Sociological perspectives for Health and Social care

Sociological perspectives for Health and Social care

P1. In this blog, I will explain the main sociological perspectives used in Health and Social care and explain the meaning of sociology. 

Sociology is the study of society and the different structures within, some examples of these structures are: family, education, politics, economy, media and Health and Social care services. It is believed that these structures rely on each other and in order for society to function, these structures must function within them. This means that these structures strongly rely on each other, for example, poor economy will affect the education system as education requires practice and professionals which requires money.

Sociological perspectives are ways of looking at things, Anon (2017) enotes.com states; "The sociological perspective is a perspective on human behaviour and its connection in society as a whole". This means that perspectives are ways in which we look at things, there are several sociological perspectives.

Marxism

Marxism is an idea that society is based on politics and economy, the idea is that economy and politics are a main focus in society and in other words, is what makes the world go around. Anon (2017) enotes.com states; "Marxism is a particular type of social and economic system in which the means of production are not owned by the wealthy but the producers themselves. It is the idea that people own their labour and input labour to get the equal amount of product" this simply means that there is no one richer but instead, equal amounts of products is provides to everyone for the idea of for every individual to be equal. Marxism was rules by

Although Marxism was seen as release, some disagreed with the idea of Marxism. Marxism puts all individuals as equals, therefore they should all be provided an equal amount of product, however some argue that the idea of being equal does not rely on the amount of product or money we make but on our rights such as human rights. Marxism disapproves any privileges for individuals, there is no such thing as a higher pay or motivation to succeed.

Marxism was ruled by soviet union in 1998 when it took over some areas of Europe, for no cause individuals have been beaten and put in prison in order for individuals to follow Marxism. Therefore, it has promoted violence and disapproved the right of speech as it was not allowed to be questioned but done and followed by everyone.

Functionalism

The idea is that all different structures rely on each other and in order for society to function, the structures within them must work. Anon (2017) Cheggstudy.com states; "Auguste Comte helped develop functionalism in the 19th century, and functionalist Emile Durkheim later compared society to the human body" this is because the organs in our body rely on each other for us to be able to live, in addition, the structures in society rely on each other so that society is also able to function. For example, the education system must function in order for people to be able to work in any Health and Social care area, without education, there will be no health and social care professionals to help families. This means that we are dependent on each other.

Functionalism means that the world functions by structures such as Health and Social care services, economy and politics but does not imply that the world needs better changes for example, improvement of education in poor areas of the U.K because the education system is there and works. This also includes the economy, although U.K may have a stable economy not everyone may have access to jobs or a better income. This is the main criticism of functionalism, the main belief is that the world is perfect and does not require better changes.

Internationalism

Internationalism is a social action theory, it looks at how individuals and small groups interact with each other and how these produce social changes. This does not include bigger groups such as how parties at parliament interact with each other and produce changes but, interaction between a teacher and a student. Internationalist believe that society does not shape individuals but it is the individuals that shape out society.

Internationalist believe that 

Collectivism (community support)

The idea of collectivist is to have everything equal. In a collectivist society, the main focus is to look at the progress of the community as a whole rather than on just an individual progress. It is a political theory, an example of collectivism would be benefits. Benefits are an income support which is provided by the Government which comes from taxes from every individuals in the U.K. Benefits are provided to people with a lower income, people with disabilities and those who are unable to work at all, this was created after the world war two in order to help people and build a better society.

 All benefits in the U.K came under a different status, this means that some individuals received slightly a higher amount of income depending on their needs or disability. In the U.K all benefits have come under one name which introduces all benefits, this is called the universal credit. This is an example of collectivism as it gives equal opportunity to those who receive benefits, however, this will be unable to support those with a disability allowance and jobseekers allowance as benefits are not high enough to support them.

Collectivism promotes an idea of equality, however not everyone may require equal needs as some may be higher than others. It is criticised for creating a society that is too dependent on the Government and community support  instead of creating a society dependent on themselves.

In terms of health and ill health, collectivist believe that those who come from a higher class are able to afford a better health care and they are less likely to get sick as they live in a stable environment that prevents them from getting sick. In addition, those who come from lower class are more likely to get sick than others and have a less chance of receiving good health care due to their low income. However, I believe that this idea is not entirely true as the National Health Service in the UK provides free health care to everybody without the care of someone being a low or high class citizen.

Postmodernism

Postmodernism refers to the period that existed during the late 1920s, it refers to the period before our current modern period. Pre-modern society was based on agriculture which means farming. In todays modern society, we have factories and science development. During postmodernism, people were likely to obey the law and those in authority, in addition, people were more likely to follow their roles in society instead of developing their roles further and less likely to question things. In postmodernism, there were stronger family values, the church played a big role in their life, before science, religion was the big key role in peoples life.

Postmodernist argue that roles and values of the modern era such as structures seeking scientific explanations to events no longer applies, in other words, postmodernist believe that modernism is now totally 'dead' as it is no longer relevant to our life's. In todays society, people are more likely to follow their own rules and make their own decisions such as if they want to go to church. In todays society, people want to find their own identity and stand out from others, therefore, peoples choices have increased but it is believed to be taking towards materialism. In our current modern society, there is a greater mix of religions, beliefs, arts and relationship. Overall, it means that modernism is no longer relevant anymore.

In my opinion, postmodernism is not related to Health and ill health in todays society because the idea of modernism is no longer relevant anymore. Furthermore, because postmodernism is irrelevant and people are likely to do now what they please, this means that those that are sick may and may not attempt to receive Health or Medical care due to the society's change of opinion about health care and medicine; some individuals disagree with the idea of medicine as they believe that getting vaccinated is an idea of injecting illness into your body, therefore, this would affect their Health and ill Health. 

Feminism

There are many types of feminism, one of the main examples is liberal feminism; liberal feminism is concerned about the exploitation of women and interested in fighting for greater equality for men and women.

Before the 21st century, women were unequal to men and played different roles than they do today. Women's main role was to get married, become a housewife and take care of her man and children, women had no rights such as voting rights, choice over their own bodies, freedom or equal pay. Women have fought for a greater equality for women today, to be able to study and have their own freedom and choice. Greater equality for women and men has developed only because of those who fought for the rights of women such as the suffragettes. In todays society, women are able to make their own choices and choose their career. Equality for women has developed greatly and overall, there's is no need for further improvement as this has already been improved however, this only applies to the U.K and countries in Europe.

In my opinion, feminism focus too much on areas where women already have rights and freedom, it is irrelevant to apply anymore feminism into countries such as U.K and so it should be focused on areas outside of Europe and the U.K such as Somalia where women have no choice but to have female genital mutilation done to them.

I

New right

Anon (2017) ReviseSociology states; '' Like Functionalists, the New Right hold the view that there is only one correct or normal family type. This is the traditional or conventional nuclear family. Again like Functionalists, The New Right sees this family as ‘natural’ and based on fundamental biological differences between men and women'' this means that people of the new right believe the only family type that is stable and acceptable to society is a married couple, man and woman with children where the man works to make money and the mother (wife of the husband) stays at home to take care of the children. The people of New Right believe that this is the only natural home that is stable, this disregards families with homosexual parents. 

I believe that this sociological perspective is discriminating towards different family homes where children are either adopted or the parents are of different sexual orientation. In addition, I also believe that the idea of New Right is sexist towards women as it states that women should be staying at home raising children whilst the man works for the family. 

P2 Explain different sociological approaches to health and ill-health

In this assignment, I will explain the different sociological approaches to health and ill-health.


Functionalist.

Functionalist believe that illness can prevent an individual to work and contribute to society, in other words, ill health can prevent individuals from going to work. Anon (2018) Wiki states; '' Parsons was a functional sociologist who argued that being sick means that the sufferer enters a role of 'sanctioned deviance'. This is because, from a functionalist perspective, a sick individual is not a productive member of society. Therefore this deviance needs to be policed, which is the role of the medical profession'', this means that if someone gets sick, they are a part of the 'sick role' which means that they should immediately be required with medical profession.

Marxist

Marxist believe that Health Care is always provided to those from the upper class, in other words, the high class, in addition, it means that those who come from a lower class are less likely to get the best of health care they need due to their class e.g low class. Marxist agree with this statement because to them it is known that those who come from a high class have more money and power in order to achieve whatever they want than those who come from a low class.

Interactionist

In terms of health and ill health, interactionist focus on the reason why an individual is sick and what they could do in order to improve their quality of life. In other words, interactionist decide whether an individual should stay off work if they are sick or continue in their daily life, in addition to that, they do not believe that an individual is able to be sick.

Feminism

In terms of health and ill-health, it is known that females are more cautious and serious of their health than men. Some believe that men take their health to advantage and therefore when they get sick, they do not require medical health other than women who take better care of their bodies than men.

Postmodernist

In terms of Health and ill-health, postmodernist believe that when an individual becomes sick, they should find alternative treatments rather than traditional treatments e.g medicine. In addition, some postmodernist disagree with the idea of medicine completely and even refuse to get vaccinated due to the believe that when an individual gets vaccinated against a certain disease such as cervical cancer, the Government is pushing individuals into doing so because vaccination is presented as a fast cure which is what the postmodernist do not believe in. 

To summarise, I have explained the different sociological approaches to health and ill-health. For this part of my assignment, I will assess the biomedical and socio-medical models of health.



P3. Explain patterns and trends in Health and illness among different social groupings

In this assignment, I will explain the patterns and trends in Health and illness among the different social groupings. It is known that people who come from different social and income classes have different patterns and trends in Health and illness. Furthermore, I will explain the different patterns and trends amongst different social groupings.

High class

Individuals who come from a higher class have the money and power in order to receive the best health care they need, in other words, high class citizens have a variety of choice to medical help if they get sick and they can choose another country where they can receive medical care. In other words, with money and power, higher class citizens have a better choice when it comes to receiving the best health care.

High class citizens are more likely to be living in better conditions than middle and low class citizens, in other words, those who come from a higher class are not placed in unstable living conditions but stable living conditions. This means that the better area and house they live in, they are very unlikely to get ill.

Middle class

Individuals that come from middle class family are neither high or low income family, which means that they still have access to the health care they need but they may not necessarily have the choice to get their health care somewhere else e.g another country. In addition, those who come from a middle class family are still likely to get sick rather than those who come from a higher class. A middle class family with four children may still be struggling with money and luxuries for their children, in other words,  the parents of this family may still get ill by the cause of stress which eventually leads to other disorders.

Low class

Low class families in the UK are able to access free Health Care services, however, in some cases, they may not access the medical care they need either because the illness is unknown or the NHS does not provide care for such illnesses. In addition, low class families are unlikely to have a choice of health care than others, higher class families have the choice to travel across the country in order to receive a better health care which is something a lower class family or citizens themselves cannot afford.

Citizens from a lower class are more likely to get ill due to the following factors;

• Poverty
• Unstable family home
• Non-suitable area that may contribute to their illness
• Lack of money

These four following factors may contribute to illness in many ways, for example, those who live in non-suitable areas may eventually develop depression due to their stress that is caused by the area they live in. Moreover, this explains that lower class citizens can be exposed more to illness than middle and high class citizens.

To summarise, I have explained the patterns and trends in health and illness among different social groupings.

References

1. Anon (2017) Cheggstudy.com 5/4/18
2.  Anon (2017) enotes.com 5/4/18
3. Anon (2017) ReviseSociology 10/4/18
4. Anon (2018) Wiki 10/4/18