Question

Forum Question: Compare and contrast sociology with medical sociology. Why is it important to study medical sociology?

My response:Scientific study of problems facing people like diseases and finding solutions to them through research involving application of sociological theories like Structural- functionalist theory”?

Professor response? What is an example of a study that uses structural functionalism theory to find solutions to improve health?

Answer 1

Ans) What makes medical sociology important is the critical role social factors play in determining or influencing the health of individuals, groups, and the larger society. At its inception, work in medical sociology was oriented toward finding solutions relevant for clinical medicine.

- If sociology is the systematic study of human behaviour in society, medical sociology is the systematic study of how humans manage issues of health and illness, disease and disorders, and health care for both the sick and the healthy.

- Medical sociology is simply the study of the effects of social and cultural factors on health and medicine. Specializing as a medical sociologist helps individuals view the healthcare system as a function of the society and serve it by examining and improving all its facets.

- Sociological theories provide frameworks and insights that allow for the systemisation of knowledge of the social world. This is why theory is fundamental in empirical investigation and the scientific explanation of events. This is the first of the four chapters on sociological theoretical underpinning in health studies. The starting point is the functionalist perspective which is dated to the works of August Comte, Emile Durkheim, Herbert Spencer, and many other scholars. The chapter discusses this realist perspective, showing the basic features of functionalism as a positivist, nomothetic, deterministic, and macroscopic tradition. The chapter then discusses three classical and substantive theories of functionalism in medical sociology, including the Sick Role by Talcott Parsons; Suicide by Emile Durkheim; and Social Capital Theory of Health. The features and criticisms of the sick role are discussed. The major idea of the Durkheimian perspective is the understanding of mortality through suicide by emphasising the social determinants that play major roles in suicide. Social capital is discussed as a major social resource that can help promote health.

- The Functionalists Perspectives For example: Each of the social institutions contributes important functions for society: family provides a context for reproducing, nurturing, and socializing children. Education offers a way to transmit a society's skills, knowledge, and culture to its youth.