A Comprehensive Report on Health Sociology: Theories and Models

This report provides a comprehensive overview of health sociology, examining the interplay between society and health. It begins by defining the core concept of health sociology and its determinants, including economic stability, education, and social contexts. The report then delves into two key sociological theories: conflict theory, which analyzes competition for resources, and symbolic interactionism, which focuses on the subjective meanings and interactions within communities. Furthermore, the report contrasts sociological theories with the medical model, highlighting how they differ in their approach to disability and illness. The report concludes by emphasizing the significance of understanding the social aspects of health and illness, and provides a detailed reference list for further research.

Health Sociology

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Concept and determinants of Health Sociology.....................................................................1
Theories of Health Sociology.................................................................................................2
Difference between sociological theories and medical model...............................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Health sociology analyses the interaction between society and health. This can be related
to social institutions like work, family, school and religion as well as the causes of disease and
illness for seeking particular type of care and compliance. It really needs a global approach for
examination because it affects societal factors all over the world (Siqueira, Hollanda and Motta,
2017). Diseases are compared and examined on the basis of economics, religion, medicine and
culture which is limited to every region. Therefore, this report focuses on the concept of
sociology, its determinants, sociological theories and the way these differ from medical models.
MAIN BODY
Concept and determinants of Health Sociology
Health is an entire mental, physical and social wellbeing as well as just the absence of
infirmity and disease. It is not just defined in the terms of mental, anatomical and physiological
attributes. General sociology can be described as empirical and special methodological system of
its own. It revolves around social structure, relationships or community. It generally examines
the relationship among social groups or societal processes (Edy and Risley-Baird, 2016).
Functioning of society depends heavily on healthy people that control illness. Sociologists called
those persons as 'the sick role' whose behaviour towards society can be monitored as ill. A sick
person is:
1. One that is not responsible towards society.
2. Not responsible for normal duties
3. He/she is supposed to get help in order to be out of the role (Yurtseven, 2015).
There are various social determinants in which people work, live, born and set wider
forces and systems in order to shape conditions of daily life. Most important factors that shape
the person's social life are employment and working conditions. It affects families and health of
workers with an objective of illustrating how much knowledge can be translated into health
policy measures. Fair access to employment improves the health of families and workers as well
as strengthen up their dimensions. Another factor includes exclusion of multidimensional
processes that are motivated by four main dimensions like-economic, political, social and
cultural. Sociologists examined some processes which resulted in the exclusion of significant
groups from involving completely in some communities (Pruitt, 2018). These activities are run at
1

micro and macro levels. There are connections between social exclusion and concepts like
networks, social capital and integration. This type of operation and nature is associated with
health status of population and its inequalities. Furthermore, many factors like gender inequality
make social stratification, early child development strongly affects well-being and bring
challenges in societies. Other than this main social determinants are as follows:
1. Economic Stability: This includes employment, food insecurity, housing instability and
poverty which are affect health of society (Turner, 2016).
2. Education: There must be early childhood education and development. Then, children should
be enrolled to higher education so that there should be high rate of literacy in communities.
3. Social and Community context: Civic participation is appreciated in all types of activities.
Discrimination and social cohesion should be prohibited to create a healthy society.
4. Neighbourhood and built environment: Accessing of food should be there that support
healthy eating patterns.
Theories of Health Sociology
Sociological theories are statements about particular social worlds of how and why they
are related. Two theories of Health Sociology are
1. Conflict theory: Conflict theory is a type of conflict or competition arises for limited
resources. According to this approach, society which is made up of individuals in various social
classes compete for material, social and political resources such as employment, education, food
and housing and leisure time (Stevenson, 2018). Various social institutions like government and
NGOs like to help in this competition in their inherent inequalities and maintain unequal social
structure. Some states that ethnic and cultural conflicts results in defining dominant group that
power over other lower groups. There are various causes of conflicts like political power and
economic inequalities. These groups are negatively influenced by race, gender and reactions of
people. But on the other hand, it helps in stabilizing and integrating a society.
Intensity of conflict depends on the involvement of both parties, clarity and nature of
goals. They work to reduce dissent, create internal solidarity and centralize power. Tension can
be reduced and hostility can set path future agreements by resolving conflicts (Todorov and et.al.
2015). It involves struggle of many resources. From a social conflict theory point of view
inequality arises because social structure is completely dependent on contradictions. Higher class
will try to maintain its status, privileges, power and social position whereas lower class has
2

different interests which doesn't matches the upper class. Thus, social conflicts theory explains
struggle among various segments of society for valued and restricted resources.
2. Symbolic Interactionism theory: Symbolic Interaction is generally referred to interpretivisn,
interactionism which is a sociological tradition which aims at subjective meaning and empirical
unfolding of social processes done through analysis. It majorly helps to find out the fundamental
aspects like gender and race that could be understood through symbolic interaction. It focuses on
relationships in communities (Germov, 2014). This theory believes in symbols and languages for
exchanging messages. Communicating done through actions and languages are best described to
other persons. Meanings of such things are best interpreted when a person is dealing things in
specific circumstances. This led to develop a technique known as dramaturgical analysis.
According to this technique, theatre is used as an analogy for social interaction and identifying
people's fundamental interaction showing pattern of cultural 'scripts' (Carter and Fuller, 2016).
Constructivism is another form of symbolic interaction theory according to which reality
goes with human psychological construction. Social constructs are developed based on
interactions which lasts forever and are accepted by the societies. They understand what is
abnormal in the community. There are various meanings of deviance and no such one meaning is
associated with a particular group or society (Link and et.al. 2015). Different behaviours are
associated with deviance. Countless settings are there in society for which symbolic
communications are used in order to accomplish the activities on time. Thus, society is ever-
changing and complex. Society is built up through human interpretations. They interpret from
one-another's behaviour and social bonding. So it is major framework of sociological theory and
examines the subjective meaning of community that is imposed on events, behaviour and
objects.
Difference between sociological theories and medical model
Sociological theories varies from medical models in various ways. Social model is
created by the way society is organised while according to medical model person is disabled due
to differences and impairments. According to sociological theories, barriers need to be removed
that restricts choices for sick person (Atkinson 2015). These are physical and can be described as
behaviour, attitudes of individuals living in the society. When these barriers are removed then
individuals get full opportunity to be independent and equal in society with complete control on
their lives. Main barriers of society are lack of communication, lack of understanding among
3

each other, poverty and deficiency of support from people, negative perceptions and
insufficiency of accessible information. In sociological theories barriers are limited not by
impairments but by environment and lack of social organisation. Disabilities of societies can be
lack of programs, activities, laws, regulations and structure developed that influence the standard
of living. For example: A teenager wants to live independently but is suffering from some
financial problems and is having difficulty to pay rent. Under social model this person could get
a social support because he is unable to pay rent on time (Adams, 2015). Thus, remedy for being
disable in society is good communication and interaction among the fellow members.
On the other hand, medical model covers sociological pathology which includes causes
of illness and disease as well as reasons of seeking significant types of medical aid for persons.
In medical model, barriers are the individual itself (Beckfield and et.al., 2015). Thus, changes are
required in them. It is concerned to the patient-practitioner relationship and health professional
playing role in the society. In this model impairments are changed by medical or some other
treatments even if the patient doesn't feel any illness or cause of pain. Medical sociology analysis
interaction between health and society (The Social Model vs The Medical Model of Disability,
2018).
Barriers in medical model are mental, physical and cognitive deficits. They destroy
smooth functioning of a person. Medical sociology highlights factors of illness and health and
their issues that are socially constructed. It looks what is 'wrong' in the person and creates low
expectations (Hallin and Briggs, 2015). For example: if a person wants to study and is having
problem in learning then it can be considered under medical model according to which he needs
treatment and is disabled to learn anything which can become a constraint in the future ( Fox and
Alldred, 2016). Therefore, being disabled is normalization and seeking proper cure by the health
institutions.
CONCLUSION
Finally, it can be concluded that sociology can be described as human relationships
ranging from social stability to radical changes. It examines the matters on communities,
personal lives and world. There are various determinants of sociology which differ from medical
models in terms of concepts, barriers and remedies as well as sociological theories like conflict
and symbolic hypothesis that describe the relationship and importance of groups in communities.
4

These theories illustrate the significance of resources utilized by them and values which higher
groups place in front of lower groups.
5

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Adams, T. L. (2015). Sociology of professions: International divergences and research
directions. Work, employment and society. 29(1). 154-165.
Atkinson, P. (2015). Rescuing interactionism from qualitative research. Symbolic Interaction.
38(4). 467-474.
Beckfield, J. & et.al. (2015). An institutional theory of welfare state effects on the distribution of
population health. Social Theory & Health, 13(3-4), 227-244.
Carter, M. J. & Fuller, C. (2016). Symbols, meaning, and action: The past, present, and future of
symbolic interactionism. Current Sociology. 64(6). 931-961.
Edy, J. A. & Risley-Baird, E. (2016). Misperceptions as Political Conflict: Using
Schattschneider’s Conflict Theory to Understand Rumor Dynamics. International
Journal of Communication. 10. 20.
Fox, N. J. & Alldred, P. (2016). Sociology, environment and health: a materialist approach.
Public health. 141. 287-293.
Germov, J. (2014). Second opinion: an introduction to health sociology. UK: Oxford University
Press, 556p.
Hallin, D. C. & Briggs, C. L. (2015). Transcending the medical/media opposition in research on
news coverage of health and medicine. Media, Culture & Society, 37(1), 85-100.
Link, B. G. & et.al. (2015). Understanding the importance of “symbolic interaction stigma”:
How expectations about the reactions of others adds to the burden of mental illness
stigma. Psychiatric rehabilitation journal. 38(2). 117.
Pruitt, D. G. (2018). Tom Schelling's Contributions to Conflict Theory and Research.
Negotiation Journal. 34(3). 283-290.
Siqueira, S. A. V. D., Hollanda, E. & Motta, J. I. J. (2017). Políticas de Promoção de Equidade
em Saúde para grupos vulneráveis: o papel do Ministério da Saúde. Ciência & Saúde
Coletiva, 22, 1397-1397.
Stevenson, F. (2018). Social Determinants of Health. Sociology as Applied to Health and
Medicine, 23.
Todorov, A. & et.al. (2015). Social attributions from faces: Determinants, consequences,
accuracy, and functional significance. Annual Review of Psychology. 66.
Turner, C. (2016). Editorial Comment: Law and Negotiation in Conflict: Theory, Policy and
Practice. Global Policy. 7(2). 256-260.
6

Yurtseven, C. (2015). The socioeconomic determinants of fertility rates in Muslim countries: A
dynamic panel data analysis. Economics & Sociology. 8(4). 165.
Online
The Social Model vs The Medical Model of Disability. 2018. [Online] Available through:
<http://www.disabilitynottinghamshire.org.uk/about/social-model-vs-medical-model-of-
disability/>.
7