The Social-Conflict Theory

The social-conflict theory states that inequality exists in every society, which results in conflict and change. This theory takes into consideration factors such as social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and age. Throughout history, there has been inequalities between the rich and the poor, males and females, white people and people of color; these inequalities are still ongoing today in several societies around the world. Furthermore, this social inequality causes conflict since it benefits specific groups of people and harms others. The social-conflict theory has two main types: the gender-conflict theory and the race-conflict theory.

The gender-conflict theory, also called the feminist theory, focuses on the inequality between males and

Class, race, gender, and age are all factors related to health access. First of all, health is linked to social class. Rich developed countries have better health care than poor, underdeveloped countries. Poverty in poor countries results in malnutrition, poor hygiene, and lack of health education which in turn leads to the spread of many diseases; this is especially true in poor countries in the African continent or Bangladesh, for example. In these countries, the country does not have the money to improve the health care with new technologies nor the money to treat all the citizens, and the people who live in poverty do not have the money to pay for their own treatment especially if it is not free. According to WHO ( World Health Organization), “around 1.2 billion people in the world live in extreme poverty, and that 1 billion people worldwide suffer from serious illness due to poverty”. According to Children International, “2 million children die each year from preventable diseases like pneumonia because families can’t afford treatment”. Fortunately, in Kuwait, poverty is almost non-existent, and a lot of the population is of the working class. For the citizens of Kuwait health care is free, where in other low-income and under-developed countries health care is not free or is inadequate, and this is because of the social gap. In the United States, for example, there is a large social gap between its citizens

The race-conflict theory is more applicable in the United States, for example, rather than in Kuwait. This is because the United States has a deep history based on segregation and racial discrimination based on skin color. Statistics show that African Americans, Latin Americans, and low-income workers have poorer healthcare quality and access a well as a lower mortality rate than whites. According to National Health Interview Survey in 2013, “statistics show that in the U.S. Hispanics (30.3 %) and blacks (18.9%), were more likely to lack health insurance than Asians (13.8%) or whites