Date of Award
1992
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Appleton, Lynn M.
Abstract
A theory is developed to account for the emergence of the phenomenon of codependency. Codependency is targeted primarily at women since inequality constrains women from self-development outside relationships. It is argued that women experience relative deprivation and seek a socially acceptable way to avoid self-blame. Codependency's emergence in the late 1980s can be partly attributed to efforts of the recovery movement to secure legitimacy as agents of social control. The theory is tested by examining the emergence of the nineteenth-century illness called neurasthenia. It is argued that both codependency and neurasthenia are metaphors for female discontent. The particular expressions taken by discontent are largely determined by agents of social control.
Extent
134 p.
Recommended Citation
Irvine, Leslie J., "pathologizing of love: A sociological analysis of codependency" (1992). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1990 - 1999. 344.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_4/344
Identifier
FADT14799
Comments
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1992.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters