what are the functionalist, conflict and symbolic interactionist perspective on heath and illness?

Answer 1

To really get an idea of how these three perspectives would respond to health and illness, I think it woudl be beneficial to briefly examine what these perspectives are.

Functionalism: Functionalism is based around a number of key concepts. Firstly, society is viewed as a system – a collection of interdependent parts, with a tendency toward equilibrium. Secondly, there are functional requirements that must be met in a society for its survival (such as reproduction of the population). Thirdly, phenomena are seen to exist because they serve a function [Holmwood, 2005:87]. (www.wikipedia.org)

The way one of my professors explained it to me was that according to functionalism, society functioned much like the human body. The human body is composed of various interdependent parts where each part is needed for the whole body to function normally. When one part doesn't work, it can throw the rest of the body off balance and essentially cause death. In society, for equilibrium or balance to be achieved all aspects of society need to function normally.

Conflict Theory:
tates that the society or organization functions so that each individual participant and its groups struggle to maximize their benefits, which inevitably contributes to social change such as changes in politics and revolutions. The theory is mostly applied to explain conflict between social classes, proletarian versus bourgeoisie; and in ideologies such as capitalism versus socialism. The theory attempts to refute functionalism, which considers that societies and organization function so that each individual and group plays a specific role, like organs in the body. There are radical basic assumptions (society is eternally in conflict, which might explain social change), or moderate ones (custom and conflict are always mixed). The moderate version allows for functionalism to operate as an equally acceptable theory since it would accept that even negative social institutions play a part in society's self-perpetuation.

The essence of conflict theory is best epitomized by the classic 'pyramid structure' in which an elite dictates terms to the larger masses. All major institutions, laws, and traditions in the society are designed to support those who have traditionally been in power, or the groups that are perceived to be superior in the society according to this theory. This can also be expanded to include any society's 'morality' and by extension their definition of deviance. Anything that challenges the control of the elite will likely be considered 'deviant' or 'morally reprehensible.' The theory can be applied on both the macro level (like the US government or Soviet Russia, historically) or the micro level (a church organization or school club). In summary, conflict theory seeks to catalogue the ways in which those in power seek to stay in power. (www.wikipedia.org)

Conflict theory in essence sees society existing in what is referred to as dialectics, everything in society has an opposing force which creates conflict. There is always going to be conlict between those who own the means of production or societal goods and those who struggle to get what they need.

Symbolic Interactionism: Herbert Blumer (1969), who coined the term "symbolic interactionism," set out three basic premises of the perspective:
1. "Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that the things have for them"
2. "The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with one's fellows."
3. "These meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with the things he/she encounters."
Blumer, following Mead.
Symbolic interactionism is a social constructionist approach to understanding social life that focuses on how reality is constructed by active and creative actors through their interactions with others.
Symbolic interactionist researchers investigate how people create meaning during social interaction, how they present and construct the self (or "identity"), and how they define situations of co-presence with others. One of the perspective's central ideas is that people act as they do because of how they define the present situation. (www.wikipedia.org)

Okay after you cover the basics of the theories, then you need to try and think critically about how each theory would respond to your particular question, in this case, health and illness.

Again, functionalism sees everything in society as needing to work together to achieve equilibruim. Health is important for this task because if members of society are unhealthy or ill, they will not be able to function adequately. If you are sick you are unable to be productive when many members of of society are ill society is thrown out of equilibrium because tasks are not being completed. Having a healthy society is critical to achieving equilibrium and would be important in a functionalist society.

Conflcit theory is extremely relevant to health and illness. I am going to share a paper I wrote on conflict theory's response to inequallities in the healthcare system.

The problems inherent in the healthcare system of the United States can best be examined using the conflict theoretical framework. Conflict theory sees human society existing in a system of dialectics. Dialectics means that conflict is natural and will occur in society due to "opposing forces within social/structural arrangements" (Matcha, 2000:16). Matcha, 2000, explains, "conflict most frequently occurs over the distribution of scarce resources" (Matcha, 2000:16). It the United States, one would think that healthcare is not a scarce resource due to the number of doctors, hospitals, medical schools, and the vast amount of medical technology that we have, but it is not a shortage of medical staff or technology, but the problems exists in the realm of access to these vital resources. If you do not have health insurance or your health insurance does not cover enough of your required medical expenses, you are forced to come up with the money yourself or go without. The wealthy or in Marxian terms the capitalists have the means to access the healthcare services that they need because they are the ones who make the decisions about how healthcare resources will be distributed. However, persons in the middle, working, and lower classes or the proletariat, often struggle to meet their most basic healthcare needs. A serious illness can easily cause a hardworking family to go completely bankrupt.
Bearing that in mind, it could be argued that since the ruling class needs hard workers to accomplish their tasks so that the ruling class can become richer, having healthy workers would be beneficial because if a worker is unhealthy they will not be as productive and will be able to produce as many goods and services as a healthier worker.

Symbolic Interactionism
I had always understood symbolic interactionism to be relevant in terms of mental illness. Symbolic interactism has a concept by Calvin Cooley referred to as the 'Looking Glass Self' , we see ourselves in terms of how we are viewed in society. If society views us as ill largely mentally but also physically we may come to perceive ourselves that way and behave accordingly. A person with a physical handicap may come to view themself as flawed or defective and will behave that way. A person with a mental illness will act the way a person with mental illness is supposed to act. I hope I've helped, if you want more info on symbolic interactionism I HIGHLY recommend reading Erving Goffman's books, such as The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Stigma, and Asylums.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Interactionist Perspective Definition

Answer 3

Symbolic Interaction Approach Definition

Answer 4

To add to the other two posts I will say it has alot to do with culture. There are alot of cultures where it is expected and the woman are to do as told and not question the husband or get punished. Woman are also abusers. Also it changes the victim alot. She can either come out stronger or more prone to a repeat ie be involved with another abuser. There are alot of effects on the victim of DV. Sometimes they turn aggressive. A good place to get those answers is in a place that does counceling for the abusers try to contact some area places. My ex had those words in his black book ehich is a book they give you at your meetings. He was a abuser.

Answer 5

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RE :What are the functionalist, conflict and symbolic interactionist perspective on heath and illness?
7 following 5 answers

Answer 6

what are functionalist, conflict and interactionalist perspective of health giver.