Sociological Aspects of Genetic Counseling

Abstract

The role of the family and the role of children in the family have undergone many changes in the last few centuries. Families have separated themselves from the society around them, with the nuclear rather than the extended family becoming the predominant type. Even within the last 20 years the structure of the American family has undergone great changes. The number of children per family has decreased, the divorce rate has increased, and married women are increasingly likely to work outside the home.* Changes in family structure have resulted in a smaller familial network from which individuals can draw help and support during times of illness. Instead, individuals must rely to a greater degree than ever before on social networks outside the family: friends, social service agencies, medical institutions, and health professionals.

Illness behavior and the decision to seek medical advice frequently involve, from the patient’s point of view, a rational attempt to make sense of his problem and cope with it within the limits of his intelligence and his social and cultural understandings, but this does not make it rational from a medical perspective. D. Mechanic, 1968