Medikal Etnosentrizm

Extended Summary

Ethnocentrism is the technical name given to things in which one sees his own inner group as the center of everything and evaluates other groups accordingly. The person always sees his own group at the top and the others as subordinate and inferior. In this respect, the essence of the concept of ethnocentrism lies in the distinction between in-out groups. When the theoretical background of the concept of ethnocentrism is examined, it is seen that it is fed by many theories. The most frequently mentioned social identity theory in the literature are realistic group conflict theory and authoritarian personality theory.

In the literature, it is seen that the antecedents of ethnocentrism are education, identity, religion, nationalism and culture. Each of them has a different importance in explaining ethnocentrism. It is inevitable for a person to keep his own identity, nation, culture and religion superior to others. In fact, mostly all people have this tendency. However, as with any emotion, an excess of this emotion can be harmful.

There are different types of ethnocentrism that emerged from its predecessors. Consumer ethnocentrism, religious ethnocentrism, cultural ethnocentrism, professional ethnocentrism, medical ethnocentrism are some of them. When ethnocentrism is considered in the context of professions that constitute one of the important building blocks of society and evaluated within the framework of culture, the concept of professional ethnocentrism will emerge. It can be said that especially professions that are accepted by the society have this tendency more. The medical profession is an example. At this point, it can be stated that medical professionals have an ethnocentric tendency. Professional ethnocentrism, which emerges as a result of seeing one’s own profession as more important and useful than others, arises from many reasons. Specifically, physicians can be listed as being placed in universities with high scores, the quality of the education received, the heavy and difficult conditions of the education, professional centrism, and the perception of society. Professional centrism can be expressed as an idea of exclusivity instilled in students during the education period. After all, many different professionals continue their activities in health institutions. Each of them has a different importance for the continuation of the service without interruption. If one of the parts of the system does not work, the system will be damaged and the service will be interrupted.

Medical ethnocentrism, which is one of the results of professional ethnocentrism, is the behavior of “producing new diseases” in areas where physicians do not have a deep idea with the thought of clarifying the ambiguous, solving problems and coping with uncertainties, with the effect of the training they have received. Physicians do not like to have areas where they cannot find an answer because they see themselves in a superior position to others. In this sense, removing ambiguities will satisfy them. The main idea at the core of medical ethnocentrism is the production of new diseases based on medical discourses. Such discourses may be influenced by stereotypes and will also lead to prejudice and discrimination. Racial and ethnic background, disability, political view may be the cause of medical ethnocentrism.

As a result of medical ethnocentrism, with the effect of medicalization, the emergence of new types of diseases and the production of new drugs to be used in the fight against these diseases will be realized. The most important result of medical ethnocentrism is the victimization of patients in the system. People who do not have a true diagnosis of their disease, cannot reach the treatment they need, suffer disability due to wrong treatments, and die due to wrong practices will suffer the most.