Fictions of Prevention: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Narratives of Responsibility

Abstract

AbstractThis article starts with a question: what sociopolitical and/or sociocultural factors are flattened in prevention narratives? Focusing on the case of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and drawing on narratives and practices that argue FASD is 100% preventable—this article argues these fictions of prevention strip the very context within which a particular medical phenomenon is occurring. Focusing on legislation in Alaska and proposed amendments to the Criminal Code in Canada that target FASD, layered with interview material, the article analyzes policy and practices that could impact women's reproductive health through troublesome frameworks of cost and responsibility. The article illustrates the potentially negative impact of policies and discourses that frame FASD as 100% preventable. The article argues that overly simplistic, or purposefully simplistic, understandings of the condition serve to mask the broader structural issues that demand attention including legacies of colonialism and structural inequality. In so doing, this article illustrates the ways in which prevention practices have implications in the areas of women's reproductive health, law and policy, social justice, and welfare.