Definition of Medicalization
(noun) The process by which something is defined as “unhealthy” and in need of treatment.
Medicalization Pronunciation
Syllabification: med·i·ca·li·za·tion
Audio Pronunciation
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˌmɛdəkələˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/
- British English – /ˌmɛdᵻkəlʌɪˈzeɪʃn/
Usage Notes
- Plural: medicalizations
- Medicalization is the opposite of demedicalization.
- Type: medicalization of deviance
- Variant spelling: medicalisation
Additional Information
- Medical Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Bradby, Hannah. 2009. Medical Sociology: An Introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
- Purdy, Michael, and David Banks, eds. 2001. The Sociology and Politics of Health: A Reader. London: Routledge.
- Rogers, Anne, and David Pilgrim. 2005. A Sociology of Mental Health and Illness. 3rd ed. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press.
- Thomas, Carol. 2007. Sociologies of Disability and Illness: Contested Ideas in Disability Studies and Medical Sociology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
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 October 3, 2023 (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 October 3, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/medicalization/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“medicalization.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 3 Oct. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/medicalization/>.