Toward a critical medical anthropology

Baer, Hans A.; Singer, Merrill; Johnsen, John H.

doi:10.1016/0277-9536(86)90358-8

Cited by 135 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In this article, we explore the data from the labour ward observation and using an intermediate social level of analysis which centres on institutional policy and decision-making processes (p. 96) [24], and how clinicians interact with these, as well as with each other, within the milieu of the institution. This analysis therefore focuses on the dominant cultural beliefs and practices within the institution—which centred primarily on risk management and client throughput—and the ways in which midwives and other clinicians articulated, negotiated, or resisted these norms, as well as the disciplinary mechanisms that were used to promote and uphold them.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paradox of the institution: findings from a hospital labour ward ethnography

Newnham

McKellar

Pincombe

2017

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundInterest in the influence of culture on birth practices is on the rise, and with it comes a sense of urgency to implement practices that aid the normalisation and humanisation of birth. This groundswell is occurring despite a broader cultural milieu of escalating technology-use and medicalisation of birth across the globe. Against this background, rates of epidural analgesia use by women in labour are increasing, despite the risk of side effects. Socio-cultural norms and beliefs are likely to influence pain relief choices but there is currently scant research on this topic.MethodsThis study was undertaken to gain insight into the personal, social, cultural and institutional influences on women in deciding whether or not to use epidural analgesia in labour. The study had an ethnographic approach within a theoretical framework of Critical Medical Anthropology (CMA), Foucauldian and feminist theory. Given the nature of ethnographic research, it was assumed that using the subject of epidural analgesia to gain insight into Western birth practices could illuminate broader cultural ideals and that the epidural itself may not remain the focus of the research.ResultsFindings from the study showed how institutional surveillance, symbolised by the Journey Board led to an institutional momentum that in its attempt to keep women safe actually introduced new areas of risk, a situation which we named the Paradox of the institution.ConclusionsThese findings, showing a risk/safety paradox at the centre of institutionalised birth, add a qualitative dimension to the growing number of quantitative studies asserting that acute medical settings can be detrimental to normal birth practices and outcomes.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paradox of the institution: findings from a hospital labour ward ethnography

Newnham

McKellar

Pincombe

2017

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To address this hypothesis, we apply a series of predictions to osteological data from settlements across the central Tombigbee River valley, spanning the terminal Late Woodland (900-1100 AD) to early Mississippian (1000-1200 AD). Population health is framed here as a reflection of historically-situated political economies where human biologies are shaped by variable access to resources, power (Armelagos et al, 1992;Baer, 1986;Muller, 1997;Roseberry, 1988;Singer, 1989Singer, , 1992Singer, , 1996Singer, , 1998Welch, 1991), and active decision making by economic and political actors (Blanton et al, 1996;Bourdieu, 1977) across dynamic landscapes (Wilson, 2008). We begin by outlining contextually situated predictions for health, followed by individual osteological indicators, and a biocultural synthesis that explores temporal, geospatial, and gendered dimensions of health across the dynamic Mississippian landscape in relation to the evolution of food production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In the shadow of Moundville: A bioarchaeological view of the transition to agriculture in the central Tombigbee valley of Alabama and Mississippi

Shuler¹,

Hodge²,

Danforth³

et al. 2012

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Critical medical anthropology holds that biomedicine maintains its dominance by the co-optation and subordination of other professions: Baer et al (1986) draw attention to "the nonmedical behaviors of medicine, including its political manoeuvring to eliminate competitors and gain social status and power" (p. 181).…”

Section: Three Propositions For Resocialising Illnessmentioning

confidence: 99%