Robert Merton: Occupational Roles, Social Status and Health Inequalities

  • Johannes Siegrist
Chapter

Abstract

Although Robert Merton identified with the emerging sub-discipline of medical sociology less strongly than Talcott Parsons, his influence on this field was significant. Importantly, with his emphasis on social role and social status as basic sociological categories; with his discussion of the concepts of reference group, relative deprivation and social opportunity structure; and with his theory of deviant behaviour as an adaptive response of people with low socio-economic status to structural tensions between societal goals and restricted opportunities, Merton inspired ground-breaking research on social inequalities in health. From his perspective, health was a form of deviant behaviour, and indicators of social status — specifically, occupational position and education — were analysed as significant predictors of unequal health. Several criticisms have been raised against Merton’s sociological orientation, but more recent theoretical developments illustrate the fertility of Merton’s seminal contributions to the field of health and medical sociology.

Keywords

Health Inequality Social Inequality Social Comparison Social Determinant Deviant Behaviour 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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© Johannes Siegrist 2015

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  • Johannes Siegrist

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