Social Context: Approaches to Health and Illness Analysis

This essay delves into the social context of health and illness, focusing on the perspectives of Florence Nightingale, John Snow, and Aggleton. It begins by highlighting Nightingale's emphasis on systematic evaluation and her contributions to healthcare, including her reliance on empiricism and her guidance on childcare. The essay then contrasts Nightingale's approach with John Snow's advocacy for hygiene and governmental intervention, particularly in the context of Victorian-era urban conditions and the introduction of anesthesia. The core of the essay connects these historical figures to Aggleton's concept of social positivism, exploring how individual health is linked to lifestyle, cultural background, and environmental factors. The essay emphasizes how social positivism considers factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and environmental influences on health outcomes. It concludes by summarizing the different sociological approaches of Nightingale, Snow, and Aggleton, noting their varied strategies towards health and illness.

Running head: SOCIAL CONTEXT
SOCIAL CONTEXT
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1SOCIAL CONTEXT
The treatments of diseases during Victorian period were immensely dependent on the
concept of climatic shifts as well as individual overindulgence encouraged by climatic
conditions and location. This essay will focus on the evaluation of the traditional approaches
of Florence Nightingale and John Snow by drawing its connection to Aggleton’s approach
towards social positivism.
Nightingale’s formidable expertise of systematic evaluation has provided immense
contribution to the analysis of health care and illness. The systemic approach implemented by
Florence Nightingale to health and illness is related to measures for precaution along with
health promotion. She relied on the essential aspects of empiricism such as nominalism, quest
for laws, hypothesis as means with thorough investigation methods and a shared method with
natural sciences. In order to direct, the society and its people Nightingale published a book
called the Notes of Nursing in 1860, to provide relevant guidance on child care and physical
condition (Bostridge 2015). Her belief primarily focused on the role of district nurses in
training family members the art of nurturing the sick. The mid twentieth century witnessed
people residing in corrupted and degraded urban circumstances in industrialized nations
where the attitude towards disease was perceived as a punishment from God. However,
health reformer like John Snow helped in making the life of the patients easier through the
introduction as well as the active use of anaesthesia (Thomas 2017). It is to be noted that
prior to Snow’s introduction of anaesthesia most of the surgeries as well as other treatments
were done without it and therefore the patients had to endure a lot of pain (Thomas 2017). In
direct contradiction to Nightingale’s belief in self-reliance, Snow preached the gospel of
sanity as well as hygiene and stressed the importance of hygiene in nursing and health care.
This led to the British government to interfere within the new areas of life, which was earlier
considered as confidential, or subject of self-responsibility during the time of Nightingale.
Though approaches of both Nightingale and Snow were different, it must be amalgamated to

2SOCIAL CONTEXT
draw a connection with Aggleton’s ideologies focusing on social positivism. According to
Aggleton’s approach to social positivism an individual’s health and sanitation, condition is
wholly dependable on their way of living trends, attitudes towards subjects related to health
and other environmental aspects. However, Snow developed similar thoughts and believed
illness is intrusively linked to one’s deprived and vulnerable health conditions (Calabria and
Macrae 2013). Social positivists have a firm belief on the prominent role of social influences
over several circumstantial events. In Aggleton’s words, an individual’s social attitudes
include smoking tobacco, alcoholic addiction and other choices related to their diet. Another
significant factor of social positivism relies on the shared cultural background of the
individuals, where the local customs might manipulate them to be exposed to certain
unhealthy eating habits. This custom however is often considered as theories of victim
blaming (Healthknowledge.org.uk 2018). Social positivist theorists evaluate another great
cause of disease and poor health with the effects of environmental factors. Aggleton in
harmony with Nightingale believed that elements such as nuclear energies along with by-
products emitted by the industries could cause harmful effects to health. In similar manner,
Aggleton believed in the miasma theory during the Crimean War during 1850s that the cause
of the epidemiology of cholera and malaria was because of foul air and not due to
contaminated water.
Therefore, it can be concluded that though Nightingale, Snow and Aggleton believed
in varied sociological approaches towards health and illness, each of them adopted different
strategies. While, Nightingale firmly perceived society as an influential actor towards
individual’s heath development, Snow established governmental and political factors along
with society. Aggleton taking similar direction firmly incorporated social positivism towards
health and illness.

3SOCIAL CONTEXT
References
Bostridge, M., 2015. Florence Nightingale: the woman and her legend. Penguin UK.
Calabria, M.D. and Macrae, J.A. eds., 2013. Suggestions for thought by Florence
Nightingale: Selections and commentaries. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Healthknowledge.org.uk. 2018. Section 1: The theoretical perspectives and methods of
enquiry of the sciences concerned with human behaviour. [online] Available at:
https://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/medical-sociology-policy-
economics/4a-concepts-health-illness/section1 [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].
Thomas, H., 2017. John Snow. Pioneers in Public Health: Lessons from History, p.33.