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Discourse Analysis Examples

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As a trainee therapist, I feel relatively untethered to the rigours, set of practices and organisational jargons that represents my placement organisation. Taking advantage of this vantage of being an intern, I propose to conduct discourse analysis on an artefact that denotes my placement organisation, its website http://womensandgirls.org.au. (Blacktown Women’s and Girls’ Health Centre, 2018). Hall (2001) states that Foucault’s definition of discourse moves its focus from linguistics and postulates discourse “as system of representations”. Foucault defines discourse are social systems that produce knowledge and meaning. They are practices produced by the effects of power within a social order (Adams, 2017; Hall, 2001). Foucault argued that …show more content…
He suggests that by fixing the meaning and pre-determining which statements can be perpetuated as knowledge, discourses create a sense of reality and technique to exert power and control (Hall, 2001). A discourse analysis then examines the effects of the power that has been produced and analyses the texts which have been marginalised (Adams, 2001). It is basing on this definition, I intend to conduct my discourse analysis, as I believe, this will provide me with a valuable learning opportunity to understand how relations of power perpetuates between the organisation which provides counselling services and the clients who benefit from them.
As a not for profit, government funded health organisation, set up to support women and girls experiencing domestic violence, Blacktown Women’s and Girls Health Centre is a service organisation whose aim is to provide comprehensive, holistic, health care services and advocacy support for women in the local community. Though primary introduction to the service availability can be through a partner agency like Domestic Violence Help line, another key mode through which clients seek services from the centre is through the centre website. Being a holistic service, the website also

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