Demedikalizasyon (Tıp Dışılaştırma)

Extended Summary

The demedicalization movement emerged because of the reactions to the use of medicine as a means of social control and the medicalization of most processes in human life. These reactions are directed towards situations perceived as excessive medicalization. Medicalization, on the other hand, refers to describing a problem or condition in medical terms, adopting a medical framework to understand a problem or condition, and using a medical intervention to produce a solution for that problem or condition. The orientation of medicalization to the pharmaceutical sector and the concerns about the expansion of the social control area of medicine were the factors that triggered the demedicalization movement. Demedicalization is defined as a process in which the problem defined as medical is regulated or changed so that it is no longer seen as a medical problem. At the same time, demedicalization can also be defined as “a concept that expresses the fact that the subjects, which were within the scope of medical issues for a certain period, whose framework was drawn with medical terminology and for which medical prescriptions were presented, cease to be the subject of medicine over time and are increasingly deprived of medical interest”. Demedicalization and medicalization are seen as a two-way process. For a clearer understanding of demedicalization, how and at what levels demedicalization takes place should be examined. In this study, it is aimed to give theoretical information about the demedicalization movement, its concept, the realization levels of demedicalization and to present a conceptual framework on the subject. In terms of understanding the historical, social, and cultural aspects of medical issues, the concept of demedicalization offers a perspective to the discussions.