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Under the influence? The construction of Foetal Alcohol
Syndrome in the UK
Pam LoweEllie Lee
Outline
FASD migration?
Risky drinking?
Unrespectable women?
FASD migration?
FAS identified in alcoholic women in the US
Democratised to include all women
Expanded to a range of conditionsFASD
UK Developments
‘Arrived’ in the UK since 2000Prior to this very little attention
Linked to the development of UK claimsmakers
Initial reception muted –little widespread support
UK Developments
coverage over time
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
years
no
of
arti
cles
The Times
Daily Mail
Guardian
Independent
Mirror
Sun
Express
Daily Telegraph
Daily Star
Government responses
Advice has changed to promote abstinence
Yet there is no evidence that this is necessary
Message not universally accepted
Risky Drinking?
Consumption of alcohol now considered a social problem
Linked to anti-social behaviour
Young women in particular are focused on as problematic binge drinkers
Risky Drinking?
Associated with negative discourses of teenage pregnancy
Anti-social families
(Young) binge-drinking women become identified as a risk to potential foetus.
‘Good motherhood’
Increasing attention on pregnancy and conceptionthrough engagement with the public foetus
Individualisation encourages new public heath solutions
‘Risk’ is not a consideration but a negative to be avoided
‘Good mothering’?
Women are ‘warned’ of the ‘risk
‘Good motherhood’ becomes defined by compliance
Yet not accepted uncriticallyDo ‘good mothers’ really need reminding?
Parenting cultures
Overlapping discourses correlate around consumption of alcohol in pregnancy
Anti-social behaviourTeenage pregnancy
Fit with the emergence of a ‘public foetus’
Summary
FASD has emerged as social problem at a particular cultural time
Binge drinkingPublic Foetus/child at riskIncompatibility of risk with good motherhood
Changes in advice unrelated to scientific evidenceHas implications for the policing of all women’s behaviour
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