Bodily Alterations

This sets out to explore how a person rebuilds his or her identity after the severe bodily alterations of paraplegia or quadriplegia. It analyzes the responses of people who experience permanent paralysis and provides insights into the relationships between the body, the self and society.

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Sudden loss of body function or control is a calamitous event. How does a person rebuild her or his identity after the severe bodily alterations of paraplegia or quadriplegia? In setting out to explore this question, this book reveals the centrality of the body in the construction of the self. By analyzing the responses of people who experience permanent paralysis, it provides insights into the complex relationships between the body, the self and society. The issues considered in "Bodily Alterations" are relevant for health workers and those involved in rehabilitation, but the insights gained will prove equally valuable for any understanding of the impact of severe change on personal identity. ***Bodily alterations will become an innovative text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in general nursing, physiotherapy, rehabilitation studies, occupational therapy and gerontology. As an exploration of the relationship between self and society, it offers new perspectives in sociology and anthropology. Wendy Seymour began her career as a physiotherapist.
She then retrained and now teaches social medicine to a wide range of health professionals at the South Australian Institute of Technology. This book is intended for students and researchers in the sociology of health, psychology, psychiatry, nurses and other health professionals.