Emotional socialization and agency: Representations of coping with old age dementia and Alzheimer’s in graphic novels
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Jul 18, 2022
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Abstract
This research investigates representations of emotion work and emotional labor in caregiving, in the medium of graphic novels. The study is based on a collection of six contemporary graphic novels that discuss the relationships between older adults who are suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s and their family caregivers and professional caretakers. Family caregivers are caught in a complicated web of family relationships and new, emerging caregiving roles. We rely on thematic content analysis to identify the main forms of emotional agency, structural constraints and trade-offs in family and professional situations. Emotional agency in caregiving is portrayed as situated, though emerging from divergent definitions of the situations for caretakers and patients; it is embedded in the family system, which is contrastively portrayed with the procedural, less empathic medical institution, and also with the general mass media portrayal of old age. Graphic novels contribute to the emotional socialization of people anticipating situations of suffering, or caring for mental disorders associated with old age.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
Iancu, A. E., & Rughiniș, C. (2022). Emotional socialization and agency: Representations of coping with old age dementia and Alzheimer’s in graphic novels. Sociologie Românească, 20(1), 69-107. https://doi.org/10.33788/sr.20.1.4
References
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Alzheimer's Disease International. (2019). World Alzheimer Report 2019: Attitudes to dementia. London: Alzheimer's Disease International. Available at https://www.alzint.org/u/WorldAlzheimerReport2019.pdf. Accessed on January 10, 2022.
Arnold, S. (2017). Educating Through Graphic Novels, Posted on October 11, 2017 by Sean Arnold in Educational Philosophy, history, Literacy, New York City, Social Justice. Available at https://braveintheattempt.com/2017/10/11/educating-through-graphic-novels/. Accessed on December 14, 2021.
Basinger, A. (2014). Graphic Novels as Social Outreach: Students Seeking Empathy and Compassion Through Content Analysis Study, English in Texas, 44(2), Fall/Winter 2014, A Journal of the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts. Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1263212.pdf. Accessed on January 10, 2022.
Benton, M. (1991). Superhero Comics of the Silver Age: The Illustrated History. Taylor History of Comics. Dallas: Taylor Publishing.
Bieman-Copland, S., & Ryan, E. B. (2001). Social perceptions of failures in memory monitoring, Psychology and Aging, 16(2), 357-361.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Brewer, M. B., Dull, V., & Lui, L. (1981). Perceptions of the elderly: Stereotypes as prototypes, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41(4), 656-670.
Brienza, C. (2010). Producing comics culture: a sociological approach to the study of comics, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 1(2), 105-119.
Chast, R. (2014). Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? A Memoir. New York. Bloomsbury.
Clarke, J. N. (2006). The case of the missing person: Alzheimer's disease in mass print magazines 1991-2001, Health communication, 19(3), 269-276.
Coughlan-Brown, P. (1993). Facing Alzheimer's: Family Caregivers Speak. New York: Ballantine.
Daly, J., Kellehear, A., & Gliksman, M. (1997). The public health researcher: A methodological approach. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.
Dobbins, S. (2016). Comics in public health: the sociocultural and cognitive influence of narrative on health behaviours, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 7(1), 35-52.
Dudley, J.R. (2000). Confronting Stigma within the Services System, Social Work, 45(5), 449-455.
Durkheim, E. (1982 [1895]). Rules of Sociological Method. New York: The Free Press.
Durkheim, E. (1984 [1893]). The Division of Labour in Society. London: Macmillan.
Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998). What Is Agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103(4), 962-1023.
Esposito, J. (1987). The Obsolete Self: Philosophical Dimensions of Ageing, First Edition. California: University of California Press.
Farmer, J. (2010). Special Exits. Seattle, Fantagraphics Books.
Farnia, V., Tatari, F., Salemi, S., Alikhani, M., & Basanj, B. (2018). Efficacy of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy in facilitating posttraumatic growth and emotional management among physically abused children, Trauma Monthly, 23(2).
Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday Anchor.
Green, M. J., & Myers, K. R. (2010). Graphic medicine: Use of comics in medical education and patient care. BMJ, 340 (7746), 574-577. Available at https://pennstate.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/graphic-medicine-use-of-comics-in-medical-education-and-patient-c. Accessed on January 10, 2022.
Gubrium, J. (1986). Old-timers and Alzheimer's: the Descriptive Organization of Senility. London: JAI Press.
Hinshaw, S. P., & Stier, A. (2008). Stigma as related to mental disorders, Annual review of clinical psychology, 4, 367-393.
Hochschild, A. R. (1979). Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure, American Journal of Sociology, 85(3), 551-575, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
International Association of Professional Writers & Editors (2009). Graphic Novels Are Gaining in Popularity. Available at https://iapwe.org/graphic-novels-are-gaining-in-popularity/. Accessed on August 20, 2020.
Kerr, M. E. (1981). Family systems theory and therapy, in A. Gurman & D. P. Kniskern (Eds.), Handbook of family therapy. New York: Brunner/Maze.
Kirkman, A. M. (2006). Dementia in the news: the media coverage of Alzheimer’s disease. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 25(2), 74-79.
Kordic, A., Pereira, L., & Martinique, E. (2016). A Short History of Japanese Manga, Widewalls Editorial. Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20200528051728/http://www.widewalls.ch/japanese-manga-comics-history/. Accessed on December 16, 2021.
Leavitt, S. (2012). Tangles. Canada: Freehand Books.
Lopez, J., & Scott, J. (2000). Social structure. Buckingham, England: Open University Press.
McCloud, S. (1994). Understanding comics: The invisible art. New York: HarperPerennial.
Medina, R. (2018). Cinematic Representations of Alzheimer's Disease. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mirowsky, J. (1996). Age and the gender gap in depression, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 37, 362-380.
Morris, J. A., & Feldman, D. C. (1996). The dimensions, antecedents, and consequences of emotional labor, The Academy of Management Review, 21(4), 986-1010.
Ngatcha-Ribert L. (2004). Alzheimer disease and society: an analysis of its social representation. Psychologie & Neuropsychiatrie du Vieillissement, 2(1), 49-66.
Pearlin, L. I., Mullan, J. T., Semple, S. J., & Skaff, M. M. (1990). Caregiving and the stress process: an overview of concepts and their measures. The Gerontologist, 30(5), 583-594.
Peel, E. (2014). 'The living death of Alzheimer's' versus 'Take a walk to keep dementia at bay': representations of dementia in print media and carer discourse, Sociology of health & illness, 36(6), 885-901.
Rae, H. M. (1998). Managing Feelings: Caregiving as Emotion Work, Research on Aging, 20(1), 137-160.
Rewerska-Juśko, M., & Rejdak, K. (2020). Social Stigma of People with Dementia, Journal of Alzheimer's disease: JAD, 78(4), 1339-1343.
Rice, A. K. (1963). The enterprise and its environment. London: Tavistock Publications.
Richeson, J. A., & Shelton, J. N. (2006). A Social Psychological Perspective on the Stigmatization of Older Adults, National Research Council (US) Committee on Ageing Frontiers in Social Psychology, Personality, and Adult Developmental Psychology. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK83780/. Accessed on December 7, 2021.
Roca, P. (2015). Wrinkles, London: Knockabout Publishing.
Roher, R. (2006). Bird in a Cage. Wolfville: Nova Scotia, Canada Conundrum Press,.
Rughiniș, C., Toma, E., & Rughiniș, R. (2015). Time to Reminisce and Die: Representing Old Age in Art Games, Conference of the Digital Games Research Associagion - DiGRA 2015, 1-12.
Segers, K. (2007). Degenerative dementias and their medical care in the movies, Alzheimer disease and associated disorders, 21(1), 55-59.
Serry, B. L., & Crowley, M. S. (2000). Women’s Emotion Work in the Family, Journal of Family Issues, 21(1), 100-127.
Simson, C., & Acton, G. (2013). Emotion Work in Family Caregiving for Persons with Dementia, Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 34(1), 52-58.
Sinervo, K. A., & Freedman, A. (2021). Feeling your pain: empathy in comics, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 1-17.
Slaby, J., & Wüschner, P. (2014). Emotion and Agency, in R. Sabine and T. Cain (ed.), Emotion and Value, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 212-228.
Strauss, A., Fagerhaugh, S., Suczek, B., & Wiener, C. (1982). Sentimental work in the technologized hospital, Sociology of Health & Illness, 4(3), 254-278.
Strazdins, L., & Broom, D. H. (2004). Acts of Love (and Work): Gender Imbalance in Emotional Work and Women's Psychological Distress, Journal of Family Issues, 25(3), 356-378.
The Bowen Center of the Study of the Family (2022). Learn about Bowen Theory. Available at https://www.thebowencenter.org/core-concepts-diagrams. Accessed on January 5, 2022.
The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (2020). What is A Graphic Novel? Available at https://www.buffalolib.org/get-graphic/what-graphic-novel on January 2022. Accessed on January 5, 2022.
Thum, T. D. (2021). Alzheimer's Disease, Media Representation, and Audience Reception, Thesis. Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999). Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health.
Ungerson, C. (1983). Why do women care? In J. Finch & D. Groves (Eds.), A labour of love: Women, work and caring. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 31-49.
Walrath, D. (2013). Aliceheimer's: Alzheimer's Through the Looking Glass. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Weiss, M. G., Ramakrishna J., & Somma, D. (2006). Health-related stigma: Rethinking concepts and interventions, Psychology, Health and Medicine, 11(3), 277-287.
Whitbourne, S. K., (1986). The Me I Know: A Study of Adult Identity. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Whittle, R., Walker, M., Medd, W., & Mort, M. (2012). Flood of emotions: emotion work and long-term disaster recovery, Emotion, Space and Society, 5(1), 60-69.
Williams, I. (2022). What is "Graphic Medicine"? Available at https://www.graphicmedicine.org/why-graphic-medicine/. Accessed on January 10, 2022.
Zapf, D. (2002). Emotion work and psychological well-being: A review of the literature and some conceptual considerations, Human Resource Management Review, 12(2), 237-268.
Zeilig, H. (2014). Dementia as a cultural metaphor, The Gerontologist, 54(2), 258-267.
Zorbaugh, H.W. (1944). The Comics. There they stand! The Journal of Educational Sociology, 18(4), 196-203.
Alzheimer's Disease International. (2019). World Alzheimer Report 2019: Attitudes to dementia. London: Alzheimer's Disease International. Available at https://www.alzint.org/u/WorldAlzheimerReport2019.pdf. Accessed on January 10, 2022.
Arnold, S. (2017). Educating Through Graphic Novels, Posted on October 11, 2017 by Sean Arnold in Educational Philosophy, history, Literacy, New York City, Social Justice. Available at https://braveintheattempt.com/2017/10/11/educating-through-graphic-novels/. Accessed on December 14, 2021.
Basinger, A. (2014). Graphic Novels as Social Outreach: Students Seeking Empathy and Compassion Through Content Analysis Study, English in Texas, 44(2), Fall/Winter 2014, A Journal of the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts. Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1263212.pdf. Accessed on January 10, 2022.
Benton, M. (1991). Superhero Comics of the Silver Age: The Illustrated History. Taylor History of Comics. Dallas: Taylor Publishing.
Bieman-Copland, S., & Ryan, E. B. (2001). Social perceptions of failures in memory monitoring, Psychology and Aging, 16(2), 357-361.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Brewer, M. B., Dull, V., & Lui, L. (1981). Perceptions of the elderly: Stereotypes as prototypes, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41(4), 656-670.
Brienza, C. (2010). Producing comics culture: a sociological approach to the study of comics, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 1(2), 105-119.
Chast, R. (2014). Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? A Memoir. New York. Bloomsbury.
Clarke, J. N. (2006). The case of the missing person: Alzheimer's disease in mass print magazines 1991-2001, Health communication, 19(3), 269-276.
Coughlan-Brown, P. (1993). Facing Alzheimer's: Family Caregivers Speak. New York: Ballantine.
Daly, J., Kellehear, A., & Gliksman, M. (1997). The public health researcher: A methodological approach. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.
Dobbins, S. (2016). Comics in public health: the sociocultural and cognitive influence of narrative on health behaviours, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 7(1), 35-52.
Dudley, J.R. (2000). Confronting Stigma within the Services System, Social Work, 45(5), 449-455.
Durkheim, E. (1982 [1895]). Rules of Sociological Method. New York: The Free Press.
Durkheim, E. (1984 [1893]). The Division of Labour in Society. London: Macmillan.
Emirbayer, M., & Mische, A. (1998). What Is Agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103(4), 962-1023.
Esposito, J. (1987). The Obsolete Self: Philosophical Dimensions of Ageing, First Edition. California: University of California Press.
Farmer, J. (2010). Special Exits. Seattle, Fantagraphics Books.
Farnia, V., Tatari, F., Salemi, S., Alikhani, M., & Basanj, B. (2018). Efficacy of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy in facilitating posttraumatic growth and emotional management among physically abused children, Trauma Monthly, 23(2).
Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday Anchor.
Green, M. J., & Myers, K. R. (2010). Graphic medicine: Use of comics in medical education and patient care. BMJ, 340 (7746), 574-577. Available at https://pennstate.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/graphic-medicine-use-of-comics-in-medical-education-and-patient-c. Accessed on January 10, 2022.
Gubrium, J. (1986). Old-timers and Alzheimer's: the Descriptive Organization of Senility. London: JAI Press.
Hinshaw, S. P., & Stier, A. (2008). Stigma as related to mental disorders, Annual review of clinical psychology, 4, 367-393.
Hochschild, A. R. (1979). Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure, American Journal of Sociology, 85(3), 551-575, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
International Association of Professional Writers & Editors (2009). Graphic Novels Are Gaining in Popularity. Available at https://iapwe.org/graphic-novels-are-gaining-in-popularity/. Accessed on August 20, 2020.
Kerr, M. E. (1981). Family systems theory and therapy, in A. Gurman & D. P. Kniskern (Eds.), Handbook of family therapy. New York: Brunner/Maze.
Kirkman, A. M. (2006). Dementia in the news: the media coverage of Alzheimer’s disease. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 25(2), 74-79.
Kordic, A., Pereira, L., & Martinique, E. (2016). A Short History of Japanese Manga, Widewalls Editorial. Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20200528051728/http://www.widewalls.ch/japanese-manga-comics-history/. Accessed on December 16, 2021.
Leavitt, S. (2012). Tangles. Canada: Freehand Books.
Lopez, J., & Scott, J. (2000). Social structure. Buckingham, England: Open University Press.
McCloud, S. (1994). Understanding comics: The invisible art. New York: HarperPerennial.
Medina, R. (2018). Cinematic Representations of Alzheimer's Disease. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mirowsky, J. (1996). Age and the gender gap in depression, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 37, 362-380.
Morris, J. A., & Feldman, D. C. (1996). The dimensions, antecedents, and consequences of emotional labor, The Academy of Management Review, 21(4), 986-1010.
Ngatcha-Ribert L. (2004). Alzheimer disease and society: an analysis of its social representation. Psychologie & Neuropsychiatrie du Vieillissement, 2(1), 49-66.
Pearlin, L. I., Mullan, J. T., Semple, S. J., & Skaff, M. M. (1990). Caregiving and the stress process: an overview of concepts and their measures. The Gerontologist, 30(5), 583-594.
Peel, E. (2014). 'The living death of Alzheimer's' versus 'Take a walk to keep dementia at bay': representations of dementia in print media and carer discourse, Sociology of health & illness, 36(6), 885-901.
Rae, H. M. (1998). Managing Feelings: Caregiving as Emotion Work, Research on Aging, 20(1), 137-160.
Rewerska-Juśko, M., & Rejdak, K. (2020). Social Stigma of People with Dementia, Journal of Alzheimer's disease: JAD, 78(4), 1339-1343.
Rice, A. K. (1963). The enterprise and its environment. London: Tavistock Publications.
Richeson, J. A., & Shelton, J. N. (2006). A Social Psychological Perspective on the Stigmatization of Older Adults, National Research Council (US) Committee on Ageing Frontiers in Social Psychology, Personality, and Adult Developmental Psychology. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK83780/. Accessed on December 7, 2021.
Roca, P. (2015). Wrinkles, London: Knockabout Publishing.
Roher, R. (2006). Bird in a Cage. Wolfville: Nova Scotia, Canada Conundrum Press,.
Rughiniș, C., Toma, E., & Rughiniș, R. (2015). Time to Reminisce and Die: Representing Old Age in Art Games, Conference of the Digital Games Research Associagion - DiGRA 2015, 1-12.
Segers, K. (2007). Degenerative dementias and their medical care in the movies, Alzheimer disease and associated disorders, 21(1), 55-59.
Serry, B. L., & Crowley, M. S. (2000). Women’s Emotion Work in the Family, Journal of Family Issues, 21(1), 100-127.
Simson, C., & Acton, G. (2013). Emotion Work in Family Caregiving for Persons with Dementia, Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 34(1), 52-58.
Sinervo, K. A., & Freedman, A. (2021). Feeling your pain: empathy in comics, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 1-17.
Slaby, J., & Wüschner, P. (2014). Emotion and Agency, in R. Sabine and T. Cain (ed.), Emotion and Value, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 212-228.
Strauss, A., Fagerhaugh, S., Suczek, B., & Wiener, C. (1982). Sentimental work in the technologized hospital, Sociology of Health & Illness, 4(3), 254-278.
Strazdins, L., & Broom, D. H. (2004). Acts of Love (and Work): Gender Imbalance in Emotional Work and Women's Psychological Distress, Journal of Family Issues, 25(3), 356-378.
The Bowen Center of the Study of the Family (2022). Learn about Bowen Theory. Available at https://www.thebowencenter.org/core-concepts-diagrams. Accessed on January 5, 2022.
The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (2020). What is A Graphic Novel? Available at https://www.buffalolib.org/get-graphic/what-graphic-novel on January 2022. Accessed on January 5, 2022.
Thum, T. D. (2021). Alzheimer's Disease, Media Representation, and Audience Reception, Thesis. Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999). Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health.
Ungerson, C. (1983). Why do women care? In J. Finch & D. Groves (Eds.), A labour of love: Women, work and caring. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 31-49.
Walrath, D. (2013). Aliceheimer's: Alzheimer's Through the Looking Glass. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Weiss, M. G., Ramakrishna J., & Somma, D. (2006). Health-related stigma: Rethinking concepts and interventions, Psychology, Health and Medicine, 11(3), 277-287.
Whitbourne, S. K., (1986). The Me I Know: A Study of Adult Identity. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Whittle, R., Walker, M., Medd, W., & Mort, M. (2012). Flood of emotions: emotion work and long-term disaster recovery, Emotion, Space and Society, 5(1), 60-69.
Williams, I. (2022). What is "Graphic Medicine"? Available at https://www.graphicmedicine.org/why-graphic-medicine/. Accessed on January 10, 2022.
Zapf, D. (2002). Emotion work and psychological well-being: A review of the literature and some conceptual considerations, Human Resource Management Review, 12(2), 237-268.
Zeilig, H. (2014). Dementia as a cultural metaphor, The Gerontologist, 54(2), 258-267.
Zorbaugh, H.W. (1944). The Comics. There they stand! The Journal of Educational Sociology, 18(4), 196-203.