Robert Merton
occupational roles, social status and health inequalities
pp. 222-235
in: Fran Collyer (ed), The Palgrave handbook of social theory in health, illness and medicine, Berlin, Springer, 2015Abstract
Although Robert Merton identified with the emerging sub-discipline of medical sociology less strongly than Talcott Parsons, his influence on this field was significant. Importantly, with his emphasis on social role and social status as basic sociological categories; with his discussion of the concepts of reference group, relative deprivation and social opportunity structure; and with his theory of deviant behaviour as an adaptive response of people with low socio-economic status to structural tensions between societal goals and restricted opportunities, Merton inspired ground-breaking research on social inequalities in health. From his perspective, health was a form of deviant behaviour, and indicators of social status — specifically, occupational position and education — were analysed as significant predictors of unequal health. Several criticisms have been raised against Merton's sociological orientation, but more recent theoretical developments illustrate the fertility of Merton's seminal contributions to the field of health and medical sociology.
