In this article, we explore the relationship between adult education and socioeconomic precariousness, through extending existing scholarship regarding the concept of the hidden curriculum. We analyze transcripts of 134 qualitative interviews undertaken to explore the learning experiences associated with reading self-help books in the domains of…

This article explores and explains the subjectivity of self-helping adult learners, as depicted in contemporary, best-selling self-help books. It interrogates how those self-help texts embody particular features of self-helping subjectivity by appropriating neoliberalist perspectives on self and the world. It illuminates four salient features of…

The media are widely acknowledged as important in sex and relationship education, but they are usually associated with "bad" effects on young people in contrast to the "good" knowledge represented by more informational and educational formats. In this paper we look at sex advice giving in newspapers, magazines and television in…

Objective: To address a critical gap in health education scholarship by exploring the contexts in which self-help reading takes place, the motivations of self-help readers and the processes through which such readers engage with books on mental health. Design: Structured, in-depth interviews conducted with participants recruited through online…

Numerous scholars have documented and critiqued the predominance of neoliberal policies and rationalities shaping adult and continuing education around the world. Contemporary sociologists have argued that neoliberal citizens are characterized by hyperindividuality and a strong sense of personal autonomy. Self-help reading is widely viewed as one…

In recent years, the concept of public pedagogy has increasingly influenced the study of continuing education, drawing attention to ways in which adults access resources from popular culture and learn without the involvement of educational institutions. Reading relationship self-help books has become a prominent component of popular culture. There…

Grief therapy and psychology literatures of the modern Western world conceptualized bereavement and grief as processes to be "worked through" so that other relationships could be pursued. In the last decade or so, however, grief theorists have endorsed the value of attaining new meaning(s) and continuing bonds with our lost loved ones instead of…

The purpose of this study is to explore the use of self-help books with therapeutic aims; and to propose suggestions by discussing the present situation of self-help books in Turkish cultural context. Taking these aims into account, the existing literature on self-help books is initially reviewed, and a picture of the self-help books in Turkey is…

The purpose of this study was to critique in-print, post-1990 copyrighted stepfamily self-help books in order to provide guidance to helping professionals who work with these complex families. Of the 63 books reviewed, trained coders were able to strongly recommend 13 books for being well organized, for relying on clinical or empirical sources of…

Anxious doctoral researchers can now call on a proliferation of advice books telling them how to produce their dissertations. This article analyzes some characteristics of this self-help genre, including the ways it produces an expert-novice relationship with readers, reduces dissertation writing to a series of linear steps, reveals hidden rules,…

Suggestions for the individual just getting into the field of psychological education of books, sources of activities and programs which would help him gain competency in this area. (JC)

Self-help books may be a useful resource to counselors in their work with counselees. They may contribute, however, to the development of psychological problems or prevent people from seeking help when needed. The utopia promised by self-help books may be a pathology in its own right. (Author)

Presents a content analysis of the top ten self-help books on the New York Times best-seller list over a ten year period to determine the degree to which the books empower individuals to resist gender-based socialization messages. The four best sellers contained advice for both genders to behave consistently with traditional gender socialization,…

Tests whether trainers using the book "Coping with Speech Anxiety" as a resource would be able to construct workshops as effective in reducing public speaking anxiety as people trained to conduct systematic desensitization workshops. Indicates that both workshops were more effective in reducing public speaking apprehension than control conditions…

Analyzes the contents of self-help books for parents of adolescents that were published from 1980 to 1993. Examines the scope of topics presented and the authors' views about parenting practices to determine the extent to which these parenting books reinforce or debunk cultural stereotypes about adolescents. (Contains 36 references.) (GCP)