Riskerar allmänhetens tillit till den svenska sjukvården / till svensk läkarkår att lida allvarliga men vid en legalisering av aktiv dödshjälp i Sverige?
EutanasiAutonomiLivets helgdTillitSocial changesTheory of social workSociala förändringarTeorier om socialt arbeteSocial Sciences
In this essay I have tried to come close to a probable answer to the following question: Is there a risk that the trust between the Swedish public and the Swedish medical services staff, including the doctors, will be severely damaged if euthanasia is legalized in Sweden.In order to try to answer that question, and some other relevant questions that has corresponding interest in the context that euthanasia marks, I have done like this: I have investigated experiences from the Netherlands and from Oregon. Since euthanasia is legalized - though partly in different forms - in both these sites. I have then tried to relate the most relevant parts of these experiences to a theoretical frame. This frame had been set up by three concepts: the sanctity of life, autonomy and trust.I have also tried to come close to understanding the impact that demands for autonomy has in this context. And I have tried to understand if the trust that the public has for a country´s medical services staff and the actual doctors is a form of trust that ought to be understood as a form of trust incorporated in social capital.I have come to the conclusion that there is no great risk that the trust between the Swedish public and the Swedish medical services staff, including the doctors, will be severely damaged if euthanasia is legalized in Sweden. But this is of course provided that steps along the way is properly measured by the Swedish legislator. I have also been quite convinced that demands for autonomy is the strongest force in getting a positive attitude towards euthanasia. And I have gotten the view that trust between the public and a country´s medical staff is generated through interactions on micro level which forms a generalized form of trust on the macro level. But this is not quite the same, according to me, as trust / generalized trust in the original concept of social capital.