Facial Disfigurement, Stigma, and Cancer: Interaction Between Patients and Members of Secondary Groups

Abstract

This article probes the issue of stigma generated by the interaction of facially disfigured cancer patients with strangers and acquaintances (secondary groups). Now, patients with cancer of the face survive. As they survive, they spend significant portions of their lives dealing with stigma. Limited knowledge is available on the interaction processes leading to the creation of stigma for facially disfigured cancer patients. This article addresses this gap in the literature by reporting the results of a qualitative study of individuals who remained facially disfigured as a result of required surgery and cancer treatments. In-depth interviews with patients and their family members were conducted and analyzed employing grounded theory. Three primary analytical categories were generated to illustrate interaction with secondary groups: intrusion, sympathy, and benign neglect. These categories refer to conditions that are decreasingly favorable to the creation of stigma whereby intrusion and sympathy foster stigma while benign neglect does not.

Notes

¹This abundant literature has also underscored important limits of the use of the concept of stigma. For instance, stigma has been studied with a strong individualistic focus, it is often employed by people who do not belong to stigmatized groups, there is no consensus on a common definition, and the existence of these multiple definitions allow the charge that this concept is too inclusive to be actually informative (Cahill and Eggleston 1995; Link and Phelan 2001). There are also uncertainties about its manifestations as “felt” stigma – the individual's “shame” associated with the blemish—is much more common than the rare “enacted” stigma—or the existence of overt episodes of discrimination (Jacobi 1994, p. 269).

²Early research on physical appearance paid more attention to the face than the rest of the body. It was stressed that the face was the most visible part of the body, its stability of appearance was greater than body appearance both in terms of the individual's lifespan and developmental stages, and physical attractiveness was predominantly determined by the face. Recent research, however, while still emphasizing the face (Dropkin 1999), has underscored the growing importance of the body in the determination of beauty and attractiveness (Callahan 2004; Jackson 2002).

³“ … Beauty is perceived as residing principally in the face” (Synnott 1989, p. 608).

⁴This patient informs us that wearing the prosthesis creates a number of problems. There are problems associated with skin irritation where the prosthesis attaches to the face. When the skin is irritated, the discomfort forces the patient to wear either a black patch or a medical patch. Additionally, there are problems associated with the patient's activities. Wearing the prosthesis causes severe headaches when traveling by plane. Discomfort is also felt when pursuing outdoor activities or exercising.