The social construction of 'dowry deaths

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4593767
AutoresJyoti Belur (0000-0003-2332-6823, University College London), Nick Tilley (University College London), Nayreen Daruwalla (Society for Nutrition Education and Health Action), Meena Kumar (Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital and Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College), Vinay Kumar Tiwari (0000-0003-1286-5768, Safdarjang Hospital), Vinay Tiwari, David Osrin (0000-0001-9691-9684, University College London)
Ano2014
Volume119
Páginas1-9
Data de publicação2014-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSocial Science & Medicine (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0277-9536 • E-ISSN: 1873-5347
EditoraElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.07.044
PMID25129569
PMCIDPMC4394358
OpenAlexW2103518682
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas35

The classification of cause of death is real in its consequences: for the reputation of the deceased, for her family, for those who may be implicated, and for epidemiological and social research and policies and practices that may follow from it. The study reported here refers specifically to the processes involved in classifying deaths of women from burns in India. In particular, it examines the determination of 'dowry death', a class used in India, but not in other jurisdictions. Classification of death is situated within a framework of special legal provisions intended to protect vulnerable women from dowry-related violence and abuse. The findings are based on 33 case studies tracked in hospital in real time, and interviews with 14 physicians and 14 police officers with experience of dealing with burns cases. The formal class into which any given death is allocated is shown to result from motivated accounting processes representing the interests and resources available to the doctors, victims, victim families, the victim's husband and his family, and ultimately, the police. These processes may lead to biases in research and to injustice in the treatment of victims and alleged offenders. Suggestions are made for methods of ameliorating the risks

Criminology · Damages · Domestic violence · Dowry · Injustice · Medical emergency · Poison control · Political science · Situated · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Wrongful death · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Law · Medicine