Biomedical Model

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And the Band Played On was a film created by HBO about the Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus (AIDS) epidemic in the 1980s and the political and social debate towards the cause of the disease, and whether AIDS was truly a disease targeted to homosexual individuals, or whether it would infect anyone (Spelling, Vincent, & Spottiswoode, 1993). This paper will argue for the film about AIDS being related towards the biomedical model. This paper will first discuss the criticism behind the biomedical model and AIDS, relating the film. Lastly, it will argue stating that the biomedical model is related to AIDS portrayed in the film based on the victims of AIDS, the scientific validity and specific etiology attributed to AIDS. Many people would criticize …show more content…
The biomedical model is a model that includes a series of assumptions that medicine is connected with, and continues to build on top of one another; it is typically related to biology and science and the connection of these two within the field of medicine (Whelan, 2015a). The biomedical model assumptions follow the film because it focuses on science, by developing research to find the cause of the organism that created the serious illnesses that so many individuals developed. An example discussed in the film talked about how they would not discuss the AIDS virus to the general public unless the Center of Disease Control (CDC) had scientific proof and validity behind their claims (Spelling, Vincent, & Spottiswood, 1993). This continues to reiterate that science is neutral and objective which is why science is often hard to argue against (Whelan, …show more content…
This includes the illness itself and the science behind the illness mechanisms of action in the human body. Nothing in our world can be considered “social or culture free” because society created our knowledge, values and beliefs about everything. Social construction of AIDS was also created to target homosexuality as an illness or a deviation from normal so that society will continue their oppression towards those individuals. However, the film was more relevant towards the assumptions of the biomedical model and the connection towards AIDS. That is because there is a lot of scientific validity upon the diagnosis and treatment of AIDS using technology and scientific knowledge. The scientists and doctors could find a specific etiology on the virus of AIDS; thus used to find the specific cause, rather than come up with false accusations that it was only a “gay disease” and continue futher in homosexual oppression. Also, many diverse individuals were getting the AIDS virus, not just people stated to be homosexual, showing that it could not be socially constructed to target a specific group in society. It’s clear today that society is still interested in the scientific research behind AIDS treatments. This shows that society recognizes and trusts science and the biomedical model more often than other

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