From legitimation to (re-)signification: the therapeutic itinerary of workers with RSIs/WMSDs

Abstract

Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs)/Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) are a major issue in Brazilian public health. The way such sickness is produced, its multidetermined origin and the troubled care provided to sufferers point to the very contradictions of the capitalist production system. This work aims at understanding the macrosocial processes surfaced in the workers' search for cure of RSIs/WMSDs, paying close attention to the negotiation and (re-)signification processes present in those trajectories. By drawing on 'explanatory models' and the concept of 'therapeutic itinerary', 'thematic analysis' of in-depth interviews with Brazilian workers receiving Social Security compensation was used to approach the socioeconomic and political realms. Culpability and excess were reported in connection with etiology whereas pain, tiredness and stress were shown to be related to symptom initiation. Legal medical assessment, rehabilitation programs and prognosis were all along (re-) signified by the interviewees in an attempt to create an 'ideal type' of productive worker despite the injury. It is then urged that public health policies responsive to the wider organization and processes of power and class related to the care of RSIs/WMSDs are devised.