Social theory

About: Social theory is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11421 publications have been published within this topic receiving 624898 citations.

Theories in health care and research: theories of disability in health practice and research.

Abstract: This is the fifth in a series of six articles on the importance of theories and values in health research All health care and research are influenced by theories. This paper considers the influence of implicit and explicit theories1 on interventions and research on disabled people. Another important influence is the experience of disabled people, and their increasing insistence that their voices be heard at all stages of research about their lives.2 ### Summary points The health care that disabled people receive is influenced by theories Positivist theory remains the dominant influence on health care given to disabled people Other theories are beginning to have a significant influence The rise of these theories is posing important questions for health care and research Over the past 20 years, writings by disabled people have transformed our understanding of the real nature of disability. They move beyond the personal limitations that impaired individuals may face, to social restrictions imposed by an unthinking society. Disability is understood as a social and political issue rather than a medical one, and this leads to critical questioning of medical interventions:attempts to cure impairments or to restore “normal” bodily functioning. Instead, social and political solutions are sought, to challenge disabling discrimination. This radically different view is called the social model of disability, or social oppression theory.3While respecting the value of scientifically based medical research, this approach calls for more research based on social theories of disability if research is to improve the quality of disabled people's lives. Definitions are central to understanding theories of impairment and disability.4 In 1986 Disabled Peoples International made a clear distinction:impairment is the functional limitation within the individual caused by physical, mental or sensory impairment; disability is the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the normal life of …

Forms of explanation : rethinking the questions in social theory

Abstract: "What makes one explanation better than another? How can we tell when an explanation has really answered our question? In a lively and readable discussion, Garfinkel argues that the key to understanding an explanation is to discover what question is really being answered. He then suggests criteria for a good explanation and goes on to examine some classic explanations in social and natural science."

From Social History to the History of Society.

Abstract: This essay is an attempt to observe and analyze, not to state a personal credo or to express (except where this is clearly stated) the author's preferences and value judgments. I say this at the outset in order to distinguish this essay from others which are defenses of or pleas for the kind of history practiced by their authors?as it happens social history does not need either at the moment?but also to avoid two misunderstandings especially com mon in discussions heavily charged with ideology. All discus sions about social history are. The first is the tendency for readers to identify authors with the views they write about, unless they disclaim this identification in the clearest terms and sometimes even when they do so. The second is the tendency to confuse the ideological or political moti vations of research, or its utilization, with its scientific value. Where ideological intention or bias produces triviality or error, as is often the case in the human sciences, we may happily condemn motiva tion, method, and result. However, life would be a great deal simpler if our understanding of history were advanced exclusively by those with whom we are in agreement or in sympathy on all public and even private matters. Social history is at present in fashion. None of those who practice it would care to be seen keeping ideological company with all those who come under the same historical heading. Nevertheless, what is more important than to define one's attitude is to discover where social history stands today after two decades of unsystematic if copious development, and whither it might go. I

The Body: The Key Concepts

Abstract: Questions around 'the body' are central to social theory Our changing understanding of the body now challenges the ways we conceive power, ideology, subjectivity and social and cultural process The Body: the key concepts highlights and analyses the debates which make the body central to current sociological, psychological, cultural and feminist thinking Today, questions around the body are intrinsic to a wide range of debates - from technological developments in media and communications, to socio-cultural questions around representation, performance, class, race, gender and sexuality, to the more 'physical' concerns of health and illness, sleep, diet and eating disorders, body parts and the senses The Body: the key concepts is the ideal introduction for any student seeking a concise and up-to-date analysis of the complex and influential debates around the body in contemporary culture 'In accomplishing the important task of mapping where the body presently is in the field, Lisa Blackman also points the way forward in her explorations of embodiment as a multiplicity of networks, connections, operations and potentialities A contribution that will be welcomed by those new to the area as well as by more established body scholars' Chris Shilling, University of Kent 'A Comprehensive, incisive and sophisticated overview of the field Highly recommended' Tim Lawrence, University of East London