Stigmatisation, exaggeration, and contradiction: an analysis of scientific and clinical content in Canadian print media discourse about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a complex diagnosis that includes a wide range of neurodevelopmental disabilities, results from exposure to alcohol in the womb. FASD remains poorly understood by Canadians, which could contribute to reported stigma faced by both people with FASD a...
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Programmes de bioéthique, École de santé publique de l'Université de Montréal
2019
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Online Access: | https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/dc%3A43827 https://doi.org/10.7202/1058140ar |
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ftarcabc:oai:arcabc.ca:dc_43827 2024-06-02T08:06:47+00:00 Stigmatisation, exaggeration, and contradiction: an analysis of scientific and clinical content in Canadian print media discourse about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder Aspler, John (Author) Zizzo, Natalie (Author) Bell, Emily (Author) Di Pietro, Nina (pietron) (Author) Racine, Eric (Author) (Author) 2019 https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/dc%3A43827 https://doi.org/10.7202/1058140ar English eng Programmes de bioéthique, École de santé publique de l'Université de Montréal Canadian Journal of Bioethics/ Revue canadienne de bioéthique https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/dc%3A43827 dc:43827 uuid: 8a67432a-1edb-4571-9fef-1999603381bd issn: 2561-4665 doi:10.7202/1058140ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1058140ar © 2019. Authors http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Alcoholism in pregnancy Children of prenatal alcohol abuse Stigma (Social psychology) Stereotypes (Social psychology) Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders--Press coverage--Canada Pregnant women--Alcohol use--Canada Indigenous women--Alcohol use--Canada First Nations women--Alcohol use--Canada article Text 2019 ftarcabc https://doi.org/10.7202/1058140ar 2024-05-06T00:30:44Z Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a complex diagnosis that includes a wide range of neurodevelopmental disabilities, results from exposure to alcohol in the womb. FASD remains poorly understood by Canadians, which could contribute to reported stigma faced by both people with FASD and women who drink alcohol while pregnant. Methods: To better understand how information about FASD is presented in the public sphere, we conducted content analysis of 286 articles from ten major English-language Canadian newspapers (2002-2015). We used inductive coding to derive a coding guide from the data, and then iteratively applied identified codes back onto the sample, checking inter-coder reliability. Results: We identified six major themes related to clinical and scientific media content: 1) prevalence of FASD and of women’s alcohol consumption; 2) research related to FASD; 3) diagnosis of FASD; 4) treatment of FASD and maternal substance abuse; 5) primary disabilities associated with FASD; and 6) effects of alcohol exposure during pregnancy. Discussion: Across these six themes, we discuss three instances of ethically consequential exaggeration and misrepresentation: 1) exaggeration about FASD rates in Indigenous communities; 2) contradiction between articles about the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure; and 3) scientifically accurate information that neglects the social context of alcohol use and abuse by women. Respectively, these representations could lead to harmful stereotyped beliefs about Indigenous peoples, might generate confusion about healthy choices during pregnancy, and may unhelpfully inflame debates about sensitive issues surrounding women’s choices. Peer reviewed Final article published Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder FASD stigma alcohol and pregnancy disability science communication Indigenous Canada Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations Arca (BC's Digital Treasures) Canada Canadian Journal of Bioethics 2 2 23 35 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Arca (BC's Digital Treasures) |
op_collection_id |
ftarcabc |
language |
English |
topic |
Alcoholism in pregnancy Children of prenatal alcohol abuse Stigma (Social psychology) Stereotypes (Social psychology) Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders--Press coverage--Canada Pregnant women--Alcohol use--Canada Indigenous women--Alcohol use--Canada First Nations women--Alcohol use--Canada |
spellingShingle |
Alcoholism in pregnancy Children of prenatal alcohol abuse Stigma (Social psychology) Stereotypes (Social psychology) Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders--Press coverage--Canada Pregnant women--Alcohol use--Canada Indigenous women--Alcohol use--Canada First Nations women--Alcohol use--Canada Stigmatisation, exaggeration, and contradiction: an analysis of scientific and clinical content in Canadian print media discourse about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder |
topic_facet |
Alcoholism in pregnancy Children of prenatal alcohol abuse Stigma (Social psychology) Stereotypes (Social psychology) Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders--Press coverage--Canada Pregnant women--Alcohol use--Canada Indigenous women--Alcohol use--Canada First Nations women--Alcohol use--Canada |
description |
Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a complex diagnosis that includes a wide range of neurodevelopmental disabilities, results from exposure to alcohol in the womb. FASD remains poorly understood by Canadians, which could contribute to reported stigma faced by both people with FASD and women who drink alcohol while pregnant. Methods: To better understand how information about FASD is presented in the public sphere, we conducted content analysis of 286 articles from ten major English-language Canadian newspapers (2002-2015). We used inductive coding to derive a coding guide from the data, and then iteratively applied identified codes back onto the sample, checking inter-coder reliability. Results: We identified six major themes related to clinical and scientific media content: 1) prevalence of FASD and of women’s alcohol consumption; 2) research related to FASD; 3) diagnosis of FASD; 4) treatment of FASD and maternal substance abuse; 5) primary disabilities associated with FASD; and 6) effects of alcohol exposure during pregnancy. Discussion: Across these six themes, we discuss three instances of ethically consequential exaggeration and misrepresentation: 1) exaggeration about FASD rates in Indigenous communities; 2) contradiction between articles about the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure; and 3) scientifically accurate information that neglects the social context of alcohol use and abuse by women. Respectively, these representations could lead to harmful stereotyped beliefs about Indigenous peoples, might generate confusion about healthy choices during pregnancy, and may unhelpfully inflame debates about sensitive issues surrounding women’s choices. Peer reviewed Final article published Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder FASD stigma alcohol and pregnancy disability science communication Indigenous Canada |
author2 |
Aspler, John (Author) Zizzo, Natalie (Author) Bell, Emily (Author) Di Pietro, Nina (pietron) (Author) Racine, Eric (Author) (Author) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
Stigmatisation, exaggeration, and contradiction: an analysis of scientific and clinical content in Canadian print media discourse about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder |
title_short |
Stigmatisation, exaggeration, and contradiction: an analysis of scientific and clinical content in Canadian print media discourse about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder |
title_full |
Stigmatisation, exaggeration, and contradiction: an analysis of scientific and clinical content in Canadian print media discourse about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder |
title_fullStr |
Stigmatisation, exaggeration, and contradiction: an analysis of scientific and clinical content in Canadian print media discourse about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stigmatisation, exaggeration, and contradiction: an analysis of scientific and clinical content in Canadian print media discourse about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder |
title_sort |
stigmatisation, exaggeration, and contradiction: an analysis of scientific and clinical content in canadian print media discourse about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder |
publisher |
Programmes de bioéthique, École de santé publique de l'Université de Montréal |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/dc%3A43827 https://doi.org/10.7202/1058140ar |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_relation |
Canadian Journal of Bioethics/ Revue canadienne de bioéthique https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/dc%3A43827 dc:43827 uuid: 8a67432a-1edb-4571-9fef-1999603381bd issn: 2561-4665 doi:10.7202/1058140ar https://doi.org/10.7202/1058140ar |
op_rights |
© 2019. Authors http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7202/1058140ar |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Bioethics |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
23 |
op_container_end_page |
35 |
_version_ |
1800751766957981696 |