Locality and habitus: the origins of sickness absence practices

This article aims to understanding the differences observed in the sickness absence practices of three municipal work organisations. Sickness absence figures were contextualised with a two-level analysis. The working communit ies were studied with the material collected for the study from documents, interviews, and a postal questionnaire survey on psychosocial working condi tions. At the locality level the quality and quantity of economic, social, and cultural capitals were assessed. On the basis of this material, communi ty diagnoses of the three localities are presented. The relationship of the way of life and being ill in the locality to the sickness absences among t he employees of the municipality is discussed using the concepts of 'field' , 'habitus', 'practice' and 'capital' as presented by Bourdieu. Sickness ab sence practices seem to be connected to the relative dominance of social cl asses in the locality. We conclude that the sickness absence practice of th e municipal working community is an expression of the sickness absence habi tus which is deeply rooted in the social history of the locality and in the health-related behaviour of the residents. In being not too structuralisti c and not too relativistic, Bourdieu's theory helps us to understand the re ality of the sickness absences; they can only be influenced marginally and temporarily by simple intervention measures in the work-places. More lastin g changes in the level of sickness absences would require profound changes in the working community and-ultimately-in the whole locality. (C) 1999 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.