Self-Medication and Society

Mirages of Autonomy
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-0-367-59582-1
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 146 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 237 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in the Sociology of Health and Illness

The question of recourse to self-medication arises at the intersection of two partly antagonistic discourses: that of the public authorities, who advocate the practice primarily for economic reasons, and that of health professionals, who condemn it for fear that it may pose a danger to health and dispossess the profession of expertise. This books examines the reality of self-medication in context and investigates the social treatment of the notion of autonomy ever present in the discourses promoting this practice.

Drawing on fieldwork conducted in France, the author examines the material, cognitive, symbolic and social dimensions of the recourse to self-medication, considering the motivations and practices of the subjects and what these reveal about their relationship with the medical institution, while addressing the question of open access to medicines – a subject of heated debate between the actors concerned on themes such as competence, knowledge and responsibility.

A rigorous analysis of the strategies adopted by individuals to manage the risks of medicines and increase their efficacy, Self-Medication and Society will appeal to sociologists and anthropologists with interests in health, illness, the body and medicine.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fainzang, Sylvie

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

1. On the other side of the counter

2. Self-medication, between signs and symptoms

3. Cultural and practical reasons

4. Knowledge and competence

5. Risk management and the quest for efficacy

Conclusion

Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Sylvie Fainzang is a French medical anthropologist and Director of Research in the INSERM (Cermes3). She is the scientific coordinator of the international network MAAH (Medical Anthropology At Home), the editor-in-chief of the international Journal Anthropologie & Santé, and the author of several books on illness and medicines.