Future Concepts V - Articles and Essays

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Human enhancement can be defined as the use of biomedical technology to improve physical, cognitive, emotional or social performance on a human being who does not need any cure Maturo, a[ 24 ]. Human enhancement is part of the concept of biomedicalization proposed by Clarke and Shim [ 6 ]. Biomedicalization differs from the concept of medicalization because it takes into consideration the aspect of human enhancement and also the role of pharmaceuticalization in contemporary society Cipolla, [ 5 ].

Indeed, the topic of human enhancement has everything to do with the shift of medicine, or a section of it, from the treatment of pathologies to the optimization and possibility of going beyond normality: Some examples of human enhancement are: The line between the medicalization of pathologies and the enhancement of normality is blurred, as there are actions carried out at the borders that do not fall into either category.

Moreover, it is likely that the enhanceable of today becomes the pathological of tomorrow , which brings about an ever-broader area in which biomedical interventions are required [ Figure 1 ]. An edenic idea of health! Instead, it seems that today these three dimensions — body, psyche and society — are fully involved in the medicalization process. An asyntotic process without an end — as biocorporations and advertising know very well.

For example, if we think that boisterous children are sick and have neurological problems and chemical imbalances, we allow ourselves to avoid looking at social problems like unemployment, social cohesion in ghettos and integration of the immigrants. Another example of medical colonization can be seen in food. In supermarkets, shelves of health foods are constantly growing. Food is increasingly advertised, packed and branded in ways which connect it to medical contexts. A growing pharmaceuticalization which questions the borders between normality, pathology and enhancement, and therefore also between nature and nurture Maturo, b[ 23 ].

In the near future, it seems that a bionic healthscape could lead to the transformation of social problems into medical problems of the single individual, therefore de-responsabilizing political and social institutions. On the other side, the emphasis on genetics and neurological dimensions might foster fatalism and passivity, leading to the deresponsabilization of the individuals for their health choices.

All of this happening in a context where the lines between natural and artificial, normal and pathological, treatment and enhancement, are increasingly blurred. The transformation of human conditions into medical problems is increasing. In the past, medical profession was considered the main driver of this trend. Today other factors should also be taken into consideration: The risk of medicalization is to neglect the role of social determinants in shaping human health. A new phenomenon which is emerging is human enhancement, that is, use of biomedical devices to optimise normality and not to cure illness.

This is my original, unpublished work, not submitted for publication elsewhere. Mens Sana Monogr ; National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Mens Sana Monogr v. Antonio Maturo , Ph.

Medicalization: Current Concept and Future Directions in a Bionic Society

Brown University Find articles by Antonio Maturo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract The article illustrates the main features of the concept of medicalization, starting from its theoretical roots. Bionic society , Biomedicalization , Human enhancement , Medicalization , pharmaceuticalization , Risk. Introduction The manipulation and transformation of human nature by biomedical technology is increasing. According to the Foucauldian scholar Nikolas Rose, molecular manipulation is the main trait of our society: In the words of Zola: In more recent times, Peter Conrad Conrad, [ 8 ] has proposed to consider medicalization in three respects: When the physician, in interaction with the patient, redefines a social problem into a medical one for example, homosexuality was listed as a pathology in the DSM until Engines of Medicalization Consumers Consumers are a factor of medicalization because health is increasingly becoming, and has become, a commodity Turner, [ 32 ].

Technology Technology is a driving factor of medicalization for many reasons. Managed care Managed care is also a force of medicalization. In the US, according to Conrad: From Medicalization to Pharmaceuticalization? As stated by Donald Light: Normality and pathology in mental health Mental health is likely the most medicalized aspect of human life. It is not possible to demonstrate that corporations are involved in the designing of the DSM, but, in describing the onset of the medicalization of mood, Horwitz and Wakefield present a good point: Risk in the Theoretical Discourse Presently, the concept of risk seems to be very important in contemporary society.

Risk and health In the discourse on health, risk may be connected to the individualization of social problems, biological reductionism, and the shifting borders between normal and pathological. As Barker puts it: Blood pressure rises with age and is one of the several factors that can increase the risk of stroke: Human Enhancement and Biomedicalization In the debate on medicalization, a new topic has emerged in the last years: Open in a separate window. Are we Heading toward a Bionic Society? To sum up, the bionic society can be described by at least three intertwining forces: A strong emphasis on health as considered by its chemical, neurological and genetic dimensions;.

The extension of medical ways of thinking not only medical treatments in areas which were not medicalized previously — or were only partially medicalized — like prevention, cosmetic, nutrition;. Take home message The transformation of human conditions into medical problems is increasing. Questions that this Paper Raises What role will the welfare State play in a bionic society? Footnotes Conflict of interest: None declared Declaration This is my original, unpublished work, not submitted for publication elsewhere.

Handbook of Medical Sociology. The truth about the drug companies. Medicalization, multiplication of diseases, and human enhancement. Electronic support group, patient-consumers, and medicalization: The case of contested illness. J Health Soc Behav. Clarke A, Shim J. Medicalization and Biomedicalization Revisited: Technoscience and Transformations of Health, Illness, and Biomedicine. In a small, turbo-charged, rotary engine might serve as a range extender — used only a few days a year, but good to have on board. Another range extender might be wireless power transfer to the vehicle as it moves along the highway.

An alternative is hydrogen-powered vehicles, converting hydrogen into electricity in a fuel cell. This would result in a smooth electric drive and only water vapour coming out the tailpipe. While fuel-cell technology has already come a long way Daimler and Toyota are at the forefront of this evolution , there are still challenges to overcome, such as where to get the hydrogen from. It is unclear if there will be an answer by People value flexibility; just as they have come to expect it from their smartphones and laptops, so will they want it from their car?

As mobile technology has allowed us to make decisions on everything in an instant and away from home, we will want those same freedoms in our cars. The commuter of the future may have a "personal mobility portfolio", with the car being only one part of it. An automobile might be there to drive for pleasure on the weekend the affection for the car will probably not go away completely. As mobile internet becomes ever-more powerful it will be totally normal and convenient to step out on the street and make an immediate decision.

You could hail a self-driving shared vehicle. You could jump into the car of a social-media friend, who just happens to be driving by and going in the same direction. Or you will take public transportation if is the best option. The car will be totally integrated into a greater mobility network. We are already seeing beyond existing car-sharing schemes, such as ZipCar , where people can book cars for the hours in which they actaully need them.

There will be a network of different options to integrate services in places such as airports , all of them combined in one app on our communication device.

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We basically tell the app where we want to go and, based on our preferences, three different optimised transportation modes will be offered, similar to the three different routes that a GPS navigation system offers us today. There's one more question to ask: Will we still be able to recognise it? It might still have a steering wheel, maybe just a joystick. It is safe to assume that it will still have four seats and wheels and might still resemble a metal box.

Carbon fibre or other lightweight material might replace steel. The design will be a mix of efficient contours low aerodynamic drag and emotional styling. And maybe there will be some sort of morphing shape. MIT has looked into some very promising vehicle concepts that allow for small footprint in the city and a more safety and dynamic configuration for the open road. The car of might be relatively easy to recognise, which might not be true for the phone or computer. But the personal automobile as we know it will have much competition: And in our livable cities , good old-fashioned walking and cycling, too.

If you would like to comment on this article or anything else you have seen on Future, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter. What is BBC Future? By contrast, when individuals break the ethical rules established within an organization, it is named as workplace deviance SIMS, To Quinn and Wellman , positive deviance can help management introduce new ideas and provide valid arguments aiming at positive change by focusing on magnifying positive deviance rather than eliminating negative.

In a related vein, theorists suggest the construct of constructive deviance embraces several different behaviors such as including taking charge, creative performance, expressing voice, whistle-blowing, extra-role behaviors, prosocial behaviors, prosocial rule breaking, counter-role behaviors, and issue selling. The antecedents of their conceptual model cover job-focused perceptions, supervisor-focused characteristics, group-focused characteristics, organization-focused characteristics and employee characteristics mediated by intrinsic motivation, felt obligation, and psychological empowerment VADERA et al.

With this in mind, it is astonishing that such promising vein of research has provided only scarce empirical evidence until now. In this regard, honorable initiatives must be attributed to the case study of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, an example of positive deviation along the ethical continuum leading to a conscious capitalism NEVILLE, , and the investigation of the past environmental experience of a board playing a critical role in allowing organizations to deviate positively in their environmental practices WALLS; HOFFMAN, Positive emotions have been investigated by many sub-areas of management studies and psychology.

As a result, one can claim that it is a germane topic regarding that emotions permeate human life. It is recognized that people who feel good usually live longer. Positive emotions can be conducive to both states of mind and behavior that indirectly enable an individual to face hard times. Similarly, Cameron suggests that positive emotions for example, compassion, optimism, and joy, among others may lead to positive activities in organizations such as helping behaviors, truth-telling and altruism, which trigger in turn spirals of positive feelings.

Positive emotions may help individuals to become more resilient, socially integrated, and capable. Taken together, positive emotions, positive energy, and positive human connections can engender meaningful experience and extraordinary performance CAMERON et al. Individuals who regularly experience positive emotions tend to grow toward optimal functioning.

Some examples of positive emotions are joy, hope, relief, admiration, pride, and love ROBERTS, , but it also includes optimism, patience, gratitude and so on. When coupled with collaborative values it may lead an organization to thrive, given that its members are motivated to create new organizational procedures that may benefit both the individuals and their organizations. Positive motions along with the expansion of relational capacities may be boundless. Fortunately, there is the tendency that human beings adopt the positive mindset through their thoughts, judgments, emotions and language CAMERON, As wisely noted by Sekerka et al.

In this regard, Sutcliffe and Vogus argue that a resilience perspective offers insights about organizational adjustment and adaptation, especially in a world where people and organizations must handle increasingly complex and chaotic environments commonly fostered by hypercompetition and rapid change. On the other hand, Luthans , p.

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Positive human functioning is most remarkable in contexts of significant life challenge and adversity. Other authors posit that the resilience in the workplace are intertwined with the practice of caring relationships, that is, an approach that facilitates to focus on human development e. To put it in a simpler terms, resilience, adaption and hardiness are attributes of organizations and suitable to cope with major trauma or damage resulting from external or uncontrollable events as opposed to making mistakes and human error POWLEY; CAMERON, Resiliency is related to three factors, namely, assets, risks, and adaptation processes.

Assets encompass a set of aspects such as knowledge, skills, abilities, social relationships and material resources that can improve the likelihood of success and adaptation despite setbacks. Risk factors involve adversities such as unemployment, divorce, loss of loved ones, physical illness and the lack of essential assets. Organizational resilience is conceptualized as the outcome of a set of convergent organizational capacities, namely, perceptual stance, contextual integrity, strategic capacity, and strategic acting.

This model proposes that by building organizational resilience an organization may reach organizational evolvability capability, i. When combined with hope, resilient employees get to bounce back and beyond, they also show self-efficacy skills toward overcoming a significant challenge and optimism to repeat in the future LUTHANS et al. The creation of a resilient organization cannot avoid a strategy to stop stress and improve the mental well-being of people at work MOWBRAY, POB scholars have provided a positive link between resilience and employee performance, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work happiness see AVEY et al.

But findings also showed that adequate financial reserves and positive relationships relational reserves predicted organizational resilience at Southwest GITTELL et al. It is noteworthy two recent reviews that shed more light into this topic, yet the authors are not POS researchers.

For instance, Kossek and Perrigino suggest that resilience is individually and occupationally related to a multi-level system. Rather, occupational resilience embraces a set of features such as a multiple conceptual strands trait, capacity, and processes ; b distinct occupational positive and negative triggers; c different resilience types i. Overall, this review found some evidence that resilience construct has gained attention from POB scholars than POS researchers. Another construct of growing interest for researchers is thriving. It is a genuine aspiration to enjoy a thriving life and work toward attaining it.

According to Spreitzer et al. In essence, it denotes a subjective experience whereby individuals evaluate whether what they are doing and how they are doing and if it is helping them somehow to develop. In other words, it helps individuals to navigate and change their work contexts whenever it is necessary to promote their own development. Thus, it is unlikely to thrive at work without active and intentional engagement in the process of personal growth.

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Hence, it is argued that thriving is linked to important individual and organizational outcomes. However, the process of thriving extensively at work can damage the possibility of thriving in home life likewise. Results also showed that across all samples, whether professional, nonprofessional, for profit or not for profit, thriving employees were highly satisfied with their jobs. Further, they tend to be healthier, reporting fewer physical or somatic complaints, far fewer doctor visits and less burnout or strain, which may be translated into likely reduced health care costs.

When experienced simultaneously, the learning and vitality components of thriving help sustain performance. Thus, to improve their thriving, individuals seek ways to craft their work to be more meaningful and impactful. Findings suggest that organizations can increase the potential for employees to thrive when they: Furthermore, three studies found support for the two-dimensional conceptualization of thriving, in addition to suggesting that thriving contributes to human sustainability through psychological reduced burnout and physical perceptions of health well-being PORATH, Another investigation found that task focus and exploration mediate the relationship between positive meaning and vitality.

More specifically, data showed that resources such as positive meaning were related to agentic work behaviors i. At last, work by Paterson et al. This research model also tested successfully agentic work behaviors task focus and heedful relating and two new antecedent variables PsyCap and supervisor support climate. Instead, work can be a place where people feel alive and vital, where they can grow and get better every day.

Virtuousness is treated as a key component of POS concept. Indeed, it is certainly the most investigated topic of POS through quantitative designs. However, it is notorious that our planet is in great need forhwen encountered virtuous organizations in order to preserve our natural resources, climate and to provide healthy work environments just to mention a few challenges. Virtuous organizations usually exhibit attributes and behaviors that go beyond a consistent moral or ethical code.

To a large extent, virtuousness guides actions toward human fulfillment and social betterment, characterized by ennobling human behaviors.

Futures and promises

Importantly, Rambur et al. Taken as a whole, virtues have become a theme of serious examination among organizational researchers and obviously progressive companies concerned with creating new, more holistic, healthy, and humane workplaces MANZ et al. Research provides support to the proposition that virtuousness of organizations actions i. Evidence indicated that members used virtue frames to interpret organizational actions and these interpretations affected their emotions, the way they interpreted themselves and their images of the organization RHEE et al.

Thus, organizational-level virtues, i. Nevertheless, it appears that virtuousness does not permeate the business world as it should. Nevertheless, it is perceived that virtue adherent behavior impacts positively organizations in many aspects, including by both an amplifying effect and a buffering effect see CAZA et al. But it may be also particularly powerful in times of change and ambiguity CAZA et al. Organizational virtuousness is positively and significantly related to organizational performance i.

Other study found support to the relationships between five virtues optimism, trust, compassion, integrity, and forgiveness and five outcomes measured profit, innovation, quality, employee turnover, and customer retention. More specifically, integrity, trust and optimism showed the strongest and most frequent associations with performance outcomes CAMERON et al. It is also argued that feelings of elevation, inspiration and joy are associated with demonstrations of virtuousness.

Futures and promises - Wikipedia

Researchers suggest that the perceptions of organizational virtuousness predict affective commitment either directly or through the mediating role of happiness REGO et al. Finally, it is worth standing out that the cultivation of virtuousness evokes the best of the human condition or the highest aspirations human beings search for. Overall, POS researchers have elucidated the advantages and positive outcomes derived from the presence of virtuousness within companies. All these disciplines provide a positive approach in management studies, yet each of them explores some particularities of it.

In order to clarify the domains of each discipline, some authors argue that POS focuses more on the macro-levels by means of the lens of institutional theories, network models and resource-based view of the firm. In addition, this review provides evidence that some constructs attributed to POS requires intense investigation to identify more robust findings see Table 1 for a synthesis. Considering it, I am fully aligned with Hackman when he states that POS needs more careful attention to the constructs validity of its central concepts.

On the other hand, I surmise that other constructs may be also explored under POS perspective such as care, empathy, friendship, gratitude, kindness and patience. Overall, they represent human strengths that are highly required to deal with the harsh contemporaneous corporate life. Similarly, it will be very relevant to examine how some organizations get to enchant their employees, while others make exactly the contrary.

In other words, I presume that it would be useful to indentify how organization members feel or feel not enchanted by their employers. As a consequence, one would know even more about good workplaces implicit goal of POS. Obviously, some of these constructs listed above are more promising than others.

On the basis of it, this review contributes to POS concept by closely examining some of its major constructs fundamentally those that are more theoretically and empirically developed such as compassion, connections and relationships, cooperation, courageous, flourishing, forgiveness, meaningful work, positive deviance, positive motions, resilience, thriving, and virtuous aspects. On the other hand, it is exciting to find that POS researchers - taking into account that POS is only in the early stages of theoretical development - have worked with a sizeable number of constructs, topics and ideas.

Although researchers have to go deep in many of them through more profound research and refined theoretical conceptualizations, it is also clear that the potential of POS concept is extremely favorable. Human Resource Management , v. Facilitating forgiveness in organizational contexts: Journal of Business Ethics , in press. Job crafting and meaningful work. Purpose and meaning in the workplace. Perceiving and responding to challenges in job crafting at different ranks: Journal of Organizational Behavior , v. A systems perspective on forgiveness in organizations.

Academy of Management Annals, v. Positive relationships and cultivating community. Exploring positive relationships at work: Building a theoretical and research foundation. Lawrence Erlbaum Associate, Some traits associated with flourishing at work. Oxford University Press, Developing sustainable leaders through coaching and compassion. Forgiveness at four levels: Forgiveness from the perspectives of three response modes: World Scientific Publishing, Linking capacities of high-quality relationships to team learning and performance in service organizations.

The impact of high-quality workplace relationships in public organizations. Public Administration , forthcoming. Positive deviance, organizational virtuousness, and performance. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science , v. Effects of positive practices on organizational effectiveness. Paradox in Positive Organizational Change.

Journal of Applied Behavioral Science , v. Exploring the relationships between organizational virtuousness and performance. American Behavioral Scientist , v. Organizational and leadership virtues and the role of forgiveness. Contributions to the discipline of Positive Organizational Scholarship. The Oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship. Learning behaviours in the workplace: Systems Research and Behavioral Science , v. Cultivating a resilient top management team: Safety Science , v. High quality relationships, psychological safety and learning from failures in work organizations.

Handbook of Positive Psychology. Journal of Business Ethics , v. Journal of Management Inquiry , v. Breathing life into organizational studies. The power of high-quality connections. The transformative potential of compassion at work. Handbook of transformative cooperation. Stanford University Press, Administrative Science Quarterly , v. Gratitude and the science of positive psychology. Academy of Management Review , v. How much is it worth to you? Subjective evaluations of help in organizations? Research in Organizational Behavior , v. Positive emotions and upwards spirals in organizations.

The value of positive emotions. American Scientist , v. Gratitude, like other positive emotions, broadens and builds. The psychology of gratitude. The Sage Handbook of Organization Studies , 2nd edition. Narratives of compassion in organizations.

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