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Macissé Diop
Professor Stephen Kopec
English 100
16 October 2015
Socioeconomic Status and Henrietta Lacks
The freelance science writer Rebecca Skloot depicts Henrietta Lacks’ story by developing
multiple aspects of socioeconomic status within “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. By
mentioning the previous, we have to define this intriguing word for the sake and clarity of this
essay.
What is socioeconomic status? – According to the American Psychological Association
(APA), socioeconomic status, also known as SES, is the standing of a person or group in a
community or society based on education, occupation and income, which is often used as a
benchmark for investigating health inequalities. With this being said, the lower one’s SES, the
greater one’s risk of malnutrition, heart disease, infectious diseases, and early mortality from all
causes. In the case Henrietta Lacks, having only a seventh grade education, having multiple
precarious sources of employment which generates low income classifies her in that low SES
category. Not to mention that she is a black woman living in a time when racial segregation and
prejudice was at its peak, the author really puts an emphasis on her abominable quality of life.
Quality of life can be defined by the standard of health, comfort, and happiness experienced by an
individual based on the World Health Organization (WHO).
Education is a prominent socioeconomic status that affects an individual’s way of life,
probably the most important determinant amongst all and the source of Henrietta Lacks problems
during her lifetime, mostly health issues. Education may be a better indicator of factors linked to
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social position that are important to health and survival given that the effect of income on mortality
is markedly reduced when education is included in predictive models (Herndon and al. 315).
Education is arguably the most important asset an individual can possess in his or her life.
Not only does it open up job opportunities, it also enables a lot more than what people think.
Education provides a wide variety of riches such as a healthier lifestyle, reasoning against the
illogical, exposure to the outside world, stability, a longer and disease free life […] All of the
previous ultimately promotes happiness in one’s life. It is only possible to have a stable mind and
a balanced life once one is self dependent and has a reputable standing in the society. By simply
being educated one would have little job insecurity, no inferiority complex and a well organized
understanding of the world. Education may not be the key to happiness, but it definitely is the key
