Application of Sociological and Psychological Perspectives in Healthcare

This article discusses the application of sociological and psychological perspectives in healthcare. It covers social cultural perspective, feminism perspective, attachment theory, and psychodynamic theory. It also explores the use of deprivation theory and natural and social selection theory to understand cultural and ethical issues in healthcare.

Physiology and Social
Science

Table of Contents
LO1 Sociological and psychological perspectives in healthcare.................................................1
LO2 Application of perspectives to cultural and ethical issues...................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

LO1 Sociological and psychological perspectives in healthcare
Sociology is defined as the study of social change, social life and causes and
consequences of human behavior. It investigates that structure of organizations and groups along
with the ways in which interactions take place between people in these contacts (Porter, 2020).
Psychology is defined as the scientific study of mind and behavior and includes studying
conscious and unconscious phenomena (Wallace, 2017). Theory is defined as developing a
rational thinking about a phenomenon or aspect. It consists of explanation of an aspect in a well
– substantiated way.
Application of two theories to health and social care
Social cultural perspective
Social cultural perspective is a theory which provides description abuot awareness of
those circumstances that surround individuals. This theory also includes the ways in which these
circumstances influence the behavior of people. This perspective describes the behavior and
mental processes of people as they are shaped by the social and cultural contacts including
nationality, gender and race (Parsons, 2017). This theory finds its application to a number of
aspects such as the ways people communicate, relate and understand each other.
The social cultural perspective can be applied in healthcare sector in the following
manner. It can be used for assessing the use of mental health services. the reasons why people
use mental health services can be understood in a better manner using this theory. Cultural
explanation of mental illness can be provided with the help of this perspective (Kajic and et.al.,
2019). Using this, the perceived causes of mental disorders are significantly impacted by the
cultural beliefs. In healthcare sector, this perspective can also be used for investigating and
exploring the reasons behind a particular health behavior by people. By knowing the reasons,
positive health behavior can be enforced successfully (Meloni, 2019). By examining the
influence of social and cultural factors on the behavior of people, suitable intervention strategies
can be implemented for motivating them towards adopting healthy behaviors.
Feminism perspective
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The focus of feminism perspective is on the theory of patriarchy which is considered as
the system of power for organizing society into relationships. Feminist theory includes various
themes such as objectification, discrimination, oppression, aesthetics etc. feminist theory
emerged from the feminist movements and laid emphasis on understanding the nature
inequalities in gender. This was done through examination of social roles and lived experiences
of women (Katz, 2017).
This theory can be efficiently applied to the healthcare sector to understand the ways in
which healthcare is delivered to women and bring changes and improvements in the same. In this
way, application of feminism in healthcare sector aims to seek social transformation. Through
this theory symmetry can be brought about in the provider – patient relationships and shared
decision making (Gordon, 2017). By taking a feminist approach to health inequalities, one can
examine the connections between disadvantage and health as well as the distribution of power.
Application of physiological theories to health and social care
Attachment Theory
This theory focuses on the relationships and binds existing between people in long term.
Attachment is defined as an emotional bond that one person develops with another. As per this
theory, if primary care givers respond appropriately to the needs of the infants, they make the
child develop a sense of security and belonging (Loriol, 2017). This theory can be efficiently
applied in clinical practice in children. It can be used for developing an understanding about the
child and family disorders and treating them. The attachment theory is also useful in developing
a wide range of intervention programs for both children and families. By providing a far reaching
views of the human functions, the attachment theory can be used for developing the
understanding of the therapists regarding the patient as well as the therapeutic relationship
(Scheff, 2017).
Psychodynamic theory
According to this theory, past experiences that are stored in the unconscious mind
significantly influence the feelings, decisions and motives of an individual. Psychodynamic
theory states that adult lives are strongly influenced by the events in the childhood. These in turn
shape the personality of an individual (De Boise and Hearn, 2017).
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This can be applied to assist the clients in recognizing their emotions and understating
unconscious patterns of behavior. When the patients talk about these emotions and behaviors
with the social worker, they will be able to know themselves in a better manner. this will lead to
better decision making (Porter, 2020). Various therapies are based on the psychodynamic theory
and aim to bring the repressed conflict to consciousness so that the patient can deal with it in a
better manner. These applications aim at bringing a change in the overall perspective on life.
Anxiety disorders such as panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias are areas
where this theory can be applied to provide treatment (Wallace, 2017).
LO2 Application of perspectives to cultural and ethical issues
Culture is defined as the ways of life that comprise of those beliefs, institutions of
population and ways of life which are passed from one generation to the other. It is the
characteristics and knowledge that is possessed by a particular group of people (Kajic and et.al.,
2019). Culture includes language, social habits, cuisine, religion etc. being an umbrella term,
culture also comprises of the norms and social behavior that exist in human societies. Ethical
issues are issues which occur when there is a conflict between a decision or scenario and the
moral principles of the society (Gordon, 2017). It can be defined as an issue or a conflict that
occurs between two course of action which are morally correct.
Sociological perspectives for explaining issues in healthcare
Deprivation theory
According to this theory, those people who are deprived of the things which are deemed
as valuable in society consider social movements as the actions which can redress their
grievances. Relation deprivation theory is one that provides explanation and details about the
subjective dissatisfaction that may be caused due to the relative position of one person to another
(Meloni, 2019). The theory can be applied to study cultural and ethical issues in health and social
care as per this theory, if an individual experiences relative deprivation, it may negatively impact
the feelings of well-being. By understanding the ways in which relative deprivation impacts the
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happiness, health and well-being of people, various psychological services and community based
activities can be undertaken to solve the ethical and cultural issues (Loriol, 2017).
When individuals compare themselves with those who are better off they come to the
conclusion that this disadvantage is not deserved by them. It is these upward comparisons which
negatively impact the emotions and behavior of a person as well as his mental and physical
health (De Boise and Hearn, 2017). A stronger reaction to upward comparative contrasts is given
by the people who belong to individualistic culture. Also, a wider variety of resource
distributions may be considered as unfair by these people. In contrast to this, people belonging to
collectivist cultures willingly accept the rule and hierarchies. It can be analyzed that in the
situations of a comparative disadvantage. The members of collectivist culture will make efforts
to discover reasons as to why this disadvantage may be fair (Kajic and et.al., 2019). Therefore, in
this way, cultural issues in health and social care can be better understood with the help of this
theory.
Natural and social selection theory
Natural selection refers to a process whereby those heritable traits which are considered
to be advantageous for survival and reproductive ability are passed on to succeeding generation
whereas less favorable traits tend to become diminished (Katz, 2017). In contrast to this, social
selection is that mode of natural selection which takes into consideration reproductive
transactions. it comprises of a two tiered approach to social behavior development. According to
this theory, the social mobility of a person can be influenced by his health.
As per this theory, the people who are poor and powerless have less fit traits. Therefore,
according to his theory, it is the best for them to perish. This is because their elimination will be
representative of the theory of natural selection. Also, people with fitter traits would live and
progress. This is ethically incorrect as every individual has the right to live. Also, according to
the theory, resources should be withheld and not provided to the less fit sections of the society.
This is in conflict with the moral principles.
Descriptive evolutionary ethics assist in understanding various moral phenomena in
genetic terms. These can be used for understanding ethical issues in health and social care
(Scheff, 2017). Similarly, normative evolutionary ethics provide assistance in determining the
right and the wrong acts in terms of evolution. Also, through the theory of natural and social
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selection, explanation could be provided about the moral behavior in humans (De Boise and
Hearn, 2017). Also, through evolutionary ethics, the sources that inform ethical inquiry can be
widened. The theory of natural selection can be applied in solving ethical issues as it provides
the starting point for evolutionary ethics.
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REFERENCES
Journals and Books
De Boise, S. and Hearn, J., 2017. Are men getting more emotional? Critical sociological
perspectives on men, masculinities and emotions. The Sociological Review. 65(4).
pp.779-796.
Gordon, S.L., 2017. The sociology of sentiments and emotion. In Social psychology (pp. 562-
592). Routledge.
Kajic, I. and et.al., 2019. The semantic pointer theory of emotion: Integrating physiology,
appraisal, and construction. Cogn. Syst. Res.. 58. pp.35-53.
Katz, S., 2017. Generation X: A critical sociological perspective. Generations. 41(3). pp.12-19.
Loriol, M., 2017. A sociological stance on fatigue and tiredness: social inequalities, norms and
representations. Neurophysiologie Clinique/Clinical Neurophysiology. 47(2). pp.87-94.
Meloni, M., 2019. Impressionable biologies: from the archaeology of plasticity to the sociology
of epigenetics. Routledge.
Parsons, T., 2017. The present status of “structural-functional” theory in sociology. In The idea
of social structure (pp. 67-84). Routledge.
Porter, T.M., 2020. Natural science and social theory (pp. 1024-1043). Routledge.
Scheff, T.J., 2017. Being mentally ill: A sociological theory. Routledge.
Wallace, W.L. ed., 2017. Sociological theory: An introduction. AldineTransaction.
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