Shiatsu practitioners :

مرکز و کتابخانه مطالعات اسلامی به زبان های اروپایی

منو

" Shiatsu practitioners : "
Spurr, Susan Margaret

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Record Number	:	1102700
Doc. No	:	TLets755295
Main Entry	:	Spurr, Susan Margaret
Title & Author	:	Shiatsu practitioners :\ Spurr, Susan Margaret
College	:	Open University
Date	:	2015
student score	:	2015
Degree	:	Ph.D.
Abstract	:	This thesis is an exploratory study of Shiatsu as a distinct type of healthcare practice. Situated within the sociology of the professions as the wider academic context, this study focuses on Shiatsu practitioners and the process of professionalisation in relation to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Neo-Weberian theory is used to examine the field of CAM, highlighting its marginalisation by the medical profession. What counts as legitimate knowledge is raised as an important question in relation to the process of professionalisation and CAM. Ethnography and narrative inquiry form the basis of the methodological approach. My experiences as a Shiatsu practitioner gave me 'deep familiarity' in the field of my research and I examine the challenges in this respect and discuss reflexivity as a methodological tool. The recruitment strategy led to a spectrum of participants' experiences across a broad temporal dimension and I argue this is a particular strength of the study. Concepts of 'social positioning' and 'turning points' provide important theoretical considerations of the analytic framework. The data-led chapters collectively form a trajectory of participants' pathways through a 'landscape of practice'. These chapters highlight key tensions and turning points in relation to the trajectory of 'Getting into Shiatsu' and 'Getting out there to practise Shiatsu', particularly in respect of the status of knowledge and earning a living as a Shiatsu practitioner. These tensions are discussed in the context of professionalisation, and highlight some of the wider structural factors -for example the interface of Shiatsu with the NHS, other CAM practices as well as society in general. The issue of marginalisation provides a connection between Etienne Wenger-Trayner's concept of landscapes of practice and neo-Weberian theory in relation to CAM practices. The experiences of participants in this study are potentially relevant to other practitioners not only in other marginalised emerging professions but also practitioners in more established professions.
Added Entry	:	Open University