Framing disease: Illness, society, and history

This chapter was written originally to serve as the introduction to a volume made up of case studies in the framing of particular ills, ranging from coronary thrombosis to anorexia, from rheumatic fever to silicosis.

Abstract

This chapter too addresses the elusive problem of the ways in which society has understood, defined, and responded to disease. It was written originally to serve as the introduction to a volume made up of case studies in the framing of particular ills, ranging from coronary thrombosis to anorexia, from rheumatic fever to silicosis. I tried to categorize the kinds of factors – intellectual, attitudinal, professional, and public-policy – that enter into the complex negotiations through which society agrees to accept as legitimate the particular ills that have come to populate our nosological tables.