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These original essays by medical sociologists, anthropologists and bioethicists examine the difficult ethical decisions involved in surgery, treatment, and life support.
List of contents
Introduction Barry Hoffmaster 1. Clinical Narratives and Ethical Dilemmas in Geriatrics Sharon R. Kaufman 2. Situated Ethics, Culture, and the Brain Death "Problem" in Japan Margaret Lock 3. Constructing Moral Boundaries: Public Discourse on Human Experimentation in Twentieth Century America Sydney A. Halpern 4. Media Images, Genetics, and Culture: Potential Impacts of Reporting Scientific Findings on Bioethics Peter Conrad 5. Emotions in Medical and Moral Life Renee R. Anspach and Diane Beeson 6. A Contextual Approach to Clinical Ethics Consultation Patricia A. Marshall 7. Family Values and Resistance to Genetic Testing Diane Beeson and Teresa Doksum 8. Ethics Committees and Social Change: Plus Va change...? Cate McBurney 9. Irony, Ethnography, and Informed Consent Charles L. Bosk Afterword Barry Hoffmaster
Summary
The problems of bioethics are embedded in people's lives and social worlds. This work uses research methods to expose multiple contexts within which the problems of bioethics arise, are defined and debated, and resolved. It also includes an essay where one contributor asks his fellow ethnographers to reflect on the ethical problems of ethnography.
