Esther Lucile Brown was a
social anthropologist
Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...
.
She studied the
professions
A profession is a field of Work (human activity), work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, ''Professional, professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold the ...
while working at the
Russell Sage Foundation
The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her recently deceased husband, rail ...
.
Personal life
Brown was born and grew up in
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. She never married, but had two god-daughters.
Career
Brown said that she was very influenced by
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
to the degree that she considered the two fields to be joined.
Brown studied the work of professions including engineering, nursing, law, social work and medicine
and became head of the newly created Department of Studies in the Professions at the Russell Sage Foundation.
At the Russell Sage Foundation, Brown was responsible for encouraging the social anthropologists and sociologists to undertake teaching and research in medical settings.
Since the 1930s, Brown argued that nurses should be aware of patients' cultural backgrounds to improve care. She was asked to study the nursing profession following the nursing shortages of World War II, resulting in the publication of the report ''Nursing for the Future.'' In the 1970s Brown argued for more academic specialism within medicine, publishing ''Nursing Reconsidered: A Study of Change''.
Brown studied psychiatric hospitals in the 1950s with Greenblatt and York, resulting in the publication of ''From Custodial to Therapeutic Care in Mental Hospitals'', which was influential in the movement towards community treatment of those diagnosed with mental health disorders.
See also
*
Medical sociology
Medical sociology is the sociological analysis of medical organizations and institutions; the production of knowledge and selection of methods, the actions and interactions of healthcare professionals, and the social or cultural (rather than clin ...
References
Social anthropologists
Medical sociologists
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