The "hierarchy of resort' reexamined: status and class differentials as determinants of therapy for eye disease in the Egyptian delta

Treatment of trachoma and other blinding eye diseases in a rural Egyptian village occurs through a hierarchical, three-tiered system, consisting of: 1) treatment within the family; 2) treatment by traditional healers; and 3) treatment by biomedical physicians. Status differentials occurring within the extended family, based on gender and age, determine the various "hierarchies of resort' for eye disease, or the sequences by which some, but not all, individuals pass through this therapeutic system. Nevertheless, villagers' belief in biomedical therapies remains high, despite widespread acceptance of traditional etiologies of eye disease. This suggests that "explanatory models' are insufficient frameworks for the study of therapeutic choice in this context. Rather, a structural model, in which the status and class structures of Egyptian society are considered, appears to offer superior explanatory power. -from Authors