PRESCRIPTIONS FOR LIFE. AN ANALYSIS OF MEDICALIZATION PROCESSES AND SOCIAL CONTROL FROM A COMMUNICATIVE PERSPECTIVE
PRESCRIPTIONS FOR LIFE. AN ANALYSIS OF MEDICALIZATION PROCESSES AND SOCIAL CONTROL FROM A COMMUNICATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Summary/Abstract: The present paper aims to analyse the medicalization processes in its role as a highprofile theme of the contemporary society, as it is being linked to developments in various fields such as science (biomedicine, cloning, genetically modified organisms), technology (new genetic biotechnologies, nanotechnologies) and communication. We are interested in identifying the social mechanisms that lead people to give a medical approach to those aspects of their lives that normally are unrelated to medical phenomena, and therefore studying, from a communicative perspective, the interactions between actors involved in the medicalization of life. We explore the topic using the SWOT analysis as a tool to (a) identify weak and strong points of such processes, and (b) evaluate the threats and opportunities incurred. The analysis reveals that medicalization can lead to undesired stratifications within a society, marginalization, and “patologization of existence”. On a positive note, it can enhance the patient – doctor relation when the communication processes between the actors involved (medical care institutions, pharmaceutical industry, mass-media, administrative and political authorities, and surveillance organizations) are improved.

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