The shame of being undone by illness and the power of support through the body of Christ

This paper examines shame that arises from living with a body that has been undone by cancer or other serious illness. It draws on first-person narratives and social-scientific studies of cancer patients to explore how bodies undone by illness often cease to conform to cultural standards of health a...

Description complète

Enregistré dans:  
Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Thompson, Deanna A. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
En cours de chargement...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Publié: Wiley-Blackwell 2023
Dans: Dialog
Année: 2023, Volume: 62, Numéro: 3, Pages: 253-258
RelBib Classification:AE Psychologie de la religion
NBE Anthropologie
RB Ministère ecclésiastique
ZD Psychologie
Sujets non-standardisés:B Shame
B Chronic Illness
B Sin
B body of Christ
B Cancer
Accès en ligne: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Résumé:This paper examines shame that arises from living with a body that has been undone by cancer or other serious illness. It draws on first-person narratives and social-scientific studies of cancer patients to explore how bodies undone by illness often cease to conform to cultural standards of health as well as gendered expectations of bodies, and how experiences of shame arise from those shifts in how sick bodies appear and perform. Analysis of narratives by and qualitative data about those who are seriously ill also reveals how the undoing of the body by illness often precipitates an undoing of one's sense of self that leads to experiences of shame over an inability to fill roles and expectations in ways that were possible in life before serious illness. The paper then utilizes biblical and theological resources to explore ways religious communities can make space for those living with serious illness to lament what it's like to be undone by illness, to hold them up amid their experiences of vulnerability through public lament and acts of accompaniment, and to affirm their worth in the eyes of God and in the body of Christ.
ISSN:1540-6385
Contient:Enthalten in: Dialog
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/dial.12819