Practices of Care in an Italian Eating Disorder Clinic: Rethinking Food, Family and Ethics

The conflicting notions and experiences of eating disorders from patients, family carers and professionals must be reconciled when treating these conditions. This book is an in-depth ethnographic account of the practices and ethics of care which are attempted by clinicians in a public treatment centre in Italy. Food and family emerge aligned in both the production and treatment of eating disorders, as healthcare professionals tackle the kinship relationships of patients in order to intervene in their eating behaviour and its impact on their bodies. Ultimately, the book rethinks existing understandings of the relationship between food and kinship, showing how kinship makes and unmakes people through food.