Table Of ContentR eason
R ation ality
H ealth
InIu mand a n
S erv ices
D elrvery
John T. Pardeck, PhD
Charles F. Longino, Jr., PhD
John W. Murphy, PhD
Editors
Reason and Rationality
in Health
and Human Services Delivery
Reason and Rationality in Health and Human Services Delivery
has been co-published simultaneously as Journal of Health &
Social Policy, Volume 9, Number 4 1998.
This page intentionally left blank
Reason and Rationality
in Health and Human
Services Delivery
John T. Pardeck, PhD
Charles F. Longino, Jr., PhD
John W. Murphy, PhD
Editors
Reason and Rationality in Health and Human Services Delivery
has been co-published simultaneously as Journal of Health &
Social Policy, Volume 9, Number 4 1998.
i J Routledge
Taylor & Francis Croup
New York London
Reason and Rationality in Health and Human Services Delivery
has been co-published simultaneously as Journal of Health & So
cial Policy, Volume 9, Number 4 1998.
© 1998 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilm
and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher.
The development, preparation, and publication of this work has been undertaken with great care.
However, the publisher, employees, editors, and agents of The Haworth Press and all imprints of
The Haworth Press, Inc., including The Haworth Medical Press and The Pharmaceutical Products
Press, are not responsible for any errors contained herein or for consequences that may ensue from
use of materials or information contained in this work. Opinions expressed by the authors) arc not
necessarily those of The Haworth Press, Inc.
First published 1998 by
The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580
This edition published 2013 by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an infonm business
Cover design by Thomas J. Mayshock Jr.
Library of Congress Cataloging-ln-Publication Data
Reason and rationality in health and human services delivery / John T. Pardeck, Charles F. Longino,
John W. Muiphy, editors,
p. cm.
"Co-published simultaneously as Journal of health & social policy, v. 9, no. 4, 1998.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7890-0509-3 (alk. paper)
I. Medical care-Philosophy. 2. Medical ethics. I. Pardeck, JohnT. II. Longino, Charles R.,
1938-. III. Muiphy, John W. IV. Journal of health and social policy.
RA427.25.R43 1998
362.1'01-dc2l 98-10498
CIP
Reason and Rationality in Health
and Human Services Delivery
CONTENTS
Reason and Rationality in Health and Human Services
Delivery: An Introduction
John T. Pardeck, PhD, ACSW
Charles F. Longino, Jr., PhD
John W. Murphy, PhD
Reason, the Life-World, and Health Care Delivery
Jung Min Choi, PhD
John W. Murphy, PhD
Rationalizing Decision-Making Through Computer
Technology: A Critical Appraisal
John T. Pardeck, PhD, ACSW
Sociomedical Models and the Epistemology of Risk:
The Shortcomings of Medical Decision-Making
Research
Dee Vernberg, PhD, MPH
Community-Based Epidemiology: Community Involvement
in Defining Social Risk
MarkH. Smith, PhD
A World View Model of Health Care Utilization:
The Impact of Social and Provider Context
on Health Care Decision-Making
James G. Daley, PhD
Deborah J. Bostock, MD
Health Care Policy in Theory and Practice: A Review
of the Process as a Product of Rational Decision-Making
Marvin Prosono, PhD
The Limits of Scientific Medicine: Paradigm Strain
and Social Policy 101
Charles F. Longino, Jr., PhD
Index 117
ABOUT THE EDITORS
John T. Pardeck is Professor of Social Work in the School of Social
Work at Southwest Missouri State University. He received his MSW
and PhD in social work from St. Louis University. Pardeck has pub
lished over 100 articles in academic and professional journals. His
most recent books include Computers in Human Services: An Over
viewfor Clinical and Welfare Services (with John W. Murphy) (1990,
Harwood Academic Publishers), The Computerization of Human
Services Agencies: A Critical Appraisal (with John W. Murphy)
(1991, Auburn House), Issues in Social Work: A Critical Analysis
(with Roland G. Meinert and William P. Sullivan) (1994, Auburn
House), and Social Work Practice: An Ecological Approach (1996,
Auburn House).
Charles F. Longino, Jr., received his PhD from the University of
North Carolina. Currently he is Professor of Sociology and Director
of the Reynolda Gerontology Program at Wake Forest University. Dr.
Longino’s research interests include gerontology and medical sociol
ogy. He has published 117 articles, chapters, or encyclopedia entries,
14 books, monographs, and compendia. His most recent books in
clude Retirement Migration in America and, with John W. Murphy,
The Old Age Challenge to the Biomedical Model.
John W. Murphy received his PhD from Ohio State University. Cur
rently he is Professor of Sociology at the University of Miami, Coral
Gables, FL. Dr. Murphy’s most recent books are The Politics of Cul
ture and Postmodernism, Unraveling Racism, and Democratic Insti
tutions.
This page intentionally left blank
Reason and Rationality in Health
and Human Services Delivery:
An Introduction
John T. Pardeck, PhD, ACSW
Charles F. Longino, Jr., PhD
John W. Murphy, PhD
The reader may ask, why devote a volume to what might appear to be
esoteric topics, reason and rationality? A simple answer is that these top
ics, for some time, have been at the center of the Western intellectual
tradition. Furthermore, appeals are made regularly to increased rationality
to enhance the delivery of health care and social services. The claim is that
service delivery will be improved appreciably if planning and imple
mentation of services is made more rigorous.
Reason has been the centerpiece of most of Western philosophy. At one
time or another, reason has been understood to either ground knowledge,
substantiate morals, or guarantee the proper deployment of history. Truth,
fact, and order, moreover, have all been linked to reason. And in more
modern times, science and advanced technology, such as computers, have
been identified as having privileged access to reason. For example, the use
of computer technology in modem medicine is thought to epitomize ratio-
John T. Pardeck is Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work at South
west Missouri State University, Springfield, MO 65804. Charles F. Longino, Jr., is
Director of the Reynolda Gerontology Program and Professor of Sociology at
Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109. John W. Murphy is Professor
of Sociology at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124.
[Haworth co-indexing entry notej: “Reason and Rationality in Health and Human Services Delivery:
An Introduction." Pardeck, John T„ Charles F. Longino, Jr., and John W. Murphy. Co-published simulta
neously in Journal of Health & Social Policy (The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 9, No. 4,1998, pp. I -8; and:
Reason and Rationality in Health and Human Services Deliveiy (ed: John T. Pardeck, Charies K Longi
no, Jr., and John W. Murphy) The Haworth Press, Inc., 1998, pp. 1-8. Single or multiple copies of this
article are available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service (I -800-342-9678,9:00 am • 5:00
p.m. (EST). E-mail address: [email protected]],
© 1998 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. I
