EXPLAINING WHAT SOCIOLOGISTS MEAN WHEN THEY REFER TO ILLNESS AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION, AND IN WHAT WAY MEDICINE CAN BE A MECHANISM OF SOCIAL CONTROL.

SEVERAL WAYS IN WHICH WE MIGHT UNDERSTAND MEDICINE NOT SIMPLY AS A DRUG, OR THE WORLD OF DOCTORS, BUT AS AN INSTITUTION OF SOCIAL CONTROL. IN THIS ESSAY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THE WAYS IN WHICH THE PROCESS OF MEDICALIZATION HAS (AND HAS NOT) ESTABLISHED SUFFERERS OF FIBROMYALGIA AS LEGITIMATE SUBJECTS OF MEDICAL CONCERN.

BEGIN BY EXPLAINING WHAT SOCIOLOGISTS MEAN WHEN THEY REFER TO ILLNESS AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION, AND IN WHAT WAY MEDICINE CAN BE A MECHANISM OF SOCIAL CONTROL. HAVING DONE SO, OFFER AN ANALYSIS OF THE CASE OF FIBROMYALGIA. HOW HAS THIS COLLECTION OF SYMPTOMS BEEN – AND NOT BEEN – MEDICALIZED IN RECENT YEAR? WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS? TO WHAT EXTENT ARE SUFFERERS OF FIBROMYALGIA UNDERSTOOD TO FULFILL THE “SICK ROLE?” WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS PROCESS – WHY DOES THIS MATTER, AND FOR WHOM?