Moral Foundations and Symbolic Pollution: What Do Midwives Say About Hospitalized Women?

Year, pages: 2016, 463 - 485

The aim of this study is to describe how the work organization of midwives is related to their moral judgements concerning pregnant women. This analysis is based on material gathered during ethnographic research undertaken at a gynaecology and maternity ward at a hospital in Slovakia. The interpretations of the research findings are informed by the work of Mary Douglas and Moral Foundations Theory. Using the analytical tools of the grid-group, this article then shows that the working environment of midwives is a type of hierarchical group. Douglas predicted that such a type of social structure would be built on values such as subordination, respect for authority, and purity. An analysis of the material confirms this assertion: midwives’ narratives of pregnant women are in fact representations of moral values of authority and purity. Explicit statements of emotions of anger, contempt, disgust, and elevation serve as indicators of either the violation or observance of moral rules.

Pešťanská, Z. 2016. Moral Foundations and Symbolic Pollution: What Do Midwives Say About Hospitalized Women?. In Slovenský národopis / Slovak Ethnology, vol. 64, no.4, pp. 463-485. 1339-9357.

Pešťanská, Z. (2016). Moral Foundations and Symbolic Pollution: What Do Midwives Say About Hospitalized Women?. Slovenský národopis / Slovak Ethnology, 64(4), 463-485. 1339-9357.

Publisher: Ústav etnológie a sociálnej antropológie SAV