User:Maia.gouaze/Sociology of health and illness

Section : Theoretical perspectives
The field of sociology of health and illness has been shaped by the perspectives and contributing works of various authors that have enabled its development. Many research studies touch on the relationship between the patient and doctor aswell as their environment within the healthcare system. One of the founders of the sociology of health and illness is Talcott Parsons, an American sociologist, who analyzed the relationship between patients and their doctors in his book “The Social System” written in 1951. In his sick role theory, he argued that people who were sick adopted a social role, not just a biological condition. Those who were sick deviated from social roles were unable to fulfill their respective functions, thus if too many people claimed to be ill, this would create a dysfunctional society that needed regulating. Creating this mechanism would prevent people who were pretending to be sick to form a subculture of being sick. By developing the “sick role mechanism” patients and doctors had to abide by a set of “rights” and “obligations” that would monitor entry into the sick role. The “rights” of a patient constituted an exemption from performing their respective social roles, such as going to work or housekeeping with the further exemption being given to those severely ill. These rights were given if they maintained two obligations, the first being that they had to view being sick as undesirable and thus must find a way to get better. Second, after a while of being sick, the person must seek the help of a doctor and follow their advice in other to alleviate their illness. The “obligations” of the doctors were to be trained in their field, be motivated to help the patient, have objective and emotional detachment from the patient, and be bound by the rules of professional conduct. Their “rights” consisted of being able to examine the patient physically and ask about their personal life, and have a position of authority and autonomy in their professional practice. Lastly, receive status and reward from their important role in society. Parson’s perspective. In addition, Micheal Foucault published “The Birth of the Clinic” in 1963, in which he developed his theory of the “medical gaze” referring to how doctors filter patient information into a biomedical paradigm, which focuses solely on biological factors excluding how social, environmental and psychological factors can influence a patient’s condition. According to Foucault doctors are trained to be doctor-oriented rather than patient-oriented, which creates a form of abusive power structure. In more recent years, the field of sociology of health and illness has evolved, expanding the knowledge of various authors in journals such as The Journal of Sociology of health and illness contributing to the field's work and advanced research.