Folk and Scientific Medicine in Amish Society

When a person becomes ill he is confronted with decisions. His acts are based upon the conceptions of sickness provided by his culture. If he is a member of a folk society he will act according to the assumptions held by his kind, which will differ from the assumptions of a civilized society. Decisions with respect to treatment and who should provide the treatment depend upon his theory of disease and sickness. Every known society has developed methods for coping with disease and thus has created a theory of medicine in keeping with its whole culture. Although sickness and medical behavior have concerned social scientists the past few decades, we know little about the sociology of folk medicine as a type in contrast to medical behavior in civilization.