[3] Parsons was a functionalist sociologist, who argued that being sick means that the sufferer enters a role of 'sanctioned deviance'.
The patterns of sickness are often caused by persistent pain which helps to support their attitude of not wanting to take positive action to get better.
Generally, Parsons argued that the best way to understand illness sociologically is to view it as a form of deviance which disturbs the social function of the society.
‘Being Sick’ is not simply a ‘state of fact’ or ‘condition’, it contains within itself customary rights and obligations based on the social norms that surround it.
The sick role fell out of favour in the 1990s, with alternatives conceptualisations in terms of labeling theory viewing illness as a social construction to label socially deviant as inferior, with the medical system and physicians used as a means of control.