Dehumanization in Medicine
@article{Haque2012DehumanizationIM, title={Dehumanization in Medicine}, author={Omar S. Haque and Adam Waytz}, journal={Perspectives on Psychological Science}, year={2012}, volume={7}, pages={176 - 186} }
Dehumanization is endemic in medical practice. This article discusses the psychology of dehumanization resulting from inherent features of medical settings, the doctor–patient relationship, and the deployment of routine clinical practices. First, we identify six major causes of dehumanization in medical settings (deindividuating practices, impaired patient agency, dissimilarity, mechanization, empathy reduction, and moral disengagement). Next, we propose six fixes for these problems…
219 Citations
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Stress experienced in the work setting can have an effect on dehumanizing practices in medicine, and one of the best ways to combat dehumanization in medicine is to reduce stress by improving the work conditions.
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Overall, it is argued that the usefulness of dehumanization in organizational settings can be replaced by superior strategies that are ethically more acceptable and do not entail the severely negative consequences associated with dehumanization.
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