Empowerment and Bariatric Surgery

Abstract

Today obesity is understood as a chronic illness. Programs developed to deal with obesity often build on an explicit aim to “empower” patients to take increased responsibility for their health, in line with contemporary neoliberal discourses. There is little empirically based knowledge about this so-called empowering process. In this article we focus on how an empowering program for patients diagnosed as morbidly obese worked on individuals’ identity. The program encompassed a course in lifestyle change, bariatric surgery, and aftercare. We conducted qualitative interviews with 9 individuals at different stages of their treatment process and applied discourse analysis to interpret their constructions and negotiations as they progressed through the program. We found that dimensions of control and credibility framed the respondents’ identity work. Based on the findings we suggest that contemporary discourses of empowerment as practice might leave the participants “trapped” within the ambivalence of freedom and control.