Project II: The practice and social knowledge of autopsy

(Head of project: Professor Dr. Hubert Knoblauch)

• General Question
  
• The subject of the examination
  
• Sub-project I "The autopsy in the media"
  
• Sub-project II "Clinical practice"
• Team
• Contact

General question

Despite the fact that the social problem of the decline in autopsy rates is very well known and that it is described at length, from a sociological point of view the question arises as to how this decline should be explained. 

Other involved disciplines doubtlessly play a major role. From the perspective of medical history, the question that might arise could be to what extent and in what form does the autopsy have a historically-entrenched meaning (possibly tabooing)? From a sociological perspective, the clarification of legal developments can be seen as an institutional framework. In the above outlined approach the sociological sub-project will, however, be concerned on the one hand with the question whether cultural meanings are written into the practice of the autopsy, and if so in which way. On the other hand, it will ask to what extent the institutional structures of the hospital as the place at which the decision for or against the autopsy is made, are relevant for the organization of the clinical autopsy. These questions are to be examined in our two sub-projects.

The subject of the examination

In Sub-project II, the institutional framework, as well as the physicians and the parties involved in the course of the briefing, which precedes the autopsy are to be examined. In particular, the perspectives and attitudes associated with the individuals involved will be analysed. We can assume that the interpretations and decisions of individuals are dependent on cultural patterns of interpretation, and so we will also turn towards public discourse on autopsies (see Sub-Project I). We assume that public knowledge surrounding the autopsy is, on one hand, dependent on culturally-entrenched meanings, but also, on the other hand, is determined by the media and educational initiatives.

With regard to the media, there has been fundamental change in the last years.  Autopsy has become a fashionable subject, which has been addressed in a set of very popular TV shows. Against the background of the decline in autopsy rates in hospitals, media attention has generated a very special interest amongst the general public. In connection to  clinical practice, it should be asked whether and if so in what way, the patterns of interpretation emerging in these popular series also appear in the perceptions of the participants involved in actual autopsies.

Sub-project I - "The autopsy in the media":

The research offers a cultural inquiry of the representation of dead bodies in new American TV shows of the 21st century. Before the 21st century, crime shows have always shown the victims at the crime scene only. With the turn of the century and the rise of TV shows like CSI or Six Feet Under, the clearly visible dead body became a constant player in the plot, not only at the crime scene but also in the morgue, in the embalming room or in pathology. This phenomenon is unique in that the corpse in these TV shows serves not only as the visual focus that instigates inquiry, but as the central focus of the plot during the course of investigations, inquiries, or funerals. Before the turn of the century, there was only one show on TV (Quincy, M.E.) that presented a pathologist and an "invisible corpse". Throughout its run on TV, the show remained very guarded in its representation of the corpse. The massive proliferation of new representations of dead bodies in the 21st century however, confronts the viewer with various aesthetic body representations that not only elicit anxiety but also fascination and curiosity. The research will explore the visibility of certain codes of the contemporary representation of corpses in daily TV shows and shed light on contemporary media's ideals of beauty and the conveyed body knowledge about the dead body.

Sub-project II - "Clincal practice":