Disruption foreclosed: older women's cancer narratives

A challenge has emerged to Bury's (1982) conceptualization of chronic illness as biographical disruption. The idea that certain life circumstances--notably older age or the presence of significant health and social problems--render the experience of chronic illness biographically 'continuous' or 'reinforcing' has gained currency in the social study of chronic illness. This article draws from a qualitative study with women diagnosed with cancer …