jamesteufel.com

In positioning the idea of social change, several health educators have asked me if social change is ethical, with the implicit message being that individual change is either ethical or at least more ethical than social change. Given the mounting evidence supporting the dominance of social determinants of health, I believe that it would be unethical to neglect the importance of social change. Individual change is certainly a safer, more comfortable, and more socially acceptable path in the United States, especially for academicians. However, despite the discomfort and risk in social change, evidence supports that social change would reap more rewards for people who are disadvantaged in disposition and/or situation. I also recognize that individuals must be changed in order to produce social change, and, as result, the process of social change is more complex than individual change. Furthermore, I also believe that many health educators believe that social change is ethical, even though they may perceive social change from a different perspective—e.g., review the tobacco reduction movement.