Therapeutic Vs. Political Frames: The Influence of “Witnessing” the U.S.-Iraq War on Family “Agitation”

Abstract

As the U.S. Air Force began strikes against Baghdad in March 2003, the Bush Administration, the American Psychological Association, and antiwar organizations prescribed ways for U.S. parents to manage the emotions of themselves and their children. Through the use of ethnographic and archival data, the author develops a conceptual frame for explaining the ways in which therapeutic interventions targeted at families during war structure political subjectivities. This study extends research on the rise of therapeutic discourses to manage the emotions of civilians during war, and it bridges the theorization of governmentality and emotion management.