[Alzheimer disease and society: an analysis of its social representation].
The purpose of this article is to analyze the social representations of Alzheimer's disease as well as the rhetorical logic, through a study of the literature, newspapers and about thirty interviews. The entry of the disease in the medical field, thanks to the drugs, and in the scientific research allowed a re-civilization of the patients and a generalization of Alzheimer disease which the media seized, therefore the emergence of positive representations. This evolution remains however fragile insofar as the negative and sinister images persist and are seized in the collective imagination. The Alzheimer disease in particular became a label to report the senile collapse. In face of the still sordidly realistic social image, patients themselves can change the perception of the public opinion.
Ngatcha-Ribert
Laëtitia
L
Département de sociologie, Université Paris V, Descartes-Sorbonne. ribertngatcha@hotmail.com
D000544:Alzheimer Disease; D006801:Humans; D008402:Mass Media; D011287:Prejudice; D011639:Public Opinion; D012649:Self Concept; D012660:Semantics; D012924:Social Conditions