Eliot Freidson (1923 – December 14, 2005) was a sociologist and

medical sociologist Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practices ...

who worked on the theory of

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...

s. Charles Bosk says that Freidson was a founding figure in medical sociology who played a major role in the growth and legitimization of the subject. The American Sociological Society awards the Eliot Freidson Outstanding Publication Award for medical sociology every two years. Freidson was born in Boston, received a doctorate in sociology from

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, and was a professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. He served in the US army in the 1940s. Many of Freidsons original ideas on medicine were influenced by those of Everett Hughes, which Freidson took and turned into a consistent theory. Freidson's 1961 paper, ''Patients view of Medical Practice'' explores how patients and physicians have different conceptions of illness and how these conceptions create conflict between patients and doctors and critiques

Talcott Parsons Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism. Parsons is considered one of the most influential figures in sociol ...

' concept of the

sick role Sick may refer to: Medical conditions * Having a disease or infection * Vomiting (British) Music * The Sick, a Swedish band formed by two members of Dozer Albums * ''Sick'' (Loaded album), 2009 * ''Sick'' (Massacra album), 1994 * ''Sick'' ...

. Freidson saw the

doctor–patient relationship The doctor–patient relationship is a central part of health care and the practice of medicine. A doctor–patient relationship is formed when a doctor attends to a patient's medical needs and is usually through consent. This relationship is bu ...

as a conflict or clash of perspectives. Calnan distinguishes this viewpoint from

which focused more on the properties of expertise, ethics, and alturism of the profession. Freidson developed the professional dominance perspective. Freidson argued that medicine had achieved

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

from other professions, noting that within the healthcare field the division of labor with other professions is determined by medicine itself. Freidson argues that this autonomy can lead to a false sense of objectivity and certainty within the medical profession.

Publications

Papers

* ''Patients view of Medical Practice'', 1961 * ''Professionalism and the Organization of Middle-Class Labour in Postindustrial Society'', 1973 * ''Professions and the Occupational Principle'', 1973 *

Books

* ''

Profession of Medicine Profession of Medicine: A Study of the Sociology of Applied knowledge is a book by the medical sociologist Eliot Freidson published in 1970. The book received the Sorokin Award from the American Sociological Association for most outstanding contrib ...

: A Study of the Sociology of Applied Knowledge'', 1970 * ''Doctoring Together: A Study of Professional Control'', 1975 * Professionalism: The Third Logic, 2001 * Professional Dominance: The Social Structure of Medical Care, 2006 Profession of medicine won the Sorokin Award from the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

for most outstanding contribution to scholarship. Peter Conrad argues that the book was the first book to apply sociological analysis to the profession and institution of medicine itself and contains many concepts that have affected understanding of medicine including professional dominance, functional autonomy, clinical mentality, self-regulation, the social construction of illness.

References

Medical sociologists University of Chicago alumni New York University faculty 1923 births 2005 deaths {{US-sociologist-stub