Sociology of Health and Illness

Introduction

• Illness is experienced within a social context and is socially patterned
• Sociology of health and illness aims to describe social causes/consequences of health issues
• It shows how lay people and professionals categorize diseases differently
• It describes experiences associated with illness and wellness

Central Sociological Perspectives

• Structural functionalism examines how social structures contribute to social order and stability
• Conflict theory looks at social inequalities and power struggles
• Interpretive/social constructionist theory studies how individuals construct meaning and reality through interactions
• Feminist theory is related to gender inequality and the medicalization of women's lives
• Critical race theory examines health disparities through the lens of race and racism
• Post-structuralism analyzes how power operates through social interactions, knowledge, and behaviors

Structural Functionalism

• The "normal" science of the discipline relating to mainstream public health and epidemiology
• Auguste Comte coined the term sociology and saw sociology as a way to create a better and progressive society
• Emile Durkheim provided theoretical and methodological models for structural functionalism
• Durkheim defined sociology as the science of social facts
• From Durkheim's perspective, humans are predictable and manageable using social norms
• Talcott Parsons was the first to state that medical practices and institutions function as social control mechanisms
• Parsons's theory of medicalization explains the ways medical institutions serve social control functions
• Each person has a different number of roles in society
• Roles are connected to social expectations
• Roles and norms come from institutions, like workplaces and communities
• If sickness is not integrated into social institutions, social order could be disrupted, according to Parsons
• Sickness needs to be managed through a temporary, unique position based on fulfilling specific duties
• Sick role has four components, with two rights and two duties, to keep society stable
• The ill are excused from normal duties, like work, but need medical proof
• The sick are not held responsible, garnering understanding, not judgement
• Sick individuals are expected to seek wellness, or face censure
• Those who are sick must seek qualified medical help and work with doctors
• Parsons views health issues as a kind of deviance and a risk to social systems if unmanaged
• Medicine justifies sickness, returning individuals to wellness of "normality"
• Medical organizations act as social controllers like religious and legal systems
• Parsons's view on the sick role was mainly theoretical and widely criticized
• Exemption from normal roles varies depending on disease severity and social roles
• Judgement about the sickness depends on how it was acquired
• Diseases carry moral weight, affecting social perception
• Diseases with personal control and extreme impact are most stigmatized
• Age, gender, and ethnicity do not affect stigma in different conditions
• Being sick includes wanting to get better
• Only if a patient is not terminally or chronically unwell
• Allopathic medicine, aims to create a condition in a body that is incompatible with the disease state
• Alternative medicine is gaining acceptance, therapies such as meditation, herbs and music
• Anti-vaccine sentiments and midwifery reflect distrust in conventional medicine
• Structural functionalism studies the impact on institutions that maintain social order

Positivist Methodologies in Structural Functionalism

• Social researchers should be impartial
• Researchers aim for broad, universal explanations in social connections
• Social truths are seen as both actual and detached
• Data relies on objective methods, reflecting behavior patterns in groups
• Positivism is a research approach, not a kind of structural functionalist
• Contemporary positivists are examining human health behaviors as separate elements
• Impact of diagnosis may be seen as an independent determinant
• Income levels may be seen as a dependent variable
• Social determinants of health showcase how social inequality affects health

Structural Functionalism Assumptions

• Sociology explores how social facts affect human behavior, thoughts, and emotions
• Social truths are viewed as concrete influences shaping conduct
• Social facts are located in social norms relevant to things like gender, race, class, or roles at work
• Sociology seeks fixed regulations linked to social realities
• Social behavior can be calculated with trials and surveys

Conflict Theory

• Critiques structural-functional sociology and socioeconomic structures
• All social arrangements, theories, and methods are rooted in politics and economics
• Karl Marx claimed that a person's behavior is the result of socioeconomic forces, which can be altered for improvement through a social and economic revolution
• Class struggle relates to owning production resources
• Workers sell labor for wages
• Conflicts could conclude in a society where all citizens possess resources
• Sociologists investigate and record injustice
• Knowledge is rooted in society, material, and history
• Sociological research recognizes social, economic, and historical contexts
• Conflict theorists influenced by Marx focus on social classes to initiate change

Interpretive/Social Constructionist Theory

• A symbolic interactionist theory
• It studies how individuals subjectively construct their world and reality
• When gathering information, the interpretivist deals with subjectivity, where both researcher and subject skew the data, affecting objective results
• Empathy is a methodological viewpoint
• Data is collected from immersion with subjects or through conversations
• It does not study entire systems, examines small interactions with others, and meaning
• Max Webber's theory incorporates Social action is rooted in individual meaning

Feminist and Critical Anti-Racist Theories

• A criticism of the medicalization of women's lives
• Constructions of power affect women, particularly in birth control, childbirth, and menopause
• Unequal social structures affect women's health
• This theory recognizes racial inequality
• Institutions are predominantly led by males and whites
• Sociology reflected male and white values

Post-Structuralism

• Michel Foucault shifts the focus from power held by a few to power circulating through interactions and information
• Foucault answers how power is created in modern states, which is biopower
• States manage people through categorization and policies in health and science
• Disease, wellness and function are rebuilt as people experience and defy social discussions via interaction with the media and medicine

This lesson introduces the sociology of health and illness, exploring how social contexts shape experiences of illness. It covers various sociological perspectives, including structural functionalism, conflict theory, and interpretive theory. It also covers feminist theory, critical race theory and post-structuralism.