Importance of Health in Stratification - Case Study Example

due HEALTH AND POLICY Importance of health in stratification The term stratification refers to the way people are grouped into categories depending on socio-economic factors. Most of the factors used to stratify people are either influenced by health or they influence health. For instance life expectancy, a factor that differs in different groups, is a function of health. Therefore, as health and stratification mutually influence one another, it deems important to include it in the course. Determinants of health The level of health of an individual is influenced by several factors. Each individual health status is unique in a way as these factors interact. The determinants of health can be classified as individual, cultural and structural. Individual determinants can be defined as personal characters that influence the health of a person. They may include: The level of education and employment status, Lifestyle such as smoking habits, physical exercise Gender; females are prone to diseases as compared to male Age: the health of children and the aged is prone to infections while the middle aged people are healthier. Disability, disability reduces the health status of an individual, e.g. albinism Cultural factors result from cultural practices and only affect the followers of a certain culture. For instance; Religion, some religious beliefs influence health, such as fasting Cultural lifestyle may prohibit or praise certain health influencing habits e.g. eating habits Social support systems such as family, friends and relatives can expose to information, or influence an individual in a manner that reduces ones stress level. Structural determinants refer to the environmental factors such as; Accessibility to health facilities, Health care financing, Technology and infrastructure, Access to health care information among many others. The above factors can also be classified as risk factor or risk condition. A risk factor is refers to agents attributed to persons character or behavior that raise the possibility of getting infected and may include smoking, lack of exercises, 1; while a risk condition refers to the causal agents of an infection resulting from external environment that is beyond the individuals control. For instance living in a poor condition or working in amine. Health conditions are observed to vary with the income of Canadians. A higher percentage of the people who seek medical attendance are the low income earners. The rich have fewer worries on health with a lesser percentage being diagnosed for chronic conditions when compared to the poor. Income inequality reduces health standards. Higher levels of inequality are characterized by high infant mortality, homicide and crime rates. Therefore as the gap widens, the above named negative social factors increase among the poor generation hence decreasing social mobility. The relationship between health and extreme inequality can be explained by employment, public policy and spending, trust as well as welfare regimes. Employment provides income, stability and sense of identity as well as creating variations in levels of stress, physical health due to working conditions. Public policy affects distribution of income as well as how material resources, power and money flow in the society. A policy can therefore reduce or increase inequality. This calls for healthy public policies on the determinants of health in efforts to reduce social inequality. Welfare regimes determine how resources are allocated t to citizens, i.e. either to the whole state, individual families or left at the market for battle. Public spending on the other hand equalizes the welfare of the citizens by making necessities available for all classes. Public spending reduces inequality but its effect will vary from one regime to another. Trust is seen to reduce with increase in inequality implying that trust increases health standards2. Social exclusion refers to denial of certain groups to participate in common societal activities. In Canada immigrants suffer from exclusion. For instance, doctors and other professional face challenges such as adopting to new laws and language, with others having their certificates deemed invalid or not satisfactory. Moreover access to health care is restricted to Canadians, by laws, customs and culture. RACISM AND SEXISM Racism refers to a belief that a certain races culture or character is inferior as compared to the other. Racism initiates prejudice that can lead to discrimination and social exclusion. Racism tends to group individuals in different social classes based on their races. One limitation of defining racism is that one must understand the difference between races, and which race is superior as these varies from one region to another. A more comprehensive form of racism that has recently evolved is new-racism which refers to discrimination based on social or politically arranged groups rather than the initial races. Color –blind racism as brought about by Eduardo is an example of new racism where the minority group does not necessary have the same physical appearance despite the fact the minority is still discriminated3. 4Discrimination refers to different treatment of people based on group membership or other imperfectly justified factors, both of which leave the discriminated group disadvantaged. Discrimination puts people in different social groups and accumulated discrimination may form the basis of stratification5. Several theories have been set forward to explain various categories of discrimination; Intentional / explicit discrimination that is individual have negative attitudes towards another group and acting on them. Profiling also known as statistical discrimination which refers to discriminating on the basis of actual distribution of characteristics as they are evident in different groups. Subtle or unconscious discrimination which is an unintentional form of discrimination occurring naturally due to natural categorization. Structural discrimination which refers to implanted process in an institution that leads to discrimination. This discrimination works on disfavor of unconscious discrimination. 6Researchers have developed several methods to study racism and discrimination, given that the two terms are not only popular but real in the world. These methods include; Social distance and attitudinal surveys which entails collection of personal views and opinions about the two concepts. Statistical analysis which involves carrying a data analyses on the under and over represented groups in certain positions such as jobs. Audit studies which involves controlled experiments that test the effects of specific characteristics that influence the positioning of an individual Social segregation refers to the aspect of grouping into separate entities based on rules, norms that specify their occupation, behavior and dress code. Occupational segregation is where women and men tend to work in different occupations7. Horizontal segregation refers to a situation where workers of an industry constitute more of a particular gender while vertical segregation where opportunities for career progression of a particular gender are limited8. The two types of segregation bring about a gender ideology based on roles. Jobs performed by men are thus better paid than those performed by women. Attitudes towards roles of men and women in society are one of the bases for gender inequality. Most gender ideologies trace their root from this concept Gender stereotyping are generally accepted beliefs about characteristics of men or women. Gender stereotyping brings about inequality results from three ideologies that support inequality, i.e. gender essentialism, male primacy and ambivalent sexism. Gender essentialism refers to the natural belief different task are made for men and women, hence forming a natural justification for differing of roles with gender. Male primacy sets men as more competent, rational and decisive and therefore placing men in authoritative positions. The concept of ambivalent sexism sets women as superior in the social dimension but deems them as incompetent and need protection. The concept of ambivalent sexism groups ideas in the form of hostile and benevolent. The former consists of negative attitude while the latter is more positive toward, with the two side s converging into the idea that women are inferior9. LABOUR MARKETS AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION Social exclusion refers to a situation where the system denies certain categories of people in the society the right to enjoy certain facilities classified as a norm in the society they live10. Social exclusion covers both the processes of denial as well as the results from the denial, and extends in four dimensions that is legal exclusion, exclusion from social goods and social production that involves social and cultural activities as well as exclusion from economic activities. Legal exclusion involves the set laws of a country that reduce the freedom in participation of some individuals in the society. For instance the laws of a country may bar immigrants from acquiring jobs, due to invalidity certificate, this reduces their citizenship rights. Global Gender Gap Index refers to statistical report indicating the size of disparities in gender around the word. It includes national gender disparities in economic, political and social areas such as education and health as well as indicating rankling of countries in regions. Canada is ranked number 20 in the index11. In most of the aspects that are considered in the rank, F:M ratio is less than 1 such as labour force participation, wage equality, legislators, an in positions where the score is more than one, the excess can be countered very easily by the lower ratios12. Inequality is real in the labour markets and is evident in terms of gender, age, race and ethnicity, immigrant and citizenship status and religion. On the basis of gender women still lag behind in terms of wage levels, and mostly lack representatives in high position jobs and leadership. Income and employment shows disparity across the life cycle. Considering that child labour is illegal13, we get inequality among the ageing population, as many employers prefer young, energetic and creative generation. New racism also exists in Canada where immigrants, aboriginal groups suffer from inequality in addition to historical and contemporary discrimination14. Religious minorities such as Muslims and Hindu are also less fortunate when it comes to acquiring jobs. It’s evident that in the entire above mentioned region average wages, and representation in higher job positions work not to their favour. Labour market inequality can be termed to result from discrimination almost in all the above bases. Historical discrimination favored the employment of natives although in the low class jobs, but has grown to influence today’s situation. Contemporary discrimination is evident in many regions, for instance an employer would prefer to employ a Christian, young person or male hence diversifying inequality. Precarious work is used to refer to works that are done by employees and are of low importance to the overall production. Although the works might be critical, the wage is too low that one can mistake that they are of low value. New economy on the other hand refers to the new system of labour market that is characterized by advanced technology and IT, globalization and commodification of knowledge. These two concepts are important in explaining n the causes of inequality in the modern economy which has inculcated IT in e very sector15. SOCIAL CLASS AND EDUCATION Educational attainment has gradually improved in Canada over the last years. It can be observed that acquisition of university degree have shown the largest increase, followed by college education with trade certificates almost remaining stagnant16. Family background in terms of finances has a direct influence on both attendance and completion of the learning institution. A high percentage of students from well rich families attain university education with the percentage increasing with increase in parental income. However the poor class, seem to have a proportionate number of university attendants. This is due to grants and financial aids available for the poor Canadians. Attendance of trade and other colleges is not affected by family background. The poor category shows lower completion levels17. Education completion levels show disparity with the aliens dominating all the education levels apart from trade colleges. Moreover most of the natives who acquire post-secondary education are the metis despite the fact they show low turnouts at the university level. 18 A higher percentage females advance their secondary education as compared to males with majority of m ales specializing in mathematics, computer, technology related courses and sciences19. Education can be viewed in several perspectives when investigating its role in inequality such as possession verses process. In terms of possession, education is viewed as a quantifiable feature that can be used to characterize a person; in that one can either have it or not. In this approach education acts a variable that can be assigned values, measured and analyzed on the basis of attendance and completion20. This approach ignores factors that are real in a school set-up that can influence completion. Moreover education has several variables, such as performance, partial and full completion among others hence not discrete. On the other hand, viewing education as a process involves viewing the happenings a student is subjected to while in school rather than on the quantifiable completion or attendance. As the name suggests, research is made on the events, cultural stimulations after subjecting the students to a controlled environment (incubator or school)21 . The weakness of this approach is that there are so many factors that influence the process of education. Education acts as an equalizer, classifying people according to their capabilities and not family backgrounds. Educational institutions follow meritocratic principles; that is evaluated students competency and ability22. Therefore education acts as a bridge for the abled students from lower social classes to cross over to higher social classes. Later these students can also improve the social welfare of their families. Another contribution of education to social mobility is through grouping students hailing from different social classes together. Through their interaction, students formulate a different culture which is not abandoned on school completion. Among the four types of capital renovate social inequality from one generation to the next through social reproduction, human capital plays a key role. Human capital is a result of education and helps one attain a different social status. That transforms his or her cultural capital classification. Although the relationship is hidden, it’s evident that education system organizes hierarchies by merits, skills or talents23. Bourdieu and Passeron view education as a mechanism of social reproduction. They hold the perspective that the society has already taught people some life lessons and that is what determines their cultural p practices therefore the education system is set in a manner that it treats all individuals as alike and offers the same information to the entire community, assuming that what is excluded in the education system has been offered by the community. Education therefore grounds individuals according to their capabilities of acquiring what has been given bearing in mind that they had similar background24. Economic capital refers to the financial background of a person and influences cultural capital. Cultural capital refers to the characteristics of the surrounding environment in which one lives, i.e. The norms, beliefs and way of life. Possession of cultural capital requires a complete knowhow of these attributes which differ in different social classes. These factors form a backup in school enrolment. Social capital on the other hand refers to the possession of interpersonal ties and positions to social networks that either encourage or discourage school entrance and completion25. Habitus refers an acquired structure of the mind that results to new lifestyles, values, dispositions and expectations that are a real in a certain social groups mindset is as a result of daily life experiences and activities26. It involves cultural dispositions and cultural capital. Getting involved in campus helps students associate themselves with their university, build relationship with their colleagues and campus administration and thus increase their ability to succeed in the in campus both academically and in public relations. The extent to which students are involved in campus activates depends on their cultural disposition. As a matter of fact, students possess different amounts of all the four capital before entering a campus and thus the overall accumulation of capital in college also differs. Those privileged to have more capital are more involved27. Class backgrounds create different views of social class. People from a higher social background see themselves as privileged as they can achieve some social favour. However, some still consider it as someone’s hard work that set their background. All in the entire privileged group has a general view that they belong to a class higher than the rest. The unprivileged group on the other hand views social class a state of well-being, and class background only affects how to attain a social class. They see themselves as somehow not privileged but through extra effort they attain the same social class. 28 29Social psychology sees b the relationship between social class and person’s background as an error in three ways; Fundamental attribution error that is the propensity to overestimate the relevance of dispositional factors relative to environmental factors when observing others. Actor –observer bias which implies the aspect of attributing ones misfortune to specific features of the situation Self-serving bias which implies to viewing positive results as made by oneself and blaming others for any negative outcomes. Childrearing approaches, i.e. natural growth and concerted cultivation as applied by families in different social backgrounds affect the daily life organization, social connections and the use of language of the child. In natural growth, mostly used by the black and white working class and the poor, the child receives the basic necessities which include love, food and safety from which the child is expected to endeavor. Concerted cultivation fully involves the parent and is common in the middle and upper class families. The parent fully and actively investigates the child’s skills, talents and opinions and builds on them to nurture the child’s future. In daily life organization, the n a child brought up by natural growth spends most of his time playing, around the homestead and neighborhood, whilst concerted child will spent his time in adult organized activities that develop his talents. Children raised by the two d approaches establish a social connection; however the former develops strong family relationships due to daily interactions with family members, whilst the latter connects with professionals developing a social connection with them at the expense of family ties. A child brought up by natural growth has a higher tendency of developing communication problems as they are told by means of directives with minimal verbal communication. Under concerted cultivation, arguments are meant where the child is led to make inferences by reasoning beyond parents’ directives30. 31Language codes refer to the mode of expressing a message based on the recipients understanding of the context. Determining the language code to use is important as it determines whether the message recipient understands the message or not. There are two common language codes that is restricted code and elaborated. Restricted code gives the message halfway bearing in mind that the speaker and the listener mutually possess some knowledge of the context. Elaborated code provides the message in full swing and is vital in case of lack of mutual information Work Cited Satzewich, Vic. Racism in Canada. Don Mills, Ont: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print Read More