Dr. Jeanne Jackson - 2004

Occupation at the Center: Creating Authentic Lives in Social Worlds

Jeanne Jackson, Ph.D., OTR, FAOTA 
University of Southern California

Dr. Jackson was the third recipient of the Ruth Zemke Lecture at the Society for the Study of Occupation: USA's Third Annual Research Conference. According to Dr. Jackson, occupational scientists place occupation at the center of their discourse on identity. In constructing identities people engage in an ongoing negotiation between
their personal vision for an acceptable life and the enabling and constraining forces of particular social traditions. Dr. Jackson focused her research paper on the identities lived in occupations by examining how one group of individuals (lesbians with and without disabilities) creatively struggle to live authentically through the occupations in which they engage. Dr. Jackson challenged listeners to view the lives of these authentic women through the many occupations they engage in and identities presented to people of all cultures.

Abstract: Occupational scientists place occupation at the center of their discourse on identity. In constructing identities people engage in an ongoing negotiation between their personal vision for an acceptable life and the enabling and constraining forces of particular social traditions. The resolution of this tension is expressed in the occupational configuration that emerges on a day-to-day basis throughout one's life and in the interpretation ascribed to those actions. This research paper extends our knowledge about identities lived in occupations by examining how one group of individuals--lesbians with and without disabilities--creatively struggle to live authentically through the occupations in which they engage. These women's voices also underscore the necessity of weaving together various identities through occupation in order to attain a sense of authenticity. Furthermore, in their search to live authentic lives these women creatively design occupations that offer an opportunity for people of different cultures to find common ground. In keeping with the metaphor of the kaleidoscope that is central to this honorary lecture, this presentation will add new and complex images of the ways that identities are lived in occupation.