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Pilgrimage of pain: The illness experiences of women with repetition strain injury and the search for credibility

Author

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  • Reid, Janice
  • Ewan, Christine
  • Lowy, Eva

Abstract

Repetition strain injury (RSI), a non-specific and controversial constellation of work-related hand, arm and neck symptoms, became epidemic in Australian industry in the early 1980s. Fifty-two women who worked in a telecommunications organisation and a chicken processing factory and had been diagnosed as having RSI were interviewed about their perceptions and experiences of the illness. Their accounts of the search for caring and treatment, including their encounter with health and medical practitioners, suggest that the need to be believed and to establish their integrity dominated their 'pilgrimage'. The failure of the dominant explanations of RSI to accommodate the psychosocial and political dimensions of the illness thwarted this quest and, it is argued, contributed to its chronicity.

Suggested Citation

  • Reid, Janice & Ewan, Christine & Lowy, Eva, 1991. "Pilgrimage of pain: The illness experiences of women with repetition strain injury and the search for credibility," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 601-612, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:32:y:1991:i:5:p:601-612
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    Cited by:

    1. Phillips, Tarryn, 2012. "Repressive authenticity in the quest for legitimacy: Surveillance and the contested illness lawsuit," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(10), pages 1762-1768.
    2. Guntram, Lisa, 2013. "“Differently normal” and “normally different”: Negotiations of female embodiment in women's accounts of ‘atypical’ sex development," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 232-238.
    3. Willig, Carla, 2011. "Cancer diagnosis as discursive capture: Phenomenological repercussions of being positioned within dominant constructions of cancer," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(6), pages 897-903, September.

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