Chapter 9 - Medicalization

Question 1

At the beginning of written history, illness was regarded as?

Answer 1

a spiritual problem

Question 2

Modern Western Medicine derived primarily from?

Answer 2

Greece in 4th & 5th Centuries

before Christ & from medieval medicine

Question 3

Hippocrates - Idea of Balance

health & sickness

Answer 3

to Hippocrates, health depended on a balance of the 4 humours (blood, phlegm, black & yellow bile)

• illness was caused by an imbalance in any of these 4

Question 4

(2) types of practitioners in 4th/5th Century

Answer 4

1) private physicians - for aristocrats
2) public doctors - in large towns

both types catered to the wealthy

physician’s assistants attended the poor/slaves

Question 5

Modern seperation of medicine & the Church is a result of a number of social processes

Answer 5

1) secularization of human body as object of science - changing doctrine of seperation of body & spirit paralled philisophical discussion of Descartes → resulted in autopsies allowed
2) Institutional Secularization - Church became seperate from the state
3) Growing belief in potential power of science & emphasis on individual rights/freedoms

Question 6

Medical Science became increasingly influential during period that (5) things developed

Answer 6

1) urbanization
2) industrialization
3) bureaucratization
4) rationalization
5) secularization

Question 7

Definition of Medicalization by Zola (1972)

Answer 7

process whereby more of life comes to be of concern to the medical profession

Question 8

Zola portrays medicalization as an expanding attachment process

• 4 components

Answer 8

1) expansion of what in life is deemed relevent to medicine
2) retention of absolute control by medical profession over certain technical procedures
3) **retention ** of near-absolute access to certain areas by medical profession
4) expansion of what in medicine is deemed relevant to life

Question 9

1) expansion of what in life is deemed relevent to medicine

Answer 9

entire lifestyle of patient is considered of concern to doctor

-case history

Question 10

2) retention of absolute control by medical profession over certain technical procedures

Answer 10

doctors can do things to the human body that no one else has the right to do

Question 11

3) retention of near-absolute access to certain areas by medical profession

Answer 11

near-absolute control over a number of formerly normal bodily processes → aging, drug addiction, alcoholism, pregnancy

Question 12

4) expansion of what in medicine is deemed relevant to life

Answer 12

refers to the consideration of certain social problems as medical problems

→ ADHD, depression, obesity, criminality

Question 13

• *Ivan Illach (1976)**
• argument that contemporary medicine is ____. Define?

Answer 13

iatrogenic - creates disease/illness even as it provides medical assistance

Question 14

(3) Broad social factors aided discovery of hyperkinesis

Answer 14

1) pharm. revolution
2) trends in medical practice
3) government action

Question 15

Explain how these (3) social factors aided in the discovery of hyperkinesis

1) pharm. revolution
2) trends in medical practice
3) government action

Answer 15

1) early drug-related success stories encouraged hope for potential value of medication in other areas of life
2) children mortality rates from infectious disease decreased → possibility of concern with less-threatening disorders emerged
3) government publications, conferences, actions of concerned parents & activities of pharm. companies reinforced legitimacy of Minimal-brain dysfunction as a new diagnostic category managed by medical profession

Question 16

Medicalization is characterized by (3) components

Answer 16

1) movement from narrow to broad view of disease
2) control of medical profession over variety of procedures
3) almost exclusive access of doctors to do things to human body
4) ability to indentify certain social problems as medical problems

Question 17

Problems with growing Medicalization of modern society

Answer 17

1) when faced with ambiguous situation, doctors tend towards active intervention
2) contemporary medical practice is iatrogenic

clinical - from work of med. practitioner (ex. drug addiction)

**social - ** health policies reinforce dependency & ill health (ex. hypochondriac)

**structural - ** loss of individual autonomy (ex. lose ability to deal with pain, illness etc)

Question 18

Demedicalization of Modern Society

Answer 18

as more ppl pay attention to media which reflects constantly changing/critical views of aspects of social/cultural life → tend to be more knowledgable about issues

• more cynical, skeptical population
• use of the internet → signifies decrease of power of medical profession