SOCIAL STRUCTURE

You may have your close friends, or an intimate social circle, but you belong to a larger community as well. On the grand scale, you belong to society. You belong to a culture. Macroscopic social factors influence your health and well being.

There are a number of sociological theories that describe social structure - the way a society is organized. These include Marxist conflict theory, symbolic interactionism,functionalism, and others. You live in a society. Your daily life is influenced by social institutions like your family, the government, and the healthcare system. Your daily life is also affected by your culture - the set of collective beliefs and experiences you share with others. And we contribute back to our culture through our personal experiences.

Another characteristic of societies - they tend to stratify into layers of socioeconomic class. You fall somewhere in the hierarchy, whether you like it or not. Those of higher socioeconomic class tend to have better access to resources, especially when it comes to healthcare and well-being.