para la investigación en Terapia Ocupacional y Ciencia Ocupacional/Transacionalismo, Interseccionalidade Feminista e Método Narrativo: aportes para a pesquisa em Terapia Ocupacional e Ciência Ocupacional

“…La interseccionalidad feminista nace desde una crítica a los movimientos feministas blancos de mujeres de clase media en Estados Unidos que se centraban en las luchas de "ciertas mujeres" más visibilizadas que otras. 2,2 . En este contexto, durante los años 1980' las mujeres negras comienzan a manifestar que no se han identificado con las demandas de las luchas de "ciertas" feministas.…”

The Dr Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture 2018: Occupational stories from a global city

“…Occupational therapy can lay claim to pragmatist roots in 19 th century and early 20 th century social reform (Morrison, 2016). Despite the notable men involved at the inception of the profession, it was led and practised by a community of powerful women through most of the following century, with its historical roots in the middle or upper classes (Peters, 2011).…”

“…Dialogue is a means of understanding these differences between the English-speaking global north and the global south, establishing the stories that underpin the different personal, political and professional positions that people occupy in their societies. Occupational interventions are more than clinical, they require a social, dialogical, reciprocal approach (Morrison, 2016). It is clear that translating differences and experience can be a valuable way to discover the limitations and the possibilities of our profession.…”

Principal Approaches to Understanding Occupation and Occupational Science Found in the Chilean Journal of Occupational Therapy (2001–2012)

“…However, undergraduate occupational therapy programs tend to teach a limited number of theoretical frameworks [1]. Moreover, within our country there has been little discussion of the various ways that occupational science and occupation can be understood and the local implications of these alternative perspectives [2–4]. …”