Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents: The disease of masturbation: values and concept of disease -- Shakespeare in the bush -- Context as a source of meaning and understanding -- The holistic injunction: an ideal and moral imperative for qualitative research -- ''Euch, those are for your husband!'': examination of culture values and assumptions associated with breast-feeding -- The research topic: or,folklore without end -- Comparative analysis of conceptualizations and theories of caring -- Birthing pain -- Operation on a child's heart: a a padagogical view of hospitalization -- Memories of breathing: a phenomenological dialogue: asthma as a way of becoming -- The meaning of menopause in a Newfoundland village -- On control,certitude,and the ''paranoia'' of surgeons -- Under the guise of passivity -- On being sane in insane places -- Beating the drunk charge -- The structure and function of gift giving in the patient-nurse relationship -- Becoming ordinary: leaving the psychiatric hospital -- The emotional experience of breast expression -- Negotiating commitment and involvement in the nurse-patient relationship -- Social coercion for wearing.