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UNIT 6 - P1
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health and social care complete essay
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Shona ThomasP1 – explain the principal sociological perspectives
Sociological perspectives are when the human behaviour and its connection to
society is observed and analysed. So therefore it is a study of human interactions and
socialisations. There are several sociological perspectives such as “functionalism,
Marxism, Feminism, Collectivism, interactionism, New Right and Postmodernism.” 1
Structuralist theories
Functionalism is a theory which was developed through the ideas and observations
made by Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons during the 20 th
century. It suggests that society is a system of interconnected parts that work
together in harmony to maintain balance in the world that we live in. This would
mean that each and every person has their part in society and groups also have a
role to play as it makes us improve as a whole, so there is always a purpose in what
we do. For example, the “family is a context for reproducing, nurturing and
socialising children whereas, education gives a chance to transmit a society’s skill,
knowledge and culture to its youth”2 so each generation can become wiser than the
one before. The sociologists believed that when everyone did their part in society
that it would prevent problems and result in us becoming happier.
The sick role theory is described by researcher Talcott Parsons in 1951 as a “way of
explaining the particular rights and responsibilities of those who are ill” 3. So the
individuals who are diagnosed with a medical condition cannot always fulfil the same
duties that a person in good health can, society has to be able to adapt to this
situation and has to allow a reasonable amount of deviation from behaviour that
would be viewed as typical of a well person. Even though the individual is off work,
they still have the responsibility to get better through seeking professional help as
well as trying to improve their condition personally e.g. through having a healthy
diet. They have the responsibility to get back to work because the sick role is not
permanent, it was introduced to help people improve their condition.
1 OCR health and social care textbook
2https://laulima.hawaii.edu/access/content/user/kfrench/sociology/the%20three%20main
%20sociological%20perspectives.pdf
3 http://study.com/academy/lesson/sick-role-theory-in-sociology-definition-lesson-quiz.html
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