Influence of Socioeconomic Status and Social Justice on Health in the US

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Currently, it has been discovered that African American women are more likely to give birth to babies with low weight, as compared to American women of non-Hispanic origin. However, the researchers and physicians fail to provide a unanimous assumption concerning the reasons and preconditions of these differences. In the video, Richard David and James Collins have determined that racism, inappropriate social policies, and chronic stress are major social factors that lead to the delivery of low-weight babies among African American women.

Understanding racism implies considering various risk factors and dimensions of social influence. At this point, the scholars have discovered that higher education and income status are not always the case for explaining the higher death rates of low birth-weight children. Specifically, although women with higher education are more occupied with professional career, the chronic stress derives from the displays of unequal opportunities for minority groups.

Awareness of the fact that African Americans constitute the ethnic minority is the primary condition for moral and social pressure imposed on women (Spector, 2013). Additionally, chronic stress has negatively influenced premature development of pregnancy among all women irrespective of race. However, ethnic minorities have higher probabilities to suffer from stress disorder.

Racial discrimination is often represented as an institutionalized phenomenon, and there is a misconception about the fact that racism is in the past. In fact, the governmental reforms adopted in the past have experienced sever obstacles (Spector, 2013). According to the scholars, “in the 1980s, economic growth stagnated, and government began cutting back social programs. The impact on infant death was dramatic” (David & Collins, n. d., p. 4). With regard to these issues, it should be stressed that changes in civil rights regulations have a direct impact on the ratio of infant deaths among African American as compared to non-Hispanic population. Stress can also become the reason for restricted flow of blood to the plant, which creates obstacle to fetal growth and difficulties in premature delivery.

Currently, one should not deny the fact that racism pursues African American women throughout their lives, leading to psychological trauma and disorders. Constant pressure, therefore, contributes to wearing out human organism and diminishing the chances for delivering a health infant. Even daily encounters of African American women with instances of racism influence their moral and physical state. In this respect, although education provides equal educational opportunities, black students are still limited in their professional choices. Lower salaries paid to African Americans constitute another stress factor causing problems with health. Hence, the narrator concludes, “the impact of racism and stress on pregnancy outcomes is becoming hard to ignore” (David & Collins, n. d., p. 7). These factors are results of inappropriate racial policies.

In conclusion, it should be stressed that civil rights violation, unequal distribution of employment opportunities and chronic stress as a result of racial discrimination have had a potent impact on the infant premature delivery among African-American women. Hence, because of racism, black community perceive that they are often treated as minorities due to the past reforms and public policies introduced by the government. Therefore, unequal distribution of job opportunities causes stresses, leading to greater problems with blood supply to fetus, which leads to higher risks of low-weight baby. Overall, although racism is not recognized officially, it is still considered as an institutionalized phenomenon.

References

David, R., & Collins, J. (n. d.). Unnatural Causes: When the Bough Breaks. Web.

Spector, R. E. (2013). Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness. US: Prentice Hall.

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