Social Disparities

: Examine the meaning of the concept of social exclusion and discuss how social work may respond to the reality of social exclusion.

Communities are sometimes largely unaware that social factors rather than medical ones, such as income, and employment status, shape our health. Our health is also determined by the health and social services we receive, and our ability to attain high education levels, food and safe housing, among other factors.

In recent years and in light of recent tragedies, police actions, specifically police brutality, has come into view of a large, public and rather critical eye. The power to take life rests in the final stage of the criminal justice system. However, the controversy lies where due process does not. While the use of deadly force is defined and limited by departmental policies, it remains an act guided chiefly by the judgment of individual officers in pressure situations. (Goldkamp 1976, 169). Many current studies have emphasized the racial disparities in minority deaths, primarily black Americans, killed by police through means of deadly force. The history of occurrences reveals the forlorn truth that police reforms only receive attention in wake of highly publicized episodes of police misconduct. The notorious 1992 Los Angeles riots brought the matter to mass public attention and prompted improved law enforcement policy. Significant local reforms resulted, for instance, ending the policy of lifetime terms for police chiefs. Additionally, on a broader platform, in 1994, Congress approved provisions to the Crime Control Act in effort to tackle police abuse in a more structured way.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or in opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and other population groups, and communities” (CDC, 2017).  It  is easy to believe that control on overall health relies solely on making  a firm decision (the “right” decision" to lead a healthy lifestyle— by being active and eating a balanced-diet. There are other factors to be considered in evaluating and understanding health disparities: why people seem to be noncompliant? Or why people aren’t seeking medical attention in a timely manner?  In reading

Being poor is hazardous to one's health. As seen in class, the conditions that are found in poor neighborhoods cause the poor to die earlier and have much less healthy lives than their more wealthy counterparts in better neighborhoods and the suburbs. The poor who are mostly of color are segregated by income into these areas where poverty, toxic waste, pollution and crime make their lives miserable indeed.

Having a low income can lead to poor to health, because you won’t have access or opportunities for better health, such as safe homes, nutritious foods and good schools. “Income may not be the strongest risk factor for any particular disease or outcome, but it’s a risk factor for all of them.” (Krisberg, 2017)

13.2% of the United States population identifies themselves as Black as African Americans, and of those over 16% had an mental illness that was diagnosable. The socio economic impact of a history of slavery, sharecropping and race-based exclusion from health, racism, spiritual beliefs, social and economic resources, education and other factors are key factors that contribute to African American disparities today. Many of these things are linked to mental health. According to the US department of health, African Americans are 20% more likely to report having serious psychological distress than in non-Hispanic whites (. Despite knowing this, African Americans are less likely to seek mental health services than white Americans.

A variety of challenges including personal, social, economic, and environmental factors can determine the health of an individual as well as its community. Others determinants of health include genetics, access to medical care, and socioeconomic measures such as education and poverty. Any interference among these factors can often lead to health disparities, which are health gaps that exist between different communities and populations. Health disparities can affect communities based on gender, age, race, social status, economic status, or special care needs. Therefore to understand which factors affect the health of a community, it is necessary to examine the social and economic conditions in which people live in, as well as the rates of diseases

healthcare system (Elchoufani, 2018). Attaining a good health is the ultimate goal for all people and the overall population, so it is important that people study the interactions between race, gender, and socioeconomic status in this matter (ASPPH, n.d.). People in communities with lower socioeconomic status typically encounter fewer options for healthy food and a lack of health education as well as health care. All in all, studying minority health allows us to find methods in making health care more accessible for under-resourced populations, along with determining methods out services and resources can be dispersed to the populations which are more prone to certain illnesses (ASPPH, n.d.). The studying which results in better methods all benefit towards guiding the U.S. population to overall health

The video Unnatural Causes: In Sickness and in Health highlights the various disparities that impact population health outcomes among different groups. The frequency of violence and crime is one such feature that impacts health. Areas affected with an increased prevalence of violence and crime, will likely have residents that feel unsafe outside their homes. If patrons are not safe in their homes or neighborhoods, they are less likely to active within their community. This particularly affects children. If they are unable to play outside safely, there are more likely to live sedentary lives as they grow into adulthood. This impacts population health because a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk for developing certain cancers and other poor

Governmental agencies influence health policies by influencing the Federal government, State government, and local laws by using population health research studies and interventions studies reported of health disparities. In addition to being well informed with health disparities they have access to investing, research and collecting evidence in assisting them to gather information that can influence health care polices. With each research that is conducted can possibly create new or old policies to be improved and aimed to reduce health disparities.

Eventually from socioeconomic disparities, a factor affects low income students from priming them from college is the maintenance of the school. The lower the maintenance of the school like poor hygiene and change of teacher will affect the students highly. It may come to a surprise that hygiene affects the mentally of the low-income school but it does because it distracts them. In the encyclopedia, Multicultural & Diversity Education, it describes that the many disparities that low-income schools face when being in the environment they are in. For example, they provide the example of “Cockroaches, rats, and and other vermin that can be found in the schools” (Multicultural & Diversity Education 119) when attending low-income schools because

Again, just living in poverty areas increases health issues and mortality due to health issues. Children raised in poverty in substandard homes located in high-crime areas have an increased chance of cognitive deficiencies, depression, or some other mental disorder (Anakwenze & Zuberi, 2013, p. 149). The children are the future; with this being said, an ugly cycle of poverty continues to be reinforced with each generation. Breaking the cycle with community outreach programs, increased mental health awareness, increased employment, and increased educational benefits for those in need are a few things that could potential help. As the old saying goes, “Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man To Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime” (Author unknown). Unfortunately, there is no right or easy answer for poverty but, I believe education is the key.

One of the reading that illustrates the concept of the different disparities found in rural and urban areas is the findings of Capitman et al. (n.d.) in its residents. The chapter, named Racial/Ethnic Caner Disparities: Conceptual Frameworks, presents the different barriers racial/ethnicities face when it comes to seeking health care services in regard to cancer diagnoses, treatment, and prevention. As the Capitman et al. (n.d.) stated economic, political and cultural exclusion have been attributed to ethnic and social class differences in accessing good quality health care and services. According to Unite For Sight (n.d.), urban areas are likely to face high prevalence of individuals without health insurance in relation to how much socioeconomic

According to Barnes (2005), social exclusion is defined as the condition by which individuals in a given society are disadvantaged than others depending on who they are. The various reasons to why some individuals are disadvantaged than others include race, ethnicity, where they live or migrant status, sexual orientation, descent, caste, age, gender, HIV status, disability (Barnes, 2005). Discrimination takes place in public institutions, for instance, in health and educational services and social institutions such as the household. Particular groups experience poverty due to social exclusion and this reduces the rate at which poverty is declines in a given society as a whole. Social exclusion can result in social conflict