Sociology Revision Semester 1 6/6/2008

From Second Opinion edited by John Germov

Life expectancy (LE): differences are not due to distinct biological advantages in gene pool, rather are a reflection of living and working conditions. Evidence:

o LE can change in a short period of time too short for genetic improvement

o Longer living in country, the more migrant health mirrors local population

Public health (aka. Social medicine, community medicine, or preventative medicine): policies & infrastructure to prevent onset and transmission of disease among population; focus on sanitation, hygiene, and immunization

o Friedrich Engels: r’ship between disease and poor living/working conditions is due to capitalist exploitation; big health differences between labourers & professionals.

Eg. Miners in poorly ventilated shafts develop ‘black lung’, while those in well ventilated shafts don’t. Coal owners are too profit driven to pay money to install shafts therefore cause bad health for miners.

o Class: position in system of structured inequality based on unequal distribution of power, wealth, income and status

o John Snow: (1854) early example of epidemiology to prevent disease spread. During cholera epidemic, traced source to water pump and had pump removed, ending disease spread.

o Epidemiology: statistical study of patterns of disease in populationo Rudolph Virchow: advocate for public health care, medicine must

intervene in political & social life, state must redistribute social resources esp. increased access to adequate nutrition

o Edwin Chadwick: development of first Public Health Act (1848); disease prevented through increased waste disposal and sewerage systems, as well as food hygiene.

Biomedical model: conventional Western approach, diagnosis & explanation of illness as malfunction of body’s biological mechanisms; focus on treating individual

o Louis Pasteur: (1878) germ theory of disease – illness caused by germs infecting the body

o Cartesian dualism: mind and body interact together but are separate entities therefore disease = physical; ignore psychological aspects

o CRITICISMS of biomedical model: Fallacy of specific etiology: there’s not just one cause of

disease! Objectification and medical scientism: leads to poor dr/patient

communication Reductionism: illness = only biological/pathological factors;

effectively isolate patient in social vacuum

Biological determinism: biology determines social / economic/ health status

Victim-blaming: patient solely responsible for what happens to them because of lifestyle choices; focus purely on individual, no acknowledgement of social responsibility.

Thomas McKeown: (1979) Increase in LE not due to medical treatment, but rather an increase in living standardsRisk factors: conditions which increase an individual’s susceptibility to illness / diseaseHealth promotion: education, economic, and political interventions to promote behavioural and environmental changes conducive to good health.

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MODELS OF HEALTH

Biomedical modelMalfunction of body’s biological systems; treatment through surgery and drug therapy

Biopsychosocial modelMultifactorial model takes into account biological, social, and psychological factors in patient’s condition. Still focuses on the individual for diagnosis and treatment

Web of causationEpidemiological model of illness; disease as result of web of risk factors between the agent (eg virus), the host and the environment; identify risk factors for prevention efforts at individual level

Ecological modelRelates quality of life to development of ecological resources at a population level

New public healthHygiene and sanitation with cultural and politico-economic factors that affect health; prevention of illness through community participation and social reform

Social modelCan be broken into 3 aspects

1. Social production and distribution of health and illness – many illnesses are outcomes of certain living and working conditions

2. Social construction of health and illness – health and illness definitions vary between cultures and change over time; people actively construct reality therefore it is not ‘inevitable’

3. Social organisation of health care – way particular society organizes, funds, and utilises its health services

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Ethnicity is shared cultural background whereas race is using skin colour and/or facial features to group people.Gender is socially constructed whereas sex is biologically defined.

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STRUCTURE VS AGENCY

Social structure: way social life is organised; recurring patterns of social interactionSocial institution: formal structures within society; organised to address identified social needsAgency: ability of people to influence their own lives and society

Yes, humans are shaped by their social environment BUT they can collectively change society. Perhaps structure and agency are interdependent, that is, one cannot exist without the other!

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Sociological imagination: describes the sociological approach to analyzing issues; make links between personal troubles and public issues; IN OTHER WORDS: JUST CHESS-C IT!

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THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

*Structural functionalism: shows how various parts of society function to maintain social order

o Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsonso Sick role

*Marxism: (or conflict theory) capitalists vs. working class; shows how unequal distribution of scarce resources in capitalist society is based on class division, and highlights who benefits and who is disadvantaged

o Karl Marx, Friedrich Engelso Class Health status

*Weberianism: shows how increased regulation of social life takes place and may stifle human creativity; rise of bureaucracy

o Max Webero Greater efficiency and uniformity in healthcare delivery may decrease

effectiveness of patient care*Symbolic Interactionism: how individual and small-group interactions construct social meaning in everyday settings to reproduce and change social patterns of behaviour

o George Mead, Charles Cooley, Erving Goffmano Labeling theory, looking glass self, stigma (physical/social trait which

results in negative social reactions)Feminism: seeks to explain and address unequal position of women in society

o Germaine Greer, Ann Oakleyo Sexism, biological determinism

Contemporary Modernism: attempts to integrate structure and agencyo Norbert Elias, Ulrich Becko How health risks are defined and acted upon; civilizing process &

internalization of social normsPost-structuralism/postmodernism: concentrates on subjectivity, diversity, and fragmentation; there is no single truth

o Michel Foucaulto Normality and panoptic effects: effect of supposed constant

surveillance

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…and just because I seem to have about a million books on Durkheim lying around my room at the moment…

Anomie: the decline that takes place in the regulatory mechanisms of social institutions and in the capacity of society to set the level of social restraint; particularly when society is unable to regulate social wants which develop as the economy becomes dominant over other institutions. Eg. Unlimited economic progress leads to less regulation be by religion, and thus a deterioration of moral restraint.

1. Altruistic suicide: individual’s attachments to society far exceed the loyalty they have to themselves. Suicide is a social duty. Eg. Cults, religious duty

2. Anomic suicide: suicide resulting from the overall decline in the regulatory powers of society and its inability to set the level of external restraint and impose limits on the individual. Without limits on social wants, the individual continues to exceed the means at their disposal and their desires become out of reach. Therefore depression therefore death.

3. Egoistic suicide: due to a decline in social integration; individuals retreat to themselves and become more self-preoccupied

4. Fatalistic suicide: results from an excess of social regulation; prospects, goals, and aspirations of individuals are blocked due to social regulation