1. Midwifery as established sect: an expanded application of the church-sect continuum.
- Author
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Murphy-Geiss, GailE., Rosenfeld, Dana, and Foley, Lara
- Subjects
- *
MIDWIFERY , *MIDWIVES , *SOCIOLOGY , *MEDICINE - Abstract
Based on church-sect theory, this paper asserts that midwifery is much like an established sect in relation to its church equivalent: Western medicine. We find that midwifery can endure in this form - as both protest movement and established institution - because of its ability to maintain its central oppositional values while being accepted as a legitimate, if marginalized, profession. Using interview data from 25 Florida midwives, we draw an analogy between the liminal status of midwifery and three of the most important characteristics of the established sect: limited institutionalization, acceptance and opposition, and a unique value set. This comparison sheds light on both church-sect theory and midwifery, which also leads us to suggest that similar analogies be used for analysis across other sub-fields in sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2010
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