ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an analysis of both the top-down institutional implementation of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination program, and girls’ experiences of it, particularly as it pertains to their right to consent, and the consequences of this usurpation to their health, and to their lives. Concomitant with the tradition of school-based vaccine programs is the schools’ requirement or request for parental consent and parents’ expectation to provide consent for childhood and adolescent immunisations. In-depth interviews are appropriate for the discovery of new knowledge such as girls’ decision-making experiences about the vaccine; semistructured interviews are appropriate when there is sufficient objective knowledge about an experience or phenomenon but the subjective knowledge is lacking. Purposeful recruitment occurred through distributing posters and handbills around the Peterborough, Ontario region. Girls accepted the authority of the school in determining vaccination.
