Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2022, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (6): 132-159.

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Rebuilding Smiles: The Production of Knowledge-in-Practice in the Cleft Lip and Palate Treatment

LIU Dan1, HUANG Yingying2   

  1. 1. The Department of Sociology, The Universityof Hong Kong;
    2. Institute of Sexuality and Gender, Renmin University of China
  • Online:2022-11-20 Published:2022-12-29
  • Supported by:
    This paper was sponsored by Yurun Foundation(2020YRJK-004).

Abstract: This study of practical medical sociology analyzes the process as well as specific aspects of practical knowledge production in the treatment of cleft lip and palate (CLP). Based on our fieldwork and in-depth interviews, this paper finds that as the meta-theme of cleft lip and palate treatment normalization is the goal to“create a normal face and reconstruct a normal life” for CLP patients. The sequential treatment method for cleft lip and palate in China, influenced by the western concepts, is a gradually localised “standard” treatment paradigm that stipulates the necessity of intervention in the socialization process of child development in addition to the treatment in order to rebuild normal life in the future. This normative therapeutic paradigm generates different aspects in the specific practice process. On the one hand, centering on facial reconstructive surgeries, Knowledge-in-Practice of CLP treatment aims to build normal faces for the patients. It facilitates two body techniques in situated medical treatment - nursing massage and language therapy. These two techniques jointly shape the patients’ visible body and functional body and thereby “normalise” patients. On the other hand, as the treatment progresses and CLP children grow, the goal of“reconstructing a normal life” becomes prominent in the intervention. It embodies the other aspect of knowledge- in-Practice of CLP treatment: “normal life” means to follow the development trajectories of ordinary children but also explore the bodily values of individuals with CLP. It encourages CLP children to cultivate individual specialties and win peer competitions in order to copy with the strong uncertainty of the future of CLP individuals. During the processes of routinizing treatment into everyday life and medicalizing parenting practice, the application of normative medical knowledge extends from medical settings to social life, and medical knowledge transforms into socialized knowledge as well. This paper attempts to bridge the gap between medical knowledge and practice, and between biology and society. It reevaluates the multi-dimensional, dynamic and value-related therapeutic practice so as to reflect on the action logic of each subject behind the treatment and the process of knowledge production. Finally, it enriches the empirical research on“marginalized bodies” from the perspective of medical sociology.

Key words: knowledge-in-practice, cleft lip and palate treatment, body, parenting