J Nurs Acad Soc.  1994 Sep;24(3):364-376.

An Inquiry into Causal Perceptions of Cancer

• Kim BH

Abstract

This study was initiated to find the characteristic awareness of disease in Korean culture and then, with its applying to psychological nursing, to help cancer victims cope with their disease. Research period was from Dec. 1, 1989 to Aug. 3, 1992. The research method, while the method of face-to-face interview with 33 cancer victims were mainly adopted, was to identify the causal perception through analyses of literature and traditional sayings deeply rooted in Korean culture. The causal perceptions were differentiated into 4 sections, which apply to 32 cancer victims with Q-sorting. Being coded into grades from 1 to 9, the data were analyzed with the aid of Quanal program on PC; in analyzing Q-factor principal component anaysis method was used. The results were revealed as follows: 1. Subject victims owe their disease to 1) the omnipotent and animating powers in Shamanism rooted in Korean culture, 2) their intimate persons, i.e. their husband, wife, children, or other fellows among their groups. 3) victims themselves, and 4) nowhere, for they thought the disease is the struggle with their own self. 2. In Q-methodology anaysis, cancer victims are categorized into 5 types. The first type, self-mastery type, consisting of 11 subjects, has the characteristic of overcoming their disease with their own strong will or by the help of the Omnipotent God, which is estimated to be the ideal type to cope with the disease. The second type, omnipotent and animating powers-dependent type, consisted of 7 subjects, who have the causal perception of traditional shamanism. The third type, intimate person-dependent type, consisted of 4, all of whom are women and whose causal perception has the characteristic of the their complains about each member of their family, espectially about their husband. The fourth type, fate-recipient type, was the complex form of the first and the second types. It consisted of 6 subjects, to whom cancer had meant bad fate coming on them but had to be overcome by their strong will. The fifth type, personal type, consisted of 4, whose causal perception is toward themselves personality. It is hoped that the study provide the chance of developing nursing intervention to help cancer victims accept and overcome their disease as their own reality instead of attributing to anyone or anything else.

MeSH Terms

Child
Female
Hope
Humans
Nursing
Q-Sort
Shamanism
Spouses