Health and the Environment

Chapter 17

Sociological Perspectives on Health and Illness

• Health: “State of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity” (Leavell and Clark)

– Health and illness are socially constructed– Can be considered by how it varies

in different situations or cultures

Culture and Health

• Culture-bound syndrome: Disease or illness that cannot be understood apart from its specific social context– Anorexia nervosa

How society impacts health

• Cultural patterns define health

• Cultural standards of health change over time

• Technology affects people’s health

• Social inequality affects people’s health

Social Epidemiology and Health

• Social epidemiology: Study of distribution of disease, impairment, and general health status across a population– Incidence: Number of new cases

of a specific disorder occurring within a given population during a stated period of time, usually a year

Social Epidemiology and Health

– Prevalence: Number of cases of specific disorder that exist at a given time

– Morbidity rates: Disease incidence figures presented as rates or number of reports per 100,000 people

Social Class

• People in lower classes have higher rates of mortality and disability– Appear to be cumulative– Less able to afford quality medical care– Conflict theorists: capitalist societies care

more about maximizing profits than they do about the health and safety of industrial workers

Race and Ethnicity

• Health profiles of racial and ethnic groups reflect social inequality in U.S.– Poor economic and environmental

conditions manifested in high morbidity and mortality rates

Gender

• Women experience higher prevalence of many illnesses but tend to live longer– Lower rate of cigarette smoking– Lower alcohol consumption– Lower rate of employment

in dangerous occupations– Women more likely to seek treatment

Age

• Most older people in U.S. have at least one chronic illness– Older people vulnerable

to certain types of mental health problems

– Older people use more health services than younger people

Sociological Perspectives on the Environment

• Environment people live in has noticeable effect on their health– Increases in population,

together with economic development, have serious environmental consequences

Demography

• The study of human population– Fertility – Mortality – Migration

Fertility

– the incidence of childbearing in a society’s population

• Crude birth rate – the number of live births in a given year for every thousand people in a population

Mortality

– the incidence of death in a society’s population

• Crude death rate – the number of deaths in a given year for every thousand people in a population

• Infant mortality rate – number of deaths among infants under 1 year of age for every thousand live births in a given year

• Life expectancy – the average life span of a society’s population

Migration

– the movement of people into and out of a specified territory

• Immigration – movement into a territory• Emigration – movement out of a territory• Net-migration – the difference between the

immigration and emigration rate

Population Growth

• Growth rate – the difference between births and deaths, plus the difference between immigrants and emigrants per 1,000 population.

Malthusian Theory

• Rapid population growth leads to social chaos

• Population increases exponentially(1,2,4,8,16, etc) while food increases arithmetically(1,2,3,4), leading to catastrophic starvation

• Why not?– Industrial revolution– Agricultural technology

Demographic Transition

• Population patterns reflect a society’s level of technological development– Stage 1 – preindustrial - high birth, high

death– Stage 2 – onset of industrial – high birth,

lower death– Stage 3 – industrial – declining birth, low

death– Stage 4 – postindustrial – low birth, steady

death

Human Ecology

• Interrelationships between people and their spatial setting and physical environment

Urban Ecology

• Interrelationships as they emerge in urban areas

• Concentric –zone theory-– Spread from center

• Multiple-nuclei theory – – Many centers of development

• Suburban design

Environment Deficit

• Profound and negative harm to the natural environment, caused by humanity’s focus on short-term material affluence

Environmental Racism

• Pattern by which environmental hazards are greatest for poor people, especially minorities– Environmental justice – legal strategy

Ecological Modernization

• Ecological modernization: focus on alignment of environmentally favorable practices with economic self-interest through constant adaptation and restructuring– Macro level: reintegrating industrial

waste back into the production process– Micro level: reshaping individual lifestyles

Ecologically Sustainable Culture

• A way of life that meets the needs of the present generation without threatening the environmental legacy of future generations– Control population growth– Conserve finite resources– Reduce waste