Sociology and Healthcare
Sociology and Healthcare
Health-care is a sociological institution within the American Culture. Health-care has many different aspects that pertain to patients, care givers and governmental approach to supply healthcare to all citizens. Sociology is the “scientific study of social behavior and human groups.” (Schaefer, 2009) Sociology plays a large role in how Americans look at our health-care systems and approach health and illness in one’s own life.
Health-care has many different definitions and can be interpreted differently by each culture and social class and even by the three different sociological perspectives. The main goal in health-care is the prevention, treatment and management of illness, to preserve mental and physical well being. Health-care is a science and system much like sociology. As defined by the World Health Organization (http://www.who.int) health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. Health-care is a practice not a defined science much like sociology. Many Americans believe that health-care is a fine tuned science and should have all of the answers to one’s own health issues and concerns. But much like sociology health-care is affected by numerous variables such as human behaviors and interpretations.
There are three different theoretical perspectives in sociology: the Interactionist perspective, the Conflict perspective and the Functionalist perspective. The
Interactionist perspective is the study of micro sociology and how humans interact with one another. The Conflict perspective is the study of tensions between groups and how social human behavior reacts to the tensions especially focusing on power and the allocation of resources. The Functionalist perspective is the study of human behaviors that focuses on stability and reliance of groups are structured to support one another. All three perspectives play a large role on the success of
Health-care is a sociological institution within the American Culture. Health-care has many different aspects that pertain to patients, care givers and governmental approach to supply healthcare to all citizens. Sociology is the “scientific study of social behavior and human groups.” (Schaefer, 2009) Sociology plays a large role in how Americans look at our health-care systems and approach health and illness in one’s own life.
Health-care has many different definitions and can be interpreted differently by each culture and social class and even by the three different sociological perspectives. The main goal in health-care is the prevention, treatment and management of illness, to preserve mental and physical well being. Health-care is a science and system much like sociology. As defined by the World Health Organization (http://www.who.int) health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. Health-care is a practice not a defined science much like sociology. Many Americans believe that health-care is a fine tuned science and should have all of the answers to one’s own health issues and concerns. But much like sociology health-care is affected by numerous variables such as human behaviors and interpretations.
There are three different theoretical perspectives in sociology: the Interactionist perspective, the Conflict perspective and the Functionalist perspective. The
Interactionist perspective is the study of micro sociology and how humans interact with one another. The Conflict perspective is the study of tensions between groups and how social human behavior reacts to the tensions especially focusing on power and the allocation of resources. The Functionalist perspective is the study of human behaviors that focuses on stability and reliance of groups are structured to support one another. All three perspectives play a large role on the success of
References: Nugus, P., Greenfield, D., Travaglia, J., Westbrook, J., & Braithwaite, J.. (2010). How and where clinicians exercise power: Interprofessional relations in health care. Social Science & Medicine, 71(5), 898. Retrieved August 8, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2097782961). Oliver, M. (1998). Theories in health care and research: Theories of disability in health practice and research. British Medical Journal, 317(7170), 1446-9. Retrieved August 9, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 36487640). Schaefer, R.T. (2009) Sociology: A brief introduction (8th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw H World Health Organization: http://www.who.int