Contemporary legends, rumours and collective behaviour

Some Neglected Resources for Medical Sociology

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2248593
AutoresRobert Dingwall (0000-0002-1588-3796, University of Nottingham, autor de correspondencia)
Año2001
Volumen23
Número2
Páginas180-202
Fecha de publicación2001-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociology of Health & Illness (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0141-9889 • E-ISSN: 1467-9566
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-9566.00247
OpenAlexW2086454285
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14
Referencias citadas12

This paper demonstrates the potential interest for the sociological understanding of medicine and health as social institutions of the qualitative study of collective behaviour. It takes, as a case study, the transformation of a widely-circulating contemporary legend, 'The Missing Kidney' into a rumour in Nottingham, and elsewhere in the United Kingdom, in 1992. Possible methodological approaches and interpretations are considered, making particular use of the work of the French sociologist, Edgar Morin, and the 'mass society' tradition of social theory. It is argued that neither provides an adequate understanding of the phenomenon and that medical sociologists should look to the Chicago tradition of work on collective behaviour, represented by Park and Blumer for inspiration. Using this, it is suggested that the Missing Kidney offers useful insights into lay thinking about professional work and its strategies for the informal social control of medicine

Epistemology · Legend · Medical sociology · Public health · Social science · Social theory · Sociological imagination · Sociological theory · Sociology · Work (physics · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Management and Organizational Studies · Medicine