Putting a Name to It

With this engaging and fascinating text, [Jutel] has presented a challenge which medical sociology can, and should, take on board.

The issues explored in Putting a Name to It, and the questions it raises, are of tremendous importance today, especially for those seeking diagnosis as a means for resources, or rejecting diagnosis' judgments of normativity.

This book provides a detailed and comprehesive framework for the emerging sub discipline of medical sociology. From a social work perspective, the book was enlightening because of the overview provided on how the classification and framing of diagnosis relate to social order and status... Reading this book was a helpful experience.

Where one could have expected the author to suffice herself with an analysis of social framing and discourse, she brings St. Augustine alongside sociologist Peter Conrad and art history alongside evidence-based-medicine. Jutel joins new research with classical themes and weaves them all in a colorful and detailed tapestry, thus forming a seducing conceptual and theoretical ground for further work.

Readers will continue thinking about the content well after the book is read. The book is written in one voice that beautifully weaves a single thread of thought about various social aspects of medical diagnosis. The author provides insights about what many may view as a one-dimensional concept and exposes its multidimensional, social nature.

Jutel joins new research with classical themes and weaves them all in a colorful and detailed tapestry, thus forming a seducing conceptual and theoretical ground for further work.

[The book's] use of interesting and detailed examples... often convincingly contributes to Jutel's overall argument on diagnoses.

Putting a Name to It is a leap forward in understanding the importance of diagnosis. This most ordinary of activities is surprisingly complicated, shaped by political, economic, scientific, ethical, and cultural contexts. From clinical encounters to insurance reimbursements to social movements, diagnosis is very complex. Jutel’s synthesis, combined with interesting examples and lively theoretical approach, does a great job.

Lively, engaging, and conceptually innovative, this book makes a significant contribution to the sociology of health and illness. Hitherto, diagnosis so pivotal to medical practice has not received comprehensive analysis; Jutel’s text rectifies this. The combination of empirical examples and social theorizing makes this text a must read for sociologists who want to understand medical practice, medical work, and medical knowledge.

Eclectic and nuanced, Putting a Name to It effectively reveals the cultural complexity and sociological importance of diagnosis. Jutel's detailed and fascinating case studies skillfully and with considerable empathy capture the troubling world of people whose suffering cannot or will not be reduced to an agreed-upon mechanism.