Most accounts of the ethics of stem cell research are decontextualised reviews of the ethical and legal literature. In this chapter we present a socially embedded account of some of the ethical implications of stem cell research, from the perspectives of scientists directly involved in this area. Based on an ethnography of two leading embryonic stem cell laboratories in the UK, our data form part of the findings from a larger project mapping the scientific, medical, social and ethical dimensions of innovative stem cell treatment, focusing on the areas of liver cell and pancreatic islet cell transplantation. We explore three key issues: what individual scientists themselves view as ethical sources of human embryos and stem cells; their perceptions of human embryos and stem cells; and how scientists perceive regulatory frameworks in stem cell research. We argue that these dimensions of laboratory practice are all examples of 'ethical boundary-work', which is becoming an integral part of the routine practice and performance of biomedical science. Our work adds to the relatively few sociological studies that explore ethics in clinical settings and to an even smaller body of work that explores scientists' views on the ethical issues relating to their research.

The study raised concern about all aspects of tracheal suctioning and has highlighted the need for changes in practice, clinical guidelines and focused practice-based education.

Social worlds shape human bodies and so it is inevitable that there are strong relationships between the body, professional dance and identity. In this article we draw on Bourdieu’s notions of habitus, and various forms of capital, as the main theoretical framework for our discussion. Our ethnography of the balletic body elicited dancers and ex-dancers’ perceptions of their bodies and sought to reveal some of the facets of their embodied habitus. The sheer physicality of their working lives - of feeling exhausted, sweaty and out of breath - is something dancers (like all athletes) become ‘addicted to’. Ageing and injury can reveal this compulsion to dance and so dancers invariably find it very difficult to, for example, give up class once they retire from the stage; or miss a performance if they have a ‘slight injury’. In other words, the vocational calling to dance is so overwhelming that their balletic body is their identity. In addition, there is an unremitting loop between individual habitus and institutional habitus (the ballet company), which affects both the meaning and management of injury. All our informants at the Royal Ballet (London: n = 20) had suffered dance injuries. The injured, dancing body is perceived as an inevitable part of a career in ballet. Everyone spoke of the improved athleticism of dancers, and of the expansion in facilities to maintain healthy dancers. However, most dancers can expect several major injuries during their careers. Such epiphanies force dancers to confront their embodiment, and their thoughts invariably turn to their body, career and self. Critical injuries threaten to terminate a dancer’s career and so endanger their embodied sense of self. On a more everyday level, dancing and performing with painful, niggling injuries is the norm

This paper contributes to debate on social constructionism in the sociology of health and illness through a study of injury among ballet dancers. In this empirical study of classical ballet dancers, we outline a phenomenology of the injured and ageing body in terms of a critical commentary on constructionism. We explore dancers' experiences of embodiment to illustrate our critique of recent interpretations of dance as a textual practice. Those forms of social constructionism that define the body as a text provide a forceful attack on discourses of authority and legitimation, but we argue that they are problematic as epistemologies and ontologies of embodiment. Through a phenomenological understanding of the experiences of embodiment, we observe how injury and ageing disrupt the practical accomplishments that underpin the ballet habitus and the dancer's identity. Although ballet injuries can terminate a dancing career, they are accepted as an inevitable part of the vocation of ballet. Our aim is to understand the interaction between injuries, dancers' experiences of discomfort and the social support that emerges from the ballet dancers as a social group. We draw on the concepts of social solidarity and collective consciousness in Emile Durkheim to show that injury is mediated through the social bonding of dancers into a professional ballet company, where injury is accepted as a sign of vocational commitment, and suggest that this 'collective effervescence' gives a novel meaning to the idea of a corps de ballet .

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End-stage renal disease is a chronic condition which reduces the life-span of its victims. At present there is no cure. Renal transplantation, currently the treatment of choice for many patients, is potentially associated with a number of drawbacks: constant risk of rejection, especially during the first six months, the need to comply with a complex regime of medication capable of producing pronounced side-effects and need for ongoing medical supervision. Despite these problems, little research has been undertake with patients following renal transplantation. The aim of the small-scale, exploratory study reported here was to explore patients' perceptions of stress and quality of life at different stages following a first, functioning renal graft: within six months, between one and five years and over five years later (n = 10 in each group). From the results it became apparent that patients had a number of concerns, of which fear of rejection was the most frequently mentioned, followed by stress generated through altered body image (a product of immunosuppressive therapy). Nevertheless, all reported a significant increase in quality of life after transplantation, although improvement was least marked in patients in the intermediate group (1-5 years after surgery) who also experienced most stress. A larger scale study is recommended to increase the validity of findings which clinicians could then use to design patient interventions to enhance quality of care and quality of life.

Endotracheal suctioning is a frequently performed procedure that has many associated risks and complications. It is imperative that nurses are aware of these risks and are able to practise according to current research recommendations. This study was designed to examine to what extent intensive care nurses' knowledge and practice of endotracheal suctioning is based on research evidence, to investigate the relationships between knowledge and practice, and to evaluate the effectiveness of a research-based teaching programme. This quasi-experimental study was a randomized, controlled, single-blinded comparison of two research-based teaching programmes, with 16 intensive care nurses, using non-participant observation and a self-report questionnaire. Initial baseline data revealed a low level of knowledge for many participants, which was also reflected in practice, as suctioning was performed against many of the research recommendations. Following teaching, significant improvements were seen in both knowledge and practice. Four weeks later these differences were generally sustained, and provide evidence of the effectiveness of the educational intervention. The study raised concern about all aspects of endotracheal suctioning and highlighted the need for changes in nursing practice, with clinical guidelines and focused practice-based education.

Ballet is, for reasons that are unclear, a neglected topic in the sociology of the body. Our article works on three levels: firstly, as an account of ex-dancers’‘lived experience’ of embodiment; secondly, as an application of Bourdieu’s theoretical schema; and thirdly, as a philosophically grounded critique of radical social constructionist views of the body.We describe Royal Ballet dancers’ perceptions of their bodies, of ageing, of injury and of their careers.We draw on Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and cultural capital in our investigation of embodiment. Ageing and injury are potential epiphanies that encourage dancers to reflect on their embodied habitus and their career. We argue that the decline in a dancer’s physical capital undermines radical social constructionist views.This study, although set within the narrow field of dance, illuminates the broader relationships between the body, self, and society.