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The agentic Self and uncontrollable body: young people’s management of chronic illness at university

journal contribution
posted on 2023-08-30, 16:43 authored by Grace Spencer, Sophie Lewis, Megan Reid
Young people’s experiences of living with a long-term health condition have been largely investigated from the perspective of developing autonomy and optimal self-management of treatment regimens. Little existing research explores how young people adjust to the experience of chronic illness within everyday social contexts. Drawing on socio-cultural theories of healthism, in this paper we examine the everyday strategies students employed to manage their health condition at university. Data were drawn from a qualitative study with 16 undergraduate students in Australia. Findings from interviews highlight how participants took up discourses of the (hard-working, diligent) Self to discursively position themselves as ‘health conscious’ and ‘in control’. This positioning was maintained through separating the controlled Self from the (uncontrollable) body. The unpredictability of the body posed a threat to young people’s abilities to maintain control and denied them opportunities to exercise personal agency. Yet participants also described a number of subversive strategies in order to take back control and resist the experience of ill health. These potential agentic practices often held unintended consequences, including loss of optimal medical control or (self) exclusion from university life – offering new insights into the differing ways young people concomitantly take-up, rework and resist the pursuit of healthism to ‘successfully’ manage their health conditions.

History

Refereed

  • Yes

Volume

25

Issue number

3

Page range

357-375

Publication title

Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine

ISSN

1461-7196

Publisher

SAGE

File version

  • Accepted version

Language

  • eng

Legacy posted date

2019-11-06

Legacy creation date

2019-11-06

Legacy Faculty/School/Department

Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine & Social Care

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