Lawrence J. Henderson carried out early work in medical sociology, and Talcott Parsons’s interest in sociological systems theory was sparked by Henderson’s theoretical readings of Vilfredo Pareto’s writings. One of the pioneers of medical sociology, Parsons used social role theory to examine how sick individuals interact with others.
Subsequently, other sociologists, like Eliot Freidson, have examined how the medical industry protects its own interests from a conflict theory standpoint.291 [1] Since the 1950s, Howard S. Becker, Mike Bury, Peter Conrad, Jack Douglas, Eliot Freidson, David Silverman, Phil Strong, Bernice Pescosolido, Carl May, Anne Rogers, Anselm Strauss, Renee Fox, and Joseph W. Schneider have all made significant contributions to the field of medical sociology.
On Saturday, September 12, 2020, nurses participated in the Nurses’ Protest in Trafalgar Square, UK.
A segment of a series on Concepts in Medical Sociology
MedicinalizationThe patient-doctor connectioncooperative decision-makingill roleTheory of LabelingComplianceDisability in the social model
Researchers in Sociology
Parsons, TalcottTheodore FreidsonConrad PeterVictor Illich
Relevant subjects
PsychologySocial healthHealth and Welfare Category VTE
Medical sociology is the sociological study of medical institutions and organizations, knowledge creation and method selection, healthcare workers’ behaviors and relationships, and the social and cultural (as opposed to physiological or clinical) implications of medicine practice. The sociology of knowledge, science and technology studies, and social epistemology are frequently areas of interaction for this topic. Medical sociologists, who frequently operate at the intersections of public health, social work, demography, and gerontology, are also interested in the qualitative experiences of their patients.
History of Medical Sociology
According to Samuel W. Bloom, medical sociology has a lengthy history, but it has typically been studied more as a field of advocacy in reaction to societal developments than as a discipline. He points to the 1842 publication on the hygienic conditions of the British laboring people as an excellent illustration of this kind of study. Studying social structures as a cause or mediating factor in disease, such as for public health or social medicine, was a component of this medical sociology.[2] : 11
According to Bloom, the growth of sociology in American colleges is connected to the rise of medical sociology. He contends that a pivotal moment in this evolution was the founding of the American Social Science Association (ASSA) in 1865.
Established in 1907, the Russell Sage Foundation was a sizable charitable institution that collaborated closely with the American Sociological Society, whose proposed policy reform mostly targeted medical sociology.**[2]: 36 Bloom contends that the establishment of medical sociology benefited greatly from the 1947–1948 presidency of sociology professor Donald R. Young.182 [2] Young, driven by a desire to validate sociology, advised anthropologist Esther Lucile Brown, who examined several occupations, to concentrate on the medical field because of the social standing of medicine.183 [2]
The Medical Profession
Sociologists have studied the medical profession. Talcott Parsons examined the field from a functionalist standpoint, emphasizing the expert responsibilities, selflessness, and community support that physicians provide. Using a conflict theory lens, several sociologists have examined how the medical industry protects its own interests. Marxist conflict theory takes into account how the ruling classes can use medicine to accomplish their will, but other theories—like Eliot Freidson’s—propose a more structural pluralist approach that examines how the professions themselves gain power.291 [1]
Medical Education
Since medical sociology’s founding in the 1950s, the study of medical education has been a key component of the field. The Student Physician by Robert Merton was the first book on the subject. Other researchers in the topic include Howard S. Becker, whose book Boys in White was published.[3]: (1)
A concept in medical education known as the “hidden curriculum” describes the gap between what medical students learn and what is formally taught.[3] = 16 Benson Snyder expanded on Philip W. Jackson’s introduction of the idea in his book Life in the Classroom. Lakomski has criticized the principles, and there has been a great deal of discussion about them in the educational sector.17 [3]
Medical Dominance
Eliot Freidson contended in writings from the 1970s that medicine had attained a point of “Professional Dominance” over other health professions, their clients, and the subject matter of their work by persuading the public of medicine’s efficacy, obtaining a legal monopoly over their practice, and appropriate other “medical” knowledge through control over training.[4]: 433,
In closure theory, the idea of dominance was expanded to include all professions, with the idea that different professions competed for the same scope of practice, as demonstrated by Andrew Abbott’s research.434 [4] Coburn contended that as capitalism’s influence in US healthcare rose,[4]: 436 challenges to politicians’, economists’, and planners’.
Medicalization
The term “medicalization” refers to the process by which a growing number of human experiences are recognized, classified, and handled like illnesses. Deviance can exhibit examples of medicalization, such as the diagnosis of addiction or antisocial personality disorder as diseases. Feminist researchers have demonstrated how easily the female body is medicalized, and they contend that this is partly due to the inclination to see the female body as the other.151 [7]
Medicalization can be depoliticizing, implying that an intervention should be medical when the optimum course of action is political, and it can obfuscate social influences by characterizing a problem as totally internal to an individual. The medical profession may gain undue power as a result of medicalization.( ): 152
Social construction of illness
Social constructionists investigate the connections between societal conceptions of sickness and how people, institutions, and society express, perceive, and comprehend it.148 [7] Social constructionists investigate the reasons behind the presence or absence of diseases in different locations. Anorexia nervosa, susto, and premenstrual syndrome, for instance, seem to be prevalent in some cultures but not in others.
Medical sociology employs a wide variety of social constructionist frameworks, each with its own set of presumptions regarding the connections between concepts, social interactions, and the physical world.149 in [7] The degree to which a disease is defined by society varies, and certain diseases are purely biological in nature.150 [7] It would be meaningless to characterize these clearly biological disorders as societal constructions.
Sick role
Talcott Parsons’ concept of the sick role is the foundation for medical sociology’s investigation of how society constructs sickness.148 [7] The concept of the ill role was first presented by Talcott Parsons in his book The Social System.[8]: 2021 According to Parsons, the ill role is a social role that is sanctioned by institutional and societal standards and in which a person is seen as exhibiting a particular behavior because they are in need of assistance.[8]: 2021
According to Parsons, the distinguishing characteristics of a sick person are that they are not “responsible” for their illness, that they are free from conventional social duties, that they should make an effort to recover, and that they should look for medically qualified individuals to assist them.213
Labelling theory
The sociology of marijuana use was investigated by Howard S. Becker, whose work served as the basis for labeling theory. He maintained that the definitions used by others have a role in the development of norms and abnormal behavior. Eliot Freidson used these ideas in relation to disease.226 [8]
According to labeling theory, there are two types of behavior in an individual: behavior brought on by a disease and behavior brought on by the label being applied. Freidson separated labels based on validity and the degree to which to this legitimacy affected an individual’s obligations.227 [8]
The labeling theory has been criticized for failing to explain why certain behaviors are classified as deviant and certain behaviors are not, according to this hypothesis: The labeling hypothesis of deviance is not a comprehensive theory.
Mental health
In psychiatry, the sickness framework is the predominant framework for disease, and diagnosis is valued.[10]: 2. Psychiatry places a strong emphasis on biology while analyzing mental disorders.[10]: (3)
This concept has been disputed by certain psychiatrists; some advocate for biopsychosocial definitions, some for social constructionist models, and still others contend that if all the circumstances are known, lunacy can be an intelligent response (Laing and Esterson). In his 1961 book The Myth of Mental Illness, psychiatrist Thomas Szasz contended that mental health was a false concept, contending that minds may only be metaphorically ill.[10]: (3)
The Doctor-Patient relationship
Medical sociology studies the doctor-patient connection and the social interactions between healthcare workers and individuals they contact with. There are various models for how a patient and doctor communicate, and some of these models may have been more or less common in the past. Patient consumerism has partially replaced medical consumerism as one such concept.
Medical Paternalism
The belief that physicians should act in the patient’s best interests and should make decisions on their behalf because patients lack the mental capacity to do so is known as medical paternalism. Parsons contended that despite the knowledge and power imbalance in the doctor-patient relationship, the medical system offered enough protections to keep the patient safe, which allowed the medical system and doctors to play a paternalistic role.[11] in 496
A system of medical paternalism pervaded the post-World War II era until the mid-1960s. Eliot Freidson described medicine as having “professional dominance” in his writings from the 1970s, defining its work and a conceptualization of the problems that are brought to it and the best ways to solve them.[11]
Related fields
Social medicine
Medical sociology and social medicine share the goal of conceptualizing social interactions.[14]: 241 in examining the potential applications of social interaction research in medicine.[15]: #9. The two fields do, however, differ in terms of publication, funding, titles, career pathways, and training.241 [14]Rose and Callard contended that this distinction might be arbitrary in the 2010s.242 [14]
In order to have a distinct viewpoint on sociology outside from the goals of medicine, Strauss maintained in the 1950s that medical sociology should remain independent of medicine.242 [14] Strauss was concerned that medical sociology would lose its emphasis on analyzing society if it began to take on the objectives set forth by medicine.
These worries have subsequently been expressed by Reid, Gold, and Timmermans.In [14]: 248 According to Rosenfeld, sociological research that is exclusively concerned with offering medical advice has little use in developing theories since its conclusions become irrelevant in other social contexts.In [14]: 249
According to Richard Boulton, medical sociology and social medicine are “co-produced” in the sense that social medicine modifies medical practice and understanding in response to medical sociology’s conceptualization of medical practices, and medical sociology then reanalyses the results of these modifications.In [14]: 245 He contends that the propensity to see some theories—like positivism.
Medical anthropology
While acknowledging that medical anthropology and medical sociology examine some of the same topics, Peter Conrad contends that medical anthropology has distinct roots, having initially studied medicine in non-Western societies and employing distinct research techniques.91–92 [16]
He contends that there was some convergence between the two fields, with medical anthropology beginning to concentrate on western medicine and medical sociology beginning to adopt some of the anthropology’s approaches, such as qualitative research and a greater patient-centered approach. He contends that enhanced interdisciplinary collaboration has the potential to benefit both fields.[…]: 97