SOCIOL 101 1st EditionFinal Exam Study Guide Lectures: 12-13Material is only over one lectureLecture 12: Modern Social IssuesI. What is the difference between health and illness?a. Health: state of complete physical, mental, and social well-beingi. Trend of holistic medicine: body and mindb. Illness: socially defined as an interference with healthII. Termsa. Health care: any activity intended to improve healthb. Medicine: an institutionalized system for the scientific diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illnessc. Social epidemiology: study of the causes and distribution of health, disease, and impairment throughout a populationd. Chronic diseases: long term or life-longe. Acute diseases: cause incapacitation and deathIII. How do we study health?a. Life expectancy: the estimate of the average lifetime of people born in a specific yeari. 12% of U.S. citizens die before age 60ii. 1.5 billion people worldwide die before 60b. Infant mortality: the number of deaths of infants under 1 year of age per 1000 live births in a yeari. 14% worldwideIV. How do we pay for healthcare?a. Public health insurance: Medicare (65+) and Medicaid (very poor)b. HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations): pay a set monthly fee for total care with an emphasis on prevention to avoid costly treatment laterc. Managed care: system of cost containment in which the kind of tests and services you can have are closely monitoredi. Requires advanced approvals on most thingsd. Uninsured and underinsured: one third of U.S. citizensi. 47 million people have no health insurance1. 15.8% of population in 2006V. What are other types of health systems?a. Universal health care: Health care is paid for by tax revenuesi. Canadab. Socialized medicine: Government owns the medical care facilities and employs the physiciansi. Great BritainVI. What are some sociological concepts associated with health?a. Structural Functionalismi. Sick role: a set of patterned expectations that defines the norms and values appropriate for individuals who are sick and for those who interact with them1. People who are sick are not responsible for their condition2. People who are sick are temporarily exempt from their normal roles and obligations3. People who are sick must want to get well4. People who are sick must seek helpii. Physicians act as “gatekeepers” determining who should be considered aslegitimately sick and should be “awarded” the sick roleb. Conflict Theoryi. We look at who has the power and who benefits from illness1. Physicians, clinics, pharmacies, labs, hospitals, manufacturers, insurance companies, etcc. Symbolic Interactioni. Medicalization: the process whereby nonmedical problems become defined and treated as illnesses or disorders1. Alcoholism, child birth, and sexual dysfunctionii. Demedicalization: the process by which a problem ceases to be defined asan illness or a disorder1. HomosexualityLecture 13: Modern Social IssuesI. How do we define education?a. Education: defined as the social institution responsible for the systematic transmission of knowledge, skills, and cultural values within a formally organized structurei. Structural Functionalismii. Property taxes are what run the education system, leads to extreme disparityiii. Life chances are determined by school district1. $2000 = average a student pays in Mississippi a year for education2. $21,000 = what students pay a year at the wealthiest district in upstate New YorkII. What are the different functions associated with education?a. Manifest functions (intended goals) of education:i. Socializationii. Transmission of cultureiii. Social controliv. Social placementv. Change and innovationb. Latent functions (hidden or unintended):i. Keeps kids off the street/restricts activitiesii. Production of social networks: bullyingiii. Creates a generation gap: slangIII. What is cultural capital?a. Cultural capital: Bourdieu’s term for people’s social assets, including values, beliefs, attitudes, and competencies in language and cultureb. Tracking: assigning students to specific courses and educational programs on the basis of their test scores, previous grades, or bothi. Conflict theoryii. Old idea, separate classes based on itc. Hidden curriculum: certain cultural values and attitudes are transmitted through implied demands in the everyday rules and routines of schoolsd. Credentialism: Social selection in which class advantage and social status are linked to the possession of academic qualificationsArticlesI. Life at the Top in America isn’t just better, It’s longer- Social class: combination of income, education, occupation, and wealth, played a powerful role in the three different scenarios of heart attacks- The more education and income people have, the less likely they are to die of heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and many cancers- Upper/middle class > middle class > lower class in life expectancyo They learn new info early, modify behaviors, take advantage of new treatments, and insurance covered- “Time is muscle” Mr. Miele had minimal heart damage- Mr. Wilson received a oral drug, then had to be transferred somewhere that does angioplasties versus Mr. Miele whose location was prime for his care needs- Life stressors increase as class goes downII. Race Gap Persists in Health Care, Three Studies Say- Black Americans still get far fewer operations, tests, medications, and other life-saving treatments than whites- Racial minorities are more prone to illness, experience more complications, and take longer to recover, generally die younger- “These persistent disparities are saying that systematically, based on an individual’s skin color, Americans are still treated very differently by our health care system- Reasons for differenceso Pooro Less educatedo Going to hospitals with inferior careo Cultural and biological differences- Less disparity treatmentso Abdominal aortic aneurysm in men and angioplasties for women- More disparityo Heart bypasseso Valve replacementso Back surgerieso Hip, knee replacementso Appendectomies- “The size of the differences between whites and blacks is really distressing and the fact that we see no progress happening anywhere across the country is really distressing”- Black women receive worst care- “There’s no measure where the performance for blacks is higher than for whites or even equal.” “Clearly, there’s a lot more work that needs to be done.”III. 49: From the Achievement Gap to the Education Debt: