• DOI:10.2307/2088858
• Corpus ID: 147650485

The Nature and Status of Medical Sociology

@article{Straus1957TheNA,
  title={The Nature and Status of Medical Sociology},
  author={Robert Straus},
  journal={American Sociological Review},
  year={1957},
  volume={22},
  pages={200}
}

• R. Straus
• Published 1 April 1957
• Economics
• American Sociological Review

These are but rough and indirect guides, but they do serve to reduce the randomness of the choices made by the larger society without weakening the essential bonds within each professional community. It does not seem likely, on the other hand, that each professional community has found, unaided, the sociologically correct point of optimum balance between these two. Summary. The complex structural relations presented here cannot be summarized briefly. We have first noted how important a characteristic of the profession is that of "community." Second, we have pointed out that it is like many other types of communities in that it exists within and is dependent on a larger society. Thus, theoretical notions derived from this nexus may have wider applications. Third, we have analyzed two specific sets of such relations, (1) socialization and social control, and (2) client choice and evaluation of the professional, noting the structural strains and supports of the community and the society. It is suggested here that these relations between and within the contained community and the larger society form an important, but hitherto little explored area. Directory, edited by George S. Koyl, New York: Bowker, 1955; Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, 1956; Medical Directory of New York State, Vol. 46, New York: Medical Society of the State of New York, 1955; etc.