A Minority Within a Minority: Lived Meanings of Cancer Among Arab Young Adults in East Jerusalem.

Abstract

Objective: Young adulthood is a socially and biographically formative life stage, yet young adults from ethnic-national minority groups remain underrepresented in psycho-oncology research. This study examined how Arab young adults (YA) from East Jerusalem make meaning of cancer while receiving treatment in predominantly Jewish-Israeli hospitals.

Methods: Guided by a context-informed, constructivist qualitative framework, we conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 15 Arab YA (aged 23-45) who were undergoing active cancer treatment. Interviews were conducted in Arabic, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to capture culturally and developmentally embedded meanings of illness and care.

Results: Two interrelated sets of lived meanings emerged. First, participants described cancer through culturally embedded frameworks shaped by stigma, secrecy, family responsibility, and faith-based interpretations that provided meaning and emotional containment. These meanings were closely tied to the future-oriented concerns and relational obligations of young adulthood. Second, participants experienced Israeli hospitals as ambivalent institutional spaces: often perceived as safe, compassionate, and politically neutral yet at times marked by cultural misattunement, language barriers, and subtle inequality. Together, the findings show that cancer was experienced not only as a medical condition but as a deeply contextualized social and developmental experience.

Conclusions: The experience of cancer among Arab YA from East Jerusalem is shaped by the intersection of developmental stage, minority positioning, and institutional context. These findings highlight the importance of context-informed and culturally responsive psycho-oncology care for young patients from socially and politically marginalized backgrounds.