Abstract

CASTRO, Roberto  and  VILLANUEVA LOZANO, Marcia. Violence in medical practice in Mexico: a case of sociological ambivalence. Estud. sociol [online]. 2018, vol.36, n.108, pp.539-569. ISSN 2448-6442.  https://doi.org/10.24201/es.2018v36n108.1648.

This paper presents a classification of the different types of violence to which doctors are exposed during training and professional practice. Actors alien to the medical field exert external violence, whereas practitioners, paramedical personnel and patients exert internal violence. The later can be hegemonic (when produced by authorities and doctors in power positions) or contra-hegemonic (if it defies such power structures). The hypothesis is that doctors maintain a relation of sociological ambivalence regarding the different types of violence to which they are exposed during their professional practice. This allows them to be very critical against external violence, and, at the same time, to normalize internal violence and take it as part of the profession. This ambivalence is illustrated with a series of empirical examples.

Keywords : violence; medical field; sociological ambivalence; medical practice.