ABSTRACT
Biomedicalization is seen by many as the natural outgrowth of continued scientific progress—a movement towards improving the quality and quantity of life through scientific inquiries using biomedical perspectives and methods. This chapter lays the groundwork for an historical understanding of how medicalization and biomedicalization have developed. It discusses a brief history of the profession of medicine in the US in order to understand the growth of medicine and its “professional dominance”. Within the discussion of biomedicalization, the chapter explores the impact of the New Genetics and its influence on the biomedicalization process. The chapter presents specific case examples of biomedicalization that include both deviant and stigmatized behaviors, e.g., mental illness, drug addiction, as well as natural life course events such as menopause, reproductive health, and aging.
