The realization of sexed bodies: Stable and fragile gender dichotomies in Swedish media representations of biomedical alcohol research

Winter, Katarina; Bogren, Alexandra

doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2013.01.009

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The interviewees read two typical examples of newspaper articles about biomedical alcohol research, with the present study focusing on the first article (the second newspaper article explains alcohol's effects on sex hormones and was chosen to explore sex and gender in relation to media representations of biomedical alcohol research; see Winter & Bogren, 2013). The article, ''Alcohol short-circuits important part of the brain'' (Carlsson, 2006), was selected because it was a typical, rich, and detailed example of how newspapers discuss biomedical alcohol research within the overall corpus.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coproduction of Scientific Addiction Knowledge in Everyday Discourse

Winter

2016

Contemporary Drug Problems

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The phenomenon of addiction enables studies of how society governs citizens and produces (healthy) bodies through classifications and definitions within treatment, science, and politics. Definitions and explanations of addiction change over time, and collective narratives of addiction in society are shared between scientific, official, and colloquial discourses. It is thus reasonable to argue that scientists, clinicians, and practitioners, as well as politicians, journalists, and laypersons, co-create addiction as a (bio)medical, social, and cultural phenomenon defined by varying actions, experiences, contexts, and meanings. The mass media is a key link between science and citizens. Explanations and definitions of the nature and causes of, and solutions for, addiction are provided by science and communicated to the rest of the society in popular scientific representations. While the language of scientific discourse is actively used, reproduced, and redefined in everyday language, laypersons are seldom acknowledged as active participants in studies of knowledge coproduction. This study examines how 25 newspaper readers interpret and explain dimensions of addiction phenomena through their own knowledge and interpretation of scientific representations in the media. The analysis shows how (popular) scientific biomedical addiction discourse interacts with newspaper readers' interpretations, focusing on lay discussion of the causes of and solutions for addiction, how lay coproduction of scientific explanations is made, and how we can understand it. The study contributes to our understanding of the complex network of interacting and competing actors coproducing knowledge of addiction, emphasizing laypersons' involvement in this process.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coproduction of Scientific Addiction Knowledge in Everyday Discourse

Winter

2016

Contemporary Drug Problems

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“…Still, several interviewees claim that biomedical research is more “real” than social research (Winter, 2013). Further, our analysis shows that the newspapers sometimes describe biomedical alcohol research's position at a disadvantage vis‐à‐vis social research; they put biomedical research in the role of a new, truth‐telling challenger (Winter and Bogren, 2013). In light of this, it is of particular interest to also include the experts quoted in the media.…”

Section: Study 1: Swedish Media Portrayals Of Biomedical Alcohol Researchmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Articles that explain the biochemical mechanisms behind alcohol use and addiction by using keywords such as genes, biomarkers, chromosomes, DNA, hormones, and neurotransmitters were selected. The following analytical questions were used:How are biochemical mechanisms and biomedical research described?How are the causes of alcohol problems, health, and responsibility (re‐)defined?Which actors and sources are interviewed and quoted?As discourse on biomedical research includes frequent references to sex differences, we included a sub‐study of the constitution of gender in the newspaper articles (Winter and Bogren, 2013). To understand the interpretive processes involved in making sense of the media portrayals, we studied how readers interpreted the stories.…”

Section: Study 1: Swedish Media Portrayals Of Biomedical Alcohol Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As discourse on biomedical research includes frequent references to sex differences, we included a sub‐study of the constitution of gender in the newspaper articles (Winter and Bogren, 2013).…”

Section: Study 1: Swedish Media Portrayals Of Biomedical Alcohol Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Below, some of the results from the media project are presented. For additional analysis and discussion of the newspaper material and the interviews, the reader is referred to Winter (2013) and Winter and Bogren (2013).…”

Section: Study 1: Swedish Media Portrayals Of Biomedical Alcohol Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Knowledge production, communication and utilization: studying biomedical alcohol research

Bogren

Winter

2013

Drugs and Alcohol Today

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PurposeA growing body of social research analyzes how the biomedical interest in detailed molecular aspects of people's bodies (genes, biomarkers, DNA) affect everyday notions of health, risk, and responsibility for health problems. However, this research focus has been largely neglected in social alcohol research. The purpose of this paper is to report on some early findings from a study of media portrayals of biomedical alcohol research and to present a rationale for studying biomedical alcohol research more broadly.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical discussion is based on textual analysis of 90 newspaper articles published in Swedish newspapers between 1995 and 2010 and one‐on‐one semi‐structured interviews with 24 newspaper readers about their interpretation of the newspaper portrayals. The motives for studying biomedical alcohol research more broadly are discussed in relation to existing research and theories of biomedicalization.FindingsIt is found that a large majority of the newspapers cite biomedical researchers to explain the mechanisms of addiction, and that biomedical research is often presented as revolutionary in scope. However, journalists also act as storytellers who explain the biomedical research results to readers. The reward system proved to be a central notion among the interviewees, who had their own, different and varying definitions of the concept. The authors suggest a framework for analyzing how biomedical knowledge is produced, communicated and utilized by three types of key actors.Originality/valueThe study presents a novel framework for studying biomedical alcohol research.

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Engendering drug problems: Materialising gender in the DUDIT and other screening and diagnostic ‘apparatuses’

Dwyer

Fraser

2017

International Journal of Drug Policy

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The realization of sexed bodies: Stable and fragile gender dichotomies in Swedish media representations of biomedical alcohol research

Cited by 3 publications

References 27 publications

Coproduction of Scientific Addiction Knowledge in Everyday Discourse

Coproduction of Scientific Addiction Knowledge in Everyday Discourse

Knowledge production, communication and utilization: studying biomedical alcohol research

Engendering drug problems: Materialising gender in the DUDIT and other screening and diagnostic ‘apparatuses’

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