Looking at levels of medicalization: A comment on strong's critique of the thesis of medical imperialism

Big Data for Biomedical Research and Personalised Medicine: an Epistemological and Ethical Cross-Analysis

“…But, even when big data results capture all relevant dimensions of the problem under scrutiny (notwithstanding the problem of dimensions that are not amenable to digital data), data fundamentalism could still generate other issues. In addition to the question of reductionism, the overestimation of the epistemic power of big data techniques may lead to a second threat: it could encourage excessive "medicalization" (Conrad and Schneider, 1980). Medicalization designates "the expansion of medical jurisdiction."…”

“…The hypothesis we explore is that misinterpreting biomedical big data at the epistemological level can undermine the contributions such disruptive techniques could make, by rendering them ethically problematic. More precisely, we defend the idea that uncritical overestimation of the epistemic power of big data -for instance by conceiving data-driven science as a radical answer to the limitations of hypothesis-driven scientific research that irreducibly embeds human subjectivity -may lead to problematic reductionism and foster excessive medicalisation (Conrad and Schneider, 1980;Vogt et al, 2016). In addition, it may undermine the valuable contribution that big data tools could make to the practice of medicine, leading to automation instead of genuine personalisation (in which the traditional practice of medicine and the role of physicians in the therapeutic partnership with their patients would be preserved and enriched).…”

Living Drugs

“…The traditional medicalisation critique (see for example, Conrad & Schneider, 1980a, 1980bIllich, 1975) acknowledges that moving problems into the purview of medicine sometimes helps avoid moralising discourses condemning individuals for their inability to approximate norms. In the area of addiction, however, this idea has been firmly debunked (see for example Keane, 2002;Brook & Stringer, 2005).…”

"Corrigir, prevenir, fazer corpo”: a circuncisão masculina como estratégia de prevenção do HIV/AIDS e as intervenções cirúrgicas em crianças intersex

“…Vários autores e autoras (Szasz, 1963;Pitts,1968;Freidson, 2009;Zola,1972;Conrad & Schneider, 1980) se debruçaram sobre o processo de medicalização da sociedade moderna. Embora as definições do termo apresentem algumas diferenças, pode-se afirmar que a medicalização é entendida como o processo através do qual problemas da vida cotidiana são definidos e tratados enquanto problemas médicos.…”