(University of the Free State, 2009) Chisaka, Janet; Coetzee, Jan
English: The concept of biographical disruption speaks about refers to the ontological uncertainty
and questioning that accompanies the suffering experienced when one
is living with a serious or chronic illness. Most studies on biographical disruption
have been conducted among Western individuals. The few qualitative illness studies
among individuals living in chronic poverty and/or other debilitating social
circumstances indicate that such individuals sometimes experience the phenomenon
of biographical disruption differently. This is evident in a Grahamstown biographical
study on six women living with and affected by AIDS and generational poverty.
This finding echoes other empirical studies on women living with HIV/AIDS and
chronic poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, India and the USA.