Abstract

VELEZ VELEZ, Esperanza. Organ donation - an anthropological perspective. Rev Soc Esp Enferm Nefrol [online]. 2007, vol.10, n.3, pp.19-25. ISSN 1139-1375.

The anthropological approach to organ donation has as a main goal to capture how the sociocultural aspect of donation is structured and to bring about the meaning of it. The present paper tries to analyze organ donation from the anthropologic perspective and the broad focus for it allowed, an approach that keeps in mind the actors involved not just from the individual perspective but from the social and cultural one. Even though organ donation is a physically individual act, it is basically a social and collective event. It is done by and for the collectivity. Using a qualitative narrative methodology, the impressions about donation were gathered among family patients and nursing and psychology students. Concept of donation, donation as an individual act and a social event, different motives conditioning the distinct cognitive representation of donation, among others, are analyzed. More information and a more sensitive treatment toward donors point out as social compensation and facilitator factors in organ donation.

Keywords : Donation; Social Act; Motivation.

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