Medicalization of Deviance - Essay Example

One of the main reasons there has been a much stronger focus on medicalizing deviance is because the offenders who are in this category need a specific type of help to refrain them from continuing to break the law and behaving outside of what is considered to be the social norm. Without medical intervention their behavior is uncontrollable and will continue to escalate unless they are placed on medication to control their specific cognitive problems. So, based on this assumption, when the terminology of medicalization is placed with deviance or deviant behavior it is understood that what is actually being implied is that those of deviant character need specialized medical treatment such as certain neuro-chemical stabilizers to control their behaviors.

Sociologists claim that by defining deviance in this way it will allow for an ability to be able to maintain order far better in societies than simply following a traditional pattern of law and placing all of those of a disorderly character in a certain legal framework without proper labeling of the adversity being given. Furthermore, when certain criminal activities are taken out of the main legal framework and analyzed it will be perceivable that for some there are medical reasons for their behavior while for others they simply are prone to violent actions and engage in crime because they want too and for no other reason.

For other's it is quite the opposite, which is why there is a strong point for labeling some offenders under medical deviance. Conrad (1992, pg. 210) points out that it was in the mid 1970's when the concept of medicalization and activities of a deviant background were first were introduced, although there was not much headway in labeling offenders into this group at that time. However, now in present times the terminology has become quite common and even more pronounced, gaining precedence in claiming that many crimes have a medical reason and therefore claiming medicalizing many deviant behaviors is not only arbitrarily conceivable, but it is quite logical to do.

In Conrad's article (1992) there is an emphasis on the fact that medicine can control deviant actions and many characteristics of it, which has been hinted at in this research. By applying the proper treatment regimen to those offenders who are engaging in deviant acts, the chemicals that are not reacting correctly in the brain can be adjusted by various pharmaceutical prescriptions. By counseling and regulating the medications, psychologists can monitor these previous offenders and almost guarantee that their actions won't be repeated as long as they stay on the treatment prescribed to them.

The definition of medicalization in itself shows, "it is a process where more and more of everyday life has come under medical dominion, influence, and supervision" (Conrad 1992, pg.210). Of course, as this research is showing even legal problems in society are now beginning to be associated with medicine and it's treatments to maintain control. To extend this reasoning further, many psychiatrists, sociologists, and psychologists believe that a person who is committing deviant