La transmission d’exploitation agricole, entre psychologie des représentations sociales et psychologie clinique. Une voie d’abord vers l’interdisciplinarité dans les méthodes de recherche qualitative

Abstract

ContextThis article makes use of the semi-directive interview in qualitative research, based on 15 interviews carried out during research for a paper on farm transfer. ObjectivesThe aim is to show the interest and the limits of a clinical posture in investigating a problematic at the edge of clinical psychology and social psychology. MethodStarting from the discussion that has underscored this study, the authors introduce their reflection, based on their questions and their encounters with the agricultural world. ResultsThe results show how the semi-directive interview in qualitative research in social psychology is enriched by a clinical positioning. This particular type of research can reveal individual and social issues, while still struggling with a certain form of splitting. However, this approach is particularly interesting in that it enables a representation of the fantasy of immortality of the agricultural group, conveyed by the social representations of farm transfer; and its encounter with the reality principle, illustrated by the profession's vulnerability. ConclusionThis dialogue leads to an understanding on several levels. The various reference systems illuminate each other, in order to understand how group representations coexist with the famers’ internal conflicts. However, from their experience, the authors recommend that this type of approach be carried out by several researchers, in order to limit the risks of confusion.