A chip off the old block? Lay understandings of inheritance among men and women in mid-life
A chip off the old block? Lay understandings of inheritance among men and women in mid-life
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DOI：
10.1177/0963662503012001248
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发表时间：
2003-01-01
影响因子：
4.1
通讯作者：
Watt, G
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Emslie, C;Hunt, K;Watt, G
分子生物学的最新发展为能够向个人提供更精确的遗传信息提供了可能性。因此，重要的是要检查非专业人士对遗传机制的理解。迄今为止，大多数研究都集中在单基因疾病家庭的信念上。我们探讨奠定理解受访者从“普通”家庭进行半结构化访谈61名男性和女性从一个大型的社区为基础的研究。受访者认为，在他们自己的家庭背景下谈论继承问题很容易，因为关于继承的讨论是家庭文化的一部分。他们使用家庭照片等人工制品来构建家庭叙事，并使用“双重”和“spitting image”等短语来强调亲属之间的相似性，并加强世代之间的连续性。然而，当被要求用更抽象的术语谈论继承的机制时，受访者更加不确定。有一些证据支持妇女是家庭的“管家”这一假设。随着对“新遗传学”的科学理解的激增，重要的是要认识到它们不仅仅是填补真空，而是必须适应预先存在的社会关系和背景。
Recent developments in molecular biology open up the possibility of being able to provide more precise genetic information to individuals. It is therefore important to examine lay understandings of the mechanisms of inheritance. Most studies to date have focused on the beliefs of families with single gene disorders. We explored lay understandings among respondents from "ordinary" families by conducting semi-structured interviews with 61 men and women subsampled from a large community-based study. Respondents found it easy to talk about inheritance within their own family context, given that discussions about inheritance form part of family culture. They constructed family narratives using artifacts such as family photographs, and they used phrases such as "double" and "spitting image" to emphasize likeness between relatives and to reinforce continuity across generations. However, respondents were more uncertain when asked to talk in more abstract terms about the mechanisms that underlie inheritance. There was some evidence to support the hypothesis that women are the 'kinkeepers' of the family. As scientific understandings of the "new genetics" proliferate, it is important to recognize that they do not simply fill a vacuum, but must fit into pre-existing social relationships and contexts.