Genetic optimism: Framing genes and mental illness in the news
Genetic optimism: Framing genes and mental illness in the news
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DOI：
10.1023/a:1010690427114
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发表时间：
2001-01-01
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
Conrad, P
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Conrad, P
在过去的二十年里，将遗传学与精神疾病联系起来的发现的速度和特异性已经加快，这反映在关于精神障碍遗传学的新闻报道的增加上。新闻媒体是公众了解遗传学的主要来源，对公众话语有很大影响。本文研究了遗传学和精神疾病的新闻报道（即，躁郁症和精神分裂症），强调1987-1994年的高峰期。使用来自5家美国主要报纸和3家新闻杂志的110篇新闻报道的样本，我们确定了“遗传乐观主义”的框架，该框架从20世纪80年代中期开始主导了遗传学和精神疾病的报道。框架的结构由三个要素组成：疾病的基因存在;它将被发现;它将是好的。基因的新发现被大张旗鼓地宣布，但最有希望的说法无法被复制或在短时间内被撤回。尽管有这些不确定性，遗传乐观主义在随后的新闻报道中仍然存在。虽然基因故事的科学准确性很高，但遗传乐观框架扭曲了一些发现，歪曲和具体化了基因对精神障碍的影响，没有给批评者留下空间，也没有对潜在负面影响进行检查。记者、科学家和编辑的立场可能都以不同的方式促成了遗传乐观主义的延续。遗传学乐观主义对遗传学的状况过于乐观;当我们进入遗传学时代时，重要的是要平衡遗传学和精神疾病新闻报道中所包含的无关的“炒作和诽谤”。
Over the past two decades the pace and specificity of discoveries associating genetics with mental illness has accelerated, which is reflected in an increase in news coverage about the genetics of mental disorder. The news media is a major source of public understanding of genetics and a strong influence on public discourse. This paper examines the news coverage of genetics and mental illness (i.e., bipolar illness and schizophrenia) over a 25 year period, emphasizing the peak period of 1987-1994. Using a sample of 110 news stories from 5 major American newspapers and 3 news magazines, we identify the frame of "genetic optimism'' which dominated the reporting of genetics and mental illness beginning in the mid-1980s. The structure of the frame is comprised of 3 elements: a gene for the disorder exists; it will be found; and it will be good. New discoveries of genes were announced with great fanfare, but the most promising claims could not be replicated or were retracted in short order. Despite these disconfirmations, genetic optimism persisted in subsequent news stories. While the scientific accuracy of the gene stories is high, the genetic optimism frame distorts some of the findings, misrepresents and reifies the impact of genes on mental disorder, and leaves no space for critics or an examination of potential negative impacts. The stances of reporters, scientists and editors may all in different ways contribute to the perpetuation of genetic optimism. Genetic optimism presents an overly sanguine picture of the state of genetics; as we enter the genetic age it is important to balance the extraneous "hype and hope'' contained in news stories of genetics and mental illness.