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Sacred Healing and Biomedicine Compared
Author(s) -
Finkler Kaja
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
medical anthropology quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.855
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1548-1387
pISSN - 0745-5194
DOI - 10.1525/maq.1994.8.2.02a00030
Subject(s) - biomedicine , persona , perspective (graphical) , sociocultural evolution , aesthetics , perception , psychotherapist , psychology , medicine , sociology , epistemology , humanities , philosophy , bioinformatics , art , anthropology , visual arts , biology
This analysis addresses the similarities and differences between sacred healing and biomedicine along several important dimensions that bear on the differential effects of patients' experiences of their treatment, including the physical setting, etiological beliefs, diagnoses, the practitioner‐patient relationship, recruitment into the healing role, treatment repertoires, and perceptions of the body. The exploration of these differences illuminates the nature of medical regimes embedded in dissimilar systems of knowledge and reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each. The analysis demonstrates the dramaturgical nature of the biomedicine‐patient encounter with its inherent underlying contradictions, in contrast to the sacred healer‐patient interactions where the drama is lacking. The comparison reveals the importance of treatment techniques in sacred healing in contrast to the doctor's persona in biomedical treatment. The article concludes with a consideration of contemporary sociocultural forces that have led to the emphasis on the physicians's persona in biomedical practice.