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Picking up on the recent emails to the list by Alison and Emma (both Smiths - are they related? Is this the Matrix?), maybe it would be helpful for us as a group to specify together some of the many reasons we think that the medical model persists? Here are some: - it is superficially 'scientific' and so gains some of the authority and prestige accorded to scientific explanations generally - it accords with our culture's ready preference for technological solutions to problems of various kinds - it thus appears within an optimistic arc of possible future progress, so offering (misplaced) hope - it promises a quick, simple, expert solution to people's problems - it minimises the blame, guilt, and shame of individuals by presenting their difficulties as purely technical 'hardware faults' - it reduces potential conflict between those distressed and those working with them, by generating an (illusory, inappropriate) focus for consultations and interventions - it similarly allows families and relatives to more readily absolve themselves of responsibility - it is shored up by the immense resources of powerful institutions, whose various interests it serves And I'm sure there's much more than can be said than this... J. ******************************************************** John Cromby School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences Loughborough University Loughborough, Leics LE11 3TU England Tel: 01509 223000 Email: [log in to unmask] Personal webpage: http://www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~hujc4/ Co-Editor, "Subjectivity": www.palgrave-journals.com/sub ******************************************************** ___________________________________ This discussion list for Community Psychology has a new website at: http://www.communitypsychology.co.uk/ To post on the website blog, contact Grant or David at the email addresses below. To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK For any problems or queries, contact a list moderator: David Fryer ([log in to unmask]) or Grant Jeffrey ([log in to unmask])