Stereotyping and Stigmatising Disability: A Content Analysis of Canadian Print News Media About Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

People with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a complex and controversial neurodevelopmental disability caused by alcohol exposure in the womb, report experiences of stigma in different parts of their lives. The media, sometimes central to how a public understands and constructs marginalized identities, have a notable history of poorly representing people with disabilities like FASD (including in Canada), which could increase their stigmatisation. Additionally, given its cause, women who drink while pregnant can also face stigmatisation – with some public discourses evoking narratives that promote blame and shame. To gain insight into the kinds of information presented to Canadians about FASD, alcohol, and pregnancy, we conducted a media content analysis of 286 articles retrieved from ten of the top Canadian newspapers (2002-2015). In this article, we report key themes we identified, most common being ‘crime associated with FASD’. We explore connections between this coverage, common disability stereotypes (i.e., criminal behaviour and ‘the villain’), FASD stigma, and expectations of motherhood.

Stigmatisation, Exaggeration, and Contradiction: An Analysis of Scientific and Clinical Content in Canadian Print Media Discourse About Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

“…In this study, we employed a qualitative media content analysis approach [22], similar to several previous media studies [23][24][25]. We reported these methods in full in an article about the social dimensions of discourse identified during the same content analysis, some of which is reprinted here or else is specific to this manuscript [26].…”

“…The 'Effects of alcohol exposure during pregnancy' code, categorized in clinical content, has also been further broken down into four categories beyond the parameters defined in the coding guide to gain deeper insight into this particularly complex area of discourse. Another article reported on the findings of the social content code since there are too much data to report in a single article, and the data in that content category provides opportunities to engage with different literatures [26].…”

“…In the case of people with FASD, discourse was often negative, even hopelesse.g., as reported, people with FASD were sometimes described as a financial burden on society. People with FASD were commonly described as victims (e.g., of 'irresponsible mothers', of crime) [26], and long lists of symptoms categorized, organized, and explained differently in each case served as unqualified examples of their suffering. And while we should never dismiss the self-reported struggles and pain of people with FASD, focusing so strongly on weaknesses and challenges, rather than on any strengths and successes, painted their lives rather bleakly.…”

“…This study has several limitations, which we have reported in full elsewhere, some of which is reprinted here or specific to this text [26]. First, we only searched for keywords in article headlines and lead paragraphs to ensure that they were central to the story being told.…”

“…The latter Call to Action reflects concerns seen in our data in discussions about Indigenous communities, FASD, and criminal behaviour. Please see our other manuscript based on this dataset for further discussion of the connection between crime and FASD[26].…”