Media framings of the role of genomics in “addiction” in the United States from 2015 to 2019: Individualized risk, biomedical expertise, and the limits of destigmatization
Open accessAbstract
News coverage of the opioid epidemic is a useful site for examining genomic framings of addiction. Qualitative analysis of 139 articles published in the United States from 2015 to 2019 discussing genomics, addiction, and the opioid epidemic found an emphasis on both a postgenomic framing in which genetics operates in relation to social and environmental factors, and a molecularized understanding of addiction which highlighted the role of neurobiology and individual-level genetic risk. Discussions of genetics were often intertwined with calls for a biomedicalized approach that frames addiction as a chronic disease in need of medication, and thus under the purview of medical experts. Finally, while genomic discourses were invoked to reduce stigma, genomics was at times used to describe addicts as biologically distinct from other people, reflecting the possibility that genetics—even in the postgenomic context—can be used to promote a biologically essentialized understanding of people with addiction.
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The brain-disease model can reduce blame but may also decrease hope for recovery and increase perceptions of dangerousness.
“Other studies caution that while the brain-disease model can reduce blame, it may also decrease hope for recovery and increase perceptions of dangerousness.”
From Beyond Stigma–Integrating Neurobiology, Genetics, and Awareness Integration Theory in Addiction Recovery (2026) · cites this paper as [85]
The ELSI section (page unavailable) reports that genetic explanations decreased blame but also decreased feelings of agency, and it raises concern that addiction could be seen as an untreatable biological trait. The Uncertain destigmatization section (page unavailable) says biological framing did not necessarily counter stereotypes of people with substance use disorders. Neither passage establishes decreased hope for recovery or increased perceptions of dangerousness. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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References 65 · Cited by 4
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- Choudhury S and Slaby J (2016) Critical Neuroscience: A Handbook of the Social and Cultural Contexts of Neuroscience. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
- Dawson S (2019) Barriers to attaining higher education among substance abuse counselors. PhD Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, US.
- Gitlin T (1980) The Whole World is Watching: Mass Media in the Making & Unmaking of the New Left. University of California Press.
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- Authors
- Hendy, K.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hendy, Katherine
- ORCID
- Hendy, Katherine
- Venue
- Public Understanding of Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2023-09-02
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 158-173
- ISSN
- 0963-6625 (ISSN-L)
- 1361-6609
- PMC
- PMC12282932
- OpenAlex
- W4386386666
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 1.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Public Understanding of Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1 TR 002240)
- National Human Genome Research Institute (T32 HG010030)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Race, Genetics, and Society
- Social Sciences › Communication › Media Studies and Communication
- Keywords
- media framing, genomics, addiction, opioid epidemic, media coverage, postgenomics, biomedicalization, stigma reduction, biological essentialism, neurobiology of addiction
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Mass Media, United States, Genomics
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