Suchergebnisse

Sociological research on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has focused on CAM practitioners' efforts to professionalise within biomedically-dominated healthcare systems. Structural changes and alterations in the knowledge or content of work have been main aspects of CAM's professionalisation process. This research emphasises a third, often overlooked, aspect: the role of the geographical setting and its distinct context. This research has four objectives: (1) to compare the evolvement of the professionalisation of CAM in two European countries, the UK and Portugal; (2) to identify parallels and differences to this process in these two countries; (3) to discuss the role of political, historical, economic and cultural context in explaining such parallels and differences; (4) to contribute to a multi-layered analysis of CAM's professionalisation in Western societies. Acupuncture and homeopathy will be used as case-studies. The analysis draws on empirical data gathered between 2008-2015 in the UK and Portugal. In-depth interviews with traditional acupuncture and classical homeopathy practitioners and educators, documentary analysis of regulation policies, and participant observation of teaching, have been the methods of data collection. A preliminary analysis of the data suggests different levels of state intervention and control in CAM's regulation in the UK and Portugal. There are also considerable differences in terms of stages of formalisation of education in both countries: while in the UK CAM's undergraduate programmes were established already in the 1990s but have recently witnessed a significant rejection and decline, in Portugal, prompted by government regulation, they have recently been created. This comparative approach can help identify country-specific forces to CAM's professionalisation. Furthermore, it can extend national-level ideas about what is possible within CAM's professionalisation process and contribute to developing a typology of CAM's professionalisation in Western societies.

Short Abstract This investigation compares the formalising of acupuncture and homeopathy training in the UK and in Portugal while emphasising another, often overlooked, dimension - the role of the local setting with its distinctive cultural-political make up. Long Abstract Sociological research of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has focused on CAM practitioners' efforts to professionalise within biomedically-dominated healthcare systems, a process characterised by structural/organisational changes and alterations to the knowledge or content of work. This investigation compares the formalising of acupuncture and homeopathy training in the UK and in Portugal while emphasising another, often overlooked, dimension - the role of the local setting with its distinctive cultural-political make up. This study objectives are: (1) to compare and contrast the formalisation process of CAM therapies in two European countries, the UK and Portugal; (2) to consider the role of the political, historical and cultural context in explaining parallels and differences between the two settings; (3) drawing in particular on Bourdieu's 'field' concept, to enhance the theoretical conceptualisation of professional projects in CAM. While reflecting on empirical findings gathered between 2008-2015 in the UK and Portugal, this investigation draws on a current documentary textual analysis of acupuncture and homeopathy courses' syllabi as well as educational guidelines and documents published by the main professional bodies representing the two practitioner-groups. A preliminary analysis of the data points at different levels of state intervention and control in CAM's regulation in the UK and Portugal as well as differences in the evolvement of formalising education in both countries: in the UK CAM's undergraduate programmes were already established in the 1990s but have recently witnessed a significant challenge and decline, while in Portugal, prompted by direct government regulation, such programmes are only recently being created.

Traditional acupuncturists' quest for external legitimacy in Britain involves the standardization of their knowledge bases through the development of training schools and syllabi, formal educational structures, and, since the 1990s, the teaching of undergraduate courses within (or validated by) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), a process which entails biomedical alignment of the curriculum. However, as holistic discourses were commonly used as a rhetorical strategy by CAM practitioners to distance themselves from biomedicine and as a source of public appeal, this 'mainstreaming' process evoked practitioners' concerns that their holistic claims are being compromised. An additional challenge is being posed by a group of academics and scientists in Britain who launched an attack on CAM courses taught in HEIs, accusing them of being 'unscientific' and 'non-academic' in nature. This paper explores the negotiation of all these challenges during the formalization of traditional acupuncture education in Britain, with a particular focus on the role of HEIs. The in-depth qualitative investigation draws on several data sets: participant observation in a university validated acupuncture course; in-depth interviews; and documentary analysis. The findings show how, as part of the formalization process, acupuncturists in Britain (re)negotiate their holistic, anti-reductionist discourses and claims in relation to contemporary societal, political and cultural forces. Moreover, the teaching and validation of acupuncture courses by HEIs may contribute to broadening acupuncturists' 'holistic awareness' of societal and cultural influences on individuals' and communities' ill-health. This investigation reveals the dynamic and context-specific (rather than fixed and essentialized) nature of acupuncture practice and knowledge.