Social class and health Flashcards
What is a social class?
A segment of the population, distinguished from others by similarities in labour market position and property relations
Tied to theories of social stratification
Includes measures of economic, social and cultural capital
What is social stratification?
Divisions in society based on economic and social class
What is the Registrar General scale base on?
Occupation
What are the categories of the Registrar General scale?
I = professional II = intermediate IIIa = skilled non-manual IIIb = skilled manual IV = semi-skilled manual V = unskilled manual
What does the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification capture?
Job security Career structure Autonomy Authority Salary/pay rise
What are the categories of National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification?
- Higher managerial/professional
- Lower managerial/professional
- Intermediate
- Small employers/self employed
- Lower supervisory and technical
- Semi-routine
- Routine
- Never worked/long term unemployed
What is intersectionality?
Intersections between aspects of social difference and identity and forms of systematic oppression
What can inequalities and health be shown by?
Income Gender Age Place Ethnicity Not often mutually exclusive - often have causal mechanism
What is an artefact in data?
Evidence of inequality isn’t actually real - the relationship is fake
Issues with the relationship between inequality and health
Social classes changing in size
Causal mechanism not clear
What is the health selection explanation?
Healthier = more upwardly mobile
More vulnerable face discrimination with social structures
Cultural/behavioural explanation
Assumes social class differences cause variation in health status Argues that lifestyle varies by social class
What is the psycho social explanation?
The lower you are in a hierarchy, the less autonomy and control of circumstances you have, which reinforces stress and anxiety
Relevance of sociology to medicine
Intervene with patients and support communities
What influence does social position have on how people manage health and interact with health services?
May result in irrational behaviour
Understand broader social context
Health services put requirements on patients
