This thesis focuses on men’s experiences of having breast cancer using a qualitative methodology to provide insight into the first-hand accounts of the participants. It aims to enhance the limited existing research in this area through the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), exploring the psychological impact of having an illness commonly associated with women. The phenomenological and interpretative nature of IPA allows an in-depth investigation of men’s perspectives of breast cancer and explores the psychological, emotional and social impact on the participants. Interviews were carried out with six men who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the last five years. Verbatim transcripts of the interviews were analysed using IPA. Three super-ordinate themes emerged from the analysis, with a further nine sub-themes identified. The discussion focuses on Gender & masculinity in line with the first two superordinate themes, ‘Derailment from my illegitimate illness’ and ‘Being in the shadow of pink’. The third super-ordinate theme, ‘Finding value in suffering’ is discussed in line with research on Meaning-Making and ‘Posttraumatic-growth’. Insight gathered by this study is thought to help understand male breast cancer patients’ unique and specific needs, so better tailored forms of psychological support can be provided. Existential and meaning-centered practices are suggested as feasible alternative approaches to traditional psychological treatments.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:693005 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Ackroyd, Rebecca |
| Contributors | Rizq, Rosemary ; Vos, Joel |
| Publisher | University of Roehampton |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/fighting-to-survive-in-a-womans-world-an-interpretative-phenomenological-analysis-of-mens-experiences-of-having-breast-cancer(eb48bd1e-1203-4c6a-9dd9-5cc9b9adb878).html |
Page generated in 0.0015 seconds