Clarke J N
Soc Sci Med. 1984;18(3):205-10. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(84)90081-9.
This paper presents an analysis of the role of medical and religious values in Canadian society during the past two centuries as described in Canadian book-length fiction. It has been argued that medical institutions are increasingly becoming powerful social control agencies. More and more of human behavior is seen as having a medical explanation, cause or cure. At the same time, religious institutions are believed to be diminishing in their social control abilities. Normality and abnormality tend now to be defined as medical conditions. What was once seen as sin may now be considered illness; and what once was grace or holiness, now may be viewed as health. An empirical examination of this theoretically conceived and seldom empirically examined trend is documented.
本文分析了加拿大长篇小说中所描述的过去两个世纪里医学和宗教价值观在加拿大社会中的作用。有人认为，医疗机构正日益成为强大的社会控制机构。越来越多的人类行为被视为具有医学上的解释、病因或疗法。与此同时，宗教机构被认为其社会控制能力在减弱。现在，正常和异常往往被定义为医学状况。曾经被视为罪恶的东西现在可能被视为疾病；而曾经被视为恩典或神圣的东西，现在可能被视为健康。本文记录了对这一理论构想且很少有实证研究的趋势的实证检验。
