Health, Culture, and Society: Impact on Bogan Community Health

This essay analyzes the health, culture, and societal issues prevalent within the Bogan community in Australia, focusing on the impact of alcohol consumption and smoking. The essay reviews existing literature, highlighting the socio-economic factors that contribute to these behaviors and their adverse effects on public health. It explores the cultural context of alcohol consumption in Australia and its influence on the Bogan subculture. The analysis applies Karl Marx's theory of social construction to understand the class divisions and unequal access to resources that exacerbate health disparities. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for awareness, education, and public health strategies to address the health risks associated with these cultural practices, and to minimize the impact of poverty, and socio-economic disadvantages. The artifact, a photograph, serves as a focal point to illustrate the cultural acceptance of these behaviors and the resulting health hazards. The essay suggests that public health experts should channelize their resources to minimize the poverty among the Bogans, and education is another factor that will contribute in the minimization of the adverse health effects related to this cultural practice.

Running head: HEALTH, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
HEALTH, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Cultural Artifact
Source (Google images, 2017)
In the photograph, a person is in a rejoicing mood. He is drinking alcohol as well
as smoking cigarette, all at the same time. This artifact can be located in the Bogan
subcultural world of Australia, as Bogans are reportedly known to be heavy drinkers and
smokers. The Bogan man depicted in the above picture is showing no remorse or guilt
while engaging in such an unacceptable behavior. This particular Bogan man has stuck

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his tongue out while pointing his right forefinger to the beer can, which he is holding in
his left hand. The casual attire of the Bogan man and his could not care less attitude can
easily give a glimpse to the viewer about his derogatory lifestyle. The happy go lucky
pose given by the Bogan man in the above picture shows that he finds comforts in
various addictions and he is least concerned about the adverse impacts of such.
(Campbell, 2013).
Public Health Issue
The artifact represents the fondness of addiction to alcohol and smoking among the
Bogan community, especially among the youth of the community. However, this adverse
impact of smoking and alcohol consumption is affecting the lifestyle and health of the
Bogan people. The Bogan community is suffering severe issues in health due to massive
alcohol consumption and smoking. This aspect of the cultural abnormality among the
Bogans is the most immediate causes of the rapid rise in the occurrences of death and ill
health in Australia. With the increasing rate of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and other
health-related disorders, the overall future health condition of the Australians is at stake. The
life expectancy and health condition of the Bogans are declining as they live by following
unhealthy means .(CHURN, 2013).
Literature Review
In past years, there has been much research in the identification of the health issues
of the Bogans due to alcohol consumption and smoking. Fone et al. (2013) stated that, due to
the lower socioeconomic status of the Bogans, the practices of alcohol consumption and
smoking are embedded in their culture. Here, the authors claim that income is the single
most important factor in determining the cultural practices of humans. Resultantly, the
people of the Bogan community represent the lower socio-economic class and they live in

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cheap suburban areas. They are not well qualified as they have low education rate. As the
authors identify the economic condition to be the single most important factor in the
determination of the cultural practices, hence, this assumption has lead to the provision of
many income support systems to the Bogans in order to solve the health-related issues.
With the monitory improvement, the improvement of the educational facilities of the
community or other technological training will take place. This will also lead to the
improvement in health behavior.
It is seen from the research that socio-economic drawbacks lead to smoking and
consumption of alcohol, in order to cope up with the frustration and stress due to the
looming financial disadvantages. The socio-economic disadvantages could be determined in
terms of individual access to the social and material resources and the potentiality to
participate in the society (Gruenewald et al., 2012). Thus, as the Bogans are representative of
the lower socio-economic group, they are in a disadvantageous position in the society. and
This is the reason that the rate of smoking and consumption of alcohol is higher among
them, which has affected their health heavily. However, if the socio-economic condition were
changed, the health issue would be improved (Marmot & Bell, 2012).
However, an alternative perspective rejects the issues related to reduction of the rate
of alcohol consumption with an improvement of income rate among the lower socio-
economic groups like Bogans. Callander, Schofield and Shrestha (2012), have stated that
improvement of the economic condition will not change the behavior towards the cultural
practices as this has become a part of the community practices. If the economic condition
would be improved among the Bogans, there would be more chance to spend the extra money
in addiction. The literature has suggested that it would not be an effective solution towards
improving the health condition of the Bogan people. However, the paper has suggested an
alternative approach to reducing the poor health condition among the Bogans (Callander,

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Schofield & Shrestha, 2012). Rejecting the income as an important factor, the paper focuses
on the improvement of the educational system, and this would contribute towards the
improvement of the health condition of the Bogans. By educating the Bogans, building
awareness against alcohol is possible. People of the Bogan community would know the side
effects and the cause of this side effects of smoking and alcohol consumption. As it is seen
that the children of the Bogan community imitate the addictive behavior of their parents,
thus, the attitude of the Bogan parents needs to be changed first through awareness creation.
By the pursuance of higher education it would be possible to change the habit of the young
generation. Shield, Parry and Rehm (2014), have researched about the health issue and effect
of the alcohol consumption among the Bogans. It has been seen that there is an immense
effect of alcohol consumption among the Bogans and it is becoming the cause of the
increased rate of mortality among the Bogan population. However, alcohol consumption of
the Bogans does not only create harm to themselves but it massively affects the wellbeing
and health of the family, friends and close acquaintances. The most common health-related
problems due to heavy drinking among the Bogans are high blood pressure, stroke, heart and
liver diseases and digestion related problems. The other mental problems related to heavy
drinking are anxiety and depression. Excessive alcohol consumption leads to long-term and
short-term health-related problems among the Bogans and it is also evident from the fact
that the bogans are severely affected by these problems.
The drinking addiction among the Bogans could be related and analyzed in the
context of Australian cultural approaches towards drinking alcohol stated by Pereira et al.
(2013), Consumption of alcohol is essentially an important part of the Australian culture.
Consumption of Alcohol is a regular customary practice in the Australian culture and it
also somehow symbolizes the national identity. The study has shown that between 2001 and
2005, an average number of 79,646 deaths have occurred due to excessive alcohol

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consumption in the Australian community (Stockwell et al., 2012). However, with this
approach of the state, it is not possible to reduce alcohol consumption among the Bogans
who are already culturally inclined towards heavy drinking. The health issue related to
alcoholism is immense among the Australians, especially of the Bogans. The legislative and
taxation system of the state has to be strong enough to prevent issues related to alcoholism.
The total attributable cost of the alcohol-related crime in Australia is 1.7 billion Dollars and
the social cost of the alcohol-related violence is 187 million Dollars. The cost of violent
alcohol-related deaths in Australia is 124 million dollars. It is evident from the study that the
drinking behavior of someone adversely affects 75% of adult Australians (Kehoe et al.,
2012). According to the recent study of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the alcohol
consumption rate has been decreased within Australia by 1.1% from 2010-11. However, the
overall consumption of alcohol is much higher in Australia than the other countries. It could
be stated from the recent study on the alcohol consumption of Australia is that the country
has to maintain the strict norms to prevent the alcohol consumption and its harmful effect to
the inhabitants of Australia. The alcohol consumption not only affects the Bogans and its
youth, it also adversely affects the overall health of the Australian society.
Cultural and Social Analysis
The Australian society has evolved into a social hierarchy with time, which comprises
of high, middle and low socio-economic classes. The Bogans are the poorest people and
represent the lower socio-economic class of Australia. Karl Marx’s theory could be applied
to the health and social approaches of Bogan. According to the theory of social construction,
Marx summarized that the wealth of the Bourgeoisie or upper class comes from the labor of
the proletariat or lower-socioeconomic class. The bourgeoisie gain their wealth from the
exploitation of the labor of the proletariat (Berlin, 2013). This type of capitalist structure

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leads to the formation of class division and in this structure, the exploitative behavior of the
high class leads to poverty and unequal access to the resources of the society of the lower
class like Bogans. The exploitation leads them into further poverty and unequal access to the
socio-economic facilities. There is some research, which has shown that due to the poor
socio-economic condition of the Bogans, they are much more prone to alcoholism and
smoking. Hence, their health is heavily affected by their addiction-prone culture.
However, the overall popular culture of Australia, which heavily celebrates with
alcohol consumption and hard partying, indirectly influences the issue of the Bogans. The
Bogans are a sub-community of Australia. The survey report from 2010 stated that 88% of
the total population in Australia have consumed alcohol by the age of 14. Many Australians
including the Bogan people consume alcohol at destructive level (Allan et al., 2012). The
Australian culture of alcohol consumption influences the Bogan most and they are affected
by this practice. The alcohol consumption and smoking rate are higher among the Bogans
compared to the overall Australian community. Therefore, the Bogan sub-cultural
community has mostly been seriously affected by this practice. The rate of mortality and
other health-related problems are higher among the Bogans due to their cultural practices of
consuming alcohol and smoking. Awareness of this issue is important to minimize the rate of
health-related problems among the Australians, especially of the Bogans. Discussion, events,
and seminars are needed to be organized to build awareness among the Bogans and
Government should give serious consideration to this issue (Campbell, 2013).
It is necessary to spread the knowledge of the health issue of the Bogans caused by
heavy drinking and smoking. This will help to create an optimistic change in the society by
removing the negative impact of the smoking and drinking alcohol. Building awareness and
analyzing the economic and social factors, which cause health deterioration, could be aided to
develop strategies for minimizing the acceptance of smoking and alcohol consumption

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among the poor and lower socioeconomic individuals like Bogans. As an outcome of this
analysis, I assume that the public health experts should channelize their resources to
minimize the poverty among the Bogans, and naturally, that will help to minimize the
addictive behavior of drinking and smoking in the community. This will also help to
minimize the other health-related issues. Education is another factor that will contribute in
the minimization of the adverse health effects related to this cultural practice.
Analysis of the Artifact and the Learning Reflection
The artifact, which is a photograph of a young man, represents Bogan culture. The
man is jumping high in the air. This man is smoking a cigarette and drinking beer. The man is
the representative of Bogan culture as Bogans are famous for smoking and consuming
alcohol. Due to increased acceptance of smoking and drinking alcohol among the Bogans,
the rate of health-related hazards are high and most rampant among the Bogans. From this
photographic representation, it is important to note down that it would be helpful in creating
awareness in the Australian society and among the Bogan community members and the areas
have been identified where changes are needed, within the social, economic, healthcare and
educational structure. Participating in this analysis, I have acquired a further and detailed
understanding about the division of classes in relation to the socio-economic structure of the
society. I have gained the knowledge that it effects this socio-economic division of classes on
the health issues and behaviors. The social theory of Karl Marx has helped me to improve
further my understanding of the effect of the class division and the result of this on the
Australia's Bogan community.

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Learning Engagement and Reflection Task
Reflective Discussion Example 1: Prevalence of Smoking among Bogans
This is very interesting topic to read. The topic of the assignment reflects on the
prevalence of smoking and importance of health education among the Bogans. I like the
opening paragraph as it has connected with the underlying stereotypes of the contemporary
Bogans. The stereotypes are related to the health issue of the community. However, in the
opening paragraph, the artifacts, which is a popular television show ‘Kath and Kim’ used in
the paper has associated Bogan culture and their lack of health education within their
community practices. The Video clip is also very interesting and it has shown the common
health behavior among the Bogans.
The public health issue has analyzed the health and life practices of the Bogans and its
outcome as a poor health condition. The community practice and its result of poor health
condition could be related to the underprivileged geographic area, lower socio-economic
background and this is a logical approach towards the analysis of the health issues among the
Bogans.
In the cultural and social analysis, the theory of Karl Marx about the social
class and relationship of bourgeoisie and proletariat has been correlated, which has provided
a Marxist theory of class struggle with the health issue. For me, it is a rational social theory
that could be applied to analyze the problems. I like the way the paper has acknowledged the
socio-economic factors for developing strategies to decline the negative health effect among
the lower socio-economic class. However, the artifact is interesting and well chosen and it is
a well-analyzed wiki.

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Reflective Discussion Example 2: Hooked on Social Media
In another reflection, the artifact has well shown the effect of social media addiction
on the health of the young generation. The way the paper has addressed the problems of the
young generation with excessive use of the social media is interesting. It creates mental
health issues and affects the physical health of the young generation in a negative way.
The health issue, which has been addressed, is current problem and lot of research is
necessary on this topic. The overall use of social media is time-consuming and many mental
and physical health problems have been created among the young Australians.
I like the way the paper has acknowledged the limitation of the social theory
regarding the fact. Overall, the paper is nicely written and it is a well-researched wiki.

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References
Allan, J., Clifford, A., Ball, P., Alston, M., & Meister, P. (2012). ‘You're Less Complete if
You Haven't Got a Can in Your Hand’: Alcohol Consumption and Related Harmful
Effects in Rural Australia: The Role and Influence of Cultural Capital. Alcohol and
alcoholism, 47(5), 624-629.
Berlin, I. (2013). Karl Marx. Princeton University Press.
Callander, E. J., Schofield, D. J., & Shrestha, R. N. (2012). Towards a holistic understanding
of poverty: a new multidimensional measure of poverty for Australia. Health
Sociology Review, 21(2), 141-155.
Campbell, M. L. (2013). Bogan: Exploring images of Australian cultural
marginalisation (Doctoral dissertation, University of Melbourne).
CHURN, N. (2013). BOGAN TIME AND THE RACE THAT STOPS THE
NATION. Movements in Time: Revolution, Social Justice and Times of Change, 103.
Fone, D. L., Farewell, D. M., White, J., Lyons, R. A., & Dunstan, F. D. (2013).
Socioeconomic patterning of excess alcohol consumption and binge drinking: a cross-
sectional study of multilevel associations with neighbourhood deprivation. BMJ
open, 3(4), e002337.
Gruenewald, T. L., Karlamangla, A. S., Hu, P., Stein-Merkin, S., Crandall, C., Koretz, B., &
Seeman, T. E. (2012). History of socioeconomic disadvantage and allostatic load in
later life. Social science & medicine, 74(1), 75-83.

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Kehoe, T., Gmel, G., Shield, K. D., Gmel, G., & Rehm, J. (2012). Determining the best
population-level alcohol consumption model and its impact on estimates of alcohol-
attributable harms. Population health metrics, 10(1), 6.
Marmot, M., & Bell, R. (2012). Fair society, healthy lives. Public health, 126, S4-S10.
Pereira, G., Wood, L., Foster, S., & Haggar, F. (2013). Access to alcohol outlets, alcohol
consumption and mental health. PloS one, 8(1), e53461.
Shield, K. D., Parry, C., & Rehm, J. (2014). Chronic diseases and conditions related to
alcohol use. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 35(2), 155.
Stockwell, T., Auld, M. C., Zhao, J., & Martin, G. (2012). Does minimum pricing reduce
alcohol consumption? The experience of a Canadian province. Addiction, 107(5),
912-920.