AbstractDespite their welcome emphasis on the influence of environmental factors on the generation of distress, and on the central role in this of power, the contributors to this special issue still seem unable entirely to avoid ‘psychologizing’ the processes involved. It is suggested that a far more radical rejection of ‘interior’ psychological and moral concepts (e.g. ‘self‐esteem’, ‘responsibility’) could be undertaken without our having to abandon the project of psychology altogether. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.