Coalitions of touch: Balancing restraint and haptic soothing in the veterinary clinic

TY - JOUR

T1 - Coalitions of touch

T2 - Balancing restraint and haptic soothing in the veterinary clinic

AU - Llewellyn, Nick

AU - Hindmarsh, Jon

AU - Burrow, Robin

N1 - Funding Information: We are indebted to the vets and clients that participated in the research, for granting us access to the activities of the veterinary clinic. Likewise, we appreciate the care with which this article was managed by the editor and read by anonymous reviewers, whose comments were very helpful in strengthing the paper. The research was funded by the University of Warwick. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for SHIL (SHIL).

PY - 2022/4/1

Y1 - 2022/4/1

N2 - This article responds to recent calls to further incorporate the study of animal health care into the sociology of health and illness. It focuses on a theme with a long tradition in medical sociology, namely clinical communication, but explores matters distinctive to veterinary practice. Drawing on video recordings of 60 consultations across three small animal veterinary clinics in the United Kingdom, we explore how clients and veterinarians (or “vets”) fashion fleeting “coalitions of touch,” that aptly position the animal to enable the performance of medical work, often in the face of physical resistance. Building on recent developments in the study of haptic sociality, we analyse how care and emotional concern for animal patients is communicated through various forms of embodied action; thus, how the problematics of forced care and restraint are mitigated through distinctive ways of touching and holding animal patients. Moreover, while prior studies of small animal veterinary work have highlighted the significance of talk within the clinician–animal–client triad, we reveal the fundamentally embodied and collaborative work of managing and controlling patients during sometimes intense and fast-moving episodes of veterinary care.

AB - This article responds to recent calls to further incorporate the study of animal health care into the sociology of health and illness. It focuses on a theme with a long tradition in medical sociology, namely clinical communication, but explores matters distinctive to veterinary practice. Drawing on video recordings of 60 consultations across three small animal veterinary clinics in the United Kingdom, we explore how clients and veterinarians (or “vets”) fashion fleeting “coalitions of touch,” that aptly position the animal to enable the performance of medical work, often in the face of physical resistance. Building on recent developments in the study of haptic sociality, we analyse how care and emotional concern for animal patients is communicated through various forms of embodied action; thus, how the problematics of forced care and restraint are mitigated through distinctive ways of touching and holding animal patients. Moreover, while prior studies of small animal veterinary work have highlighted the significance of talk within the clinician–animal–client triad, we reveal the fundamentally embodied and collaborative work of managing and controlling patients during sometimes intense and fast-moving episodes of veterinary care.

KW - animals

KW - communication

KW - ethnomethodology

KW - haptic sociality

KW - touch

KW - veterinarians

KW - veterinary clinic

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125563143&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/1467-9566.13458

DO - 10.1111/1467-9566.13458

M3 - Article

C2 - 35247220

AN - SCOPUS:85125563143

SN - 0141-9889

VL - 44

SP - 725

EP - 744

JO - Sociology of Health and Illness

JF - Sociology of Health and Illness

IS - 4-5

ER -