The DOI matches its Crossref record; 87 of the 87 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 1 of the 28 sources its claims cite were checked for support.
The Social Construction of Illness: Key Insights and Policy Implications
Abstract
The social construction of illness is a major research perspective in medical sociology. This article traces the roots of this perspective and presents three overarching constructionist findings. First, some illnesses are particularly embedded with cultural meaning—which is not directly derived from the nature of the condition—that shapes how society responds to those afflicted and influences the experience of that illness. Second, all illnesses are socially constructed at the experiential level, based on how individuals come to understand and live with their illness. Third, medical knowledge about illness and disease is not necessarily given by nature but is constructed and developed by claims-makers and interested parties. We address central policy implications of each of these findings and discuss fruitful directions for policy-relevant research in a social constructionist tradition. Social constructionism provides an important counterpoint to medicine’s largely deterministic approaches to disease and illness, and it can help us broaden policy deliberations and decisions.
Overview
AI snapshot
Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
This article reviews the social construction of illness perspective in medical sociology, tracing its roots and synthesizing three key findings: cultural meanings of illness, the socially constructed illness experience, and socially constructed medical knowledge. It argues these findings have policy implications and can broaden policy deliberations by countering medicine’s largely deterministic approaches.
Key findings
- Some illnesses carry cultural meanings not directly derived from biology, shaping social responses and the experience of illness; examples include stigmatized illnesses (e.g., epilepsy, HIV/AIDS), contested illnesses (e.g., chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity), and disability as socially constructed. Policy implication: shift emphasis from biomedically fixing individuals toward changing the social and cultural context that gives illnesses negative meaning.
- All illnesses are socially constructed at the experiential level: people enact illness, construct identity, and manage daily life. Research uses in-depth interviews and insider views; Charmaz describes how chronic illness can shrink worlds, and millions of American women identify as breast cancer survivors and activists. Policy implications include moving from “compliance” to context-centered strategies, using illness narratives in pain management, and addressing lay knowledge and illness identities.
- Medical knowledge is socially constructed by claims-makers and interested parties. Feminist, science studies, and medicalization research show how medical ideas can reproduce gender, class, and racial-ethnic inequality and how diagnoses and markets expand—e.g., male impotence was renamed “erectile dysfunction” in the late 1990s, the FDA approved Viagra in 1998, and Pfizer marketed it to a broader audience. Policy implication: critically examine how problems are framed, because definitions shape policy and can authorize social control.
Methods
- Design: conceptual/review article, not an empirical study; it traces intellectual roots and synthesizes constructionist literature over the last 50 years.
- Data/sample: no original data or sample; it draws on prior sociological, historical, and feminist scholarship and case examples.
- Analysis: organizes key findings under three themes—cultural meanings of illness, illness experience, and medical knowledge—then discusses policy implications and future research directions.
Limitations
- The paper states it does not showcase criticisms of social constructionism, though it acknowledges important critiques: that it may deny the natural world, ignore whether some ideas better represent the world, and reproduce a false binary between real and socially constructed (Hacking 1999). It also notes criticisms/limitations of the disease/illness distinction (Timmermans and Haas 2008) and states its amalgam approach “minimizes important differences between various types of social constructionism.”
- Evident from the text: as a review/essay, it presents no systematic review protocol, no empirical data, and no tested policy outcomes; policy implications are illustrative and drawn from cited literature rather than evaluated here.
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Claims the paper makes
13 Sources not found · 3 Own interpretation · 3 No basis given · 2 No full text of the sources · 2 Not checked yet · 1 Partly supported · accuracy not yet measured
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Second, all illnesses are socially constructed at the experiential level, based on how individuals come to understand and live with their illness.”
- Also stated in: § Illness Experience as Socially Constructed · p. 5 · plain
“Another key insight of constructionism is that the illness experience is socially constructed.”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Charmaz 1991
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Bury 1982 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Illness Experience as Socially Constructed · p. 5 · plain
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“Third, medical knowledge about illness and disease is not necessarily given by nature but is constructed and developed by claims-makers and interested parties.”
- Also stated in: § Medical Knowledge as Socially Constructed · p. 7 · hedged
“Eliot Freidson (1970) was probably the first medical sociologist to articulate how medical knowledge is socially constructed.”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Freidson 1970
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Foucault 1977
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Medical Knowledge as Socially Constructed · p. 7 · hedged
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“The research of medical sociologists in the subfield of science studies also reveals how medical knowledge is conditioned by the social context in which it is developed.”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Joyce 2008
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Timmermans 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Likewise, the engines of medicalization have expanded beyond medical professionals, social movements, and organizations to biotechnology, consumers, and the insurance industry.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“In an earlier book, Epstein (1996) similarly underscored the politics of knowledge by demonstrating how the science regarding the cause and treatment of HIV/AIDS is best understood as an amalgam that was constructed and contested by different constituencies (e.g., scientists, doctors, drug companies, patients, and activists) rather than the outcome of 'pure' science.”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Epstein 1996
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Even as this new paradigm offers potential tools for addressing nagging questions about health disparities-e.g., why do black women with breast cancer have higher mortality rates than their white counterparts?-it has the consequence of reifying the categories of race and gender as biological realities.”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Epstein 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“In a recent book Epstein (2007) analyzes the emergence, beginning in the mid-1980s, of a new paradigm of biomedical research that proactively included individuals from underrepresented social groups (e.g., women and racial and ethnic minorities) in clinical studies, with an eye toward understanding the differences between groups with respect to disease processes and treatment outcomes.”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Epstein 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Epstein explains how the knowledge it produces about race and gender are in part the outcome of social and political conflicts and negotiations, as opposed to essential truths found in nature.”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Epstein 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Over the years, sociologists have shown that women's natural reproductive functions (e.g., pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation) are routinely medicalized (Barker 1998; Riessman 1983; Riska 2003).”
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Barker 1998 source
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Riessman 1983
- Not matchedcites Riska 2003
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“When medical perspectives increasingly define obesity as an illness (rather than a risk factor for diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc.), policies focus on solutions such as gastric bypass surgeries, rather than examining the role of product promotion by the food industry or the availability of healthy foods in neighborhoods with high rates of obesity.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- It may state two separate claims as one. 7
- Probably not a substantial claim. 5
The cited sources support only part of this claim — read each source’s verdict below.
In the paper
“First, some illnesses are particularly embedded with cultural meaning-which is not directly derived from the nature of the condition-that shapes how society responds to those afflicted and influences the experience of that illness.”
- Also stated in: § Cultural Meanings of Illness · p. 3 · plain
“certain illnesses have particular social or cultural meanings attributed to them. These meanings adhere to the illness and may have independent consequences on patients and health care.”
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Sontag 1978
- Partly supportedcites Barry et al. 2009 sourceExperimental — accuracy not yet measured
The introductory discussion of illness metaphors and the “Reasoning by Metaphor” section show how meanings attached to health conditions shape public attitudes and policy responses. The “Obesity Metaphors” section also describes how people who are overweight may be treated badly in work and social settings. The paper does not establish the broader claim that such meanings are independent of a condition’s nature or generally shape the experience of illness. Page numbers were unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § Cultural Meanings of Illness · p. 3 · plain
In the paper
“A social constructionist approach to illness is rooted in the widely recognized conceptual distinction between disease (the biological condition) and illness (the social meaning of the condition) (Eisenberg 1977).”
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Eisenberg 1977 source
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“Contested illnesses, including chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and multiple chemical sensitivity are medically suspect because they are not associated with any known physical abnormality.”
- Also stated in: § Cultural Meanings of Illness · p. 4 · plain
“contested illness sufferers are burdened by the cultural meaning of a medically invisible condition in an era of high-tech biomedicine”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Barker 2005
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Brown 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Kroll-Smith and Floyd 1997
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § Cultural Meanings of Illness · p. 4 · plain
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“Because the attributes that are deemed disabilities, and the very meaning of being disabled, vary across time and space, disability cannot be reduced to a mere biological problem located in an individual's body”
- Also stated in: § Cultural Meanings of Illness · p. 4 · plain
“the body has an impairment (e.g., loss of limb) while society creates the disability”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Barnes, Mercer, and Shakespeare 1999
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites Oliver 1996
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § Cultural Meanings of Illness · p. 4 · plain
In the paper
“there is nothing inherent about a condition that makes it stigmatizing; rather, it is the social response to the condition and some of its manifestations, or the type of individuals who suffer from it, that make a condition stigmatized”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Conrad 1987
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“The emphasis is on how meanings of phenomena do not necessarily inhere in the phenomena themselves but develop through interaction in a social context.”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Berger and Luckman 1966
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
- Not matched
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“After all, any policy response to a problem is determined by how the problem is defined or framed in the first place.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Warnings about the risks of fetal alcohol syndrome effectively blame individual women and deflect attention away from the well-established links among class, race, and birth outcomes (Armstrong 2003).”
What the sources say
- Not checked — no full text of the sourcecites Armstrong 2003
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Both the boundaries of the ED diagnosis and the markets for ED drugs expanded enormously (Conrad 2007).”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Conrad 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
In the paper
“When the solution is to mandate that federally funded clinical studies include individuals from underrepresented subgroups, we inadvertently cast the problem as rooted in biological differences between racial and ethnic groups and downplay the role of socially structured inequalities (Epstein 2007).”
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Epstein 2007
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Not matched
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For example, Prempro, a widely prescribed hormone replacement drug, is just the latest in the ongoing effort to medically 'treat' menopausal 'symptoms,' despite the fact that changes associated with menopause are a common and ordinary aspect of women's reproductive lives.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Rests on an assumption: Changes associated with menopause are a common and ordinary aspect of women's reproductive lives.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Framing anger in women as evidence of the disease PMS, to be treated with antidepressants, trivializes the impact of gender inequality on women's daily lives.”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence.
The paper relies on this without support.
Changes associated with menopause are a common and ordinary aspect of women's reproductive lives.
“despite the fact that changes associated with menopause are a common and ordinary aspect of women's reproductive lives.”
The paper relies on this without support.
There is a social predilection toward treating human problems as individual or clinical rather than addressing the underlying causes for complex social problems and human suffering.
“It seems that we have a social predilection toward treating human problems as individual or clinical—whether it be obesity, substance abuse, learning difficulties, aging, or alcoholism—rather than addressing the underlying causes for complex social problems and human suffering.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Compared to 50 years ago, physicians have experienced a relative decline in professional authority.
“Compared to 50 years ago, physicians have experienced a relative decline in professional authority.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Laypeople with illness have a greater voice, and there is greater recognition of that voice.
“Both reflecting and reinforcing this trend, laypeople with illness have a greater voice, and there is also greater recognition of that voice.”
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Stigma, trauma and sexuality: the experiences of women hospitalised with serious mental illness
Frieh, E. C. (2019) · Sociology of Health & Illness · doi:10.1111/1467-9566.13034 · Cited by 25
Studying Stress in the Twenty-First-Century: An Update of Stress Concepts and Research
Wheaton, B., & Montazer, S. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316471289.013 · Cited by 24
Social Construction and Health
Ólafsdóttir, S. (2013) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-6193-3_3 · Cited by 24
Champion, C., Berry, T. R., Kingsley, B. C., et al. (2016) · Health Communication · doi:10.1080/10410236.2015.1050082 · Cited by 23
“Instead, it is important to recognize that the meaning and experience of health and illness are shaped by cultural and social systems, including the media (Conrad & Barker, 2010).”
BackgroundParents’ constructions of normality and pathology in child mental health assessments
O’Reilly, M. J., Muskett, T., Karim, K., & Lester, J. N. (2019) · Sociology of Health & Illness · doi:10.1111/1467-9566.13030 · Cited by 25
Cultural reproduction of mental illness stigma and stereotypes
Jacobs, S., & Quinn, J. (2021) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114552 · Cited by 25
Park, J. Y., Pardosi, J. F., Islam, M. S., et al. (2022) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-022-08278-7 · Cited by 23
“Using a social constructionism paradigm [25, 26], the meaning of ‘care provision’ was understood as a socially constructed reality.”
BackgroundMedia Discourse on the Social Acceptability of Fecal Transplants
Chuong, K. H., O’Doherty, K. C., & Secko, D. M. (2015) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/1049732314568199 · Cited by 22
“In contrast to the biomedical model that posits that diseases are universal and invariant across time and space, social constructionists emphasize the role of social and cultural forces in shaping our understandings and actions toward health and illness (Conrad & Barker, 2010).”
BackgroundHealth as Submission and Social Responsibilities
Pitaloka, D., & Hsieh, E. (2015) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/1049732315577607 · Cited by 23
“By moving beyond the social construction of illness experience (Conrad & Barker, 2010), we explored how Javanese women’s everyday life can be shaped by their illness experiences.”
BackgroundMethodNormalizing diabetes in Delhi: a qualitative study of health and health care
Mendenhall, E., McMurry, H. S., Shivashankar, R., et al. (2016) · Anthropology and Medicine · doi:10.1080/13648470.2016.1184010 · Cited by 23
“The accumulation of these biological and lifestyle factors has created a ‘perfect storm’ for chronic diseases such as diabetes to flourish in India (Ebrahim et al. 2010; Mohan, Jaydip, and Deepa 2007; Shetty 2002; Sullivan et al. 2011) and to overrun the country’s healthcare system (Mohan et al.…”
BackgroundContextualising COVID-19: Sociocultural Perspectives on ContagionPreprint
Lupton, D. A. (2020) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3661226 · Cited by 23
Barnes, L. W., & Fledderjohann, J. (2019) · Sociology Compass · doi:10.1111/soc4.12745 · Cited by 23
Harvey, M. J. (2020) · Pedagogy in Health Promotion · doi:10.1177/2373379920937719 · Cited by 27
“…Singer & Clair, 2003), ecosocial theory (Krieger, 2014), embodiment (Krieger, 2005), medicalization (Conrad, 1992; Crawford, 1980), social construction (Conrad & Barker, 2010; Fassin, 2004), social practice theory (Crawford, 2006), theories of development, underdevelopment, and dependency…”
The #orthorexia community on Instagram
Valente, M., Renckens, S. C., Bunders, J., & Syurina, E. V. (2021) · Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia Bulimia and Obesity · doi:10.1007/s40519-021-01157-w · Cited by 22
“Within these CoPs, individuals tell their stories and contribute to the social construction of ON [28].”
BackgroundPatton, E. (2022) · Equality Diversity and Inclusion An International Journal · doi:10.1108/edi-09-2021-0228 · Cited by 30
Obeidat, R., Dickerson, S. S., Homish, G. G., et al. (2012) · Cancer Nursing · doi:10.1097/ncc.0b013e31826fc9b4 · Cited by 22
Sercu, C., & Bracke, P. (2016) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/1049732316648112 · Cited by 27
“Accordingly, the biomedical approach in mental health care can be seen as a source for the reproduction of social inequalities in society as a whole (Conrad & Barker, 2010).”
BackgroundMehta, J. (2013) · Cambridge Journal of Economics · doi:10.1093/cje/bet040 · Cited by 22
Examining the Discourse of Mental Illness in a Corpus of Online Advice-Seeking Messages
Brookes, G., & Harvey, K. (2016) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-49616-4_9 · Cited by 21
Journey to Health: (Re) Contextualizing the Health of Canada’s Refugee Population
Newbold, K. B., & McKeary, M. (2018) · Journal of Refugee Studies · doi:10.1093/jrs/fey009 · Cited by 20
Valente, M., Cesuroğlu, T., Labrie, N., & Syurina, E. V. (2021) · Health Communication · doi:10.1080/10410236.2021.1875558 · Cited by 21
“…has its roots in the social construction theory, which postulates that phenomena do not derive their meaning from phenomena themselves, but rather that meaning develops through social interaction between individuals – i.e. people’s interactive definition-making (Brown, 2016; Conrad & Barker, 2010).”
Background“I can’t have it; I am a man. A young man!” – men, fibromyalgia and masculinity in a Nordic context
Sallinen, M. H., Mengshoel, A. M., & Solbrække, K. N. (2019) · International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1080/17482631.2019.1676974 · Cited by 20
“According to Conrad and Barker (Conrad & Barker, 2010), physicians, lay public and sometimes even the fibromyalgia patients themselves question the authenticity of the symptoms and the credibility of the suffering.”
BackgroundInfluentialRoberts, E., Burhani, L., Lankester, R., et al. (2021) · Prosthetics and Orthotics International · doi:10.1097/pxr.0000000000000021 · Cited by 20
“Qualitative research is often used to understand lay perspectives on health and illness.(18)Abody of literature using qualitativemethods has explored patient experiences as a means of understanding the psychological and social reasons behind prosthetic use.”
Athletes’ understanding of concussion – uncertainty, certainty and the ‘expert’ on the street
AlHashmi, R., & Matthews, C. R. (2021) · Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health · doi:10.1080/2159676x.2021.1974928 · Cited by 20
“Medical uncertainty is also present within the ‘illness experience’ of patients, with a central focus on how ‘illness’ may affect one’s life more broadly (Adamson 1997; Conrad 1987; Conrad and Barker 2010; Nettleton 2006; Pierret 2003).”
BackgroundThinking Through Every Step: How People With Spinal Cord Injuries Relearn to Walk
Jordan, M. M., Berkowitz, D., Hannold, E. M., Velozo, C. A., & Behrman, A. L. (2013) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/1049732313494119 · Cited by 20
“Within the past two decades, symbolic interactionism has become a powerful theoretical tool for understanding the illness experience (Charmaz, 1991; Conrad & Barker, 2010; Weitz, 1989).”
BackgroundChildren with facial morphoea managing everyday life: a qualitative study
Stasiulis, E., Gladstone, B., Boydell, K., O'Brien, C., Pope, E., & Laxer, R. M. (2018) · British Journal of Dermatology · doi:10.1111/bjd.16449 · Cited by 20
Jensen, R. E., Martins, N., & Parks, M. M. (2018) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-018-1197-4 · Cited by 20
Older Adults’ Perception of Chronic Illness Management in South Korea
Kang, M., Kim, J., Bae, S.-S., Choi, Y.-J., & Shin, D.-S. (2014) · Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health · doi:10.3961/jpmph.2014.47.4.236 · Cited by 20
“As Conrad and Barker [11] stated, “the meanings of phenomena do not necessarily inhere in the phenomena themselves but develop through interaction in a social context.”
BackgroundThe Measurement of Mental Disorder
Wakefield, J. C., & Schmitz, M. F. (2009) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511984945.005 · Cited by 20
“Not Homeless Yet. I'm Kind of Couch Surfing”: Finding Identities for People at a Homeless Shelter
Terui, S., & Hsieh, E. (2016) · Social Work in Public Health · doi:10.1080/19371918.2016.1188739 · Cited by 20
“Nevertheless, a successful performance requires them to acknowledge the public’s (potentially stigmatizing) attitudes, which may result in subtle changes in their identities (Conrad & Barker, 2010).”
BackgroundRisk factors of suicide with reference to the theory of social integration by Émile Durkheim
Kołodziej-Sarzyńska, M., Majewska, M., Juchnowicz, D., & Karakuła‐Juchnowicz, H. (2019) · Psychiatria Polska · doi:10.12740/pp/92217 · Cited by 19
“The disease may prevent the performance of existing roles in family or professional life, it influences not only the sick person, but also the members of the person’s family, co-workers, which reduces the social integration [46].”
BackgroundNgan, O. M. Y., Yi, H., Bryant, L. D., et al. (2020) · Patient Education and Counseling · doi:10.1016/j.pec.2020.05.010 · Cited by 19
“They argued that the evolving trend in detecting more conditions is rather detrimental in leading to issues relating to excessive screening (possibly over-diagnosis), especially as the understanding of illness extends beyond medical discourse and into how society responds to those who are afflicted and those living wi…”
BackgroundWrongful Medicalization and Epistemic Injustice in Psychiatry
Gagné‐Julien, A. (2021) · European journal of analytic philosophy · doi:10.31820/ejap.17.3.3 · Cited by 20
“…that the definition of what constitutes a mental disorder and the establishment of proper boundaries 5 Note that this account has been initially developed by Wakefield, see e.g., Wakefield (1992, 1999). for psychiatry are fundamentally normative issues (e.g., Cooper 2005, Conrad and Barker 2010).”
BackgroundAvery, J., Thomas, R. L., Howell, D., & Dubouloz, C. (2023) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/10497323231158629 · Cited by 20
“Discourse in this context refers to a formal way of thinking that is influenced by the way ideas seen as relevant to the overarching concept (survivorship) are constructed and expressed (Conrad & Barker, 2010; Kaiser, 2008).”
BackgroundFried, J., Harris, B., Eyles, J. D., & Moshabela, M. (2015) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/1049732315575315 · Cited by 19
“Conceptualizing illness as a construct has influenced research and practice over several decades, and we do not attempt a comprehensive review of this well-understood approach (see, for example, Conrad & Barker, 2010; Pierret, 2003).”
BackgroundForty years on the fenceline: community, memory, and chronic contamination
Adams, A. E., Shriver, T. E., Saville, A., & Webb, G. R. (2017) · Environmental Sociology · doi:10.1080/23251042.2017.1414660 · Cited by 19
“This perspective – often referred to individuals’ ‘ways of knowing’ – has proven useful in understanding lay perceptions of environmental harms (Brown 1992; Conrad and Barker 2010).”
BackgroundLaurent‐Simpson, A., & Lo, C. C. (2019) · Sociology of Health & Illness · doi:10.1111/1467-9566.12924 · Cited by 19
The Dual Continua Model: The Foundation of the Sociology of Mental Health and Mental Illness
Keyes, C. L. M. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316471289.007 · Cited by 22
Pain communication: An agenda for communication researchers
Hintz, E. A. (2020) · Annals of the International Communication Association · doi:10.1080/23808985.2020.1843368 · Cited by 18
Cook, C. M., Brunton, M. A., Pukepuke, T., et al. (2017) · Journal of Clinical Nursing · doi:10.1111/jocn.14173 · Cited by 18
“Social constructionist perspectives allow for a depth of analysis of how some bodily parts, conditions and diseases are much more readily associated with stigma and shame, or are taboo in some way (Conrad & Barker, 2010).”
BackgroundChew, C.-C., Lim, X.-J., Low, L.-L., Lau, K.-M., Kari, M., Shamsudin, U. K., & Rajan, P. (2022) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0265917 · Cited by 24
“This finding is consistent with the social constructionist approach, which considers how culture and society shape people’s beliefs and understanding of illness, and how this influences their health-seeking behaviour [63].”
ResultPain and self-assessed health: Does the association vary by age?
Rubin, S., & Zimmer, Z. (2015) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.02.024 · Cited by 18
Human rights, public health and medicinal cannabis use
Bone, M. L., & Seddon, T. (2015) · Critical Public Health · doi:10.1080/09581596.2015.1038218 · Cited by 18
“…constructionist definitions, on the other hand, distinguish disease (the biological condition) from illness (the social condition), on the basis that the meaning and the experience of illness are shaped by social and cultural systems and the environment in which we live (see Conrad & Barker, 2010).”
BackgroundFarnesi, B., Ducharme, F. M., Blais, L., Collin, J., Lavoie, K., Bacon, S., McKinney, M. L., & Peláez, S. (2019) · Patient Preference and Adherence · doi:10.2147/ppa.s195585 · Cited by 19
“The health problems that the patient identifies with, often based on self-reported symptoms, is referred to as illness.(16,17) Examples of such issues include the personal burden of handling undesirable and unexpected symptoms; maintaining treatment regimens over time; dealing with social isolation due to psychophysic…”
BackgroundAutism in the Twentieth Century: An Evolution of a Controversial Condition
O’Reilly, M., Lester, J. N., & Kiyimba, N. (2020) · Mental Health in Historical Perspective · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-27275-3_7 · Cited by 18
Franz, B. A., & Dhanani, L. Y. (2021) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10865-021-00226-w · Cited by 18
“In many ways, COVID-19 is also a contested illness in that widespread disagreement exists as to its authenticity, severity, and the threat it poses to public health (Barrios & Hochberg, 2020; de Bruin and Bennett, 2020).”
BackgroundAcknowledging and addressing the many ethical aspects of disease
Hofmann, B. (2021) · Patient Education and Counseling · doi:10.1016/j.pec.2021.09.015 · Cited by 19
“Another ethical aspect of disease is identified in the social functions of disease [13, 94-99].”
BackgroundJohnson, R. J., & Hobfoll, S. E. (2009) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511984945.024 · Cited by 17
Davidov, J., & Russo‐Netzer, P. (2021) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615806.2021.1921162 · Cited by 24
“…demonstrated in many studies, such as the social construction of race (Smedley & Smedley, 2005); of technology (Klein & Kleinman, 2002); of illness (Conrad & Barker, 2010); or the social construction of gender, which is constructed through performance in a range of settings and activities and in…”
BackgroundMo, P. K. H., Lau, J. T. F., Cheng, K., Mak, W. W. S., Gu, J., Wu, A. M. S., & Li, J. (2015) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence · doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.01.008 · Cited by 17
Harvey, M. J., & McGladrey, M. (2018) · Critical Public Health · doi:10.1080/09581596.2018.1535698 · Cited by 18
“Additionally, various other social theories, such as stigma (Link & Phelan, 2006), social construction (Conrad & Barker, 2010), social practice (Blue, Shove, Carmona, & Kelly, 2016; Bourdieu, 1977), and biopower and biopolitics (Foucault, 1978; Gastaldo, 1997), transcend the dualist paradigm that…”
BackgroundThompson, C. M., & Parsloe, S. M. (2019) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/1049732319827518 · Cited by 17
Medical diagnosis of dyslexia in a Swedish elite school: A case of “consecrating medicalization”
Holmqvist, M. (2020) · British Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1111/1468-4446.12737 · Cited by 18
Zafir, S., & Jovanovski, N. (2022) · Body Image · doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.01.009 · Cited by 17
Adorno, G. (2015) · OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying · doi:10.1177/0030222815570589 · Cited by 17
“Social construction frameworks have also been widely used to uncover the social and cultural dimensions of medical technology (Conrad & Barker, 2010; Courtenay, 2000).”
BackgroundMethodSymptoms and quality of life from patients undergoing hemodialysis in Switzerland
Delmas, P., Cohen, C., Loiselle, M.-C., Antonini, M., Pasquier, J., & Burnier, M. (2017) · Clinical Nursing Studies · doi:10.5430/cns.v6n2p63 · Cited by 17
“From this perspective, illness and symptoms, too, are experiences that are “socially constructed”[55] [p.”
BackgroundIllness integration, self-management and patient-centred support in type 2 diabetes
Jutterström, L. (2013) · DiVA at Umeå University (Umeå University) · Cited by 16
Systemic model of chronic benzodiazepine use among mature adults
Pérodeau, G., Grenon, É., Grenier, S., & O’Connor, K. P. (2015) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2015.1015961 · Cited by 16
“The growing medicalization of psychosocial issues parallels primary care physicians’ tendency to overlook potential dangers of long-term prescribed psychotropic drug use (Conrad & Barker, 2010).”
BackgroundUnbearable Fruit: Black Women's Experiences with Uterine Fibroids
Myles, R. L. (2013) · Digital Archive @ GSU · doi:10.57709/4483279 · Cited by 17
Cancer-related stigma in the USA and Israeli mass media: an exploratory study of structural stigma
Soffer, M. (2022) · Journal of Cancer Survivorship · doi:10.1007/s11764-021-01145-0 · Cited by 16
Baarsma, M. E., Claassen, S. A., van der Horst, H. E., Hovius, J. W., & Sanders, J. M. (2022) · BMC Family Practice · doi:10.1186/s12875-022-01736-5 · Cited by 17
Philosophically, is obesity really a disease?
Steele, M., & Finucane, F. M. (2023) · Obesity Reviews · doi:10.1111/obr.13590 · Cited by 16
“a term that some society or group has applied to some condition it considers abnormal or undesirable.(53) Those who are classified as having a disease then respond to that classification, and their response in”
BackgroundVisions of Living with Parkinson’s Disease: A Photovoice Study
Hermanns, M., Greer, D. B., & Cooper, C. (2015) · The Qualitative Report · doi:10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2275 · Cited by 16
The Micro-Politics of a New Mental Condition: Legitimization in Maladaptive Daydreamers' Discourse
Bershtling, O., & Somer, E. (2018) · The Qualitative Report · doi:10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3466 · Cited by 16
“Information previously restricted to medical authorities is currently available to “lay” web surfers, who can acquire knowledge and change the way they experience themselves or grasp the world around them (Conrad & Barker, 2010; Cotten, 2001).”
BackgroundMackie, T. I., Schaefer, A. J., Ramella, L., Carter, A. S., Eisenhower, A., Jiménez, M. E., Fettig, A., & Sheldrick, R. C. (2020) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04502-7 · Cited by 19
Self-determination Theory: A Framework for Clubhouse Psychosocial Rehabilitation Research
Raeburn, T., Schmied, V. A., Hungerford, C. L., & Cleary, M. L. (2014) · Issues in Mental Health Nursing · doi:10.3109/01612840.2014.927544 · Cited by 20
“This philosophical approach challenges the idea that purely rational, objective knowledge exists, suggesting instead that knowledge actually arises from processes related to ideology, interests and power (Conrad & Barker, 2010).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialDisability and the Worlds of Welfare Capitalism
O’Brien, R. (2015) · Sociological Science · doi:10.15195/v2.a1 · Cited by 16
Venuleo, C., & Marinaci, T. (2017) · Journal of Gambling Issues · doi:10.4309/jgi.2017.36.7 · Cited by 16
“…shared intelligibility that organizes the way people (gamblers as well as relatives and social network) feel and act, including the manner in which they present their symptoms, the reason they go for care, and how long they remain in care (Conrad & Barker, 2010; Kleinman, Eisenberg, & Good, 2006).”
BackgroundInfluentialIllness Narratives and Facebook: Living Illness Well
Hinson, K., & Sword, B. (2019) · Humanities · doi:10.3390/h8020106 · Cited by 16
“The shared information of the illness group, the evolving master narrative of the illness, may move against expected medical discourse which, “constructs knowledge about the body including disease” (Conrad and Barker 2010, p. S68).”
BackgroundInfluentialSocioeconomic Stratification and Mental Disorder
Eaton, W. W., & Muntaner, C. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316471289.016 · Cited by 18
Maravelias, C. (2021) · Critical Sociology · doi:10.1177/08969205211033892 · Cited by 15
“The social model of disability (e.g. Conrad and Barker, 2010; Oliver, 1990; Thomas, 2004) accepts impairments as biological givens and argues that it is not individuals’ impairments that make them disabled, it is the conditions surrounding them that potentially disable them.”
BackgroundCaring for the Older Horse: A Conceptual Model of Owner Decision Making
Smith, R., Pinchbeck, G. L., McGowan, C. M., et al. (2021) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani11051309 · Cited by 15
Co-Designing a Program to Lower Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Midlife Black Women
Jones, H. J., Bakas, T., Nared, S., et al. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19031356 · Cited by 15
McKenna, O. J., Fakolade, A. O., Cardwell, K. L., & Pilutti, L. A. (2022) · International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1080/17482631.2022.2135480 · Cited by 18
“Themes were situated within the context of caring relationships and MS as a socially constructed illness, informed by how individuals come to live and comprehend illness and how illnesses are formulated by sociocultural factors (Conrad & Barker, 2010; Davies et al., 2015).”
BackgroundLong COVID and chronic pain: overlapping racial inequalities
Devoto, S. A. (2022) · Disability & Society · doi:10.1080/09687599.2022.2156848 · Cited by 17
“Social understandings of chronic pain The way that a society understands a specific health condition affects the way it is treated, both medically and socially (Conrad and Barker 2010).”
BackgroundType 2 diabetes management among older American Indians: beliefs, attitudes, and practices
Goins, R. T., Jones, J., Schure, M. B., Winchester, B., & Bradley, V. (2018) · Ethnicity and Health · doi:10.1080/13557858.2018.1493092 · Cited by 15
“Social and cultural settings can influence health understandings, experiences of illness, and health-related behaviors (Conrad and Barker 2010).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Conrad, P., & Barker, K. K.
- Affiliations
- Brandeis University (US)
- Oregon State University (US)
- ORCID
- Barker, Kristin K.
- Venue
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-03
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 1_suppl
- Pages
- S67-S79
- ISSN
- 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
- 2150-6000
- OpenAlex
- W2105392510
- Semantic Scholar
- daba8e41984f917378dc8db2be9f01f2883d3625
- Cited by
- 888
- References
- 82
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 66 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 65 · 2022: 77 · 2021: 81 · 2020: 54 · 2019: 79 · 2018: 57 · 2017: 95 · 2016: 52 · 2015: 60 · 2014: 38 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 13.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Medicine, History, and Philosophy
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health, Medicine and Society
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative research in health
- Keywords
- social construction of illness, medical sociology, illness experience, claims-making, health policy, policy-relevant research
- MeSH terms
- Culture, Disease, Health Policy, Health Services Research, Humans, Public Opinion, Social Problems, Sociology, Medical, Knowledge
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