Winner, 2018 Donald W. Light Award for Applied Medical Sociology,
American Sociological Association Medical Sociology Section
Winner, 2018 Distinguished Scholarship Award presented by the Pacific
Sociology Association
Honorable Mention, 2017 ESS Mirra Komarovsky Book Award presented by the
Eastern Sociological Society
Outstanding Book Award for the Section on Altruism, Morality, and Social
Solidarity presented by the American Sociological Association
A rich, multi-faceted examination into the attitudes and beliefs of
parents who choose not to immunize their children
The measles outbreak at Disneyland in December 2014 spread to a
half-dozen U.S. states and sickened 147 people. It is just one recent
incident that the medical community blames on the nation's falling
vaccination rates. Still, many parents continue to claim that the risks
that vaccines pose to their children are far greater than their
benefits. Given the research and the unanimity of opinion within the
medical community, many ask how such parents-who are most likely to be
white, college educated, and with a family income over $75,000-could
hold such beliefs.
For over a decade, Jennifer Reich has been studying the phenomenon of
vaccine refusal from the perspectives of parents who distrust vaccines
and the corporations that make them, as well as the health care
providers and policy makers who see them as essential to ensuring
community health. Reich reveals how parents who opt out of vaccinations
see their decision: what they fear, what they hope to control, and what
they believe is in their child's best interest. Based on interviews with
parents who fully reject vaccines as well as those who believe in "slow
vax," or altering the number of and time between vaccinations, the
author provides a fascinating account of these parents' points of view.
Placing these stories in dialogue with those of pediatricians who see
the devastation that can be caused by vaccine-preventable diseases and
the policy makers who aim to create healthy communities, Calling the
Shots offers a unique opportunity to understand the points of
disagreement on what is best for children, communities, and public
health, and the ways in which we can bridge these differences.
