Cancer Support Groups as Subcultural Phenomena

Abstract

In this dissertation, I argue that cancer support groups may be usefully reconceptualized as subcultures with three distinct characteristics: ideology, norms and coping assistance. Ideology offers participants an alternative set of beliefs about cancer based on personal experience and intuitive understanding. Norms outline the range of suitable thoughts, feelings and behaviors for the specific situation as defined by the ideology. Together ideology and norms influence the types and extent of coping assistance offered by the groups to participants in need of support. I observed six different cancer support groups over the course of two years in order to document supportive transactions as they unfolded organically. By observing coping assistance in a naturalistic setting, I was able to focus on the normative and ideological influences on the types of supportive strategies offered by the groups rarely studied before.