The Role of Everyday Interaction Rituals Within Therapeutic Communities

This chapter explores the role of everyday social interactions, such as the way people relate and communicate to one another during meal times and smoking breaks, within two therapeutic communities (TCs) for individuals with a diagnosis of personality disorder (PD). Rather than prioritise change outcomes, the research analyses the social mechanisms involved in the process of change. Drawing on interaction ritual (IR), everyday encounters are conceptualised as ‘rituals’ full of complex meaning within TCs. To understand how micro-interactions facilitate therapeutic change, narrative ethnography was carried out within two communities. There are two main contributions of this chapter. Firstly, this chapter addresses the gap in how informal and everyday social encounters are used as a mechanism of change within TCs. Secondly, as IR theory has not been applied widely to the field of mental health, this research suggests clarifying how negative emotions can generate positive feelings of inclusion, solidarity and confidence.