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Sociological Perspectives on
Society and Health
Aim: To describe functionalist,
conflict and social interactionist
perspectives applied to health
Functionalism
(Durkheim 1858-1917)
• Functionalists focus upon the apparent
consensus with appears to exist among
members of any society. This consensus
also explains, supposedly, the nature of
the social institutions which assist social
reproduction. Functionalists adopt a
perspective on society like the one the
biologist may take towards the body. Each
organ has its function. Change comes
from outside the system.
Conflict sociological perspective
(Marx 1818-83)
• Before all else people must survive
• The structures of economic production
predominantly explain the social structures
• In the book ‘Capital’ Marx traced the
European development of capitalist,
factory based, relations of production from
earlier, feudal production - based on living
off the land.
Class struggle as ‘the motor of
history’
• The development of capitalism involved the
move of people from rural areas to urban areas
to sell their ability to work
• Marx defined class as a relationship to the
means of production. The capitalist owns land
and capital (money invested to make more
money) and workers sell their ability to work
• This master and servant relationship is seen as
essentially antagonistic, as workers are replaced
by machines invented to cheapen production.
Functionalist and conflict based
sociological perspectives
Functionalists emphasize social consensus and
social persistence through social reproduction.
Social class is defined on a social ladder.
• Conflict theorists emphasize pursuit of vested
interested by groups with opposing material
interests. Social class is defined as a
relationship to production which will bring about
an international capitalist system as the
employers seek more profits through
cheapening production and broadening markets.
Society from a social interactionist
perspective (Life after Freud?)
• Social interactionists differ from functionalist and
conflict sociologists who often look at the ‘big
picture’. Their focus is on the apparent
perceptions people have and the related choices
they make, often in micro social climates.
• Social interactionists see human behavior as the
product of what people ‘feel’ is going on around
them. They are not most interested in events
and their apparent causes, but in the meaning or
interpretation that individuals place on events.
The march of world history in the
20th century
• Socialist revolutions by followers of Marx in
Russia in 1918, China in 1949
• Two world wars in Europe and the failed and
racist experiment with Fascism
• Establishment of the United Nations but then the
Cold War arms build-up
• Fall of the Berlin Wall, beginning of nuclear
disarmament and of a new, international world
order based on the market and the control of
bad outcomes by a democratic government
Functionalist theory applied to
health (examples)
• Talcott Parsons(1951) argued that people
can only escape the stresses of social
expectations through illness or crime.
• Four elements of ‘the sick role’ are (1) the
absence of responsibility of the individual
for his or her condition; (2) Exemption from
normal task and role obligations; (3) one
should want to get well; (4) The obligation
to seek out competent help
Conflict perspectives applied to
health
• In the 19th century Engels pointed out how the
health of workers and children was destroyed by
the combination of factory conditions and
poverty Today, people in the wealthiest
countries have the best health (although the US
performs comparatively poorly)
• Argument about mental health (Is it being
increasingly defined by the interests of drug
companies and doctors who prescribe pills?)
Foucault’s Perspective on the body
• Foucault argued that the body is the ultimate site
of political and ideological control, surveillance
and regulation carried out by government and
professional groups. He saw the historical
development of science and the power of
professional interests as growing together. He
viewed sick or deviant others as being treated
primarily as objects for classification in the
personal advance of those with powerful, vested
interests. The weak are subjects of discourse.
Social interactionist theory applied
to health
• Goffman pointed out the difference between
social status symbols and social stigma
symbols. The latter may include physical
deformities, perceived abnormalities or
blemishes of character (addiction, mental
disorder or imprisonment) and tribally allocated
stigmas related to ethnicity or religion.
• He talked about the treatment and the feelings of
people experiencing social stigma, such as
patients in mental hospitals.
The United Nations and
International Human Rights
• 1948 - Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• All human beings are born equal in dignity and
rights ‘without distinction of any kind such as
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or
other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status’.
• Wars and oppression continued regardless, but
to a lesser extent
The foundation of antidiscrimination legislation
• The establishment of the United Nations
(UN) after World War 2 and the adoption
of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights begins an official global process to
develop the view that all people are born
equal and with ‘inalienable’ rights.
• National and state laws also indicate that
citizens have responsibilities. How should
rights and responsibilities be related?
Aust. Anti-Discrimination Acts
• It is illegal to discriminate on the basis of:
• Sex, pregnancy, marital status
• Race, colour, nationality, ethnic or ethnoreligious background
• Physical or intellectual disability
• Homosexuality (actual or presumed)
(Globally the poor may experience the worst
discrimination if they do not have access to
goods and services. This affects their health)
At the personal level
• An Australian disability awareness package
suggests to any person with a disability:
• Tell the other person if any form of assistance is
required
• Let people know what you wish to do yourself
• Don’t let people treat you as an invalid
• Do not assume that others know and understand
your disability
At the personal level
• Ask a person who you think may have a
disability if help is required, but do not insist and
do not assist without asking
• If you are unsure of how to behave – ask the
person. Accept the fact that disability exists
(from your perception). Don’t try to pretend it
isn’t there.
• Regard and treat the person as healthy (or
should that be as an equal or ‘with respect’?)
• Be aware of the environment and how it may
present difficulties.
Conclusion
• Understand the difference between a
consensus, conflict or social interactionist
view and think about what kind of
perspective any researcher seems to be
taking when they describe events.
• Any theoretical perspective should be
grounded in research of specific
conditions. This should attempt to be as
scientific and objective as possible.