Down's Syndrome Screening and Reproductive Politics

Author: Gareth M. Thomas
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317338200
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 251

Book Description
Nominated for the Foundation of Sociology of Health and Illness Book Prize 2018 In the UK and beyond, Down’s syndrome screening has become a universal programme in prenatal care. But why does screening persist, particularly in light of research that highlights pregnant women’s ambivalent and problematic experiences with it? Drawing on an ethnography of Down’s syndrome screening in two UK clinics, Thomas explores how and why we are so invested in this practice and what effects this has on those involved. Informed by theoretical approaches that privilege the mundane and micro practices, discourses, materials, and rituals of everyday life, Down’s Syndrome Screening and Reproductive Politics describes the banal world of the clinic and, in particular, the professionals contained within it who are responsible for delivering this programme. In so doing, it illustrates how Down’s syndrome screening is ‘downgraded’ and subsequently stabilised as a ‘routine’ part of a pregnancy. Further, the book captures how this routinisation is deepened by a systematic, but subtle, framing of Down’s syndrome as a negative pregnancy outcome. By unpacking the complex relationships between professionals, parents, technology, policy, and clinical practice, Thomas identifies how and why screening is successfully routinised and how it is embroiled in both new and familiar debates surrounding pregnancy, ethics, choice, diagnosis, care, disability, and parenthood. The book will appeal to academics, students, and professionals interested in medical sociology, medical anthropology, science and technology studies (STS), bioethics, genetics, and/or disability studies.

Choosing Down Syndrome

Author: Chris Kaposy
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262037718
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 237

Book Description
An argument that more people should have children with Down syndrome, written from a pro-choice, disability-positive perspective. The rate at which parents choose to terminate a pregnancy when prenatal tests indicate that the fetus has Down syndrome is between 60 and 90 percent. In Choosing Down Syndrome, Chris Kaposy offers a carefully reasoned ethical argument in favor of choosing to have such a child. Arguing from a pro-choice, disability-positive perspective, Kaposy makes the case that there is a common social bias against cognitive disability that influences decisions about prenatal testing and terminating pregnancies, and that more people should resist this bias by having children with Down syndrome. Drawing on accounts by parents of children with Down syndrome, and arguing for their objectivity, Kaposy finds that these parents see themselves and their families as having benefitted from having a child with Down syndrome. To counter those who might characterize these accounts as based on self-deception or expressing adaptive preference, Kaposy cites supporting evidence, including divorce rates and observational studies showing that families including children with Down syndrome typically function well. Himself the father of a child with Down syndrome, Kaposy argues that cognitive disability associated with Down syndrome does not lead to diminished well-being. He argues further that parental expectations are influenced by neoliberal ideologies that unduly focus on the supposed diminished economic potential of a person with Down syndrome. Kaposy does not advocate restricting access to abortion or prenatal testing for Down syndrome, and he does not argue that it is ethically mandatory in all cases to give birth to a child with Down syndrome. People should be free to make important decisions based on their values. Kaposy's argument shows that it may be consistent with their values to welcome a child with Down syndrome into the family.

The Politics of Down Syndrome

Author: Kieron Smith
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1846946131
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 90

Book Description
Are we a more accepting society than ever before? Is there no longer a them and us division between the disabled and everybody else? The Politics of Down Syndrome looks at how we got to where we are today, from the racist roots of its identification to the rising number of abortions today. Down syndrome is the most common syndrome in the world, shared by all classes and races, yet it's one we rarely address our feelings about, head on. This book, although direct and questioning, takes a positive view about where we go from here and the opportunity for society to fully enjoy the benefits of being inclusive.

Down's Syndrome Screening and Reproductive Politics

Author: Gareth M. Thomas
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317338219
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 221

Book Description
Documents an important yet much neglected practice in prenatal medicine Provides a challenging new perspective on how ethically-challenging biomedical technologies are routinised and normalised in a contentious context Offers in-depth research for key debates in sociology, anthropology, bioethics, genetics, and STS Explores how ideas around disability are reproduced in the clinic and feed into wider discourses about disablement in Western culture

Insecurity

Author: Jenn Stephenson
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1487514107
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 295

Book Description
The early years of the twenty-first century have witnessed a proliferation of non-fiction, reality-based performance genres, including documentary and verbatim theatre, site-specific theatre, autobiographical theatre, and immersive theatre. Insecurity: Perils and Products of Theatres of the Real begins with the premise that although the inclusion of real objects and real words on the stage would ostensibly seem to increase the epistemological security and documentary truth-value of the presentation, in fact the opposite is the case. Contemporary audiences are caught between a desire for authenticity and immediacy of connection to a person, place, or experience, and the conditions of our postmodern world that render our lives insecure. The same conditions that underpin our yearning for authenticity thwart access to an impossible real. As a result of the instability of social reality, the audience, Jenn Stephenson explains, is unable to trust the mechanisms of theatricality. The by-product of theatres of the real in the age of post-reality is insecurity.

Comedy and the Politics of Representation

Author: Helen Davies
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319905066
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Book Description
This edited collection explores the representations of identity in comedy and interrogates the ways in which “humorous” constructions of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, class and disability raise serious issues about privilege, agency and oppression in popular culture. Should there be limits to free speech when humour is aimed at marginalised social groups? What are the limits of free speech when comedy pokes fun at those who hold social power? Can taboo joking be used towards politically progressive ends? Can stereotypes be mocked through their re-invocation? Comedy and the Politics of Representation: Mocking the Weak breaks new theoretical ground by demonstrating how the way people are represented mediates the triadic relationship set up in comedy between teller, audience and butt of the joke. By bringing together a selection of essays from international scholars, this study unpacks and examines the dynamic role that humour plays in making and remaking identity and power relations in culture and society.

Contemporary Arts as Political Practice in Singapore

Author: Wernmei Yong Ade
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137573449
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description
This timely collection examines the contemporary arts as political practice, offering critical insight into some of the more controversial talking points that have shaped Singapore’s identity as a nation. Focusing on the role played by contemporary arts in shaping Singapore’s political landscape as the country celebrated 50 years of independence in 2015, the authors consider how politics is often perceived as that which limits the flourishing of the arts. Contending that all art is political, and that all art form is a form of political practice, this collection examines ways in which the practice of art in Singapore redraws the boundaries that conventionally separate arts from politics. It critically examines the tenuous relationship between the arts and politics and offers a timely reevaluation of the relationship between the arts and politics. In doing so, it opens a dialogue between artistic practice and political practice that reinforces the mutuality of both, rather than their exclusivity, and redefines the concept of the political to demonstrate that political involvement is not a simple matter of partisan politics, but has an inherently aesthetic dimension, and aesthetics an inherently political one.

Mad Politics

Author: Gina Loudon
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1621578402
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, America has been insane for decades. We've elected establishment politicians on both sides of the aisle; we've hoped for change; and we've been disappointed. But with the election of Donald Trump, America tried something new. So we have to ask ourselves: what if Trump isn't the crazy man that the media pretends he is? What if he's actually the cure for a country who's been going mad for years? In Mad Politics, Fox News commentator, radio host, and psychological analyst Dr. Gina Loudon diagnoses the problem with America's status quo politics. Loudon has unique insight into both the Trump campaign and the larger political landscape as a member of the president's 2020 media advisory board, a former surrogate for his campaign, the wife of a former Senator from Missouri, the co-host of a national Television show, a seasoned psychological analyst on FOX News, CNN and others, and a twice pedigreed Master and Ph.D. With authority and wit, Mad Politics exposes cultural patterns that have led to today's political narcissism. She scans the psychological literature and illuminates a formula to answer the question: How can we restore a sound mind to the body politic? The answer, Loudon concludes, may be in joining Trump in a complete rejection of political correctness.

Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health

Author: Sana Loue
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387337539
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 852

Book Description
Americans are living longer, and the elder population is growing larger. To meet the ongoing need for quality information on elder health, the Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health combines multiple perspectives to offer readers a more accurate and complete picture of the aging process. The book takes a biopsychosocial approach to the complexities of its subject. In-depth introductory chapters include coverage on a historical and demographic overview of aging in America, a guide to biological changes accompanying aging, an analysis of the diversity of the U.S. elder population, legal issues commonly affecting older adults, and the ethics of using cognitively impaired elders in research. From there, over 425 entries cover the gamut of topics, trends, diseases, and phenomena: -Specific populations, including ethnic minorities, custodial grandparents, and centenarians -Core medical conditions associated with aging, from cardiac and pulmonary diseases to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s -Mental and emotional disorders -Drugs/vitamins/alternative medicine -Disorders of the eyes, feet, and skin -Insomnia and sleep disorders; malnutrition and eating disorders -Sexual and gender-related concerns -And a broad array of social and political issues, including access to care, abuse/neglect, veterans’ affairs, and assisted suicide Entries on not-quite-elders’ concerns (e.g., midlife crisis, menopause) are featured as well. And all chapters and entries include references and resource lists. The Encyclopedia has been developed for maximum utility to clinicians, social workers, researchers, and public health professionals working with older adults. Its multidisciplinary coverage and scope of topics make this volume an invaluable reference for academic and public libraries.

Defending Freedom of Contract: Constitutional Solutions to Resolve the Political Divide

Author: Patrick Bohan
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1684703298
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 424

Book Description
The progressive movement that began in the late nineteenth century was a nonviolent coup d'état changing the United States of America from a republic that promoted equal rights for all to a democracy where the majority rules. As a result, moral and social justice was and is used by the federal government to protect the rights of some while mitigating the rights of others. Patrick Bohan, who has studied constitutional law in depth, examines the revolution in detail in this treatise, demonstrating how freedom of contract can be applied to protect the fundamental rights of each citizen equally. The author evaluates hundreds of laws, cases, and examples of justice gone wrong for issues such as slavery, abortion rights, elections, welfare rights, free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, property rights, contract rights, gay rights, alien rights, and other important topics that polarize Americans.