Of natural bodies and antibodies: Parents' vaccine refusal and the dichotomies of natural and artificial. (May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Reich, Jennifer A.
• Is Part Of: Social science & medicine. Volume 157(2016)
• Page Start: 103
• Page End: 110
• Publication Date: 2016-05
• Subjects: Vaccination -- Parenting -- Natural -- Pharmaceutical -- Breastfeeding -- Childbirth; Social medicine -- Periodicals; Medical anthropology -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; Psychology -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Médecine sociale -- Périodiques; Anthropologie médicale -- Périodiques; Santé publique -- Périodiques; Psychologie -- Périodiques; Médecine -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 362.105
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.04.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0277-9536

Abstract

Abstract: Despite eliminating incidences of many diseases in the United States, parents are increasingly rejecting vaccines for their children. This article examines the reasons parents offer for doing so. It argues that parents construct a dichotomy between the natural and the artificial, in which vaccines come to be seen as unnecessary, ineffective, and potentially dangerous. Using qualitative data from interviews and observations, this article shows first, how parents view their children's bodies, particularly from experiences of birth and with infants, as naturally perfect and in need of protection. Second, parents see vaccines as an artificial intervention that enters the body unnaturally, through injection. Third, parents perceive immunity occurring from illness to be natural and superior and immunity derived from vaccines as inferior and potentially dangerous. Finally, parents highlight the ways their own natural living serves to enhance their children's immunity rendering vaccines unnecessary. Taken together, this dichotomy allows parents to justify rejection of vaccines as a form of protecting children's health. These findings expose perceptions of science, technology, health, and the meanings of the body in ways that can inform public health efforts. Highlights: Parents perceive differences in natural and artificial immunity. Vaccines come to be seen as artificial and inferior, leading to refusal. These concerns drive public health and provider communication about vaccines.