Also see the separate article Coma. Previously, the term persistent vegetative state (PVS) was used to describe all patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness. PVS has become marked by ethical and medical dilemmas, often, if not always, requiring legal assistance.
Full Definition of AGENCY. 1. a: the office or function of an agent b: the relationship between a principal and that person's agent. 2. : the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power: operation.
Agency, on the other hand, refers to the volitional and purposeful nature of human activity. Social structure is believed to exert a constraining effect on human activity; agency refers to the ability of individuals to act independently of this.ocial structure refers to those larger and relatively enduring features of society which provide the background against which social life is carried out: for example, the class structure. It highlights the fact that human societies have certain regularities in the social relationships which people engage in.