Posted by med_empowered on February 25, 2007, at 1:37:24
In reply to Re: Medicalize Me: Experts Look at Perceptions » Phillipa, posted by laima on February 25, 2007, at 0:58:35
I don't think the article was fair to the first people to develop the concept of "medicalization." They weren't *demonizing* anyone; the term is descriptive. Society becomes more rational and the form and type of bonds change, so while behavior must still be regulated, it may need to be regulated differently. Example: "madness" was often first interpreted through a religious lens, then through a moral frameowork (hence the overlap of "mad" with "bad") and then a medical one. The behavior(s) are still regulated, but b/c of the different social structure, its regulated differently.
So the argument that psychiatry was largely (perhaps entirely) the "medicalization of deviance" did not mean the theorists were demonizing psychiatry; rather, they were *deconstructing* psychiatry as a form of social control in the modern, western world. The difference is big and very important.
poster:med_empowered
thread:735810
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070224/msgs/735942.html