Acute Care Setting

West, Michele P.

doi:10.1016/b978-1-4557-2896-1.00001-9

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…The vegetative state is a clinical condition in which a patient is in a “transient state of wakefulness without awareness” (West, 2014, p. 7). While some physiological functions are preserved (e.g., sleep‐wake cycles, eye movements and spontaneous reflexes), there is no evidence of self and environmental awareness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding a liminal condition: Comparing emerging representations of the “vegetative state”

Zulato

Montali

Bauer

2021

Euro J Social Psych

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Our research explored the social representations of the 'vegetative state' across different cultural (India, Italy, and the UK) and social milieus (left-leaning, right-leaning, and religious/tabloid newspapers). The aim was to discover how public discourse engages liminality between life and death. Qualitative and quantitative text analyses were conducted on news headlines and full-texts from British (n = 300), Indian (n = 300), and Italian (n = 300) newspapers published between January 1990 and June 2019. Our study shows three results: (a) the vegetative state is a potentially global issue that remains discussed with local timing and characteristics; (b) it is commonly represented in eight frames of different resonance across cultural milieus; (c) the news flows are organised on different dimensions (quality, political, and ideological). Results shed light on how liminality is discursively managed by the interplay of cultural resources and social positionings. In particular, this suggests a hitherto unrecognised function of the objectification process: personification as position-taking.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding a liminal condition: Comparing emerging representations of the “vegetative state”

Zulato

Montali

Bauer

2021

Euro J Social Psych

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“…Following severe brain injuries, people may remain enduringly in a condition of wakefulness without awareness: a vegetative state (West, 2014). This is a relatively recent condition, enabled by improvements in surgical procedures, techniques for resuscitation, and delivery of artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH; Kitzinger & Kitzinger, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regulating liminality: Making sense of the vegetative state and defining the limits of end‐of‐life action

Zulato

Montali

Castro

2023

British J Social Psychol

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Persistently alive but unaware, vegetative state patients are stuck in the transition between life and death – that is, in a liminal hotspot. This condition raises complex ethical and legal dilemmas concerning end‐of‐life action. Drawing on social representations (SRs) and the liminality framework, our research investigated how the vegetative state was constructed within the Italian parliamentary debates discussing end‐of‐life bills (2009–2017). We aimed to understand (1) how political groups represented the vegetative state, (2) how they legitimised different end‐of‐life bills and (3) came to terms with the issue of liminal hotspots. By dialogically analysing three debates (No. of interventions = 98), we identified six themes and discursive aims allowing parliamentarians to differently represent the vegetative state and support different courses of action. In turn, we identified new features of the psycho‐social processes generating SRs: the dialogical tensions between anchoring and de‐anchoring. Results corroborated the idea that de‐paradoxifying liminality relies on group sense‐making and, thus, different political leanings differently addressed the liminality of the vegetative state. We also reveal a novel feature of dealing with liminal hotspots informing the psycho‐social literature that applies when a decision needs to be taken, such as in the case of crafting a law: moving from the paradox.

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Acute Care Setting

Cited by 2 publications

References 14 publications

Understanding a liminal condition: Comparing emerging representations of the “vegetative state”

Understanding a liminal condition: Comparing emerging representations of the “vegetative state”

Regulating liminality: Making sense of the vegetative state and defining the limits of end‐of‐life action

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