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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Genetic, cultural or socio-economic vulnerability?
— explaining ethnic inequalities in health | | Author(s) | James Y Nazroo |
| Journal title | Sociology of Health & Illness, vol 20, no 5, September 1998 |
| Pages | pp 710-730 |
| Keywords | Ethnic groups ; Health [elderly] ; Ill health ; Socio-economic groups ; Poverty ; Social surveys. |
| Annotation | This paper uses data from the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities to examine three alternative approaches to ethnic inequalities in health. Epidemiological approaches are driven by empirical findings, make little explicit acknowledgement of theoretical understandings of ethnicity, and assume that ethnicity provides a natural and fixed division between population groups. Explanations for differences tend to be reduced to ahistoric and de-contextualised genetic and cultural factors. Structural approaches generally focus on material explanations for inequalities, but there are important methodological difficulties in assessing these. Other elements of structural disadvantage need to be considered, e.g. experiences of racism, or concentration in particular geographical locations. Approaches that focus on ethnic identity emphasise the importance of group affiliation and culture, while acknowledging the contingent and contextual nature of ethnicity. However, despite the promise carried by identity based approaches, very little empirical work has been undertaken. These approaches illustrate how important ethnic inequalities might be to a wider understanding of mechanisms producing inequalities in health. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-981111002 A |
| Classmark | TK: CC: CH: T4: W6: 3F |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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