Talcott Parsons first put forth his idea of �the sick role� in his book The Social System (1951). This idea included a number of concepts. One, was when a person was sick they were excused by society from day to day activities like working or taking care of the children. Two, the sicker a person was the less was expected from them. He stated, however, that this sickness must be confirmed by a doctor to confirm or �legitimize� the illness. Thirdly, included in this sick role model was the fact that a person didn�t choose to be sick, it was something they had no control over. Lastly, they are, however, expected by society to get better and return to their daily activities. To accomplish this they are expected to go to the doctor and follow his directions on how to get well (Cockerham, pps 148-149). David Rier (2000), a medical sociologist, disagreed with Parsons� view that one would just follow blindly and do whatever the doctor told them to do. He felt that that Parson�s sick role was an old fashioned approach and that the patients of today would have a more pro-active participation ......

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