Chapter 3: Social Justice Flashcards
Define socio-economic class and its relation to health - What does it account for?
An economic and sociological combined total measure of a person’s work experience and of an individual’s or family’s economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation
- Low = illness
- High = health
*Accounts for multiple aspects of economic and social disadvantage
Define Health Gradient
- 2 Factors
A gradient such that those one step down the ladder are unhealthier than those above
- Higher SES = better health
- Lower SES = worse health
- Psychological Factors = self-efficacy, self-esteem, perceived control, etc.
- Behavioural Factors = diet, exercise, etc.
Define Death gradient
When mortality is a measure more appropriate to term health gradient “death gradient”
What is equality and equity - what is the difference between the two?
Equality: State of being equal in status, rights, opportunity, health…
- Thought that giving everyone the same thing = everything will be ok
Equity: State or quality of being fair
- Acknowledges people start from different places and have different history; we don’t all have the same reality
- Just because people are all given the same thing, doesn’t mean they are all equal; we all need different things to achieve the same goal
What is social justice?
The equity of distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society
Define Human rights
Fundamental moral and legal social norms necessary for people to live a minimally good life
What is the problem with the health gradient?
Our ability to approach health matters where we start
- Where we are born into, financially stable vs. facing hardships from the get-go
What did Louis-René Villermé discover?
Concluded there was a relationship between wealth of neighborhood (SES) and health of residence
- Poorer neighborhoods = higher death rates; illness;
disabilities; childhood suffering
- Was a social determinant of health (SDOOH approach to understanding health disparities.
Describe the poverty map
Wealth in the middle and poverty pushed to outskirts
- white flight = when white people move further as different races move into their areas
What is the germ theory and social darwinism?
- controlling pathogens = health
- innate inferiority of certain people = ill health
What are the four levels of the Bronfenbrenner’s model?
1) micro - family, school, neighbourhood
2) meso - peer groups
3) exo - parental support systems, parental workplace
4) macro - political & social philosophy
What are the factors the Bronfenbrenner’s model take into account?
1) Physical - smoking, violence…
2) Material - poor housing, insufficient school supplies…
3) Social - bullying, overcrowding…
4) Psychological - stress, lack of control…
What is the psychosocial explanation of the health gradient?
Focuses upon the:
1) Micro level (individual)
- argues that when those with lower SES compare themselves to others and see that they have less, this causes stress, which contributes to ill health
2) Macro level (social)
- focuses on how income inequality impairs social bonds and limits participation in civic benefits (e.g., good schools, safe housing, etc), resulting in unhealthy conditions
What is the neo-material explanation of the health gradient?
Focuses on importance of income and living conditions overall
1) Micro-level
- Unequal societies low SES = fewer economic resources vulnerability to threats ill-health
2) Macro-level
- Income inequality less investment unhealthy conditions ill-health
Define social capital
the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively
*The degree of civic engagement, levels of interpersonal trust and norms of reciprocity. E.g. community belonging
