Parsons saw the sick role as a form of deviance, or going against societal expectations, because an ill person has different patterns of behavior than the norm. Talcott parsons played a major role in developing several important sociological theories. His theory of the sick role was developed in association with psychoanalysis. The person is not responsible for assuming the sick role. In parsons definition, the sick person had two rights and two duties to fulfill. Two, the sicker a person was the less was expected from them. The sick role in literature and society jama jama network. In tune with the gendered division of labour of the 1950s, the body in parsons sick role is a male one, defined as controlled by a rational, purposive mind and. This article revisits parsons insights on medicine, health and illness in the light of contemporary debates in medical sociology and beyond. Examining illness behavior using parsonss sick role. The concept of the sick role was first introduced in 1951 by talcott parsons. Four turning points since parsons are then discussed with reference to the theory developed by, respectively, harold garfinkel. Pdf parsons sick role concept has become problematic in the face of the increased significance of chronic illnesses and the growing.
His work is concerned with a general theoretical system for the analysis of society rather than with narrower empirical. First, exemption from normal social role responsibilities. Sick role is a term used in medical sociology regarding sickness and the rights and obligations of the affected. But this construction of the sick role also, perhaps unintentionally, determines that patients with mus are individuals who suffer from a combination of social problems and problematic personality traits. Ebook or pdf edited book email encyclopedia article govt. Being sick is not a state of fact or condition it is a specifically patterned social role. A person as a result of a diagnosis may adopt a sick role, after talcott parsons seminal work in 1951.
Apr 25, 2010 the functionalist perspective was used by parsons to explain the social role of sickness by examining the use of the sick role mechanism. It is clearly visible that sickness is the manifested dysfunction of the society. The life of talcott parsons and his influence on sociology. Talcott parsons involves characteristic behaviors adopted by a sick person according to demands of the situationconstitutes a social role based on assumption that sick person doesnt want choose to be sick. Mar 08, 2017 cannabis grow lighting myths and faqs with dr.
Through his concept, parsons describes the social expectations of how sick people are expected to act and how they are meant to be treated. The structure of the sick role provides the starting point for discussion. Talcott parsons, the sick role and chronic illness matthias. On the rights side of the equation, the patient according to the severity of. Dimension of the sick role in chronic illness dependence is the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else in the sick role it represented the negative perception of illness reciprocityrefers to responding to. The functionalist perspective was used by parsons to explain the social role of sickness by examining the use of the sick role mechanism. As parsons 1951 argued, this process gives patients access to the sick role and gives medicine its power to legitimise or construct illness. Parsons argued that if too many people claimed to be ill then this would have a dysfunctional impact on society, therefore entry into the sick role needed.
One, was when a person was sick they were excused by society from day to day activities like working or taking care of the children. Parsons offers one of the earliest formulations of the socio. People in the sick role may be excused from other obligations, such as work, school, or parenting. Dec 21, 2012 talcott parsons conceptualisation of what he called the sick role has the most significant claim to represent the root of social scientific consideration of the medical complex. Talcott parsons, the sick role and chronic illness core. The sick role, when adapted, trumps individuals well roles in that it allows them to be exempt from many of their daily obligations and responsibilities, defining their primary role as both the victims and defenders their health. Despite the growing criticisms of parsons original formulation parsons. Mar 05, 2012 as parsons 1951 argued, this process gives patients access to the sick role and gives medicine its power to legitimise or construct illness. Parsons had worked intensively with questions of medical sociology, the medical profession, psychiatry, psychosomatic problems, and the. Talcott parsons,the social system talcott parsons,social. Posted on september 26, 2018 essays talcott parsons the sick role article.
Parson sick role sociology bibliographies in harvard style. Parsons defined the sick role as a sick person who adopts certain patterns of behaviour in order to minimise the impact of their illness. Although talcott parsonss sick role theory, as described in 1951 in the social. As one of the founding fathers of sociology of health and illness, parsons. Subsequently, the challenge facing other researchers has been to test thoroughly the basic underlying theoretical assump. He argues that being sick means that the sufferer enters a role of sanctioned deviance. This role afforded the afflicted certain rights, but also certain obligations, which were described by parsons in his four famous postulates. The sick person is exempted from carrying out some or all of normal social duties e. Oct 18, 2014 there are also some criticism of parsons sick role, these include rejecting the sick role, the model assumes that the individual voluntarily accepts the sick role, the individual may not comply with expectations of the sick role model, may not give up social obligations,ay resist dependancy, may avoid public sick role if their illness is. Talcott parsons conceptualisation of what he called the sick role has the most significant claim to represent the root of social scientific consideration of the medical complex.
Nov 14, 2018 the sick role is a theory in medical sociology that was developed by talcott parsons. Illness behavior sick role sickness has typically been viewed by sociologists as a form of deviant behavior cockerham, p. The last field of social research was an issue that parsons constantly developed. It is, however, mainly used as a negative referent shilling, 2002. The sick role and perceptions of disability this aint livin. The sick role is a concept that concerns the social aspects of becoming ill and the privileges and obligations that come with it. Parsons had worked intensively with questions of medical sociology, the medical profession, psychiatry, psychosomatic problems, and the questions of health and illness. He produced a general theoretical system for the analysis of society that came to be called structural functionalism. The sick role still is one of the most frequently invoked of parsons concepts. The first major theory within sociology that analysed the role of health and illness in social life was devised by the functionalist theorist talcott parsons 1951 in his book the social system. Parsons did not disagree with the dominance of the medical model of health in determining illness, yet argued that being ill was not just a biological condition, but also a social role with a. Talcott parsons 190282 was for many years the bestknown sociologist in the united states, and indeed one of the bestknown in the world. Parson sick role sociology bibliographies cite this for me. Parsons also played a crucial role in the development of the grand.
When parsons first described the sick role in the 1950s, american medical culture was conservative and the paternalistic nature of the patientphysician relationship was accepted as dogma. Parsons, a propo nent of structural functionalist principles, viewed health as a functional prerequisite of society. His structure of social action 1937 is a detailed comparison of alfred marshall, emile durkheim, max weber, and vilfredo pareto. The sick role and the role of the physician reconsidered. Parsons argued that if too many people claimed to be ill then this would have a dysfunctional impact on society, therefore entry into the sick role needed regulating. Home essays talcott parsons the sick role article essays talcott parsons the sick role article. Parsons sick role concept has become problematic in the face of the increased significance of chronic illnesses and the growing emphasis on lifestylecentred health promotion. His grand theory has huge potentials to explain the various social situations not only the sick role.
Parsons was a functionalist sociologist, who argued that being sick means that the sufferer enters a role of sanctioned deviance. However, the cultural revolution of the 1960s and 1970s ushered in a sentiment of empowerment, antiestablishment, and antipaternalism. There are also some criticism of parsons sick role, these include rejecting the sick role, the model assumes that the individual voluntarily accepts the sick role, the individual may not comply with expectations of the sick role model, may not give up social obligations,ay resist dependancy, may avoid public sick role if their illness is. May 04, 2020 talcott parsons, american sociologist and scholar whose theory of social action influenced the intellectual bases of several disciplines of modern sociology. I was recently introduced to the concept of the sick role, something which has been rattling around in sociology since 1951, when it was discussed by talcott parsons. Talcott parsonsinvolves characteristic behaviors adopted by a sick person according to demands of the situationconstitutes a social rolebased on assumption that sick person doesnt want choose to be sick. In order to be excused their usual duties and to be considered not to be responsible for their condition, the sick person is expected to seek professional advice and to adhere to treatments in order to get well. Talcott parsons, the sick role and chronic illness. From sick role to practices of health and illness frank. The sick role by kathleen rhodes talcott parsons first put forth his idea of the sick role in his book the social system 1951. Within this mechanism, ill people and doctors had to abide by a number of rights and obligations attached to their respective roles in order to keep entry into the sick role tightly monitored. He argued in the social system, 1951 that whilst disease involves bodily dysfunction, being sickthat is, being identified and accepted as illis a role governed by social expectations, of which he listed four.
Parsons model envisages the sick role as a temporary one, and whether it is primarily seen as a state of deviancy or of incapacity, there is a presumption that occupancy of the role will be resolved by recovery from illness and a resumption. Psychiatric sick role in his original conceptualization, par. Mus as legitimate patients and thereby entering them into the sick role. Jan 19, 2014 dimension of the sick role in chronic illness dependence is the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else in the sick role it represented the negative perception of illness reciprocityrefers to responding to a positive action with another positive action. From sick role to practices of health and illness pendidikan. This construct of sanctioned deviance is not without its critics, who argue that this encourages a culture of blaming the sick. Talcott parsons, an american sociologist, introduced max weber to american sociology and became himself the leading theorist of american sociology after world war ii. The sick role is widely accepted as an historically adequate account of normative expectations around. The sick role gives moral legitimacy to the claim that patients cannot perform normal responsibilities and hence that this condition prevents them from performing other social roles see parsons 1978.
Talcott parsons is the most relevant sociological theorists of today. Illness, according to parsons, disrupts normal life function and relationships and is. His work is concerned with a general theoretical system for the analysis of society rather than with narrower empirical studies. The sick role is a theory in medical sociology that was developed by talcott parsons. Both developments delimit the medical system so that it extends into the world of health, fundamentally changing the doctorpatient relationship. Theoretically idealistic and grand, parsonss sick role model is not. Parsons therefore devised the sick role mechanism of how ideally a doctor and patient should interrelate. Deprofessionalization of medical knowledge and the expertpatient movement of recent decades reposition physicianpatient interactions and changes what it means to be a patient from an acute, shortterm sick role parsons, 1951 to a longterm fluid extension of patienthood through risk factors conrad, 2005. Pdf talcott parsons, the sick role and chronic illness.
First, his theory of the sick role in medical sociology was developed in association with psychoanalysis. Rehabilitating the sick role the university of sydney. It is a concept created by american sociologist talcott parsons in 1951. Talcott parsons and the theory of the sick role kent. Parsons was a functionalist sociologist who introduced the sick role.
Sociologists are very interested in the structure and function of society, and people who are sick or disabled play an interesting social role. Society is willing to legitimize sickness as long as one follows culturally determined conventions of being ill, such as trying to regain health as quickly as possible, or accepting medical help in overcoming the illness. A preliminary balance sheet of the parsonian legacy is first provided, taking on board standard accounts and criticisms of parsons work within medical sociology to date. He argued in the social system, 1951 that whilst disease involves bodily dysfunction, being sickthat is being identified and accepted as illis a role governed by social expectations, of which he listed four.
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