Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Reflective Journal
Scarlett Parker
2163370
Reflective journal 1
I have found myself feeling a sense of open-mindedness towards the topic of health
as a whole. Thorough discussion within the workshop has proven to further educate
the more almost unspoken in our generation elements of health in our every day
lives.
For me and probably many others my thoughts have always instantly linked being
healthy with physical appearance. Chapter three of the textbook has dealt with the
well-being and well-ness of health, demonstrating that since the end of World War 2,
the wellness movement has become a more outspoken and dominant factor of this
subject. The wellness movement explains that every part of a person has an effect on
their overall health (Heil, D. (2014) in Germov, 2013, p. 41). The World Health
Organisation describes heath as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (World Health Organisation,
1946).
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Figure 1
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shapes our thinking. If we dont look as fit as a model, its going to negatively effect
the way in which we view ourselves. Especially nowadays, I find myself feeling
envious towards not only the way people look, but their lifestyles. This constant
feeling of needing to fit in is added stress in my life when really this expectation
is un-realistic. In the end, after thorough research and discussion I have found that all
these aspects are making people vulnerable to even the slightest of mental disorders
(World Health Organisation, 2014).
The vision of health and all the ideologies behind what is healthy has expanded
and developed so much further and beyond physical attributes. Having read and
applied this knowledge, it has allowed me to relate it to my own life. It has truly
become a question of how much control we have over our health, and how much the
life we are born into impacts our biosychosocial balance of well being.
Reflective journal 2
Before these most recent workshops, I was under the impression that I was fully
aware of detrimental aspects of health. In the end, I found that I was greatly
uneducated, and these things I found self explanatory, were so much more than I had
expected. Such issues regarding class origins, social appetite and indigenous health
were significant in developing my learning, and expanding my views beyond my
assumed knowledge. Further class activities were, for me, useful in demonstrating
these unfamiliar aspects of health.
For me, the most relevant aspect of learning was during the class origins of health
inequality group simulation activity. The activity proved that without even knowing it,
class plays such a major part in my life. Germov states class is a major determinant
of social groups (Germov, 2013, p. 86) which became clear during the class task.
From the beginning, I found that I immediately wanted to be placed in the upper
class group, because I feel as if thats how Ive been brought up. Always being taught
to strive for the greatest outcome, I found myself simply settling for the middle
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class. Being in the middle class during this simulation made me realize that I was
working so hard to simply keep within the minimum requirement for that group.
I found that the students in the upper class being able to assign their own rules
reflected high-class government officials. Equally finding out through discussion, the
middle class striving to stay put, and the working class striving to remove them from
that label. Subsequently, finding myself placed within the middle class in the
simulation, I was unaware about the extent in which class played when relating it to
my own work and social life. It became clear through this simulation task that social
exclusion (Germov, 2013, p. 86) already exists in this generation. I am in the middle
class in my own life, and simply try to get by week by week, to stay content in this
position.
Furthermore, I was completely unaware about the issues regarding the
McDonaldization of food. For me, the most significant ideas and issues arose from
viewing the 2009 Food Inc. documentary. It was difficult to bring myself to
understand the food incorporations, and how it truly is a world hidden away from
us. (Kenner, Food Inc. 2009) The way in which food companies are able to disguise
the way in which food is viewed through packaging and advertising was new
information to me. Personally, being unaware of these labeling tactics in which
companies use, I have always found myself attracted to what seems like healthy
alternatives. I found that I constantly find myself reading the nutritional information
provided, and not understanding the content. Equally, coming to the realization that
my primary and high school education systems should be addressing these issues.
Being a vegetarian myself, the Food Inc. documentary simply heightened the
negativity towards the food systems.
The industry doesnt want you know the truth about what youre eating (Kenner,
Food Inc 2009) often shying away from the unpleasant details of mass production.
The imagery of the slaughterhouses was confronting, and I wanted to investigate
myself. During a trip to the supermarkets, I found that the information Richard
Kenner (director) was bringing light too was unavoidable. From this life experience, it
is clear that labeling and manufacturing aim to disguise the truth behind the
production industry. This has significantly improved my understanding of these
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Bibliography
Germov, John 2013, Second Opinion: An Introduction to Health Sociology, 5th
edition, Oxford University Press
Kenner, R 2009, Food Inc. [Documentary]. United States of America: Magnolia
Pictures
Sen, I. (Director) 2002, Beneath Clouds [Motion picture]. Australia: Australian Film
Finance Corporation.
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Reflective journal 3
Drinking has become such an extensive, accepted social activity, especially in
developed countries, where it is closely associated with many positively valued and
high prestige activities. Especially in Australia, drinking alcohol is tied to many
social and cultural activities. (Germov 286) I was able to witness, growing up, the
negative stigma surrounding casual drinking in social environments as my father
was diagnosed with alcoholism. The inquiry projects presented a strong argument on
the effects of alcohol and drug abuse on the individual and also the effect in which the
individual had upon the lives of those around them. Germov argues that a persons
quality of life presents a dynamic interaction between the external conditions and
their internal perceptions of those conditions. (Germov 45) The external conditions
of my life at this time, being the negativity unleashed on my life from my fathers
alcohol addiction, had major impact on my perceptions and actions when faced with
such personal experiences. It is said that we often label the quality of our own lives
through our personal perceptions of personal values, goals, talents, histories and life
experiences. (Germov 45) I found that during this stage of my life, it became
difficult to relate anything positive to the quality of my life simply because I felt
there was nothing positive to influence my perceptions. Having a negative mindset
stemming from family history and life experiences affected all aspects of my life.
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Such activities that were so easily labelled as simple like making friends or
attending school became constantly threatened by actions of my father.
Psychologically, it was confusing to lose a father at such a young age. Alcoholism
eventually led to his passing, which inevitably affected my family in every way
emotionally, physically, and mentally. At the age of twelve I was physically frightened
by the thought of even looking at him, because of the negative effect it continued to
have on his life. Having to deal with the loss of a parent reflected the quality of how I
perceived my own life would turn out. The effect it had on my family and myself was
one I find myself still learning about and dealing with every day. Being exposed to the
cruel nature of alcohol addiction from a young age has taken my psychological
understanding of my own life and actions to a greater understanding. I have had to
face the frightening nature of drinking first hand and was forced to witness the slow,
negative effect the misuse was causing on my dad. It is said in regards to alcoholbased activities that, in this social environment, people are expected to take control
of their own lives and lifestyles. (Germov 304) It was unfair, in the way that my
father could not take the responsibility for himself, and my brothers, my Mum and I
all had to take some control and reap the consequences of his actions. It becomes
more than just the effect it has on the individual.
Health promotion aims to improve the health of whole populations. (Germov 465)
Germov identifies two main programs to achieve this. In workshop, Jen described
closely the lengths she went to in order to promote healthy living in the school she
was teaching at. It is said that harm minimisation approaches regarding alcohol and
drug abuse is to provide education programs about risks and lifestyle changes.
(Germov 286) The conservative end of health promotion [is] termed the individualist
health promotion. (Germov 465) This individual approach educates communities
about gradual and extreme lifestyle change. Going through high school I couldnt
really understand how an individual could make any difference to the profound social
issue of alcohol abuse. In my senior year of schooling I was asked to write a speech
expressing the emotion surrounding the loss of a parent. Through this speech, it was a
part of an educational program to ensure that students were informed about the longterm consequences of the abuse of alcohol. This speech was also crucial in sharing
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with my peers the emotional long-term effect substance abuse could inflict upon those
surrounding family members.
Such personal experiences have helped shape and mould my own perceptions on
alcohol and drug abuse today. The stigmatisation surrounding adolescent drinking
revolves greatly around family circumstances and education. I am apart of a
generation where students engage in risk taking behaviours because it has become
such a norm. During high school, it was clear that drinking, and drinking excess, is
the norm rather than the exception (Germov 288), especially when it came to fitting
into the social ladder. I already understood the negative effects of alcohol and drug
use and was familiar with the consequences. As went through high school, I slowly
became more and more aware of the risk-taking behaviours students often took place
in. I was able to take this deeper understanding of alcohol abuse and the effect it had
upon my own life and transform it into individualist health promotion.
Germov states that it is often the job of professionals, such as doctors; nurses,
psychologists and educators often provide health education about health risks to
persuade people to change their lifestyles. (Germov 467) This stage in my life has
led me to study to be an educator, so that I can use my personal experiences to help
have some influence on those around me. I found that when I was in school, even has
old as high school, the issues regarding the abuse of alcohol other substances was
never discussed in detail. In primary school, one of the only examples of health
promotion was the change of the food in the canteen- where the school was strict in
only offering healthy products to students. Although this is a positive idea, the
execution was quite sudden and students were never really given the opportunity to
understand the reasoning behind the changes.
In being a future educator, I hope to use my own life experiences to influence the life
experiences of others. Germov discusses the notion that social environments can be
both the cause and the solution to health problems. (Sallis et al. 2008 cited in
Germov 468) If students are placed in an environment that never even thinks to
introduce such social issues, levels of awareness will decrease. Unaware of the
consequences, there is no way in truly knowing if a child understands the affect of
their behaviours when they are older. Health and illness are seen as the outcome of a
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Scarlett Parker
Reflective Journal
2163370
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Reflective Journal
Scarlett Parker
2163370
Bibliography
Germov, John 2013, Second Opinion: An Introduction to Health Sociology, 5th
edition, Oxford University Press