Jaber Fandy "Jay" Gubrium is an American sociologist. He has been a professor in the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
Department of
Sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
since 2002.
Career
He chaired the Missouri Department of Sociology from 2002 to 2016. He now is emeritus professor in that department. Before that, he was a professor of sociology at
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
(1987-2002) and
Marquette University
Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...
(1970-1987). He currently is a visiting professor in the College of Nursing at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
.
He was a Fulbright Scholar at Tampere University in Finland (1996), Alfreda Kartha Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Toronto, Queen's University, and the University of Ottawa (1996), a Leiv Eririksson Fellow at Oslo Metropolitan University in Norway (2012-13), and was granted a doctorate honoris causa by Lund University in Sweden (2017). He is founder of the ''
Journal of Aging Studies
The ''Journal of Aging Studies'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal focused on the study of aging and related topics. Its disciplinary scope is broad, including the social sciences, behavioral sciences and the humanities. It was esta ...
''.
Research
Gubrium's areas of research are aging, health, care, everyday life, family discourse, human services ethnography, identity construction, social interaction, qualitative methods, and narrative analysis. He developed a constructionist approach to the life course. He and collaborator James Holstein formulated an analytic vocabulary for studying identity as an institutional formation and family as a category of experience. The approach is methodically elaborated in relation to the complex practices of power in social interaction.
Gubrium contributed to the development of qualitative methods by conceptualizing their theoretical bearings. He has examined the everyday practices of narrativity, locating stories, storytelling, and social forms within the circumstances of their production. The aim is to locate and describe social forms (identity, family, aging, health, policy, service and care) within the practice of everyday life.
Gubrium is concerned with the practices of meaning-making in diverse circumstances, from ordinary encounters to going concerns such as residential treatment for problem children and aging in nursing homes. He works at the border of
ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
and
narrative analysis
Narrative inquiry or narrative analysis emerged as a discipline from within the broader field of qualitative research in the early 20th century, as evidence exists that this method was used in psychology and sociology. Narrative inquiry uses field ...
, combining these to deal with the perennial problems of linking observational data with stories, speech and other narrative material.
He executed a program of research on the social organization of care and treatment in human service institutions. His research on the everyday practice of caregiving in nursing homes, originally described in his monograph "Living and Dying at Murray Manor," presents the details of care from the perspectives of the residents, the staff and family members. He paid special attention to caregiving and the cognitively impaired, in particular how the
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
movement transformed the meaning of senility, as reported in his book ''Oldtimers and Alzheimer's: The Descriptive Organization of Senility''. The program extended to institutional practices across the life course.
Ethnographies of institutional settings set the basis for comparison. Earlier research on interpretive practices in a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed children was followed by ethnographic and narrative studies of accounting practices in physical rehabilitation, a psychiatric hospital, family counseling and self-help groups for home caregivers. The program centers on narrative events and strategic storytelling in everyday life, especially in an institutional context, with attention to implications for social policy.
Along with Holstein, Gubrium is credited with introducing the concept of "the active interview" to the social science community, as well as concepts for researching storytelling and other accounts in everyday life, such as "analytic bracketing," "interpretive practice," "narrative ethnography," "narrative environments," "scenic presence," "assemblages of meaning, "narrative eventfulness," "biographical work," "deprivatization," "institutional identity," "local enactment," and "organizational embeddedness".Gubrium & Holstein 2009 Put together, the concepts provide a working configuration of ideas and categories—an analytics—for making visible and documenting the everyday organization of experience.
Lecturer
Gubrium has lectured at universities around the world, including:
Canada
*
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
*
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.University of Montreal
*
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...
*
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...
Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to:
*Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada
*Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
**Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950)
**Queen's University of Belfast ...
Trent University
Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.
Kyoto University
, mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture
, established =
, type = National university, Public (National)
, endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD)
, faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff)
, administrative_staff ...
Sweden
*
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion Uppsala University
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
*
Goldsmiths, University of London
Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
*
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
*
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
Denmark
*
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
Aarhus University
Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...
Tampere University
, image_name =
, motto = ''Human Potential Unlimited''
, established = 1925;
, type = Public
, rector = Mari Walls
, academic_staff = 4,200 (2021)
, students = 21,500 (2021)
, ...
*
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...
Bergamo University
The University of Bergamo ( it, Università degli Studi di Bergamo; acronym: UniBG) is an Italian public university located in Bergamo, Italy. It was founded on 11 December 1968 and is organized in seven departments, three campuses and forty-one ...
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
*
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
*
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
*
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
*
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
*
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
*
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
*
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
*
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
*
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
*
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
*
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
Konstanz University
The University of Konstanz (german: Universität Konstanz) is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its main campus was opened on the Gießberg in 1972 after being founded in 1966. The university is Germany's ...
Bergamo University
The University of Bergamo ( it, Università degli Studi di Bergamo; acronym: UniBG) is an Italian public university located in Bergamo, Italy. It was founded on 11 December 1968 and is organized in seven departments, three campuses and forty-one ...
in Italy; St. Gallen's University in Switzerland; the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...
and
Tampere University
, image_name =
, motto = ''Human Potential Unlimited''
, established = 1925;
, type = Public
, rector = Mari Walls
, academic_staff = 4,200 (2021)
, students = 21,500 (2021)
, ...
in Finland.
Bibliography
Books
* ''Living and Dying at Murray Manor'' (Gubrium 1997/1975)
* Time, Roles, and Self in Old Age (Gubrium 1976)
* Analyzing Field Reality (Gubrium 1988)
* ''Out of Control: Family Therapy and Domestic Disorder''" (Gubrium 1992)
* Aging, Self, and Community (Gubrium & Charmaz 1992)
* ''Speaking of Life'' (Gubrium 1993)
* ''Caretakers: Treating Emotionally Disturbed Children'' (Buckholdt & Gubrium 1979)
* ''Describing Care: Image and Practice Rehabilitation'' (Gubrium & Buckholdt 1982)
* ''Oldtimers and Alzheimer's: The Descriptive Organization of Senility'' (Gubrium 1986)
* ''What is Family? (Gubrium & Holstein 1990)''
* The Home Care Experience: Ethnography and Policy (Gubrium & Sankar 1990)
* The Mosaic of Care: Frail Elderly and their Families in the Real World (Gubrium 1991)
* The Active Interview (Holstein & Gubrium 1995)
* ''The New Language of Qualitative Method'' (Gubrium & Holstein 1997)
* "Constructing the Life Course" (Gubrium & Buckholdt 2000)
* ''The Self We Live By: Narrative Identity in a Postmodern World'' (Holstein & Gubrium 2000)
* Institutional Selves: Troubles Identities in a Postmodern World (Gubrium & Holstein 2001)
* Couples, Kids, and Family Life (Gubrium & Holstein 2006)
* ''Analyzing Narrative Reality'' (Gubrium & Holstein 2009)
* Varieties of Narrative Analysis (Holstein & Gubrium 2012)
* ''Turning Troubles into Problems: Clientization in Human Services'' (Gubrium 2014)
* ''Reimagining the Human Service Relationship'' (Gubrium, Andreassen & Solvang 2016)
Along with several collaborators, he also has published numerous related chapters and journal articles on the structure of everyday life, aging and the life course, the Alzheimer's disease movement, the physical rehabilitation process, children with ADHD, the social organization of care, human service practice, constructions of family, qualitative methodology, ethnographic fieldwork, and narrative analysis.
Personal life
He is married to Suzanne Kish Gubrium, who is a retired medical software developer. They have two daughters, Aline Gubrium and Erika Gubrium, and five grandchildren (Marit, Lily, Malin, Espen, and Axel). Aline Gubrium is professor of public health at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Erika Gubrium is professor of social work and social policy at Oslo Metropolitan University in Norway.