Health and Social Care

990 Words4 Pages
P2 Explain different sociological approaches to health and ill health Throughout society there are many different sociological approaches to health and ill health. Within society there are many different perspectives towards whom the responsibility for health falls upon and also what defines people as ill? Your health is defined by the general condition of your body and mind. An illness is defined by an impairment of normal physical or mental function. To help explain the different sociological approaches to health and ill health I will be referring to the case study of Aziz and Tamsela. Aziz and Tamsela have four young children; Tamsela’s elderly parents also live with them in their three bedroomed houses in a deprived and depressing area of London. Their house is in desperate need of repair; it is damp and due to this is very expensive to heat in the winter months. Aziz and Tamsela are both currently unemployed. The family also has very ill health; during the winter the children generally seem to have constant colds. The functionalist approach The functionalist approach to health is studying the relationship between the sick individual and the society as a whole. Talcott Parsons stated that using the traditional functionalist approach, for the society to function efficiently the members of the society need to be free from illness and must be of well health. The functionalist view in health and social care believes that medicine serves the wellbeing of society as a whole and that the public are protected from people whom may want to abuse the system. The society’s role is controlling limiting the abuse of the sick role by acting as a gate keeper and legitimates absence from work for individuals. This can be achieved by protecting the public from unscrupulous practice and acting as a gate keeper to the sick role if over used this could become a dysfunctional
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