Critical Social and Medical Constructions of Perinatal Substance Misuse: Truth in the Making

Abstract

The care of women and newborns with prenatal drug and alcohol exposure has been widely recognized as a significant health and social issue. There are wide variations in the values, beliefs, and knowledge regarding perinatal substance misuse in health and child welfare professionals and when contrasted to the field of sociology. Sociology and critical social theory provide an alternative to a traditional medical perspective by using a contextual lens through which to move beyond the "medicalization" of health and illness toward an understanding that considers the historical, political, and social interpretations of perinatal substance misuse. However, the medical and critical social perspectives are often seen as incommensurable. This discussion of the health issues related to perinatal substance misuse and the analysis from a critical social perspective are provided as an attempt to move communities away from rhetoric and toward development of effective, supportive interventions that meet the health and social needs of substance-using women and their children.There is a dynamic and central role for sociological knowledge within the practice of nursing (Morrall, 2001). As nurses begin to question the appropriateness of a primarily positivist philosophy of medical and nursing science, alternate philosophies are actively sought that can contribute to a wider understanding of health, illness, and the JOURNAL

Nursing home residents in emergency departments: a Foucauldian analysis

“…We suggest that the methodological limitations, resulting from practices and research questions designed to create divisions, construct ‘knowledge’ that stigmatizes and marginalizes residents (Thorne et al. 2002, Hall 2003, Marcellus 2003). In the case of NH residents in the ED, research strongly supports the notion that ED transfers are largely inappropriate and that many of the presenting issues could be managed in the NH (Ackermann et al.…”