Essay on Sociology of Health and Medicine - 1947 Words

Mike Bury (2001) has undertaken a considerable amount of research on illness narratives and its different forms. Illness narratives and narrative analysis can be evaluated through three different types. The first is contingent narratives, ‘which address beliefs about the origins of disease, the proximate causes of an illness episode, and the immediate effects of illness in everyday life’ (Bury 2011, p. 263). Secondly, another form of narratives are moral narratives, which ‘provide accounts of (and help to constitute) changes between the person, the illness and social identity, and which help to (re) establish the moral status of the individual or help to maintain social distance’ (Bury 2011, p. 263). Lastly, Bury defined the third form of†¦show more content†¦The narratives that have been outlined through this research study take the forms of contingent, moral and core narratives. Although there is an abundance of previous research conducted on the effects of marijuana use on work/school (Earleywine 2002, Neinstein 2002, Roffman, R, Stephens, R Marlatt G 2006), the participants involved continue to have both positive and negative accounts for marijuana use on work and school. The various detrimental effects range from the effects that marijuana has such as the changes of capabilities that are required for activities such as work and/or study. These include motivation, memory and cognition and also capabilities of vehicle operation for work including visual perception and divided attention. The use of marijuana has been found to have a range of harmful effects on the health state of an individual, which can affect work ability (Smith et al. 2013). Involved in this are the potential for a progression to harder drugs, mental illness, worsened immune function, lung cancer and brain tissue damage (Earleywine 2002). However, some researchers do not believe that all the side effects of marijuana use have negative consequences. For example (Aronson 2009) believes that it has a significant positive contribution in medical value with the treatment of conditions that may be detrimental to work ability. These include issues such as pain, nausea, appetite loss and neurological disorders.Show MoreRelatedBio-Medicine1004 Words   |  5 Pages Sociology is the study of human interaction and organisation of society; it is often areas which are problematized in need of provision. It can be explained that health and illness are simply biological descriptions of the state of our bodies. The structures of the body have been mapped out through genetics. This is ever closer inspection of the body or as Foucault 1977 would suggest through this ‘medical gaze’ which has brought considerable power to the medical profession. 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