Differentiation On Residents' Medical Ethics Views

Chinese society has been embarking upon a dramatic transformation throughout the past 30-odd years.Since rehabilitated as an official discipline,Chinese sociology has been deeply engaged in research into this transformation by utilizing a variety of perspectives.These researches mainly focus upon the societal macroscopic level such as the institutional or structural;paying insufficient attention to the microscopic areas such as public social values and mentality.Thus,it would be a step forward to integrate both macro-and micro-pathways to study China's Social change.It is under this context that we research into social class differentiation of residents'medical ethics views.It is well-known that the fast development of modern medical technology-especially Assisted Reproductive Technology(ART);clinical trial;organ transplantation;and euthanasia,to name just a few-has exerted an unprecedented impact upon the humanity.Such impact in China is embedded in the compression of time after the Reform and Open-up and the social change that this nation is undertaking.It is under these circumstances that we analyze social differentiation among Chinese residents' medical ethics views.In so doing,it is not only a reflection of public ethics response to modern medical technology,but of outcome which the drastic social change brings upon its residents' values.This project also provides a new lens to understand "Chinese process"(e.g.:development trajectories,models,lessons)and "Chinese experience"(e.g.:spiritual meanings of social development,social ethos,values).This research aims to interpret the social factors that influence class differentiation of residents' medical ethics views in the context of social change.Such differentiation to a larger degree is a core part of contemporary Chinese social change.Base on this,we conduct this positivist research into public medical ethics views on "birth,ageing,illness,death".To be specific,it includes:1)Public holistic views on surrogacy;clinical trial,organ transplantation and euthanasia,mainly focusing on their social acceptance level and social attitude regarding these ethics controversial medical behavior.2)Analyzing the class differentiation on surrogacy;clinical trial,organ transplantation and euthanasia.3)Utilizing multiple regression analysis to discuss difference of views on medical ethics,in which independent variables are individual demographical index,affiliations of individuals' social stratification,levels of health inequality and trust of the public to doctor groups.With regard to methodology,this research combines both quantitative and qualitative methods by using Computer-Aided Telephone Interviewing(CATI)and semi-structured deep interviews,both based on questionnaire and interview outlines we designed respectively.We received an effective 617 questionnaires and conducted 16 residents" interviews,of which the interviewees are chosen based on our designated quota from different social classes.By using descriptive analysis,mono-and multi-factor analysis combined with information collected from the interviews,we draw the conclusions:1)The public has a differential understanding of the interventionist and the consequence of life process from cradle to grave,among which there are more consistent attitude(either supporting or opposing)within the actions of surrogacy and euthanasia than those of clinical trial and organ transplantation;the views towards the latter are heavily dividing.2)There are paralleling similarities between medical ethics views and the contemporary social values,both of which demonstrate utilitarianism and higher degree of social tolerance,as well as conspicuous contextualization when comes to the relating decision-making.3)There is an increasing tendency of social class differentiation,rather than convergence,among views of medical ethics.Such differentiation reflects the substantive discrepancy of concerns towards vested interests accumulated by various social classes.There however exist a degree of consensus ethics views towards medical interventionist of life process,which plays a key foundation part in today's social solidarity.4)Embedded in this class differentiation is body stratification in today's Chinese society.It is an important means to resort to medical consumption to reconstruct the conceptualized body and the hierarchy it symbolizes.5)The change among public medical ethics views embodies the change of social consciousness among the larger social group.Firstly,the logic of technologies and capital has risen to become a dominating way of thinking and influence the public views on medical ethics.Secondly,the increasing class differentiation has given rise to the stratification among public views on medical ethics.Finally,the above change of dominating social logic and the social stratification have produced an individualistic subjectivity of social values in contemporary China,which is in turn becoming a direct driving force for the transformation of public medical ethics views.