Thursday 12 April 2012 at 16:00 - 17:30
MEDICINE, HEALTH AND ILLNESS Shoveller, J., Brown, S.
ROGER STEVENS 03 University of British Columbia
Risk, Resistance and the Neo-liberalism: An Examination of Social Health Inequalities Discourses Related to Young People
This paper describes how risk, resistance and neoliberalism are manifested in discourses related to young people's social health inequalities. Using examples of inequalities in young people's sexual lives (e.g., HIV/STI rates; early age pregnancy), we examine how techniques of risk are linked with and reflect features of neo-liberalism. The paper interrogates the interplay between the actions of public institutions that purport to advance young people's social health equity (e.g., in the name of improved public health) and broader neo-liberal discourses that employ techniques related to risk identification/reduction and rational choice. Because impacts of structural disadvantage are most keenly felt in particular communities (e.g., geographic areas of long-term unemployment; communities that experience racial discrimination), we argue that risk (and resistance) also manifest in uneven ways within structurally disadvantaged contexts (e.g., girls/boys; straight/queer). Moreover, within an austerity milieu, this unevenness stands to be exacerbated.
Using critical discourse analysis techniques, the paper examines the social framing of risk and provides examples of the complexities and challenges pertaining to institutional practices (e.g., in public health; youth work; social policy) that affect young people's opportunities for experiencing social health equity. The paper closes by offering up examples of resistance to the dominant discourses related to risk (and neo-liberal perspectives on the social health inequalities rubric). Using examples from Canada, the UK and Australia, we indicate potential points of synergy for research, policy, and practices amongst sociology, health, and youth studies to construct novel ways forward within policy and programming realms that resist neo-liberal 'imperatives'.
Fisher, P., Deery, R. Valuing Care in Woman-centred Practice
Work in the public sphere has traditionally been associated with an unemotional mindset, however, a growing body of sociologically-based research suggests that engaged practice in health and social care may be related to values that extend beyond rationalised organisational
requirements. This paper reports a comparative, critical
ethnographic study of standalone midwife-led units and obstetric units. The study was conducted at three sites in the north of England. Some of the findings based on individual interviews with senior midwives and obstetricians suggest that the hesitant development of woman-centred care in midwifery in liberal democracies may be related to task-based approaches encouraged by the dominance of organisational forms of professionalism. These are acting to undermine the significance of authentic and holistic engagement with practice. Drawing on Tronto's feminist ethic of care and MacIntyre notion of the goods of excellence, this paper suggests that the future development of woman-centred care necessitates a shift from organisational priorities to practice, and that woman-centred practice should be nurtured through professionalism that prioritises the values associated with and derived from caring.
Dowling, S., Brown, A. University of the West of England and University of Swansea Representing Long-term Breastfeeding: What Are the Issues and Why Does It Matter?
This presentation looks at issues of portrayal in relation to long-term breastfeeding. Data from two recent research projects are combined, one of which used ethnography to explore women's experiences of breastfeeding long- term, the other a large survey in which women were asked about the promotion of breastfeeding . The portrayal of longer term breastfeeding is virtually absent in public health promotion and the behaviour of women who breastfeed beyond infancy is seen culturally as taboo, bizarre and even unhealthy. We argue that normalising long-term breastfeeding would help more women to breastfeed for longer – in line with WHO and Department of Health targets but not with current practice in the UK – and that if more women were able to see breastfeeding after early infancy as a possibility they might consider this as potential behaviour for themselves.
Normalising the
continuation of breastfeeding could increase the numbers breastfeeding up to and beyond six months, maximise health benefits to both mothers and children and increase the likelihood of achieving national and international targets.
We look at the portrayal of long-term breastfeeding in relation to a range of areas, including the media, popular culture, science and non-academic writing. We consider the experiences of the women in our research within this cultural and social context. Drawing on literature from a range of disciplines, we talk about why portrayal matters in relation to long-term breastfeeding, addressing inter-related issues of public health promotion, normalisation, increasing rates of duration and breastfeeding in public.
219 University of Liverpool
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