ABSTRACT
There are currently 800,000 people with a diagnosis of dementia in the UK. A social constructionist model for dementia research would entail an analysis of how the label of dementia shapes the lives of those diagnosed, and how it informs their experiences and their constructions of Self. This chapter focuses on four key concepts, Self, Personae, Self-construct, Positioningm, and Kitwood's idea of personhood, from Harre and van Langenhove's Positioning Theory. It discusses the research exploring the personal, interactional and socio-cultural domains, which recognises the connections between personal experiences in one's immediate environment and the broader social context, and how these shape a person's Self-construct. The words of people with dementia diagnoses can be richly explored through narrative analysis, despite the absence of some features identified by narrative researchers as valuable or necessary.
