Health and Social Care

Unit 7 Assignment 1

P1 – Explain the principle sociological perspectives

Sociology is the study of society and people’s behaviour. Sociologists are interested in how society works and there are theories which try to determine why society works in this way. Sociology is evidence based. His means it is not just a person’s assumptions but is based on social facts. Most of this is backed up by research.

There are different definitions of health. One definition of health is positive definition of health. This is where an individual is achieving and maintaining good health and a healthy lifestyle. The individual considers the things they can do (e.g. walking or running) to be good signs of health. A negative definition of health is where an individual believes they have good health and wellbeing because they do not have any known health problems. For example, they might think that not seeing the GP in a few years is a sign of good health. The individual is likely to exert minimal effort to maintain their health and wellbeing. Holistic definition of health focuses on an individual’s health and lifestyle whilst focusing on physical, intellectual, emotional and social needs. This definition focuses on the whole body and mind, not just separate parts of the body. It also focuses on the individual taking responsibility for their health and wellbeing. They do this by educating themselves and actively maintaining their health and wellbeing. The WHO (1946) states that good health is a state of complete physical, social and mental wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. There are also other different aspects of health that need to be considered such as illness, disability and disease. Illness is a period of sickness that affects the body of mind. Disability is a physical or mental impairment that limits an individual’s movements, senses or activities. Disease is a disorder or malfunctioning part of the body which impairs good health. Other aspects of health that need to be considered are the sick role and the clinical iceberg. The sick role is when an individual who is affected by an illness adopts the social role of “being sick”. This means that certain rights and obligations of theirs are affected. The sick person has the right to not take part in normal social roles, this is called exemption. They also have the right to not be responsible for their illness. The obligations are that the sick person should try and get well and should aim to get professional medical help and cooperate with healthcare professionals. The clinical iceberg is used to describe the large amount of illnesses that are not reported.

In society there are different social structures in place. These are family, education and health care services. Family prepares us for primary socialisation. It is the cornerstone for the whole of society. Education is an agency of secondary socialisation. It is an institution that “broadens the individual’s experience” of the social world. It prepares us for adult role relationships. Health care services are services that deal with the diagnosis and treatment of disease or the promotion, maintenance and restoration of health.

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