Compare and contrast differing sociological perspectives of health and illness.

Task 1 (AC1.1), 400-500 words

Compare and contrast differing sociological perspectives of health and illness

To do this you should aim to consider the similarities and differences of at least two sociological perspectives.  You should use the table provided.

Case Studies for tasks 2 and 3

Jo’s family

Jo is 34 and unemployed. She lives in private housing – a one bedroom basement flat in an urban area, with her two children: Lily, aged 5, and Wes, aged 7.  The flat has some problems with damp and has no garden.  Jo was brought up in care and fears social workers will try to take her children away so she tries to avoid contact with social services.  She has a long history of alcohol and drug abuse and has also suffered from depression.  Jo has persistent stomach complaints and her children have had impetigo and dental problems.  Jo has low levels of literacy and finds handling money problematic – her GP has given her foodbank tokens but she often finds herself and her children are hungry.   Both her children suffer from asthma and the teacher at Wes’s school is concerned about his poor progress with regard to reading as his schooling has been disrupted by frequent absences related to hospital admissions.

Annabel’s family

Annabel lives at the other end of Jo’s street.  Annabel is also 34. She is married to Greg who has a media business.  They have two children: Ollie, aged 4, and Poppy, aged 9. They live in a renovated four floor town house, which includes a studio as Annabel works at home as an artist and illustrator.  They also have a cottage in the Cotswolds, which they often visit at weekends.  Annabel finds this particularly enjoyable as she has suffered from severe post-natal depression and is still having private counselling for some on-going personal problems.  In the past, Greg had some issues with drug abuse – he had a cocaine addiction which got out of control – but he has had successful treatment at a private clinic. Annabel feels her children have been generally healthy and enjoy music and dance lessons, take part in various sports and frequent social events. Poppy is receiving extra private home tuition in preparation for grammar school entrance exams.

Task 2 (slideshow, word limit: 500 words) (AC 2.1)

Make a slideshow where you analyse the existing evidence of social variations in health and illness in society, focussing upon the experiences of the two families in the case study.

In your analysis, you should make use of UK statistics and research. You should aim to show if there is statistical evidence for the health inequalities experienced by the two families.  You may also consider if there are any possible problems with the validity of the statistics.

You will only be submitting the slides, not giving a presentation. You can make the slideshow in Microsoft Powerpoint or a free online slides maker such as Google Slides. The slideshow should consist of no more than 10 slides. Ensure that you do not overcrowd your slides with text – 50 words per slide maximum is recommended. Think carefully about how you can use images, diagrams and layout to enhance your analysis.

Task 3 (mini-essay, word limit: 700 words) (AC 3.1)

Write a short essay of 400-700 words analysing at least two sociological explanations for the inequalities in health and illness experienced by the families in the case studies.

·         Ensure that you have read widely (e.g. textbooks, journal articles, government and NHS websites) and have used your own words throughout. You should use in-text citations when you use information from sources to support your points.

·         You need to provide one reference list for the three tasks. This should be formatted using the Harvard style. You can use the ‘find tool’ to check that each name you have cited in your work is included in your reference list. Compile your reference list as you go along to save time and use the A-Z tool to put your references in alphabetical order.

·         Write your word count at the end of each task. Keeping to the word count has implications for grading and work that exceeds the word count excessively will not be assessed beyond the word limit of the task.

·         To achieve higher grades, carefully read through the merit and distinction guidance below.