Paper Topic:

Journal Article on Sociology

Journal Article Summary

Pietila , I Rytkonen , M (2008 'Health is no a man 's domain : lay accounts of gender difference in life-expectancy in Russia . Sociology of Health Illness , 30 (7 , 1070-1085

The article I read is `Health is not a man 's domain : lay accounts of gender difference in life-expectancy in Russia . The authors , Ilkka Pietila and Marja Rytkonen , examined the meaning of health to Russian lay people , conducting interview with 29 people aged 15-81 . They concluded that the role of the individual in healthy responsibility is very weak , with a

stronger emphasis on societal and governmental influence . They also found that in relation to gender , gender roles and relations are static with few alternatives despite social changes

This study was prompted by the large gender gap in life-expectancy in Russia . In 2006 , the average life expectancy was 59 years for Russian men but 72 years for Russian women . Pietila and Rytkonen wanted to see if this gap was caused by gender perceptions of health and /or each other or by something else . The theoretical basis for this research is a process Frankel and Davison call `lay epidemiology , which states that individuals interpret health risks through the routine observation and discussion of cases of illness and death in personal networks and the public arena , as well as from formal and informal evidence arising from other sources , such as television and magazines (p . 1071 . The researchers discerned four types of explanations : essential /naturalist explanations (biological and psychological differences , explanations related to...

2 pages

31.0 KB

Free sing-up