Home > M Words > medicalization

medicalization

Definition of Medicalization

(noun) The process by which something is defined as “unhealthy” and in need of treatment.

Medicalization Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: med·i·ca·li·za·tion

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˌmɛdəkələˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/
  • British English – /ˌmɛdᵻkəlʌɪˈzeɪʃn/

Usage Notes

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

Bilton, Tony, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, and Andrew Webster. 1996. Introductory Sociology. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.

Bradby, Hannah. 2009. Medical Sociology: An Introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Brinkerhoff, David, Lynn White, Suzanne Ortega, and Rose Weitz. 2011. Essentials of Sociology. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Marsh, Ian, and Mike Keating, eds. 2006. Sociology: Making Sense of Society. 3rd ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Medicalization

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “medicalization.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/medicalization/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

medicalization. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/medicalization/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “medicalization.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 29, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/medicalization/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“medicalization.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/medicalization/>.