Health, Responsibility, and Choice: Contrasting Negotiations of Air Pollution and Immunisation Information

Judith Petts*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical study of public conceptions of responsibility and choice in relation to health protection, and the influence of these upon responses to official information. Two contrasting case studies are used, air pollution and childhood immunisation (specifically the MMR vaccination). The results confirm social networks and everyday experiences, and social normalisation of behaviour as important influences upon learning, responses to information, and the taking of personal action. People require information to support the freedom to make personal choices. However, the two cases illustrate that notions of collective responsibility are weaker, in the case of MMR overridden by personal responsibility, in the case of air pollution being transferred to other institutions. Conclusions are developed relating to information provision in an age promoting individualisation and retraction of government, specifically the need for explicit engagement with the benefits (personal and collective) of health protection measures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)791-804
Number of pages14
JournalEnvironment and Planning A
Volume37
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2005
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Environmental Science (miscellaneous)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Health, Responsibility, and Choice: Contrasting Negotiations of Air Pollution and Immunisation Information'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this