Predicament and Pilgrimage: Hearing Families of Deaf Children in Mexico City
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-3-2019
Abstract
In this article, I trace the most salient features of Mexican families’ complex journeys as they coped with the “predicament” of childhood deafness. Framing support seeking through the theoretical lens of pilgrimage brings into focus family introspection and captures their tenacity while facing culture-specific obstacles. Ultimately, families realized their quests were not about “fixing” their children’s hearing, but finding more reliable communication in sign language. Pilgrimage, as a metaphor for the journeys described by participants, helps us understand families’ realizations that the biomedical options most commonly available in Mexico City were of limited efficacy, and reveals collective desire for alternatives to these options.
Publication Title
Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness
Volume
38
Issue
3
First Page
195
Last Page
209
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1080/01459740.2018.1540617
PubMed ID
30468087
ISSN
01459740
E-ISSN
15455882
Citation Information
Pfister, A.E. (2019) Predicament and Pilgrimage: Hearing Families of Deaf Children in Mexico City. Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness, 38(3), 195-209.