Medical Rationalization, Cultural Lag, and the Malpractice Crisis
- 1 June 1981
- journal article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Human Organization
- Vol. 40 (2) , 97-112
- https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.40.2.3370128m60104838
Abstract
The theses of this paper are that (1) the practice of medicine has become more formally rationalized in the past century; (2) this rationalization process has been retarded by the professional aspects of medical practice, e.g., the service ethic and the medical profession's exclusive jurisdiction over medicine; (3) this retardation is evident in cultural lag between the development of medical knowledge and how medicine is practiced; and (4) the "malpractice crisis" is a particular force which is accelerating the rationalization process and is overcoming lag. Data from physician surveys and interviews are presented which show the utility of a rationalization-cultural lag model in generating a number of substantive questions pertinent to the quality of rationalized medical care.Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Physician's Perceptions of the Suit-Prone PatientHuman Organization, 1979
- PSROs, the Medical Profession, and the Public InterestThe Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly. Health and Society, 1976
- Professionalism and Social Control in the Progressive Era: The Case of the Flexner ReportSocial Problems, 1974
- Characteristics of Professional OrganizationsJournal of Health and Social Behavior, 1969
- The Doctor as Culture Hero: The Routinization of CharismaHuman Organization, 1965
- The Professionalization of Everyone?American Journal of Sociology, 1964
- A Theory of Role StrainAmerican Sociological Review, 1960
- A Modification of the Functional Theory of Social StratificationSocial Forces, 1956
- Cultural Lag: What Is It?American Sociological Review, 1945
- Present Status of the Cultural Lag HypothesisAmerican Sociological Review, 1938