The Social Construction of Breast Cancer in Mass Media and its Influence on Public Understanding and Citizen Decision-Making
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to assess the ways in which mass media play a significant role in constructing the public's understanding of breast cancer as a social problem, a disease, and personal illness experience. This third annual report contains results of three main parts of the investigation. First is a survey of print media depictions of breast cancer from 1986-1994. This period was marked by controversy about the efficacy of lumpectomy compared with mastectomy, the increasing visibility of well-known women with the disease, and shift of attention to topics in mainstream publications, such as environmental and genetic factors, as well as an increased critique of medical practices. Second is an examination of the decision whether to use the drug tamoxifen as prevention with healthy women, albeit at high risk for breast cancer, as depicted in popular print media from 1993-1999. This saga features the hope of scientific progress pitted against a critique of "disease substitution" and pharmaceutical profiteering. Third is an analysis of the quandary of decision making around the topic of genetic testing for BRCAl & BRCA2. Additionally, an "unplanned" research trajectory has been the connection between publicly communicated breast cancer narratives and the formation of health care policy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA388007
Entities
People
- Barbara F. Sharf
Organizations
- University of Illinois at Chicago