"Sympathy for my body": breast cancer and mammography at two Atlanta clinics.

This article examines beliefs about breast cancer and mammograms among low-income urban black women. Our research indicates that women associate breast cancer with domestic violence, believing that bruises resulting from physical abuse which is not reported or given medical attention can later turn into cancer. Some women fear that in "mashing" the breast, mammograms cause "knots" or bruises that can become cancerous. Mothers and daughters were found to have extensive knowledge of, and sense of responsibility for, each other's health. This bond can be used to encourage use of cancer screening procedures. While women assert that one's health is ultimately in God's hands, their faith appears to motivate health-seeking behavior rather than promote a fatalistic or passive orientation.