Reviews
Episode 17 - Dr. Sandra Lane: Structural Violence and Disparities in Health
Monday, April 06, 2009, 10:45:20 AM

In this podcast, Dr. Sandra Lane discusses how policy and environment promote disparities in health among people of color.
- Episode 17 - Dr. Sandra Lane
Listener Reviews
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structural violence and health disparities, Saturday, March 27, 2010
By Michele M :
Dr. Sandra Lane discusses how disparities in health can be a product of unintentional structural violence. For example, the lack of a supermarket in an inner city may contribute to poor health for a family because they do not have access to nutritious food. I found it especially interesting (and troubling) that lead poisoning (another form of unintentional structural violence) is highly associated with "bad" behavior in adolescents. It makes sense that if lead poisoning affects a child's executive functioning (ability to plan and learn from mistakes) that they would be seen as a "bad" child. Those kids are seen as "bad" kids by teachers, staff, and maybe even their parents. It's so sad to see that structural violence can contribute to poor health and ultimately crush their chances at being a healthy, well-functioning adult. These are some concrete examples of how environment plays such an important role in shaping a person's development. I am so glad that Dr. Sandra Lane has shared her research with us.
podcast 17 review , Thursday, February 11, 2010
By Sharron MSW Student :
Dr. Sandra Lane’s research on Structural Violence and Disparities in Health is valuable and poignant because it speaks to the needs of a community within the town Syracuse New York; where access to supermarkets, sufficient education and appropriate health care are limited for many visible minorities. Incidentally her research aided in the stabilizing of infant mortality rates which previously indicated huge disparities in infant deaths amongst ethnic groups. By initially investigating micro factors which pathogize individuals. Dr. Lane widened her scope to mezzo indicators such as communities, eventually leading to macro indicators such as social policies sustained through notions of structural violence which creates devastating inequalities amongst cultural groups. Its’ a pity that social policies enacted as safety nets often pathologize individual needs. And eligibility tests are often created to separate the deserving from the undeserving, while gatekeepers such as street level bureaucrats decipher and enforce governmental policies and this cycle continues to replicate itself over and over.
DISCLAIMER: The content shared by the presenter(s) and/or interviewer(s) of each podcast is their own and not necessarily representative of any views, research, or practice from the UB School of Social Work or the inSocialWork® podcast series.