[Managing a long term illness: the point of view of the sociologist]. / Gérer une longue maladie: le point de vue du sociologue.

This paper presents a sociological perspective of the experience of the cancer patient. Cancer is considered in the wider context of chronic and/or long-term illness which are typical of modern societies. The sociological concepts of "biographical disruption", "illness trajectory", "endless work and care" of the patient and his family are useful for analysing the experience of illness, and doctor-patient relationships. Moreover, they might illuminate some aspects of the individual and collective impact of modern oncogenetic technologies.

The construction of a social phenomenon: AIDS in the French press.

The analysis of articles about AIDS published from 1982 to 1986 in 6 national French dailies sheds light on how the 'AIDS social phenomenon' was constructed during this period. The press passed information about this new disease from the medical domain into the public sphere. As the press circulated AIDS news (information) among various groups and emphasized the rapid extension and catastrophic proportions of this unforeseen 'epidemic', AIDS became an issue around which social relations polarized. The processes at work during the four phases of the construction of this social phenomenon are described: naming, comparisons with past epidemics, popularization of medical knowledge and symbolic values attributed to it, competition over claims to discoveries and patents, discourses about the other (in particular, homosexuals). During each phase, a concept or fact related to progress in the medical sciences served as the basis for attempts to make a meaning out of this new disease.

The social construction of the patient: patients and illnesses in other ages.

The way individual conceptions and experiences of illnesses are socially constructed is shown through the historical analysis of diseases, particularly epidemics. For centuries, sickness did not clearly correspond to what we now call the patient status. Several factors were necessary for this social status to develop. Sickness had to cease being a mass phenomenon. Medicine had to become capable of providing efficacious treatment and of taking the sick out of the custody of religious institutions. Through social legislation, the notions of illness and of health had to be related to the world of work. Owing to the first two factors, sickness was transformed from a collective into an individual affair, from a way of dying into a way of living. Once related to production processes and medical custody, it became the individual's social condition.

The evolution of relations between French physicians and the state from 1880 to 1980.

The paper reviews changing relationships between the medical profession and the state in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It traces the process of negotiation and compromise surrounding state mediation of the doctor-patient relationships. The changing nature of professional autonomy in France is outlined.