Masculinities of prostate cancer survivors: a qualitative metasynthesis (original) (raw)
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Transitory masculinities in the context of being sick with prostate cancer
Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem
Objective: to interpret the meanings attributed by men with prostate cancer to the experience regarding their bodies and masculinities during illness. Method: ethnographic research with 17 men, guided by the narrative method and theoretical framework of medical anthropology and masculinities. The information was collected through recorded interviews, direct observation and field diary records, which were analyzed by inductive thematic analysis. Results: men undergo body and identity transformations when they get sick with prostate cancer, transiting through multiple masculinities, resigning their actions, and occupying subordinate positions in relation to other healthy bodies, which are marginalized in their social relationships and allied with regard to establishing their affective relationships. Conclusion: this evidence enhances and deepens the knowledge disclosed in the literature and contributes to the strengthening of nursing care actions when dealing with the sick.
Cancer Nursing
Background: There has been little psychosocial research concerning men's adaption to prostate cancer and treatment-related sexual dysfunction. Qualitative studies have explored men's sense of self following treatment, but the data has yet to be synthesised. Objective: To report a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies exploring men's sense of masculinity following treatment for prostate cancer. Interventions/Methods: Six databases were searched to identify relevant studies conducted and published between Jan 1990 and Aug 2016. Titles and abstracts were reviewed by two reviewers. Studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected and reviewed for quality. The extracted data was then synthesised. Results: A total of 14 studies met the inclusion criteria and passed the quality assessment. The meta-synthesis found that men's sense of masculinity diminished following treatment for prostate cancer. Impotence, incontinence, the loss of control and physical changes caused psychological stress. Underpinning these factors were cultural influences and dominant ideals of what it means to be a man. Conclusions: Men had entrenched ideas about what manhood entailed. The review found that men's sense of masculinity was diminished post treatment for prostate cancer. They felt that they could not exercise their manliness because of the side effects associated with prostate cancer treatment. Implications for Practice: More support and communication throughout the process is required to better inform patients of the outcomes of treatment. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have open forums through which to encourage men to talk frankly about their masculine identities.
Men, culture and hegemonic masculinity: understanding the experience of prostate cancer
Nursing Inquiry, 2005
WALL D and KRISTJANSON L. Nursing Inquiry 2005; 12: 87-97 Men, culture and hegemonic masculinity: understanding the experience of prostate cancer Following a diagnosis of, and treatment for prostate cancer, there is an expectation that men will cope with, adjust to and accept the psychosocial impact on their lives and relationships. Yet, there is a limited qualitative world literature investigating the psychosocial experience of prostate cancer, and almost no literature exploring how masculinity mediates in such an experience. This paper will suggest that the experience of prostate cancer, the process by which it is investigated, and the way in which it is understood has been shaped by an essentialist interpretation of gender, exemplified by hegemonic masculinity as the archetypal mechanism of male adaptation. In response to this static and limiting view of masculinity, this paper will offer a reframe of hegemonic masculinity. This reframe, being more aligned with common experience, will portray masculinity as a dynamic and contextual construct, better understood as one of a number of cultural reference points around which each man organises and adopts behaviour. It will be suggested that the extant literature, in being organised around hegemonic masculinity, obfuscates the experience of prostate cancer and acts to render covert any collateral masculinities, public or private, that may also be operating.
Hegemonic Masculinity and the Experience of Prostate Cancer: A Narrative Approach
Journal of Aging and Identity, 2002
Prostate cancer is a major health problem—one that inevitably challenges men's notions about themselves and their expressions of masculinity. As part of a larger study investigating linkages between masculinity and prostate cancer, this article focuses on the narratives of three men with prostate cancer—all of whom shed light on contemporary forms of hegemonic masculinity. Multiple interviews were conducted with study participants, capturing experiencesboth prior to and following cancer diagnosis. Analysis of individual narratives showed how social factors such as work and family influenced (and were influenced by) men's experiences with illness. All three men were forced to renegotiate their performances of masculinity—with this renegotiation mostly occurring within the parameters of performance consistent with hegemonic masculinity. However, there was also some evidence of shifts into new socialterritory and new expressions of masculinity. In contrast to more traditional, trait-based approaches to studying men's experiences, a narrative approach allows social scientists to do justice to the temporal realities and contextual complexities of men's lives. Men will be better understood as more attention is paid to the actual shape of individual lives.
This thesis in Socio-Cultural Anthropology explores the way prostate cancer, as an illness experience, influences the masculinity and identity of survivors. It draws on theory from the subfield of Medical Anthropology and Masculinity Studies to demonstrate the complex relationship between gender, illness, and selfhood. Based on data collected during fieldwork in Montréal in 2012 and 2013, this research highlights the importance and strength of the narrative method in anthropological methodology, particularly when exploring issues related to illness and identity.
Men's experiences with prostate cancer
Journal of Nursing Ufpe Online, 2017
800x600 ABSTRACT Objective: to describe the experiences of men in cancer treatment for prostate cancer. Method: qualitative, exploratory descriptive study, developed with 30 men with prostate cancer in cancer treatment in a large hospital. The production of data was performed through a semi-structured interview. For the organization and data analysis, the technique of Content Analysis in the Thematic Analysis modality was used. Results: data analysis allowed the identification of three categories: "The news of the diagnosis and the confrontation", "The sexuality compromised in the therapeutic path", >. Conclusion: the diagnosis and the treatment of prostate cancer causes significant changes in the life of the patients. It was found that wife support and spirituality are positive strategies for coping with the disease. Descriptors : Oncology; Men’s Health; Care; Prostatic Neoplasia; Sexuality. RESUMO Objetivo : descrever as vivencias de homens em tratamento onc...
Prostate cancer: embodied experience and perceptions of masculinity
Sociology of Health & Illness, 2002
While some argue that gender differences, which refer to the social classification into 'masculine' and 'feminine', have their source in 'culture', others argue there is no need to have an absolute dichotomy between culture and nature, or between constructionist and anti-constructionist epistemologies. Although there has been much theorising about the body, until recently little attention has been paid to empirical evidence. This paper looks at the way in which prostate cancer and its treatment affects men's bodies, their roles and sense of masculinity. Interviews were conducted with 52 men, exploring their experiences of prostate cancer. Findings suggest that many men are reluctant to consult their doctors, because 'men don't cry', thus reinforcing the notion that 'masculinity' is a social construction. However, while the illness and the side effects of surgical and radiotherapy treatments sometimes led to impotence and incontinence, the treatments that involved hormones were reported to have an additional, sometimes profound effect on libido, energy, ability to work, body shape and competitiveness. These side effects reduced some men's sense of masculinity. We conclude that the physical body as well as culture should be considered when trying to explain what it means to be masculine, and how illness may affect men's sense of masculinity.
Prostate cancer and the impact on couples: a qualitative metasynthesis
Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2018
To review and interpret existing qualitative literature on the experiences of couples affected by prostate cancer (PCa). A metasynthesis was carried out which included a systematic search of seven databases between 2000 and 2016. A modified version of Noblit and Hare's meta-ethnographic approach was used to synthesise qualitative study findings and inform overarching interpretations. Thirty-seven studies focusing on the experiences of men with PCa and their partner dyad were included producing seven interconnected constructs. The construct accepting change vs seeking continuity reflects the range of ways individuals within the dyad and couples adjust to the diagnosis. Cultivating connection vs disengaging illustrates how couples seek to manage the impact of PCa and its treatment on their relationship, which may lead to a threatened identity, including sexual insecurities. Shielding me, you and us reflects the ways in which couples strive to protect themselves as individuals and/...
Renewing perspectives on men's prostate cancer literacy and engagement along disease continuum
Prostate Cancer -Diagnostic and Therapeutic Advances 38 cultural contexts and as a factor in men's perception of their bodies and assessment of the emotional and physiological care they receive. For men, losing control is seen as a negative experience, which may lead to negative experiences of preventative methods or care . Control is also a powerful metaphor for how current medicine, through increasingly technological interventions in the body, is being shaped by technoscience . This "virile" [our emphasis] biomedical agenda should be tempered by attention to what some call "subjective variables," which we call "social or cultural factors". These factors include how men experience different types of masculinities and how these experiences and values inform men's attitudes toward health . Social/cultural factors are relevant to every aspect of health and disease, and taking them into account will open professionals' perception to the complexity and richness of gender-related experiences of health practices.