Giving Voice to Vulnerable Populations: Rogerian Theory

The human condition of vulnerability is a concept of vital concern to nurses, in that a large portion of nursing practice is spent either helping individuals who fi nd themselves in a vulnerable position or helping them avoid vulnerability. Nursing, however, has been slow in developing theoretical constructs of vulnerability within a nursing perspective (Spiers, 2000). Traditional defi nitions of vulnerability are framed within an epidemiological approach to identify individuals and groups at risk for harm. Groups most often labeled as vulnerable include the elderly, children, the poor, people with disability or chronic illness, people from minority cultures, and captive populations such as prisoners and refugees (Saunders & Valente, 1992). Labels of vulnerability are customarily applied in relation to socioeconomic, minority, or other stigmatizing status (Demi & Warren, 1995) and refl ect a tendency to blame the victim for his or her status rather than the prevailing social structures. The generally accepted marker for vulnerability has been the inability to function independently in accord with the values of a particular society. Fortunately, there is growing dialogue about vulnerability from the perspective of the person experiencing it—a view that is more congruent with the philosophical stance of nursing (Morse, 1997; Spiers, 2000). CHAPTER 9