TABLE OF CONTENT • INTRODUCTION• DEFINITION OF TERMS• OBJECTIVES• GENERAL DISCUSSION• SUMMARY • CONCLUSION• REFERENCE

INTRODUCTION• The term sick role is termed created by American

Sociologist Talcott Parsons in 1951

• Parsons was a functionalist sociologist, who argued that being sick means that the sufferer enters a role of 'sanctioned deviance'. This is because, from a functionalist perspective, a sick individual is not a productive member of society.

Introduction• Therefore this deviance needs to be

policed, which is the role of the medical profession.

• Genuinely, Parsons argued that the best way to understand illness sociologically is to view it as a form of deviance-which disturbs the social function of the society.

Definition Of Terms• Sick Role:-Is a term used in medical sociology

regarding sickness and the rights and obligations of the affected.

• Functionalist Sociologist:-is a sociologist that believes in functionalism a theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability

• Deviance:-to go astray from an accepted path• Chronic Illness:-is a long-lasting condition that can

be controlled but not cured, The term chronic is usually applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months

Definition Of Terms• Social Role:-Part that people play as member of a

society or the types of influence that society can have on one person's behavior or Sociologists conceptualize social roles as the expected behaviors (including rights and obligations) of someone with a given position (status) in society

• Malingering:-is fabricating or exaggerating the symptoms of mental or physical disorders for a variety of "secondary gain" motives, which may include financial compensation (often tied to fraud); avoiding school, work or military service; obtaining drugs; getting lighter criminal sentences; or simply to attract attention or sympathy.

Definition Of Terms• Alopecia Areata-is a condition in which hair is lost

for some all areas of the body.• Stigma:-is the relationship of devaluation in which

one individual is disqualified from full social acceptance-Erving Goffman(1963)

• Sick Role Behavior:-is the activity undertaken for the purpose of getting well, by those who consider themselves ill.

General Discussion• Sick role is a termed that is used in medical

sociology regarding sickness and the rights and obligations of the affected.

• Parsons argued that the best way to understand illness sociologically is to view it as a form of deviance which disturbs the social function of society

• General idea is that the individual who has fallen ill is not physically sick but now adheres to the specifically patterned social role of being sick.

General Discussion• Being Sick is not simply a state of fact or condition it

contains within itself customary rights and obligations based on the social norms that surround it.

• RIGHTSExempted from normal social rolesIs not responsible for their conditions

• OBLIGATIONSShould try to get wellSeek technically competent help and cooperate with

medical professionals

RIGHTS OF THE SICK IN SICK ROLES

1) The sick person is exempt from “normal” social roles. An individual’s illness is grounds for his or her exemption from normal role performance and social responsibilities.

• This exemption, however, is relative to the nature and severity of the illness. The more severe the illness, the greater the exemption.

• Exemption requires legitimation by the physician as the authority on what constitutes sickness.

RIGHTS Ctd….• Legitimation serves the social function of protecting society

against malingering (attempting to remain in the sick role longer than social expectations allow – usually done to acquire secondary gains, or additional privileges afforded to ill persons).

2) The sick person is not responsible for his or her condition. An individual’s illness is usually thought to be beyond his or her own control. A morbid condition of the body needs to be changed and some curative process apart from person will power or motivation is needed to get well.

OBLIGATION OF THE SICK IN SICK ROLE

1) The sick person should try to get well. The first two aspects of the sick role are conditional upon the third aspect, which is recognition by the sick person that being sick is undesirable. Exemption from normal responsibilities is temporary and conditional upon the desire to regain normal health. Thus, the sick person has an obligation to get well.

OBLIGATION OF THE SICK IN SICK ROLE

2) The sick person should seek technically competent help and cooperate with the physician. The obligation to get well involves a further obligation on the part of the sick person to seek technically competent help, usually from a physician. The sick person is also expected to cooperate with the physician in the process of trying to get well.

Sick Role Perception• Sick role perception involves the manner in which

people internalize symptoms and allow illness to interfere with their life routines based on illness perception.

• Sick role perception ranges from total denial of illness to disability that is disproportionate to physical findings.

• Some may use the sick role as a way of avoiding responsibility perceiving recovery as a loss of positive attention of being ill.

VERSIONS OF SICK ROLE• There are three versions of sick role:

I. Conditional II. Unconditionally legitimate III.Illegitimate role

CONDITIONAL SICK ROLE

• Conditional Sick Role:-applies to individuals to who are suffering from a temporary condition from which they can recover. The sick person is expected to get well and receives some rights and privileges according to the severity of the illness.

UNCONDITIONLAY LEGITIMATE

• Unconditionally Legitimate:-refers to individuals who are suffering from incurable illness and because the sick person cannot do anything to get well he or she is entitled to occupy the sick role. The role may apply from people suffering from alopecia or acne in such cases there no special privileges but acknowledgment that the person is not responsible for the disease.

• Or from cancer resulting in special privileges and right to abandon many duties and responsibility

ILLIGITEMATE ROLE

• Illegitimate Sick Role:- this is obtained when an individual is suffering from a disease or condition that is stigmatized by others in such cases the is a sense that an individual might somehow bear responsibility for the illness additional privileges and rights are not necessarily granted. Examples is Alcoholism or HIV/AIDS

Dimension Of Sick Role In Chronic Illness• Kassebaum and Baumann (1965) in their seminal

study of the sick role in chronic illness conducted an analysis of response in 201 patients individuals from a single clinic each of whom had one or more chronic illnesses.

• They presented with 20 statements derived from parsons theory, unstructured interviews, and pre tests designed to elict areas of concern among clinic patients.

DIMENSION OF THE SICK ROLE IN CHRONIC ILLNESS

• In their analysis they found four dimensions of sick role in chronic illnessI. DependenceII. ReciprocityIII. Role Of performanceIV. Denial

DIMENSION OF THE SICK ROLE IN CHRONIC ILLNESS

• Dependence- is the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else in the sick role it represented the negative perception of illness

• Reciprocity-refers to responding to a positive action with another positive action. In the sick role it represented mutually accepted roles-obligations exemptions between respondents and those around them

DIMENSION OF THE SICK ROLE IN CHRONIC ILLNESS

• Role Of Performance-representing the respondent(patient) ability to conduct a certain/expected roles.

• Denial-psychological defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence. In the sick role it represented rejection of special concessions for those who are ill.

DIMENSION OF THE SICK ROLE IN CHRONIC ILLNESS

• In the analysis the discovered that scores varied on each dimension of the sick role based on– Age– Level of education– Gender– Ethnicity– Occupation – Diagnosis

Scoring According To SexDimension Sex High score Base

No. %

Dependence Male 24 46 52

Female 51 34 149

Reciprocity Male 16 31 52

Female 45 38 149

Role-perfomance Male 18 35 52

Female 45 30 149

Denial Male 20 38 52

Female 44 30 149

Scoring According To AgeDimension Age group High score Base

No. %

Dependence Under 60 yrs 34 34 102

60 yrs and over 41 41 99

Reciprocity Under 60 yrs 39 38 102

60 yrs and over 34 34 99

Role-perfomance Under 60 yrs 18 17 102

60 yrs and over 45 45 99

Denial Under 60 yrs 27 26 102

60 yrs and over 37 38 99

Scoring According To Educational GroupDimension Educational level High score Base

No. %

Dependence 8th grade or lower 50 47 107

Above 8th Grade 25 27 92

Reciprocity 8th grade or lower 41 38 107

Above 8th Grade 30 33 92

Role-perfomance 8th grade or lower 40 37 107

Above 8th Grade 23 25 92

Denial 8th grade or lower 42 39 107

Above 8th Grade 22 24 92

Scoring According To OccupationDimension Occupatinal group High score Base

No. %

Dependence White collar 16 24 67

Blue collar 47 47 101

None 12 36 33

Reciprocity White collar 21 31 67

Blue collar 37 37 101

None 15 45 33

Role-perfomance White collar 15 22 67

Blue collar 35 35 101

None 13 39 33

Denial White collar 17 25 67

Blue collar 32 32 101

None 15 45 33

REFERENCES• E.Gartly Jaco;A source book in behavioural

sciences and health.• Journal of Health and Human Behavior © 1965

Association• http/www.wisegeek.com• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sick role.• http://www.nemours.org/no/