Caught in a Lie: The Rise and Fall of a Respectable Deviant

ABSTRACT

In this study, we draw on the concept of respectable deviance to understand the journey into deviance – from her rise as an alternative health expert through to her public disgrace – of Belle Gibson, a young Australian blogger, app publisher, and alternative medicine advocate who falsely claimed to have cured cancer without reverting to science-based medicine. Through the rigorous analysis of a series of media and documentary sources where Ms Gibson provided autobiographical accounts of her life experience, the argument is presented that the promotion of one’s self as a health expert and subsequently being outed as a fraudster encourages techniques of neutralization and particular presentations of self to respond and manage negative labeling and the stigma attached.

Notes

¹ Her life history is explicitly detailed in her book (section “The story so far”), where she describes her past as a troubled teen and then a young woman struggling for survival.

² According to the Court, the claims that Ms Gibson had been diagnosed with a cancer in 2009, was given four months to live, and had taken and rejected conventional treatments in favor of natural healing practices were “misleading and deceptive”; furthermore, the claims that certain specific parts of the Whole Pantry-related revenues were donated to certain charities and good causes were “misleading and unconscionable” (Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria v Gibson (no3) [2017] FCA 1148).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anita Lavorgna

Dr ANITA LAVORGNA is Lecturer in Criminology within the Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology at the University of Southampton, UK. Anita’s research pivots around cybercrimes (especially Internet-facilitated trafficking activities), organized crime, and the propagation of fake and fraudulent health information online. She is currently leading research projects on online plant trafficking and health frauds.

Lisa Sugiura

Dr LISA SUGIURA is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Cybercrime at the University of Portsmouth, UK. Her research interests include online deviance, pharmaceutical markets, sexual violence, and gender abuse. She has published on Internet research ethics and is engaged in current projects involving a cybercrime awareness clinic, the language of cybersexism, and the use of technology to empower socio-economically deprived and marginalized women into employment. Her book “Respectable Deviance and Purchasing Medicine online” published by Palgrave was released on March 2018.