SOC 2101 Lecture 3: Lect. 3 - Medicalization - The Case of Prozac
31 Aug 2015
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
How much of a drug is given is very important. Substances are intimately associated to things that will determine it as illegal or legal. It"s simple to figure out what a disease is and what it is not. A specialized group that intervenes and has knowledge over it tells you what to do, that"s the treatment. We give doctors the power to determine the definition. Medicalization is a social process through which a previously normal human condition (behavioral, physiological, or emotional) becomes a medical problem in need of treatment under the jurisdiction of medical professionals. It changes ones understanding of a specific condition from a variant upon human social nature to a deviation from normal biological functioning that is treatable through the use of biomedicine. There are many variations, but it becomes a deviation. This particular change makes variation a disease when it becomes deviation.
