Discuss the roles of structure (factors such as class, religion, gender, ethnicity which seem to limit or influence the opportunities that individuals have) and agency (capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices) in th

Agency and Structure in Public Health

Public health is widely contingent upon the correlation between two major effectors . For all individuals , there exists an intercession of personal agency and social structure . Between these two considerations rests the individual , whose agency endows her with the ability to make clear and self-guided decisions and to maintain control over her own life . This individual , however , bound to the conditions and pressures of a society and cultural context , must also recognize the impact of structures such as economy , family and ethnicity

In to address the

consequences of an imbalance between these two forces , this discussion will consider three public health issues as they are impacted by such factors as ethnicity and social class . Here , we can detect a distinct relationship between such factors and the sense of agency or vulnerability to structure found in varying subject groups

HIV /AIDS is a public issue which has some distinct relationships to gender and ethnic groups , owing to the manners in which it can be contracts . For an example , the perception of the public for needle drug use , which is decidedly critical and even criminalizing , represents a structure that may often obstruct AIDS prevention for the vulnerable group considered . The historical unwillingness of the public to view or treat drug addiction with compassion has helped to limit the agency of needle-drug users , instigating a greater vulnerability to HIV /AIDS Indeed , the article by Anderson helps to reinforces this problem , noting that from the beginning , New York 's experimental needle exchange chem - like so many other public health initiatives aimed at controlling HIV infection - was controversial , a focus for fear , frustration , and political maneuvering in the city (Anderson , 1506 ) So many structural pressures above and beyond the individual control of needle drug users has helped to keep them disenfranchised , worsening what could be a treatable public health concern

This is demonstrative of public perception , within which the HIV /AIDS epidemic has been viewed by many , especially here in America , as a problem which has diminished in impact due to its lowered presence with mainstream groups . This is at least the case relative to a decade ago when the deadly virus /syndrome began to make headway in public awareness . However , on both a domestic and international level , the AIDS crisis has taken on a number of new dimensions in the intervening time . One of the most troubling and underrepresented of these has been the decidedly greater impact which the crisis has had on women and non-whites . As a result , the World Health Organization has recently adopted a campaign initiative to expand on efforts at educating particularly vulnerable groups of women

Though the AIDS crisis came into awareness during the late seventies as an epidemic to which homosexual men were particularly predisposed , there has been a dramatic shift in the onset of the disease in various populations . While there has been an overall declination in the occurrence of new cases of men with HIV /AIDS as a percentage...