Project Director

Trivette, Shawn

Department Examiner

Guo, Zibin

Department

Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Chronically sick individuals deal with pain on a daily basis, which can lower their quality of life and make it more difficult. Illness narratives or “sickness stories” have been known to help people place illness in their lives. Support systems are a factor that could influence individuals’ illness narratives to lead them towards a redemption or contamination sequence. In this study, I interviewed twenty-five women with endometriosis and asked them questions regarding their health status, illness narratives, and support systems. The interviews were reviewed and categorized between redemptive and contamination sequences.The support systems influence on the sequence were also reviewed to determine how helpful they are at helping the sick cope. I argue that support systems are necessary for reaching a redemptive sequence and that the quality of support is more beneficial than the quantity. The individuals that did not utilize their support systems led to contamination sequences. In order for an individual to reach a redemption sequence, they must have at least one form of quality support and utilize the support to benefit from it.

IRB Number

18-143

Degree

B. S.; An honors thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science.

Date

5-2019

Subject

Chronic diseases; Chronic pain; Narrative medicine; Communication in medicine

Keyword

Chronic illness; Support systems; Illness narratives; Redemption sequence; Contamination sequence; Endometriosis

Discipline

Sociology

Document Type

Theses

Extent

33 leaves

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Date Available

6-1-2019

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Included in

Sociology Commons

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