Question

Julia is weak and tired as she has a fever. her manager allows her to take leave till she recovers. her husband, mike, takes over the responsibility for household chores. he allows her to rest and relieves her from doing any work. what privilege is given to julia due to her illness?

Answer 1

The privilege of sick role is given to Julia due to her illness. Sick role is a concept concerns sickness and the rights and obligations of the affected, which is created by Talcott Parsons in 1951. Parsons argued that being sick means that the sufferer enters a role of 'sanctioned deviance'. This is because a sick individual is not a productive member of society. Therefore this deviance needs to be policed, which is the role of the medical profession.