| Popis: |
Being confronted with health risks implies challenges to mental health and well-being, requiring persons to find a balance between threat and confidence. The ‘power of definition’ with respect to health risks predominantly lies with professionals, implying that there is one appropriate way of understanding and interpreting risk-related information. This chapter will invite for a reflection on the potential of qualitative research in re-claiming the power of definition, offering the opportunity for a co-construction of concepts such as risk, vulnerability, and mental health. The aim is to highlight the particular value of different methodological approaches for opening up definitional spaces between scientists and research participants. It is grounded in the assumption that persons faced with a health risk construct their personal narratives to find a meaningful way to manage their situation, embedded in their biographical and social context. Narrative interviews with persons faced with a mental health risk were analysed in a circular process using complementing methodological perspectives from two disciplines: ethnology and linguistics. The findings were situated within a sociology of knowledge framework, focusing on the power of definition concerning a person’s health and health risks. Herein, particular attention was drawn to ethical and methodological issues of assessing concepts such as ‘risk’ or ‘vulnerability’; and the importance of (self-)reflexivity in conducting research in this field. Methodological reflection on these issues may contribute to constructively dealing with the tension between a standardised biomedical conception and an open, bottom-up approach to health knowledge in a medically oriented scientific environment. |
