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The Fragility of Healing
Cheryl Mattingly1, Mary Lawlor
1Professor with the Department of Anthropology and Department of Occupational Science and Therapy, University of Southern California.
American Anthropologist
|October 9, 2010
Summary
Pediatric rehabilitation therapists create "healing dramas" during treatment, turning routine exercises into engaging narratives. However, institutional practices often lead to the abandonment of these beneficial, patient-centered dramatic moments.
Area of Science:
- Medical Sociology
- Pediatric Rehabilitation
- Qualitative Research Methods
Background:
- Pediatric rehabilitation involves routine therapeutic activities.
- Therapeutic practice can be enhanced by narrative and dramatic elements.
- A paradox exists in the simultaneous use and discouragement of these dramatic moments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the paradox of "healing dramas" in pediatric rehabilitation.
- To understand how these dramatic moments are constructed between patients and therapists.
- To investigate why institutional factors lead to their abandonment.
Main Methods:
- Ethnographic research conducted in Chicago and Los Angeles.
- Analysis of "healing dramas" as narrative plots within therapeutic practice.
- Examination of institutional discourses and practices impacting these moments.
Main Results:
- "Healing dramas" transform routine exercises into engaging narratives with stakes.
- These dramas heighten patient focus on their experience.
- Institutional factors contribute to the suppression of these valuable narrative moments.
Conclusions:
- "Healing dramas" are a significant, yet often suppressed, aspect of pediatric rehabilitation.
- Understanding their construction and institutional context is crucial.
- Further research should explore how to sustain these beneficial therapeutic narratives.
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