A Sociological Perspective on Organ Transplantation and Donation in Serbia

Abstract: Organ shortage has been a large issue all over the world, almost for as long as there have been organ transplants. Other than the straightforward issues like the organs not matching between the donor and the recipient, limited availability of suitable donors, logistic problems involved with the transplantation procedure etc., another large problem is the sociological perspective on organ transplantation and donation amongst the potential organ donors. People can, for an array of reasons, be for or against organ transplantation and donation, and that is what this study tries to research. It focuses on eight individuals from Serbia, and their views and opinions on the procedure. It attempts to understand why they think in that way, with the help of five aspects the gift, social capital, religion, planned behaviour and information. It also delves into participants’ attitudes towards the new law on organ transplantation in Serbia. Empirical data was collected by conducting individual semi-structured qualitative interviews. It was then connected to the previous research on the subject, as well as four theories, two sociological and two psychological. The sociological theories in question are social capital and gift exchange theory, and the psychological are theory of planned behaviour and theory of motivated information management. The thesis follows a very traditional structure, with the largest focus on analysis, while also working extensively with theory and previous research sections, as well as covering the method and introduction of course. Main conclusion that the study comes to is quite open, showing that there is a lot of different reasonings and nuances when it comes to deciding to support or oppose the organ transplantation and donation. These arguments come both from our own perceptions as well as the outside influences.