Possibly abusive, often benign, and always necessary. On power and domination in medical practice

Abstract

AbstractIn the medical sociological literature that focuses on medical practice, the doctor‐patient relationship is usually described in terms such as relationship asymmetry, cognitive conflicts and professional dominance. The unfortunate consequences of the doctor's power over the patient are stressed in a common criticism of the dominating biomedical perspective of modern medicine. As an alternative, more social psychological models have been promoted. In this paper it is argued that these social psychological perspectives represent an understanding of the nature and role of power in medicine that is insufficient and inadequate; an alternative perspective is therefore supported which conceives of power as necessary and constitutive for adequate medical practice.