Law in everyday life and death : a socio-legal study of chronic disorders of consciousness

Halliday, Simon and Kitzinger, Celia and Kitzinger, Jenny (2015) Law in everyday life and death : a socio-legal study of chronic disorders of consciousness. Legal Studies, 35 (1). pp. 55-74. ISSN 0261-3875 (https://doi.org/10.1111/lest.12042)

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Abstract

This paper addresses, from a socio-legal perspective, the question of the significance of law for the treatment, care and the end-of-life decision making for patients with chronic disorders of consciousness. We use the phrase ‘chronic disorders of consciousness’ as an umbrella term to refer to severely brain-injured patients in prolonged comas, vegetative or minimally conscious states. Based on an analysis of interviews with family members of patients with chronic disorders of consciousness, we explore the images of law that were drawn upon and invoked by these family members when negotiating the situation of their relatives, including, in some cases, the ending of their lives. By examining ‘legal consciousness’ in this way (an admittedly confusing term in the context of this study,) we offer a distinctly sociological contribution to the question of how law matters in this particular domain of social life.

  • Item type:Article
    ID code:84958
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    1 March 2015
    Published
    Notes:Halliday, S., Kitzinger, C., & Kitzinger, J. (2015). Law in everyday life and death: A socio-legal study of chronic disorders of consciousness. Legal Studies, 35(1), 55-74. doi:10.1111/lest.12042
    Subjects:Law
    Department:Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HaSS) > Strathclyde Law School > Law
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:30 Mar 2023 14:58
    Last modified:22 Apr 2024 00:55
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/84958
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