There is a Price for Admission to the Sick Role Essays - RTT, Cancer

"There is a Price for Admission to the Sick Role" By: Lauren Gonder Illness is defined, in today's terms, as a state or condition of suffering as the result of a disease or sickness and is caused by an abnormal biological affliction or mental abnormality (pg. 188) CITATION Coc16 \l 1033 (Cockerman, 2016) . In 1951, Sociologist Talcott Parsons, initially expressed sickness as a deviant behavior that a person accepts when feeling sick. Deviance is an act or behavior that violates the social norms within a given society CITATION Coc16 \l 1033 (Cockerman, 2016) . This requires a social judgement about what is proper behavior shared by the people in that society CITATION Coc16 \l 1033 (Cockerman, 2016) . Norms are social expectations that guide behavior and explain why people do what they do in a given si tuation. Parsons saw being sick as a distract ion from how society functions (pg. 189) CITATION Coc16 \l 1033 (Cockerman, 2016) . When someone is sick, they are relieved from their daily duties and/or roles. His concept of the sick role is based on the notion that being sick is not a deliberate and knowing choice of the sick person, even though illness may occur as a result of motivated exposure to infection or injury (pg. 192) CITATION Coc16 \l 1033 (Cockerman, 2016) . This choice makes it deviant only because he or she is "not responsible" for the sickness and it is warned that people will adopt this choice to get away from their responsibilities. This is why it is required by a school or employer to provide proof of medical care. Some sick or handicapped people can be labeled if their sickness is unpleasant for others. This can be based on appearance, odor, or behavior. The labeling is called social stigma, which is defined by Sociologist Erving Goffman, as a negative characterization that devalues a person and changes his or her self-concept and social identity. Stigma originated with the ancient Greeks, who used it to refer to marks, such as brands or cu ts, on the body that represents something bad or immoral about the person (pg. 211) CITATION Coc16 \l 1033 (Cockerman, 2016) . These brands were used to signify criminals, slaves, or traitors and varies across and within societies. There are three classifications of social stigma : abominations or deformities, blemishes, such as a mental disorder or alcoholism, and tribal, such as race or religion. People who are stigmatized try to hide their afflictions by acting as normal as possible. Lung cancer is mostly caused by smoking and second-hand smoke. Usually, it starts in the spongy, pinkish grey walls of the lungs' airways or air sacs CITATION Web \l 1033 (WebMD) . The two main types of lung cancer are non-small cell and small-cell. Non-small cell lung cancer has three categories called Adenocarcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma, and Large-cell carcinoma. They all spread to the lymph nodes and some to bones and other organs. There are other causes of lung cancer such as exposure to asbestos, uranium dust, or the radioactive gas, R adon. Lung tissue that was scarred by disease or infection, such as scleroderma or tuberculosis , becomes at risk for tumors in that tissue, this is called scar carcinoma CITATION Web \l 1033 (WebMD) . Breast cancer doesn't have any one known cause and can occur when the cells in the breast begin growing abnormally CITATION Cli \l 1033 (MayoClinic) . The growth occurs in the milk-producing ducts, the lobules (glandular tissue), or other cells/tissue in the breast. The growth is when the cells divide more rapidly than healthy cells and form a lump or mass. This mass can then spread throughout the breast, lymph nodes or other parts of the body. Breast cancer can be caused by hormonal, lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors. Hormonal factors are associated with mostly females, but males can also be effected . These factors can transpire as you become older. Drinking alcohol and obesity are related to lifestyle influences. Radiation exposure through other treatments as a child or young adult is a part of the environmental reasons. People who suffer from lung cancer are often stigmatized due to the association with