Sociology news is published by the Medical Sociology Group‚ a study group cf the Eritish Sociological Association Subscription rates for 1987-88

MEDICAL

SOCIOLOGY

NEWS

is

published

by

the Medical Sociology

Group‚

a study

group

cf

the Eritish Sociological Association

Subscription rates for

1987-88

(three

i s s u e s )

are:

Overseas subscriptions

E8.00

Institutions

€8.00

National subscriptions

—

waged

25.00

National subscriptions

-

unwaged

€2.50

Further details may

be

obtained from:

David Woodman

(Editor)

43

Sydenham Park,

London

SE26

4EE.

BSA

Medical

Sociology

Group

Committee

1987/88

Nicky

Britten‚

Department

of

General

Practice‚

Guy's

Hospital Medical

Schoo1‚

London

Bridge SE1

9RT.

Christine

Buswe11‚

41

Coates

Road,

Heavitree‚

Exeter

Ex2

SRW.

Jon

Gabe.

General

Practice

Research

Unit‚

Institute

of Psychiatry‚

De

Crespigny Park,

London

SB5

BAF

Jenny Popay‚

Thomas

Coram

Research

Unit‚

41

Brunswick Square‚

London

WCIN 1Az

Sue Scott‚

Department

of socio1ogy‚

University of

Manchester,

Manchester

M13

9PT.

David

Si1verman‚

Department of Sociology,

Go1dsmith's

Co11ege‚

London

SE14

GNW.

Hilary

Thomas

Department of Community Medicine,

University

of

Cambridqe‚

Level 5‚Addenbrookes Hospital,

Cambridge‚

CB2

200.

Gareth

wi11iams‚

ARC

Epidemiology

Research

Unit‚

University of

Manchester,

Stopford Bui1ding‚

Oxford Road‚

Manchester

M13

9PT.

Ex Officio

Members

Mildred Baxter‚ Editor,

Sociology of Health and

Illness

Department of

Psych1atry‚

University

of

Cambridge‚

Cambridqe.

Hilary

Homans

(Absent

Convenor)

Dept.

of

Manpower

Planning

Ministry of Hea1th‚

Kaguvi Bui1ding‚

PO

Box

8204

Causeway‚

Harare‚ Zimbabwe.

Steve

Platt(Acting Convenor)‚

MRC

Unit

for

Epidemiological

studies

in

Psychiatry‚

Royal Edinburgh Hospital,

Morningside Park,

Edinburgh EHIO SHF.

Jill

Russell

(Treasurer)‚

Social

Research

Unit‚

University

Co11eqe‚

P.0.

Box

78,

Cardiff,

CF1 IXL.

David

Woodman

-

Editor

Medical Sociology

News

Contents

—

Volume

13.

Humber

1

December

1987

Page

Editorial

. .

. . . . . . .

. . . . .

‚ . . . .

. . . .

.

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

‚ . . . . . .

4

B.s.A. Medical

sociology

Group A.G.M. Minutes

. . . .

. . . . . . .

..

7

Participatory Democracy

—

Neil

McKeganey

.

.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . ..

11

Medical Diagnostic Reasoninq

-

A.

Cicourel.

.

.

. . . .

.

........

12

Conference

Abstracts.......

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . .

.

. . .

.

......

37

C.O.S.R.A

. .

. . . .

.

.

...........

. .

. . .

......

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .

..

47

Conferences and

Meetings

. . . .

. . . . .

...

. . .

. . . .

. .

.

‚

. . .

. .

.

. .

. ..

48

Research

for

Health

for A11

. . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

.

. . . . .

.

.

.

. . .

. . .

..

50

Conference Report

—

Margaret

Reid

. .

.

. .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . ..

52

Regional Groups..............

. . . . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . . .

..........

53

Book

R e v i e w s . . . . . . . . . . ‚ . .

.

. . . .

...

. . . . . . . . . .

. . .

. . . .

.

.

.

.

....

56

Competition

. .

. . . .

.

.

. . .

. .

. . .

...

. . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . .

. . .

.

. . .

...

63

Stop Press

-

Research Vacancy.

.

.

. .

. .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . . . ..

63

Books

for

Review

.

. .

.

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . .

. . .

. . .

. . . . .

...

.

. . . . . . . ..

64

E 1 2 2 2

In

the three years that Steve Platt

was

editor

of this

news1etter‚ its quality improved‚

circulation increased

and

each issue

appeared

on

its

scheduled date.

The prospect of

taking

over from

hin,

therefore,

would have

been daunting

were

it

not

for

his quidance‚ advice and ready availability.

It

is

comforting

for me to

know that‚ as

Convenor

of

the

Medical

Sociology

Group‚ Steve

will

not

be

too

far

away

and I

would

like

to take this

opportunity

to

thank him for his

efforts

over

the

past

years

and

to wish him weil

n

his

new

role.

I

will be pursuing

the

same

broad aims by‚ in the first

p1ace‚

makinq

sure that the

'News' is

regularly produced

(three

issues

appearing in December‚

March/April and

August).

The

'News'

will

make

every effort

to protect and

extend

the interests of

medical socioloqy

within

the

worlds

of professional sociology

and

the health service.

It

will

remain

the

medium through

which

the community of researchers

and

teachers

of

medical

sociology

speaks to and informs itself.

In

the

near

future

I do

not

envisage dramatic

change in the

content

or circulation of Medical Sociology

News

but

I

hope to

consolidate

what

has

been

achieved

so far.

In

the past‚ one

of

its prime functions was

to

publicise and occasionally report on

conferences

and

meetings

and

my

intention

is

to

draw

these

together within one section of the

newsletter.

As

in

all

things‚ it

depends on my having received regular updates of

relevant

events.

If

there

is

a

demand

for

it,

then

I

shall

also

inc1ude‚

under

the

heading

of

'Peop1e and

Publication‘

details of

career

chanqes‚ promotions‚ research inititives and

publications.

Fina11y‚

I

know

that Steve

encouraged readers to

tteat

the

'News' as

a

forum

for

debate

and

discussion

and

I

would like

to

see this continuted

and

extended‚

so

please

do

not hesitate to

write in

on any matter

that might

be

of

interest

to

us.

Perhaps

I

might

be

allowed

to

suggest one

area

of concern.

A5

B.S.A.

members

will know‚ the

October issue

of

'Network'

(B.S.A.

newsletter)

contained

a lengthy

review of

the current

state of British sociology and its prospects written

by

David

Held

(Open

University)‚

it

is

to

be

sent

as

a

report to

the

Economic

and

Social

Research Council.

In

all

its 8,000 words‚

there is

no mention of

medical

sociology which‚

as

one

of

the

most

flourishing

sub-groups of the B.s.A., is

astonishinq.

Suitably bilious

comments

on

this

matter should

be

sent

to

me

as soon as possible

for

inclusion in

the

next

issue.

There are

a

number

of

developments

which

I

hope to have

installed before my

time

es

editor expires.

First, I

have in

mind

a

number

of regular

features‚ but sadly the

first person

to

be

approached‚

Mrs.

McTavish‚ declined the

offer

on

the

grounds that this was only a moral commission.

Her

letter

is

printed below to qive you

a flavour

of

what

we

are missing.

If

anyone

were

to

be

interested in writing a regular piece on

'Hea1th

and

Illness

in

the Nether

Regions

: A

View

of

Medical

Sociology

from

Be1ow'

then please let

me

know.

Many

of

us

working within medical sociology

spend

as

much

time

on teaching as

on research

and

I

am

particularly keen

that

these educational

interests

are reflected

in

the newsletter.

Medical

sociology is

taught across the

gamut

of

institutiona

in higher

education

and

beyond.

The demand

for

its

inclusion

in

courses

of

professional training increases and‚

in the

light

of

the proposals

for

nurse education‚ this seems

set

to

continue.

So

without neglecting our

research

interests‚

I

would

hope that the

newsletter

could

act

as

a

means whereby

information on Curriculum design

and

development,

approaches to

teaching

and

t e s o u r c e s

could be exchanged.

If

you are

interested

in

this idea‚ then please let

me

know

how

you

would

like to

see

it

develop.

In

recent years

health, illness and

medicine have

been

plundered

by

television

programme

—

makers

for

documentaries‚

news

and current

affairs‚

soap operas‚

drama and light

entertainment.

A

series like ’Casua1ty'‚ going out at prime

time

on

Saturday evening‚ will

be

Shaping

opinion and

reinforcing forms of commonsense.

It

is

vital,

therefore‚

that

Medical

Socioloqy

News

h a s ‚

within

its pages,

some space

devoted

to critical commentaries

on television

output.

I

would

also include reviews

of

films,

radio and magazines in

this section.

we

are

interested in

an

analysis that reaches

beyond

popular journalism but

one

that stops

short

of

a

full

blown

encounter with

5 e m 1 o g 1 c s ‚

Fina11y‚ because this is

to

be

my first‚ bumber

xmas

issue

I

have taken

the

risk

of

including

a

competition hoping that

many

of

you

will

enter.

Full details

appear

at the back.

To

those

who

feel

this

is

a

retrograde step‚ then please let

me

reassure

you

that this

is

not

the thin

end

of

the wedge‚ as

I

have no intention

of

adopting

any other

tabloid ploy to

attract

readers.

There

are

two

items

which appear in the

minutes of

the

1987

A.G.M. to which

I

would like to

draw

your

attention.

First,

item

10

refers to

the proposed name change of che

group.

Any

ideas

and

comments

on this

matter should

be

sent

to

the

Committee.

Second, item 14 mentions the new regulations

applying

to D.H.S.S. funded

research units.

Further

details

can

be

found in

a

short

article

written

by

Adrianne Caudrey for

New

society‚ 27th

October.

If

you

have experience

of

these

changes or wish to

comment on

them‚

please let the Committee

and editor know.

I

shall finish

by

reminding readers that this issue contains

only the first

half

of

the

Conference

abstracts.

Best

wishes

for

the

new

year‚

David woodman

I

received

the

follouinq

letter on

University of Edinburgh

headed notepaper

from

Mrs.

M.

MacTavish:

Dear

Mr.

Hoodman

(Editor).

Bxcuse

me

writing

on

this

paper

Ren?

but they dinnae have to

pay

for it

and

ah'm

still

on the social.

It

was

awful

flattering

tae

get

your

letter and

mae

neiqhbours

were awful

impressed

wi

it.

Ah

had

a

word

wi sonja aboot

it

and

ah became

a

wee

bit

distressed.

lt

seems

there's

no

money

in

it

—

is

that right?

That

no

fair in

my

mind

-

aye

it

smacks

of

exploitation tae

me

and

Sonja said ye might

be

tryinq

tae co-op me

-

and

ah’ve

niver

liked

them since they stopped qiving the

divi.

Ah

dare

say

yet ken

a

wee

bit

aboot this sociology yerself

and

if

so

ye'11 ken

that those

of

us

in

social

class

5

find it

hard tae

make

long

term commitments‚ due

tae

the

crisis-ridden nature

of

our lifestyles

-

and

not only that

Ken?

Being

poor

and

unemployed

is

very

time consuming what wich standing

for

hours

at the D.H.S.S‚ looking

for

a phone box that works, going down

the housing not

to

mention beinq

interviewed

by

some

wee

slip

cf

a

sociologist lassie

-

some

of

them call themselves

doctor

but they never have any

useful

advice

about

our Sheena's

problem

down

there Ken?

Its

hard enough to find

a gap

in

the

day

tae

have

ma

ciggy.

So

ah'11

have

tae

turn ye

doon.

M j n d

you

if

ah've anything tae say ah'1l

say

it

and ye

can

print

this is

y e r e

so inclined bearing in mind ah'1l

could

use

a

postal order.

Yours tru1y‚

M.

McTavish

(Mts)

BSA Medical Sociology

Group

Minutes of

the Annual

General

Meeting

held

at

Alcuin

Co11ege‚

University

of

York,

on

26th September

1987.

Present:

45

Conferees

Minutes:

The minutes of

the

1986

AGM

were

agreed

after

the

followinq

corrections

had been

made to

item 4

:

delete

‘Thomas’

and substitute

’Homans'‚

delete

‘Jan’

and

substitute

‘Jon’.

Matters

Arising:

Item

9

-

The questionnaire on

contract

research had

achieved

a

58! response rate.

The report

was

being

compiled.

The organisers

thanked

everyone

who

had

participated.

The meeting

thanked

Sue

Scott

and

Hilary

Thomas

for their

work in

the

construction of

the questionnaire

and

the

processing

of

the

results.

Item

11b

-

Nick

Fox had completed

the organization

of

the

archives up to 1982 and these

have

now

been

deposited in the Modern

Records

Centre

at

the

University

of

warwick.

Convenor's

Regort

—

(Hilary

Homans)

The team organising the

Conference were thanked for

their

work including Nicky Dritten

(A.V.A.)‚

Christine Buswell

(Pub1icity)‚ Linnie Price

(Publishers),

Hilary Thomas

( F i l m ) , n 1 a n e ‚

Patrick and

Jenny

(Creche)‚ Mop

Price

and

Marc