Coalitions of touch: Balancing restraint and haptic soothing in the veterinary clinic

Llewellyn, Nick, Hindmarsh, Jon and Burrow, Robin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7846-1996 2022. Coalitions of touch: Balancing restraint and haptic soothing in the veterinary clinic. Sociology of Health & Illness 44 (4-5) , pp. 725-744. 10.1111/1467-9566.13458

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

This article responds to recent calls to further incorporate the study of animal health care into the sociology of health and illness. It focuses on a theme with a long tradition in medical sociology, namely clinical communication, but explores matters distinctive to veterinary practice. Drawing on video recordings of 60 consultations across three small animal veterinary clinics in the United Kingdom, we explore how clients and veterinarians (or “vets”) fashion fleeting “coalitions of touch,” that aptly position the animal to enable the performance of medical work, often in the face of physical resistance. Building on recent developments in the study of haptic sociality, we analyse how care and emotional concern for animal patients is communicated through various forms of embodied action; thus, how the problematics of forced care and restraint are mitigated through distinctive ways of touching and holding animal patients. Moreover, while prior studies of small animal veterinary work have highlighted the significance of talk within the clinician–animal–client triad, we reveal the fundamentally embodied and collaborative work of managing and controlling patients during sometimes intense and fast-moving episodes of veterinary care.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Additional Information:	This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0141-9889
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	4 February 2022
Date of Acceptance:	4 February 2022
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2024 04:53
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/147161

Citation Data

Cited 1 time in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item