CONTESTING AUTHORITY: BOUNDARY WORK AND NARRATIVE AMONGST HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS IN JAMAICA AFTER THE CHIKUNGUNYA OUTBREAK

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Zabriskie, Queen

Area of Concentration

General Studies

Abstract

What does the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) outbreak of 2014 reveal about the experiences of naturopaths in Jamaica and their place within the health care system? A 2011 study of herbal medicine use in Jamaica found that approximately 73% of Jamaicans use naturopathic medicine; yet, the Ministry of Health in Jamaica does not have an operational regulatory body for this profession. This thesis examines the various ways that naturopaths try to maintain the legitimacy and authority of their knowledge despite this marginalization and exclusion from the state-sponsored health care system. Using interviews with seven heath care practitioners, both naturopathic and conventional doctors, in St. Mary, Jamaica, I examine the views of these practitioners about the 2014 CHIKV epidemic and their beliefs naturopathic medicine. I argue that naturopaths respond to what they perceive as pressures caused by the marginalization of their profession by engaging in “boundary work” (Gieryn 1983) that expands or expels the criteria that state health authorities and conventional doctors use to evaluate theirpractices. Additionally, before and during the CHIKV epidemic, lack of inclusion and delegitimizing language from health authorities such as Ministry of Health and U.S. health institutions provided the opportunity for naturopaths and the general public to forward narratives that question the authority of health officials. In order to illustrate these narratives, I specifically examine the “the CHIKV/plane origin story” in my thesis. I argue that this narrative about origins of CHIKV reveals the general public’s frustration with the lack of inclusion of everyday citizens within the decision-making processes of the health care system in Jamaica.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS