Persistently alive but unaware, vegetative state patients are stuck in the transition between life and death – that is, in a liminal hotspot. This condition raises complex ethical and legal dilemmas concerning end-of-life action. Drawing on social representations (SRs) and the liminality framework, our research investigated how the vegetative state was constructed within the Italian parliamentary debates discussing end-of-life bills (2009–2017). We aimed to understand (1) how political groups represented the vegetative state, (2) how they legitimised different end-of-life bills and (3) came to terms with the issue of liminal hotspots. By dialogically analysing three debates (No. of interventions = 98), we identified six themes and discursive aims allowing parliamentarians to differently represent the vegetative state and support different courses of action. In turn, we identified new features of the psycho-social processes generating SRs: the dialogical tensions between anchoring and de-anchoring. Results corroborated the idea that de-paradoxifying liminality relies on group sense-making and, thus, different political leanings differently addressed the liminality of the vegetative state. We also reveal a novel feature of dealing with liminal hotspots informing the psycho-social literature that applies when a decision needs to be taken, such as in the case of crafting a law: moving from the paradox.

中文翻译：

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调节阈限：理解植物人状态并定义临终行动的限制

植物人状态患者一直活着但没有意识到，他们陷入了生与死之间的过渡，即处于临界热点。这种情况引发了有关临终行动的复杂的道德和法律困境。借鉴社会表征（SR）和阈限框架，我们的研究调查了意大利议会讨论临终法案的辩论（2009-2017）中植物人状态是如何构建的。我们的目的是了解（1）政治团体如何代表植物人状态，（2）他们如何使不同的临终法案合法化，以及（3）接受阈值热点问题。通过对话分析三场辩论（干预次数 = 98），我们确定了六个主题和话语目标，使议员能够以不同的方式代表植物人状态并支持不同的行动方针。反过来，我们发现了产生 SR 的心理社会过程的新特征：锚定和去锚定之间的对话张力。结果证实了这样一种观点，即去悖论的阈限依赖于群体意义建构，因此，不同的政治倾向以不同的方式解决植物人状态的阈限。我们还揭示了处理阈值热点的一个新颖特征，该特征告知心理社会文献，该特征适用于需要做出决定的情况，例如在制定法律的情况下：摆脱悖论。