Demarcation and transformation within homoeopathic knowledge. A strategy of professionalization

Social Science and Medicine

Volumn 42, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 579-588

  Cant, Sarah ^a   Sharma, Ursula ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ROEHAMPTON   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF DERBY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Homoeopathy; Knowledge; Professionalization

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; HEALTH CARE; HOMEOPATHY; MEDICAL EDUCATION; OCCUPATION;

EID: 0030061799     PISSN: 02779536     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00158-1     Document Type: Article

References (42)

1. In 1988 it was suggested that as many as one in seven members of the public visited an complementary practitioner (Association of Community Health Councils. The State of Non-Conventional Medicine - The Consumer View, 1988). A survey conducted by Which magazine has shown an increase from 1 in 7 (1986) to 1 in 4 (1992) of their readership, who have visited a complementary practitioner (Magic or Medicine? Which October, 443-447, 1987; Alternative Medicine. Which November, 1992). A MORI poll (Research on Alternative Medicine. MORI, 1989) also revealed that 74% of the population wanted more established forms of alternative therapy. In 1981 it was estimated that there were 30,000 practitioners (Fulder S. Handbook of Complementary Medicine. 2nd Edition. Coronet, London, 1988) and the BHMA (British Holistic Medical Association. A response to the Government's Green paper, 'The health of the nation'. BHMA, London, 1991) estimates that the number is increasing at a rate of 11 % per year.
2. In 1988 it was suggested that as many as one in seven members of the public visited an complementary practitioner (Association of Community Health Councils. The State of Non-Conventional Medicine - The Consumer View, 1988). A survey conducted by Which magazine has shown an increase from 1 in 7 (1986) to 1 in 4 (1992) of their readership, who have visited a complementary practitioner (Magic or Medicine? Which October, 443-447, 1987; Alternative Medicine. Which November, 1992). A MORI poll (Research on Alternative Medicine. MORI, 1989) also revealed that 74% of the population wanted more established forms of alternative therapy. In 1981 it was estimated that there were 30,000 practitioners (Fulder S. Handbook of Complementary Medicine. 2nd Edition. Coronet, London, 1988) and the BHMA (British Holistic Medical Association. A response to the Government's Green paper, 'The health of the nation'. BHMA, London, 1991) estimates that the number is increasing at a rate of 11 % per year.
3. In 1988 it was suggested that as many as one in seven members of the public visited an complementary practitioner (Association of Community Health Councils. The State of Non-Conventional Medicine - The Consumer View, 1988). A survey conducted by Which magazine has shown an increase from 1 in 7 (1986) to 1 in 4 (1992) of their readership, who have visited a complementary practitioner (Magic or Medicine? Which October, 443-447, 1987; Alternative Medicine. Which November, 1992). A MORI poll (Research on Alternative Medicine. MORI, 1989) also revealed that 74% of the population wanted more established forms of alternative therapy. In 1981 it was estimated that there were 30,000 practitioners (Fulder S. Handbook of Complementary Medicine. 2nd Edition. Coronet, London, 1988) and the BHMA (British Holistic Medical Association. A response to the Government's Green paper, 'The health of the nation'. BHMA, London, 1991) estimates that the number is increasing at a rate of 11 % per year.
4. In 1988 it was suggested that as many as one in seven members of the public visited an complementary practitioner (Association of Community Health Councils. The State of Non-Conventional Medicine - The Consumer View, 1988). A survey conducted by Which magazine has shown an increase from 1 in 7 (1986) to 1 in 4 (1992) of their readership, who have visited a complementary practitioner (Magic or Medicine? Which October, 443-447, 1987; Alternative Medicine. Which November, 1992). A MORI poll (Research on Alternative Medicine. MORI, 1989) also revealed that 74% of the population wanted more established forms of alternative therapy. In 1981 it was estimated that there were 30,000 practitioners (Fulder S. Handbook of Complementary Medicine. 2nd Edition. Coronet, London, 1988) and the BHMA (British Holistic Medical Association. A response to the Government's Green paper, 'The health of the nation'. BHMA, London, 1991) estimates that the number is increasing at a rate of 11 % per year.
5. In 1988 it was suggested that as many as one in seven members of the public visited an complementary practitioner (Association of Community Health Councils. The State of Non-Conventional Medicine - The Consumer View, 1988). A survey conducted by Which magazine has shown an increase from 1 in 7 (1986) to 1 in 4 (1992) of their readership, who have visited a complementary practitioner (Magic or Medicine? Which October, 443-447, 1987; Alternative Medicine. Which November, 1992). A MORI poll (Research on Alternative Medicine. MORI, 1989) also revealed that 74% of the population wanted more established forms of alternative therapy. In 1981 it was estimated that there were 30,000 practitioners (Fulder S. Handbook of Complementary Medicine. 2nd Edition. Coronet, London, 1988) and the BHMA (British Holistic Medical Association. A response to the Government's Green paper, 'The health of the nation'. BHMA, London, 1991) estimates that the number is increasing at a rate of 11 % per year.
6. In 1988 it was suggested that as many as one in seven members of the public visited an complementary practitioner (Association of Community Health Councils. The State of Non-Conventional Medicine - The Consumer View, 1988). A survey conducted by Which magazine has shown an increase from 1 in 7 (1986) to 1 in 4 (1992) of their readership, who have visited a complementary practitioner (Magic or Medicine? Which October, 443-447, 1987; Alternative Medicine. Which November, 1992). A MORI poll (Research on Alternative Medicine. MORI, 1989) also revealed that 74% of the population wanted more established forms of alternative therapy. In 1981 it was estimated that there were 30,000 practitioners (Fulder S. Handbook of Complementary Medicine. 2nd Edition. Coronet, London, 1988) and the BHMA (British Holistic Medical Association. A response to the Government's Green paper, 'The health of the nation'. BHMA, London, 1991) estimates that the number is increasing at a rate of 11 % per year.
7. Nicholls P. Homoeopathy and the Medical Profession. Croom Helm, London, 1988.
8. This act effectively gave the medical doctors in the United Kingdom a monopoly. See Waddington I. The Medical Profession in the Industrial Revolution. Croom Helm. London, 1984.
9. The NMQ homoeopaths prefer to be called 'professional' homoeopaths and the medical profession tend to refer to the group as 'lay' practitioners. In this paper we use NMQ.
10. The U.K. Homoeopathic Medical Association is another professional body and has 150 full members. There are, however, many more homoeopaths who practice but are affiliated to neither organization.
11. The number of colleges is constantly changing. At the time of writing we believed there to be 21 colleges. However, it is possible that there were smaller colleges that we did not come across.
12. Parkin F. The Social Analysis of Class Structure. Tavistock, London, 1974.
13. Johnson T. Professions and Power. Macmillan, London, 1972.
14. See for example, Abbot A. The System of Professions. Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1988 or Larson M.S. The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis. California University Press, Los Angeles, 1977.
15. See for example, Abbot A. The System of Professions. Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1988 or Larson M.S. The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis. California University Press, Los Angeles, 1977.
16. Freidson E. Profession of Medicine. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1970.
17. See for example, Greenwood E. Attributes of a Profession. Social Work 2, 44-55, 1957 or Parsons T. Professions and the Social Structure. Social Forces 17, 457-467, 1939.
18. See for example, Greenwood E. Attributes of a Profession. Social Work 2, 44-55, 1957 or Parsons T. Professions and the Social Structure. Social Forces 17, 457-467, 1939.
19. Freidson E. Profession of Medicine. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, 1970 and Johnson T. Professions and Power. Macmillan, London, 1972.
20. Freidson E. Profession of Medicine. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, 1970 and Johnson T. Professions and Power. Macmillan, London, 1972.
21. Freidson E. Profession of Medicine. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1970 and Larson M.S. The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis. California University Press, Los Angeles, 1977.
22. Freidson E. Profession of Medicine. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1970 and Larson M.S. The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis. California University Press, Los Angeles, 1977.
23. Collins R. The Credential Society: An Historical Sociology of Education and Stratification. Academic Press, New York, 1979.
24. Larson M. S. The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis. California University Press, Los Angeles, 1977.
25. It must be noted that proving the content of knowledge may be less important than actually been seen to be aligned to an accepted paradigm of knowledge. In other words not being seen to be that different?
26. Freidson E. The theory of professions. State of the art. In The Sociology of the Professions (Edited by Dingwall R. and Lewis P.). Macmillan, London, 1983.
27. Abbot A. The System of Professions. Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1988.
28. Hahnemann S. Organon of Medicine. B. Jain, New Delhi, 1986.
29. For example, someone with a 'pulsatilla' constitution may have a tendency for dryness, absence of thirst, may feel better for being in fresh air and will dislike a stuffy warm atmosphere. Pulsatilla infants tend to be dependant and clinging. They will respond well to the remedy pulsatilla (made from the plant pulsatilla nigricans). Not every individual has a constitution which corresponds exactly to a particular remedy, but a homoeopathic student will need to be able to recognize common constitutional 'types'.
30. This does not mean that attempts have not been made to understand how homoeopathy works. For example, the physicist Benveniste has conducted experiments which seem to prove that substances diluted to levels beyond the Avogadro number (i.e. to the point where less than one molecule of the original substance may be deemed to be present in the sample) may still have a measurable action on both human and animal cells. That is, that the solution holds and transmits the memory of the substance in some way. An article in Nature in 1988 precipitated a furore in the scientific world, in the course of which Benveniste allowed his laboratory to be investigated for fraud. No signs of scientific fraud or falsification for results were discovered, but Benveniste has been completely marginalized as a scientist. Other explanations rely on Jungian philosophy. It should also be noted that many aspects of orthodox medicine do not stand up to scientific scrutiny or have not been subjected to scientific testing through randomized control trials.
31. Hansard House of Lords debate 9/5/90 pp.1400-1436, 1990.
32. British Medical Association. Complementary Medicine. New Approaches to Good Practice. Oxford University Press, 1993.
33. Association of Community Health Councils. The State of Non-Conventional Medicine - The Consumer View. 1988.
34. Vithoulkas is an internationally known Greek Practitioner and theorist.
35. We say 'at least' because the present is a period of growth, and it is possible that there are small colleges and correspondence courses of which we are unaware.
36. See for example, King's Fund. Report of a working party on Chiropractic. King's Fund, London, 1993.
37. Parssinen T. Professional deviants and the history of medicine: medical mesmerists in Victorian Britain. In Sociological Review Monograph, Vol. 27 (Edited by Wallis R.), pp.103-121, 1979.
38. Willis E. Medical Dominance. Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1989.
39. Stacey M. Collective therapeutic responsibility. Lessons from the GMC. In The Healing Bond. The Patient-Practitioner Relationship and Therapeutic Responsibility (Edited by Budd S. and Sharma U.). Routledge, London, 1994.
40. British Medical Association. Alternative Therapy. Report of the Board of Science and Education. BMA, London, 1986.
41. Department of Health. 'Stephen Dorrell clarifies the position on alternative and complementary medicine.' Press release 3 December 1991.
42. Coward R. The Whole Truth. The Myth of Alternative Medicine. Faber and Faber, London, 1989.