Whose power/authority/knowledge? Conundrums in the experiences of parents whose children have cancer

This paper is based on data collected from two different studies of parents (76 mothers and 14 fathers) whose children had been diagnosed with cancer. Although the goal of the first study, to describe parental experiences when their children have cancer, was different than the goal of the second study, to describe the home health care work done by parents whose children had cancer, the themes outlined here were reiterated from study to study. In both sets of data conflicts in the dynamics of power, authority and knowledge were pivotal to the dilemmas experienced by parents in their interactions with health care staff both during the time of diagnosis and later during the treatments when their children had cancer. The paper points to the significance of fundamental social processes such as power, authority and knowledge in understanding and ameliorating parental experiences when a child has cancer.