Journal of Iranian Social Studies

Abstract Oocyte donation forms a part of so called "Assisted Reproduction Technology" (ART) that assists infertile women with ovarian problems or other medical factors to achieve their dream of having a child. Understanding the experience of infertile women in a difficult decision-making period for oocyte donation and selecting it over other alternatives (adoption or to live without children) is significant. Little is known about the lived experience of recipient women though, especially in Iran, due to the cultural, social, and religious conditions of the society. The present article describes the experience of those infertile women. This study was conducted using qualitative method and phenomenological approach with the aim of recognizing and describing the experiences of the women recipients of donated oocyte. Eleven participants were selected by purposive sampling method from women who had turned to Royan Infertility Institute in Tehran, Iran. The data were generated from transcription of taped Semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data analysis was in accordance with the procedure introduced by Colaizzi. Six main themes emerged from the women’s descriptions of their experiences:(1) the possibility of maintaining the confidentiality in egg donation; (2) the opportunity of having the experience of pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding ;(3) the chance of genetic transition from husband ;(4) the impact of time factor in choosing oocyte donation ;(5) oocyte donation being permissible from a religious point of view; and (6) emotional and social burden of infertility.

Abstract The issue of transparency has become a social demand. Requests for transparency goes beyond the political and economic institutions and has expanded into the medical institution. On this basis, it is assumed that physicians will take responsibility for their performance especially regarding their professional faults. Accordingly, the present study followed a theoretical analysis investigating the issue of medical transparency from a sociological perspective. Towards this objective, first the theoretical framework and existing opinions were introduced, then, the context for formation of such a concept ( of transparency) as well as the opponents and pro-ponants' ideas were discussed: Global activities relevant to the medial transparency were presented next and finally, taking advantage of the available research findings, the problem of medical transparency in the Iranian medical institutions was clarified. The results indicate that some remarkable efforts have been made as towards the transparency of medical errors in Iran, but due to the existing structural barriers it needs to pave a long way ahead. The fundamental prerequisite for achieving transparency is a multidimensional development in structural mechanisms of every society i.e. the external environment of the medical institutions as well as, the provision of required convenient conditions in the internal environment of the medical institutions

Abstract Stress Process Paradigm (SPP) is configured in 1980’s to study the impacts of social factors on the production and distribution of stress related to mental disorders. Over the past three decades, this paradigm maintained its dominance in the field of sociological studies of stress. Stress process as a conceptual model is consisting of three main components: Stressors (social sources of stress production), Mediators (psycho-social factors which mediate stress), and Health outcomes (reactions to stress). According to SPP, all of the suitable and unsuitable life events are potentially the sources of stress production; though in terms of time sequence, it is possible to draw a spectrum from trauma to chronic stressors. Furthermore,the social support (structural or functional) and coping responses are the most important mediators of stress. Finally, a reaction to stress is determined by sociocultural factors, such as; emotions, cultures, social norms, and social learning of emotions expression. SPP as a sociological framework is concentrated on the role of social structures and social contexts in the shaping the patterns of distribution of stress related mental disorders. The main purpose of present paper is to discuss those issues which must be considered by sociologists at the time of studying stress process. Since, the main strategy of social research in this field is to identify the connecting circles between social arrangements and individual stress, therefore the paper is trying to propose a conceptual as well as analytical framework, to assist the presentation and elaboration of sociology of stress in Iran.

Abstract Based on the produced data from a research project called "Concepts of health and disease and health-related behaviors among female students", a secondary data analysis was made by the coauthors. We have investigated the role of mothers in educating daughters about health issues. Critical discourse analysis of the findings indicated that girls, in comparison to their mothers, were more conscious of health issues, however, their health-related behaviors were quite similar to their mothers, as if- they were mostly influenced by the dominant traditional culture , which led them not to care about their health practically the way their mothers used to. According to Bandera's social learning theory, it can be said that the daughters learned from their mothers' health behavior, leading to endure illness and pain, and not to take a serious action towards preserving their health status. They cared about their health, but only to the point that the illness process did not disrupt their daily lives. This was found inconsistent with their health beliefs and the level of health knowledge. Clearly, in educating daughters about health and health-related behavior, mothers play an important direct and indirect role.

Abstract A doctor-patient relationship is one of the most controversial kinds of social relationships. This research analyzes the doctor-patient relationship from the patients' point of view. The data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with 21 patients visiting obstetricians in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, using a grounded theory approach as well as field observations of the ongoing procedures of medical consultation. Based on the data analysis, five categories, i.e. "multiple patient visits", " time limitation", "high patient load", "lack of readiness of patients" and "avoidant behavior of the doctors" have been found as causal conditions of "non-cooperative and treatment-centered relationship" which has been recognized as the dominant communicative pattern between doctor and patient in the scope of the current research. Contextualizing conditions, have also been analyzed in a larger scope in the form of culture, mental patterns, awareness and financial supporting actions among which "level of education" played a very significant role. Accordingly patients usually show compatibility, tolerance, self-help mechanisms, and or conflict in return. Since the multiple-patient-visit phenomenon is growing, especially among obstetricians' practices, research needs to be done in this particular field, because according to our findings it has drastic effects on the doctorpatient relationship and the patients' health status.

Abstract Illness behavior is considered as a process of Symptoms perception, Meaning Attribution, Expression and Communication, Coping responses, and Help-seeking behavior . Infertility, as an illness, is highly influenced by social and cultural variables. Due to great importance of infertility and having offspring in most of the cultures, the present research deals with studying illness behavior of infertile women also in Mazandaran Province from a medical sociology viewpoint. In order to analyze illness behavior (illness perception and its aspects) Lowenthal's common sense model was used, to explain help- seeking behavior, Gunay's help-seeking behaviour model was applied, and to assess the impact of strength situation and readiness regarding each aspect of illness perception and help-seeking model, Leen White's treatment seeking model was used. We conducted a cross-sectional survey. The data was collected from 95 infertile women who were selected randomly among those referring to state infertility treatment centers of Mazandaran Province . In addition, we used the illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R) and the scale of health control to measure the variables. The Results show that majority of studied respondents (59%) did have average illness perception quality. Moreover, 87% of them showed a modern help-seeking behavior. The findings also showed a significant relationship between some aspects of illness perception and strength and readiness.

Abstract Induced abortion is considered as one of the methods of ending unwanted pregnancies that usually happens illegally and under unhygienic circumstances. Deciding to go through an abortion is a difficult and complicated process which affects a large number of women physically, mentally and socially. The main aim of the present study was to learn more about the experience of induced and illegal abortions among women. Qualitative method techniques and phenomenological inquiries were utilized to collect the data through interviewing 28 married women in the city of Tehran. These women had at least one experience of an illegal abortion and were turned to using snowball sampling method. Three categories of how to decide for abortion, committing process and its consequences were induced from the analysis of data using grounded theory. According to the findings of the study, deciding to go for an abortion is a challenging process for the women, for their husbands and even for the people who are related to them. This decision is affected by factors such as religious views, the time force of decision making, husbands' and relatives’ opinion, the embryo’s age and reasons and motives of the abortion. There are also a number of reasons which affect the woman’s social and psychological reactions after the abortion among which are the age of embryo at the time of the abortion, woman’s power of decision making, the level of support from the husbands and relatives, religious views, the type of marriage and the attitudes towards abortion, rational reasons for performing it, woman’s prior feelings toward it and the number of abortions. According to the results of the present study, illegal abortions, as reported by the sample respondents ,are considered important and controversial issues. In spite of the feeling of freedom at the beginning of an abortion, the women and their family suffered from long-lasting physical, mental and social consequences.