The sociology of women's abortion experiences: recent research and future directions

Abortion is a common and essential reproductive healthcare procedure experienced by approximately one third of women at some time in their life. Abortion is also commonly politicised and presented in public discourse as inherently contentious or controversial. However, recent sociological research on women's experiences of abortion is relatively thin on the ground. The body of qualitative research on abortion experiences, which does exist, varies in scope and focus on a relatively limited range of themes. Building on an earlier review of qualitative research on women's abortion experiences, this paper explores the recent literature and identifies three key thematic areas: the context of abortion; reasons and decision-making; and abortion stigma. It then goes on to identify gaps in the literature, to explore what shape a sociology of women's abortion experiences might take and to suggest future directions for sociological research

Ending period poverty: Scotland’s plan for free menstrual products shatters taboos and leads a global movement

First paragraph: In the UK, the average woman will spend about £4,800 on period products in her lifetime. For households on low incomes, this kind of expense is a heavy burden. In August 2018, Scotland made history as the country leading a global movement to end period poverty. The government pledged to invest £5.2m to provide free menstrual products in schools, colleges and universities across the country. Period supplies will be available in toilets, just as paper and soap are already provided. The scheme’s objective is to ensure that all students have access to the pads, tampons and products they need, regardless of financial means.https://theconversation.com/ending-period-poverty-scotlands-plan-for-free-menstrual-products-shatters-taboos-and-leads-a-global-movement-10313

Touching work: a narratively-informed sociological phenomenology of holistic massage

This thesis comprises an exploration of the practice of Holistic Massage, working across the sociological areas of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM), body work, emotional labour, sociological phenomenology and narrative inquiry. Holistic Massage is one of a plethora of practices encompassed by the field of CAM. While there has been steadily increasing sociological interest in CAM in recent years, much research has treated this diverse group as relatively homogeneous. This thesis looks at one practice in depth, in order to address issues specific to Holistic Massage – including what ‘holism’ adds up in to in practice, and the devaluation of knowledge based on touch(ing) – as well as those concerning CAM more broadly. Hence, whilst drawing on existing research on CAM, this research also addresses a lacuna within it. This thesis employs the conceptual tool of ‘touching work’, which brings together the concepts of ‘emotional labour’ and ‘body work’ in a way that draws out relevant aspects of each around the fulcrum of touch, thus accounting for the latter in both its sensory and emotional meanings. In so doing, it also contributes to the recently burgeoning literature on the senses in sociology, and to an embodied sociology more generally. The thesis also draws on sociological phenomenology, in particular the notion of the intersubjective ‘stock of knowledge’, and the understanding of talk as constitutive of the everyday social world. The overall methodological approach taken brings together phenomenological theory with narrative inquiry, and specifically with the analysis of the form and content of talk. The analysis presented is based around data from loosely-structured interviews with ten women who do Holistic Massage. The interviews were analysed in terms of their overall shape and distinctive features (Chapter Three) and, in subsequent chapters, with respect to both what was said and how it was said. This analysis examines the constitution of a Holistic Massage stock of knowledge (Chapter Four) and how the practice is bounded (Chapter Five), and concludes in Chapter Six by taking a step back from the detail of the data to look at what can be known from it about Holistic Massage and touching work Piecing together the constitution by practitioners of a stock of professional Holistic Massage knowledge makes a significant contribution to the sociology of CAM. Also, by uniting phenomenological sociology and narrative inquiry, it provides a novel perspective on a form of work which is part of a small but significant contemporary occupational field in the UK. In particular, it draws out the multiple aspects of touch which can in fact be known and articulated through talk and challenges ideas about the supposedly ineffable character of touch. In this regard, it points to similarities between how practitioners talk about this and the Foucauldian challenge to the ‘repressive hypothesis’, which sees people as in fact talking readily and in detail about matters where they claim silence prevails

Addressing contraception at the time of abortion: experiences of women and health professionals

This study set out to identify similarities and differences between the experiences of women who received abortion care and of health professionals who gave that care in both SRHC and hospital settings. In relation to contraception specifically, we aimed to establish whether, and in what ways, receiving care in the two types of settings influences and informs decisions about future contraceptive use. Findings from this study can further understanding, and inform policy development around how contraceptive advice and methods are provided at the time of abortion

Toward normalising abortion: Findings from a qualitative secondary analysis study

In most settings worldwide, abortion continues to be highly stigmatised. Whilst a considerable body of literature has addressed abortion stigma, what is less commonly examined are ways in which those with experience of abortion describe it in non-negative terms which may resist or reject stigma. Drawing on qualitative secondary analysis of five UK datasets using a narrative inquiry approach, we explore: the use of non-negative language around abortion, potential components of a normalising narrative, and constraints on non-negativity. As such, we present the first empirical UK study to critically examine how a dominant negative abortion narrative might be disrupted

The changing body work of abortion: a qualitative study of the experiences of health professionals

‘Body work’ has emerged at the nexus of sociologies of work and bodies as a means of conceptualising work focusing on the bodies of others. This article utilises this analytical tool in the context of contemporary abortion work. Abortion provision in Britain has seen significant change in the last 25 years, paralleling developments in medical methods, and the option for women under nine weeks' gestation to complete the abortion at home. These shifts raise questions around how abortion work is experienced by those who do it. We apply the conceptual lens of body work to data drawn from in-depth interviews with 37 health professionals involved in abortion provision, to draw out the character, constraints and challenges of contemporary abortion work. We explore three key themes: the instrumental role of emotional labour in facilitating body work; the temporality of abortion work; and bodily proximity, co-presence and changes in provision. By drawing on the conceptual frame of body work, we illuminate the dynamics of contemporary abortion work in Britain and, by introducing the idea of ‘body work-by-proxy’, highlight ways in which this context can be used to expand the conceptual boundaries of body work

The stigmatisation of abortion:a qualitative analysis of print media in Great Britain in 2010

The media play a significant part in shaping public perceptions of health issues, and abortion attracts continued media interest. Detailed examination of media constructions of abortion may help to identify emerging public discourse. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine if and how the print media in contributes to the stigmatisation of abortion. Articles from seven British and five Scottish national newspapers from 2010 were analysed for overall framings of abortion and emergent themes, including potentially stigmatising discursive constructs and language. Abortion was found to be presented using predominantly negative language and discursive associations as ‘risky’, and in association with other ‘discredited’ social practices. Key perspectives were found to be absent or marginalised, including those of women who have sought abortion. Few articles framed abortion as a positive and legitimate choice. Negative media representations of abortion contribute to the stigmatisation of the procedure and of women who have it, and reflect a discrediting of women's reproductive decision-making. There is a need to challenge the notion that abortion stigma is inevitable, and to encourage positive framings of abortion in the media and other public discourse

Young People's views and knowledge about abortion

The primary aim of this qualitative study was to gain insight into the views of young people from contrasting socioeconomic backgrounds about abortion and access to abortion services. The study set out to assess the barriers facing young people in using services to ensure that their views are included in the development of the new Scottish Government’s Teenage Pregnancy and Young Parent Strategy