Critical Discussion

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CRITICAL DISCUSSION

Critical Discussion

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Critical Discussion1

Introduction to Bourdieu’s Concept of Habitus (Socio-Cultural Identities) and briefly

describe its Role in Public Health

This essay will explore how Bourdieu's concept of Habitus is relevant to public health as

a socio-cultural identity not only in determining how illness is experienced but also how it

influences lifestyle which in turn affects health. Typically, Bourdieu's concept of Habitus refers

to the typical forms of ingrained skills, habits, and depositions (Collyer, Willis, Franklin, Harley,

and Short, 2015). Based on contemporary literature, habitus shapes how people perceive and

respond to the social world (Collyer, Willis, Franklin, Harley, and Short, 2015). Similarly, the

depositions are seen to be shared by people with similar backgrounds circumnavigating around

religion, culture, ethnicity, and nationality (Collyer, Willis, Franklin, Harley, and Short, 2015).

Moreover, as per the Pierre Bourdieu, habitus can easily be acquired and transferred to

other cultural groups through acts of imitation and individual experience. In his classical

literature, the French sociologist revived the concept of habitus that anticipates for cleart patterns

of thought, taste and behavior or practices that link social structures to actions. For example, the

scholar identified how socio-cultural identities influence individuals in making food choice and

other affiliated consumer behaviors (Power, 2015; Collyer, Willis, Franklin, Harley, and Short,

2015). As a result, sociocultural identities have significantly contributed towards the evolution of

certain lifestyles which predispose such diseases epidemics as cancer and obesity (Collyer,

Willis, Franklin, Harley, and Short, 2015). This way, it is self-evident that the above socio-

cultural based scenarios have a close relationship with the field of public health. For instance,

since certain cultural identities lead to lifestyles which predispose specific health conditions, the

situation can lead to the development of public health campaigns to shape culturally based

behaviors.

Critical Discussion2

How Habitus Influences Lifestyle

Bourdieu's concept of Habitus is used by individuals to structure their perceptions,

practices, and experiences (Crammond, and Carey, 2017). Subsequently, this enables them to

shape both their mental and physical wellbeing. Besides, the various forms of socialization

cultivate a culture in individuals that inculcate their aspirations and practices to attain a lifestyle

that best suits their objectives and social class (Crammond, and Carey, 2017). Notably, the public

health sector establishes debates that are related to the various forms of lifestyles that are dictated

by the choices they make, thus, inculcating habits such as excessive consumption of alcohol,

smoking and physical inactivity (Ellis, and Alexander, 2016; Crammond, and Carey, 2017).

Additionally, the theoretical analysis of the habitus concept tries to explain the specific

set of behaviors that are constructed depending on the kind of choices of different people within

a given society. In this context, the habitus concept advocates for free acting regarding the

selection of the lifestyle that one chooses considerably making decisions that would result in the

formulation of behaviors that conform to the underlying environments and social structures

(Crammond, and Carey, 2017). Besides, the choices made ought to be flexible to changes

concerning the health actions which are often culturally derived from diversified territories

inclusive of the health policies. Therefore, the habitus concept implies that despite the lifestyle

choices we make, considerations must be taken into account to capacitate health behavior

practices that best suit the social structure and promotion of effective public health operations.

Moreover, according to Baumeister, & Muraven, (2016), socio-cultural identities

influence how people learn, live and behave in their cultural contexts. As a result, many

sociological theorists believe that socio-cultural identities (habitus) form integral part factors

Critical Discussion3

which shape people’s personalities and lifestyles (Crammond, and Carey, 2017; Baumeister, &

Muraven, 2016). For example, many sociologists formulate a hypothesis that people who are

born and raised in similar cultural backgrounds share well-known personalities, traits, and social

class. Moreover, evidence from the underlying literature pieces indicate that the concept of

habitus has significant influences on the types of food preferred by people with different cultural

identities Power, 2015; Bourdieu, 2017). Therefore, since food shapes lifestyles of different

people within a specific cultural context, it is self-evident that the concept of habitus has strong

implications on individuals’ lifestyles.

Moreover, as described by the theorist, habitus concept imply that the overall effects

ought to be coherent to attitudes and behaviors that promote positive practices and beliefs while

taking into consideration the key factors of social class and the income (Baumeister, & Muraven,

2016; Baumeister, & Muraven, 2016). Besides, the concept advocates for differential impacts of

behavioral changes that are adhered to promote reforms for the health status relative to the socio-

economic position. For instance, with the provision that is stopping to smoke relatively improve

the health status for those in the socio-economic status, it might not be a similar case for the

members in lower socio-economic groups.

How to a certain extent the experience of illness is determinant on Bourdieu’s

Habitus

Notably, the experience of disease is an important aspect concerning the provision of

public health services primarily with the main focus on redefining what makes the ideal form of

illness. The habitus concept states that the habitus works by setting limits on the acquired system

of the generative schemes that advocates for the free invention of all the perceived beliefs

regarding the type of illness (Evans, Allan, Vierimaa, and Côté, 2016). Additionally, through the

Critical Discussion4

habitus concept, specific structures are identified to be utilized to define the various types of

illness along the means of mechanical determinism within the limitations and bounds primarily

founded on its innovations (Ellis, and Alexander, 2016; Evans, Allan, Vierimaa, and Côté, 2016).

Besides, the perceived illness is seen as ubiquitous and beyond the agency habitus concept in that

it's legitimized through an interplay of agency and structure that guides the categorization of the

disease concerning the socialized norms or tendencies that govern the behavior and thinking of

individuals.

Moreover, the habitus concept advocates for the trained professionals to critically

determine the illness concerning the structured propensities to feel, act and think within distinct

patterns (Jull, Mazereeuw, Sheppard, Kewayosh, Steiner, and Graham, 2018). Besides, the

habitus concept regarding the type of illness is not fixed or permanent and that the ideal

definition can be changed particularly under unexpected situations over some time (Reay, 2015).

However, the habitus concepts tends to hold the notion that the level of intelligence serves as a

limitation of the tests that suggest the conduct of quantifying and describing the illness relative to

the perceived changes over time on the basis of the cultural backgrounds (ellakkal, Reddy,

Gupta, Chandran, Fledderjohann, and Stuckler, 2017). Besides, the habitus concept advocates for

the ideal causative agents are identified with differentiated means and ends to establish the

illness and its mitigation factors (Nakata, Izberk-Bilgin, Sharp, Spanjol, Cui, Crawford, and

Xiao, 2019). Moreover, the repetitive behaviors that are associated with adverse effects tend to

cause an end side effect that is later on used to identify a particular illness particularly

concerning the kind of choices an individual made pertaining the practices they were to engage

in (Paudel, 2018; Reay, 2015). Besides, the practitioner utilizes the structural tendencies and

Critical Discussion5

frequencies of behaviors related to the identified disease to figure out the specific signs and

symptoms of the illness that forms a foundation for their diagnosis.

On the other hand, the habitus concept advocates for the ideal identification of some

practices and behaviors that if employed will result in the establishment of patterns that

tentatively lead to control of the illness for an active social structure (US Department of Health

and Human Services, 2017). Moreover, the health status interventions ought to be structured in a

way that the measures incorporate all the related social structural practices that would serve well

in mitigating the illness (Maggio, 2018; Vellakkal, Reddy, Gupta, Chandran, Fledderjohann and

Stuckler, 2017). Primarily, through the establishment of behavioral practices and patterns that

conform to the social identity that caters for all the social groups to help in identifying the ideal

measures that would best serve in controlling the illness (Saatcioglu, and Corus, 2018).

Additionally, the steps taken should be coherent to the standard social character traits and

behaviors that will enhance the public health sector act best towards satisfying the patients’

needs while maintaining and achieving the core mission of the organization.

How the incorporation of socio-cultural identities into public health strategies can

serve to improve the delivery of health services and act as a risk indicator for health

outcomes

Notably, the establishment of the socio-cultural identities approaches into the public

health has effectively gained great insight, mainly due to their interventions to promote the

overall delivery of the health services (Wiltshire, Lee, and Williams, 2017; MacArthur, Jacob,

Pound, Hickman, and Campbell, 2017). Besides, the social, cultural identity strategy advocates

for identification of factors that mediate and facilitate the health determinants and agency thus

helping to reduce the gap that exists in the health sector. Additionally, the core aim of this

Critical Discussion6

strategy is to help redefine the health care systems by equipping the policymakers, practitioners

as well as educators with the relevant knowledge and skills to capacitate the social and structural

factors that shape our health status Crammond, and Carey, 2017; Evans, Allan, Vierimaa, and

Côté, 2016). Never the less, interventions that relate to social, cultural identities advocates for the

complacency by all stakeholders to portray collective and collaborative efforts through

motivations and approaches to help advance the health sector concerning the provision of quality

and improved services (Baumeister, and Muraven, 2016; Bourdieu, 2017).

Besides, the social, cultural strategies aim at eliminating the language proficiency that

acts as a hindrance to patients being in the appropriate position to give their discrepancies on the

disease they are suffering from (Vicary, and Jones, 2017). Besides, it's important to note that the

socio-cultural identity strategy regarding the provision of quality health services aims at

promoting effective and efficient services that are most convenient for both the management and

patients and readily accessible (Crammond, and Carey, 2017; Crammond, B.R. and Carey,

2017). Moreover, these strategies aim at encouraging diversified leadership in the health care

provider network, systemic capacities as well as training the health care providers and staff to

conform to the best policies and cultures.

On the other hand, the socio-cultural identities strategies have a negative implication on

the provision of the public health services particularly concerning the more significant financial

problem to higher activity restrictions (Cockerham, 2017; Cockerham, 2018). Notably, racial and

ethnic components have advanced morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases. Also,

communication and language barriers serve as factors that affect the quality of services provided

and hence lead to patient dissatisfaction. Consequently, to counterattack these challenges the

public health sector incurs extra charges to cater for translators.

Critical Discussion7

References

Collyer, F.M., Willis, K.F., Franklin, M., Harley, K. and Short, S.D., 2015. Healthcare choice:

Bourdieu's capital, habitus, and field. Current Sociology, 63(5), pp.685-699.

Power, E.M., 2015. An introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's key theoretical concepts. Journal for

the Study of Food and Society, 3(1), pp.48-52.

Baumeister, R.F. and Muraven, M., 2016. Identity as an adaptation to social, cultural, and

historical context. Journal of Adolescence, 19(5), pp.405-416.

Barry, E., Greenhalgh, T. and Fahy, N., 2018. How do a diagnosis of pre-diabetes influence

health-related behaviors? A meta-narrative review. BMC Medicine, 16(1), p.121.

Bourdieu, P., 2017. Habitus. In Habitus: A sense of place (pp. 59-66). Routledge.

Cockerham, W.C., 2017. Health Lifestyle Theory. The Wiley‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social

Theory, pp.1-3.

Critical Discussion8

Cockerham, W.C., 2018. Health lifestyles and the search for a concept of a gender-specific

habitus. Social Theory & Health, 16(2), pp.142-155.

Crammond, B.R., and Carey, G., 2017. What do we mean by ‘structure’when we talk about

structural influences on the social determinants of health inequalities?. Social Theory &

Health, 15(1), pp.84-98.

Ellis, H. and Alexander, V., 2016. Eradicating barriers to mental health care through integrated

service models: contemporary perspectives for psychiatric-mental health nurses. Archives

of Psychiatric Nursing, 30(3), pp.432-438.

Evans, M.B., Allan, V., Vierimaa, M. and Côté, J., 2016. 18 Sport parent roles in fostering

positive youth development. Families, Young People, Physical Activity and Health:

Critical Perspectives, p.228.

Jull, J., Mazereeuw, M., Sheppard, A., Kewayosh, A., Steiner, R. and Graham, I.D., 2018.

Tailoring and field-testing the use of a knowledge translation peer support shared

decision making strategy with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people making decisions

about their cancer care: a study protocol. Research involvement and engagement, 4(1),

p.6.

MacArthur, G.J., Jacob, N., Pound, P., Hickman, M. and Campbell, R., 2017. Among friends: a

qualitative exploration of the role of peers in young people's alcohol use using Bourdieu's

concepts of habitus, field, and capital. Sociology of health & illness, 39(1), pp.30-46.

Maggio, R., 2018. Pierre Bourdieu's Outline of a Theory of Practice. Macat Library.

Nakata, C., Uzbek-Bilgin, E., Sharp, L., Spanjol, J., Cui, A.S., Crawford, S.Y. and Xiao, Y.,

2019. Chronic illness medication compliance: a liminal and contextual consumer journey.

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, pp.1-24.

Critical Discussion9

Pang, B., Macdonald, D. and Hay, P., 2015. ‘Do I have a choice?’The Influences of family

values and investments on Chinese migrant young people's lifestyles and physical activity

participation in Australia. Sport, Education, and Society, 20(8), pp.1048-1064.

Paudel, N.R., 2018. Public policy implementation: a case study of reproductive health service

delivery at the local level in Nepal (Doctoral dissertation).

Reay, D., 2015. Habitus and the psychosocial: Bourdieu with feelings. Cambridge Journal of

Education, 45(1), pp.9-23.

Saatcioglu, B. and Corus, C., 2018. Towards a Macromarketing and Consumer Culture Theory

Intersection: Participatory and Deliberative Methodologies. Journal of Macromarketing,

p.0276146718793487.

US Department of Health and Human Services, 2017. Dietary guidelines for Americans 2015-

2020. Skyhorse Publishing Inc.

Vellakkal, S., Reddy, H., Gupta, A., Chandran, A., Fledderjohann, J. and Stuckler, D., 2017. A

qualitative study of factors impacting accessing institutional delivery care in the context

of India's cash incentive program. Social Science & Medicine, 178, pp.55-65.

Vicary, A. and Jones, K., 2017. The Implications of Contractual Terms of Employment for

Women and Leadership: An Autoethnographic Study in UK Higher Education.

Administrative Sciences, 7(2), p.20.

Wiltshire, G., Lee, J. and Williams, O., 2017. Understanding the reproduction of health

inequalities: physical activity, social class, and Bourdieu's habitus. Sport, Education and

Society, pp.1-15.

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