Altruism, gift giving and reciprocity in organ donation: A review of cultural perspectives and challenges of the concepts (original) (raw)
Related papers
Annals of transplantation : quarterly of the Polish Transplantation Society, 2014
Incentives and reciprocity have been widely debated within the literature as an alternative to altruism to motivate the public to register and consent to organ donation. This pilot study was the first to examine the views of the UK Polish migrant community toward these issues. One-to-one and small group interviews were conducted in English and Polish to collect data. The interviews were recorded and transcribed and interviews in Polish were translated into English. All transcripts were coded, codes were grouped by theme and emergent themes were constantly compared to the new data until saturation. Participants were motivated to donate altruistically but would accept reciprocity for organs once consent was given. Payment for organs was viewed as unfavourable but participants would accept contribution toward funeral expenses. Deceased organ donation was viewed as an 'altruistic gift'. 'Altruism' and 'gift' are problematic in deceased organ donation and could ex...
BMC Research Notes, 2010
Background: Although altruism is a key principle in our current organ donation and transplantation system, the meanings and implications of the term have been widely debated. Recently, a new type of living organ donationanonymous and non-directed, also called living altruistic donation (LAD)-has brought the issue into sharper focus. Transplant physicians' views on altruism might influence their attitudes and actions toward living altruistic donors. This study aimed to explore such views among transplant physicians in France and Quebec. Findings: A total of 27 French and 19 Quebec transplant physicians participated in individual, semi-structured interviews between October 2004 and December 2005. The majority of these participants associated altruism with gratuitousness and saw altruistic acts as multiple and varied, ranging from showing consideration to saving a person's life.
An evaluation on vital organ donation, culture, altruism and informed consent
Abstract Altruism has a biological basis of concept, besides of that altruistic behaviors are shaped up by cultural components classifications of the communities and empowers the relationship among the members of the community. Cultural components, individualism and collectivism definitely have a relationship with informed consent and autonomy which take part in medical ethics principles and this relationship must be evaluated in frame of organ donation. That evaluation informs us about what the community actually think about their culture. Because culture includes abstract and concrete values depend on the society, person and the geographical location possibilities. Societies have their own cultural links and their own perception about life in terms of altruistic behaviors. Science and technology help these communities to keep in touch to each other by also affecting their ethics value. Along with the ethics principles that are constructed in an universal frame, cultural components of the societies are applied in different ways. Key words: Altruism, culture, organ donation, autonomy, informed consent.
Where do human organs come from? Trends of generalized and restricted altruism in organ donations
Social science & medicine (1982), 2011
The supply of human organs for transplantation is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Using data from 30 countries for the years 1995-2007, this paper suggests that organ supply today is more dependent on direct donations than on the collective organ pool. This trend is analyzed by studying different modes of altruism: "generalized altruism" relates to the procurement of organs through a one-for-all collectivized system of donations whereas "restricted altruism" relates to one-to-one donations with organs considered personal gifts. The data suggest that transplants are becoming less and less social goods and more and more personal gifts. This trend is documented and discussed in light of the linkage that social scientists hypothesize between altruism and social solidarity. Whereas altruism is conceived as generating social solidarity, the rise in direct organ donations restricts the effect of altruism to one-to-one interactions rather than one-for-all giving.
pinnacle of altruism-organ donation and transplantation
Abstract - This paper introduces us to the concept of altruism and describes the Indian scenario of altruism in context of organ donation and transplantation. It further classifies living and deceased organ donation into directed and non directed organ donation and explains them briefly. While encouraging altruism this paper suggests some ways of increasing organ donation in India akin to those prevalent in other countries like allowing Living Non Directed Altruistic organ donation ,only after evolving a system where the donor and recipient's identity are kept confidential and considering Living Directed Altruistic organ donation with utmost care keeping in view the existing socio economic disparities between the rich and the poor, absence of national health insurance policy and the unabated organ trade rackets unearthed almost every year. In addition this paper recommends allowing Deceased Directed Organ Donation or conditional donations of at least one organ and allowing first degree relatives priority in organ allocation in case the family has previously contributed through Deceased Non Directed Altruistic organ donation as has been done in other countries for increasing the supply of organs in India.
Journal of Communication, 2016
Moral appeals to altruism as a means to influence people's prosocial behavior are common, especially in organ donation, but communicators might not consider that conceptions of altruism differ among people, cultures, and scholars. In organ donation employing altruism as the main appeal is contested and some propose using solidarity or reciprocity as alternative prosocial appeals. This qualitative study explored views of people from diverse Israeli groups (29 focus groups) and medical professionals (140) regarding the appropriateness of employing these 3 moral appeals in organ donation. The analysis presents frameworks of contrasting conceptions of altruism that point to potential unintended effects when applying a restrictive conception. It also identifies communication challenges associated with introducing solidarity or reciprocity as prosocial and value-laden persuasive appeals.
New Zealanders’ perceptions of gift and giving back as participants of organ transfer procedures
Kotuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 2012
There is an established international tradition of empirical research in anthropology and sociology on organ donation and transplantation. However, little empirical research on this topic has been done in New Zealand. This article contributes New Zealand data to the literature, drawing on qualitative research investigating the experiences of 78 Pākehā and Māori and their perceptions of bio-identity in the course of tissue exchange. In line with international studies our findings indicate the language used to promote organ donation as a disinterested, non-reciprocal and unconditional act does not always reflect the experiences of those involved in organ transfer procedures. At the same time, transplant recipients often speak of compelling obligations to reciprocate the 'gift of life'. While these are common features of organ transfer generally, we suggest the psychosocial wellbeing of donors, families, recipients, and whānau rests on careful attention to the cultural specificities of this experience.
Donating organs: A theory-driven inventory of motives
Psychology, Health & Medicine, 2011
Two studies examined in a theoretically driven way the full range of motives that lay behind patients' acceptance or reluctance at donating organs after death. They also examined the way these motives were related to demographic characteristics, to the personality, and to the signing of a donor card. Six separable motives at donating organ were evidenced, and these motives were interpretable in the Reversal Theory framework: Financial Incentive (telic), Humanistic or Religious Duty (conformist), Positive Consideration from Others (autocentric sympathy), Living on Through a Receiver (pro-autic mastery), and Gift of Life and Close Others (allocentric sympathy). Five motives at not donating organs were evidenced: Preserving the Absolute Integrity of the Body (conformist), Strict Individualism (negativist), Lack of Control over the Use of the Organs (autocentric mastery), Anonymity of the Procedure (autocentric sympathy), and Respecting Family Wishes (allocentric sympathy). These motives were linked to personality factors in a meaningful way. Willingness to sign was strongly associated with gender, with Integrity and Duty, and with Gift of Life. When Integrity scored high, however, the effect of the other factors was practically annihilated. In other words, Integrity acted as a protected value (189 words).
Social Science & Medicine, 2010
The international literature on organ donation and transplantation has drawn attention to the popularity of ''gift of life'' discourse among pro-donation advocates, transplantation specialists, and within organisations lobbying for improved donation rates to promote the benefits of organ donation among members of the general public. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, gift of life discourse is robust. Aside from attempts to elicit altruism by promoting tissue donation in the public domain, gift terminology separates the act of donation from that of commerce and the commodification of body tissues. In distancing donation from commodification and the potential to degrade and exploit human beings, it is assumed that gift discourse transmits the positive message that donation is a noble and morally worthy act. Recent sociological research has shown that assumptions of the gift as one-way and altruistic do not necessarily align with people's perceptions and experience of donating body tissues, and that the vocabulary used to describe these acts is often at variance with reality. This article draws on interview data with 15 critical care specialists (intensivists) and donor and recipient coordinators, examining their perceptions of the relevance of gift discourse and its applicability in the context of deceased donation in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The data indicate several problems with gift rhetoric to describe the situations health professionals encounter. In sum, gift terminology tends to downplay the sacrifice involved in tissue donation generally, as well as depoliticising the exchange relations of tissue transfer in contemporary consumer culture and in the global context. This raises questions about the underlying ethics of language choice and what, if anything, empirical accounts of tissue transfer can contribute to ethical debates.
Organ and tissues donation: relation with the body in our society
Acta Paul Enferm, 2010
This is a study of literature review aimed to develop theoretical considerations on the donation of organs and tissues and on its relationship with the human body, in our society. Increasing donation rates depends on a perspective that goes beyond the technical issues of the process of donating organs and tissues. Several countries, with large time frame experience, working systematically in this process with an approach that incorporates social and ethical aspects, based on volunteers, and respecting the families right to autonomy of potential donors. Accompanying the body, after donation, usually requested by the family, represents the beginning of mourning for the death of a relative, which is part of the funeral ritual in the culture of our society. The actions to ensure an ethical-legal sequence, defined by the law of transplants, imply a commitment to quality and safety of the process of organ and tissue donation, which must be strictly followed by professionals working in this area. Thus, it is hoped that these attitudes can build a positive culture on the donation in the country, contributing in the long run to increase donation rates.