An interdisciplinary synthesis, advocating a holistic understanding of a dynamic process of breast cancer survivorship

This thesis is aimed towards an exploration of the complimentarity between psychological and sociological theoretical and methodological concepts and resources, in the undertaking of an in-depth analysis of the integrity of the lived experiences of women living with and beyond breast cancer diagnosis. Breast cancer accounts for 10% of newly diagnosed cases each year worldwide, and is the most prevalent form of cancer in UK women under age 45 (Warren, 2010; Adams, et al., 2011). NHS and Cancer Research UK evidence, estimates 45,000 new cases of breast cancer each year, which equates to one in nine women being at risk during her lifetime, with incidence increasing with age (Norman & Cooper, 2011). The psychosocial stress which accompanies life threatening and chronic illnesses can have long lasting effects, which makes cancer care a critically important public health issue (Corner, 2008; Blows, et al., 2012; Evans, et al., 2012). I therefore propose a synthesis of psychological and sociological theoretical concepts, aimed at bridging the gaps towards a deeper understanding of the emotional integrity of women's lived experiences living with and beyond breast cancer diagnosis, identified as missing from academic research, warranting further exploration (Warren, 2010; Evans, et al., 2012). Hopeful that this complimentarity would not only stimulate an emotionally bound sociological imagination, no longer isolated from Psychology, but a collaboration and interdisciplinary perspective, in which researchers and academics alike, embrace a reciprocal dialectical relationship.ba_psysocunpub1375_ethesesunpu