ABSTRACT
In what ways have the social phenomena understood as belonging to the sphere of "health" provoked Sociology in recent decades? This essay takes this question as a starting point for linking Sociology and Health, proposing a reflection on how knowledge can advance at the intersection between these two fields of knowledge. The article is structured in three sections: in the first, a brief reflection on the notion of "contemporary sociological problems" will be presented, indicating the questions of the Sociology of Health that can be taken as a vector for this inquiry; in the second, it examines some contributions of the Sociology of Health, especially from the late 20th century, indicating how this area has had to organize solutions and reconfigure sociological problems to deal with contemporary phenomena; and in the last section, it proposes new questions for thinking about health as a sociological problem in the contemporary political context.
De que modo os fenômenos sociais entendidos como pertencentes à esfera da saúde provocaram a Sociologia nas últimas décadas? Este estudo parte dessa pergunta para articular Sociologia e Saúde, propondo uma reflexão sobre a maneira como o conhecimento pode avançar na interseção entre essas duas áreas. O texto é organizado em três seções: na primeira, oferece uma breve reflexão sobre a noção de "problema sociológico contemporâneo", indicando as questões da Sociologia da Saúde que podem ser tomadas como vetores para essa indagação; na segunda, examina algumas contribuições da Sociologia da Saúde, sobretudo a partir da segunda metade do século XX, pontuando a maneira como essa área precisou organizar soluções e reconfigurar problemas sociológicos para dar conta de fenômenos contemporâneos; e por fim, na terceira seção, o texto propõe novas perguntas para pensar a saúde como problema sociológico contemporâneo no contexto político atual.
¿De qué manera los fenómenos sociales entendidos como pertenecientes al campo de la "salud" han provocado la Sociología en las últimas décadas? Este ensayo parte de este interrogante para articular Sociología y Salud en una reflexión sobre cómo el conocimiento puede avanzar en la intersección entre estas dos áreas del conocimiento. Este texto se organiza en tres apartados. En el primer apartado se reflexiona brevemente sobre la noción de "problema sociológico contemporáneo" indicando las cuestiones de la Sociología de la Salud que pueden considerarse como motor para esta cuestión; en el segundo, se examinan algunas aportaciones de la Sociología de la Salud, especialmente de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, en las cuales señala cómo el área necesitaba organizar soluciones y reconfigurar los problemas sociológicos para abarcar los fenómenos contemporáneos; y, en el tercer apartado, se plantean nuevos interrogantes para pensar la salud como un problema sociológico contemporáneo en el contexto político actual.
Subject(s)
Sociology , Humans , Sociology, MedicalABSTRACT
Health and illness identities have been presented as important for the experience of health and illness, and they are a widespread research interest. However, these identities are conceptualised in many different ways. This conceptual diversity calls for us to take stock of existing understandings of health and illness identities to provide conceptual clarity and reliability. The study performs an integrative review of these understandings in scientific articles identified through the databases PsychInfo, Pubmed and Scopus. The final sample consists of 64 articles, on which a thematic analysis has been performed. Health and illness identities are regarded as constructed and can be understood in terms of being, acting and judging, answering the questions 'Who are you, with regard to health/illness?', 'How do you deal with health/illness?' and 'How are people judged by their health/illness?', respectively. The terms health identity and illness identity are understood in varied, not necessarily compatible ways, and need to be applied carefully. Health identity concepts appear to be less well established and based upon a more varied theoretical background, while illness identity concepts appear to be more well established and usually relate to a (bio-)medical context. A potential understanding of health identity for medical sociology is suggested.
Subject(s)
Self Concept , Humans , Social Identification , Sociology, MedicalABSTRACT
While medical sociology has long incorporated insights from pragmatist philosophy, recent contributions call for a more explicit engagement with this tradition. Complementing Greenhalgh and Engebretsen's (2022) call for a pragmatist analysis of public health policymaking and crisis, we systemize medical sociology's engagement with pragmatism. We suggest three precepts of pragmatist philosophy as they relate to medical sociology: First, a focus on consequences in action, or understanding medical phenomena through what is done rather than established definitions; Second, problem solving, or how medical actors move between habit and creativity; And third, negotiation of meaning, or analyzing patient-provider communication through ongoing action and interpretation. Such systematization, we argue, would enrich both new and existing topics in medical sociology, from medicalization to mask-wearing.
Subject(s)
Sociology, Medical , Sociology , Humans , Philosophy , Public Health , Policy MakingABSTRACT
Manfred Pflanz, an internist with his focus on social medicine, medical sociology and epidemiology, (1923-1980) played a key role in the institutional integration of social science expertise into medicine in the Federal Republic of Germany during the 1960s and 70 s. The present study, a biographic sketch of Pflanz, describes his work, his programmatic ideas on social medicine and medical sociology, and his activities as an expert consultant in public health for various political entities. This should enable getting an insight into the origins and ramifications, as well as the contemporary programs and international embeddedness of the overlapping fields of social medicine and medical sociology in Germany.
Subject(s)
Social Medicine , Humans , Germany , Sociology, Medical , Public Health , InstitutionalizationABSTRACT
Las dinámicas y lógicas laborales en las organizaciones socio-sanitarias del sector público, son muy complejas. En un texto anterior (la primera parte del presente ensayo) revisamos diferentes posicionamientos teóricos sociológicos (el análisis burocrático de Weber, el estructuralismo constructivista de Bourdieu, la perspectiva pragmática de la crítica de Boltanski), así como también textos de otros autores, tendientes a profundizar la reflexión sobre las prácticas en estas organizaciones. Apelamos además a la música, el baile y las canciones del grupo de rock argentino "Patricio Rey y sus redonditos de ricota" como un ejercicio de intertextualidad metafórica que nos permita vincular dicha reflexión con otras dimensiones de lo social. En este texto (segunda parte), ahondamos en su condición de burocracias profesionales caracterizadas por los amplios márgenes de autonomía con que cuentan sus trabajadores al actuar. Tal indagación se enfoca en la dimensión micropolítica y afectiva de sus prácticas porque, a pesar de ser organizaciones menos piramidales que otras, también se reproducen en ellas dinámicas y lógicas de explotación y alienación que despotencian a sus trabajadores. Proponemos al reconocimiento mutuo, no jerárquico y situacional, como un dinamizador y potenciador de individuos y equipos para desarmar los mecanismos alienantes de capturazgo pasional que a menudo encarnan y perpetúan.
The dynamics and labor logics in socio-sanitary organisations in the public sector are highly complex. In a previous part (the first part of this essay), we explored different theoretical sociological perspectives (Weber's bureaucratic analysis, Bourdieu's constructivist structuralism, Boltanski's critical programmatic perspective), as well as texts from other authors that deepen the reflection on the practices within these organisations. We also drew on the music, dance, and songs of the Argentine rock band "Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota" as a metaphorical exercise in intertextuality, allowing us to link this reflection to other social dimensions. In this text (second part), we delve into their status as professional bureaucracies characterized by the ample autonomy enjoyed by their workers in their actions. This inquiry focuses on the micropolitical and affective dimension of their practices because, despite being less pyramidal than others, these organizations also replicate dynamics and logics of exploitation and alienation that disempower their workers. We propose mutual recognition, devoid of hierarchy and situational context, as a catalyst and enhancer for individuals and teams to dismantle the alienating mechanisms of passionate capture that they often embody and perpetuate.
Subject(s)
Organizational Innovation , Health Organizations , Sociology, Medical , Intersectoral Collaboration , Health FacilitiesABSTRACT
With the introduction of medical psychology and medical sociology as examination subjects in the medical curriculum, as enacted by the year 1970 in Germany, medical faculties established professorships and departments for these disciplines. This raised the concern of how the two separate scientific cultures of the social and behavioural sciences and of medicine, rooted in basic sciences, could reconcile their teaching and research activities in a constructive way. It turned out that the quality and the thematic affinity of new research aligning with core medical interests were important preconditions of successful integration of the new disciplines. This paper exemplifies a respective success in case of a scientific development in medical sociology. Based on a theoretical model, a longstanding, internationally collaborating research program analysing social determinants of stress-related disorders resulted in a series of innovative insights. Furthermore, the paper illustrates close links between biographical luck and structural opportunities and constraints, and it emphasizes the important role of committed inter-disciplinary scientific collaboration.
Subject(s)
Curriculum , Faculty, Medical , Humans , Sociology, Medical , Germany , TeachingABSTRACT
This introduction to a special section brings together three papers first presented at a panel, 'Medical Professions in South Asia: Historical and Contemporary Analyses', at the 26th European Conference on South Asian Studies, held in Vienna, Austria and online, in July 2021. All three papers deal with aspects of the professionalisation of biomedical doctors in India since its independence in 1947. The authors bring together historical and sociological approaches to illuminate the growth of specialisms, patterns of practitioner-patient interactions and efforts to maintain occupational closure and maintain status in the face of growing challenges. The introduction concludes with a discussion of the relevance of these papers for the sociology of health and illness in India and beyond.
Subject(s)
Sociology, Medical , Humans , Sociology, Medical/history , India , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Physicians/historyABSTRACT
Objective: A simulation game is a valuable method for conveying teaching content in a practical way. The aim was to design a teaching module for medical sociology on the subject of "The German health care system" which would convey the contents and connections to the students in a practical way using a simulation game. Project description: In addition to the development of scenarios for the simulation game, role cards for various institutions of the health care system were also produced as a result. The students were given the opportunity beforehand to work on theoretical content regarding the German health care system online (the "flipped classroom method"). In the 90-minute face-to-face event the simulation game was played, followed by a feedback session. The initial impressions of the students were collected. Results: In the 2022 summer semester, a total of 185 students from the 4th pre-clinical semester took part in the seminar. The students were divided into twelve seminars. One scenario was worked on per seminar. The simulation game contributed to a better understanding of the health care system. The students were generally very satisfied with this type of knowledge transfer and thought that this method might well be integrated into teaching in the future. Conclusion: Communicating the health care system through a simulation game is evidently suitable for explaining clearly complex issues and presenting the various interests of the individual institutions. In addition, a simulation game stimulates critical debate and can contribute to imparting theoretical content in teaching medical sociology in a practical way.
Subject(s)
Education, Medical , Students, Medical , Humans , Sociology, Medical , Curriculum , Delivery of Health CareABSTRACT
Por que projetos de pesquisa com metodologias das Ciências Humanas e Sociais precisam de análise ética? Quais os critérios dessas análises? Descubra essa e outras respostas no nosso 11º episódio."
Subject(s)
Ethics Committees, Research , Human Experimentation/ethics , Clinical Protocols/standards , Sociology, MedicalABSTRACT
This paper draws attention to the health-related work that disabled people do when engaging with rehabilitation services. Medical sociology has a rich history of looking at the 'illness work' that patients do, while disability studies scholars have explored the cultural value placed upon paid work and the effects on social status of being unable to work. Yet, a longstanding froideur between these two disciplines, which have fundamentally opposed ontologies of illness and disability, means that neither discipline has attended closely to the rehabilitation-related work that disabled people do. The concept of 'adjusting' to illness highlights seemingly irreconcilable disciplinary differences. Yet this article argues that the notion of 'adjustment work' can elucidate the socio-political character of the work disabled people do in their rehabilitation, which could create a more substantial and sustainable dialogue on this subject between disability studies and medical sociology. To make this case, we discuss interview data from the Rights-based Rehabilitation project, which sought to explore disabled people's lived experiences of rehabilitation.
Subject(s)
Disabled Persons , Medicine , Humans , Sociology, Medical , Disability Studies , Disabled Persons/rehabilitationABSTRACT
This paper explores the potential of the perspective of epistemic injustice to reconcile medical sociology's attention to the micro level of experience and interpersonal exchange, and disability studies' focus on the macro level of oppressive structures. The first part of the paper provides an overview of the concept of epistemic injustice and its key instances-testimonial, hermeneutical, and contributory injustice. We also consider previous applications of the concept in the fields of health care and disability, and we contextualise our investigation by discussing key features of postsocialism from the perspective of epistemic injustice. In the second part, we explore specific epistemic injustices experienced by people who use disability support by drawing on interviews and focus groups conducted with parents of disabled children in present-day Bulgaria. In our conclusion, we revisit our methodological and theoretical points about the potential of epistemic injustice to facilitate mutually beneficial exchanges between medical sociology and disability studies.
Subject(s)
Disabled Persons , Mental Disorders , Child , Humans , Sociology, Medical , Disability Studies , Delivery of Health CareABSTRACT
The pandemic has heightened anxieties, impacted mental health and threatened to create an overwhelming sense of existential dread. We recognise the material ways in which disabled people have been differentially impacted by Covid-19 and make a case for understanding the affective dimensions of the pandemic. We develop a theoretical approach - cutting across medical sociology and critical disability studies - that understands affect as a social, cultural, relational and psychopolitical phenomenon. We introduce a public engagement project that took place in March and April of 2020 that garnered blogspots from around the world to capture the pandemic's impact on the lives of disabled people. Our data analysis reveals three key affective themes: fragility, anxiety and affirmation. To understand the emotional impacts of Covid-19 upon the lives of disabled people we embed critical analyses of affect in the dual processes of disablism and ableism: the dis/ability complex. We conclude by considering how we might conceive of a post-pandemic recovery that places the health and well-being of disabled people at the centre of proceedings.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , Pandemics , Emotions , Mental Health , Sociology, MedicalABSTRACT
This article focuses on the workplace as a significant site of convergence between the disciplines of medical sociology and disability studies. As disability remains on the margins of sociological exploration and theorising relating to health and work, disabled workers remain on the margins of the workforce, subject to disproportionate rates of unemployment, under employment and workplace mistreatment. The article focuses on the experiences of people with 'leaky bodies', focussing specifically on employees who experience troubling menstruation and/or have gynaecological health conditions. It brings together data from three studies conducted between 2017 and 2020; interviews with disabled academics (n = 75), university staff with gynaecological health conditions (n = 23), and key stakeholders in universities (n = 36) (including university executives, line managers and human resources staff). These studies had separate, but linked foci, on the inaccessibility of workplaces, managing gynaecological health conditions at work and supporting disabled people at work respectively. Drawing on the Social Relational Model of disability and theories of embodiment, we explore the experiences and management of workers with leaky bodies in UK University workplaces. Data illustrates how workplace practices undermine embodied experiences of workers with 'leaky' bodies by maintaining workplaces which ignore their material reality. We highlight that addressing embodied needs alongside acknowledging disabled people as an oppressed political category represents a theoretical meeting point for disability studies and medical sociology.
Subject(s)
Disabled Persons , Sociology, Medical , Female , Humans , Disability Studies , Workplace , EmploymentABSTRACT
An exciting development in the sociology of medical education has been its recent return as a distinct scholarly conversation in medical sociology. During the 1980s and 1990s, the sociology of medical education, an historically prominent subfield in sociology, seemed to disappear from the scholarly conversation despite ongoing development in this area. In this narrative review I describe this "missing period" of sociology of medical education, discussing complementary explanations for why it receded and describing what research activity did take place during those decades. In reviewing this work, I argue that articulating theoretical advances made within sociology of medical education research during these decades allows us to link foundational research from the 1950s and 1960s with the renaissance of this subfield in the early 2000s. Fundamentally, understanding the intellectual history and development of this subfield supports a broader movement to understand the import of studies of medical training for exploring questions of interest in general sociology.