Social Theories and Mental Illness †Free Sample Assignment

Question: Discuss about theSocial Theories and Mental Illness. Answer: Introduction There are three main sociological perspectives, which allow viewing the world. Social perspectives are simply the way of looking towards society and the world. These perspectives help to understand and evaluate different social phenomenon. Mental illness can be considered as a social phenomenon, as it is socially constructed. This essay is going to explain mental illness from the three main sociological perspectives (Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionalism). Essay will also argue and discuss various social perspectives that explain mental illness as a social construction. Social Perspectives and Mental Illness Every single aspect of the human life related to growth, development and functioning of life are associated with society. Many studies have been undertake to understand the role of society and various social factors in causing and maintaining mental illness (Aneshensel, Phelan, Bierman, 2013). Many scholars have also found that main reason behind prevalence of mental illness or mental disorders is due to the malfunctions in the society. Social construction means that life of an individual is socially dependent. It is developed and constructed through social experiences and interactions (Conrad, Barker, 2010). Thus, three main perspectives of sociology can also explain the development and prevalence of mental illness. According to functionalist perspective, every aspect of the society is interlinked and interdependent that contributes towards functioning of the society (Aneshensel, Phelan, Bierman, 2013). When the natural functions are dysfunction they create mental illness. There are various factors that are responsible for prevalence of mental illness in Australia. Australian population has a high number of immigrants, refugees, and Indigenous population. These people suffer from various societal problems such as unemployment, immigration, war trauma, marginalization and discrimination. The disturbance in the functions of society causes mental illness (Lee, 2012). According to functionalist perspective, if the aspects of the society are not adaptive, they create disturbance for population, as well poverty and social isolation makes them vulnerable for mental disorders (Bhattacahrjee et al, 2011). Thus, according to social constructivism, social world is not independent, but includes the social world that influences the functionality of social life. Thus functionalist perspective explains that mental illness can be considered as social construct. According to the conflict theory, the society work in the manner, where every individual participate to maximize their benefit, and for this they struggle for receiving survival resources. Such situation brings social changes that creates revolution or change in politics. This theory mainly explains the social conflict between proletarian and bourgeoisie (Gerard, 2010). Conflict is natural and will arise at every aspect of society in relation to scarcity of resources. People often think that there is no scarcity of healthcare services, but lack of healthcare resources for unprivileged people becomes the barrier in access of healthcare services (Nalah et al, 2013).. The health care insurances do not cover the healthcare cost and inequality arises. Those who have power influence the distribution of healthcare resources. Thus, conflict theory explains the social deviance, which state that powerful and rich people force social order for weak and poor people; resulting in social construct ion of mental illness (Nalah et al, 2013). The symbolic interaction perspective is considered as the major aspect of sociological theories. The main aspects explained by this theory are that symbols from everyday life are used by people for social interaction. The main concept is that people link meaning to every symbol and act according to their interpretations. This perspective is based on the looking glass self, where people start seeing themselves from the perspective of society and start behaving like that. Often unprivileged population of Australia has to face discrimination, trauma, stigma and prejudices (Corrigan, Druss, Perlick, 2014). Such people start seeing themselves in the way others do and their behavior is also influenced by perception of society. These perceptions can also be called as subjective meanings (Nalah et al, 2013). Subjective meaning could be understood with an example, where teenagers and youth are well informed about the hazardous effects of smoking tobacco, even all the objective medical inform ation explains the dangers associated with smoking. But, such young people consider smoking as a cool thing and also believe that smoking will project their positive image in front of their peers. So, the actual facts of smoking are overridden by symbolic meaning of smoking (Georgaca, 2014). People, who are mentally or physically ill, start behaving in that way, because they start seeing themselves as flawed. Thus, from the perspective of symbolic interaction theory of sociology, mental illness can be considered as social construct. Conclusion Social constructivism is the way that explains the development and growth of the humans in the society. Through this process people perceive situation, gain knowledge and experience through social interactions. Social constructivism puts main emphasis on the understanding the fact that how things occur in society. Essay discussed that mental illness is considered as social construct through perspective of Functionalist, conflict and social interaction theories. These theories explain that how different aspects of the society are responsible for social construct of mental illness. Functions, conflicts and interactions of the society are interconnected that influence the well-being and mental state of people living within a society. References Aneshensel, C. S., Phelan, J. C., Bierman, A. (2013). The sociology of mental health:Surveying the field. InHandbook of the sociology of mental health(pp. 1-19). Springer Netherlands. Bhattacahrjee, D., Singh, N. K., Rai, A. K., Kumar, P., Verma, A. N., Munda, S. K. (2011). Sociological Understanding of Psychiatric Illness: An Appraisal.group. Conrad, P., Barker, K. K. (2010). The social construction of illness key insights and policyimplications.Journal of health and social behavior,51(1 suppl), S67-S79. Corrigan, P. W., Druss, B. G., Perlick, D. A. (2014). The impact of mental illness stigma on seeking and participating in mental health care.Psychological Science in the Public Interest,15(2), 37-70. 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