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Masculinities, humour and care for penile cancer: a qualitative study
Witty, K. Braybrook, D. Bullen, K. White, A. Eardley, I.
Witty, K.
Braybrook, D.
Bullen, K.
White, A.
Eardley, I.
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Publication Date
2014-09
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© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Branney P, Witty K, Braybrook D et al
(2014) Masculinities, humour and care for penile cancer: a qualitative study. Journal of Advanced
Nursing. 70(9): 2051-2060, which has been published in final form at
https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12363. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in
accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
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2014-01-11
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Abstract
Aim: To explore how men with penile cancer construct humour in relation to their diagnosis
and treatment.
Background: Functionalist, relief and incongruity theories attempt to account for humour but
there is a dearth of empirical evidence in nursing care. This is particularly so in relation to a
condition like penile cancer where some nurses think that humour in their interactions with
patients would be inappropriate.
Design: The study employed a participative, mixed-qualitative-methods design.
Method: Focus groups and patient-conducted interviews were both used during a one-day
‘pilot workshop’ in March 2011. The data were initially analysed using framework analysis.
This paper explores the theme of humour in depth.
Findings: Humour helped participants make light of their condition, which meant that they
could laugh about the consequences of treatment (‘laughing about urination’) and build
rapport with health professionals (‘humour with health professionals’). Nevertheless, the use
of humour was less important than the treatment of their cancer (‘humour discounted’) and
there was a fear that they would be subject to ridicule because of their condition (‘fear of
ridicule’).
Conclusion: The findings suggest a combination of functionalist, relief and incongruity
theories of humour; the emotions these men experience are contained (functionalist) and
released (relief) through humorous interaction, and the potential for comedy lies in an
incongruity between what is expected socially and the experiences of these men, for example
around expectations that men use urinals in public toilets. Nurses should continue to use
humour to build rapport with patients, should they judge this to be appropriate although they
may want to avoid jokes about sexual and urinary functioning until after treatment.
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Accepted Manuscript
Citation
Branney P, Witty K, Braybrook D et al (2014) Masculinities, humour and care for penile
cancer: a qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 70(9): 2051-2060.
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