Structural violence

Structural Violence and its Effects on Health Choices

Structural violence is defined as some of the harms or disadvantages that an individual suffers as a result of the societal systems in existence. Hunger and poverty are two major examples of structural violence that are relevant to this essay. This study will focus on the topic on the relationship between worries created by social structures among immigrants, specifically Hispanics, and their health decisions. Diabetes is the focus of this article, and the piece will discuss the anxieties associated with the disease among Hispanic immigrants. According to Center for Health Disparities & Research (2017), the authors focused on a group of Hispanic immigrants in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In this community of Hispanic immigrants, the authors conducted a study with the aim of identifying the fears brought about by the structural forces and the disparity it causes in regards to health choices. According to the researchers, concerns brought about by structural violence, in this case, poverty, leads to the immigrants making desperate dietary choices which have a direct effect on the people at risk of diabetes. Also, poverty brings about fear since the immigrants in most cases lack health cover, and this requires them to pay for treatments and check-ups. This structural viciousness leads to concerns which make them susceptible to diabetes since the mitigating factors hinder their access to the critical health service.

The Impact of Structural Violence on Health Inequality

I conquer that structural violence fuels health incongruity. The absence of the opportunity to access basic health care due to social imbalances that exist directly impacts the immigrant communities. Fears associated with organizational violence such as poverty and hunger leads to persons affected resorting to desperate means of survival and poor health choices. Therefore, as per the authors of the article, structural violence propels health inequality among communities such as the Hispanic immigrants in this case.

References

Center for Health Disparities & Research (2017). Health Disparity and Structural Violence: How Fear Undermines Health Among Immigrants at Risk for Diabetes (2nd ed.). Albuquerque, New Mexico: Journal of Health Disparities Research & Practice.