Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/803507

OpenURL Link
Title
The dialectical tension between individuation and depersonalization in cancer patients' mediation of complementary and biomedical cancer treatments
Author/Creator
Broom, Alex;  Tovey, Philip
Institution
The University of Newcastle. Faculty of Education & Arts, School of Humanities and Social Science
Description
Drawing on in-depth interviews with cancer patients, this article examines patients’ perspectives on the nature of evidence and the degree to which different understandings of evidence inform decision-making about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and biomedical cancer treatments. Results illustrate the ways in which many cancer patients critically engage with questions about the nature of knowledge and the potential pitfalls of science.Their accounts can largely be characterized by a dialectical tension between individuation (espoused by many CAM therapies) and depersonalization (implicit in biomedical care); a tension mediated by individual cancer patient’s prognosis and age. On the basis of the results we argue for a re-focusing of social theory to embrace an understanding of grass-roots ontological tensions seen in the experiences of individual cancer patients.The problematic nature of maintaining a narrowly defined ‘evidence-base’ policy on CAM and cancer is also discussed in light of the data.
Relation
Sociology Vol. 41, Issue 6, p. 1021-1039
Publisher Link
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038507082313
Date
2007
Publisher
Sage Publications
Keyword(s)
cancer;  complementary medicine;  evidence-based medicine
Resource Type
journal article
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/803507
Identifier
ISSN:0038-0385
Reviewed
Reviewed
17 Visitors 24 Hits 4 Downloads
Save/E-mail Citation
Citation Format
E-mail Address
Subject
"Sociology"
 
OR