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Social Injustice and Public Health

Second Edition

Edited by Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel

Fully revised and updated edition of the landmark work
Focuses on the impact of special and disadvantaged populations
A valuable resource for public health workers and their agencies and organizations
With 78 contributors who are experts in their respective subject areas

New to this Edition:

Updated chapters on societal groups and dynamics impacting public health

Social Injustice and Public Health

Second Edition

Edited by Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel

Description

This second edition of Social Injustice and Public Health is a comprehensive, up-to-date, evidence-based resource on the relationship of social injustice to many aspects of public health. With contributions from leading experts in public health, medicine, health, social sciences, and other fields, this integrated book documents the adverse effects of social injustice on health and makes recommendations on what needs to be done to reduce social injustice and thereby improve the public's health.

Social Injustice and Public Health is divided into four parts:

· The nature of social injustice and its impact on public health
· How the health of specific population groups is affected by social injustice
· How social injustice adversely affects medical care, infectious and chronic non-communicable disease, nutrition, mental health, violence, environmental and occupational health, oral health, and aspects of international health
· What needs to be done, such as addressing social injustice in a human rights context, promoting social justice through public health policies and programs, strengthening communities, and promoting equitable and sustainable human development

With 78 contributors who are experts in their respective subject areas, this textbook is ideal for students and practitioners in public health, medicine, nursing, and other health sciences. It is the definitive resource for anyone seeking to better understand the social determinants of health and how to address them to reduce social injustice and improve the public's health.

Social Injustice and Public Health

Second Edition

Edited by Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel

Foreword
William H. Foege

Part I: Introduction

Chapter 1: The Nature of Social Injustice and Its Impact on Public Health
Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel

Box 1-1: Concepts of Social Justice
Box 1-2: Science and Social Justice
Omar Khan and David MKI Liu

Appendix to Chapter 1: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Part II: How the Health of Specific Population Groups Is Affected by Social Injustice

Chapter 2: Socioeconomically Disadvantaged People
Michael Marmot and Ruth Bell

Chapter 3: Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Carol Easley Allen and Cheryl E. Easley

Box 3-1: Racial and Ethnic Definitions in the U.S. Census

Chapter 4: Women
Gina Maranto and Judy Norsigian

Box 4-1: "Our Bodies, Our Votes" Campaign
Box 4-2: Engagement of Men in Gender-Based Violence Prevention

Chapter 5: Children
Sara Rosenbaum and Kay A. Johnson

Box 5-1: How the United States Compares with Other Developed Countries Developed Countries
Box 5-2: Saving Children's Lives in Developing Countries
Kathryn Bolles and Sarita Fritzler

Chapter 6: Older People
Carroll L. Estes and Steven P. Wallace

Chapter 7: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender/Transsexual Individuals
Emilia Lombardi and Talia Bettcher

Chapter 8: People with Disabilities
Nora Ellen Groce

Box 8-1: Terminology
Box 8-2: Disability and Education
Box 8-3: Similarities and Differences among People with Disabilities
Box 8-4: Disability during Times of Disaster and Political Upheaval

Chapter 9: Incarcerated People
Ernest M. Drucker

Box 9-1: Political Prisoners
William Schulz

Chapter 10: Homeless People
Lisa Arangua and Lillian Gelberg

Box 10-1: Substandard Housing and Its Impact on Health
Bailus Walker, Jr.

Chapter 11: Forced Migrants: Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
Michael Toole

Part III: How Social Injustice Affects Health

Chapter 12: Medical Care
Oliver Fein and H. Jack Geiger

Box 12-1: Single-payer Health Care
Steffie Woolhandler and David U. Himmelstein

Chapter 13: Infectious Disease
Joia S. Mukherjee and Paul E. Farmer

Chapter 14: Nutrition
J. Larry Brown

Box 14-1: Definitions of Key Terms
Box 14-2: Obesity

Chapter 15: Chronic Non-Communicable Disease
Karen R. Siegel, K.M. Venkat Narayan, and Derek Yach

Chapter 16: Mental Health
Carles Muntaner, Edwin Ng, Haejoo Chung, and William W. Eaton

Chapter 17: Violence
James A. Mercy and Sarah DeGue

Box 17-1: War and Other Forms of Armed Conflict
Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel

Box 17-2: The International Arms Trade
Victor W. Sidel and Barry S. Levy

Box 17-3: Nuclear Weapons and Social Injustice
Robert M. Gould and Patrice M. Sutton

Box 17-4: Genocide
Victor W. Sidel and Barry S. Levy

Chapter 18: Environmental Health
Colin D. Butler and Anthony J. McMichael

Box 18-1: Substandard Housing and Its Impact on Health
Bailus Walker, Jr.

Box 18-2: Impact of Natural Disasters on Social Justice
Linda Young Landesman, Micheal A. Kemp, and Kay C. Goss

Chapter 19: Occupational Health and Safety
Andrea Kidd Taylor and Linda Rae Murray

Box 19-1: Economic Globalization
Ellen R. Shaffer and Joseph E. Brenner

Chapter 20: Oral Health
Myron Allukian, Jr., Alice M. Horowitz, and Chloe A. Wong

Box 20-1: Oral Health Inequalities in Developing Countries

Chapter 21: International Health
Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel

Box 21-1: Trafficking in Persons
Box 21-2: Hunger and Malnutrition in Developing Countries
Box 21-3: Export of Hazardous Substances from Developed Countries to Developing Countries

Part IV: What Needs To Be Done

Chapter 22: Addressing Social Injustice in a Human Rights Context
Sofia Gruskin and Paula Braveman

Box 22-1: Promoting the Rights of "Undocumented Immigrants"
Carmen Nevarez

Chapter 23: Promoting Social Justice Through Public Health Policies, Programs, and Services
Alonzo Plough

Chapter 24: Strengthening Communities and the Roles of Individuals in Building Community Life
Robert E. Aronson, Kay Lovelace, John W. Hatch, and Tony L. Whitehead

Box 24-1: Strengthening Communities in Developing Countries
Gail Snetro-Plewman and Angela Brasington

Chapter 25: Promoting Social Justice Through Education in Public Health
Robert S. Lawrence

Box 25-1: International Declaration of Health Rights

Chapter 26: Researching Critical Questions on Social Justice and Public Health: An Ecosocial Perspective
Nancy Krieger

Chapter 27: Protecting Human Rights through International and National Law
Peter Weiss and Henry A. Freedman

Box 27-1: Preventing Torture
Leonard S. Rubenstein and Vincent Iacopino

Chapter 28: Learning from the Social Movements of the 1960s
Oliver Fein and Charlotte Phillips

Box 28-1: The Occupy Wall Street Movement
Arthur Chen and Peggy Saika

Chapter 29: Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Human Development
Richard Jolly

Box 29-1: The Roles of International Non-governmental Organizations in Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Human Development
Raymond C. Offenheiser and M. Porter McConnell

Box 29-2: The Roles of Foundations in Promoting Equitable and Sustainable Human Development
Mark Sidel

Appendix: Organizations Addressing Issues of Social Injustice and Public Health

Social Injustice and Public Health

Second Edition

Edited by Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel

Author Information

Barry S. Levy, M.D., M.P.H., is an Adjunct Professor of Public Health at Tufts University School of Medicine and a past president of the American Public Health Association (APHA), and has had extensive experience in public health practice, education, research, and consulting, both in the United States and 20 other countries. He has written numerous articles and book chapters on a wide range of public health subjects and has co-edited 16 other books, including, with Dr. Sidel, two editions of War and Public Health and two editions of Terrorism and Public Health.

Victor W. Sidel, M.D., is Distinguished University Professor of Social Medicine Emeritus at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and an Adjunct Professor of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is also a past president of APHA and has been president of the Public Health Association of New York City (PHANYC). He was a founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), which was the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.

Contributors:

Carol Easley Allen, PhD, RN
Twin Solutions LLC
Huntsville, AL

Myron Allukian Jr., DDS, MPH
Oral Health Consultant
Boston, MA

Lisa Arangua, MPP
Senior Research Analyst
Department of Family Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Los Angeles, CA

Robert E. Aronson, DrPH, MPH
Associate Professor
Department of Public Health Education
University of North Carolina Greensboro
Greensboro, NC

Ruth Bell, PhD
Senior Research Fellow
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
University College London
London
United Kingdom

Talia Mae Bettcher, PhD
Professor and Chair
Department of Philosophy
California State University, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

Kathryn Bolles, MPH
Senior Director
Emergency Health and Nutrition
Save the Children
Washington, DC

Angela M. Brasington, MSPH
Community Health and Social Change Advisor
Department of Health and Nutrition, International Programs
Save the Children
Washington, DC

Paula Braveman, MD, MPH
Professor of Family and Community Medicine
Director, Center on Social Disparities in Health
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

Joseph E. Brenner, MA
Co-Director
Center for Policy Analysis
on Trade and Health (CPATH)
San Francisco, CA

J. Larry Brown, PhD
Faculty Member Emeritus
Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, MA

Colin D Butler, BMed, MSc, PhD
Discipline of Public Health
Faculty of Health
University of Canberra
Canberra ACT
Australia

Arthur M. Chen, MD
Asian Health Services AMSHO
Oakland, CA

Haejoo Chung, PhD
Assistant Professor in Health Policy
Healthcare Management
Korea University College of Health Sciences
Seoul
Korea

Sarah DeGue, PhD
Behavioral Scientist
Division of Violence Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, GA

Ernest Drucker, PhD
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
New York, NY

Cheryl E. Easley, PhD, RN
Twin Solutions LLC
Harvest, AL

William W. Eaton
Harold and Sylvia Halpert Professor and Chair
Department of Mental Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore, MD

Carroll L. Estes, PhD
Professor Emerita
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Founder and Former Director
Institute for Health & Aging
University of California, San Francisco
School of Nursing
San Francisco, CA

Paul E. Farmer, MD, PhD
Kolokotrones University Professor
Harvard University
Chair, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Chief, Division of Global Health Equity
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Co-founder, Partners In Health
Boston, MA

Oliver Fein, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine and Public Health
Associate Dean
Departments of Medicine and Public Health
Weill Cornell Medical College
New York, NY

Henry A. Freedman, LLB, Hon Dr Law
Executive Director
National Center for Law and Economic Justice
New York, NY

Sarita Fritzler, BA
Program Coordinator
Emergency Health and Nutrition
Save the Children
Washington, DC

H. Jack Geiger, MD, MSciHyg
Arthur C. Logan Professor of
Community Medicine Emeritus
CUNY Medical School
City College of New York
New York, NY

Lillian Gelberg, MD, MSPH
Professor of Family Medicine & Professor of Public Health
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
Los Angeles, CA

Kay C. Goss, MA, CEM
President
World Disaster Management
Alexandria, VA

Robert M. Gould, MD
Associate Adjunct Professor
Department of Obstetric, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences UCSF School of Medicine
President
Physicians for Social Responsibility
San Francisco, CA

Nora Ellen Groce, PhD
Professor and Leonard Cheshire Chair
Director
Leonard Cheshire Disability &
Inclusive Development Centre
Division of Epidemiology
University College London
London

Sofia Gruskin, JD, MIA
Professor of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine
Professor of Law and Preventive Medicine, Gould School of Law
Director, Program on Global Health and Human Rights
Institute for Global Health
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

John W. Hatch, PhD
Emeritus Professor
Department of Health Behavior
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC

David U. Himmelstein, MD
Professor of Public Health
CUNY School of Urban Public
New York, NY

Alice M. Horowitz, PhD
Research Associate Professor
School of Public Health
University of Maryland
College Park, MD

Vincent Iacopino, MD, PhD
Senior Medical Advisor
Physicians for Human Rights,
Cambridge, MA
Adjunct Professor of Medicine
University of Minnesota Medical School
Minneapolis, MN
Senior Research Fellow
Human Rights Center,
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

Kay A. Johnson, MPH, EdM
Lecturer of Health Policy
George Washington University
School of Public Health and Health Services

Richard Jolly, MA, PhD
Professor
Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex
Brighton, United Kingdom

Micheal A. Kemp, PhD, CEM
Faculty Chair
School of Public Service Leadership
Capella University
Minneapolis, MN

Omar Khan, MD, MHS, FAAFP
Medical Director
Center for Community Health & Eugene duPont
Preventive Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute
Director, Global Health Track
Department of Family & Community Medicine
Christiana Care Heath System
Wilmington, DE

Andrea Kidd Taylor, DrPH, MSPH
Lecturer
Health Policy and Management Department
Morgan State University School of Community Health & Policy
Baltimore, MD

Nancy Krieger, PhD
Professor
Department of Society, Human Development and Health
Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, MA

Linda Young Landesman, DrPH, MSW
Landesman Consulting
Rye Brook, NY

Robert S. Lawrence, MD
Professor in Environmental Health Sciences
Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Health Policy, and
International Health
Center for a Livable Future
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore, MD

Barry S. Levy, MD, MPH
Adjunct Professor of Public Health
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
Sherborn, MA

David MKI Liu, MD, JD, PhD, FAAP
Consolidated Tribal Health Center
Redwood Valley, CA

Emilia Lombardi, PhD
Assistant Professor
Health Promotion and Education/Public Health
Baldwin Wallace University
Berea, OH

Kay Lovelace, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor
Department of Public Health Education
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Greensboro, NC

Gina Maranto
Director
Ecosystem Science and Policy
Graduate Program Coordinator
Environmental Science and Policy
The Leonard and Jayne Abess Center
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL

Michael Marmot MD, PhD, FRCP
Professor
Institute of Health Equity
University College
London, United Kingdom

Porter McConnell
Policy and Advocacy Manager, Aid Effectiveness
Oxfam America
Washington, DC

Anthony J. McMichael, MBBS, PhD
Professor of Population Health
National Centre for Epidemiology & Population Health
Australian National University
Canberra, Australia

James A. Mercy, PhD
Special Advisor for Global Activities
Division of Violence Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Centers for Disease Prevention and Control
Atlanta, GA

Joia S. Mukherjee, MD, MPH
Associate Professor
Department of Global Health and Social Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Chief Medical Officer
Partners In Health
Boston, MA

Carles Muntaner, MD, PhD
Professor
Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, Dalla Lana School of Public Health,
and Department of Psychiatry
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
Canada

Linda Rae Murray, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Officer
Cook County Department of Public Health
Chicago, IL

K.M. Venkat Narayan, MD
Ruth and O.C. Hubert Chair of Global Health
Hubert Department of Global Health
Emory University
Atlanta, GA

Carmen Rita Nevarez, MD, MPH
Director
Center for Health Leadership and Practice
Public Health Institute
Oakland, CA

Edwin Ng, MSW
Dalla Lana School of Public Health
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
Canada

Judy Norsigian
Executive Director
Our Bodies Ourselves
Cambridge, MA

Raymond Offenheiser
President
Oxfam America
Boston, MA

Charlotte L. Phillips, MD
Chairperson
Brooklyn For Peace
Brooklyn, NY

Alonzo L. Plough PhD, MPH
Director
Emergency Preparedness and Response
County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health
Los Angeles, CA

Sara Rosenbaum, JD
Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor
Department of Health Policy
School of Public Health and Health Services
George Washington University
Washington, DC

Leonard S. Rubenstein, JD, LLM
Senior Scholar
Center for Public Health and Human Rights
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore, MD

Peggy Saika
President/Executive Director
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy
San Francisco, CA

William F. Schulz, DMin
President
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Cambridge, MA

Ellen R. Shaffer, PhD, MPH
Co-Director
Center for Policy Analysis
on Trade and Health (CPATH)
San Francisco, CA

Mark Sidel, JD
Doyle-Bascom Professor of Law
University of Wisconsin Law School
Madison, WI

Victor W. Sidel, MD
Distinguished University Professor of Social Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Adjunct Professor of Public Health
Weill Cornell Medical College
Bronx, NY

Karen R. Siegel, MPH
PhD Candidate
Hubert Department of Global Health
Rollins School of Public Health
Nutrition and Health Sciences
Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Laney Graduate School
Emory University
Atlanta, GA

Gail Snetro-Plewman, MPH
Senior Africa Area Capacity Building Advisor for Health
Department of Health and Nutrition, International Programs
Save the Children
Johannesburg, South Africa

Patrice Sutton, MPH
Research Scientist
Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment
University of California, San Francisco
Oakland, CA

Michael J. Toole, MBBS, BMedSc, DTM&H
Professor
Centre for International Health, Burnet Institute
Adjunct Professor
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
Monash University
Melbourne, Victoria
Australia

Bailus Walker, Jr., PhD, MPH
Professor
Department of Community and Family Medicine
Howard University School of Medicine
Washington, DC

Steven P. Wallace, PhD
Chair and Professor, Dept. Community Health Sciences
Associate Director, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
Los Angeles, CA

Peter Weiss, JD
Vice President
Center for Constitutional Rights
New York, NY

Tony L. Whitehead, PhD, MSHyg
Professor and Director
Cultural Systems Analysis Group
Anthropology Department
Affiliate Professor
Department of Behavioral and Community Health
University of Maryland
College Park, MD

Chloe A. Wong

Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, MA
Professor of Public Health
CUNY School of Urban Public Health
New York, NY

Derek Yach, MBChB, MPH
Senior Vice President
The Vitality Group
Chicago, IL

Social Injustice and Public Health

Second Edition

Edited by Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel

Reviews and Awards

"An invaluable primer on how inequity breeds ill health...It should be widely read by policymakers and practitioners looking for a passionate and scholarly review of societal changes that would avert enormous suffering." --New England Journal of Medicine

"A useful contribution to a critical field of public health." --International Journal of Epidemiology

"Essential. A must-have for any public health department and a must-read for those pursuing a career in public health and/or health policy." --Choice

Social Injustice and Public Health

Second Edition

Edited by Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel

From Our Blog

Dr. Victor Sidel: a leader for health, peace, and social justice

Victor (Vic) Sidel, M.D., who died in late January, was a national and international champion for health, peace, and social justice. Among his numerous activities, he co-edited with me six books on war, terrorism, and social injustice that were published by Oxford University Press. Vic left an extensive legacy in the residents and students whom he trained, in the organizations that he strengthened, in the scholarly books and papers that he edited and wrote, and in the policies and programs that he promoted for a healthier, more peaceful, and more equitable world.

Posted on February 27, 2018

Read the blog post

Lift the congressional ban on CDC firearm-related deaths and injuries research

Imagine that there is a disease that claims more than 30,000 lives in the United States each year. Imagine that countless more people survive this disease, and that many of them have long-lasting effects. Imagine that there are various methods for preventing the disease, but there are social, political, and other barriers to implementing these preventive measures.

Posted on April 11, 2016

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How filling the Supreme Court vacancy will affect public health

Who is selected to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court will profoundly affect key public health issues, including gun control, access to reproductive health services, and climate change. In recent years, the Court has ruled, usually by 5-to-4 decisions, on these issues and will likely continue to do so by narrow margins.

Posted on March 7, 2016

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Water and conflict

The four-year drought in California, which is causing severe water shortages and related problems, is receiving increasingly more attention. It is affecting everyone, causing people to adjust their lifestyles and causing small business owners and entire industries to rethink their use'and misuse'of water.

Posted on August 14, 2015

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Have we become what we hate?

In 1971, William Irvin Thompson, a professor at York University in Toronto, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times entitled, 'We Become What We Hate,' describing the way in which 'thoughts can become inverted when they are reflected in actions.' He cited several scientific, sociocultural, economic, and political situations where the maxim appeared to be true. The physician who believed he was inventing a pill to help women become pregnant had actually invented the oral contraceptive.

Posted on January 25, 2015

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Putting an end to war

By Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel War is hell. War kills people, mainly non-combatant civilians, and injures and maims many more -- both physically and psychologically. War destroys the health-supporting infrastructure of society, including systems of medical care and public health services, food and water supply, sanitation and sewage treatment, transportation, communication, and power generation.

Posted on June 19, 2014

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The continuing threat of nuclear weapons

By Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel Out of sight. Out of mind. Nine countries, mainly the United States and Russia, possess 17,000 nuclear weapons, many of which are hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki almost 70 years ago.

Posted on April 19, 2014

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Pete Seeger: the power of singing to promote social justice

By Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel 'That song really sticks with you!' The speaker was the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1957, on his way to a speaking engagement in Kentucky. The song was 'We Shall Overcome.' He had heard it the day before from Pete Seeger at the Highlander Center in Tennessee. There Seeger had, a decade before, learned the song ' most likely derived from an old gospel song that became a labor-union song by the early 1900s.

Posted on February 18, 2014

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Poverty and health in the United States

By Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel We live in the richest nation on earth. Yet 15% of the US population (about 46 million people) live below the poverty line -- about $23,000 for a family of four. Almost 25% of children live in poverty. The number of American households living on $2 or less grew by 130% between 1996 and 2011.

Posted on November 9, 2013

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The case against striking Syria

By Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel Chemical weapons are horrendous agents. Small amounts can kill and severely injure hundreds of noncombatant women, men, and children in a matter of minutes, as apparently occurred recently in Syria. Some analysts consider them 'poor countries' nuclear bombs.'

Posted on September 9, 2013

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Social injustice and public health in America

By Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel Although there has been much progress in the United States toward social justice and improved health for racial and ethnic minorities in the 50 years since the 1963 March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, much social injustice persists in this country -- with profound adverse consequences for the public's health.

Posted on August 27, 2013

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