ILLNESS AND THE ROLE OF THE PHYSICIAN: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

• Published in: American journal of orthopsychiatry 1951-07, Vol.21 (3), p.452-460
• Main Author: Parsons, Talcott
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Equilibrium; Human; Humans; Mental Disorders; Old Medline; Physicians; Psychosomatic Medicine; Responsibility; Social Perception; Therapist Role
• ISSN: 0002-9432; 1939-0025
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.1951.tb00003.x

This article will attempt to discuss certain features of the phenomena of illness, and of the processes of therapy and the role of the therapist, as aspects of the general social equilibrium of modern Western society. The processes which are visible in the actual technical work of psychotherapy resemble, in their relation to the total balance of forces operating within and upon the individual. The phenomena of physical and mental illness and their counteraction are more intimately connected with the general equilibrium of the social system than is generally supposed. It is rather generally supposed that there has been a considerable increase in the incidence of mental illness within the last generation or so. This is difficult to prove since statistics are notably fragmentary and fashions of diagnosis and treatment have greatly changed. But granting the fact, what would be its meaning ? It could be that it was simply an index of generally increasing social disorganization. But this is not necessarily the case. There are certain positive functions in the role of illness from the social point of view. The sick person is isolated from influence upon others. In any case the physician is not merely the person responsible for the care of a special class of "problem cases." He stands at a strategic point in the general balance of forces in the society of which he is a part. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)