5 health as a social institution

8/10/2019 5 Health as a Social Institution

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Health All cultures have a health care system or

institution

System of beliefs, practices, and practitioners

that reflects the cultures own beliefs about

the causes of illness

Societys response to sickness and the desire

to contain and prevent it from spreading

Health is represented by an absence of an illness

requiring medical attention


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Believe illnesses are

caused by a variety

of factors:

Germs; organic or

physical causes;

emotional or

psychologicalcauses

Western View


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Biomedical

model of illness:

reflects thescientific and

technological

cultures of most

Western

countries

Western View


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Development of Western Medicine has

allowed Western societies to overcome most

of the epidemics that still affect other

countries

smallpox, tuberculosis, cholera, typhoid, polio

Western View


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Case Study: Schizophrenia

Mental disease where a personsthinking is constantly interrupted by

hearing interior voices talking

Westernized approaches (in past)

have included: placing patients in

mental institutions and

electric shock therapy

More common, people sufferingfrom this are given a variety of

drugs to control the illness


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Some cultures rely on shamans, healers, or

medicine men/women to try to cure illnesses

Form of medicine often contains a spiritual element

Practitioners focus on curing the soul, which will

then cure the body

Non-Western View

Zimbabwe

South Africa Aboriginal


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Typical practices include use of chants, special

herbs or foods, smoke, and applying

pressure/massage to parts of the body

Performances often carried out with communitypresence so patient feels support of society

Non-Western View


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Schizophrenia Schizophrenic individuals are stigmatized less

in non-Western societies

Respect schizophrenics communication with

voicesregarded as other spirits and souls notaudible to other people

Treatment relies upon therapy groups and

healing rituals

People suffering from this condition tend to

receive lots of community/family support


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Illnesses that are specific to a particular culture

and appear to be immune to Western-style

treatment

Set of signs and symptoms that indicate anabnormality or disease that is specific to a

particular culture or racial background

Social Scientists are divided over whether these

syndromes are genetic or a result of the cultural

practices/beliefs

Nature vs. Nurture

Culture Bound Syndromes


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Culture Bound Syndromes


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Examples of

Culture BoundSyndromes


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An eating disorder common to Western Cultures

Involves an irrational fear of gaining weight, as

well as a distorted body self-perception

resulting in excessive weight loss

More common in women, due to the pressure

women feel by

the media to looka certain way

Example 4: Anorexia


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While all societies have some form of

institutionalized health care system, they differ

in regards to:

Responsibility for maintaining the health caresystem

Who can access to the health care system

Tends to be a very divisive political issue and hasmanifested in the debate over Socialized vs.

Privatized Medicine

The Health Care System


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Socialized Medicine


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Makes health care affordable for all citizens and

releases the private sector from its role in

health care

People supporting this view feel that health isa basic right such as food, shelter and clothing

For a society to operate harmoniously, the

needs of all its citizens need to be met

Structural-Functionalism

Socialized Medicine: Pros


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Socialized Medicine is common in:

Canada, Europe, and Countries which practice

Socialist or Left-Wing politics


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System has been criticized in: long wait-times for

treatment, low-quality of services, and lower

wages for health care practitioners

Socialized Medicine: Cons


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Due to the aging population, more taxes have

had to go towards providing these citizens with

health care

As a result there is less money left over foreducation and social services

Socialized Medicine: Cons


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Economic and free-market principles dominate

Government should be removed from regulating

insurance firms, doctors or hospitals as the

market will force insurers to offer plans thatmost people could afford

Many doctors see socialized medicine as forcing

very low prices on them

This is because when prices are kept artificially

low, shortages develop because there is no

incentive to produce

Privatized Medicine


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Privatized Medicine is practiced in:

United States, developing countries with high

inequality, and countries which practice Right-Wing politics


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System has been criticized as creating inequality,

or widening the divide between rich and poor

Privatized Medicine: Cons


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In the United States, for example, it limits peoples

access to good medical help as it discriminates

based on ability to pay



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Insurance companies have manipulated this

system by denying access to people who are of

certain ages, races, or have pre-existing conditions

This may change with the implementation ofObamacare



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Sickois a documentary exploring the negative aspects of the

American Health Care System and positive aspects of health

care systems in other countries

Produced by Micheal Moore, a critic of American politics and

an advocate of socialism

His research is based on interviews and conversations with

doctors, theorists, politicians, businessmen and patients

who have experienced the American Health Care system

and those of other countries

He looks into the debate of profit vs. equality

As you watch the film, take notes and use them to help you

answer the questions

Documentary Analysis

5 health as a social institution

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