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The Mask of Dementia: Images of ‘Demented Residents’ in a Nursing Ward

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Hava Golander  and
Aviad E. Raz
Hava Golander
Affiliation:
Department of Nursing, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, P.O.B. 39040, Ramat Aviv, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel.
Aviad E. Raz
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel.
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Abstract

A description of the social construction of dementia among elderly residents of a nursing ward is offered, based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in an Israeli geriatric centre. This account focuses on the construction of positive social identities and the ascription of roles for residents labelled as ‘demented’. The findings illustrate the split between personal and social identity in dementia. The applicability of conventional socio-psychological constructs such as ‘I’ and ‘me’ regarding dementia is questioned, as the spoken manifestations of these constructs is critically examined from a symbolic interactionist perspective.

Keywords

Dementiasocial constructionsocial/personal identitiesnursing wardsymbolic interaction.
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , May 1996 , pp. 269 - 285
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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