AUTHOR=Jones Eric C. , Storksdieck Martin , Rangel Maria L. 

TITLE=How Social Networks May Influence Cancer Patients' Situated Identity and Illness-Related Behaviors

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2018

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00240

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2018.00240

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Research on people who have cancer or who have had cancer in the past has yet to capture variation in the degree and ways people integrate their cancer experience into their personal history and into their sense of self, as well as the outcomes of such incorporation. Particularly understudied are the social factors influencing the incorporation of cancer into identity, learning and behavior. The particular experience of ethnic minorities is of considerable interest due to other pressures on identity as well as on cultural learning and behavior. Although most research does not involve diverse populations nor set out to distinguish respondents on the basis of a minority status, some studies exist on specific ethnic groups, and they point to potential cultural differences in how social influences on the cancer experience play out. Of particular importance are that cohesion or tight networks are common in some ethnic groups, that particular social institutions like church communities may be more common for some ethnic groups, and that minority status might generate social pressures not typically noticed or experienced by majority groups.