CAS SO 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 34: Hypotrichosis, Road Rage, Droopy
27 Apr 2018
School
Department
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SO100
Apr. 23rd, 2018
Is there really an Obesity Epidemic? And if so, what’s so wrong about it?
- Stigmatization and medicalization of categories other than “normal”
- Examinations of how and why particular phenomena are constructed as “social
problems”
What is medicalization?
medicalization:
- A process whereby more and more of everyday life has come under medical domination,
influence and supervision
- Consists of: defining a problem in medical terms, using medical language to describe a
problem, adopting a medical framework to understand a problem, or using a medical
invention to “treat it”
…as opposed to a frame?
frame:
- A conceptual device that helps us make sense of the world around us
o Goffman
- When non-medical problems become medical problems, it takes on a medical frame; it
has been medicalized
o Ex. Semi-nomadic Moors of the Sahara, where the feminine ideal is extreme
fatness; voluptuous immobility is thought to beautify girls’ bodies, hasten the
onset of puberty, heighten their sexuality…
The social construction of illness
- Health and illness do not represent biological facts (only)
- How health and illness are defined, understood, and responded to is created through
social interaction and social processes
What kind of conditions are medicalized?
- Ordinary processes
- Social problems
o Ex. lying, having too much sex, shoplifting…
- Social or personality defects
o Ex. anger, road rage, grief, hyperactivity, shyness…
- Risk conceptualized as disease
o Ex. alcoholism, drug use…
- Mild conditions as serious disease
- Physical differences
o Ex. sparse eyelashes (hypotrichosis), droopy boobs, big nose…
Evidence of increasing medicalization
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
o 1952: 106 disorders
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Document Summary
Stigmatization and medicalization of categories other than normal . Examinations of how and why particular phenomena are constructed as social problems . A process whereby more and more of everyday life has come under medical domination, influence and supervision. Consists of: defining a problem in medical terms, using medical language to describe a problem, adopting a medical framework to understand a problem, or using a medical invention to treat it . A conceptual device that helps us make sense of the world around us: goffman. When non-medical problems become medical problems, it takes on a medical frame; it has been medicalized: ex. Semi-nomadic moors of the sahara, where the feminine ideal is extreme fatness; voluptuous immobility is thought to beautify girls" bodies, hasten the onset of puberty, heighten their sexuality . Health and illness do not represent biological facts (only) How health and illness are defined, understood, and responded to is created through social interaction and social processes.
