Relações entre Análise do Comportamento e Medicalização: uma pesquisa bibliográfica da literatura nacional

Abstract

The phenomenon of medicalization is widely manifested in the ways society functions. In one of its definitions, medicalization is understood as the process by which non-medical problems come to be defined and treated as medical problems. In this sense, it is possible to relate the literature discussing this phenomenon to Behavior Analysis: both challenge the use of the medical model in understanding and addressing psychological problems. This study aimed to investigate how the relationship between Behavior Analysis and medicalization is established in Brazilian literature. For this purpose, a systematic review was conducted, selecting works that included the term "medicalization" intersected with descriptors of Behavior Analysis, namely "Behavior Analysis," "Behaviorism," "Functional Analysis," "Operant Behavior," and "Behavioral Pharmacology." Based on the results, a quantitative and qualitative analysis was performed: of the 653 works found, only 20 (3.1%) established a connection between the topics. This highlights a gap in research development in this field, as well as raises questions about the appropriateness of using concepts such as disease and disorder in the treatment of psychological problems.