Key sociological theories for health and social care

Health and social care students are required to understand and apply a range of theories to help make sense of their practice. In this chapter, sociological theory is used to consider the wider world in which service users’ lives play out. The chapter will introduces different classical sociological theorists and discuss the ways in which practitioners might apply them to their own beliefs about of how the social world operates, to develop their appreciation of current health and social care issues. Each section will introduces a different sociological ‘lens’. The chapter examines overarching structural approaches such as Functionalism, Marxism, and Feminisms and competing approaches such as Weber’s Action Theory where the role of personal agency is prioritised. Finally, each section discusses the implications for practice through concrete examples and offers students the opportunity to use these ideas to consider their own views of practice.