Explain different sociological
approaches to health and ill-health
Lesson 2 P2
 What is health?
 What is ill-health?
Functionalists
 Society needs a healthy population to function
well
 Illness is a form of deviance
 When ill, an individual performs a ‘sick role’
 A sick role comes with it’s own rights and
responsibilities
 RIGHTS include being exempt from normal
activities and obligations and the right to be
cared for by others
 RESPONSIBILITIES include taking steps to
get better and re-join society asap and to
cooperate with the medical profession
MARXISTS
 The definition of health and
illness serve the interests of
the powerful
 Doctors are agents working
in the interests of employers
 Their role is to provide the
company with a healthy
workforce
 In a capitalist society, profit
is made from products which
are bad for our health
e.g. tobacco, alcohol, junk
food
 Levels of illness are closely related to a person’s
social class
 Higher levels of illness and lower life expectancy
occur in areas of poverty, unemployment and
environmental pollution
FEMINISTS
 Focus on male domination in the medical
profession and it’s impact on women
 Argue that a natural process such as pregnancy
and childbirth have been medicalised
 High number of women suffer from anxiety,
depression and mental illness which are defined as
medical problems, rather than a consequence of
women's’ exploited position in the family
 ‘double day’ - Doyal,
 ‘triple shift’ - Dunscombe and Marsden
INTERACTIONISTS
 Focus on the process involved in




becoming defined as ‘ill’
This definition will vary from person
to person
Interested in the negotiation between
the professional and the patient
Therefore, illness is a social
construction
Focus on the self-image of a person
when labelled as ‘ill’
 BUT ignore the ‘real’ causes of ill-
health such as poverty, environment
What is HEALTH?

Health comes for the word ‘hael’ or WHOLE

There are 2 definitions of health
NEGATIVE – absence of illness/disease
linked to the medical profession.
1.
 When’s the last time you visited the Dr. and
why?
POSITIVE – holistic approach to health
refers to a ‘state of wellbeing’.
 WHO definition of health ‘ emphasises social/personal resources
as well as physical capabilities’
2.
What is ill-health?
ILLNESS  Illness is SUBJECTIVELY perceived (vary from one person
to the other)
 Age differences – what is ‘normal’ to a young adult and an
elderly person?
 Gender differences – men less likely to define themselves as
‘ill’
 Class differences – working class more likely to accept higher
levels of ‘illness’ than middle class
What is ill-health?
DISEASE  Diseases are clinical conditions defined by medical
professionals
 Eg.????
WHAT IS ILL-HEALTH?
IMPAIRMENT and DISABILITY
 Impairment refers to restrictions on day-to-day
activity caused by a physical or mental dysfunction or
abnormality
 Eg. Loss of limb, a sensory impairment or a learning
difficulty
 A
disability refers to the restrictions that arise for a
person with an impairment because of the attitudes of others
and a lack of appropriate services to meet their needs
 Eg. Physical – no ramps into buildings, doorways too narrow
Assignment 7.1 P2 Tips
 In order to achieve P2, you will need to create a PPT presentation
which will provide insight into the concept of health and ill health
which you will be presentation to fellow sociology students.
 You will need to initially provide a definition of the following key
terms with examples:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Health (negative),
Health (positive),
Ill health,
Disease,
Illness,
Impairment,
Disability.
Assignment 7.1 P2 Tips
 You will then need to provides an explanation of the
following perspective view of health and ill health using
examples:
Functionalism,
2. Marxism,
3. Feminism,
4. Interactionism
1.