Perspectives on health and illness
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Date
2025-07-16
DOI
Open Access Location
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Massey University
Rights
(c) 2025 The Author/s
CC BY-NC 4.0
CC BY-NC 4.0
Abstract
Taking a critical perspective, as we do in this book, involves going beyond the surface appearance of an idea or phenomenon to determine why it is the way it is (Baum, 2015). For (critically oriented) health psychology, this means scrutinising health-related issues through a lens that questions underlying assumptions, power dynamics, and social structures. It also means questioning our very understanding of the notion of health, which we frequently take for granted, and which is the focus of this chapter. The questions that may spring to mind are: What is the point of recognising and unpacking different, changing understandings of health and illness? And, Why is taking this critical perspective necessary or valuable? This chapter tackles these questions.
Description
Keywords
health, illness, culture, social constructionism, health psychology
Citation
Morison T, Gibson A. (2025). Perspectives on health and illness. Riley S, McGuigan K. Critical health psychology: Foundations, approaches, and applications. Massey University.