Joyce Grace Kapela
Unit 10: Sociological Perspectives
Assignment Title: Can inequality make us ill?
Date: 24/04/2023
In this report, I will be demonstrating how sociological perspectives are applied to
health and social care settings, and how these different sociological perspectives
help develop our understanding of different models and concepts of health. In order
to demonstrate this, I will be using St Mary’s Hospital, - a major acute NHS hospital
located in Westminster, North West London,
Sociology is a scientific study of human behaviour and societies, by “focusing on
understanding why humans behave in a certain way, how different functions of
societies impact them, and how they act in their surrounding environment”
(Sociology group, 2023). Sociologists believe that instead of behaviours being
developed through biological factors, they believe it is developed through
socialisation, which is where we learn and conform to the ‘norms’ of society. This is
done by copying or observing behaviours of people from a young age, which is often
within our family - this is also known as primary socialisation.
Structuralist approach - Functionalism:
The structuralist approach focuses on how large institutions in society function and
how their behaviour affects the social system.
Functionalism is a structuralist approach made from different functionalist
sociologists (Talcott Parsons, Auguste Comte, Robert Merton, Herbert Spencer etc)
which “views society as a complex but orderly and stable system with interconnected
structures and functions or social patterns that operate to meet the needs of
individuals in a society” (Sociology Dictionary, 2013). Talcott Parsons believed that in
society, we all share the same set of beliefs and values from past generations, as
well as how everyone behaves in the same way due to different structures in
institutions, roles and norms such as everyone queuing up to get on a bus. Auguste
Comte believed that society's functions could be understood by comparing it to how
the human body functions; all the organs have specific individual functions which
work together so that health and life can be maintained.
As functionalists emphasise that affected medical care and good health are vital in
order for society to function, their views would perfectly link to the ‘Sick Role’, which
are people who are physically ill, mentally ill or injured, so now have to deal with the
responsibilities of a sick person. According to Talcott Parsons, “the best way to
understand illness sociologically is to view it as a form of deviance that disturbs the
,social functions of society” (LibreTexts Social Sciences, 2021). They also believe that
when there are no sick people, doctors and nurses would lose their responsibilities of
looking after the sick, which could also mean the health care system would not exist.
This could be seen as a positive perspective, as it emphasises the importance of
everyone in society working together in order for each individual needs to be fulfilled.
This also encourages the idea of having a close family unit, and allowing important
norms and values of society to be passed on from generations.
However, functionalism could have a negative impact on society. Marxists highlight
the exploitation and conflicts people in today’s society face, which is heavily ignored
by functionalists. Functionalists would want people to perform their ‘role’ to help
society to function . Many different jobs and organisations like the NHS, have been
striking: The Royal College of Nursing (2022) has stated that they are standing up for
better patient safety and better pay, in order for the NHS to have a better future. By
NHS workers striking, in the eyes of a functionalist, they are not performing their role
to help society function so are being ‘deviant’. Many could view this as a negative
approach to follow, as if you apply this theory to the NHS workers who are striking,
functionalists would believe that because they are not working to help people,
people’s lives are being put at risk. If NHS workers aren’t working in the best
conditions and aren’t getting paid the amount they deserve, it could have a
detrimental impact on the workers, possibly leaving them stressed and depressed. If
no change is being made for them, the public can’t expect the workers to help them if
they aren’t even being helped themselves. But if they were to continue working with
no pay rise and poor conditions, this could be classed as exploitation. This illustrates
how institutions can’t always work effectively, as this example of the NHS striking,
shows how a ‘rosy picture’ of institutions having a positive function which
functionalists have painted, can’t always occur. Feminists would also criticise the
functionalist approach; functionalists believe that both men and women have their
own fixed roles in a traditional nuclear family. For functionalists, men are expected to
be the breadwinners, and women are expected to be the housewives. However, due
to feminism, women no longer have this fixed role of taking care of the home by
doing domestic chores and meeting the emotional needs of their family. This means
that functionalists are ignoring the changes which have occurred in the last 100
years because of feminists. By having the functionalism approach, it ignores the fact
there are many different types of families in today’s society since a mother and
father’s role now doesn’t always have to stick to the stereotypical idea of how they
should be, as their roles could differ depending on the needs of the family and what
they think best suits them. This would also cause women to still be oppressed, as by
following this approach, women would still have to conform to the norms and values
of a woman fulfilling their role as a housewife.
Overall, functionalism is still important in society as it highlights the importance of
everyone working in harmony, as when this doesn’t happen, society will not function
, effectively. There would be many consequences that can negatively affect other
individuals, if people do not commit and comply with their roles and responsibilities.
Conflict approach - Feminism and Marxism:
Karl Max created the Marxist theory, which he believed that the economy had an
important influence in society as it is a capitalist society, which has two social
classes - the ruling class (capitalist) and working class. He believed that these two
classes would always be in conflict with each other as the working class were the
majority of people in society employed by the ruling class, so they would argue for
more fair working conditions and wages, whereas, the ruling class would
continuously want to have a higher profit.
When viewing health, a Marxist would believe that richer people in society who are in
need of medical care, would be prioritised over those who are poor since “there is a
clear link between health and wealth”(NHS Confederation, 2021). Although the NHS
doesn’t prioritise wealth, those with more money would be put at an advantage as
they could bump the waiting list by going private, in order to receive better healthcare
quicker. Karl Marx believed that health services are only helping people in order to
make profit, as well as companies. For instance, tobacco and alcohol companies
would be making profit as they can sell their produce despite the negative impacts it
has on people’s health - e.g people buying cigarettes to smoke are at risk of getting
cardiovascular disease. In addition, those who are poor would be greatly stigmatised
by Marxists. For example, a richer person who drinks alcohol would be seen as living
a glamorous lifestyle as they can afford to buy the best drinks, which they may even
be offered rehab for marketing purposes, which could make them become even
more wealthier. However, a poorer person who is drinking alcohol would be
stigmatised as dysfunctional, as in the eyes of a Marxist, they are lazy and have
made the choice to become drunk or addictive, and if they was to get health issues
later on, there would be no beneficial impact for them unlike someone who is of a
much wealthier background, as they may not be able to afford rehab or be able to
access the best treatment. These examples clearly demonstrate how Marxists
believe that health care services are accessible to everyone but that the health
professionals would only want those who they can make profit out of. Therefore,
Marxism is an effective approach to use and is also more influential than
functionalism, as Karl Marx fought for human rights and equality, and identified how
living in a capitalist society is a major problem. Marxists believe that economic
factors and the nature of capitalism have forced people in society to behave in a
specific way.
However in Marxism, it is clear that between individual rights and social rights there
is a major struggle. Marxism faces more emphasis on societal rights than it does on
individual rights. Some say that Marxism sometimes ignores individual rights
altogether. However, Marxism takes into account the lack of equality and the
unfairness that it is in society. The inevitable truth is that contrasting groups in
