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The Shifting Engines of Medicalization

Conrad, Peter·2005·Journal of Health and Social Behavior

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Abstract

Social scientists and other analysts have written about medicalization since at least the 1970s. Most of these studies depict the medical profession, interprofessional or organizational contests, or social movements and interest groups as the prime movers toward medicalization. This article contends that changes in medicine in the past two decades are altering the medicalization process. Using several case examples, I argue that three major changes in medical knowledge and organization have engendered an important shift in the engines that drive medicalization: biotechnology (especially the pharmaceutical industry and genetics), consumers, and managed care. Doctors are still gatekeepers for medical treatment, but their role has become more subordinate in the expansion or contraction of medicalization. Medicalization is now more driven by commercial and market interests than by professional claims-makers. The definitional center of medicalization remains constant, but the availability of new pharmaceutical and potential genetic treatments are increasingly drivers for new medical categories. This requires a shift in the sociological focus examining medicalization for the twenty-first century.

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Authors: Conrad, P.
Affiliations: Brandeis University (US)
Corresponding author: Conrad, Peter
Venue: Journal of Health and Social Behavior
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2005-03
Volume: 46
Issue: 1
Pages: 3-14
ISSN: 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
2150-6000
DOI: 10.1177/002214650504600102
OpenAlex: W2089325836
Cited by: 1,074
References: 55
Citations by year: 2026: 53 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 69 · 2022: 67 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 63 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 88 · 2016: 51 · 2015: 64 · 2014: 52 · 2013: 46 · 2012: 62
FWCI: 44.90
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) (submittedVersion)
Topics: Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health, Medicine and Society
Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Medicine, History, and Philosophy
Health Sciences › Health Professions › Medical Terminology › Medical Research and Practices
Keywords: medicalization, pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, managed care, consumer health, medical knowledge, medical organizations, commercialization of medicine, medical categories, gatekeeping, medical profession
MeSH terms: Mental Disorders, Biotechnology, Consumer Advocacy, Delivery of Health Care, Drug Industry, Humans, Managed Care Programs, United States, Gatekeeping

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The Shifting Engines of Medicalization

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