Health and Illness: Functional or Dysfunctional - Coursework Example

Health and Illness: Functional or Dysfunctional? I. Introduction Drawing on the two most dominant sociological perspectives, functionalism and conflict theory, people can gain greater knowledge into the social context influencing definitions of health and treatment of illness, particularly mental illness and eating disorders in UK. Even though illness is an occurrence present in all cultures, functionalists argue that an excessively broad definition of illness would entail serious difficulties on the functioning of a society. Illness implies at least a momentary disruption in an individual’s social interactions both at work and at home. Correspondingly, from a functionalist perspective, “being sick must be controlled so as to ensure that not too many people are released from their societal responsibilities at any time” (Schaefer, 1995, 480). Sickness necessitates that one assumes on a social role even if transitory. The ‘sick role’ refers to “societal expectations about the attitudes and behaviour of a person viewed as being ill” (King, 1972, 336). Furthermore, according to Talcott Parsons’ assumption, health care providers function as ‘gatekeepers’ for the sick role, either validating a patient’s health condition as illness or classifying the patient as ‘recovered’. The person who is ill becomes reliant on the physician since the latter can regulate valued incentives, not merely healing of illness but also off the hook nonattendance from work and school. Parsons puts forward that the physician-patient relationship resembles parent-children relationship. Just like a parent, the physician provides the patient the right or coming back to society as a complete and functioning individual (Bloom and Wilson, 1979). Several criticisms of the notion of the sick role have emerged. In the perspective of some observers, patients’ decisions regarding their personal condition of health may be associated to their individual attributes such as gender, age, social class and racial affinity. The sick role may be relevant to people enduring short-term illnesses than those with chronic, long-term illnesses. Nevertheless, sociologists continue to depend on Parson’s framework for functionalist analysis of the continuity between illness and societal anticipations for the ill (Schaefer, 1995). Whilst functionalists aims to explain the system used by health care systems to address the needs of society as well as those of patients and health care providers, conflict theorists cater to issues with this standpoint. Eliot Freidson (1970) has compared the position of contemporary medicine “to that of state religions yesterday, it has an officially approved monopoly of the right to define health and illness and to treat illness” (5). Conflict theorists coined the term ‘medicalization of society’ to pertain to the increasing role of medicine as a foremost institution of social control (Conrad & Schneider, 1992). Nevertheless, viewed from a conflict perspective, medicine is not merely a healing profession; it is also a controlling mechanism. The medicalization of society is only one of the concerns of conflict theorists as they evaluate the functioning of health care institutions. Traditionally, conflict theorists analyze health issues through the pinpointing of “who benefits, who suffers and who dominates at the expense of others” (Schaefer, 1995, 482). II. Social Perspectives on UK’s Mental Health Problems A. Functionalist Perspective According to the prediction of the World Health Organization (WHO) released in 2001, there will be one individual in four people around the globe who will endure a mental health predicament at some point in their life (WHO, 2001, as cited in ESRC, 2007, para 6). This prediction has received excessive publicity hence became controversial because of its ‘1 in 4’ ratio on mental health. In the 2003 WHO fact sheet regarding ‘Mental Health in the European Region’ it was exposed that mental health problems account for a large portion of GP consultations in Europe (Fact Sheet Euro, 2003, as cited in ESRC, 2007, para 6). One of the most recurring mental health problems in UK is depression. In a group of six people, one will put up with depression at some point in their life (ESRC, 2007, para 8) and it is mainly rampant among people under the age racket of 25-44. In the 2003 WHO fact sheet regarding mental health in Europe, it was estimated that 33.4 million people in the area more or less go through depression in whichever specified year, and more than 30 million people across the globe have been given a prescription of an anti-depressant Prozac (ibid, para 8). Life’s circumstances such as high expectations, pressures from societal norms or the crumbling of a relationship can produce depression; this is the premise upheld by the functionalist perspective. Mental illness, particularly depression, is caused by social forces such as societal norms and values that pressure individuals in a society. In other words, depression can be seen as an outcome of society’s functions. Akin to Emile Durkheim’s theory on suicide, the increasing incidences of depression in UK can be analyzed as a result of the functioning of the different social institutions such as the family, economy, politics, religion and others. For instance, according to BBC News (2006), “continuous political interference is causing stress-induced mental breakdowns in public servants, a consultant psychiatric has claimed” (para 1). Tim Cantopher, a psychiatrist in a rehabilitation clinic, he was currently receiving request for mental assistance from professionals such as doctors, teachers, social workers, and other public servants. (ibid). Intensified bureaucratization, which the government and other political organizations see as the potent solution to conflict in public service, served the contrary to the public servant. Public servants commit mistakes which in the process will spur a protracted series of inquiry until the resolution process is complete. Because of this political stress, public servants usually fall into depression. According to Durkheim, when society’s functions produce such social pathologies such as mental illness, it becomes dysfunctional. Therefore, public servants in UK are confronted with pressures from leaders or politicians which give rise to depression. Another recurrent incident in UK, particularly in Britain, is abortion which according to psychiatrists can lead to mental illness. Sarah-Kate Templeton (2008) declared that “more than 90% of the 200,000 terminations in Britain every year are believed to be carried out because doctors believe that continuing with the pregnancy would cause greater mental strain” (para 5). Numerous studies have assumed that abortion might be closely linked to mental health problems in young women (ibid). Early pregnancy or pregnancy out-of-wedlock faces a painful stigma in the society, especially in the perspective of religion. A pregnant young woman is not only anxious of her economic status to bear a child but also the sanction that the society will levy on her because of believed sexual aggressiveness, which is then a disgusting attribute for the church. Faced with these great problems, a pregnant young woman will just resort to abortion. Again, using the functionalist perspective, abortion is an outcome of the social forces that persistently intervene with an individual’s private life. The stigma, which is usually a consequence of religious codes, against pregnant unmarried women is so agonizing that they decide to put a stop to their pregnancy. However, religion being a social institution has to carry out its function which is to regulate human behaviour based on the moral standards. Therefore, abortion in a functionalist perspective is merely a product of the functioning of the social structure. B. Conflict Theory On the other hand, conflict theorists argue that societal functions are intrinsically characterized by human struggles, commonly through classifications or divisions in the society such as age, gender and most importantly, social class. In UK, social class influences the pervasiveness of mental health problems. According to the ESRC (2007), children belonging to the bottom social classes are more probable to experience a mental health problem than those in the upper echelons of the social hierarchy; “the highest rates of mental disorders among children occur among those from families where no parent has ever worked” (National Statistics, 2004, as cited in ESRC, 2007, para 13). Moreover, poverty also has a profound impact on mental health. Individuals from the poorest areas are more highly susceptible to hospital confinement for depression and more expected to commit suicide. Suicide, even though not widely acknowledged as a mental health problem, according to the Office for National Statistics is closely associated to mental disorders (ibid, para 16). “It is estimated that a quarter of those who commit suicide each year in the UK will have been in contact with mental health services in the previous year” (Center for Social Prevention, 2008, as cited in ESRC, 2007, para 16). Furthermore, Scotland has a predominantly high suicide rate akin to the other countries in UK, and one of the uppermost in Europe. It has been discovered that women in Scotland are “70 per cent more likely to commit suicide that women elsewhere in the UK, and men 60 per cent more likely” (ESRC, 2007, para 17). Mental health problems, specifically depression, in UK are classified primarily based on social class and gender, as provided in the statistics given above. Analyzing this in the lens of conflict perspective, these mental health problems manifest a deep rift between social classes and genders. Perhaps, because of the economic difficulties faced by the poor people they tend to be more depressed than those who are well-off. Recalling Karl Marx’s theory on oppression, this reality could be accounted to the fact that those ruling social class perpetuate the uneven distribution and allocation of resources so that they could maintain their power and wealth; yet, on the other hand, other people become poor or even poorer because of this manipulation of the status quo. On the other hand, the high rate of suicide among the women, perhaps due to depression, in Scotland could be attributed to the traditional gender roles that women have to put up to. The women, given their restricted privileges in the society, tend to be more emotional and they are inclined to feel insufficient hence they are more prone to fall into depression and commit suicide than their male counterparts. In relation again to Marx’s theory, these restrictions set by the dominant group in the society result in the feeling of alienation or the failure of the oppressed individual to be aware of the strong link between their social functions and their self-identity which then give rise to mental health problems, particularly depression. III. Conclusion Sociology, as August Comte has alleged, is the ‘queen of sciences’ since it can provide a thorough explanations of the underlying principles behind the dominance and inferiority of social foundations or institutions, such as health and medicine. Sociologists from different nationalities and social status have convened in what is known now as the sociological perspectives. Health and illness are universal phenomena; no society does away without these societal aspects. Therefore, it is important to analyze the different standpoints regarding the functionality and discontinuity of health care systems in a given culture and in this case the mental health problems confronting UK today. Examining health and medicine, particularly mental illness, using the two dominant sociological perspectives, functionalism and conflict, intellectuals and ordinary individuals in UK as well could have the power to predict the direction of the institution. Moreover, the improvements of these mental health care systems in UK rely heavily on the research studies providing various frameworks, such as social research. For the mentally ill, it is important to examine over again the classic labelling theory in order to assess its impact on the development of the perceptions of the mentally ill about their selves, about the people around them and about their significant others. It is essential for the various social institutions to assist individuals with mental health problem and not to further immerse them to the miserable and depressing condition that they are into. Works Cited Bloom, S. & Wilson, A. (1979). Patient-Practitioner Relationship. In H. E. Freeman, Handbook of Medical Sociology (pp. 275-296). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Conrad, P. & Schneider (1992). Deviance and Medicalization: From Baldness to Sickness. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Freidson, E. (1970). Profession of Medicine. New York: Dodd, Mead. King, S. (1972). Social-Psychological Factors in Illness. In H. E. Freeman, Handbook of Medical Sociology (pp. 129-147). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Mental Health and Mental Illness in UK. (2007, June 30). ESRC Society Today . Mental Health. (2004, March 30). National Statistics . Mental Health in th WHO European Region. (2003, September 8). Fact Sheet Euro . National Confidential Inquiry. (2008, June). 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