Overview
Medicalization is a perspective: it’s a medical way of seeing the world. When you have medicalized a behavior, for example, or an identity, you have interpreted that behavior or identity as the result of medical causes. This is not inevitable; there are many ways of understanding social and biological reality. Sometimes we can see the transformation from one understanding to another in our own lifetimes. For example, homosexuality used to be understood as a mental illness; it even had its own classification in the DSM, AKA the “psychiatric bible.” On the other hand, what we now know as ADHD, more commonly diagnosed in boys, was understood just a couple of generations ago simply as a very energetic child, not a child with a diagnosable medical condition. The effect of medicalization is powerful, as it not only shapes the way we understand behaviors, but also how we treat them.
This week’s discussion has 5 parts:
1. Write one paragraph defining medicalization and explaining how it works. Use Conrad's chapter on "Medicalization: Context, Characteristics, and Changes." (1/2 point)
2. Using Conrad’s discussion of the demedicalization of homosexuality, as well at the This American Life story "81 Words, explain how medicalization can happen, and how it can change the response to a situation. Use, quote, and properly reference details from the materials to develop your explanation. (1 point)
3. Now write a paragraph explaining the pros and cons of medicalization. Why and how is medicalization a good thing, and why and how can it be a bad thing? Use and reference Conrad. (3/4 point)
4. What is an interesting question, either on this topic, or linking this topic with another in our class, to guide discussion in this week's forum? (1/4 point)
Your initial post should be at least 300 words long.
Make sure you've properly cited, including page numbers, paragraph numbers, and/or time stamps for all in-text citations. NO AI