Example research essay topic: Td Tr Tr Td Td Td - 2,114 words

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... ns, more frequently male, are trained by a: medical culture which emphasises and highlights the health problems of women, thereby constituting women as patients... womens disorders are characteristically conceived to be psychogenic in character relating to womens neurotic behaviour (Turner, 1995). As women have a longer life expectancy than men (Mulkay, 1993) they often outlive their partners thus are statistically more likely to require more medical support in later life. Thus women are increasingly the victims of the drawbacks of medicalisation already mentioned.

In addition, it has been discovered that adult men of working age receive more attention from hospital staff and are more likely to be told their terminal diagnosis than women (Field et al, 1997). An elderly womans chances of being institutionalised are also far higher than that of men and the differential increases with age (see appendix 1). Elderly women in Britain have a 55 % higher chance of ending their days in an institutional home (Arber & Ginn, 1991). Men are much more likely to die in their homes with comfort from a female lay carer and as a result are less likely to lose their independence and feelings of self-identity. Illich (1976) advocates a resistance to the medical dominance over all areas of life, and encourages people to take responsibility for their own health care.

It is important to view death as a natural process rather than a pathological condition in order to avoid the social death that results in the alienation and ostracision of the terminally ill (Taylor & Field, 1997). As a reaction to medicalisation a number of groups have developed which actively reject medical lifesaving interventions in their terminal phase: for them a good death is one where the only medical intervention that takes place is that of pain relief (Bradbury, 1993 p 70). This is an example of individuals attempting to wrestle back control from the medical system. The rise of the right to die movement is indicative of peoples willingness to: challenge the neglect and poor quality of service available in many traditional hospital settings (Fennell et al 1988 p 168). In recent years this attitude has developed with the emergence of many pro-euthanasia groups including: Euthanasia Research and Guidance Organisation (ERGO); Voluntary Euthanasia Society (VES-UK); Choice in Dying, Hemlock Society (USA) and Dying with Dignity (Canada) all advocating the rights of the terminally ill to have control over their death. In a study concerning reasons why patients requested euthanasia, dependency and loss of autonomy were mentioned in 33 % of cases (Dunlop & Hockley, 1998).

The Voluntary Euthanasia Society (1999) states that: requests for euthanasia may indicate not that the patients are giving up in the face of suffering but that they are positively asserting their desire to control events. It would appear that the medical professions obsession with hiding the true nature of a patients condition for the patients own good is prompting patients to take matters into their own hands. Hoefler & Kamoie (1994 p 95) found that: 60 - 90 % of physicians would still rather withhold information about the condition of terminally ill patients. Women in particular are attempting to regain control from the medical profession of the formerly feminine tasks of caring for the dying.

The de-feminization of the power to define and control the management of death is being challenged and alternatives to male, hospital based technological approaches to terminal illness are being sought (Littlewood, 1994). The advent of hospice care as an alternative to traditional hospitalisation has been led by powerful women figures such as Dame Cicely Saunders. The emphasis on palliative rather than terminal care can be construed as a battle against the medical establishment (Walter, 1999) in its preference for an holistic approach. The World Health Organisation (1990) has defined palliative care as: the active total care of patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment. Control of pain, of other symptoms, and of psychological, social and spiritual problems is paramount. The goal is achievement of the best possible quality of life for patients and their families (WHO, 1990 cited in Dunlop & Hockley, 1998 p 2).

This definition appears to be more centred around emotional support for the dying and their family, an area sadly lacking in the typical hospital environment with its emphasis on the physical aspects of disease (fennell et al, 1988). The authority of (male) clergy to define post-death care in a time when the concern with the spiritual destination of the deceased wanes, is being supplanted by that of (female) bereavement counsellors and befriended. A re-feminization of death is under way, led by women (Walter, 1993 p 277). Cruse bereavement care is battling against the increasing medicalisation of bereavement and was founded by Margaret Torrie, herself a widow (Field et al, 1997).

It would appear that the re-feminization of dying and death is well-under way prompted by a dissatisfaction in the medicalisation of these areas. However, although challenging the medicalisation of death in many respects, the hospice organisation has been criticised as offering only a limited number of places, and mainly concentrating on terminal cancer patients (Seale, 1993) although deaths from cancer only account for 26 % of all deaths (Victor, 1993). Biswas (1993 p 132) maintains that: the recent expansion of the hospice movement has seen the increasing medicalisation of hospice care and that palliative care has become a part of general medicine and thus it is at the mercy of medical professionals rather than being a patient-led service. There is no denying the success of hospice care for many terminal patients but it would appear that creeping medicalisation is having an effect on the quality of care these institutions provide. The rising popularity of complementary medicine for the terminally ill may also be seen as a reaction to dissatisfaction with medicalisation. Techniques such as breathing exercises, muscular relaxation, meditation, visualisation, massage, aromatherapy, acupuncture and spiritual healing are more often practised in hospices than within mainstream curative medicine establishments (Pietroni, 1993).

Once displaced by medical science, lay medicine is experiencing a re-emergence to provide hope and comfort for those the medics have failed. In conclusion it appears that the medical profession have successfully monopolised the process of dying and death. Society is becoming increasingly dependent upon the tenets of the medical model although in many areas its contribution to well-being is refuted. With advancements in medical technology and new sophisticated invasive procedures a number of terminal individuals are being kept alive long after all meaning and quality of life have diminished. The inability to cure and control all ailments coupled with a therapeutical relentlessness which refuses to admit to failure has led to dissatisfaction with medical care of the dying. Feminist sociologists particularly are involved with wrestling back control over the process of dying from the medical professionals and seeking alternatives in the re-feminization of death.

The increasing use of complementary medicine would appear to be a response to this dissatisfaction as is the rising popularity of the hospice movement. Euthanasia would seem to be a topic that, as time goes on, is becoming increasing difficult to ignore, although vehemently opposed by the British Medical Association. REFERENCES Abbott, P. & Wallace, C. (1990) An introduction to Sociology. Routledge: London.

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Field, D. Hockey, J. & Small, N. (1997) Making Sense of Difference: Death, Gender & Ethnicity in Modern Britain IN Field, D. Hockey, J. & Small, N. (Eds) (1997) Death, Gender & Ethnicity. Routledge: London. Giddens, A. (1997) Sociology (3 rd ed). Polity: Cambridge.

Hoefler, J. M. & Kamoie, B. E. (1994) Deathright: Culture, Medicine, Politics and the Right to Die. Westview: Oxford. Illich, I. (1976) Limits to Medicine. Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health.

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Littlewood, J. (1993) The Denial of Death & Rites of Passage in Contemporary Societies IN Clark, D. (Ed) (1993) The Sociology of Death. Blackwell: Oxford. Karl, M. (1999) Euthanasia & the Right to Die. AT web > Kennedy, L. (1990) Euthanasia: The Good Death. Chatto Counterblasts Number 13. Chatto Windus Ltd: London.

Littlewood, J. (1993) The Denial of Death & Rites of Passage in Contemporary Societies IN Clark, D. (Ed) (1993) The Future for Palliative Care: Issues of Policy & Practice. Open University Press: Buckingham. Littlewood, J. (1994) Widows Weeds & Womens Needs: The Re-feminization of Death, Dying & Bereavement IN Wilkinson, S. & Kitzinger, C. (Eds) (1994) Women & Health: Feminist Perspectives. Taylor & Francis: London. Mulkay, M. (1993) Social Death in Britain IN Clark, D. (Ed) (1993) The Sociology of Death. Blackwell: Oxford.

Oakley, A. (1979) cited in IN Clark, D. (Ed) (1993) The Sociology of Death. Blackwell: Oxford. Pietroni, P. C. (1993) Complementary Medicine: Its Place in the Care of Dying People IN Dickenson, D. & Johnson, M. (Eds) (1993) Death, Dying & Bereavement. Sage: London. Rachel's, J. (1986) The End of Life: Euthanasia & Morality.

Oxford University Press: Oxford. Scambler, G. (1991) Sociology as Applied to Medicine (3 rd ed) Bailliere Tindall: London. Seale, C. (1993) Demographic Change & Care of the Dying 1969 - 1987 IN Dickenson, D. & Johnson, M. (Eds) (1993) Death, Dying & Bereavement. Sage: London. Seas, (1964) cited in Scambler, G. (1991) Sociology as Applied to Medicine (3 rd ed) Bailliere Tindall: London. Taylor, S. & Field, D. (1997) Sociology of Health & Health Care.

Blackwell Science: Oxford. Thompson, D. F. (1993) Professionalism & Paternalism IN Dickenson, D. & Johnson, M. (Eds) (1993) Death, Dying & Bereavement. Sage: London.

Turner, B. S. (1995) Medical Power & Social Knowledge (2 nd ed). Sage: London. Victor, C. V. (1993) Health Services & Policy for Dying People & their Carers IN Dickenson, D. & Johnson, M. (Eds) (1993) Death, Dying & Bereavement. Sage: London.

Voluntary Euthanasia Society (1999) The Case for Voluntary Euthanasia AT web > Walter, T. (1993) Sociologists Never Die: British Sociology & Death IN Clark, D. (Ed) (1993) The Sociology of Death. Blackwell: Oxford. Walter, T. (1999) On Bereavement: The Culture of Grief. Open University Press: Buckingham.

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Zola (1972) cited in Armstrong, D. (1989) An Outline of Sociology as Applied to Medicine (3 rd ed). Wright: London. APPENDIX 1 Table to show: Percentage of Elderly Males and Females Resident in Communal Establishments by Age: Great Britain 1981

Research essay sample on Td Tr Tr Td Td Td