What is meant by the social construction of illness?

What will be an ideal response?


Answers will vary. Symbolic interactionists focus on how one defines and constructs views about health, illness, and medicine and then implement these definitions in everyday life. Social constructions include labeling, stigmatizing behavior, and medicalizing attitudes and behaviors as normal or sick. With or without medical intervention, individuals construct and manage their illnesses differently. Social class also affects social constructions of illness. As educational level rises, people report poorer health, presumably because they are more aware of medical knowledge and evaluate their own physical well-being more critically.

Sociology

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Sociology