Abstract

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is an umbrella term covering a range of conditions related to prenatal alcohol exposure. In Sweden, only the most severe of these conditions, Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), is used as a medical diagnosis. The aim of this study was to analyze the Swedish discussion on whether or not FASD conditions (other than FAS) should be actively diagnosed/identified. The data consisted of a webpage material from a FASD interest organization and a report from a Swedish authority. The analysis was informed by Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis and strived to pay attention to which discourses that were drawn upon, and how these discourses related to each other, and to a broader social context. The discussions on whether or not FASD should be actively diagnosed/identified were structured by three main discourses. These were: a scientific discourse, a pragmatic discourse, and an ethical discourse, with the scientific discourse taking a special position, often being present also when other discourses were drawn upon. Taken together, there is not yet any consensus around what the status of the FASD conditions should be in Sweden, neither regarding the usefulness of diagnosing/identifying, nor regarding the causality between prenatal alcohol exposure and FASD.

摘要

胎儿酒精谱系障碍 (FASD) 是一个总称，涵盖与产前酒精暴露相关的一系列疾病。在瑞典，只有这些病症中最严重的胎儿酒精综合症 (FAS) 被用作医学诊断。本研究的目的是分析瑞典关于是否应积极诊断/识别 FASD 病症（FAS 除外）的讨论。数据包括来自 FASD 利益组织的网页材料和来自瑞典当局的报告。该分析以费尔克劳的批判性话语分析为基础，并努力关注引用了哪些话语，以及这些话语如何相互关联，以及如何与更广泛的社会背景相关联。关于是否应积极诊断/识别 FASD 的讨论由三个主要话语构成。它们是：科学话语、实用话语和伦理话语，其中科学话语占据特殊地位，在引用其他话语时也经常出现。总之，关于瑞典 FASD 状况的状况尚未达成任何共识，无论是诊断/识别的有用性，还是产前酒精暴露与 FASD 之间的因果关系。