Answer:
Sociologists may also understand these issues more fully by considering them through one of the main theoretical perspectives of the discipline. The functionalist perspective is a macroanalytical perspective that looks at the big picture, focusing on the way that all aspects of society are integral to the continued health and viability of the whole. For those working within the functionalist perspective, the focus is on how healthy individuals have the most to contribute to the stability of society. Functionalists might study the most efficient way to restore “sick” individuals to a healthy state. The critical perspective is another macroanalytical perspective that focuses on the creation and reproduction of inequality. Someone applying the critical perspective might focus on the relationship between the power of pharmaceutical companies and rates of drug prescription, or between medical knowledge and the way power is exercised through the increased medicalization of the body. Someone applying the interactionist perspective to health might focus on how people understand their health, how their relationship to their bodies is mediated by social concepts of health and illness, and how their health affects their relationships with the people in their lives.