Sociology of Health

Configuring maternal, preborn and infant embodiment

by Deborah Lupton

An increasing literature on the biopolitics of contemporary maternity and on risk society, individualisation and... more An increasing literature on the biopolitics of contemporary maternity and on risk society, individualisation and parenting has demonstrated the increasing emphasis that has been placed upon pregnant women and mothers to take responsibility for the health and welfare of their children. The ideal female ‘reproductive citizen’ is expected to place her children’s health and wellbeing above her own needs and desires. Here the subject positions of the ‘good mother’ and the ‘responsible citizen’ as they are produced through the discourses and practices of neoliberalism intertwine. This paper looks at the convergence of various influential discourses, images, practices and technologies in configuring maternal, preborn and infant bodies in certain ways in the context of neoliberalism. These include such factors as the growing importance of the concept of risk in relation to preborn and infant wellbeing, the extension of infant identity back into preborn bodies, the emergence of the concepts of the foetal and embryonic (and even the preconceived embryonic) citizen, the precious child and intensive parenting and the symbolic concepts of permeability, purity and danger and Self and Other as they relate to maternal, infant and preborn embodiment.

Multiple Forms of Perceived Discrimination and Health among Adolescents and Young Adults

by Eric Anthony Grollman

Published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, June 2012: http://hsb.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/05/14/0022146512444289.abstract

Research on perceived discrimination has overwhelmingly focused on one form of discrimination, especially race... more Research on perceived discrimination has overwhelmingly focused on one form of discrimination, especially race discrimination, in isolation from other forms. The present article uses data from the Black Youth Culture Survey, a nationally representative, racially and ethnically diverse sample of 1,052 adolescents and young adults to investigate the prevalence, distribution, and mental and physical health consequences of multiple forms of perceived discrimination. The findings suggest that disadvantaged groups, especially multiply disadvantaged youth, face greater exposure to multiple forms of discrimination than their more privileged counterparts. The experience of multiple forms of discrimination is associated with worse mental and physical health above the effect of only one form and contributes to the relationship between multiple disadvantaged statuses and health. These findings suggest that past research may misspecify the discrimination-health relationship and fails to account for the disproportionate exposure to discrimination faced by multiply disadvantaged individuals.

'I'm always on the lookout for what could be going wrong': mothers' concepts and experiences of health and illness in their young children

by Deborah Lupton

Sydney Health & Society Group Working Paper No. 1

Mothers in contemporary western societies are expected to adhere to the principles of intensive parenting, spending a... more Mothers in contemporary western societies are expected to adhere to the principles of intensive parenting, spending a great deal of time and effort caring for their children, protecting them from risks and promoting their health, development and wellbeing. This paper draws upon research involving indepth interviews with 60 mothers of infants and young children living in Sydney. The discussion focuses in detail on three major topics discussed in the interviews: how the interviewees conceptualised good health and illness in their children; the role of diet and physical exercise in promoting children’s good health; and space, physical safety and bad influences. The study found that the interviewees reported that they ‘read the signs’ of their children’s bodies and had to ‘know’ their bodies intimately in order to do so. They also interpreted the signals of their own bodies – their ‘gut instincts’ – as part of the process of maintaining careful surveillance of their children’s health state. They represented diet and physical exercise as the most important dimensions of promoting their children’s health, and were very concerned about the risk of obesity in their children. Notions of space and judgements about the bodies within these spaces were also important to some of the women’s concepts of protecting their children’s health and wellbeing.

Discourse analysis: a new methodology for understanding the ideologies of health and illness

by Deborah Lupton

Discourse analysis is not so much a 'new' methodology any more, as this paper was originally published 20 years ago. I have regular requests for copies, however, so have scanned it and uploaded it here.

Re-reading the IPSS record

by Charmaine C. Williams

A post-colonial analysis of the process surrounding the International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia and its finding that people diagnosed with schizophrenia in "developing countries" have better prognosis then people in diagnosed in "developed countries"

Life Satisfaction of Two-Year Post-Stroke Survivors: Effects of Socio-Economic Factors, Motor Impairment, Newcastle Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Measure and World Health Organization Quality of Life – bref of Informal Caregivers in Luxembourg and a Rural Area in Portugal

by Kàtia Lurbe i Puerto

Michèle Baumann, Kàtia Lurbe, Maria-Engracia Leandro, Nearkasen Chau

Background: Life satisfaction of stroke survivors is known to be associated with socio-economic factors and the... more Background: Life satisfaction of stroke survivors is known to be associated with socio-economic factors and the survivor’s and his/her caregiver’s quality of life, but their respective influence remains to be fully elucidated. Purpose: To analyse the stroke survivors’ life satisfaction 2 years after the event and its relationships with quality of life, socio-economic and stroke-related characteristics, and with informal caregivers’ life satisfaction and quality of life . Methods: Over 18 months, all stroke patients from Luxembourg and north-eastern Portugal who lived at home were identified from the Inspection Générale de la Sécurité Sociale and hospital records, respectively. The clinical diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease was confirmed. We excluded all patients who declared that stroke did not result in neurological impairments at the time of stroke from the statistical analysis. The samples comprised 79 patients in Luxembourg and 48 in Portugal. Patients and the people they identified as their main caregivers were interviewed using validated questionnaires measuring life satisfaction, i.e. the Newcastle Stroke-Specific Quality of Life (Newsqol – 11 subscales), which identifies the areas affected by stroke among patients, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life – bref (Whoqol-bref – 4 subscales) of informal caregivers. Survivors without neurological impairment at the time of stroke were excluded. Data were analysed via multiple-regression models. Results: Life satisfaction was higher among women and lower among subjects with impaired motor functions. It was lower among Portuguese respondents with low-level education (<12th grade) and higher among those at work (37.6/100). In Luxembourg, retired people had more life satisfaction than did working people (–7.9/100). Controlling for socio-economic factors, life satisfaction was associated with feelings- Newsqol (slope 0.25) among Luxembourg residents, and with feelings-, mobility- and self-care-Newsqol (slopes 0.24, 0.27 and 0.33, respectively) among Portuguese respondents. Life satisfaction of patients was strongly related to that of family caregivers among the Portuguese respondents (slope 0.66) but the relationship was moderate in Luxembourg (slope 0.28). The survivors’ life satisfaction was not correlated with any Whoqol-bref domain in the Luxembourg group, but was correlated with the Whoqol-bref psychological, social relationships and environment domains among the Portuguese respondents (slopes 0.55, 0.59 and 0.51, respectively). Conclusions: The life satisfaction scale and the Newsqol stroke instrument, which identify areas of quality of life affected by stroke, are reliable patient-centred markers of intervention outcome. They can be used within the framework of medical follow-up (such as telephone assistance, clinical practice and prevention). Depending on the stroke survivor’s and the family caregiver’s habitual lifestyle and material circumstances, enhancement of a caregiver’s quality of life can help maintain the patient’s life satisfaction, particularly in a rural setting.

'The best thing for the baby': mothers' concepts and experiences related to promoting their infants' health and development

by Deborah Lupton

Risk as Moral Danger: the Social and Political Functions of Risk Discourse in Public Health

by Deborah Lupton

Blurring the boundaries: breastfeeding and maternal subjectivity

by Deborah Lupton

Perspectives on power, communication and the medical encounter: implications for nursing theory and practice

by Deborah Lupton

Femininity, Responsibility, and the Technological Imperative: |Discourses on Breast Cancer in the Australian Press

by Deborah Lupton

Infinitesimal risk as public health crisis: News media coverage of a doctor-patient HIV contact tracing investigation

by Deborah Lupton

M-health and health promotion: the digital cyborg and surveillance society

by Deborah Lupton

This is a preprint of an article that has been submitted for publication. It may be cited.

The establishment of mass mammographic screening programs: in whose interests?

by Deborah Lupton

• Lupton, D. and Chapman, S. (1995) ‘A healthy lifestyle might be the death of you’: discourses on diet, cholesterol control and heart disease in the press and among the lay public. Sociology of Health & Illness, 17(4), 477--94.

by Deborah Lupton

Lupton, D. (1994) Towards the development of critical health communication. Health Communication, 6(1), 55--67.

by Deborah Lupton

Foucault and the medicalization critique.

by Deborah Lupton

In Petersen, A. and Bunton, R. (1997) (eds), Foucault, Health and Medicine. London: Routledge, pp. 94--110.

‘You feel so responsible’: Australian mothers’ concepts and experiences related to promoting the health and development of their young children.

by Deborah Lupton

In Zoller, H. and Dutta, M. (2008) (eds), Emerging Perspectives in Health Communication: Meaning, Culture, and Power. New York: Routledge, pp. 113—128.

Health Identities: From Expert Patient to Resisting Consumer

by Nick Fox

Images of a Loving God and Sense of Meaning in Life

by Andrew Whitehead