Health and wellbeing

The discipline of sociology was founded in the 19th century in Western Europe by Max Weber, Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim who theorized on how society can be understood, with each theorist having a different perspective about the fabric of society. Their theories were influenced by their views of the society and how it works, bringing to the fore the ‘consensus’ and ‘conflict’ theories.

The consensus theory describes the importance of social order and core values necessary for the survival of human society, which everyone is expected to imbibe through the process of socialization, while conflict theory sees the society as characterized by divisions and differences leading to conflicts and inequalities with one group dominating the other, a theory known as Marxism.

The conflict and consensus sociological theories are both important in understanding public health and how to attain better health. Both theories explain social distribution of health and illness and how human actions and experiences impact on health.

At this juncture, I will define sociology and medical sociology for more insight on the relationship between health and society.

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1. What is sociology?

According to Reiss, sociology can be defined as “the study of social aggregates and groups in their institutional organizations, and the causes and consequences of changes in institutions and social organizations”.

It is a study of social organizations and life experiences, as well as how people behave, both as individuals and as social groups such as families, peer groups, communities, schools, and religious organizations, within the context of societal norms and values.

2. What is medical sociology?

According to Cockerham, medical sociology is a subdiscipline of sociology that studies the social causes and consequences of health and illness.

The society is seen as comprising different elements that work together for good.

For example, in the 1930s, Henderson published a work that describes the relationship between the patient and the doctor as a social system.

I can now go on to discuss the consensus and conflict theories, and their implications for health and wellbeing.

3. Consensus and conflict theories, and their implications for health and wellbeing

• Consensus theory

To put it simply, reaching a consensus on an issue means reaching an agreement. For example, roles, symbols, norms and culture are all forms of consensus.

Two models of consensus theory including individual systemic and social systemic models have been described.

The individual systemic model of consensus emphasizes that individual agreement is implicit in public opinion and social norms.

The social systemic model stresses co-orientation of individuals in a group as described in symbolic interactionism, a social action theory that is influenced by Max Weber and Mead and Dewey.

Consensus concept is concerned with socialization and social order, with social institutions such as families, religion, and educational institutions contributing to common societal values or culture.

Consensus theory implies that for society to work and survive, it requires social norms and rules which are meant to guide individual behaviors irrespective of differences in opinion.

Therefore, people get to agree on what constitutes appropriate behavior following socialization into prevailing societal norms and values.

An important consensus theory that merits a mention here is called structural functionalism.

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Structural functionalism is a consensus theory that considers the society in terms of how it works especially with emphasis on social structures.

The structural functionalist theory considers the bigger picture in which case the society and all its components are considered as a whole.

It was influenced by the work of Durkheim on suicide, probably the first work ever in the field of medical sociology.

As discussed above, consensus theory focuses on social order and socialization of people based on common culture and value system.

The theory explains that human society may not survive without some forms of agreement among the members.

It recognizes the reality of differences in opinions that will occur from time to time but which are downplayed for the sake of common good especially when issues of common interests and core values are involved.

If we consider the issues contributing to inequalities in health such as smoking, adverse life events, hazardous work, exercise and diet, consensus theory will look at how the burden of inequalities is shared and carried by the members of the society who build a consensus as to the need to forge a common front to overcome the burden by together looking at the underlying causes.

Therefore, there is harmony and social order even in the face of adversities.

• Conflict theory

On the other hand, conflict theory explains how structural inequalities in the society evolve.

For example, it establishes a link between social class and health.

Conflict theory, also known as Marxism postulates that society is characterized by divisions and differences based on inequalities that arise from socioeconomic class, ethnicity, gender and income.

According to Naidoo and Wills, inequalities in health status exist between groups of individuals due to structural inequalities such as class, ethnicity and gender.

It therefore follows that a conflict of interests will occur:

• between the privileged and the less privileged;
• between those in power and the subordinates;
• and between the rich and the poor.

In other words, human behavior is influenced by inequality which will lead to conflict.

Next: How does social class relate to health?

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Social class is defined by Gabe, Bury and Elston as “a segment of the population, distinguished from others by similarities in labour market position and property relations”. Stratification by social class, for example, is associated with power relations between different groups.

According to Gabe, Bury and Elston, stratification by social class is also associated with variations in gaining access to resources, while the type of property owned and the job done are sources of power, income, privilege and control.

Health, survival and mortality are some of the aspects of social class referred to as life chances which differ by social class leading to health inequalities.

Similarly, due to heterogeneity of social classes, members may differ, for example, in ranks, ethnicity and gender which also contribute to variations in health, leading to inequalities within social classes.

Further, socioeconomic status, ethnicity and gender cause variations in health behaviors and mental health between social groups, leading to health inequalities.

Research has shown that health and disease are socially distributed, as the wealthier members of the society enjoy better health and live longer than the less advantaged social groups. In other words, a strong relationship exists between social class and health.

According to Naidoo and Wills, major differences in death rates between social classes have also been recorded, as evidenced by differences in infant mortality, life expectancy and prematurity. They also noted that people from lower class fall sick more often.

4. Conclusion

The study of sociological perspectives offers a comprehensive analysis and understanding of how health and illness are socially distributed and how daily human interactions define social experiences including the impact on health, illness and institutions of healthcare. The differences and divisions in the society as represented here by social class, as well as economic and political forces expose members of different social groups to causes of socioeconomic inequalities in health.

It is easy to understand, for example, why smoking is a major public health issue, the upstream factors responsible for tobacco smoking and the control measures necessary to curb its impact on health. This understanding makes more effective the efforts at promoting and improving health and wellbeing.

Please feel free and share your thoughts in the comments section.