Thinking Sociologically - a Sociological Perspective to Health and Illness

A sociological perspective to health and illness enables health problems to be viewed as social issues. This essay will describe the "sociological imagination" (Mills 1959 cited in Germov, 21) and outline the interrelated historical, cultural, structural and critical factors of which it is comprised. The journal articles, "Researching Aboriginal health: experience from a study of urban young people' s health and well being" (Holmes, Stewart, Garrow, Anderson and Thorpe, 2002) and "Indigenous women' s perceptions of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in Queensland" (McMichael, Kirk, Manderson, Hoban and Potts, 2000), are both discussed as excellent examples of what a sociological perspective has to offer with respect to Indigenous health issues.…