Abortion Approval as a Ritual of Symbolic Control

Bibliographic Data

ID20394191
AuthorsDelila Amir (Tel Aviv University), Orly Biniamin (Tel Aviv University)
Year1992
Volume3
Issue1
Pages5-25
Publication date1992-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWomen & Criminal Justice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0897-4454 • E-ISSN: 1541-0323
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1300/j012v03n01_02
OpenAlexW2098723625
LanguageEN
Citations received24

The variability of abortion laws and particularly, of the mechanisms employed to implement them attests to the sociocultural specificity of the concrete solutions to the universal problem of reproductive control. The present study examines the implementing mechanisms of the abortion law in Israel, which is a medical committee. Based on interviews with 29 social workers (all women) who serve on the committees, this paper examines how the committees operate. At one and the same time it describes the "control culture" which emerges within the legal procedure; that is, the mechanism's structure, language, accepted discourses and rituals. Foucault's concepts of power/knowledge were found to be most enlightening in this context of regulating abortions. The analysis of the abortion approval procedures portray characteristics of a ritual. A ritual that is analogous to a juvenile court on the one hand, threatening but not really punishing, and on the other hand, a confessional situation in which the woman has to confess her normative wayward behavior such as extra-marital relations, not using contraception, and enjoying sex with no reproductive intentions. The reinforcement of normative attitudes toward women and especially toward motherhood is manifested in the expressions used by the committee members referring to the pregnant woman's future behavior and the expectations from her to abide by them. These two ritualistic facets are central components of symbolic control which the Israeli "reproductive deviant" woman is faced with

Abortion · Birth control · Confessional · Criminology · Family planning · Normative · Political science · Politics · Population · Pregnancy · Research methodology · Social control · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Gender Studies · History · Law · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Social Psychology