Intro to Sociology Study Guide Exam 3 Population Society Demography the study of Components of population change Their causes consequences Some Distinctive Characteristics Interdisciplinary more than just sociology Intellectual scope from social science to biology Very applied demographics Census UN Vital statistics Business Non profits Govt Academic research is theoretically driven Demographic Theories Thomas Malthus held that population increases faster than food supply Karl Marx insisted that an excess of population is related to the availability of employment opportunities not to a fixed supply of food Neo Malthusians agree with many of Malthus ideas but favor contraception for population control Demographic transition theory holds that the process of modernization is associated with four stages in population change Mortality Terms Mortality is the incidence of death in a society s population 1 Demographers measure mortality using the crude death rate or the number of deaths in a given year for every thousand people in a population 2 The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths among infants under one year of age for every thousand live births in a given year 3 Life expectancy is the average life span of a society s population 4 The population growth rate is computed by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate It Is relatively low in the industrialized nations and quite high in the poor countries Why fertility patterns Fertility is the incidence of childbearing in a society s population Fecundity refers to the maximum potential childbearing ability of the women of a society It is sharply reduced in practice by cultural norms finances and personal choice Demographers measure fertility using the crude birth rate or the number of live births in a given year for every thousand people in a population Fertility Application What causes fertility to stay low in high income west Ideational cultural changes post WWII Individualism materialism gender egalitarianism Delay marriage rise divorce cohabitation Other structural changes technology Women entered labor force higher education Smaller mobile families High cost of quality children non kin child care etc Contraceptive technology the pill Fertility is controlled managed planned Can policy encourage higher fertility Population and Introduction to Health and Aging Migration Migration is the movement of people into and out of a specified territory 1 It may be voluntary or involuntary Voluntary migration may be explained by push and pull factors 2 Movement into a territory is termed immigration and is measured by the in migration rate the number of people entering an area for every thousand people in the population 3 Movement out of a territory is termed emigration and is measured by the out migration rate the number of people leaving an area for every thousand people in the population 4 The net migration rate is the difference between the in migration rate and the out migration rate Urbanization Suburbs The Megalopolis The movement of people from rural to urban areas resulting in the concentration of humanity living in urban cities Suburbs are urban areas beyond the political boundaries of a city They exploded after WWII Industrial and commercial activities soon followed population outward A megalopolis is a vast urban region containing a number of cities and their surrounding suburbs Environmental Sociology Ecology is the study of the interaction of living organisms and the natural environment Structural functionalism The logic of growth thesis and the limits to growth thesis Conflict theory Resource distribution and environmental racism The development of an ecologically sustainable culture a way of life that meets the needs of the present generation without threatening the environmental legacy of future generations Stress and Health Research from the sociological study of stress suggests that stressful conditions are associated with social position and the structural arrangements of peoples lives Structural arrangements refer to various systems of stratification gender race class and age To the extent that these systems of stratification represent the unequal distribution of resources and opportunities a low social position within them may be a source of stressful life conditions Sociological Study of Stress Two types of stress that impact health stressful life events and chronic stress Stressful life events refer to distinct and acute negative life experiences divorce death of a loved one job loss victimization Stressful life events are often associated with the social positions of individuals Low education divorce low education job loss Chronic strains refer to relatively enduring problems conflicts and threats that many people face in their daily lives social isolation poverty violent relationships Individual susceptibility is determined by Structural factors education income Social factors social relationships Cultural factors gendered expectations Psychological factors self esteem control Behavioral factors smoking drinking Biology genetics health Linking Stress and Health The stress response fight or flight response evolved with the sole purpose of ensuring safety and survival Allostasis is the stress response the body s ability to adapt to stressful conditions Allostasis begins in the brain with the perception of some stressful life condition In the first major stage of the stress response sympathetic response the hypothalamus in the brain alerts the adrenal glands near the kidneys to release the first of the major stress hormones adrenaline Allostatic load refers to the damage that results from over activity of allostatic systems and over exposure to stress hormones When activated repeatedly over long periods of time the stress response can cause illness by Straining the brain and heart Suppressing the immune system Encouraging risky coping strategies Causing reproductive and digestive problems Research has linked allostatic load to Anxiety and depression Poor diet and substance use Central obesity Colds and viral infections Diabetes Hypertension high blood pressure Heart issues Stroke Trends in Body Mass Obesity Body mass index BMI of 30 or higher Body mass index BMI A measure of an adults weight in relation to his or her height specifically the adults weight in kilograms divided by the square of his or her height in meters About one third of U S adults 33 8 are obese Approximately 17 or 12 5 million
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