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Beyond the Sociology of Diagnosis
Author(s) -
Jutel Annemarie
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
sociology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 1751-9020
DOI - 10.1111/soc4.12296
Subject(s) - sociology , sociology of health and illness , medical sociology , epistemology , order (exchange) , point (geometry) , sociology of knowledge , social science , health care , law , public health , medicine , philosophy , geometry , nursing , mathematics , finance , political science , economics
Abstract The sociology of diagnosis offers a vantage point from which to study health and illness, linking a number of other threads of sociological thought. While there has been a growing interest in diagnosis since Mildred Blaxter's suggestion for a sociological exploration in 1978 – a call echoed by Brown in 1990 – it is timely to reflect upon the way in which sociologists engage with diagnosis. Within this review essay, I first consider what it is to “be a sociology” in general terms. I then explore the implications of this for an effective sociology of diagnosis, discussing the priorities it has recently developed as well as the directions its scholars might consider. Finally, I suggest ways in which sociologists of diagnosis could broaden their approach in order to advance their understanding of health, illness, and medicine.