The loss of possibility: scientisation of death and the special case of early miscarriage
The loss of possibility: scientisation of death and the special case of early miscarriage
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.01019.x
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发表时间：
2007-11-01
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Garcia, Jo
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Frost, Julia;Bradley, Harriet;Garcia, Jo
本文探讨了丧亲在早孕流产案例中的特殊性质。它的理论依据是有关死亡和丧亲的社会学文献，经验基础是对79名妇女的采访。我们认为，现代社会中“死亡的科学化”导致了不确定性和孤立性，这将早期流产区分为一种独特的损失形式。在缺乏明确的文化剧本可供借鉴的情况下，许多受访女性将她们的损失赋予了意义，即“本来可能发生的事情”或我们所说的“失去可能性”。一些妇女将妊娠失败与现代医学并列，以防止流产或为流产提供可信的解释。自Lovell(1983)和Cecil(1984)的开创性工作以来，在这一领域进行的研究很少。我们的研究利用了迄今收集到的关于早期流产的最大和最系统的数据之一，并提供了流产创伤的持续证据。本文运用前现代、现代和后现代的类型学，探讨了女性在理解和接受流产经历时所采用的策略。
This paper explores the special nature of bereavement in the case of first trimester miscarriage. It is theoretically informed by the sociological literature concerning death and bereavement and is empirically grounded in interviews with 79 women. We argue that the 'scientisation of death' in modern societies contributes to the uncertainty and isolation which distinguish early miscarriage as a unique form of loss. In the absence of clear cultural scripts to draw upon, many women interviewed gave meaning to their loss as 'what might have been' or what we call 'the loss of possibility'. Some women juxtaposed the failure of their pregnancy with that of modern medicine either to prevent the loss or provide a credible explanation for their miscarriage.Little research has been conducted in this area, since the pioneering work of Lovell (1983) and Cecil (1984). Our research draws on one of the largest and most systematic bodies of data ever collected on early miscarriage, and provides continued evidence of the traumas of miscarriage. The strategies employed by women to make sense of, and come to terms with, their experience of miscarriage are explored, employing a typology of pre-modern, modern and postmodern responses.