Illness: A Socio-Cultural Analysis

Through an anthropological lens, it becomes quite clear that illness is ultimately a socio-cultural experience. Illness is often defined as that which “encompasses the human experience and perceptions of alterations in health as informed by their broader social and cultural settings” (Brown 11). On the other hand, socio-cultural experience may be thought of as social and cultural factors which exert influence upon, in this case, various interpretations of illness. For instance, the idea of “women as defined by their reproductive functions” in biomedicine arises due to the socio-cultural Western conceptualisation of women as caregivers (Rhodes 168).
To further support the statement that illness is primarily influenced by socio-cultural factors, …show more content…
In the first chapter, Fadiman speaks of placental burial practices among the Hmong and how when someone dies, “if [their soul] cannot find its jacket, it is condemned to an eternity of wandering” (Fadiman 5). It is immediately evident that Hmong culture differs drastically from Western culture which does not at all emphasize the co-existence between body and soul. Due to these cultural values, Lia’s disease encourages a “mixture of concern and pride” among her parents (21). It is a common belief among the Hmong that those inflicted with this illness are “particularly fit for divine office,” meaning they acquire the ability to communicate with the spiritual realm and often become shaman (21). Lia’s parents want their daughter to be healthy, but see her misfortune as a kind of blessing whereas the doctors’ ignore this notion, due to their denial of spirits, and focus solely on eliminating the disease. The major contrast between the two cultures not only produce cultural dissonance, but also explain the different views and interpretation of the experience of …show more content…
Adam Gavsie’s lecture on integrative medicine demonstrates that socio-cultural factors, even within one society, can cause different experiences of illness and therefore the desire for different treatment approaches. For instance, a person’s illness may have environmental factors contributing to its cause which biomedicine often ignores, but integrative medicine will attempt to consider. Integrative medicine embraces an approach which “takes into account the whole person, including all aspects of their lifestyle” in order to “deal with the underlying cause of particular conditions” (Sept. 9, Integrative Medicine). The emphasis of external factors, and not only biological ones, affecting health demonstrate that depending on a person’s particular environment, social status, or cultural belief, they may experience illness differently and attribute it to different causes, which leads to the desire for alternative