Health Promotion International, Vol. 8, No. 2, 147-157, 1993
© Oxford University Press 1993
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The importance of social theory for health promotion: from description to reflexivity
Health Education Authority London, UK
Address for correspondence: Address for correspondence: Russell Caplan Health Education Authority Hamilton House Mabledon Place London WC1H 9TX UK
This paper argues that, contrary to much discussion on theory in health education/promotion, a definitive theoretical map is available for extending our understanding and enhancing our practice. This map consists of that vast pool of systematized social theory which preceded health education/promotion and which explains the descriptive terms in which it is thought about. This method of reflexive analysis combines two fundamental dimensions about the nature of scientific knowledge and the nature of society contained in the terms in which health education/promotion is presented. What emerges is a theoretical map consisting of four major approaches or paradigms with which to assess health education/promotion theories. Four models of health education are then briefly assessed according to this method of reflexive analysis. Within this analysis the terms of these models are situated in relation to more recent developments in health promotion policy demonstrating a more definite line of continuity in both thought and practice. In the study the terms health promotion and health education are used interchangeably—a common feature of current practice in the UK.
Key words: reflexive analysis; social theory; science and society
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