This paper explores the contextual, methodological and theoretical implications of using psychoanalytic concepts within sociological analysis. Through the interpretation of an interaction between myself and a research participant as an instance of 'resistance', I will argue that it is possible to recontextualise psychoanalytic concepts, but that this recontextualisation involves an inevitable transformation in meaning. In addition, I will suggest that an analysis incorporating psychoanalytically derived interpretations, combined with more traditional approaches to discursive social analysis, can enhance our understanding of social phenomena
