Constructing identity in Malawi: management of interpersonal normative and moral issues in talk

• Main Author: de Kok, B C
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2007
• Subjects: Social structure

This study examines social constructions of infertility in Malawi. Overall, studies of infertility in developing countries emphasise its many serious psychological and social consequences, usually attributed to cultural norms mandating parenthood. There appear to be several lacunae in the literature: men with fertility problems are rarely included, an in-depth examination of practitioners' views is missing, and no qualitative study has been conducted on infertility in Malawi, which has a considerable secondary infertility rate. This study addresses several gaps in the literature. It focuses on Malawi, and includes a wide range of participants: women and men with a fertility problem, significant others, indigenous (Malawian and expatriate) biomedical practitioners. Semi-structured interviews with 63 participants were recorded and transcribed, and translations were obtained of interviews in which interpreters were used. For the analysis I used discourse analysis (DA), informed by conversation analysis (CA). This analytic approach, novel in infertility studies, examines the interpersonal functions of statements in interactions, such as blaming or justifying. Use of DA and CA has led to novel insights into how respondents construct infertility, its causes, solutions (sought and offered), and consequences, and how they thereby manage interpersonal, normative and moral issues, revolving around accountability, blame and justification, and attribution of (problematic) identity categories. For instance, I have shown how respondents construct childbearing as a cultural, normative requirement, and how this can be used to justify practices like extramarital affairs, or polygamy, as necessary solutions. My study contributes to theoretical developments in health psychology and health promotion. My analysis points to the relevance of social and normative considerations for engagement in 'risky' behaviours, such as extramarital affairs. This challenges cognition models which treat health behaviour as the outcome of individualistic decision-making processes, and see providing information as the main way of challenging people's behaviour.