Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10071/30993
Author(s): | Zulato, E. Montali, L. Castro, P. |
Date: | 2023 |
Title: | Regulating liminality: Making sense of the vegetative state and defining the limits of end-of-life action |
Journal title: | British Journal of Social Psychology |
Volume: | 62 |
Number: | 4 |
Pages: | 1733 - 1752 |
Reference: | Zulato, E., Montali, L., & Castro, P. (2023). Regulating liminality: Making sense of the vegetative state and defining the limits of end-of-life action. British Journal of Social Psychology, 62(4), 1733-1752. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12653 |
ISSN: | 0144-6665 |
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): | 10.1111/bjso.12653 |
Keywords: | Discourse-oriented thematic analysis Liminal hotspots Parliamentary debates Social representations Vegetative state |
Abstract: | 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. |
Peerreviewed: | yes |
Access type: | Open Access |
Appears in Collections: | CIS-RI - Artigos em revistas científicas internacionais com arbitragem científica |
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