Table of Contents
Definition of Demedicalization
(noun) The process by which a behavior or condition, once labeled “sick”, becomes defined as natural or normal.
Example of Demedicalization
- The removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in the 1970s.
Demedicalization Pronunciation
Syllabification: de·med·i·ca·li·za·tion
Audio Pronunciation
Usage Notes
- Plural: demedicalizations
- Demedicalization is the opposite of medicalization.
- Variant spellings:
- demedicalisation
- de-medicalisation
- de-medicalization
Additional Information
- Bradby, Hannah. 2009. Medical Sociology: An Introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
- Cockerham, William C., ed. 1992. Medical Sociology. 5th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
- Lopata, Helena Znaniecka, and Judith A. Levy, eds. 2003. Social Problems Across the Life Course. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
- McGann, P. J., and David J. Hutson, eds. 2011. Sociology of Diagnosis. Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald.
- Rogers, Anne, and David Pilgrim. 2005. A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness. 3rd ed. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press.
- Weiss, Gregory L., and Lynne E. Lonnquist. 2017. The Sociology of Health, Healing, and Illness. 9th ed. New York: Routledge.
Related Terms
Works Consulted
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.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Demedicalization
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “demedicalization.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved February 9, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/demedicalization/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
demedicalization. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/demedicalization/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “demedicalization.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed February 9, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/demedicalization/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“demedicalization.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 9 Feb. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/demedicalization/>.