Distribution of Responsibility in the Field of Reproductive Health: The Perspectives of Obstetrician-Gynecologists

Abstract

This article considers the distribution of responsibility for reproductive health as an issue in sociological theory and as an object of sociological study. The first part of the article develops a theoretical examination of the subjects of responsibility and their interrelations in the field of healthcare in general and of reproductive healthcare inparticular. It demonstrates that responsibility has been studied in terms of two-sided relations between doctor and patient, state and citizen, or state and medical institution. At the same time, responsibility in the field of reproductive healthcare can be attributed to several key social actors. The second part of the article examines the plurality of subjects of responsibility, as described by Russian obstetrician-gynecologists in semistructured interviews. Results of the empirical study suggest that there is a lack of clear and defined mutual expectations between different social actors, supporting the thesis of dispersion of responsibility for reproductive health. In Russian, extended summary in English.