When antibiotics became readily available in the 1950s, the
danger of life-threatening infectious childhood diseases virtually
disappeared. In that era, pediatricians broadened the core
professional task of their specialty--the prevention and treatment
of such diseases--to incorporate the behavioral and psychosocial
problems of children and adolescents. Pediatricians themselves
began to refer to this changing emphasis as the "new pediatrics,"
and to see the trend as a natural progression of their specialty
into new areas of care. At the same time there arose widespread
disaffection among practicing general pediatricians, defection to
other areas of practice, and a decline in the popularity of
pediatrics as a specialty choice.
In analyzing the emergence of the new pediatrics as a case study
within medical sociology, Pawluch shows how professional concerns
and interests infl uence debate around social problems. As
sociologists began to take greater interest in the problems of
childhood, and as children's lives became increasingly
medicalized--as some have argued--it is at least in part because of
pediatricians' willingness to endorse medical defi nitions for
certain social problems and to provide treatment for them.
Pawluch's underlying concern is that medical professionals have
begun to make claims for authority in the definition of what
constitutes the social problems of childhood. Among the topics she
examines are the "dissatisfied pediatrician syndrome," the
potential for a crisis in oversupply of pediatricians and competing
providers of services, the push for expansion into new areas of
care, and possible future developments in this specialty.
"Dorothy Pawluch" is assistant professor of sociology at
McMaster University. Her areas of interest include sociology of
health and health care; deviance/social problems; work and
occupations; and social psychology. She is the author of numerous
book chapters and journal articles.
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