The responsibility of the sick person is twofold: to try to get well and to seek technically competent help from a physician. When health is a commodity, the poor are more likely to experience illness caused by inadequate diet, to live and work in unhealthy environments, and are less likely to challenge the system or its authority. Watch this video to review and see examples of how each of these key paradigms views medicine. Activities Combating HIV Stigma and Discrimination. Read and watch a dissenting view: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/addiction\_medicalization, Conrad, Peter and Joseph W. Schneider. Which theoretical perspective do you think best explains the sociology of health? If you redistribute this textbook in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution: With alcoholism defined as a disease and not a personal choice, alcoholics came to be viewed with more compassion and understanding. It is not only the poor who suffer from the conflict between dominant and subordinate groups. In this model, doctors serve as gatekeepers, deciding who is healthy and who is sick—a relationship in which the doctor has all the power. In the United States, a disproportionate number of racial minorities also have less economic power, so they bear a great deal of the burden of poor health. Parsons argues that since the sick are unable to fulfill their normal societal roles, their sickness weakens the society. They therefore control the degree to which the individuals and groups without political and economic power will remain subordinate. This creates strife within the larger healthcare system and also results in personal health disparities between the dominant and subordinate groups. There are numerous examples of demedicalization in history as well. 1951. In a book published in 1951, Harvard sociologist Talcott Parsons applied this framework to the study of health. The sick person also has the right of being exempt from normal social roles; she is not required to fulfill the obligation of a well person and can avoid her normal responsibilities without censure. OpenStax CNX. Should alcoholism and other addictions be medicalized? HIV continues to be an epidemic in parts of Africa, not necessarily because of stigma, but because of the lack of available treatment resources. During the nineteenth century, those who drank too much were considered bad, lazy people. Which theoretical perspective do you think best explains the sociology of health? If the sick person stays ill longer than is appropriate (malingers), they may be stigmatized. When health is a commodity, the poor are more likely to experience illness caused by poor diet, to live and work in unhealthy environments, and are less likely to challenge the system. This has since been reinterpreted, unsurprisingly, as a completely appropriate response to being enslaved. During the latter half of the 20th century, however, people who drank too much were increasingly defined as alcoholics: people with a disease or a genetic predisposition to addiction who were not responsible for their drinking. OpenStax College, Sociology 2e. With alcoholism defined as a disease and not a personal choice, alcoholics came to be viewed with more compassion and understanding. The exemption also requires legitimization by a physician; that is, a physician must certify that the illness is genuine. Theoretical Perspectives on Health and Medicine. What examples of medicalization and demedicalization can you think of? You may prefer just one of the theories that follow, or you may find that combining theories and perspectives provides a fuller and more accurate picture of how we experience and understand health and wellness. If the sick person stays ill longer than is appropriate (malingers), she may be stigmatized. The interactionist perspective is concerned with how social interactions construct ideas of health and illness. Symbolic interactionist researchers investigate how people create meaning during social interaction, how they present and construct the self (or “identity”), and how they define situations of co-presence with others. Each of the three major sociological theoretical perspectives approach the topics of health, illness, and medicine differently. In this engraving from the nineteenth century, “King Alcohol” is shown with a skeleton on a barrel of alcohol. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary for various forms of social control to bring the behavior of a sick person back in line with normal expectations. Take HIV/AIDS, for example. Thus, “badness” was transformed into “sickness.”. Each of the three major sociological theoretical perspectives approach the topics of health, illness, and medicine differently. Medicalization and demedicalization affect who responds to the patient, how people respond to the patient, and how people view the personal responsibility of the patient (Conrad and Schneider 1992). While the functionalist perspective looks at how health and illness fit into a fully functioning society, the conflict perspective is concerned with how health and illness fit into the oppositional forces in society. What examples of medicalization and demedicalization can you think of? For many years, and only until very recently, homosexual couples had been denied spousal benefits, either in the form of health insurance or in terms of medical responsibility. One of the perspective’s central ideas is that people act as they do because of … According to the functionalist perspective, health is vital to the stability of the society, and therefore sickness is a sanctioned form of deviance. For many years now, homosexual couples have been denied spousal benefits, either in the form of health insurance or in terms of medical responsibility. To start with, she has not chosen to be sick and should not be treated as responsible for her condition. Alongside the health disparities created by class inequalities, there are a number of health inequalities created by racism, sexism, ageism, and LGBTQ+ discrimination. Hence, it is still unable to meet the patients´ complete integrated health care … This creates significant health care—and health—disparities between the dominant and subordinate groups. According to theorists working in this perspective, health and illness are both socially constructed. While conflict theorists are accurate in pointing out certain inequalities in the health care system, they do not give enough credit to medical advances that would not have been made without an economic structure to support and reward researchers: a structure dependent on profitability. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. Because of their illness, individuals with HIV/AIDS have lost jobs, been denied educational opportunities, been kicked out of their homes, or have been mistreated (or not treated at all) by the healthcare system. The sick person is not responsible for his condition. Why? Pharmaceutical companies make billions treating illnesses such as fatigue, insomnia, and hyperactivity that may not actually be illnesses in need of treatment, but opportunities for companies to make more money. Figure 1. Parsons, Talcott. This has since been reinterpreted as a completely appropriate response to being enslaved. While interactionism does acknowledge the subjective nature of diagnosis, it is important to remember who most benefits when a behavior becomes defined as illness or condition. During the 19th century, people who drank too much were considered bad, lazy people. Nr.47, 2008-2009). Additionally, in their criticism of the power differential between doctor and patient, they are perhaps dismissive of the hard-won medical expertise possessed by doctors and not patients, which renders a truly egalitarian relationship more elusive. A more recent example is homosexuality, which was labeled a mental disorder or a sexual orientation disturbance by the American Psychological Association until 1973. Glencoe, IL: Free Press. Moreover, medical providers function as dispensers of resources for the healing of the sick. In this view, people with money and power—the dominant group—are the ones who make decisions about how the healthcare system will be run.