Title

Beyond Medicalisation-Demedicalisation: The Case of Holistic Health

Publication Date

11-1-1994

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Discourse relating to the dual processes of medicalisation and demedicalisation has become deeply embedded in the sociological literature and increasingly in the cultural fabric itself. This paper highlights several contradictory dimensions and discrepancies inherent in those notions of medicalisation and demedicalisation. Three key components of the conceptualisations of medicalisation are separated out for examination: the locus of causality, the purview of the pathogenic sphere, and status inequality or professionalisation. Data from the holistic health movement are utilised to illustrate more precisely those problematic and at times contradictory dimensions.

Publication Title

Sociology of Health and Illness

Volume

16

Issue

5

First Page

579

Last Page

599

DOI

10.1111/1467-9566.ep11348024

Publisher Policy

pre-print, post-print with 12 month embargo, no publisher's pdf

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