Biomedicine Examined (Culture, Illness and Healing (13))

The culture of contemporary medicine is the object of investigation in this book; the meanings and values implicit in biomedical knowledge and practice and the social processes through which they are produced are examined through the use of specific case studies. The essays provide examples of how various facets of 20th century medicine, including edu­ cation, research, the creation of medical knowledge, the development and application of technology, and day to day medical practice, are per­ vaded by a value system characteristic of an industrial-capitalistic view of the world in which the idea that science represents an objective and value free body of knowledge is dominant. The authors of the essays are sociologists and anthropologists (in almost equal numbers); also included are papers by a social historian and by three physicians all of whom have steeped themselves in the social sci­ ences and humanities. This co-operative endeavor, which has necessi­ tated the breaking down of disciplinary barriers to some extent, is per­ haps indicative of a larger movement in the social sciences, one in which there is a searching for a middle ground between grand theory and attempts at universal explanations on the one hand, and the context-spe­ cific empiricism and relativistic accounts characteristic of many historical and anthropological analyses on the other. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Introduction....Pages 3-10 Relationships between Society, Culture, and Biomedicine: An Introduction to the Essays....Pages 11-16 Front Matter....Pages 17-17 Tenacious Assumptions in Western Medicine....Pages 19-56 Mind and Body as Metaphors: Hidden Values in Biomedicine....Pages 57-93 Psyche, Soma, and Society: The Social Construction of Psychosomatic Disorders....Pages 95-122 Front Matter....Pages 123-123 Medical Students and the Cadaver in Social and Cultural Context....Pages 125-153 Patients, Physicians and Context: Medical Care in the Home....Pages 155-178 Discourse, Descriptions and Diagnoses: Reproducing Normal Medicine....Pages 179-204 Front Matter....Pages 205-205 Space and Time in British General Practice....Pages 207-225 Thinking Prevention: Concepts and Constructs in General Practice....Pages 227-255 Clinical Science and Clinical Expertise: Changing Boundaries between Art and Science in Medicine....Pages 257-295 Front Matter....Pages 297-297 Babyhood: The Social Construction of Infant Care as a Medical Problem in England in the Years Around 1900....Pages 299-329 Menopause as Process or Event: The Creation of Definitions in Biomedicine....Pages 331-349 On the Boundary of Life and Death: The Definition of Dying by Medical Residents....Pages 351-374 Front Matter....Pages 375-375 A Nation at Risk: Interpretations of School Refusal in Japan....Pages 377-414 Medical Practice in Response to a Folk Illness: The Diagnosis and Treatment of Nervios in Costa Rica....Pages 415-438 Front Matter....Pages 439-439 Physicians and the Disclosure of Undesirable Information....Pages 441-463 The Technological Imperative in Medical Practice: The Social Creation of a “Routine” Treatment....Pages 465-496 The Social Construction of a Machine: Ritual, Superstition, Magical Thinking and other Pragmatic Responses to Running a CT Scanner....Pages 497-539 Back Matter....Pages 541-558 Relationships Between Society, Culture, And Biomedicine / Margaret Lock And Deborah R. Gordon -- Tenacious Assumptions In Western Medicine / Deborah R. Gordon -- Mind And Body As Metaphors / Laurence J. Kirmayer -- Psyche, Soma, And Society : The Social Construction Of Psychosomatic Disorders / Cecil G. Helman -- Medical Students And The Cadaver In Social And Cultural Context / Joseph W. Lella And Dorothy Pawluch -- Patients, Physicians And Context : Medical Care In The Home / Andrea Sankar -- Discourse, Descriptions And Diagnoses : Reproducing Normal Medicine / Paul Atkinson -- Space And Time In British General Practice / David Armstrong -- Thinking Prevention : Concepts And Constructs In General Practice / Anthony Williams And Mary Boulton -- Clinical Science And Clinical Expertise / Deborah R. Gordon -- Babyhood : The Social Construction Of Infant Care As A Medical Problem In England In The Years Around 1900 / Peter W.g. Wright -- Menopause As Procsess Or Event / Patricia Kaufert -- On The Boundary Oflife And Death : The Definition Of Dying By Medical Residents / Jessica H. Muller And Barbara A. Koenig. Edited By Margaret Lock And Deborah Gordon. Sold And Distributed In The U.s.a. And Canada By Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, Ma 02061, U.s.a.--t.p. Verso. Includes Bibliographies And Indexes.