1,721,144 research outputs found
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What is health?
No full textKey issues within this chapter: defining health; models of health; social influences on health and disease; experiences of illness, sickness and disease; nursing, health and holism
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Thinking sociologically about health and health care
No full textAbout the book:
This exciting new volume offers a comprehensive collection of classic and contemporary readings in the sociology of health and healthcare, structured around five core areas:
Sociological perspectives on health and healthcare
Making methodological sense of health and healthcare
Inequalities and diversity
Bodies, minds and emotions
Power, professions and practice
The Sociology of Healthcare encourages reflective practice and critical thinking. Each of the 28 extracts includes commentary by the editors, activities and questions to stimulate debate and aid learning, and a selection of annotated further readings
Is breast best?: breastfeeding, motherhood and identity
Full text linkIs Breast Best?: breastfeeding, motherhood and identity is concerned with how breastfeeding is both a personal and a political issue. Earle begins with a cross-cultural analysis of the prevalence of breastfeeding, considering differences between and within countries and cultures and highlighting the presumed physical and psychological advantages for mothers and their babies. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to data derived from a qualitative study concerned with the body in pregnancy, childbirth and early motherhood. Earle argues that there are competing discourses which serve to structure women's experiences and perceptions of breastfeeding. Furthermore, she argues that gendered expectations and conflict in relation to women's sexual and maternal identities can cause tension, as can the competing pressure to breastfeed versus the importance of including the father in childcare. In conclusion, Earle leaves us with a question, namely: is the breastfeeding women empowering herself by doing what comes naturally or is the mother who uses formula milk making positive choices about her life and the care of her children
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Diabetes and the Pregnancy Paradox: The Loss of Expectations and Reproductive Futures
Full text linkIn 1989 the St Vincent’s Declaration Diabetes Mellitus in Europe called for the outcome of pregnancies in women with pre-existing (Type 1) diabetes to be comparable with those of women without this condition; this declaration was made under the aegis of WHO Regional Office for Europe and the International Diabetes Federation. However, over 20 years on, diabetes remains the most common medical complication in pregnancy and is associated with increased risks to life and health for mother and baby including, obstetric complications, increased rates of caesarean delivery, increases in congenital abnormalities and perinatal mortality and morbidity (CEMACH 2007). Drawing on the relatively limited social sciences literature on this topic and on the findings of a consultation process involving women with pre-existing (Type 1 and Type 2) and gestational diabetes in pregnancy in the UK, this chapter sets out to explore how through this paradox, women with diabetes can experience a sense of reproductive loss throughout the pregnancy process
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International perspectives on the sterilization of women with intellectual disabilities
No full textIn this chapter we focus on the sterilization of women with intellectual disabilities. We offer an international perspective, although one which draws predominantly on evidence from modern western societies, with a special focus on the UK context. In part it is a historical review, since the practice of involuntary sterilization is now subject to strict legal regulation. However, despite developments in Human Rights and Mental Capacity legislation, lack of control over contraceptive and reproductive choices continues to feature in the lives of women with intellectual disabilities. While the mass involuntary sterilization of women with intellectual disabilities is no longer a feature of current policy and practice in western societies, other forms of reproductive control – notably the use of long-term contraception such as Depo Provera1 - appear to be commonly used. In this chapter we draw upon the authors’ interests in oral history, life story approaches, social policy and health sociology to explore this hidden area of reproductive loss
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In defence of a woman's right to choose: abortion, disability and feminist politics
No full textHaving a baby is an important life event but it carries a physical, emotional, social and financial toll – especially for women. Women are solely capable of carrying and bearing children, and are often wholly, or mostly, responsible for their own children throughout childhood, and beyond. circumstances. It is for these reasons that we write in defence of a woman’s right to choose. However, in recent years this right has been challenged by those who believe that the right to choose perpetuates a eugenic approach to public health. This idea has been promoted, disingenuously, by anti-choice organisations such as LIFE, and the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, and is also promoted by some watchdog groups such as Human Genetics Alert. More worryingly, the idea has also been put forward by the disability movement.
Elsewhere we, and others, have drawn attention to the conflict which exists between the feminist principle of the right to choose, and the concerns of the disability movement that to permit abortion on the grounds of impairment is tantamount to endorsing an anti-disability eugenics. Many authors have sought to show that this conflict is illusory and that, with careful reasoning, the feminist and disability movements do not necessarily have to be at odds on this important issue.
It is the aim of this article to explore these claims in some detail, and to show that whilst there might be general points of ideological agreement between the two movements, on the issue of abortion, a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict inevitably remains. Consequently, whilst we accept many of the concerns reflected in the position endorsed by the disability movement, we argue in defence of woman’s right to choose, whatever the circumstances
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Dirty whores and invisible men: sex work and the public health
No full textSex work transcends gendered and sexual boundaries in that both men and women sell and pay for sex. There are many different forms of ‘sex work’, ranging from sex chat-lines, stripping, table dancing, pornography, indoor and outdoor sex work, and all other forms of sexual exchange. There is also a growing volume of literature on other forms of sex work, including that which is coerced or involving children. However, in spite of the varied nature of sex work, it is the female sex worker who has been the most visible within lay, medical, legal and religious discourses and it is she, on the whole, who has been considered deviant. The men who pay for sex – the punters - have largely remained invisible. This chapter considers the regulation of female sexuality and the visibility of female sex workers within some of these discourses. It also considers the absence of punters from social research and reflects on the consequences of this imbalance for the public health
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Growing up with HIV: The experiences of young people living with HIV since birth in the UK
Full text linkAbout the book: This book draws together a range of both classic and newly commissioned pieces on the multidisciplinary study of death and dying.
Organized into five parts, the book begins with a general exploration of the meaning of death, before moving on to consider caring at the end-of-life. Further readings explore the moral and ethical dilemmas in the context of death and dying. The fourth part of the book examines the issue of grief and ritual after death. The final part considers some of the issues that arise when researching the field of death and dying.
By drawing together information, reflection, and experience this authoritative text will broaden your understanding of the subject area. The book is designed as a core text for students in nursing, medicine, social work, counseling, and health and social care. It will also be essential reading for all professionals and care givers who come into contact with death and bereavement
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