Media representations of complementary and alternative medicine in the Italian press: A criminological perspective

Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs), here broadly intended as all those healthcare approaches developed outside standard science-based medicine, are increasingly the object of highly polarized public debates. Some CAMs can cause great social harm, with serious repercussions both on the health of people and on their confidence in the medical profession and the scientific method. This notwithstanding, criminologists have so far overlooked this issue. Based on the awareness that people’s perceptions of CAMs often depend on what they learn about them through the media, this exploratory study presents a longitudinal systematic analysis of media representations of CAMs in the Italian press. The results indicate that media have conveyed confused and ambivalent messages on the topic of CAMs, partly because of the lack of preparation of journalists on this subject and partly because of the insubstantial presence of the voices of experts and medical organizations in the press discourse. In addition, the study identifies avenues for further criminological research on this topic.