Health Promotion and Society: Critical Perspectives

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to encourage the development of critical, sociological perspectives on health promotion. The value of sociological perspectives to the practice of health promotion lies in encouraging health promoters to be self-reflective in their practice and to try to make sense of the relationships between that practice and the wider social and political contexts in which it occurs. To be critical, in the sociological sense of the term, means to grasp and to work through key connections between contexts and practices, social forces and personal endeavours. It means becoming aware of the relationship between the institutional and political structures of contemporary societies and the experiences, routines and strategies of both providers and recipients of resources for health. In short, a critical perspective on health promotion involves challenging common understandings and questioning accepted ideologies.