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Fundamental Cause Theory

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Fundamental-cause theory was developed to explain the enduring effects of SES on health and mortality. It is possible that other social statuses, such as race, ethnicity or gender, also have enduring associations with resources of money, knowledge, power, prestige and beneficial social connections and with health and mortality, and may also operate as fundamental causes. Even if not, however, race and ethnicity are currently strongly related to resources and consequently would be expected to behave similarly to SES in analyses such as Tehranifar’s, that focus on the current health context.

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Correspondence to Jo C. Phelan .

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Phelan, J.C., Link, B.G. (2013). Fundamental Cause Theory. In: Cockerham, W. (eds) Medical Sociology on the Move. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6193-3_6

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