“Society does not consist of individuals but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand”. Karl Marx This is a quote from Karl Marx which expresses the great impact societal relations and social constructions have on the individual and their outlook on the world. This is an important concept in the dealings of several social issues sociologist deal with. But this plays an even bigger role in the growing social problem of the social construction of health and illness. Americans have this need to run to the doctors with every little ache and pain forming an dependency on those in the medical field. I heard a joke recently that spoke heavily on this issue of medical dependency. An elderly man was seated …show more content…
Along side that desire Americans also long to be over treated, we need more pills and surgeries, and do not mind risking our lives to receive them. Both of these huge social issues within the health field stem from one main social discrepancy, the social construction of health and illness. It is the socially defined definition of health and illness, the social interactions and reactions with health and illness, and the great influences society has on ones mindset that act as an domino affect in the great debate of health as an social …show more content…
Humans play a huge role in the formation of social contractions. In fact Symbolic Internationalist place an huge emphasis on ones individual relations and interactions as a way of forming their actions and responses, not the set societal structures such as the government or media. It is the small interactions one has that cause them to act and respond in certain ways and that is defiantly the case for the social construction of health and illness in society. Along side with the great emphasis on individual relations Symbolic Internationalist narrow down and place a big importance on the part talking and relating with one another has in forming an societal constructions. When we interact with one another and even experience different things we form new definitions. For example HIV is an disease that is often frowned upon in society. We all assume that those who have it are promiscuous, their just sleeping around and being wild. It is not till we meet someone with the illness or learn that some are born with the disease or have been raped that our view of the illness change. Our interactions, conversations and knowledge about and with illness and health help us to form new definitions; and all three of those factors are influenced by
Outlined within this essay are two sociological theories which have been investigated this will be in conjunction with a contemporary health issue. This then will be related to how the individual’s lifestyle and social class to give the reader a better understanding of this health issue.
...trates how doctors get paid well even with a universal health system in place. Moore’s second opposing viewpoint was discussed with a couple from France. The couple described that their important expenses were only paying for their apartment. Moore did not affectively address the taxes issue. He also interviewed a handpicked couple to illustrate an upright life of living in a universal health system.
“Socialized Medicine.” The term throws shivers through the American population. For some this brings great joy. They see a world where they can visit a doctor and get the medicine they need for little or no cost. Others, however, see a world of rationed care and long waits for procedures. “Socialism” is the term that bothers. It sticks deep in the American psyche, conjuring up images from the Russian Revolution and George Orwell’s Animal Farm. In Animal Farm, the animals experience a very oppressive leader, and it represents the cruelty of the Stalin Regime. Some wonder where they might fall in the hierarchy of animals that Orwell laid out. In the current healthcare system “all animals are equal but some are more equal than others”. (Orwell) America is built on the assumption that “all men are created equal” but there is a hot debate about how that equal access to healthcare should look. Access to healthcare is a basic human right that provides economic benefits and makes for a more fair and just society.
Overtime, sociology has played an essential role in the aid of healthcare policies and procedures, along with playing a fundamental role in one’s understanding of health inequalities. This paper explores how sociology has played such a role in healthcare, whilst including discussions regarding the influence of social structures and inequalities in the health of an individual, their family and community, with the topic of health variations between social classes being the main focus of the discussion. A structured overview, review and evaluation of a specific health policy in the UK will also be provided within this paper. Sociology in healthcare. Sociology can be defined in a number of ways, due to its almost limitless scope (Denny, Earle,
Social determinants of health has been a large topic for many years and can have a positive and negative effect on individuals, families and communities. (World Health Organisation, 2009) The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels, which are themselves influenced by policy choices. Social determinants have many factors and in this essay education will be the main social determinant of health discussed and how this could have an impact on the physical and mental sides of health.
Peter Conrad’s book, The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders, examined several cases of human conditions, once viewed as normal, now considered as medical issues. Conrad defined this transition of human problems to disorders that are medically defined, studied, diagnosed and treated as “medicalization”. Specifically, Conrad discussed certain conditions, such as adult ADHD, as age related phenomena that have been medicalized. Throughout, Conrad demonstrated how these issues became medically defined because of the current research and financing structure of medicine in the United States. Those newly defined illnesses changed people’s perceptions and expectations of health and old age, thus dramatically altering society’s expectations of medicine and subsequent life quality. Conrad’s ethnography is a good example of the ethnomedical approach to medical anthropology that addressed several health conditions that are prominent in the United States. He culminated his book by arguing medicalization primarily serves as a form of social control, solving problems with individuals and not society. While the book clearly explained a wide range of negative causes and effects of medicalization, Conrad only acknowledged a few examples of successful resistance briefly in his last chapter. In order to empower its readers beyond education, the book should have examined these instances of anti-medicalization to find similarities and derive productive countermeasures for individuals to follow. Conrad thoroughly outlined the history, examples and influencing factors that promote medicalization, but failed to offer any combative solution to the resulting problems of medicalization.
...an, P., Egerter, S., & Williams, D. R. (2011). The social determinants of health: coming
In recent discussions of healthcare, a controversial issue has been what is the source of the healthcare crisis. On the one hand, some argue that only capitalism plays a part in the crisis. From this perspective, one can only blame the hospitals for the United States low life expectancy rate. On the other hand, however one can argue that cultural norms and the fact that health care providers are loosing sight of their clients. This essay will address whether the health care crisis is because of capitalism, cultural norms or the disassociation between doctors and clients.
The biomedical model of health has been criticised because it fails to include the psychological and social causes relating to an individual’s medical illness or health, looking only at the biological causes (Giddens and Sutton, 2013). Therefore, sociologists being aware of the impacts of social structure and lifestyle on health have put in various efforts to place the study of ‘the social’ at the core of health and healthcare examination.
Epub 2006 Jan. Pincus, T., Esther, R., DeWalt, D.A., & Callahan, L.F., (1998) Social conditions and self-management are more powerful determinants of health than access to care. Ann Intern Med., Inc. 1998 Sep 1;129(5):406-11. Vest, J.R., & Gamm, L.D., (2009)
Social Determinants of health is the “conditions in which people are born, live, work and age that affect their health” Healthypeople.gov. (2017). Social Determinants of Health | Healthy People 2020. [online] Available at: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health [Accessed 22 Sep. 2017]. The determinants of health are important because it helps create policies to make changes, as well as improving public health conditions by addressing the different health outcomes an individual can face and improving the need for healthier conditions. Healthy People 2020 organizes the determinants of health in both a social and physical determinant which has an impact on health.
Over the years, the social determinants of health (SDOH) have been receiving more attention due to its importance in determining peoples’ health access, health quality and health outcome. The social determinants of health have been described by various scholars as the situation or environmental condition in which people are born, or where they grow, live and work; unfortunately these conditions have continued to affect and determine people’s ability to access proper care.1-5 In other words, the SDOH continues to consciously and unconsciously influence people’s access to most opportunities in life including access to healthcare services both in developed and developing countries.2 This issues have continue to deteriorate in most developing countries increasing people’s susceptibility to multi-morbidity among different age groups, with a slight increase among the elderly.6
Health as a Social Construction In my essay, I aim to find out why social construction affects the health of our society. Ill health may be defined as 'a bodily or mental state that is deemed undesirable'. This means that health is the condition of the body both physically and mentally. Social construction of health refers to the way health varies from one society to another.
Nearly every American can agree that our current health care system needs reforms. Primarily do to the fact that 45.7 million Americans are without health insurance. That's approximately 16 percent of Americans who sometimes have to do without healthcare, or face crucial financial responsibility. The main issues are admission to healthcare, and the affordability of health care. Before 1920, doctors didn't know enough about diseases to really provide useful care to sick people. Therefore the...
Sociology of Health and Illness The sociological approaches focus on identifying the two sociological theories. We critically analysed the biomedical model and doctor-patient relationship. We also evaluated how the medical professionals exercise social control and the medical professional’s contribution to ill health. The difference between society and health is studied by sociologists in relation to health and illness.