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Health and illness are not just biological conditions; they are also shaped by society. The three major sociological perspectives—functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism—offer different frameworks for understanding the body, health, and illness.
Defining health and illness involves more than just biological factors. Health and illness are largely shaped by the social determinants of health, which refer to the economic, social, and environmental factors that impact health outcomes.
Socioeconomic status (SES) is one of the strongest predictors of health. Economic status plays a major role in determining a person’s access to healthcare, nutrition and living conditions.
Race and ethnicity also contribute to health disparities. Marginalized groups often face systemic barriers to quality healthcare, leading to higher rates of preventable diseases, shorter life expectancies, and inconsistent medical treatment.
Gender further influences health in complex ways. Women, while generally living longer than men, are more likely to experience chronic illnesses and face disparities in medical research and treatment.
Where a person lives significantly impacts their health. Environmental hazards, access to clean water, availability of healthcare facilities, and neighborhood safety all contribute to overall well-being.
Urban neighborhoods with high poverty rates often have fewer grocery stores selling nutritious food, leading to higher rates of obesity and diet-related illnesses—a phenomenon known as food deserts.
Disability is also a socially constructed experience shaped by accessibility, stigma, and cultural attitudes.
The medical model views disability as an individual impairment that must be treated or “fixed” through medical interventions.
The social model argues that societal barriers, such as inaccessible buildings, discriminatory hiring practices, and negative social attitudes create disability.
Many people with disabilities face ableism, which includes stereotypes, prejudices, and structural discrimination that limit those with disabilities from opportunities for education, employment, and social inclusion.
The neurodiversity movement, which challenges the idea that conditions like autism or ADHD are disorders needing correction, exemplifies a growing resistance to medicalized notions of disability.
Medicalization occurs when behaviors, experiences, or conditions that were previously seen as personal, moral, or social issues become classified as medical problems requiring diagnosis and treatment.
Demedicalization happens when conditions that were once considered medical disorders are redefined as normal life experiences or social issues, removing them from medical oversight.
A key aspect of medicalization is the labeling process, where individuals receive a medical diagnosis that changes how they understand themselves and how others perceive them.
The functionalist perspective views the body, health, and illness in terms of how they contribute to the stability and functioning of society.
The sick role describes the social expectations placed on people who are sick. It includes both rights (exemption from normal responsibilities, not being blamed for the illness) and obligations (seeking medical treatment and trying to recover).
According to the functionalist perspective, healthcare institutions exist to restore order by diagnosing and treating illness, ensuring that individuals can return to their normal roles.
Doctors, nurses, and medical professionals act as gatekeepers, determining who qualifies as legitimately sick and in need of treatment. This process, known as legitimization, refers to how an illness is socially recognized as real and deserving of medical attention.
Contested illnesses are medical conditions whose legitimacy is questioned by medical professionals, the public, or institutions due to unclear biological causes, lack of definitive diagnostic tests, or social stigma.
While functionalism highlights the importance of healthcare in maintaining social stability, it has been criticized for overlooking social inequalities in health.
The conflict perspective views the body, health, and illness through the lens of power, inequality, and economic control.
From a conflict perspective, healthcare is largely viewed as a profit-driven industry where medical services, medications, and treatments are sold like any other commodity, a process referred to as the commodification of health.
From a conflict perspective, the body is both regulated and exploited based on economic and political interests. Bodies are also sites of social resistance, as individuals challenge mainstream ideals through body modifications, alternative fashion, or the rejection of traditional beauty standards.
While the conflict perspective effectively highlights healthcare inequalities, it can sometimes overlook the positive aspects of medical advancements and the role of healthcare professionals who genuinely strive to improve public health.
The symbolic interactionist perspective views the body, health, and illness as socially constructed experiences shaped by individual interactions, cultural meanings, and social expectations.
Symbolic interactionists examine how doctor-patient interactions shape people’s understanding of their bodies and illnesses.
Medical paternalism is when doctors make decisions for patients rather than involving them in the process.
In the past, medical professionals held unquestioned authority, but modern healthcare emphasizes patient-centered care, where individuals are encouraged to participate in decisions about their treatment.
Sociologist Erving Goffman introduced the concept of stigma, which refers to a socially discrediting attribute that changes how a person is seen by society, often leading to prejudice, discrimination, or exclusion.
The way people interpret and present their bodies is socially constructed. Symbolic interactionists study how the body is used to communicate meaning and personal expression, which is constructed and interpreted through social interactions.
A major criticism of symbolic interactionism is that it focuses on individual interactions and neglects broader structural issues that shape health outcomes.
Public healthcare is government-funded and aims to provide medical services to all citizens, as seen in countries with universal healthcare, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.
Private healthcare is often market-driven, relying on private insurance or out-of-pocket payments.
In countries with universal healthcare, all citizens have access to healthcare, regardless of income or employment status.
Market-based healthcare systems operate like businesses with minimal government involvement.
Healthcare disparities refer to the unequal access to medical care, treatment quality, and health outcomes experienced by different social groups, often based on race, class, gender, and geography.
Structural violence refers to the systemic and institutionalized inequalities that cause harm by limiting access to resources, opportunities, and basic needs, including healthcare.
The sociology of the body examines how social, cultural, and institutional forces shape the way people experience and understand their bodies.
Beauty standards are socially constructed and vary across different cultures and across time and place, often reflecting broader social hierarchies related to gender, race, and class.
Colorism is discrimination or prejudice based on skin tone, where lighter skin is often privileged over darker skin within the same racial or ethnic group.
The concept of embodiment refers to how individuals experience, interpret, and express their identities through their physical bodies.
Body modifications refer to the deliberate alteration of the human body for aesthetic, cultural, spiritual, or personal reasons. These modifications can be temporary (such as hairstyling or makeup) or permanent (such as tattoos or surgical alterations).
Healthcare is inherently political, with laws, policies, and economic interests shaping who has access to medical care, which treatments are available, and how public health crises are managed.
The concept of biopower, introduced by Michel Foucault, refers to the ways in which governments, medical institutions, and social systems regulate and control bodies and populations in the name of health, efficiency, and social order.
While medical advancements have led to life-saving treatments for conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and infectious diseases, the profit-driven nature of the pharmaceutical industry raises ethical concerns.
Health policies are often at the center of moral and ethical debates. Some of the most controversial issues in healthcare include reproductive rights, end-of-life care and euthanasia, and genetic engineering and biotechnology.
Disease outbreaks have shaped human history, influencing social structures, economies, and public policies.
Epidemics—localized outbreaks of infectious disease—and pandemics—global disease outbreaks—reveal how societies respond to health crises and expose inequalities in healthcare access and government intervention.
