Social Representations in Colombia of Women and Men Having Abortions Master’s Thesis, Department of Psychology UNIVERSITY OF OSLO May 2019 Social Representations in Colombia of Women and Men Having Abortions Live Grimstvedt Lystad © Live Grimstvedt Lystad 2019 Social Representations in Colombia of Women and Men Having Abortions Live Grimstvedt Lystad http://www.duo.uio.no Print: Reprosentralen (University Print Centre), University of Oslo II Abstract Author: Live Grimstvedt Lystad Title: Social Representations in Colombia of Women and Men Having Abortions Supervisor: Sigrun Marie Moss This research aimed to investigate what social representations are held by people in Colombia of women and men who have abortions. The study is based on interview data material collected in Bogotá, Colombia, through semi-structured individual interviews and focus group interviews conducted by the author, with help from an interpreter. A total of 24 people were interviewed on issues around abortion, in 14 separate interviews. The study participants were female and male, ranging in age from 21 to 66 years old. The interview data were analyzed through a thematic analysis approach. Based on the participants’ accounts, five representations of women and, to some extent, men having an abortion were constructed: “women as promiscuous”, “irresponsible”, “bad person”, “murderer” and “autonomous decision maker”. These are in this thesis discussed in light of social representations theory, including participants’ statements on the societal context in which these representations exist. Representations held in Colombian society of people having abortions were perceived by participants to be generally negative. There was seemingly more negativity connected to representations of women having an abortion than men involved in an abortion. However, a contrast was found between the representations perceived to be dominant in society, and representations held by many of the participants. Views of people having abortions as independent and with right to their own decisions contrasted the negative representations held by some participants and perceived as dominant in society. These contrasts can be seen in connection with variations in social groups and communities in factors of religiosity and views on gender roles, as well as regional location in the country and knowledge of the country’s abortion law. The study shows the presence of varying representations in Colombian society of men and women having abortions. These findings can improve our comprehension of the ways in which different social groups perceive and relate to people having abortions, as well as how people having abortions might understand themselves in this environment. Keywords: abortion, Colombia, social representations theory, thematic analysis III Acknowledgments I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of my participants, who shared their thoughts and helped me to complete this research, and who also welcomed me so warmly in their country, showed interest in my project and were friendly and open to my interest in their thoughts on abortion. I also want to thank my research assistant and interpreter. Thank you for your professional assistance, input and cooperation, as well as your friendship and inclusion of me during my stay in Bogotá. I really appreciated it then, and still do now. Thank you also to all the wonderful people I met during my time in Colombia, who showed me the beauty of your country and the warmth and openness of its people. A profound thank you to my supportive, invaluable and fantastic supervisor, Sigrun. I am so very grateful for having had you as my supervisor during this year. Thank you so much for all your time, help and contribution in the work on this project. Thank you for guiding me, steering me in new directions when I was feeling lost, for supporting me and for truly inspiring me with your attitude, humor and skill. Thank you to family, friends and classmates for all support, motivation and inspiration, and a special thank you to my classmates and friends Ella and Lisa. It has been a pleasure to experience the ups and downs of this journey with you. I am very grateful for your input and feedback on my project and have really appreciated our support for each other in this process. I am really glad to have been “i samme sofa” with you during this last year. Live Grimstvedt Lystad Oslo, May 2019 IV Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Background and Relevance ........................................................................................................ 2 Abortion Worldwide ............................................................................................................... 2 Context-Dependent Understandings of Abortion ................................................................... 3 Abortion in Latin America ..................................................................................................... 5 Abortion in Colombia ............................................................................................................. 6 Social Representations Theory ................................................................................................... 6 Anchoring and Objectifying ................................................................................................. 10 Hegemonic, Emancipated and Polemical Representations ................................................... 11 Cognitive Polyphasia ............................................................................................................ 12 Social Representations and Attitudes ................................................................................... 13 Criticism of Social Representations Theory ......................................................................... 14 Method ..................................................................................................................................... 15 Design and Epistemological Standpoint ............................................................................... 15 Participants and Recruitment ................................................................................................ 16 Participants. ....................................................................................................................... 16 Recruitment. ...................................................................................................................... 17 Conducting Interviews .......................................................................................................... 19 Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 20 Transcription. .................................................................................................................... 20 Conducting thematic analysis. .......................................................................................... 20 Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................................... 22 Reflexivity ............................................................................................................................ 22 Findings .................................................................................................................................... 23 Contextual Aspects of Colombian Society ........................................................................... 25 Abortion law and circumstantial acceptance of abortion. ................................................. 26 Religion. ............................................................................................................................ 27 Gender roles and expectations: machismo and marianismo. ............................................ 28 Difference between rural and urban regions. .................................................................... 30 Social Representations in Colombia of Women and Men Having Abortions ...................... 31 Women as promiscuous. ................................................................................................... 31 Irresponsible. ..................................................................................................................... 34 Bad person. ....................................................................................................................... 37 V Murderer. .......................................................................................................................... 42 Autonomous decision maker. ............................................................................................ 44 General Discussion ................................................................................................................... 47 Limitations ............................................................................................................................ 49 Further Research ................................................................................................................... 50 References ................................................................................................................................ 51 Appendices ..............................................................................................................................