PolyU-Hong Kong Community College

AD Scheme in Health Studies

CCN2040
The E-learning System:
Sociology for Health Studies
Lecture 1 An Invitation
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Lecture 1
  What is sociology?

  Nature of sociological thinking Part 1: Introduction

  Thinking sociologically about health issues

What is
sociology? Why study?
 Course Objective What is sociology?
  This course aims at developing students’ sociological
understanding of health issues from both micro and macro Auguste Comte coined the term sociology.
perspectives.
  Sociology=Socio+logos
It familiarizes them with basic concepts and theories
Socio: Peers, companion, partners, group
 
 
in sociology, facilitates their in-depth analysis of
health issues in both local and global contexts,   logos: the truth

  equips them with a humanistic attitude to observing,   Sociology: Systematic study of how society
interpreting and articulating health issues in human
works.
societies.

Nature of Sociology
Part 2: Nature of   Sociology changes our quality of mind. It gives us

Sociology
perspectives (a way of seeing) to think about the
issues in everyday life differently.

Sociological Debunking
imagination

C. Wright Mills Peter L. Berger


I. Sociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills. (1959)
People often see their act as individualistic choice
and their suffering as personal trouble.
  C. Wright Mills (1959) stated that sociological  
imagination (SI) is a ’quality of mind essential to
grasp the interplay of men and society, of biography
and history, of self and world’ (p.10).
  In other words, it helps us understand people better
by putting individuals in the larger social context.  
Sociological Imagination
  Sociological imagination helps us
grasp the link between “personal
troubles” and “public issues”.
C. Wright Mills. (1959)
The Sociological Imagination
#1 Elderly Poverty is a
Personal Problem
Elderly leading a miserable life is not just a personal trouble (e.g.
unlucky, laziness, stupidity). In Hong Kong, one third of elderly
population (aged over 65) are living in poverty.
How could this be explained sociologically? Some explanations are:
  Changing family structure
  Technological change
Social inequality
 
  Government’s welfare protection
  Provision of healthcare
Any other social causes?
#2 Suicide Incidence vs
Suicidal Rates
Causes of suicide often found in newspaper or
media: emotional disturbance, study pressure,
feeling desperate, powerless, guilt, revenge…
  A sociological inquiry will look for:
the patterns in suicide rates between countries
and/or among different social groups in the
same society.
  social factors correlating with that patterns
Durkheim’s Study of Suicide:
A case of SI
  After examining the suicide records in France, Durkheim  
found that some categories of people were more likely than
others to take on their own lives. (More vulnerable groups:
SI & Nature of Sociological
Inquiry
Study of suicide is an excellent example showing the difference
between sociology and psychology; sociology differs from
psychology NOT by what to study but by how to study.

men, Protestants, the wealthy, the unmarried)  
  How are the pattern of differences explained sociologically?
  He deduced that these differences corresponded to people’s  
degree of social integration. Those who are more socially
isolated and individualistic are more likely to commit
suicide.
In this individualistic act, sociologists are not interested in
exploring the personal motive or feeling of those who
committed suicide.
Instead, sociologists try to figure out the pattern of collective
phenomenon and the connections between them (in this case, the
relationship between characteristics of the social group and the
likelihood of suicide)

II. Debunking Debunking

Peter L. Berger: Invitation to Sociology
Common senses are commonly held beliefs in society, which
Through debunking, we realised that what we
 
 
are inconsistent and may even be superstitious ( ).
hold about society is ideological.
  E.g. Welfare subsidies make people lazy.

  E.g. Eating dog is a cruel, uncivilized act.   Ideology ( ) refers to the cultural
beliefs that justify a particular social
  We often take things for granted and see things as “natural”
and unchangeable. arrangement in society.

  E.g. Why are the public toilets sex segregated? How do their   We come to question: whose interest is served?
designs differ? What social meanings about gender is
embedded in the design and the restroom norms? How does power come into play?
 Round up: Debunking &
Nature of Sociological Inquiry

Debunking: Sociologists set to question the

Part 3:Thinking
 

common sense in society, to openly confront Sociologically about

one’s own biases when they get in the way,
and be opened to any answer that is supported
Health Issues
by reason and evidence.

Imagining Health Issues as Social Issues Round-up

Health behaviour is not just a personal choice, but a social
Sociology is a systematic study of how society is
 

behaviour. For example:

 

patterned and organized.

  Sick people do not act randomly, but follow certain “rules.”
  Sociology helps us to:
  Lifestyle is influenced by the sociocultural background.
Lifestyle-related behaviours is now the major predictor of   think a personal issue in a holistic way (sociological
health problems in modern society.
imagination)
  Availability of social support affect a sick person’s life. This
depends on the socioeconomic position and society of the
  view beyond the common sense (debunking)
patient.
  Health and illness is more than a biological or medical
  Sickness is a social condition. The definition of and response to issue, but a social issue.
sickness varies with different social groups in different
societies.
 Why Study? Food for Thought
Health work nowadays occurs in a complex and
Select a health/medical problem in newspaper or
 

changing environment (e.g. epidemiological

transition and technological innovations).
  A sociological approach to health shifts the focus
from sick individuals to wider social issues,
which is essential for “holistic care”.
  Healthcare professionals are not just skilled workers
but reflective practitioners.
magazine. With sociological imagination, how
would that problem be discussed differently?
Which party should be accountable for the
problem? (For example, what evidence would be used
to support and elaborate the issue? What social factors
are identified as crucial? Would the “conclusion” be
different with sociological imagination?)

Required Reading

  Thomas, R.K. (2003). Introduction to the

sociology of health and illness. Society and
Health: Sociology for Health Professionals.
Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.