Medical sociologists have long recognized the importance of
community and family structure in the health of individuals.
However, the past quarter century in America has seen an increasing
emphasis on individualism and materialism that has effectively
diminished the cohesiveness and emotional support provided by these
basic social units. The Power of Clan examines the health effects
of social change in a largely Italian-American town over a
twenty-five-year period and provides substantial evidence of the
protective effect of family bonds and shared social values against
coronary heart disease and sudden death.
The unique feature of the Roseto, Pennsylvania community was its
remarkably low death rate from heart attacks, this in spite of the
fact that such risk factors as smoking, lack of exercise, high fat
and cholesterol diet were found to be just as prevalent in Roseto
as in four nearby control towns. Roseto's traditional,
family-oriented social structure, however, differed vastly from
that of neighboring towns where materialistic values were
predominant and where the individual, rather than the family, was
considered to be the unit of society.
At the beginning of their study in the early 1960s, the authors
noted indications of imminent social change toward a more
Americanized system of values and behavior. Interviews with younger
inhabitants revealed much respect for old-world traditions but not
as much enthusiasm for living by them. The study's prediction that
the abandonment of selfless, communal standards would undermine
Rosetans relative immunity to heart disease was borne out as death
rates from heart attack climbed to levels comparable to those of
the control towns by 1975. The Power of Clan is the product of
twenty-five years of continuous observation. The findings of its
original study have been carefully examined and its predictions
largely confirmed. It is a landmark volume in the longitudinal
study of health in an advanced industrial society. It also
constitutes a large step forward in the cooperation of medical and
sociological researchers.
General
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