Social policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Social policy - Essay Example Studies into the relationship between gender, health and human life cycle have taken a systematic approach in this unit. During my studies in this module, I found out that there is a positive correlation between gender, health and stages in the human life cycle (Hayward, 2003). From the point of determination of the sex of children, a difference in health trajectory begins to show between the two sexes. These differences vary in kind(Romans & Seaman, 2006). With ageing comes health complications. Ursula Lehr posits that old age is characterised by negative traits such as a decline in the capacities of individuals coupled with dysfunction or complete loss of the vital functions of the human body. In the social construction of old age, sociologists have shared that the current society is based on a ‘cult of youth’, where youthfulness, beauty, vigour and strength have immense value (Romans & Seaman, 2006). The society has a way of constructing a way of viewing issues that do not regard the law. I learned this alongside my colleagues last year in the unit ‘Introduction to Sociology’ where we were first introduced to the concept of social construction. Initially, during my First Year, I thought social constructs only existed in childhood. However, after further studies on the issue, I came to find out that the issue of social constructs can be applied in other issues such as gender, race, mental health and physical disability among others. I now understand that anything that results from shaping and forming by the society is of concern to sociologists and researchers. The number of aged people in Britain could rise to 12 million in the year 2021. This figure could grow further to 15.5 million aged people by the year 2030, according to figures provided by the Office of National Statistics. The number of people expected to be above the age of 80 by the year 2021 is 3 million, with further projected increase to 5.5 million people by the year