Sociological Theory For Construction Of Social Orders

Social Determinants of Health

Discuss about the Sociological Theory for Construction of Social Orders.

Medical sociology is usually referred to as the sub branch of sociology that explores and analyses the social causes and subsequent outcomes pertaining to health and illness (Cockerham, 2014). In this context mention may be made of the health status of individuals and populations that are not uniform and consistent thereby leads to inequity. The factors governing these disparities do not necessarily emanate from the genetic predispositions of the concerned person but is largely dependent upon factors impacted by the political and social forces of a nation, social and economic practices that drive necessary changes in conjunction with personal and environmental factors. These factors together constitute the social determinants of health that are characterized by conditions in which persons are born, grow, survive and attain old age which is further modulated by the distribution of money, resources and power at the global, national and local sectors (Pacquiao, 2016). Effective addressing of these social determinants of health is done by virtue of utilizing certain sociological theories and concepts for the sake of better understanding health and illness (Adler & cutler, 2016). In the following sections discussions will be made with reference to two such sociological theories to gain an insight into the matter and in stating the discrepancies that occur between these two and the biomedical model for elucidating the social determinants of health.

The complex arrays of influences of the social determinants of health assimilate and interact to steer the notable health inequities among people across the globe. Healthcare services are considered as social institutions that are accessed and acknowledged by people belonging to diverse socio-economic backgrounds throughout the world. Different socio-cultural groups of people perceive them differently. Moreover the sociological theories also render a newer dimension to explore these social determinants by examining the interaction between health and society (Rubin, 2016). Three major sociological theories namely the functionalist, conflict and interactionist theories are recognized to understand the underlying concepts of social determinants of health. The functionalist and interactionist theories may be further elaborated for explaining the key concepts and perspectives as put forward by eminent sociologists in erstwhile years.

The functionalist theory considers society as a complex system of interrelated parts that are organized in a manner to maintain its stability. Alongside social stability, maintenance of consensus and solidarity is integral to the proposition of this theory. Societal institution comprising of family, education and economy serve crucial functions for operating the societal norms. Smooth functioning of society is dependent upon various factors that share the responsibility of controlling the factors that lead to sickness thereby limiting the performance of the societal functions effectively (Healy, 2014). Hence from the functionalist perspective the stability and functionality of the society is to be ensured through proper measures taken in terms of treating an ill patient. Sociologist Talcott Parsons depicted the behavior specific to a person who is recognized to be sick. The person who is suffering from an illness is under the obligation of recovering from his condition due to certain responsibilities entrusted on him or her in the outside world. In this regard professional assistance and appropriate therapeutic interventions are sought from competent authorities to account for harboring positive outcomes. This duty of aiming for recovery by the distressed person is termed as sick role and a person who do not invest in such activities are considered to be not sick. A greater purpose is served by acknowledging the treatment intervention and professional guidance for improved health. Therefore the physicians play an integral role to assess the health scenario of a person and suggest treatment modalities accordingly (Carl et al., 2011).

Major Sociological Theories

In the functionalist perspective the constituent elements of the society comprising of societal norms, customs, traditions and institutions govern the functionality of the society.  The normal stability of the society gets affected due to illness and is considered as deviance from the prevalent norms. Hence the medical professionals are under the obligation and entrusted with the responsibility of catering to the needs of these patients. Three versions of sick roles have been perceived by Parson that stated conditional, unconditional legitimate and illegitimate as the varied patterns. However exceptions to the sick role are observed in case of certain debilitating disorders such as that of Alzheimer’s disease that affects the older population mostly. These people are exempted from performing their social roles and are instead recommended to undergo care regime on a daily basis (Mouzelis, 2016). Hence the complex framework relevant to the functionalist theory considers each and every components of the society for effective addressing of pertinent issues relevant to health and wellbeing.

Another vital aspect of the sociological concepts is elucidated by means of the interactionist theory that puts adequate emphasis on the interaction and communication hosted between people of the communities in a societal set up that include the relationship between the physician and the patient within the periphery of a clinical setting. This theory considers study of the activities of individuals as these individuals are capable of co-creating the world through mutual interactions. Interaction carried on among persons help to develop and learn regarding the normal and acceptable behavioral norms that may be practiced in society. Human behavior is found to be vastly impacted through definitions and meanings that emanate out of social interactions with other that are originated and maintained subsequently (Rock, 2016).  Holistic explanation of society is provided by this generalized approach of interactionism that considers everyday patterns of social interactions. According to this perspective, patients are noted to actively seek treatment for their prevailing condition and therefore are considered not to be passive. The specific roles of doctors while in the medical profession are critically analyzed and scrutinized by this approach. The acquisition of specific knowledge, expertise and skills relevant to the practicing domain entitles them to gain respect and trust from subordinates, colleagues and the care recipients alike. The authority of the physicians allows the patients to keep faith in their advice and comply by their recommendations in the form of taking medications and receiving treatments. However deviation from this acceptable norm also occurs at times where the patients refuse to take medications or denounce to receive specific treatment (Downes, Rock & McLaughlin, 2016).

Functionalist Theory

Presentation and construction of the self image is vital to the co-existence and definitions of situations through proper investigation. In this context the development of health and illness has also been attributed to social construction. Constructivist grounded theory is considered as a integral component of symbolic interactionism where both the researcher and participants share an interactive association coupled with mutual knowledge sharing. In this respect two terms of medicalization and demedicalization have been coined that are separate mechanisms that affect the provision of healthcare. Alteration of bad behavior to sick behavior is achieved by means of the process referred to as medicalization of deviance. Contrarily the normalization of the sick behavior is considered demedicalization. The issue of alcoholism may be cited as an example of medicalization where effective therapeutic interventions are vital to treat the condition (Vannini, 2016). Thus the issues pertinent to the society that have health implications as well may be explicitly understood through symbolic interactionism.

In contrast to these sociological perspectives, the biomedical model of health and illness considers the physical or biological factors associated with the disease and illness. It is considered as a medical model of care in which followed by the physicians and the healthcare professionals that in turn is related to the diagnosis, cure and treatment modality specific to the disease prevalent in the patient. In this model, mental disorders are viewed as brain disorders and therefore effective pharmacological intervention is recommended to treat the condition. Research and dissemination of the psychotherapy is possible through this biomedical model (Rogers & Pilgrim, 2014). Information and clinical discourse in relation to health is offered by means of this model where health is conceived as a state characterized by absence of disease. Moreover it lays adequate emphasis on the disease as the underlying factor that leads to illness rather than any other confounding factors. Hence eradication and prevention of certain pathologic conditions is found to be directly dependent on effective diagnosis and availability of holistic treatment options (Deacon, 2013). Therefore the key principles and propositions with regards to the biomedical model and sociological theories differ widely in their fundamental approaches of perceiving the health and illness condition.

The perceptions of health and illness are matters of concern to the sociologists and the professionals intimately associated with healthcare. The theories put forward by pioneers in sociology addresses the social determinants of health from the point of view of societal changes involving the participation and behaviors of the people responsible for fostering care services and those who receive the care offered. Empowerment carried out at the level of the people hold the capacity of transforming the lives of the concerned individuals through positive modifications in their lifestyle. A plethora of social, environment and economic factors determines the health that strives to offer health service delivery. Catering to the basic needs of the people in need is the primary agenda of the sociological theories. Therefore understanding of the health and illness may be achieved through studying them along with the biomedical model that follows a different approach.

References

Adler, N. E., & Cutler, D. M. (2016). Addressing Social Determinants of Health and Health Disparities.

Carl, J., Baker, S., Robards, B., Scott, J., Hillman, W., & Lawrence, G. (2011). Think sociology. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Cockerham, W. C. (2014). Medical sociology. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Deacon, B. J. (2013). The biomedical model of mental disorder: A critical analysis of its validity, utility, and effects on psychotherapy research. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(7), 846-861.

Downes, D., Rock, P., & McLaughlin, E. (2016). Understanding deviance: a guide to the sociology of crime and rule-breaking. Oxford University Press.

Healy, K. (2014). Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice. Palgrave Macmillan.

Mouzelis, N. P. (2016). Back to sociological theory: the construction of social orders. Springer.

Pacquiao, D. F. (2016). Social Determinants of Health. Global Healthcare: Issues and Policies, 159.

Rock, P. (2016). Making of symbolic interactionism. Springer.

Rogers, A., & Pilgrim, D. (2014). A sociology of mental health and illness. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Rubin, I. L. (2016). Social Determinants of Health. In Health Care for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities across the Lifespan (pp. 1919-1932). Springer International Publishing.

Vannini, P. (2016). Body/embodiment: Symbolic interaction and the sociology of the body. Routledge.