'It's in the blood and you're not going to change it': Fish harvesters' narrative accounts of injuries and disability

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Murray, Michael

Affiliations: School of Psychology, Keele University, Staffs ST5 5BG, UK. Tel.: +44 1782 583311; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Accidents are a common occurrence in the fishing industry. Despite this observation, there has been limited research on the factors contributing to this high rate of accidents and no research on the experience of disability among fish harvesters. This paper reports a narrative analysis of the accounts of fish harvesters who became disabled as a result of their work, and could no longer work in the industry. Four primary narrative structures were identified in their accounts: disability as devastation, disability as challenge, disability as phenomenon and disability as opportunity. These narratives represent different temporal orientations to the disability. The findings are discussed with reference to other narrative work on adjustment to illness and the implications for disability rehabilitation for fish harvesters and other workers.

Keywords: Fish harvesters, injury, disability, narrative

Journal: Work, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 165-174, 2007