Purtle's Ecosocial Theory

Jonathan Purtle: “Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States: A Health Equity Perspective.”
Purtle uses ecosocial theory to determine two key implications of felon disenfranchisement policy. Ecosocial theory is the inextricable connection between social and biological factors that impact health. The health of a people is the sum of not only their biological makeup, but also their socioeconomic status and the impact of various public policies. From this perspective, Purtle first examines the “inability to alter inequitable public policies that differentially allocate resources for health” (Purtle 632). Since felon disenfranchisement sways elections at the federal level, African Americans have less of a voice in shaping the healthcare policy that leaves one-third of their population uninsured. Subsequently, Purtle theorizes that the lack of ability to vote leads to a feeling of lacking control over one’s life, which is one potential cause of allostatic load. Allostatic load is defined as the “wear and tear on the body’s regulatory systems… as the result of stress” (Purtle 635). Purtle reviews research that finds that differences in allostatic load scores are responsible for about 35 percent of excess mortality between socioeconomic groups. While he concedes that there is no data specifically relating disenfranchisement to allostatic load …show more content…
He examines these policies from a theoretical perspective, using existing research to combine two different, but related fields. His research begins with an assumption that these policies are designed to facilitate institutionalized racism. Furthermore, Purtle is the first to admit a lack of evidence associating disenfranchisement with negative health outcomes. While he makes it clear that disenfranchisement causes inequitable resource distribution, he does not have the evidence connecting this issue directly to allostatic load