Diagnosis as a social and political practice

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dc.contributor.authorMorison T
dc.contributor.editorSarah R
dc.date.accessioned2025-10-01T20:08:54Z
dc.date.available2025-10-01T20:08:54Z
dc.date.issued2025-07-16
dc.description.abstractIn this chapter, we examine diagnosis not just as a process of labelling diseases, but as a practice that establishes a shared understanding of what constitutes sickness—an understanding shaped by values, norms, and biology, and imbued with significant social consequences (Jutel, 2024). We begin by asking, “What is diagnosis?”—exploring how naming and framing create diagnostic systems that often struggle with ambiguity. Next, we examine diagnosis as a social tool. In medical interactions, healthcare providers wield the “power to name,” raising questions: Who benefits from specific diagnoses? What role do they play in maintaining the status quo and, hence, social inequity? We also consider diagnosis in the context of medicalisation, whereby everyday experiences are reframed as medical issues through diagnostic classifications. We discuss the benefits, such as validation and care, and drawbacks, including stigma and oversimplification, associated with this practice.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.identifier.citationMorison T. (2025). Diagnosis as a social and political practice. Sarah R. Critical Health Psychology: Foundations, Approaches and Applications. Massey University.
dc.identifier.eisbn978-0-473-75027-5
dc.identifier.elements-typechapter
dc.identifier.number2.3
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/73628
dc.publisherMassey University
dc.publisher.urihttps://oercollective.caul.edu.au/critical-health-psychology/chapter/chapter-2-3/
dc.relation.ispartofCritical Health Psychology: Foundations, Approaches and Applications
dc.relation.urihttps://oercollective.caul.edu.au/critical-health-psychology/chapter/chapter-2-3/
dc.rights(c) 2025 The Author/s
dc.rightsCC BY-NC 4.0
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.subjectdiagnosis
dc.subjecthealth psychology
dc.subjectpower
dc.subjectmedicalisation
dc.subjectcontested illness
dc.subjectmedically unexplained illness
dc.subjectillness
dc.titleDiagnosis as a social and political practice
dc.typechapter
massey.relation.uri-descriptionPublished version
pubs.elements-id503383
pubs.organisational-groupCollege of Humanities and Social Sciences
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