학술논문

Screening for breast cancer: Medicalization, visualization and the embodied experience.
Document Type
Article
Source
Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness & Medicine. Nov2010, Vol. 14 Issue 6, p653-668. 16p.
Subject
*DIAGNOSTIC imaging
*ATTITUDE (Psychology)
*COMPUTER software
*MAMMOGRAMS
*INTERVIEWING
*PATIENTS
*STATISTICAL sampling
*HEALTH self-care
*SOUND recordings
*TRUST
*JUDGMENT sampling
*DATA analysis
*THEMATIC analysis
*PSYCHOLOGY
BREAST tumor prevention
Language
ISSN
1363-4593
Abstract
Women’s perspectives on breast screening (mammography and breast awareness) were explored in interviews with midlife women sampled for diversity of background and health experience. Attending mammography screening was considered a social obligation despite women’s fears and experiences of discomfort. Women gave considerable legitimacy to mammography visualizations of the breast, and the expert interpretation of these. In comparison, women lacked confidence in breast awareness practices, directly comparing their sensory capabilities with those of the mammogram, although mammography screening did not substitute breast awareness in a straightforward way. The authors argue that reliance on visualizing technology may create a fragmented sense of the body, separating the at risk breast from embodied experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]