Class: Medicine
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Class Notes
Health and healthcare has recently been in the news because of the rising cost of healthcare.
Medical beliefs and practices reflect the cultural values of a society. The united states has a "can do" mentality where doctors are more likely to prescribe drugs and recommend surgery.
Parsons argued that the "sick role" is a widely understood set of rules about how people are supposed to behave when sick. People may be exempted from responsibility for the condition itself, but should recognize the condition is undesirable. They may be excused from ordinary daily duties and expectation, although that privilege varies with the severity of the illness. They may also be given relief from ordinary norms of etiquette and propriety, and be entitled to ask for (and receive) care and sympathy from others. People must seek culturally prescribed actions that will aid in recovery (such as going to the doctor or taking medicine). Sick people are obligated to think of others as well of themselves (such as by covering their mouth when coughing).
The medical profession socializes people who work in medicine because the physical intimacy inherent in medicine requires medical professionals to manage their inappropriate feelings as they make contact with the human body, including masking embarrassment, disgust, or arousal. Emotions can be managed by transforming the contact, accentuating the positive, using the patient, and avoiding contact (Smith and Kleinman 1989).
Required Reading:
"Money is the Root of All Evil," Ruane and Cerulo (Second Thoughts, pp. 131-137)
"Medicine as an Institution of Social Control," Conrad and Schneider (Sociology Reader, pp. 197-206)
"Sick Out of Luck: The Uninsured in America," Sered and Fernandopulle (Sociology Reader, pp. 261-266)
Keywords: health and healthcare, racial disparities in health care, gender disparities in health, smoking as the great equalizer, sick role, epiphanies, socialization of the medical profession, emotion management, transforming the contact, accentuating the positive, using the patient, avoiding contact.
