“As Long As You're Sure You Don't Want Any More Children”: Men's Collective Boundary Coordination of Information About Their Affirmative Vasectomy Decision

Abstract

This study analyzes how men who have undergone a vasectomy manage privacy boundary permeability about this family-planning decision. Twenty-four men who had undergone a vasectomy were interviewed. Communication privacy management (Petronio, 2002) was used as a theoretical framework to understand how and why disclosures occurred. Results showed varying collective boundary patterns were primary influences in how these men managed privacy boundaries related to their vasectomy and fluctuated based on the recipient of the disclosure. These findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge on the management of private information related to family-planning decisions and outcomes.

Keywords:

• Communication Privacy Management Theory
• Family Planning
• Vasectomy

Notes

These numbers reflect the participant and line numbers from the transcript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emily A. Rauscher

Emily A. Rauscher, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University.

Wesley T. Durham

Wesley T. Durham, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communications at the University of Southern Indiana.