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Screening for breast cancer : medicalization, visualization and the embodied experience

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Griffiths, Frances, Bendelow, Gillian, Green, Eileen and Palmer, Julie. (2010) Screening for breast cancer : medicalization, visualization and the embodied experience. Health, Vol.14 (No.6). pp. 653-668. ISSN 1363-4593

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1363459310361599

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.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0254 Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology (including Cancer)
Divisions:	Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Breast -- Cancer -- Diagnosis, Breast -- Radiography, Breast -- Examination, Self-examination, Medical
Journal or Publication Title:	Health
Publisher:	Sage Publications Ltd.
ISSN:	1363-4593
Date:	25 October 2010
Volume:	Vol.14
Number:	No.6
Page Range:	pp. 653-668
Identification Number:	10.1177/1363459310361599
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
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URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/3946