Sociology Final

interpretive sociology

Sociology should aim to understand the meaning of social phenomena to individuals In pursuit of Verstehen [ver-shtay-hen] (Weber) From the German for "understanding," it's the idea sociologists must understand the meanings people attach to their actions and situations: "We [as sociologists] can accomplish something which is never attainable in the natural sciences, namely the subjective understanding of the action of the component individuals" —Max Weber, 1968 Researchers should develop rapport & empathy with research subjects Tends to be inductive

Becker on diseases

"...Where the physician's work does not afford (at least in some symbolic sense) the possibility of saving a life or restoring health...the physician lacks some of the essence of physicianhood. This perspective, which we believe to be an important one in medical cultural generally, furnishes a basis for classifying and evaluating patients; those patients who can be cured are better than those cannot. Furthermore, those patients who cannot be cured because they are not sick in the first place are worst of all." (Becker et al., 1961, p. 317)

on being sane in insane places

"...there are a great deal of conflicting data on the reliability, utility, and meaning of such terms as 'sanity,' 'insanity,' 'mental illness,' and 'schizophrenia.'...What is viewed as normal in one culture may be seen as quite aberrant in another." (Rosenhan 1973: 27). "If the sanity of such pseudopatients were always detected, there would be prima facie evidence that a sane individual can be distinguished from the insane context in which he is found. Normality (and presumably abnormality) is distinct enough that it can be recognized wherever it occurs, for it is carried within the person" (Rosenhan 1973: 28)

illness experience as socially constructed

"..People enact their illness and endow it with meaning. They are not merely passive entities to whom things are done" (Conrad & Barker 2010: S71) How people struggle to make sense of illness and reclaim a sense of self (e.g. cancer survivor)

social network

"A set of relations—a set of dyads, essentially—held together by ties between individuals" (Conley p. 165)

environmental injustice/inequality

"A situation in which a specific social group is disproportionately affected by environmental hazards." (Brulle & Pellow 2006: 104) theories about the social processes that lead to environmental injustice

Weber's paradox of authority

"Although the state's authority derives from the implicit threat of physical force, resorting to physical coercion strips the state of all legitimate authority" (Conley p. 585) -i.e. the state can use violence up to the point where it's seen as abusive; then it loses all credibility e.g. Kent State Massacre (protest against Vietnam War) e.g. Black Lives Matter

"gay cancer"

"Because AIDS was first identified with homosexual men and drug abusers people, responsibility for having AIDS was quickly attributed to their "deviant" behavior or marginalized status" (Eric R. Wright, ASA Trails). This had implications for: Funding Research Misunderstandings regarding the disease and its transmission LGBTQ community

DACA doctors

"Dreamers in Medical School Ask Congress To Help Them So They Can Help Others" American Medical Association executive vice president and CEO James L. Madara specifically cited the need for more physicians in a Sept. 5 letter to congressional leaders urging them to take action to help DACA recipients, who he said are "more likely to work in high-need areas where communities face challenges in recruiting other physicians." "Without these physicians, the AMA is concerned that the quality of care provided in these communities will be negatively impacted and that patient access to care will suffer," Madara wrote.

hegemonic masculinity

"Hegemony is the complete dominance of a group of people, a type of power so complete that it goes unnoticed by those who are dominated. Hegemonic masculinity is so dominant that it easily escapes our attention and is regarded as the norm against which all others are judged." (Conley p. 291)

What if the researcher encounters unethical/harmful behavior while collecting data? What should s/he do?

"In the case where the fieldworker knows that some harm has been done to a patient through physician or nursing error, does the observer have any direct, ethical obligations to the patient or his/her family?" (Bosk 1996: 133) "I chose not to do this for a variety of reasons. As a pragmatic matter, being a patient-advocate would have made the kind of fieldwork I wanted to do impossible. Moreover, I felt a responsibility to other medical sociologists who wished to undertake field projects in the future" (Bosk 1996:133).

Jodi Picoult on race & ethnicity

"It's more challenging to see the tailwinds of racism — the ways that being white makes it easier to achieve success." "For us, it's not omnipresent and it's not a matter of life or death. We avoid the topic because we can. Ignorance is a privilege too."

social deviance

"any transgression of socially established norms" (Conley 191) Minor deviations lead to informal deviance (e.g. picking one's nose in public) Major deviations lead to formal deviance (e.g. crimes) what is considered deviance changes over time and across social contexts because social norms are socially constructed -e.g. segregated water fountains

social movements

"collective behavior that is purposeful, organized, and institutionalized (but not ritualized)" (Conley 2017: 705): aimed at causing or resisting social change -4 types: alternative, redemptive, reformative, and revolutionary

three fundamental ethical principles from the Belmont Report: the Tuskegee study

1. Respect for persons: protecting research subjects' autonomy and allowing them to give informed consent (being aware of all the risks); researchers must be truthful - no deception -Avoiding undue inducement - i.e. an offer you can't refuse 2. Beneficence: Do no harm; maximize the benefits of research while minimizing risk to research subjects 3. Justice: ensuring that research participants are selected fairly and that research is not exploitative (such that costs and benefits are distributed equally to potential research participants).

in the news.........

me too movement - Tarana Burke

race concept over time

"Not only have groups of people been categorized differently over time, showing that there is nothing natural about how we classify groups into race today, but the very concept of what a race is has changed over time." (Conley 328) -Early understandings of race (e.g. Egyptian, Chinese, Roman) -Exploration age: "race proved to be a rather handy organizing principle to legitimate the imperial adventure of conquest, exploitation and colonialism." -Nineteenth century theories of race: phrenology, physiognomy -Eugenics: Everything from intelligence to behavior can be selectively bred into, or out of, populations -One drop rule: led to laws forbidding mixed race marriage (miscegenation); erased distinctions within white and black groups

what people define as real is very real in its consequences

"That these stereotypes are now being written in at the level of the cell constitutes a powerful move to make them seem so natural as to be beyond alteration" (Martin 1991: 500). rape is considered manly to assault and view female entities as a prize -"...the sperm carry out a 'perilous journey' into the 'warm darkness,' where some will fall away 'exhausted'. 'Survivors' 'assault' the egg, the successful candidates 'surrounding the prize.'" abortion: sperm and eggs acting intentionally implies personhood -"Endowing egg and sperm with intentional action, a key aspect of personhood in our culture, lays the foundation for the point of viability being pushed back to the moment of fertilization." (Martin 1991: 500).

in the news: DACA

"The Department of Justice cannot defend this overreach," Sessions said. "There is nothing compassionate about the failure to enforce immigration laws. Enforcing the law saves lives, protects communities and taxpayers, and prevents human suffering. Failure to enforce the laws in the past has put our nation at risk of crime, violence and even terrorism. The compassionate thing is to end the lawlessness, (and) enforce our laws." (CNN) "To be clear, what ICE is doing now is what Congress intended, we're actually enforcing the law the way it is written," said a senior ICE official. "(This is t)he first President who's asked us to enforce the law the way it is written and not asked us to have some executive interpretation of the law." (CNN)

nickel-and-dimed reading

"The humanitarian rationale for welfare reform—as opposed to the more punitive and stingy impulses that may actually have motivated it—is that work will lift women out of poverty while simultaneously inflating their self-esteem and hence their future value in the labor market." (Ehrenreich 1999: 38) Why didn't she just do the math and call it a day? -She wanted to see whether there were "hidden economies in the world of the low-wage worker" (38) Starts working at Hearthside from 2:00-10:00 PM for $2.43 per hour plus tips ($3.58 in today's dollars) --In PA, minimum wage for tipped employees is $4.42/hour, with a minimum of $2.83/hour in tips = $7.50/hour Lives in a $500/month studio 30 miles away from work; pays $4-5/day in gas --Only because she had $1,300 ready for startup costs before her first paycheck (first month's rent and deposit; initial groceries; money for emergencies) When tips dried up, she got a second job at Jerry's with a base pay of ($2.15/hr) but had to buy her own uniform pants ($30); quits Hearthside Moves closer to work, into a trailer using the $500 deposit from her landlord, $400 earned toward next month's rent and $200 reserved for emergencies Finally lands a second job as a housekeeper earning $6.10/hr with one week of vacation per year Quits both jobs after one day "...There are no secret economies that nourish the poor; on the contrary, there are a host of special costs"

environmental justice

"The principle that 'all people and communities are entitled to equal protection of environmental and public health laws and regulations'" (Brulle & Pellow 2006: 104).

education

"The process through which academic, social, and cultural ideas and tools, both general and specific, are developed" (Conley p. 498). -School as a source of social mobility -School as an important agent of socialization: most students in the country go through more or less the same socialization processes (Conley)

Martin's view on sperm

"You took an oath when you entered sperm training school to fertilize an ovum or die trying" "In fact, [the sperm's] strongest tendency, by tenfold, is to escape by attempting to pry itself off the egg. Sperm, then, must be exceptionally efficient at escaping from any cell surface they contact." (Martin 1991: 493)

globalization

"a multidimensional set of social processes that create, multiply, stretch, and intensify worldwide social exchanges and interdependencies" (Conley p.558). -The current era of globalization is characterized by new markets (including financial markets), new means of exchange (e.g. text messages, Skype, email), new players (like transnational organizations like the WHO, doctors without borders) and new rules (like NAFTA). Corporations drive the global economy. They stay profitable by: -Bypassing environmental concerns (e.g. treadmill of production) -Offshoring labor (moving all or part of a company's operations abroad, to developing nations with lower pay scales and lenient labor laws) -Generating ever-growing demand for their products

ethnocentrism

"a term that encapsulates taken-for-granted superiority in the context of cultural practices and attitudes. It is both the belief that one's own culture or group is superior to others, and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of one's own." (Conley 81)

medicalization

"defining a problem in medical terms, usually as an illness or a disorder, or using a medical intervention to treat it." (Conrad 2004: 3) Conrad (2005) agrees: -Early studies of medicalization from the 1970s viewed physicians as primary drivers of medicalization, along with social movements (think: Zola 1970) -Absent from early studies of medicalization, however, were corporations as primary drivers of medicalization. -But times have changed... -...and so have the engines of medicalization: (1) biotechnology (including pharmaceutical companies and genetic enhancement) (2) patient/consumers, and (3) managed care

thomas theorem

"if men [sic] define situations as real, they are real in their consequences." -W.I. Thomas -in other words, the interpretation of a situation causes the action. ex. height- what is tall to you may be medium to another person the biological basis to race may be debatable (and arbitrary), but its consequences are very, very real

social construction of illness

"illnesses have both biomedical and experimental dimensions" (Conrad & Barker 2010: S69) cultural meanings of illness: -e.g. stigmatized illness - mental illnesses, epilepsy, HIV -"...there is nothing inherent about a condition that makes it stigmatizing; rather, it is a social response to a condition and some of its manifestations, or the types of individuals who suffer from it, that make a condition stigmatized" (Conrad & Barker 2010: S69) what is considered "problematic" and perceived to be a "medical problem" changes over time -ex: West Virginia Hospital for the Insane logbook of diagnosed diseases (range from grief to moral sanity)

implicit association test

"measures the strength of associations between concepts (e.g., black people, gay people) and evaluations (e.g., good, bad) or stereotypes (e.g., athletic, clumsy)" that remain "outside of conscious awareness and control." (Project Implicit)

culture

"the sum of the social categories and concepts we recognize in addition to our beliefs, behaviors (except the instinctual ones), and practices. In other words, culture is everything but nature." (Conley: p.78) Sociology understands culture as the languages, customs, beliefs, rules, arts, knowledge, and collective identities and memories developed by members of all social groups that make their social environments meaningful... Sociology also studies the production, diffusion, reception, evaluation, and application of cultural meaning across institutions, organizations, and groups, including how cultures differentiate racial, ethnic, and class groups, and the role of culture in producing inequalities and group boundaries.

institutional racism

"the systematic distribution of resources, power and opportunity in our society to the benefit of people who are white and to the exclusion of people of color." (Solid Ground) -"Despite whites' desire to renounce their privileges at the personal level, the world would continue to re-inscribe them at the institutional level" (Margolin, 2015) --Why? Because power, resources, and opportunity are systematically allocated unevenly across society -> structure v. agency

Shifting engines of medicalization factors

(1) biotechnology (including pharmaceutical companies and genetic enhancement) (2) patient/consumers, and (3) managed care

Durkheim's theory of social cohesion

(i.e. deviance makes us stronger) Deviance offends the "collective conscience" - the common faith or set of social norms. This collective conscience allows for moral unity. "...repairing the gash in the fabric by realigning the deviant individual through either punishment or rehabilitation." (Conley 194) Mechanical solidarity: no division of labor/collective vengeance (e.g. capital punishment) Organic solidarity: complex division of labor/individual punishment (e.g. rehabilitative justice)

in the news week 11

-"I think mental health is the problem here," Trump said during a news conference in Tokyo, saying the shooter in Texas was a "deranged" man who should have received treatment. "This isn't a guns situation. This is a mental health problem at the highest level. It's a very, very sad event." (USA Today) -No surgery for smokers or the obese: Policy in UK stirs debate- more people voted that the NHS is right to ban surgery for smokers and obese patients (54% said yes; 46% said no) out of 13.4K voters

in the news: hurricane irma

-18-year-old Jayvontay John was asking strangers for information about which shelters might be open. He doesn't own a cellphone or computer and was having trouble getting basic information. "It does worry me ... that I'm not going to able to get to the shelter," he said. "I heard the hurricane is really, really bad." -Teddy Morse, a Florida native and owner of a car dealership, spent about $7,500 on two generators, 50 gallons of water, 67 gallons of gas, non-perishable foods and other items. He chartered a plane and sent his wife and two young children to Alabama to stay with family, while he stayed behind to check on his businesses and employees. -"You try to do whatever you can to protect your family ... I wish everybody had the ability to take care of their families the way they want to," said Morse, who was allowing his employees to fill their tanks at the dealership, leave their owns cars in the garage and store personal documents at the office. -false post on twitter about Miami International Airport

If men could menstruate (Steinem 1970) reading

-Boys would mark the onset of menses with religious ritual and stag parties -Menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event -Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free -Blood would be used as a justification for power vs. -Teenage girls make clandestine trips to Walmart to buy pads/tampons, terrified to run into someone they know -Women hide pads/tampons in their bags and use them discretely in bathrooms to avoid attracting attention -36 states tax sanitary supplies -Blood is used as a justification for shaming/putting down women

aspects of race

-Externally imposed: Someone else defines you as black, white, or other -Involuntary: It's not up to you to decide which category you belong to -Usually based on physical differences -Hierarchical: Not white? Take a number down the ranks -Exclusive: You don't get to check more than one box -Unequal: It's about power conflicts and struggles

critiques of Parson's sick role

-Hierarchical relationship: the physician has far more power than the patient; patient must do as told -The temporary nature of the sick role: many sicknesses are not temporary (e.g. chronic disease) -Patient's exemption of normal duties: from some roles and duties we cannot be exempt (e.g. parenting) -Patient's exempt from blame: people are often blamed for their sicknesses (e.g. lung cancer) -Altruistic physician: physicians may not always have the patient's best interest in mind (e.g. kickbacks) -Physician's exemption from blame: physicians are sometimes blamed for their work (e.g. lawsuits) -Physician's exclusivity of trust & contact: second opinions; multiple clinicians have your file; CAM -Technically competent help: what does "technically competent" mean? (e.g. chiropractors) -Not all patients are sick: you can go to the doctor without being sick (e.g. pregnant women, vaccinations)

in the news week 7

-Jemele Hill suspended for violation of ESPN social media guidelines-she let her colleagues and company down with an impulsive tweet -Harvey Weinstein donated a lot to national political candidates so his sexual assaults were less elaborated on

in the news....

-Jones Act now lifted for 10 days: "We're thinking about that, but we have a lot of shippers and a lot of people and a lot of people who work in the shipping industry that don't want the Jones Act lifted,"Trump said on Wednesday (ABC News)

in the news week 12

-Locals were troubled by Roy Moore's interactions with teen girls at the gadsden mall responses: "Take the Bible. Zachariah and Elizabeth, for instance. Zachariah was extremely old to marry Elizabeth, and they became the parents of John the Baptist," said Jim Ziegler, Alabama state auditor. "Also take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager, and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus." "There's just nothing immoral or illegal here," Ziegler told the Examiner. "Maybe just a little bit unusual." Moore's response: "The Obama-Clinton Machine's liberal media lapdogs just launched the most vicious and nasty round of attacks against me I've EVER faced! We are in the midst of a spiritual battle with those who want to silence our message," he said in a statement Thursday. -After Weinstein, a list of men accused of sexual misconduct and the fallout for each was posted -"the common denominator in all the allegations isn't about sexuality or sex, but toxic masculinity... If Louis C.K. did in fact masturbate in front of women, as five women allege, it would be not as much about sex as about literally getting off on the power to make women watch." - Sally Kohn, CNN political commentator

in the news week 11 part 2

-Ravinder S. Bhalla elected mayor in Hoboken, NJ -Danica Roem is Virginia's first transgender public official

in the news week 12 part 2

-Senate GOP tax plan to include repeal of health law individual mandate -Al Franken apologized on Thursday after a woman accused him of kissing and groping her without her consent in 2006; "As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it."

egg and sperm reading (Emily Martin 1991)

-The social construction of knowledge - culture shapes how we make sense of human reproduction. -"The picture of egg and sperm drawn in popular as well as scientific accounts of reproductive biology relies on stereotypes central to our cultural definitions of male and female. These stereotypes imply not only that female biological processes are less worthy than their male counterparts but that women are also less worthy than men" (Martin 1991: 485-86) -"It's remarkable how 'femininely' the egg behaves and how 'masculinely' the sperm. The egg is seen as large and passive. It does not move or journey, but passively "is transported," "is swept," or even "drifts" along the fallopian tube. In utter contrast, sperm are small, "streamlined," and invariably active." (Martin 1991: 489). -"'a dormant bride awaiting her mate's magic kiss, which instills the spirit that brings her to life." (Martin 1991: 490) -sperm as aggressor: "...the sperm carry out a 'perilous journey' into the 'warm darkness,' where some will fall away 'exhausted'. 'Survivors' 'assault' the egg, the successful candidates 'surrounding the prize.' Part of the urgency of this journey, in more scientific terms, is that 'once released from the supportive environment of the ovary, an egg will die within hours unless rescued by a sperm.' The wording stresses the fragility and dependency of the egg, even though the same text acknowledges elsewhere that sperm also live for only a few hours" (Martin 1991: p. 490, emphasis added) - culture <-> biology

aspects of ethnicity

-Voluntary: I can choose to play up or play down my French Canadian ancestry -Self-defined: It's embraced by group members from within -Non-hierarchical: Hey, I'm French Canadian and you're Welsh. Great! -Fluid and multiple: I'm French Canadian and Welsh. Even better! -Cultural: based on differences in practices such as language, food, music -Planar: less about unequal power than race

the strength of weak ties (Mark Granovetter, 1973)

-Weak ties bring novel information (e.g. job prospects) -In highly "embedded" networks (the degree to which ties are reinforced), everyone knows the same people -In networks with weaker ties, there is a greater sharing of new information

in the news week idek

-congress is holding a hearing on a bill that would ban virtually all abortions - this legislation would ban the procedure as early as 6 weeks -Kevin Spacey opens up about being gay and apologizes about his drunken behavior towards actor Anthony Rapp - "It matters when Hollywood stars peddle this old lie or any semblance of it. Because it is a lie that has caused real harm. In 1978, Proposition 6, also known as the Briggs Initiative, appeared on the California ballot. It was part of a movement to bar gay men and women from working in schools. Even teachers who "advocated" LGBT rights might have faced losing their jobs. The measure was eventually defeated at the ballot box, thanks to the work of campaigners like Harvey Milk. But those who pushed for it, like California legislator John Briggs, stoked the fears of parents as they spread stories about the predator nature of homosexuals" -Kate Maltby, CNN

in the news...

-conservative catholics accuse Pope Francis of spreading heresy in first since 1333 -devastation in PR after Maria- blackout -black men comprise 57-70% of college football players and 70% of NFL players (Huffington Post) - is it about race?

sociologists of the family study:

-family forms and how they change over time -trends in marriage -Household relations (who does the housework? How is the division of labor agreed upon? Who earns the money and how is it spent?) -inequality among siblings

contested illnesses

-illness without detectible disease 1. these illnesses are difficult to diagnose or establish causation 2. they often involve symptoms that are difficult to objectively measure and/or do not have any physical manifestations (ex. pain, fatigue) 3. they often are a source of frustration for patients as their symptoms are often not recognized by medical professionals or others (such as family, friends, and insurers

research ethics

-researchers must meet codified standards, which are set by professional associations, academic institutions, or research centers, when conducting studies -researchers must guard against causing physical, emotional, or psychological harm to their subjects: --first do no harm (including psychological, financial, professional, and emotional harm), informed consent, voluntary participation

in the news week 13

-tax reform: "Under changes to the Senate Finance tax bill, the vast majority of individual tax cuts would expire after 2025, while business tax breaks would still be made permanent." (CNNMoney , November 15, 2017)

social change can and does happen (Conley ch. 18)

-technology and innovation -new ideas and identities -conflict -*social movements*

in the news.......

-trump ranting about fake news, specifically with Rex Tillerson threatening to resign -trump provided comfort to LV victims -Hearing Protection Act being pushed through Congress

manufacturers of illness

1) The majority of healthcare resources and activities are devoted to "downstream endeavors" that don't solve the root problem. E.g. fixing dental caries, treating heart disease 2) We should instead refocus our energy further upstream, where the problem begins "Such a reorientation would minimally involve an analysis of the means by which various individuals, interest groups, and large-scale, profit-oriented corporations are 'pushing people in [to the river],' and how they subsequently erect, at some point downstream, a healthcare structure to service the needs which they had a hand in creating, and for which moral responsibility ought to be assumed." [McKinlay 2009: p.578] -Manufacturers of illness: "those individuals, interest groups, and organizations which, in addition to producing material goods and services, also produce, as an inevitable byproduct, widespread morbidity and mortality" (McKinlay 2009: 578) manufacturers of illness -> create artificial needs/encourage risky behavior -> for which we are individually blamed

4 types of social movements

1. Alterative: seek the most limited social change and often target a narrow group of people (e.g. MADD) 2. Redemptive: target specific social groups but advocate for more radical change in behavior - usually religious (e.g. AA) 3. Reformative: advocate for limited social change across an entire society (e.g. Critical Mass) 4. Revolutionary: advocate the radical reorganization of society (e.g. Occupy Wall Street)

3 stages of social movements (Conley)

1. Emergence: when the social problem being addressed is first identified 2. Coalescence: when resources are mobilized (that is, concrete action is taken) around the problems outlined in the first stage. 3. Routinization/institutionalization: when a formal structure develops to promote the cause ex: HIV/AIDS activism: -Emergence: in 1981, a group of 80 gay men gather in NYC apartment to fight for awareness and research dollars -Coalescence: the Gay Men's Health Crisis established an office in NYC, held fundraisers, and published a newsletter -Routinization: in 1983, GHMC funded the first AIDS discrimination lawsuit and other measures; the federal government eventually passed laws banning AIDS-related discrimination -Tensions splintered GMHC and co-founder eventually went on to create ACT-UP

4 ways that medicine operates as an institution of social control

1. The expansion of what in life is deemed relevant to the good practice of medicine (e.g. eating habits) 2. Through the retention of absolute control over certain technical procedures (e.g. childbirth) 3. Through the retention of near absolute access to certain 'taboo' areas (e.g. sexual dysfunction) 4. Through the expansion of what in medicine is deemed relevant to the good practice of life (e.g. plastic surgery; Botox)

in the news slide questions

1. authority- who is the author? what is their point of view? 2. purpose- why was the source created? who is the intended audience? 3. publication & format: where was it published? in what medium? 4. relevance- how is it relevant to your research? what is its scope? 5. date of publication: when was it written? has it been updated? 6. documentation: did they cite their sources? who did they site?

3 rules for establishing causality

1. correlation 2. time order 3. ruling out alternative explanations

3 rules for establishing causality

1. correlation 2. time order 3. ruling out alternative explanations

5 major types of institutions

1. economic (banks or capitalism) 2. political (military or democracy) 3. stratification (schools) 4. kinship (marriage) 5. cultural (religion)

McKinlay's 3 recommendations for focusing upstream

1. legislative intervention 2. lobbying 3. public education about the manufacturers of illness

effect of religion on health

1. reduces mortality -e.g. religious people have lower BP on average- why?: Religious impacts behavior which can then lead to better health 2. improves physical/mental health 3. helps people cope with physical and mental health

planning policy

1. the activities of the manufacturers of illness (intervention with a political economic focus) 2. various at-risk behaviors (intervention with a preventive focus) 3. observable morbidity and mortality (intervention with a curative focus)

in the news

8 nursing home residents died in Hollywood, Florida from loss of electricity after Irma Martin Shkreli in jail: pharmaceutical executive convicted of securities fraud in August, was living freely until he posted on Facebook offering a $5,000 reward for a strand of Hillary Clinton's hair. - a risk to the community according to the judge

livin' on a prayer reading

80% of Americans believe that personal spiritual practices (like prayer) can help with medical treatments. Almost 25% say they've been cured through prayer or some other religious/spiritual practice Another study found that 62% of people surveyed specifically pray for their health, or the health of others (Basu 2005) -Intercessory payer studies find no effect of "distant" prayer on post-surgical outcomes in heart patients (Basu 2005) 60% of the public and 20% of health professionals say it's possible to wake up from a persistent vegetative state thanks to a miracle Over 60% of American say they want their physicians to ask about their spiritual histories if they become ill

patriarchy

A social system in which males hold primary power and predominant roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property

environmental racism

A specific form of environmental inequality. "Environmental racism is racial discrimination in environmental policy-making, the enforcement of regulations and laws, the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities, the official sanctioning of the life-threatening presence of poisons and pollutants in our communities, and the history of excluding people of color from leadership of the ecology movements." (Brulle & Pellow 2006: 105).

what do sex, gender, and sexual orientation all have in common?

All three emerge from societal meanings that are applied to certain biological and behavioral traits -> social constructions

Sugar coated viewpoints:

Andy Briscoe- CEO of Sugar Association: " Everything in moderation, as we say. It's all natural, and only 15 calories." Dr. Robert Lustig: " if you're fat, it's your fault." -personal responsibility for heatlh

manufacturing risky behavior

Appeals to engage in risky behavior are intricately linked to elements of dominant culture (e.g. olympian eating mcdonalds) Piggybacking risky behaviors to values that are widely shared in society (e.g. old cigarette ads with children) using cultural heroes to endorse at-risk behaviors, particularly those with technical competence (Santa smoking cigs; doctors/dentists smoking cigs) associating risky behaviors with being a "meaningful useful member of society (e.g. everyone is doing it; here's another reason why I am thinner; attracting sexual partners)

Why is sociology important to future health professionals?

Because health is not only biological; healthcare is inherently a social institution; to get a competitive edge for medical school

cadaver stories as emotional socialization

Cadaver Stories and the Emotional Socialization of Medical Students -"Socialization in medicine involves more than the transmission of technical skills and knowledge about diagnosis and treatment and the internalization of attitudes, values, and outlooks with respect to such skills and knowledge (Merton et al. 1957). Socialization also involves one's feelings about that work, and in particular how one manages one's emotions and expresses one's feelings in and around troublesome areas of work (Bosk 1986)." (Hafferty 1988: 345). What method(s) did Hafferty use? -Participant observation over the course of 14 years -Semi-structured interviews (nearly 200 formal interviews; equal number of informal interviews)

findings of cadaver stories

Cadaver stories serve as a source of "feeling rules" (i.e. rules about how to feel as a doctor) 5 types of cadaver stories - only in the last one was it appropriate for the 'victim' to show an emotional response; in all others, victim as emotionally weak / not cut out for a career in medicine The transition towards a new identity --"...Much of what occurs in anatomy lab is the antithesis of everyday social existence. Within the subculture of medical school, anatomy lab constitutes a rite of passage, a unique emotional test whose successful negotiation signifies the ability to handle the presence of disease, decay, disfigurement, disability, and death which marks the world of medicine." (Hafferty 1988: 350) Social distance -Going to the extreme allows students to "gain distance from that which is truly troubling" (Hafferty 1988: 352)

main takeaways from Conrad 2005

Doctors are still gatekeepers of diagnosis and treatment but they've become less important in terms of drivers of medicalization. Increasingly, pharmaceutical companies and genetic treatments are new engines for the creation of new medical categories. -Pharma now not only creates new medications but also new diagnostic categories to treat with those medications. Or, it may also expand existing medicalized problems, or lower the threshold for a medical problem.

the rise and fall of doctors (Conley)

Doctors historically were not as valued as they are today because medicine was not really effective The late 19th and early 20th century brought advancements that strengthened the medical profession The Golden Age of Medicine (1945-1970s): -Professional dominance (the power to self-regulate, including medical school admissions & training) -Autonomy of technique (i.e. freedom from competition) -Power to regulate other paramedical professions -High public trust =doctors charging whatever they want (fee-for-service) Doctors' denouement (1970s-today?) -Market forces begin to decide reimbursements -Political forces begin to meddle (external regulation) -Technology threatens autonomy of technique BUT, doctors still retain control over their profession (e.g. admissions) and most medical work

the sociology of suicide

Emile Durkheim (1897) demonstrated that suicide rates are shaped by social forces Found no association between suicide rates and rates of psychological disorder in Europe. Instead, found that suicide rates vary according to the degree of social solidarity in society: too little is bad, but so is too much

different trends in marriage

Endogamy: marriage to someone within one's social group Exogamy: marriage to someone outside one's social group Co-habitation: Living together in an intimate relationship without formal legal or religious sanctioning Gay marriage

ethical fallout from Tuskegee study

Enrolled subjects in a study without consent or knowledge of diagnosis (i.e. deception) Withheld treatment, even after the PHS started treating syphilis patients with penicillin (1943); also prevented research subjects from being drafted into military, where they would have received treatment Performed study procedures (e.g. spinal taps) without explanation of purpose or effects Used "inducements" (i.e. perks) to persuade the poor: medical exams, rides to and from the clinics, meals on examination days, free treatment for minor ailments, a certificate of appreciation, cash payments ($25) and burial stipends ($50) paid to their survivors; Specifically selected participants because they were poor, black and male Led to the creation of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research and the National Research Act, which released the Belmont Report in 1978

culture shapes symptoms

Explored whether auditory hallucinations shift across cultural boundaries (USA, India, Ghana) Found that while experiences were broadly similar across settings, the voicehearing experience and the relationship with the speaker of the voice varied importantly. Many Indian and Ghanaian respondents described their experience of voices as positive; none of the Americans did. Western cultures tend to be more independent, while non-Western cultures are more interdependent, making voices less unwelcome. Social expectations may thus shape voice-hearing

on being sane in insane places: findings and controversy

Findings: All except one was admitted with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Length of stay ranged from 7-52 days (avg. 19 days) All were discharged with a diagnosis of schizophrenia 'in remission' -"The label 'in remission' should in no way be dismissed as a formality...Rather, the evidence is strong that, once labeled schizophrenic, the pseudopatient was stuck with that label. If the pseudopatient was to be discharged, he must naturally be 'in remission'; but he was not sane, nor, in the institution's view, had he ever been sane." (p.30) Behavior was interpreted through a lens defined by the label of "schizophrenic" -"Having once been labeled schizophrenic, there is nothing the pseudo-patient can do to overcome the tag. The tag profoundly colors others' perceptions of him and his behavior...Once a person is designated abnormal, all of his other behaviors and characteristics are colored by that label." (p. 31) Controversy: A searing critique of psychiatric diagnosis -After the results came out, a doubtful hospital claimed it would be able to detect pseudo-patients; 193 patients were admitted and 41 were deemed - with high confidence - to be likely pseudopatients. Rosenhan sent zero pseudopatients to the hospital

findings and implications of hiding in plain sight reading

Findings: Lectures made entire swaths of sexual identifies and understandings invisible and unintelligible (e.g. "Women can't receive fellatio") -"The complex relationship between gender identity, genitalia, sex toys, and surgical interventions may mean that some persons who identify as "woman" may claim penises, whether they were born with them or surgically endowed with them (a process over which medical professionals preside), or strap them on sporadically and take them off..." (Murphy 2016: 274) Guest panels "quietly and repeatedly portrayed healthy human development as inherently...heterosexual" (Murphy 2016: 277) Urologist referring to penile-vaginal intercourse as the default reference for sex Implications: Heterosexuality is "one instance of sexual orientation rather than the natural standard" (p. 283) Troublesome because these medical students are future gynecologists, urologists, etc.

cultural competency

For the provider of health information or health care, these elements influence beliefs and belief systems surrounding health, healing, wellness, illness, disease, and delivery of health services. The concept of cultural competency has a positive effect on patient care delivery by enabling providers to deliver services that are respectful of and responsive to the health beliefs, practices and cultural and linguistic needs of diverse patients." ex. patient who did not speak english finally communicated after 3 days when someone asked in Spanish how she was feeling

genetic enhancement

Genetic enhancements expand markets by targeting the not-yet-sick -As genetic understandings advance for various mundane ills, new medicalized solutions may also emerge (e.g. "hair growth disorder") -Genetic testing also provides a window into as-yet unmaterialized disease (e.g. "precancer") -"Effective blood tests could reveal thousands — even millions — of people who are now living with a "pre-Alzheimer's" condition." (November 17, 2017 | NYTimes)

the revolution will not be tweeted (Gladwell 2010)

Greensboro sit-in, 1960: -Having close ties to protesters makes you more likely to participate yourself -"The kind of activism associated with social media isn't like this at all. The platforms of social media are built around weak ties." (Gladwell, 2010: p. 5). This is great for diffusing information and innovation; "but weak ties seldom lead to high-risk activism" (p. 6) -"The drawbacks of networks scarcely matter if the network isn't interested in systemic change—if it just wants to frighten or humiliate or make a splash—or if it doesn't need to think strategically. But if you're taking on a powerful and organized establishment you have to be a hierarchy." (Gladwell 2010: 9). example: social media movement- "if you've been sexually harassed or assaulted write 'me too' as a reply to this tweet" - Alyssa Milano -NBC fires Matt Lauer -so many other famous men exposed

SES as a fundamental cause of disease

Historically, there's been a great emphasis on proximal causes of disease (the causes most close to the disease being studied) -e.g. smoking (risk factor) -> lung cancer (disease) But we need to contextualize risk factors, i.e. know what puts people at risk for risk -E.g. a woman in poverty might turn to prostitution as a survival strategy no matter how well-informed she is about the risks of unprotected sex So we need to focus on social factors which, Link & Phelan argue, are "the fundamental factors that put people at risk of risks" (p. 85) -Fundamental cause: a cause whose effects can't be eliminated by addressing the intervening mechanism. -"As new risk factors became apparent, people of higher SES were more favorably situated to know about the risks and to have the resources that allowed them to engage in protective efforts to avoid them" (Link & Phelan 1995: 86) Socioeconomic status is therefore a fundamental cause of disease, since it involves access to resources (or thereof) that can be used to avoid risks and minimize consequences of disease once it occurs. -Resources include money, knowledge, power, prestige, social networks Resources are portable: "No matter what the current profile of disease and known risks happens to be, those who are best positioned with regard to important social and economic resources will be less afflicted by disease" (Link & Phelan 1995: 87). ex: Lower income cigarette smokers suffer more from diseases caused by smoking than do smokers with higher incomes (CDC)

the spirit catches you and you fall down reading

How did Lia's family interpret her symptoms? -A slammed door caused her soul to flee her body and become lost (quag dab peg) --Could be a sign of a spiritual calling to be a shaman --BUT it was also understood to be potentially dangerous How did Lia's doctors initially interpret her symptoms? -She was originally diagnosed with "early bronchiopneumonia or tracheobronchitis" which they didn't realize was caused by aspiration Why did doctors misdiagnose Lia initially? -"Doctors on the late shift in the emergency room have often had no way of taking a patient's medical history, or of asking such questions as, where do you hurt? How long have you been hurting? What does it feel like? Have you had an accident? Have you vomited? Have you had a fever? Have you lost consciousness? Are you pregnant? Have you taken any medications? Are you allergic to any medications? Have you recently eaten? [...] I asked one doctor what he did in such cases. He said, "Practice veterinary medicine." (Fadiman 1997: 25) same symptoms, different meanings: -"Dan had no way of knowing that Foua and Nao Kao had already diagnosed their daughter's problem as the illness where the spirit catches you and you fall down. Foua and Nao Kao had no way of knowing that Dan had diagnosed it as epilepsy, the most common of all neurological disorders. Each had accurately noted the same symptoms, but Dan would have been surprised to hear that they were caused by soul loss, and Lia's parents would have been surprised to hear that they were caused by an electrochemical storm inside their daughter's head that had been stirred up by the misfiring of aberrant brain cells." (Fadiman 1997: 28). Different meanings, different treatments -To encourage her soul's return, Lia's parents administered herbs, amulets, invited shamans and performed animal sacrifices. -By the time she was four years old, Lia's antiseizure medications had been changed 23 times The Hmong as "problem" patients because they don't comply with doctors' orders --"I felt like I was trying to penetrate a very dense wall—a cultural wall—and didn't have the tools to do it." -Dr. Ernst (Lia's pediatrician) -At age 3, Lia was put in foster care for 1 year because her parents refused to administer antiseizure meds -At age 4, she suffered a grand mal seizure lasting over 2 hours; she lost higher brain function, went into septic shock, but didn't die. -For 26 years, Lia lived with severe brain damage, in a state where she could breathe and make sounds but she could not speak -Lia died on August 31, 2012 at age 30. Lia's life has changed the way medicine is practiced: -Healthy House social service agency offers Hmong interpreter training -Mercy Medical Center Merced now allows shamans to practice certain rituals

"I am Woman" Helen Reddy, 1972

I am woman, hear me roar In numbers too big to ignore And I know too much to go back an' pretend 'cause I've heard it all before And I've been down there on the floor No one's ever gonna keep me down again Oh yes I am wise But it's wisdom born of pain Yes, I've paid the price But look how much I gained If I have to, I can do anything I am strong (strong) I am invincible (invincible) I am woman

Social development (George Herbert Mead 1934)

I: one's sense of agency, action or power (the individual's impulses) - the knower Me: the self as perceived as an object by the "I"; the self as one imagines others perceives one (how one thinks one's group perceives oneself.) - the known infants know only the "i" but through social interaction (games, imitation) they learn about "me" and the "other" significant other: important people we might imitate: e.g. mom; cool cousin Tommy generalized other: an internalized sense of the total expectations of others in a variety of settings (e.g. knowing not to take off pants in the summer just because it's hot)

Parson's sick role (1951)

Illness is a kind of deviance: it disrupts out ability to perform social roles which keep society functioning smoothly (e.g. student; employee) The sick role is therefore functionally deviant (and necessarily temporary) Patients and doctors have certain rights and obligations that legitimate the deviance associated with sickness the patient is exempt from: the normal duties of everyday life; blame for deviance taking the legitimate form of sickness the patient is obligated to: attempt to get beter by seeking competent expert help the physician is obligated to: serve the patient's best interests and do so with professional competence/expertise in return, the physician is granted: exemption from reprimand for intrusions into patients' bodies and lives; right to exclusiveness of trust and contact ex. Aaron Hernandez who committed murder had severe C.T.E. when he died at age 27

Tuskegee Syphilis Study

In 1929, the US Public Health Service created a health study designed to understand the incidence of syphilis among blacks, and to see whether blacks could be treated successfully. -7% incidence in Albemarle County, VA -36% in Macon County, AL Stock market crash 1929 meant the program was abandoned A rationale for inactivity based on racial stereotypes of blacks as promiscuous, poor, and ignorant -> doctors to "despair being able to treat syphilis in the black community" Original program was supposed to last 6-12 months and withheld treatment with the (ironic) goal of gaining treatment for black men in the South The three stages of untreated syphilis were well known at the time 1932: enroll 400 black men with diagnosed syphilis and 200 black men without syphilis as "controls" -They were not informed they had syphilis - instead were told they had "'bad blood,' a catch phrase that rural blacks used to describe a host of ailments" -PHS officials told the men they were resuming the treatment program -The purpose of the study was to "document the natural history of [syphilis] in black males" (90) -> premised on inaction ---Monitored the progress of the disease at least yearly ---Autopsy bodies after death -Men were offered burial stipends, "pink-colored pills" (aspirin) and iron tonic biracial support for the experiment Enrollees were kept out of several nation-wide effort to diagnose and treat syphilis Eventually Jean Heller on July 25, 1972 broke the story in the NY Times Patients were finally treated with penicillin and given a "small cash payment"

who rules in the US?

In the United States, power is shared between three branches of government (legislative, executive and judiciary branches) as well as between the federal government and the many state governments. the US has a (mostly) two-party system over time, Americans have become more politically polarized

culture influences how we make sense of symptons: Zola reading

Interviews patients on the way to their first visit to a doctor for this particular symptom; also looks at medical records 63 Italians, 81 Irish; forms a subsample of 37 matched pairs of Italians and Irish of the same sex with the same symptoms "Even for the same diagnosis, the Italians expressed and complained of more symptoms, more bodily areas affected, and more kinds of dysfunctions, than did the Irish, and more often felt that their symptoms affected their interpersonal behavior." (Zola 1966: 625). "Italian and Irish ways of communicating illness may reflect major values and preferred ways of handling problems within the culture itself." (Zola 1966: 626)

gendered health inequalities

LGBT youth are 2-3 times more likely to attempt suicide Transgender individuals have a high prevalence of HIV/STDs, victimization, mental health issues, and suicide and are less likely to have health insurance than heterosexual or LGB individuals LGBT populations have the highest rates of tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use Compared to heterosexual women: -Lesbian women are 30% less likely to get an annual routine physical exam -Bisexual women are 2.5 times less likely to seek medical care due to cost Compared to heterosexual men: -Bisexual men are twice as likely to report asthma

environmental justice movement

Late 1970s, early 1980s: a national environmental justice (EJ) movement emerged (see p. 110 for more on their platform) Anti-toxics movement (primarily working class and middl-class communities) The People of Color Environmental Movement to abate racial inequalities in environmental health Movements had some success: EJ is now part of the discourse of environmental protection, some laws now require federal decision makers to take EJ considerations into account when making decisions

The Looking Glass Self (Charles Horton Cooley, 1902)

Like a mirror, we see our social selves reflected in other people's gestures and reactions to us, and we form a self-concept based on that reflection. E.g. people staring at a party; self-fulfilling prophecy (e.g. teachers and racial minorities)

religion and medicine: church and state?

Long relationship between religion and healthcare, with some of the first hospitals being founded by religious organizations In the last century and a half, hospitals have secularized -But religion still lives on in medical care (e.g. chaplains, influencing medical practice)

managed care

Managed care and insurance companies act as gatekeepers by deciding which procedures they will pay for (and which ones they won't), thereby making some medical solutions more popular than others -E.g. insurers will pay for bariatric (weight loss) surgery but they often won't pay for nutritionists, coaching or psychotherapy to help obese patients lose weight. As a result, bariatric surgery is booming as a medical solution to obesity -In this way, "...managed care organizations are an arbiter of what is deemed medically appropriate or inappropriate treatment." (Conrad 2004: 10).

women get sicker but men die quicker reading

Men die at a faster rate than women; the overall mortality rate is 41% higher for men than for women and it's also higher for men for eight of the 10 leading causes of death American men are 2.1 times more likely to die from liver disease, 2.7 times more likely to die from HIV/AIDS, 4.1 times more likely to commit suicide, and 3.8 times more likely to be murder victims than women gendered socialization: -biological factors: sex chromosomes, hormones, reproductive anatomy, metabolism -social factors: work stress, lack of social networks and supports -behavioral factors: risky behavior, aggression/violence, smoking, alcohol, substance abuse, lack of exercise, lack of routine medical care

in the news:the bennett foundation

Michael in NFL: rigorous performance training taught him the importance of eating nutritiously and how vital it is not only to maintaining fitness, but overall well-being -The Bennett Foundation educates under-served children and communities through free, accessible programming in Hawaii, Washington, and Texas. The Foundation's O.C.E.A.N. Health Fest impacts thousands of people each year by offering free health screenings, fitness activities, cooking demonstrations, and much more

blaming individuals for unhealthy behaviors

Most public health interventions, however, target / blame individuals for their unhealthy behaviors -"To use the upstream-downstream analogy, one could argue that people are blamed (and, in a sense, even punished) for not being able to swim after they, perhaps even against their own volition, have been pushed into the river by the manufacturers of illness" (McKinlay, p. 583) -one can question how realistic such a conception is in a system which daily rewards behavior resulting from Type A traits -structure -ex. for more information on lung cancer, keep smoking

Hiding in plain sight (Murphy 2016)

Murphy argues that what medical students learn about sexuality in medical school creates "professional understandings of sexuality" that can have important implications for patients -Main goal: to examine the collective construction of medical knowledge about sexuality by specifically exploring "what might happen within medical education to contribute to the production, reproduction, or contestation of sexual stigma." (Murphy 2016: 259). -Medical education encourages heteronormativity: "the innumerable ways in which heterosexuality is posited as the natural, normal, unproblematic, taken-for-granted way of being and the myriad ways in which heterosexual privilege is insidiously and pervasively woven into the fabric of everyday life" (Murphy 2016: 265) --Homosexuality was considered a mental disorder until 1980

poverty in America

National poverty rate in 2015: 13.5% (or 43.1 million people) (United States Census Bureau, 2015) 10.5+ million people in poverty formed the "working poor" in the U.S. in 2010, meaning they were in the labor force for at least 27 weeks. (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012)

professional socialization

Professionals also have to learn what is acceptable and expected of them in the context of their professional work Medical professionals, for instance, have to learn the norms of their profession and their workplace. - "there are some things, you'll learn, you don't tell the patients"

do schools offer more or less the same socialization processes to all students?

YES: insofar as basic skills, like being on time, are taught. -Hidden curriculum: non-academic and less over socialization functions of school (e.g. heteronormativity) NO: schools often generate and reproduce broader social inequality

1996 personal responsibility and work opportunity act

Required recipients to begin working after two years of receiving benefits Required unwed teenage mothers to live with their parents Put a lifetime limit of five years on benefits paid by federal funds

nacirema

Shrines in every household devoted to avert the inevitable disease and debility of the human body, where "private and secret" ceremonies take place daily. Medicine men write notes in secret languages to herbalists, who provide charms in exchange for gifts Hierarchy of magical practitioners, with the "holy-mouth men" rankling below the medicine men. They use augers, awls, probes and prods resulting in the "almost unbelievable torture of the client." (p.505) Masochistic tendencies: scraping and lacerating face; baking heads for an hour per week Temple known as latipso, used for treating very sick natives; treatment only in exchange for "a rich gift" Ritualized body-rites: "A man, whose own wife has never seen him in an excretory act, suddenly finds himself naked and assisted by a vestal maiden while he performs his natural functions into a sacred vessel." p. 506 Medicine men "jab magically treated needles" into flesh; "The fact that these temple ceremonies may not cure, and may even kill the neophyte, in no way decreases the people's faith in the medicine men."

social contruction

Social constructionism is the idea that "[a]pparently natural or innate features of life are often sustained by social processes that vary historically and culturally...People usually do such a good job of building natural-seeming social realities in their everyday interactions that they do not notice the materials used in the construction process." (Brym, Lie and Rytina, 2008) "Something is real, meaningful, or valuable when society tells us it is." (Conley: 136) -E.g. money -E.g. gold reality can vary, depending on your perspective

Merton's strain theory

Society tells us what goals we should be aiming for and how to achieve those goals. Strain happens when the means don't match the ends -Conformists accept both the goals and the ways of achieving those goals -Ritualists reject socially-defined goals but not the means -Innovators accept socially-defined goals but reject socially-acceptable means of achieving them -Retreatists reject both socially-defined goals and means, and retreat from society

what makes sociology different from history? Anthropology?

Sociology is generally not concerned with the uniqueness of phenomena but rather with commonalities that can be abstracted across cases. Broader range of methods

why doesn't the US have universal healthcare?

Stakeholder Mobilization Against the Welfare State, 1945-1996 (Jill Quadagno) politics make strange bedfellows: -Physicians opposed universal health coverage because it would regulate their fees/reimbursements -Eventually, excesses in spending led to a counter-reaction by corporations and insurers, but then they banded together to contain costs and prevent government competition These groups shaped political will using grassroots efforts (e.g. letter-writing campaigns), strategic framing of universal healthcare as communist, and organizing with other antiwelfare state groups

key lessons from Dr. Sandeep Jauhar's guest lecture

Structure & agency Traditional gender roles (e.g. pressure on he and his brother, but not sister) Strength of weak ties (Time Magazine bureau chief connecting him to The New York Times)

social history - livin' on a prayer

Substances: -Alcohol -Tobacco (pack years) -illicit drugs --negative for TED (tobacco, ethanol/alcohol, or illicit drugs); non-contributory occupation sexual preference (increased risk of various infections among prostitutes, johns, and males engaging in anal-receptive intercourse) prison (especially if tuberculosis needs to be ruled out) travel exercise diet firearms in household

why do some people seek medical care while others do not?

Symptom prevalence (the more common, the less likely one might seek care) Cultural meanings attached to a symptom

medical knowledge as socially constructed

What "counts" as a disease is a product of cultural and historical circumstances Diagnoses emerge from social contexts. For example: -Dyslexia is not a problem in non-literate societies -Drapetomania: the 'disease' afflicting black slaves that makes them seek freedom -Homosexuality: considered a disease until 1980 "This doesn't mean that the diseases...aren't 'real,' but it does mean that before a diagnosis can exist, it has to be visible, *problematic*, and perceived to be related to the field of medicine" (Jutel 2011: 3).

family inequality

The "second" shift even though 56.7% of women are employed, they still do most of the domestic work, including housework and child care -Fathers spend more time on leisure, on average, watching one hour more of television per day than working mothers, and sleeping half an hour more on average (Conley p. 471) "When men do housework, their contribution is referred to as 'helping out around the house,' and their wives zealously thank them. Women who have 'helping' husbands in their home consider themselves extremely lucky. Many men, however, never report feeling lucky or extremely thankful when their wives do the housework. And women run the household; they don't simply 'help out.'" (Conley p.472) it's a mental load for the women "What are kids to make of their father sitting on his phone reading Facebook while their mother scrambles to prepare them for the day? It's not hard to predict which parent's personhood those offspring will conclude is more valuable." (Lockman, 2017) (the woman!!)

compulsory heterosexuality (Adrienne Rich)

The assumption that individuals should desire only members of the opposite sex; a mechanism believed to be integral to sustaining women's social subordination (because wives stay home to rear children while men work outside in society)

tie

The connection between two people in a relationship that varies in strength from one relationship to the next; a story that explains our relationship with another member of our network. -E.g. I know this person because he's the guy I buy coffee from every morning

the long arm of childhood: reading

What is the relationship between childhood circumstances and adult mortality? Direct or indirect (via adult SES and lifestyle factors)? Methodology? Who did they study? -Men who grew up in blue-collar homes, who lived in urban areas, who lived with their biological fathers and stepmothers, whose mothers worked outside the home, and whose parents were both native born all faced elevated risks of mortality (p. 102) --Indirect associations, through socioeconomic achievement processes and lifestyle in adulthood

labeling theory

The idea that "individuals subconsciously notice how others see or label them, and their reaction to those labels over time form the basis of their self-identity." (Conley, 2017:208) Also: by assigning shared meanings to certain acts and labeling them as deviant, we socially construct deviance. -Primary deviance: the first act that leads to the labeling and influences how people think of you -Secondary deviance: subsequent acts that stem from the new deviant label

Conley on race & ethnicity

The surge of ethnic pride among white Americans today implies a false belief that all ethnic groups are the same, but in the very way that symbolic ethnicity is voluntary for white ethnics, it is not so for nonwhite ethnic Americans such as Latinos and Asians." (Conley, p.340). -Being Irish in America is something whites can turn on and off at will; you can never not be Black or Asian.

treadmill of production

There's an "ever-growing need for capital investment to generate goods for sale in the marketplace...this requires continuous and growing inputs of energy and material. This expansion drives two fundamental dynamics of a market economy: first, the creation of economic wealth, and second, the creation of the negative byproducts of the production process." (Brulle & Pellow 2006: 108) -energy (from fossil fuels, natural gases, etc) and material (e.g. lumber, steel, nickel) drives wealth (for businesses and affluent communities) and environmental risk (for those people with least ability to resist the location of polluting facilities)

education reproduces inequality

Tracking (separating pupils by academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum within a school) supposedly creates better learning environments because curricula are curated to students' abilities -But it often makes sure that the most advantaged get ahead -Quality of teaching can also differ between tracks

transgender

Transgender is a term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth (cf cisgender) -As part of the transition process, many transgender people are prescribed hormones by their doctors to change their bodies. Some undergo surgeries as well. But not all transgender people can or will take those steps - being transgender is not dependent upon medical procedures. (GLAAD.org)

sexism

When a person's sex or gender is the basis for judgment, discrimination and /or hatred against him or her

the invisible knapsack of white privilege

Whiteness is "an invisible knapsack of privileges" that puts white people at an advantage (Peggy McIntosh) white privilege is an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks." white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject.

clinical recommendations include:

Working with the family and acting as patient's and family's advocate Knowing and exploring the full range of minor fractions (blood segments) and non-blood therapeutic options and using them prior to resorting to unacceptable interventions Preventing anemia (lack of blood) ahead of time Realizing that the physiological tolerance for anemia is generally higher than we might expect Making the family aware of the legal obligation to transfuse a minor to prevent serious harm or death

ideology

a belief system of concepts and relationships; an understanding of cause and effect.

consumers

consumers are now a major factor in medicalization, in part because of direct-to-consumer advertisements "People are going on the Internet; then they come to your office and say, 'I have good insurance. I pay my premiums. Why can't I have this test?' ' I asked him what percentage of echos performed in private practice was necessary for patient care. He thought about it for a moment. 'About fifty-fifty...A young woman would come in with palpitations. I'd tell her she was fine...Then she'd go around and tell her friends what a great doctor—a thorough doctor—the other cardiologist was." [Jauhar, Doctored, p. 142).

sugar coated documentary

a compelling investigative film that exposes the sugar industry's systematic hijacking of scientific study to bury evidence that sugar is in fact toxic. -If you drink one soda, your risk for diabetes will go up 29% in that day

social institution

a complex group of interdependent positions that, together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time (Conley). -Collective solutions to social problems; not places but rather social arrangements

cumulative advantage

a favorable relative position becomes a resource that produces further relative gains e.g. high SES at birth -> strong cognitive development -> higher education -> greater wealth

race

a group of people who share a set of characteristics—typically, but not always, physical ones, and are said to share a common bloodline (Conley p. 326) Rather than being a fixed, biological or natural reality, race is a social construction (a set of stories we tell ourselves to organize reality and make sense of the world) The physical characteristics we attribute importance to are arbitrary (i.e. we could have chosen different ways of dividing up human society)

biological essentialism

a line of thought that explains social behavior in terms of biological differences

socioeconomic status

a measure of one's combined economic and social position in society, as usually measured through income, education, and occupation

symbolic interactionism

a micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form, the basic motivations behind people's actions (Conley p. 138) social constructions emerge out of social interaction 3 basic tenets: 1. human beings act towards ideas, concepts, and values on the basis of the meaning that those things have for them 2. these meanings are the products of social interaction in human society 3. these meanings are modified and filtered through an interpretive process that each individual uses in dealing with outward signs

agnosticism

a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God

triangulate

a powerful technique that facilitates validation of data through cross verification from 2 or more sources

hypothesis

a proposed relationship between a dependent variable and (at least one) independent variable(s), usually with a stated direction

correlation

a relationship between 2 or more things that vary (i.e. variables)

meritocracy

a society where status and mobility are based on individual attributes, ability and achievement. A system in which the talented are chosen and moved ahead on the basis of their achievement

ethnography

a sociological method that explores how people live and make sense of their lives with one another in particular places. The focus might be on people and the meaning they produce through everyday interactions, or places, and the organizational logics that guide our activities. It relies primarily on participant observation, but can also include interview-based methods.

privilege

a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.

religion

a system of beliefs, traditions, and practices around sacred things; a set of shared 'stories' that guide belief and action." (Conley p. 617) -Very similar to the definition of culture: "a set of beliefs, traditions, and practices; the sum total of the social categories and concepts we embrace". Key difference is sacred things Sacred: refers to holy things put to special use for worship and kept separate from the profane" (Conley 617). The sacred includes phenomena which are regarded and experienced as extraordinary, transcendent and outside the everyday course of events. E.g. a rosary, a statue of Buddha Profane: refers to things of mundane, everyday life (e.g. cell phones, bills) 33% of scientists believe in God; 41% doesn't believe anything is there 83% of the general public believe in God; 4% doesn't believe anything is there

intersex

a variety of conditions whereby an individual's chromosomes, hormones, or sexual organs differ from the norm in ways that do not correspond to "typical definitions of male and female" (ISNA, 2008b). -disorders of sex development (DSD)

affirmative action

actively selecting applicants who have faced the steep slope of an uneven playing field, often due to racism or sexism in society ex. african americans are paid less than whites at every education level

agency

an individual's ability to act independently of social constraint

social agency

an individual's ability to act independently of social constraint

interest groups (lobbyists)

an organization that seeks to gain power in government and influence policy without campaigning for direct election or appointment to office -Eg. Trade unions, corporations and single-issue groups

political parties

an organization that seeks to gain power in government, generally by backing candidates for office who subscribe...to the organization's political ideals

reading question: In "The Fieldworker and the Surgeon," what research method does Charles Bosk use to conduct his research?

answer: participant observation "As I reflect on the experience of 18 months as a participant observer in a teaching hospital..." (Bosk 1996: 130)

gender roles

behaving according to widely-shared expectations of how males and females are "supposed" to act (i.e. norms associated with being male or female)

rule of the game

include working hard, deferring gratification, going to college, getting a diploma, getting a good job...

racism as a fundamental cause of disease

income: ex: hurricane katrina hurt blacks and poor victims most racism: environmental; racism in healthcare

positivist sociology

believes the social world can be described and predicted by certain observable relationships in pursuit of identifying the laws of human behavior - Comte - social physics --Uncovering social facts, "a category of facts which present very special characteristics: they consist of manners of acting, thinking, and feeling external to the individual, which are invested with a coercive power by virtue of which they exercise control over him." -Durkheim; 1982. researchers should stay as objective as possible tends to be deductive

gender

denotes a social position, the set of social arrangements that are built around normative* sex categories (Conley p.283) -The socially constructed differences between females and males based on the meanings, beliefs, and practices that society associated with femininity and masculinity -Remember the Thomas theorem: gender may be socially constructed, but it has real consequences for our everyday lives Gender is therefore something we "do" rather than something we are (West & Zimmerman 1987) We learn to present ourselves as 'male' or 'female' through cultural scripts that shape our behaviors, clothing, hairstyle, stance, gait, body language, tone of voice. -These scripts can be based on arbitrary distinctions that change over time

medical norms

clothing norms chair hierarchy paging etiquette emotional norms

poverty: conservative vs liberal views

conservative: Income is distributed according to effort To rise to the top, you need to be ambitious, smart, hard-working If you're poor, it's because you're lazy, dumb, or unambitious By extension, welfare programs cause more hard than good by further causing laziness and "culture of permanent dependency" -embrace more of an equality of opportunity approach -views poverty as a personal problem -therefore emphasizes agency over structure liberal: Income is unequally distributed across social groups due to blocked opportunity (e.g. unequal educational opportunities, limited social networking, glass ceilings, discrimination) If you're poor, it's largely because of circumstances beyond your control We need to redress these inequalities as a society, and offer government assistance to the poor to help them get back on their feet -embraces more of an equality of condition approach -views poverty as a social problem -therefore emphasizes structure over agency

sociological imagination

connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual's life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical/social forces

sexual orientation

describes a person's enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction to another person (for example: straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual)

cumulative disadvantage

disadvantage leads to further disadvantage

atheism

disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods

morgellons: disease or delusion?

disease?: -15,000+ sufferers, up to 94% also test positive for Lyme disease -Preliminary research finds that fibers are a form of infectious yeast or mould -Cause & treatment remain unknown delusion?: -Treatable with antipsychotic drug Orap (also used in Tourette's syndrome) -Delusional parasitosis is not new; the name Morgellons is -Psychiatric co-morbidity (mood and bipolar disorders) -Internet mass hysteria (or mass delusion)

material culture

everything that is a part of our constructed, physical environment, including technology.

norms

expectations about appropriate conduct in a given context which serve as common guidelines for social action -Norms are acquired by socialization (Penguin Dictionary of Sociology) -ex. restaurant norms (leave a tip, do not eat sloppily)

formal/informal social sanctions

formal: rules or laws prohibiting criminal behavior informal: based on the unexpressed but widely known rules of group membership ("unwritten rules") -e.g burping loudly in public-> STIGMA

agents of socialization examples

family school peers mass media army

agents of social control formal/informal examples

formal: law/police, state/military, education, religion, professions informal: neighbors, public opinion, peers, family, medicine

deductive reasoning

general to specific ex: all men are mortal. socrates is a man. socrates is mortal

what constitutes good research?

reliability, validity, generalizability

how do we define health?

health as the absence of disease "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (World Health Organization Constitution, April 7, 1948)

religion impacting medical practice

hospitals didn't give rape victims emergency contraception -14 in PA smh Notre Dame drops birth control coverage for students when it used to give it to them for free

equality of outcome

idea that everyone should end up with the same amount, regardless of the fairness of the 'game' Less concerned with the rules of the game than with the distribution of resources "To each according to his [sic] ability, to each according to his [sic] needs" [Karl Marx, 1890] Free rider problem communist ideology

equality of condition

idea that everyone should have an equal starting point structural barriers: These are literal barriers to communication, such as mountains, rivers, jungles, deserts, oceans, and scarce resources, and they can limit the ability to communicate or to provide the material underpinnings of an effective agreement

disease vs. illness

illness: disease w/o illness -ex: arthritis disease: illness w/o disease -ex. a virus

qualitative research method

involve looking in-depth at a few subjects instead of examining large numbers of subjects in less depth

misogyny

is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls, often with the goal of controlling them

social capital in medical training

it's not what you know, it's who you know Networks mattered for students trying to get into medical school; USMD students often spoke of relying on social capital; non-USMDs had less of it They matter for getting into residency—especially if there's a "blemish" on one's record. Many USMDs relied on networks to access elite residencies; non-USMDs needed social capital to overcome bias towards their pedigree but often could not secure it And networks mattered a lot for fellowship. Fellowship was described as much more "buddy-buddy"; USMDs in elite institutions have access to top specialists; non-USMDs in non-elite institutions struggle to forge necessary connections with specialists outside their institution

power in research

knowledge is power Statistics are often used to support particular points of view; "...it's naïve to simply accept numbers as accurate, without examining who is using them and why." (Best 2001: 13; emphasis added) statistics are created by people we might even say statistics are a social construction "Statistics...can become weapons in political struggles over social problems and social policy" (Best 2001: 10) --example: planned parenthood: abortions up; life-saving procedures down (e.g. cancer screenings)

in the news week 10

laura loomer tweets: I'm late to the NYPD press conference because I couldn't find a non Muslim cab or uber/lyft driver for over 30 min! This is insanity. King: "if you want to stop the mass shootings in America, consider banning white men" - New York Daily News

planning policy: the tobacco control act (2009)

legislative intervention: Grants FDA the authority to regulate the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products Requires prominent graphic warning labels for cigarettes and larger text warnings for smokeless tobacco products Requires tobacco companies to submit research on health, toxicological, behavioral, or physiologic effects of tobacco use. Allows FDA to conduct compliance check inspections of tobacco retailers. Penalties for violations include fines, and, for repeated violations, a potential no-tobacco sale order prohibiting the sale of tobacco products. Prohibits the sale of cigarettes containing certain characterizing flavors (such as strawberry, grape, orange, and other flavors). Funds FDA regulation of tobacco products through a user fee on the manufacturers of certain tobacco products sold in the United States, based on their U.S. market share. then, must educate the public about the manufacturers of illness ex: San Fran and Mass. banned the sale of tobacco products in drug stores and pharmacies

in the news: huricane maria and graham-cassidy bill

maria: hit a lot of islands like Bahamas, US Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, etc. Graham-Cassidy Bill proposes to: -Eliminate federal funding for Medicaid expansion and Obamacare subsidies -States would instead get a fixed amount ("block grant") of money annually that they could allocate in various ways -Eliminates the individual and employer mandates -Eliminates cost protections again patients with pre-existing conditions (so insurers could charge more to sicker patients) -Eliminates Obamacare "essential health benefits provision" which requires insurers to cover basic things, including hospitalization, prescription drugs, and mental healthcare. -It would defund Planned Parenthood for 1 year -It would keep taxes on health insurers and the wealthy

gendered social control

mechanisms that encourage individuals to comply with gender norms (e.g. removing body hair) -e.g. birth control

Medicine as an institution of social control (Zola)

medicalization: The process by which medicine becomes "relevant to an ever increasing part of human existence" (Zola 1972: 487) According to Zola, medicine operates as an agent of social control through medicalization -When more aspects of life are medicalized, more everyday behaviors and experiences fall under medicine's jurisdiction, which means they can be controlled by medicine

correlation is a _______, but not ______ condition for causation

necessary ; sufficient

in the news week 14

net neutrality

in the news: does a rt by pres. trump = endorsement?

no way: "The President speaks directly to folks...I'm not going to judge what's appropriate or inappropriate of the President. Retweets don't equal endorsements." -David Urban, former campaign strategist for Donald Trump on CNN's "State of the Union" -"RTs ≠ endorsements" - everyone knows that, right? yes way: -"The President is the President of the United States, so they [tweets] are considered official statements by the President of the United States," said Sean Spicer, press secretary, in June. -"Well I do retweets, and I mean, to a certain extent, I do, yeah, I think that's right," Trump said. "Do you want me to say no? You know, I retweet, I retweet for a reason." (Donald Trump Trump told a CNN reporter in August 2015 when asked whether he endorsed what he retweets.)

independent/dependent variable example

not breathing (IV) leads to dying (DV)

stickiness of labels

once applied, they're hard to take off

big pharma

pharmaceutical companies drive medicalization, in part through direct-to-consumer advertising -Pharmaceutical companies not only market products (drugs) but also diseases, thereby driving the medicalization of conditions that were previously not considered medical problems (Conrad 2005) --ex: LATISSE® (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution) 0.03% — the first FDA-approved treatment for inadequate or not enough lashes (eyelash hypotrichosis) - Discovered by accident --ex: Viagra Pharmaceutical companies have the exclusive right (patents) for 10-20 years to produce, sell and market a new product, after which time it can be copied by other companies (generics) In some cases, companies will search for new uses for an old drug, to extend or renew the patent, like Eli Lilly and Sarafem Paxil was approved in 1996 but joined an already saturated market for anti-depressants. So, it decided to target the "anxiety market" by marketing two relatively obscure conditions: -Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Social Anxiety Disorder (1.2% in 1989 to 3-13% in 2005) FDA approved Paxil for GAD in 2001; GlaxoSmithKline began ad campaign in 2002 -Testimony from GAD sufferers -GSK funded patient group "Freedom from Fear" for market research -Tagline was "Imagine being allergic to people..." it could happen to anyone

power, legitamacy and the state

power: the ability to carry out his/her own will despite resistance (Conley p. 584 citing Weber 1922) domination: a special type of power; "the probability that a command...will be obeyed by a group of persons" (Conley p. 584 citing Weber 1922 --Domination by economic power (e.g. Rockefeller's Standard Oil commanding the price of oil) --Domination by authority (e.g. the state) the state: "a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly over the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory" (Conley p. 585, citing Weber 2004) --Hidden under domination by authority is the threat of violence

participant observation method pros/cons

pros: Access to what people "really" think / do cons: time-intensive; not easily generalizable

experimentation method pros/cons

pros: Best design for causal conclusions; highly reliable cons: Cannot always be generalized outside the lab; expensive; ethical problems

survey research method pros/cons

pros: High validity and reliability; excellent generalizability cons: Can be high cost; validity/generalizability depends on sampling; certain topics/populations may be difficult to access; cannot access in-depth, complex issues

Content analysis, Comparative research, Historical methods pros/cons

pros: Low cost; unobtrusive; good validity because of comparisons with larger populations cons: Can be difficult to access data; when rules for record-keeping change, comparisons can be difficult; may not include data about attitudes/opinions

interview method pros/cons

pros: Provides in-depth insight into complex issues; allows for other issues to emerge; less time intensive; relatively rapid/timely data collection cons: Can be time-consuming; researcher effects; not easily generalizable

types of direct-to-consumer ads

reminder advertisements: Provide the name of the product without stating its intended purpose help-seeking advertisements: Inform users about new, unspecified treatment options product claim advertisements: Include both the name of the product and its intended purpose

quantitative research method

seek to obtain information about the social world that is in, or can be converted to, numeric form

microsociology

seeks to understand local interactional contexts; focuses on face-to-face encounters and interactions between individuals (e.g. within a single clinic)

macrosociology

seeks to understand social structures and populations at a higher level of analysis, on a larger scale (e.g. nationwide)

broken windows theory

social context and cues impact how individuals act

structure

social factors that determine or constrain an individual's decisions and actions

structure vs. agency matters for understandings of:

social inequality ex. american dream vs social welfare state

socialization

the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as a member of that society (Conley p. 118)

spurious relationship

sometimes another variable causes both in the first 2 ex. bad weather -> not wanting to get out of bed; bad weather -> car accidents

reverse causation

sometimes the relationship between two correlated variables is causal but not the way you'd expect ex. the more fire engines sent to a fire -> the more damage the more damage -> the more fire engines sent to a fire especially tricky between socioeconomic status and health ex. socioeconomic status (SES) <-> health

intervening relationship

sometimes there's a third variable mediating the relationship between the first 2 ex. poverty -> can't afford health insurance -> higher mortality

inductive reasoning

specific to general ex. plato is a mortal man. socrates is a mortal man. pyrrho is a mortal man. carneades is a mortal man. all men are mortal

operationalization

the process of assigning a precise method for measuring a term being examined for use in a particular study defining variables into measurable factors

equality of opportunity

the idea that everyone has an equal chance to achieve wealth, social prestige, and power because the rules of the game, so to speak, are the same for everyone

social capital

the information, knowledge or people or things, and connections that help people enter, gain power in, or otherwise leverage social networks

mental load

the invisible planning work that (primarily) women do for the household

reliability

the likelihood of obtaining consistent results using the same measure

cultural relativism

taking into account the differences across cultures without passing judgment or assigning value (Conley)

internalized misogyny

that is when that contempt, prejudice, and hatred is turned inward, toward oneself (usually in the form of shame, embarrassment or self-policing)

Ethicalism

the adherence to certain principles to lead a moral life (e.g. Buddhism and Taoism)

implicit bias

the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.

racism

the belief that members of separate races possess different and unequal traits coupled with the power to restrict freedoms based on those differences.Racist thinking is characterized by three key beliefs: 1. That humans are divided into distinct bloodlines and/or physical types 2. That these bloodlines or physical traits are linked to distinct cultures, behaviors, personalities, and intellectual abilities; 3. And that certain groups are superior to others

Animism

the belief that spirits are part of the natural world (e.g. totemism)

sex

the biological differences that distinguish males from femals (Conley) sex differences between males and females: chromosomal pattern: F- XX ; M- XY gonadal: F- ovaries ; M- testes hormonal: F- more estrogens than androgens ; M- more androgens than estrogens sex organs: F- uterus, fallopian tubes, vagina, clitoris, labia ; M-epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate, penis, scrotum

validity

the extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure

income inequality

the extent to which income is distributed in an uneven manner among a population

generalizability

the extent to which the findings can be said to inform us about a group larger than the one we studied

what is sociology?

the scientific study of human society (Conley) *the systematic study of the development, structure. interaction, and collective behavior of organized groups of human beings -ex: rates of crime, fertility, voting; organizations like corporations, govts, universities-and their properties; institutions: arrangements for solving recurrent collective problems like healthcare, social safety nets, etc.; networks of social relations (friendships, acquaintances, kinships, colleagues) the study of social problems

social control

the set of mechanisms that create normative compliance, the act of abiding by society's norms or simply following the rules of group life.

theism

the worship of god/gods (e.g. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism)

social construction of sexuality

there's no 'natural' way of doing it sexual orientation is conditional not on exhibited behaviors but on the societal response to exhibited behaviors "normal" sexuality has changed over time across societies

social structure

those factors of influence (such as social class, religion, gender, ethnicity, ability, customs, etc.) that determine or constrain an individual's decisions and actions both constraining and enabling

theories about the social processes that lead to environmental injustice: social structures

treadmill of production institutionalized racism and racial segregation: -Real estate agents steer people of color into racially segregated communities -Discrimination in lending practices (for mortgages) -"white flight" to the suburbs High racial segregation in communities, which contributes to environmental inequality "because governments and corporations often seek out the path of least resistance when locating polluting facilities." (Brulle & Pellow 2006: 109) social structures constrain minorities' individual AGENCY..so, to change social structures, they have formed social movements

nonmaterial culture

values, beliefs, behaviors, and social norms.

causation

when a change in one factor results in a corresponding change in another factor ex. wrong: does breathing cause death? correct: does not breathing cause death?

culture lag

when there's a time gap between the appearance of a new technology and the words/practices that give it meaning (e.g. taking photos of oneself and the term 'selfie')

tsunami effect

when you drink soda, you fill your liver with fructose and then it turns it into fat

social capital and status

who you know has important implications for your social status status is a recognizable social position that an individual occupies (Conley) status denotes the relative position of a person on a publicly recognized scale or hierarchy of social worth (Penguin Dictionary of Sociology) - use this definition instead of Conley's not all social connections are equal - some are "worth" more than others in terms of contributing to social status -e.g. knowing a plumber versus knowing a member of the royal family