Can inequality make us ill?
Task 1.
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(P1)- Explain how sociological perspectives are applied to the understanding of
health and social care
Interactionism
According to the interactionist point of view, health and disease are not objective states but rather
social creations, rather than states of being. This is a fundamental tenet of the interactionist approach.
This would imply that many states, both bodily and mental, do not correspond to an objective reality
but are, rather, just situations that are either healthy or unhealthy. This would be an implication that
many states do not correspond to an objective reality. The interactionist approach has supplied us
with a number of studies that offer evidence of the interaction that takes place between patients and
the medical professionals who administer therapy. According to this point of view, people are not
passive, conforming objects of socialisation; rather, they are active, creative participants who are
capable of building their own version of the social environment. This viewpoint contrasts with other
perspectives, which consider people as inert, conforming objects of socialisation. It is generally
believed that individuals are capable of creating their own social realities. This recognition is a
significant part of the methodology's many strengths. On the other hand, it has the potential drawback
of overestimating the capacity of individuals to create their own realities, which is one of its major
flaws. As a consequence of this, it disregards the fact that humans inhabit a universe that was not of
their own making in any significant way. This aspect of the concept has the potential to give rise to a
number of issues. The idea that the word "dog" does not have any meaning apart from the context in
which it is used in connection with other words is one illustration that shows the interactionist
approach. On the other hand, as a result of the social encounters that we've had with other people
and with cats in the real world, we all have a sense of what the word "cat" means that is rather
consistent with one another.
Social Action
Instrumental logical action entails doing whatever needs to be done in order to achieve a goal,
provided that achieving the objective is something we desire to do. An example of a value-rational
activity would be taking steps towards achieving a goal that is beneficial in and of itself. Many people
who aspire to work in healthcare, whether as doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, or even nursery
managers, are regarded to be capable of choosing any objective and achieving it. This is an
illustration of value-rational action. A traditional behaviour is one that you engage in on a daily basis
without giving it much thought or giving yourself much of a choice. Putting on dresses on Monday is a
great example of a practical thing to do, as Monday is traditionally considered to be dress down day. A
behaviour that conveys how a person is feeling is known as an affection action. Weber asserted that
attachment in action is vital in both faith and politics, particularly in situations when influential leaders
appeal to people's emotions in an effort to gain followers. Crying your eyes out because you are
hopeless is one example.
Conflict
Theories of conflict include those who see the community as being built up of two or more groups with
objectives that are either in line with or inconsistent with one another and with other organisations in
the society. There are a number of different theories of conflict. Marxism and feminism, which both
see society as being divided according to socioeconomic class and gender, respectively, are the two
main principles that are examined in sociology. Sociology seeks to understand both of these divisions
in society. The concept of social stratification is central to the discipline of sociology.
Marxist
Karl Marx is known for establishing the theory of Marxist feminism, which is a political and economic
ideology that says there are no classes in society. Marxist feminism is one of the most influential
political and economic philosophies in history. The Marxist school of thought in medical care and
research maintains that political dominance and economic leadership are the most essential things in
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,capitalist societies and should be the focus of research and care. He asserts that the issue is not one
of access to medical care but rather concentrates on the fact that the primary objective of the medical
sector is profit rather than the health and wellbeing of individuals. He believes this to be the root
cause of the problem. He believes that this is the fundamental issue that needs to be addressed. This
shows that he thinks that healthcare services are available to anyone, and that the physicians and
nurses who work at these institutions are merely assisting patients in creating a profit from their
treatment. Additionally, this suggests that he believes that healthcare services are free.
There are two feminisms which are called
The concept that gender parity should be achieved through democratic means is one of the primary
principles of the political ideology that is known as liberal feminism. The ideology of liberal feminism is
predicated on the notion that the fundamental causes to the current gaps between the sexes are, in
the first place, ignorance and socialisation. This is the foundation upon which the liberal feminist
ideology is built. This is due to the fact that they have no attachment to or hold the patriarchal
mentality that needs to be the foundations of society and as a result, this is not something that they
hold. This provides validity to the idea that as time goes on, individuals get closer and closer to
achieving parity with one another as they get closer and closer towards attaining parity with one
another. This demonstrates that girls are outperforming boys in educational performance, and thus,
this demonstrates that there are now equal quantities of men and women participating in labour that
pays them money. It is clear that as a consequence of this, girls are achieving higher levels of
success in their educational pursuits than boys. One piece of data that can be used as an example is
the finding that men are performing a greater portion of domestic work, such as housekeeping and
childcare, than women are in the household. This finding can be given as an example. The fact that
people can make decisions amongst themselves is evidence that they are becoming more equal to
one another. This equality may be seen in the fact that they can make decisions.
Radical feminists think that society is patriarchal because everything is run by men and because in
the social class system, men are in charge and women are in the lower class. Also, in the social class
system, men are in the class that rules and women are in the class that is ruled. Radical feminists
think it is unfair that women have to do both paid work and unpaid housework, and they also think that
men gain financially from the money that women earn from their paid work. This shows that many
radical feminists think women should not only be expected to work for pay, but also to put in emotional
effort and take care of their duties at home. Based on study, the British Crime Survey on Domestic
Violence says that one in four women will be abused at home at some point in their lives. One of the
possible benefits of this theory is that it looks at how power and social strife work in society. This
shows how different social classes have different numbers of places of power and prestige, which is
shown by the fact that this. [Sara 2014]
Functionalism
August Comte, Herbert Spencer, Talcott Parsons, Davis and Moore, and Robert Merton are the five
people who are credited with the invention of the notion of functionalism. Talcott Parsons is also
recognised with contributing to the concept of functionalism. They argued that functionalism is a
philosophy that looks at society as a complex but stable system that includes interrelated structures
and functions or social patterns that work to fit the demands of people living in the society. They
defined these things as social patterns and structural functions. An example of functionalism is the
natural process of getting older. As time goes on, people tend to withdraw further and further from
society, and by the time they reach their senior years, they are freed from all of their responsibilities.
As a result of this, the natural progression of time from one generation to the next is not impeded in
any way. One of the benefits of functionalism is that it displays how social structures may function on
two unique levels. Specifically, it demonstrates how social institutions can serve the demands of each
individual while simultaneously meeting the requirements of everyone in society as a whole. This is
one of the advantages of functionalism. One more advantage is that the family unit can be seen as an
essential medium for the transmission of the core beliefs and ideals that everyone upholds. If the
theorist uses this approach, there is a chance that he or she will not take into account the roles that
are performed by other organisations such as schools and families. Fletcher disagrees with Parsons
judgement that the family gave up on its morals the moment industry got off the ground.
Postmodernism
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, The belief that science and other so-called "objective" methods of attempting to explain reality are
insufficient served as the impetus for the birth of postmodernism. Postmodernism is a philosophical
school of thought that rejects declarations that are true for other people in favour of the truth as it is
experienced by the individual. This is known as the experience-based approach to truth. According to
Jacques Derrida, many people have a holistic view of health and feel that it is the responsibility of
each individual to live a healthy lifestyle. These people also believe that health is an integral part of
one's identity. These people have a fundamental doubt of medical practitioners and prefer to treat
their illnesses with natural remedies, such as the consumption of herbs, rather than with medications.
One of the many benefits of this strategy is that it has the potential to persuade people to rethink
many of the assumptions that we as a culture tend to take for granted. This is just one of the many
advantages of this method. As a direct consequence of this, the research that every given sociologist
does will always be one of a kind. One of the problems of postmodernism is that it is difficult to argue
about because it is a fragmented movement and is not presented as a method. This makes it one of
the most problematic schools of thought. This is because postmodernism does not provide any kind of
method for its followers to follow. Marxist intellectuals like Greg Philo and David Miller believe that
postmodernism ignores the fact that the bourgeoisie controls the media. This is one of the criticisms
levelled at postmodernism.
(P2)- Explain how sociological perspectives contribute to the understanding of society.
Interactionism
Because of their emphasis on the actions and relationships of a single individual, social action and
interactionism have been seen by some as being examples of approaches that operate at the most
fundamental, or microlevel, level. Interactionism is a social action theory that aims to explain how the
environment around us is changed by the activities that we take part in by focusing on the relationship
between people and their surroundings. The purpose of this study is to do research into the various
ways in which individuals in a community engage in social interaction with one another. For instance,
at school, they would be more concerned about how well pupils and teachers get along with each
other than they would be about the ways in which education improves society as a whole. People get
information about society, in accordance with the interactionism idea, by the experiences they have
gaining knowledge from interacting with other people. When viewed through the perspective of
interactionism, analysing the activities of people within a community can provide insight into society as
a whole. According to this theory, behaviour may be traced back to the fundamental way in which
individuals connect with one another. Interactionists argue that the fact that people interact with one
another in a wide range of ways is the root cause of the existence of gender disparity in the world.
According to the idea of interactionism, society has always been forced to deal with the manner in
which individuals impose their own meanings on objects, including their own deeds. This is a problem
that has existed for as long as the idea has been around. People's subjective interpretations of
concepts are given more weight because it is considered that what individuals think and what is true
in what they believe determines how they behave. Additionally, it is believed that what individuals
believe influences what is true in what they believe.
Marxist
Marx is credited with developing the political and economic theory known as Marxist feminism. This
theory asserts that there are no classes in society and was formulated by Karl Marx. According to
Marxist feminism, the primary factor contributing to the subjugation of women is capitalism. One of the
issues that arises with the Marxist theory is the way in which women are conceptualised in relation to
the development of private property and the fact that they do not own anything. On the other hand, he
argues that the nuclear family is a product of capitalism and that it should be abolished. This indicates
that he views the way in which women are treated within the context of the family as a form of class-
based exploitation. So what he's saying is that we should abolish nuclear families before we replace
capitalism with a society that does away with social stratification. According to Marxist feminism, the
primary factor contributing to the subjugation of women is capitalism. He believes that the way in
which women are perceived is a direct outcome of the growth of the concept of private property and
the fact that women do not own anything. On the other hand, he argues that the nuclear family is a
product of capitalism and that it should be abolished. This indicates that he views the way in which
women are treated within the context of the family as a form of class-based exploitation. So what he's
saying is that we should abolish nuclear families before we replace capitalism with a society that does
away with social stratification. Marxists believe that social divisions are the root of a society's unequal
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