The Effect of Social Organization on Everyday Life and Health

Why are higher income and social status associated with better health? If it were just a matter of the poorest and lowest status groups having poor health, the explanation could be things like poor living conditions. But the effect occurs all across the socio-economic spectrum. Considerable research indicates that the degree of control people have over life circumstances,

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.

Socio-economic class or socio-economic status (SES) may refer to mixture of various factors such as poverty, occupation and environment. It is a way of measuring the standard and quality of life of individuals and families in society using social and economic factors that affect health and wellbeing ( Giddens and Sutton, 2013). Cockerham (2007 p75) argues: ‘Social class or socioeconomic status (SES) is the strongest predictor of health, disease causation and longevity in medical sociology.’ Research in the 1990s, (Drever and Whitehead, 1997) found out that people in higher SES are generally healthier, and live longer than those in lower SES.

The determinants of health are economic and social conditions that affect people’s health status. These influence the living and working conditions that impacts people’s everyday living condition. Factors such as the place and the environment we live in, genetics, educational level or work status and income, as well as friends and family are some of the aspects that affects our health condition. On the other hand, the people that have an access to good health care and have financial stability are less susceptible and are often less affected. (NANB, 2009)

In this assignment I will be writing about two sociological perspectives and discus there patterns and trends of health and illness to two social groups.

This lack of prevention stems from poor education often received in those areas and the culture that often permeates within them (Williams/Torrens). Widely accepted is the concept that people with higher incomes generally enjoy better health and live longer than people with lower incomes.

Lower class people who are unemployed and depend on the government to support themselves live a poorer quality of life. This has a huge effect on levels of health and well being. For example, overcrowding in a home can affect health of an individual. The overcapacity of people living under the same roof creates respiratory infections from bacteria and dirt. This mainly involves the lower respiratory tract, which

If you have money you can afford to live in nicer upscale housing, not like poor people, they do not have that luxury. They live in neighborhoods that are dirty, rat infested, gang in habited and all kinds of other dangers. Rats leave droppings that are disease infested and overtime these droppings breakdown into dust, which can travel in the air and adults and children inhale this dust, which causes different illnesses.

Many are benighted to the fact that health is rooted in a classist, race ingrained, education entrenched hierarchy. The higher you are on the socio-economic pyramid the greater the guarantee of safe housing, sufficient food, and access to quality care. High income and social status is correlated to better health outcomes because regardless of age and sex, low-income citizens are susceptible to lower life expectancy and more illnesses. This is further heightened by one 's race/ethnicity. The degree of control a person has over their way of life is based on stressors that these two factors (income and class) produce. Education goes hand in hand with socioeconomic status as education supposedly facilitates the likelihood of employment and consequently establishes a class paradigm. Outside of that, when people are knowledgeable and are equipped with problem solving skills they are privileged with a sense of autonomy over life circumstances. Education is a gateway for better access to healthcare and information on healthy living. Stressful occupations, underemployment, and unemployment are linked with poor health because a person 's job, or lack thereof, has domineering influences on their physical, mental, and social wellness. Employment provides financial stability, outlets for personal growth, opportunities for social contact etc. thus when that is generally nonexistent, or is taken away from a person, physiological and emotional safety is compromised. Then there is

Being a racial minority and of a lower social class definitely influences your health and longevity. In Chapter 11, it states “white hold a significant advantage in health and longevity, having a life expectancy at birth of 79.0 years compared to African Americans at 75.3 years (Conley, pg 423). They mainly focus on the differences between whites and African Americans because they are the most prevalent. African Americans also have the highest infant mortality rate then any other race mentioned in the book. They say that it’s because of “day-to-day” life that contributes to their health because they are disproportionately poor, and being poor is very stressful (Conley, pg 424).

First of all I am going to begin with defining sex and gender. Sex in a sociological perspective is defined as the biological and physiological differences between men and women which are contrasted in terms of reproductive function(Abercrombie et al 2000 :313). On the other hand gender is sociologically conceived as the social roles allocated to men and women in society that is to say gender is learned not innate. However previously it was believed that sex determined gender thus the differences between men and

This essay will discuss ways in which a person’s socioeconomic class and his/her social situation can have an impact on his/her health, using examples. We believe that there is a direct link between socioeconomic/social class and health (Adler et al. 1994). I will be defining the key terms: socioeconomic and health, social class then proceed to discuss about how poverty, income, employability, environment and housing can impact on a person’s social situation and their health.

The aim of this essay is to examine the influence that socio-economic status has on an individual’s health.

This essay will focus on the biomedical and social model of health. It will be critically discussing both models using supporting theories and highlighting the limitations of each. This essay will also discuss and analyse how both models relate to lay perspectives on health and illness.

You might well think and ask, illness are concerned only with the physical condition of your body, why could one’s illness have anything to do with the society? However, one’s health issue can affect the society in different ways, for example, alcohol abuse and obesity that decrease the morale.