SOCY1002 Final Review
Socioeconomic status:
an individual's position in a stratified (ppl above or below others) economic social order
Rituals involve...
collective effervescence
Cisgender:
people whose gender corresponds to sex assigned at birth
Transgender:
people whose gender does not correspond to sex assigned at birth
Differences among families:
researchers focus on race/ethnicity, immigration status, partner status, and same-sex transgender patterns
Coalescence:
resources are mobilized; concrete action is taken Funding, activating weak social network ties, roles established
Income:
the amount of money you earn from employment or investments
"Workfare"
work requirements for benefits receipts (had to work to get benefits)
Class consciousness:
workers start to see their struggles; workers realize that they have solidarity against owners of means of production; workers must struggle to obtain means of production
False consciousness:
workers unable to see their exploitation and oppression
Population pyramids
A key tool for understanding the population age-sex structure of a given population Shape of the pyramid gives insights into population trends, projections Comparing 2 groups Y-axis = age, 5 year increments X-axis = population
What makes a family?
"a householder and one or more other people living in the same household who are related to the household by birth, marriage, or adoption" "groups of related people, bound by connections that are biological, legal, or EMOTIONAL" - Prioritizes emotional bond
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993:
"entitled to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave."
General fertility rate:
# births/Total women ages 15-49 * K
Crude death rate (CDR):
# deaths/total population * K Example: calculate the crude death rates per 100,000 in MA MA 2019: 58,660 total deaths; 6, 975, 400 total population Answer: 840
For a family of 4 in the U.S. in 2022, what is the federal poverty level?
$27,750
Femenism
A collection of movements that advocate for equality for all sexes and genders; brings awareness to how gender structures social relationships between people unequally. Subset of conflict theory -- conflict b/w men and women
Social institutions: A refresher
A complex group of interdependent positions that together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time Enduring practices and rules (both formal and informal) that organzie a central domain of social life Provide individuals with resources, while also imposing rules on how we act. Examples: mass media, the government, the economy, family, the health care system, the education system
Health and illness and social phenomena What is the role of labels when it comes to medical conditions?
BP level categories/colors
Transition to capitalism - more changes
Bartering --> a legal currency Agreements between individuals --> contracts between corporations Piecework payment (payment on amount of products you produce) --> wage labor --> salary Separation of public and private spheres, work, and leisure.
Demographic transition theory:
Based on birth rates, death rates, and total population (NI formula) Connects population changes to economic growth (pre-industrial, industrial, and post-industrial) 5 stages of the demographic transition model Countries progress these different population stages in ways that coincide with economic growth
"How do Baby Boomers differ from Millennials in terms of educational attainment?"
Cohort
Differences among schools: (Catholic)
Coleman's finding (early 1980s): Catholic schools, on average, tend to out-perform non-Catholic private schools Communities surrounding the Catholic church -- parents' common affiliation -- gave parents a stronger basis for developing social ties (i.e. higher levels of social capital) Catholic schools characterized by dense parental networks (intergenerational closure) had higher average student achievement
Why does the banking system work?
Enough people put their money in the bank Not everyone wants their money at the same time A lot of TRUST here -- people are paying their loans -- lets the system work Allows economy to be more efficient as there is more money circulating in the economy
Silverstein study: Results
Increased HR and BP if the listener has racist beliefs These students did not actually experience discrimination, but the FEAR/ANTICIPATIOMN triggered stress response that can have longer term consequences on health
Median age at marriage for people who do get married:
Increased dramatically, esp. for women
The Fatherhood Bonus
Increased wages and career advancement that fathers experience when being a part of a family structure because they are perceived as needing to provide for people and fulfilling their responsibilities as citizens within patriarchy and capitalism.
Why the social construction of health/illness matters
Individual identity and illness experience The development of medical research/knowledge Policy (100:1 example) Health care --> what do we go to the dr for, what is seen as a medical condition
Access to treatment
Inequality is still very much present as it continues to unfold in the US Access to insurance Who gets access to drs willing to prescribe newer drugs Afford medication
In connection with stress process model --> (FCT)
Stress is a factor within FCT Stress process model is bridge between proximal and distal
Why this connection b/w religion and health?
Strong source of social control Church provides social networks (social integration) SES Better health, more able to attend church Content of the religion itself -- avoid alcohol consumption
How are health disparities studied?
Studied by: SES Race/ethnicity Gender Geography/neighborhood Marital status Age and the life course
Tracking
The "sorting function" of schools (according to functionalists), and also the "paradox" of education Tracking involves dividing students into different classes according to ability or future plans Tracking can shape individual students' identity
Elements of religious institutions
The sacred and the profane Ritual Response to suffering and injustice - Theodicy: explanations for why suffering and injustice exist
Race and ethnicity in the US
The salience of race/ethnicity can vary across individuals, contexts, and time - Can be central to life - Can be salient at religious ceremonies, family gatherings - Can be basis for stigma, discrimination - Source or pride and stigma
McDonaldization:
The spread of bureaucratic rationalization; the increasing presence of a fast-food model in social institutions (Ritzer 1993) Business model includes: - Efficiency - Predictability - Control - Calculability
Hidden curriculum:
The unstated, implicit rules, values, and lessons that students learn about society, norms of behavior, and power and authority The nonacademic and less overt socialization functions of schooling A key way schools socialize students, teaching them how to behave and preparing them for the roles they will play in society Taught subtly, often informally What would a conflict theorist say?
What is spatial inequality?
The various opportunities, benefits, and disadvantages that come with living in a certain environment
Sexual orientation components:
There is enormous variation in how humans have sex, what is means to them Sexual orientation can be considered as having different components: - Attraction - Behavior - Identity
Why was there a different "sick role" response based on each epidemic?
This was part of "war on drugs" --> We learned from the mistakes of the war on drugs Role of race when we think of stereotypes about who is most affected by epidemics (Latino/Black were most affected in crack epidemic)
Malthusian theory:
Thomas Malthus (1798) - population growth would outpace available resources, esp. food production
On average, people with higher SES tend to have better health. Why? Three main theories:
Three main theories: - Selection theory - Drift explanation - Social determinants theories (FCT)
Glass ceiling:
an invisible limit on women's climb up the occupational ladder
Implicit:
association held in our minds that we may be unaware of (subconscious) Harder to measure, not necessarily aware of them
Total fertility rate:
average number of children born to a women during their reproductive years
How is stable growth rate represented on pyramid?
base is equal with middle and top
Traditional:
based on appeals to the past or a long-established way of doing things - Family (patriarchy, father figures) - Royal family (based on past, long-established ways, you are born into royal family)
Rational-legal:
based on legal, impersonal rules that have been routinized and rationalized; often based on a position, not necessarily individual - Any elected position in the government - Police
Charismatic:
based on the personal appeal of an individual leader (based on the person) - Leaders like Trump - Martin Luther King Jr - Hitler
Largest achievement gap is between:
between lower-income and higher-income children
Explicit:
bias that we are openly and consciously aware of Social-desirability bias - people won't admit (also makes it hard to measure)
Collective action:
a collaborative effort that takes place in groups and diverges from the social norms of the situation
Nuclear family:
a family that consists of a father, mother, and their (usually biological) children
Blended family:
a family with a step-parent, step-sibling, or half-sibling
Hegemonic masculinity:
a form of social organization in which men are dominant and privileged Social problems that exist within a dominant group in society tend to be invisible ("just be a man") Changes over time (Ex: culturally idealized form of manhood) Push on this idea of what our society says about what it means to be a man We have such a narrow definition of masculinity, a lot of research suggests that things diagnosed as behavioral issues are a reaction to pressure to fit in of what it means to be a man Focusing on youth and mental health now
Routinization (or institutionalization):
a formal structure develops to promote the cause
Breadwinner-homemaker model:
a gendered labor arrangement in which one partner (usually a man) worked outside the home to earn money, and another partner (usually the woman) stayed at home to do the housework, childcare, and other household labor
Secularism:
a general movement away from religiosity and spiritual belief toward a rational, scientific orientation Consider: Do we live in a secularized society? How has secularization broken the "sacred canopy"?
Glass ceiling:
a metaphor to describe barriers that women face in the workplace that prevent them from reaching higher positions 1. Discrimination (sexism), including sexual harassment 2. Occupational segregation: certain occupations are more likely to have a greater share of women than men 3. Motherhood - Opting out - women will have children and choose not to come back to workIf this were the case, you would need another family member to compensate for lack of pay from mother staying home. Disproportionally happening with middle/upper class families that can afford to have parent home - Maternity leave Solution: Parental leave? - Fathers are less likely to take paternal leave despite more companies offering it, worried about not taking job seriously/not committed (other people's thoughts) - Worried about how they are going to be viewed
Recessions:
a period of economic decline lasting half a year or more Would expect poverty rate to increase during a recession BUT poverty rate declines during pandemic due to government assistance
Gentrification:
a shift in the population of a community bringing in new residents who are more affluent -- and sometimes from different racial or ethnic group -- than the original residents
Example: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM):
a standard categorization of mental, behavioral, and learning conditions. Changes in the DSM influence how mental illness is understood and treated. 1st edition: 60 mental illnesses 5th edition: 400 distinct mental illnesses Insurance requirements for billing Could change the way people in society view those illness and how they are treated
Health:
a state of complete physical, mental, and social well being Health is not merely the absence of illness or disease
Age adjustment:
a statistical process applied to rates of disease, death, injuries or other health outcomes which allows communities with different age structures to be compared. In other words, age adjustment removes age as a confounding variable. Also called "age-specific" rates Look at example on slides
Democracy:
a system of government in which the power lies with the people, who can vote and participate in the political system
Medicare:
ages 65 and older or under 65 with a disability
Achievement gap:
differences in academic achievement between groups Achievement gaps studied by social class, race/ethnicity, gender, and other characteristics
Industrial Revolution:
division between work and homeWork outside the home --> paid wage Idea that womanhood centers on domestic responsibility and child rearing ("cult of domesticity")
Family is ____
dynamic
Theodicy:
explanations for why suffering and injustice exist
Public health:
focus on the description and prevention disease and illness
Opportunity gap:
focuses on what opportunities students have to succeed (rather than assuming all students start out with equal chances to succeed)
Androgenous:
gender presentation is not distinctively masculine or feminine
AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children):
provided cash welfare payments for needy children/families; states entitles to unlimited reimbursements for benefits - began 1930s
Emphasis on ________ risks in FCT:
proximal risks -- think of them that patient can make changes/in their control, can help with meds
Cause-specific death rate:
rate of deaths attributable to a certain cause
Social mobility:
refers to the movement of individuals between different positions of a social stratification system Horizontal - social class does not change Vertical - moving up or down in social class
Social environment:
social elements of workplaces, school, or neighborhoods, including norms, local institutions, social relationships, trust, and safety
Social determinants theories:
social status determines health Key theory within this perspective: - Fundamental Cause Theory (FCT)
Disease:
the biological condition
Residential segregation:
the degree to which different segments of the population, typically classified by race, ethnicity, or social class, live apart
Sex:
the different biological and physiological characteristics of MALES and FEMALES, such as reproductive organs, chromosomes, and hormones
Social capital:
the information, knowledge of people, connections that help individuals gain power, resources, or leverage social networks; the resources that people access through their social ties who you know
Authority:
the justifiable right to exercise powerPower that people accept because it comes from a source that is perceived as legitimate Ex: parent has authority but little power
Human capital:
the knowledge and skills that make someone more productive and bankable what you know
Secularization theory:
the more society became urban and industrialized, the more likely you were to meet people of a different religion; religion fades in significance; pluralism creates a "plausibility crisis" Increased religious diversity --> more religious competition --> decrease in religious participation/attendance "There are so many religions to choose from, that I don't know which to go with." Which theory? -- As a result of this, religious participation would decrease
Pluralism:
the presence of numerous distinct religious groups in one society
Education:
the process of gaining knowledge and skills Schools (K-12) are key institutions that shape society and people's lives
Functionalist perspective:
the role of older adults in society Disengagement: withdrawal from society and social relationships Activity: older adults seek new roles to maintain social activity Continuity: older adults try to maintain equilibrium in their social lives
Demography:
the science of population
Kinship systems:
the set of rules that define who counts as a member of the family, the names given to different types of family, and expectations for how family members relate to one another.
Emergence:
the social problem is identified
Gender:
the socially-constructed characteristics of WOMEN and MEN, such as norms, roles, and relationships of and between groups of women and men
Region
the south has the highest poverty rate. The lowest poverty rate is the Northeast.
Ethnicity:
typically refers to a common culture, religion, history, or ancestry shared by a group of people Ex: Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, Irish Americans, Jewish Americans
Second shift:
unpaid labor include the home that is often expected of women after they get home from working at paid labor outside the home The second shift is magnified the more successful the women is at work
Oligopoly:
when a handful of firms effectively control a market Ride-sharing services Airlines, car manufacturers Wireless carries Cable and broadband services
The Pygmalion effect, or self-fulfilling prophecy:
when behavior is modified to meet preexisting expectations Example: Rosenthal and Jacobson's symbolic interactionist study
Institutionalized:
when cultural capital is legitimized through a formal system (like academic credentials, professional certification) Ie: BC diploma -- degree carries cultural capital with is
Monopoly:
when one seller of a good or service dominates the market to the exclusion of others, potentially leading to zero competition Example: Ticketmaster: overpromised number of tickets they had, without competitors, they can charge super high prices - Domination of the market -- becomes illegal when you have the power to exploit consumers and customers
How is increasing growth rate represented on pyramid?
wide base - suggests exceeding replacement and growth in pop
Health and social control
• Recall our discussion of deviance and social control • What does it mean for certain behaviors and experiences to be defined as "medical conditions?" • What does it mean for an illness, condition, or behavior to be... • stigmatized? • labeled a disability?
Neighborhoods matter! Why? What do they offer?
• Schools • Food deserts • Access to healthcare • Availability of jobs • Availability of transportation • Green spaces • Neighborhoods as places of informal control • Violence and safety • Places of formal control (e.g., police) • Concentrated poverty • Social networks, social capital • Where someone lives is a significant determinant of the opportunities that they have access to ("neighborhood effects").
Crude rates: equaion
(Number of Events of Count / Population) x Constant Crude birth rate: # births/Total mid-year population * K Crude death rate: # deaths/total population * K
Age dependency ratio:
(young population (under age 15) and older population (65 and older)) / working age population (15-64)
Why do multiple generations live together more commonly today?
- #1 reason for this is financial (inc cost of living) - Childcare / caregiving for both kids and older parents
How would you measure secularism:
- Amount of people who affiliate with a religion - Look at number of people who go to church --attendance - Schools - Public spaces - Policies
Corporations
- An entity that has all the legal rights, duties, and responsibilities of a person - Primary goal is generally pursuit of profit - Top-down structure (hierarchical) to allow for large-scale economic production - Division of labor -- high level of specialization
Gender in(equality): Major theories
- Conflict theory - Interactionist theory - Functionalist theory - Intersectionality
Social determinants of health
- Historical and contemporary social, economic, and political factors that drive social patterns in health - The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age shape morbidity and mortality
What kind of impact, if any, do you think universal health care would have on health disparities in the US?
- It would lessen health disparities for those in poverty/people who cannot afford care -- would have a positive impact but not enough - Possibility of no impact as SES is still an issue --> poor people cannot take off work to go to dr. - People who can afford extra health care would probably do that, thus keeping the gap - Need for contextualizing this system with the broader social determinants of health -- something else to keep in mind since inequality is still very present
If this is what's happening at presidential elections, there's more that could be happening on the neighborhood level:
- Neighborhoods with high levels of incarceration are even less represented in local elections
Social media addiction - DSM
-- not included in DSM-5 Talk about adverse consequence of mental health related to social media use
2 responsibilities of sick role:
1. Seek medical advice/treatment 2. Follow the expert advice and try to overcome their disease or condition
Alienation example: Scenario: Ayla works in a factory that makes computers. Her task is to press a button that ensures that pieces of plastic that will be used to make the computer screen are cut in the appropriate shape and size. How might Marx identify Ayla's experience of alienation from: 1. The product 2. The process 3. Other people 4. Themselves
1. The product: Can't afford to buy the actual thing she is working to create 2. The process: She's not making the whole computer, doing 1 tiny part, separated from process as a whole, not seeing the final product 3. Other people: Might never talk to other people without any time, does not talk to ppl outside of her position, alienated from coworkers 4. Themselves: Dissociation, who she is in the work environment is different than how Ayla views herself as a whole
Race and ethnicity on the US Census 1790:
1790: First census -- collects information on race/ethnicity based on "Free," "slave"
Loving v. Virginia:
1967 Supreme Court case that ended anti-miscegenation laws (laws that said that interracial couples could not marry)
Race and ethnicity on the US Census 1970:
1970: Census Bureau begins to conduct research to improve design of race/ethnicity questions
Race and ethnicity on the US Census 1980:
1980: "Some other race" option added to race question (people who identify as Hispanic often choose this)
What else explains political nonparticipation? (other than civil life/voting rights)
2 perspectives: - Civic voluntarism model: focuses on the individual, political orientation, mobilization efforts - Legal and procedural boundaries
Race and ethnicity on the US Census 2000:
2000: Respondent given the option of selection one or more racial identities
Race and ethnicity on the US Census 2020:
2020: Census Bureau recommends creating one combined race/ethnicity question, but was not approved
Changes in capitalism and the future of work
4 day work week? --> 32 hours (100% of the work done, in 80% of the time, for 100% of the pay)
Almost ____% of new marriages involve a partner who has been married before
40%
% of peple in US who say religion is of importance in their lives:
53% of people in US say religion is very important in their lives This is a lot higher than other countries - B/c freedom of religion in the US and greater diversity with respect to religion
Homeownership rates in the U.S. (2019):
73.3% Non-Hispanic Americans 42.1% Black Americans 47.5% Hispanic or Latino Americans 50.8% American Indians or Alaska Natives 57.7% Asian or Pacific Islander Americans
Why does place matter? - Person A vs Person B example from class Who would do better/have better life outcomes?
A Household income: $17,000 Neighborhood Median income: $150,000 % households in poverty: 10 B Household income: $17,000 Neighborhood median income: $20,000 % households in poverty: 70 Who would do better/have better life outcomes? - Better schools for person A --> More money collected in taxes, better teachers, materials, class selection, better connections to universities, reputations, counselors, technology, transportation, enrichment - Networking -- Person A is likely to have greater social capital - Crime and safety - More access to healthcare - Transportation - disinvestment, neighborhood as a whole can be isolated from cities/ economic centers (not a lot of investment from outside business, less likely to lead to upward mobility if you work at a Wendy's)
Migration
A geographical move that involves crossing a political boundary
Monogamy vs. polygamy
A single spouse at a time versus multiple spouses at a time
What makes religion a social phenomenon?
A system of beliefs and practices around sacred things that guide belief and action Religious beliefs help shape social behavior by setting expectations and helping people distinguish between right and wrong Religions can seem quite different, but many share the same tenets.
Coleman Report (1966)
A systematic, large-scale evaluation of data from students and school facilities Family background and peers explain more of student achievement gaps than school resources Family social class was the biggest contributor to student achievement
Bias:
A tendency to view things in a particular way
Medicare-for-all? Pros:
Access expands, including emergencies Fewer people uninsured Fewer people underinsured (have health insurance, but does not cover everything, medical expenses above some proportion of income)
What would you measure to assess the performance of a health care system?
Access to care Care process Administrative efficiency Equity Health care outcomes
Racial/ethnic wealth gaps are also maintained by gaps in:
Accumulated earnings over lifetime Retirement savings Student loan debt main one is home ownership
How do we measure spatial inequality?
Administrative records, Census tract characteristics
Affirmative Action's Future
Affirmative Action = certain marginalized groups do not have access to school, educational systems that allow you the types of things to get into prestigious universities (like BC) Push against affirmative action - not everyone of the same race has the same access to opportunities (making generalizations about entire racial groups) Colorblind racism - add more
"How was COVID-19 affected mental health of teenagers vs. older adults in the United States?"
Age
The A-P-C of studying populations & population health
Age Period Cohort
A-P-C Practice For several decades, social scientists have been studying loneliness and social isolation in society. There is great concern among policy makers, researchers, and health practitioners that older adults today are socially disconnected - social networks getting smaller, talking to friends and families less frequently, joining fewer social organizations (e.g., volunteering, social clubs, religions attendance). A reporter calls you to interview you about why this might be happening after learning that you just completed Intro to Sociology. Provide either an age, period OR cohort hypothesis/potential explanation for this phenomenon.
Age - - Younger people more socially connected compared to older people - In better physical health, can get out and around more - Fewer opportunities to connect with people post retirement Period - - How has this pandemic experienced social ties - Economy - effects work and family and the things that affect people spending time with one another Cohort - - Comparing social activities among generations - Differences in technology use among generations
Universal health care:
All people have affordable access to medical services they need
The future of work: The "sharing economy" -- and examples
Also "gig economy," "peer-to-peer," "collaborative consumption" "stranger sharing" Ex: AirBNB, Uber, Lyft AirBNB - turning something that would've been sitting idle into a commodity
Asberger's Syndrome - DSM
Asberger's Syndrome was removed from DSM-5 Families of people with Asberger's were upset about this -- label was a form of community building, intersection with education system was also key (kinds of support services needed to provide enriching educational experience for the child) Misrepresentation provided too broad of treatment
Connection with Stress Process Model
Aspects of social structure (RACE) lead to more stress --> lower physical and mental health
What about fathers?
Assumption of fallback plan/childcare Father's seen as more stable, family man, mature For every additional child a father had -- on average a 6% increase of earnings - The Fatherhood Bonus
Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Attempted to address problems in the US health insurance market by: - Expanding Medicaid eligibility - Allowing young adults to stay on parents' insurance through age 26 - Mandating that all Americans purchase insurance - Eliminating "risk adjustment" based on preexisting medical conditions - Establishing health exchanges for people to "shop" for health insurance - Passed by Congress in 2010 - People were concerned with effect on taxes, who is going to pay for this
Berger: idea on life without religion
Berger: Without religion, life is meaningless... but is this true in contemporary society
Racial groups in the United States (2020 Census)
Black or African American American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander White Some other race 2030? Latinx, Latino, Hispanic, or Spanish origin
When social class is controlled:
Black-White test gaps shrink Black students have higher graduation rates Black students are less likely to be held back a grade
What about people going from cities to suburbs? Lower SES people moving to suburbia:
Building more affordable housing --> nimby People do not want to bc they don't want crime/violence to increase if lower SES people move in Debate about where factories go -- people do not want them in their backyard with traffic, air pollution, etc.
Voter ID laws by state:
Can be a disadvantage to certain groups: - Some people with lower SES who cannot take time to go to the DMV to obtain a photo ID - Need proof of residency, many forms of ID - If you are someone who has moved a lot it is hard to prove residency - Homeless of live in shelter (no bills with your name on it)
How can cultural capital be beneficial?
Can help form social networks -- job interviews -- do you have the specialized knowledge that can help you connect with potential employers on a niche topic on a way that is seen as impressive (knowledge of art, fine wine)
Life course: Connection to lower birth age for mothers without a college degree
Childhood --> HS grad --> college --> job --> marriage --> kids--> retirement - When you grow up in lower SES neighborhood, it seems unfeasible to go to college/get a good job - Because these type of life course transitions seen unattainable for people who grow up in poverty, kids become a huge source of meaning and lower SES people thus have kids earlier on
Sexuality - religion
Church Homosexuality is not accepted Female and male roles (sex roles) Purpose/parameters around sex and sexuality
Trends in the U.S. - Church attendance and more
Church attendance is down in the US % of people who have never attended church has been climbing steadily overtime Increasing in number of people who are unaffiliated See no parallel drop in the number of people who say religion is important to them The number of people who profess to have religious or spiritual beliefs is holding steady or rising. The increase in no religious preference is not connected to a loss of religious piety
Chipotle commercial example: message and irony
Commercial (Chipotle) is trying to tell you they are mindful of where their food comes from while other are not Irony: Company is responding to idea of ethical consumerism - Still a high level of division of labor here -- we as consumers trust that the food is coming from the sources they say
The basic tenets of capitalism (Adam Smith):
Competition Specialization - High level of interdependency, no longer family, farm based economy Using money (rather than bartering) -- inherently social!
Census:
Conducted on a decennial basis in the US A picture of the population at a particular point in time (size, characteristics of the population) Aim to collect info on everyone in a population
Does this shift represent a 'revolution"? Is it incomplete?
Conflict remains around what is the 'right' family arrangement when it comes to kids
Why do we see health inequalities between socially constricted categories of race/ethnicities? If it's not biology, why do we see these differences?
Consider social/political/economic factors: For example, differences in: income, wealth, educational opportunities, health care access, neighborhood segregation, employment opportunities, exposure to pollution, mass incarceration. Social: add to these once we go over in class!! Political: Economic:
Intersectionality in health and healthcare
Considers different forms of exclusion that could create effects on health that you don't know from just looking at someone's gender/race
Reasons for being uninsured
Coverage not affordable Not eligible for coverage Do not need or want Signing up was too difficult/confusing Cannot find a plan that meets needs Lost job
"Sick role:" - Crack vs. Opioid epidemic
Crack epidemic - Punishment - Victims were criminalized Opioid epidemic: - people were faced with empathy and seen as a public health crisis - funding going toward resources to help people - rehabilitative approach
Crack epidemic vs. Opioid epidemic
Crack epidemic: - 1980s-1995 - Affected lower income communities - Took place in cities Opioid epidemic: - 2000s-now - Affected higher income communities, white, women - Takes place in suburbia and cities -- more wide spread
Example of currency that is not fiat money?
Crypto currency Gets its value since we as a society agree that it has value
Registers:
Data is collected continuouslyIncludes information on births, deaths, marriages, divorces, other population events Aim to collect info on everyone in a population
Stage 5
Death rate higher than birth rate, so population starts to decrease a bit
1930s: Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) - redlining
Declared Black neighborhoods a "liability" and "ineligible for aid" Practice spread throughout the mortgage industry Deemed illegal in 1968
Stage 4
Declining birth rate, death rate stabilized (birth rate still higher than death rate)
Stage 3
Decreasing birth rate, death rate declining but stating to stabilize, total population increasing (birth rate slowing b/c death rate is slowing) Industrialization, families don't need to have as many kids people are living longer
What is civic engagement? How could you measure this?
Engagement in social movement - Jury duty - Looking at voting turnout
How does a condition or disease gain medical legitimacy?
Diagnostic criteria Trajectory Etiology (known cause) Treatment
Discrimination is associated with increased risk of...
Depression Common cold Hypertension Cardiovascular disease Breast cancer Mortality
Sexuality:
Desire, sexual identity, sexual preference, and behavior
Health disparities:
Differences in health that arise due to unfair and unequal social forces Often studied in terms of social patterns in morbidity (having a disease) and mortality (death)
Major changes in marriage and family
Divorce Single-parent families Multigenerational households Sandwich parents (or sandwich generation) Cohabitation Delay and decline of marriage Boomerang kids
Durkheim vs Marx view on religion
Durkheim: religion promotes unity, solidarity, strengthens the collective conscience (functionalist) Marx: religion creates divides and conflict among groups (conflict)
Economic sociology
Economic sociology studies social and institutional dimensions of economic behavior Some questions that motivate economic sociologists: - Why do some people get paid more than others? - Why are corporations so common? - What is the nature of work and occupations? - How do social phenomena shape change in markets and vice versa?
Sharing economy - Sociological questions about the consequences for:
Economics Social inequality Sustainability/environmental impact
Symbolic interactionist perspective:
Everyday interactions shape older adults' identities (or any age)
Equality of outcome:
Everyone should end up with the same amount of resources regardless of "fairness"
Tracking, testing, and cultural capital
Example question: Runner: marathon Oarsman: regatta - Might not be familiar knowledge to everyone, esp. if you did not grow up by water -- Is testing cultural capital?? Or knowledge Curriculum revisions around cultural capital are an ongoing thing
The achievement/opportunity gap - Example
Example: Student A - School district median income: $150,000 - Average parented education level: Bachelor's or more Student B - School district median income: $30,000 - Average parented education level: High school Different opportunities/achievement based on school and parents --> more resources, devotion, connections
Example of McDonaldization:
Example: amazon, self-checkout, mobile ordering (speeding up the processes of purchasing and selling), healthcare, banking Pros and cons: Pros: faster, efficient Cons: less social interaction, replacing means of interaction (dehumanizing) Impact on the workforce: getting rid of jobs for people that may need them
Ways that there can be more scenarios where people in lower income households are able to access some of the resources of more affluent households (if that helps upward mobility):
Expanding transportation Building public housing Access to other schools with better outcomes
Is the "traditional family" a myth?
Families are subject to norms, just like any other social arrangement "traditional family" idea is neither timeless nor universal, but developed in response to a specific time
Family and health: Aging
Family members are linked throughout each life stage Family relationships become especially important with age. Why? Stress of "sandwich generation" - important source of social support, social control, and also social strain (recall Week 5 on social networks and health)
Rights of people recognized as family members / social benefits:
Family visitation in hospital Court scenario Next of kin (can also be appointed) Inheritance / passing on things Insurance policies
Who is most likely to be disadvantaged by Hidden Cirriculum?
First generation students school They don't have knowledge about how to navigate and succeed in higher educational context (time management, office hours) -- students are expected to know this
Sustainability perspective advantages of 4 day work week:
Less commuting (only 4 day week compared to 5) Decline in emission if factory is only open 4 days/week Lights off in large office building, less waste Possibly not buying lunch on 5th day
Waves of feminism
First wave: a social movement advocating for women's rights (right to vote) Second wave: (1960s-1970s) - focus on equality and discrimination: "The personal is political" - liberating women from house work, not be limited to home - Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique Third wave: (1990s) - sees women's lives as intersectional; incorporates race and class - Needs to more inclusive
What does collective action look like?
Flash mob Students getting up and going to class at the same time in the morning Oftentimes used to promote some sort of social change Crowd collective action -- face-to-faceStrike Mass collective action -- close proximity isn't needed - Calling senator - Social media trend
The Rise in Educational Attainment graph
From 1940-2016: - More people with a bachelor's degree or higher - Wider/more people with high school, or some college degree - Less amount of people with less than high school degree
Understandings of family depend upon context:
Geography History Culture - How do we choose romantic partners? We like to think we choose to be with people we love, but... usually comes from social group
Durkheim, functionalism, and relgion What does religion do for society? Think at the individual (micro) and societal (macro) levels.
Gives people a connection to a world bigger than themselves. Gives people a larger sense of purpose. A key source of social solidarity, social connection, social comfort. A way for people to think about the presence of injustice and suffering.
US 1980 --> US 2060 pryamid
Growth rate decreasing, the base of the pyramid is becoming narrowed, suggesting of pop of US is stabilizing
General types of systems: - Private market:
Health insurance offered by a private entity (as opposed to the government)
Is health a human right? What might be some critiques of the argument that health is a human right? Is it some level of health or the opportunity to have good health?
Health is never guaranteed --> chronic illnesses Health inequality begins before birth We often think of "rights" in terms of the law, but what about social ethics? What should a society include? Can the government provide high-quality healthcare for all of its citizens?
Important factors to consider in health care system:
Health outcomes Access Affordability GDP -- gov't price Gov't regulation
Stage 1
High birth rate, high death rate (similar), total population barely changing and is low War, pandemics
Social determinants of health:
Historical and contemporary social, economic, and political factors that drive social patterns in health
How can we study implicit bias?
Implicit association Test (IAT) - Associating negative with black, positive with white --> faster response shows implicit bias Example: audit studies, other lab experiments
What can be done about implicit bias?
Implicit bias training: mixed evidence Psychologist Gordon Allport's contact theory: how does interaction with members of other groups affect prejudices? Can be beneficial: - The interaction occurs in a collaborative, voluntary, and non-competitive space - Interaction occurs multiple times, not just onceInteraction is personal, informal, and one-on-one - The interaction is legal - The setting allows participants to interact as equals
Different life expectancies among different racial groups:
In 2019, overall life expectancy in years was 85.7 for the Asian population 82.2 for the Latinx population 78.9 for the white population 75.3 for the Black population 73.1 for the AIAN population.
Gender (in)equality in the labor market
In 2019, the female to make earning was approx. 82% Why does the wage gap persist? More common for women to leave work when they have children (higher career interruption) Discrimination in the workplace
How is sexuality social?
Institutions - lenses that shape sexuality
A social movement is successful if...
Intended changes come about, leaves impact
What does social inequality in U.S. schools look like today?
Intensely segregated Doubly segregated % of intensely segregated schools has decreased from 1988-2016 - Number of white students decreased - Numbed of non-white students increased
Religion is part of social structure (macro-level)
Intersections with other dimensions of social structure. For example: - Gender: Women are more religiously active than men. - Family structure: Religious women tend to have more children than nonreligious women. - Politics: Religious attitudes strongly predict politics. - Immigration: Assimilation; religious heterogeneity - Race: Churches have long played an important role in Black communities. - Shared legacy of racial discrimination and injustice. - Major source of community organization and assistance (more so than secular institutions).
Issues with insurance
Issues of ongoing debate, political concern: Uninsured, underinsured Many people insured through employer
Looking from religion to the economy Weber:
Protestantism is a necessary basis for capitalism (already earning a surplus) Making money is permissible, but spending on pleasure is not
FTC: the origins
Leading causes of death in US 1850-1900: - Pneumonia - Influenza - TB - GI infections - Diphtheria - People most likely to die of these conditions were of lower SES - Major public health advancements which give people things like water and sanitation -- decreased bacterial infections / risk factors for these leading causes of death Leading causes of death in US today: - Heart disease - Cancer - COVID19 - Accidents - Stroke - Alzheimer's disease - Diabetes People with the lowest levels of education have lowest cumulative survival Wealthier people with more education are living longer and surviving from these
Cohabitating:
Living together in an intimate relationship without formal legal or religious sanctioning - Cheaper - Want to make sure they are actually compatible before getting married (avoid divorce), see if you could live with this person Now most common form of romantic relationship where people live together (Smock and Manning) More than 12 million unmarried partners cohabit About 24 percent of all never-married Americans between 25 and 34 years old are cohabiting
Work and occupations: Today, in the U.S.
Longer working hours, fewer vacation benefits, less generous family leave policies 5 days/week --> 40 hours
What effects voter turnout?
Lots of news media around politics Campaigns are targeting youth Jobs
POPULATION -
Macro-level Predicted decline in growth rate in growth population
Rates of marriage is US today: Why?
Marriage rates at all time low in US Why? - Changes in norms about being married - Feminist movement --> women, on average, are not as economically depend on men as they once were - Weddings = expensive - More women going to college, pursing careers outside of home --> marriage may change that care trajectory
Conflict theory
Marxism and feminism: gender -- not class -- was driving the force of history Unequal gender restrictions are at the root of all social relations Gender relations persist because the dominant group (men) exploit or oppress subordinate groups (women) Freidrich Engels (German sociologist): the same owner-worker relationship seen in labor force could also be seen in the household
Interactionist theory
Meanings of gender are created through social interaction and social norms "Doing gender" - West & Zimmerman - an interactionist theory of gender We continue to reaffirm and reproduce gender norms and gender as a social construct through our interactions
Two major types of public or governmental health care coverage in the US:
Medicaid & Medicare
If women are disadvantaged relative to men, why do women live longer, on average?
Men are more likely to engage in health harming behaviors More dangerous jobs held by men -- construction, mining Women care about appearance and are more likely to take care of diet better (engage in behaviors that promote health) Idea of mental health/self care is geared toward women Make dr. appts. / go to dr. visits
Gender (in)equality in the workforce - Change over time
More and more mothers are breadwinners overtime More and more women are in the labor force while also balancing motherhood as well What happens in the home? How are moms and dads splitting childcare? - Men continue to work while women do housework, although it has changed notably (women doing more work) the trend is still present
Money in modern economies
Most modern economies have a system of credit -- money We keep track of value with dollars, pesos, euros, etc. (in ancient times -- gold, silver)
What is life like in a capitalist economy?
Most people work in some sort of private organization Most businesses try to make a profit There is also inequality - capitalist societies are wealthy overall, but some people are really wealthy
Motherhood Penalty - Findings
Mothers were judged as being less committed, less competent compared to non-mothers, lower recommended salary Mothers less likely to receive a callback Wage penalty increases with number of children - 7% wage penalty per child
Why use rates?
Need to consider in the context of population size
Did the ACA achieve universal coverage?
No, but number of uninsured and uninsured rate decreased over time
Risk and profit are private:
Not controlled by the state
Health care systems - Comparison
Often make international comparisons to assess which country has the "best" system Different wealthy nations have different approaches to universal coverage
Conflict perspectives:
Older adults are in conflict, competition with other age groups Workforce - companies picking more experienced applicants or younger who may have a different skill set
Family and health: Marriage
On average, people who are married have better overall health than people who are not married. Why? - Marital resource model - Stress model - What might be the role of selection bias Strength of happy marriage on health is comparable to smoking, obesity In unhappy marriages, divorce may yield health benefits for spouces What about child well-being and divorce?
Nuclear family = mistake Why?
Only represented white, middle class families When we move from grapevine to beanpole families, it stressed a push toward hyper individualism (family doing things apart from extended family) This was not a problem for more privileged families as they higher SES families could hire help (tutor, cleaner) This help was previously from the extended family
Pros and cons of sharing economy:
Opens up a lot of jobs (+) Carpooling --> ride sharing, fewer cars on the road (+) Exploitation of workers/underpayment (-)
Changes in race over time
Our understanding of race and ethnicity is affected by the categories used to officially measure race and ethnicity, and by individuals' own ideas about their identity and ancestry - Scientific racism - Eugenics
Work and occupations: Marx's theory of alienation
People are dominated by forces of their own creation that then confront them as alien powers Workers lose the right to conceive of themselves as directors of their own actions and the value of their work People become alienated from: - The product - The process - Other people - Themselves
What could account for this (that people still say religion is important but don't go to church as much?
People moving more Politics Demographic trends - When people leave their family for the first time, there is most likely to be a switch in affiliation and decline when they get married ; reform church attendance
Religion at the micro-level What is the meaning and use of religion in people's everyday lives?
People tend to worship with people like themselves (examples: education, rachial and ethnic backgrounds, political beliefs) Symbolic interactionism: How might you know someone else's religion? - Symbols can communicate religious affiliation (necklace with cross)
Occupy Wall Street - Why it failed and impact:
People were against capitalism and income inequality Failed because: - No organization - No clear policy changes of what they actually wantedNo strategy - No willingness to engage with political structures Impact: - Started conversation that maybe people were not having before (role of corporations and inequality) - Used social medial as an organizing platform - Fell short moving from coalescence to routinization area (no development of any kind of formal structure)
100:1 crack cocaine: powder cocaine ratio
Person A: Charged with possession of 1 gram of crack cocaine (black people do this drug more) - Mandatory minimum sentence: 5 years imprisonment Person B: Charged with possession of 100 grams of powder cocaine - Mandatory minimum sentence: 5 years imprisonment Led to disproportionate arrest and incarceration black makes who used crack
What are some concerns and consequences of gentrification?
Physical displacement: Raises price of living in the area so original people cannot afford it anymore Cultural displacement: are new businesses entering changing the cultural landscape of the original population Value of homes in the US correlates with race, ethnicity, and SES of residents Could benefit: - more money being put in the area, so more investment in the area --> more funding - More affluence in an area = funding of public schools - Voice in political decision making - More voice to develop better public transit
Demographic balancing equation:
Pop at Time 2 = 2 Pop at Time 1 + (B-D) + (IM-OM)
Various forms of school choice:
Private or religious schools Voucher programs (allow public funds to go to private or religious school) Charter schools (privately-run public schools)
Enclosure movement: (prior to capitalism)
Prompted thinking about private land for profit or personal gain Forced people off od previously public land People began to seek work in cities Expression "haves and have nots"
Cultural capital gone wrong:
Pronouncing name wrong in front of a person of high esteem
Housing:
Public housing, Section 8 housing
Functionalist theory
Recall: Functionalism sees society as a complex system with parts that work together to promote stability and solidarity Talcott Parson's "sex role theory": - sees a gendered division of labor as functional for stable society Heterosexual nuclear family considered the ideal arrangement Division of labor: women take care of the home; men provide for the family Critiques: - Ignoring suppression of women within family - Focuses on gender as primary organizing piece of society
Inequality within and among U.S. families
Recall: family is considered a primary group; a primary agent of socialization Gender roles, division of labor are learned in the family Family size, birth order, family resources can create inequalities among siblings
Religion as a social institution?
Religions have complex and integrated sets of norms . Religious practices and beliefs are related to societal values. Religions often meet several basic needs. Durkheim: religion is a powerful social force.
Civil life:
Requires the belief that other institutions have the potential to make a social impact or difference in the world
The Motherhood Penalty - Study Setup
Research question: Is there a motherhood penalty? Experiment: - "Control" group: job applicant was member of neighborhood organization - "Treatment" group: job applicant member of parent-teacher association (PTA) - Subtle cue indicating applicant was a parent Equally qualified women, differing only by parental status indicated on resume (isolate variables) Part 1: Laboratory - rate applicants on various qualifications Part 2: Audit study - callbacks DV: callback rate IV: treatment or control group (parent or not)
FCT - Distal risk factors (hypertension)
Risks of risks Occupation How much money you have Neighborhood Culture Family/support -- social ties Education
Stage 2
Same birth rate, death rate decreasing, total population increases Modern medicine, access to healthcare
Sexuality - government
Same sex marriage policies Adoption for same sex couples Establishments like planned parenthood (funding) Systems of classification Intersection b/w education and government - State gov't regulates what public schools could teach
School discipline: suspension rates
School to prison pipeline -- refers to trend for school systems to outsource discipline to law enforcement Black and Latino students experience much higher rates of suspension compared to white students Useful to test this experimentally - but hard to do - put cameras in schools and found that same type of behavior caused more discipline for black or Latino students Found that with schools with more black and Latino students, all students were more heavily disciplined -- suggests something/patterns happening at organizational level too !!!! Reflects difference in school disciplinary practices
What do schools DO for society? Functionalist perspective:
Schools help society run smoothly; teach students how to play particular rolesSchools perform manifest and latent functions
What do schools DO for society? Conflict theory
Schools make society less fair Students from different social groups compete (grades, recognition, etc.)
Sexuality - Education
Separation by gender in classroom -- boy's and girl's line Sex ed Dress codes - gendered Gender neutral bathrooms Occupational segregation All boys schools and all girls schools College major segregation / stigma College campuses: LGBTQ resource centers
1970s:
Significant changes in the organization of work and family life
Treatments - Mental illnesses
Significant increase in the use of pharmaceuticals to treat mental illness Devaluing talk-therapy in favor to prescription drugs
Downsides of bureaucracy:
Slows down the process
Race vs. ethnicity
Society assigns you your race, essentially imposed, hierarchical Ethnicity is thought to be more voluntary (can decide how you choose to embrace ethnicity, participate in holidays)
Sexuality and social control
Society creates boundaries to draw distinctions regarding what is normal/abnormal, acceptable/unacceptable through: - Providing a perspective, norms - Providing informal or formal social control - Source of sanctions - Shaping access to resources Social and cultural institutions exert social control over sexuality
Weber's characteristics of bureaucracy:
Specialization (Taylorism) Impersonality Hierarchy Meritocracy - Power is in the hands of the position and regulations, not necessarily a particular individual
What is the role of race/ethnicity in FTC? Why is race listed as a risk factor?
Starkest disparities (in hypertension) come from comparing black to white people Is race a proximal risk? - No, race is not something you decide/change Is race a distal cause? - Can be associated/correlated with distal causes Race is not causal, so what is making race relevant? Race is not a fundamental cause -- - is it the structural racism that drives the unequal contextualization of the risk factors
Who gets to vote in the US?
Steep increase from 1978-2014 of people who have the right to vote, then number of people who can vote starts to decline Maps on to the timing of mass incarceration States vary tremendously on voting rates for incarcerated people
Health and illness are socially constructed - explain
The meanings of health and illness are socially constructed through social norms and interactions. Different from assumptions of the medical model The meaning of health and illness vary over time and across cultures. - Example: Medicalization (e.g., alcoholism) Illnesses can have consequences independent from biological effects.
The sick role
The rights and responsibilities of a person who has socially legitimate illness - Concept developed by Talcott Parsons (functionalist)
When does collective effervescence become a religious experience?
Think about if this feeling is just carried around with you all the time, or does this setting only evoke this Needs to be a sacred element to classify as religion
Why these trends in transgender health?
Think back on prior course topics - Social networks - social isolation if family/friends do not express social support Stigma Low integration Avoidance of certain situations/places Stress process model -- social and personal resources Discrimination, harassment, forms of abuse -- sources of stress
Intersectionality
Third wave of feminism's critique of second wave Career choices, opportunities, and constraints were not the same for all women Intersectional feminists feminism cannot be separated from other social relations No one meaning of motherhood, manhood, womanhood If you are standing in a path with multiple forms of exclusion -- can't just add up these exclusions --
Moving to opportunity experiment:
Took people living in a poor neighborhood, divided them into 3 groups - Group 1: Control: nothing happened, stayed in original neighborhood - Group 2: given a voucher to move to section 8 housing (gov assistance for people to live in a certain residence) - Group 3: given a voucher and has to live in a wealthy neighborhood Results: Idea being that significant difference in income over the longer term -- lower income for group 1 and highest for group 3 who went to a nice neighborhood
Studying implicit bias -- Bias in how police officers interact with civilians
Took transcripts from body cams from police, coded language that officers used in interactions with drivers in terms of how polite/respectful it was Ex: "hands on the wheel" "First names" Respect was lowest earlier in interaction and increased Respect was lower toward black drivers compared to white
Redemptive
Trying to change specific individuals in a radical way AA - focusing on specific segment of population, but trying to radically reshape their lives (larger scope change)
Alternative
Trying to change specific individuals in a very specific way MADD - trying to change specific individuals in a specific way (drunk driving) - 1 specific behavior
Infant mortality rates - Trends
US has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world What patterns do you notice within each racial category? - The more education you have, lower infant mortality rate Patterns between racial/ethnic groups: - Differences between these groups, higher rates of infant mortality among non-Hispanic black - What do within and between group comparisons tell us about the sources of disparities in infant mortality? - Even among mothers with same level of education (same SES), we still see disparities across these racial groups - If FCT was correct in saying that SES can explain health disparities, we would expect to see pretty similar levels of infant mortality by education -- but we don't
Age effects:
Variations linked to a person's biological age - Physiological changes linked to aging Ie Accumulation of social experiences linked to age Life course transitions: i.e. retirement
Who votes and why/why not?
Voter turnout among ages 18-29 was 27% (very high), seemingly this increasing gap between democrat and republican voters (63% democrat, 35% republican)
Women who are career oriented end up in double edged sword:
Wage-penalties for being a mom, but perceived as not being a good mother by other people since they are prioritizing work
Are drugs a public health problem or a criminal justice problem?
We learned from the War on Drugs - Opioid epidemic affecting white people more so- more women as first time users then men, and more white individuals relative to nonwhite -- but IT IS AFFECTING ALL RACIAL GROUPS, not just white people
Religion and health relationship
Well-established finding in sociological research: Religious service attendance à better health, protective against premature mortality. "Individuals who report attending religious services once a month or more (just over 50 percent of the population) have a 30-35 percent reduced risk of death over a 7.5 year follow-up period after adjusting for potential confounding factors.
Critiques of sick role:
What about chronic condition? This is only applicable to acute conditions (common cold, breaking leg) --> this is not the case for chronic
Sexuality - family
Where you first develop moral compass, values Socialization! Family usually dictates your religion and core beliefs on sex/sexuality Family support of lack thereof -- in social isolation
Fatherhood Bonus is not equal across social groups
White men get more money compared to black and Latino men Race is an intersecting pathway that is not allowing all racial groups to achieve the same bonus - INTERSECTIONIST approach connection
Peggy McIntosh and the "invisible knapsack of privileges" (1988)
White privilege as an "invisible knapsack" of unearned assets that white people can count on each day - Everyday interactions with strangers - Protecting children from people who may not like them - Cosmetic and medical products - no darker skin tone products, band-aids - Worry about being followed "I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, ot in invisible system conferring dominance on my group" - McIntosh Racial advantage (or privilege) as not having to think about one's own race very often in day-to-day life
Gender (in)equality and COVID-19
Women were losing jobs at higher rates than men after the pandemic since the above job sectors were not needed as much Children completed school virtually, managing childcare, homeschooling --> women wore the brunt of that more so than men Black, Hispanic, and Asian women have seen higher unemployment rates than white women
Urban sociology: what do cities do for social life?
Worry that cities would erode community life Concerned that social capital was declining, civic life was withering away Today, cities are the setting for the extremes of modern life -- the greatest wealth, and the most severe poverty Cities simply generate new forms of community Other current research topics: "neighborhood effects," activity space and mobility
Dual-earner arrangement:
both spouses have wage-earning jobs
Physical environment:
built features of the neighborhood such as housing, green spaces, services and amenities, toxic substances
Representation --
can be applied to all institutions Seeing people in LGBTQ community can be helpful for other individuals
Least stable type of "legitimate" authority:
charismatic --> based on the individual
Marxist framework:
class is antagonistic and exploitative
Socially legitimate
consistent with the norms and values withing a society
Certain ethical concerns of corperations:
corporate ethics environmental responsibility fair wages offshoring of labor (taking jobs overseas)
Crack vs opioid epidemic
crack cocaine epidemic (1980s/1990s) - Punishment - Criminalized Opioid epidemic (~2000-present) - Empathy (incl. from political leaders) - Funding - Rehabilitation - Public health approach
"Education policy:"
decisions about a range of social issues -- funding, operations, testing, enrollment, etc.
Extended family:
familial networks that extend beyond the nuclear family and may extend beyond the home
Redlining:
government practice of outlining in red the sections of a city that were considered "high risk" and then rejecting loan applications from people living in those areas Assess where mortgages and lending would be riskiest (risk in borrower paying back loan) African American families lived in areas deemed riskiest and thus rejected from banks
1930s: Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC)
grants loans to homeowners in financial difficulties
Narrow base:
growth rate decreasing
Wide base:
growth rate increasing
Religious competition theory:
having many religions leads to higher religiosity, as religions increasingly "market" themselves or change to attract more members Increased religious diversity --> more religious competition --> increase in religious participation/attendance
Downstream determinants -
health behaviors, health outcomes such as disease
Growth rate:
how much a population grows or shrinks over some time period
Social and cultural capital help to explain ____
how schools shape social reproduction
Heteronormativity:
idea that heterosexuality is the default or normal sexual orientation from which other sexualities deviate Changing over time
Inclusion of African American race as a risk factor - Effect
increases the riskiness score of a potential procedure What is race adding to the risk assessment? -- racial bias skews algorithms widely used to guide care from heart surgery to birth
Medicaid:
individuals and families with low incomes
Stereotype threat:
is when members of a negatively stereotyped group are placed in a situation where they fear they may confirm those stereotypes
Racism is also structural:
it is interwoven in a series of linked, mutually reinforcing systems—education, policing, banking, housing, employment, immigration, land use, elections, health care, and more.
Emigration:
leaving a country
Replacement-level of fertility:
level of fertility in which parents of the same cohort have exactly enough children to "replace" themselves in the population Replacement level fertility: 2 (b/c 2 parents)
Upstream determinants -
macro-level social contexts and social forces such as social policies, culture, and socioeconomic opportunity
Exogamy:
marriage to someone with a different social groupCan cause conflict with family
Endogamy:
marriage to someone within one's social group
Health insurance systems:
methods for paying for health care, without which care would be paid for "out of pocket"
Immigration:
migration to another country High levels of migration: going to college
Fiat money:
money that the government guarantees as legal tender Printed and controlled at central banks, governments
Profit-driven:
most businesses seek to earn profits
In migration:
moving into an area Internal migration
Out-migration:
moving out of an area Emigration: leaving a country
How is decreasing growth rate represented on pyramid?
narrow base suggests people are having less kids, below average replacement level
Population at replacement rate:
not much population growth -- base is equal to the rest of the pyramid
"Not doing" forms of discrimination:
not offering someone a job, spot on a team etc. on the basis of some characteristic
Objectified:
objects, material items that can symbolically convey social status Car, house, designer clothes
Tracking in higher eduation:
often includes encouraging students to choose a major early on that opens up the most labor-market opportunitie
Work and occupations Early 1900s:
only men worked; paid a family wage
Credentialism: + outcome:
overemphasis on qualifications such as college degrees in order to be hired for a job More and more jobs are requiring college degree as minimum qualification Outcome: prestige of university gains more salience from employers b/c of increasing need to differentiate everyone with 4 year degrees
Occupational segregation
patterns of occupational fields being dominated by either men or women Leisure and hospitality industry: 53% women Education and health services (non-essential) industry: 77% women
Emergent norm theory:
people don't necessarily share beliefs when they join a crowd, but as they interact social order and norms being to develop; emphasized influence of leaders
Prejudice:
preconceived -- usually unfavorable -- beliefs, attitudes, and opinions about members of a group THOUGHT
Concerted cultivation:
relates to cultural capital styles of parenting that include deliberate approaches for preparing children for future success Annette Lareau (recall: parents, schools, and socialization): - Middle and upper-class parents are more likely to engage in concerted cultivation - people of middle class would be more likely to ask for help, use resources compared to working class Concerted cultivation --> cultural capital
Caste system
religion based closed stratification system
Sociology:
study of aspects of society responsible for social patterns in morbidity and mortality Medical sociology
Epidemiology:
study of the frequency, patterns, and determinants of health-related states and events
Cultural capital:
symbolic, interactional resources that people use to find their advantage in various situations; usually non-financial In short supply Valued by schools and other institutions
Power:
the ability to carry out one's will over others despite resistance (Weber)
Glass escalator:
the accelerated promotion of men to the top of a work organization, especially in feminized jobs When men do enter a jobs that are predominantly women, they tend to be promoted faster Ex: nurses are 10% men, but are promoted much faster than women and occupy leadership roles Observed much more among white men than men in other ethnic group
What affects social mobility?
- Class of origin vs class of destination - family origin/parents occupation = have biggest role in status attainment - Influence of significant others, networks - Groups, organizations - Physical propinquity - Homophily - Social status and social networks (Size, composition, proximity)
Different theories of how poverty affects children's well-being:
- Material needs - Parenting - incarcerations of parent is a stressor that does not allow them to parent well
Poverty:
A condition of severe deprivation due to economic circumstances
Perverse incentives
idea that people would choose a safety net over labor
Estate system:
politically-based
Official Poverty Measure - OPM
1960s: official poverty measure (OPM) compares pre-tax cash income against a threshold that is set at three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963 and adjusted for family size - Problem: Cost of living has increased dramatically -- Does not account for that - Problem: Somebody could appear to be in poverty due to low income but actually have a lot of assets - Problem: Not accounting for food stamps/SNAP or other assistance programs that contribute to amount of household resources a family can have
Of every 100 children in the US, ____ live in a household with income below the poverty line Why is the statistic based on children?
20 Long arm of childhood, early imprints, exposures from childhood affect outcome/achievements down the road Children are helpless in this type of situation
Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)
2011 More comprehensive Cash income + noncash benefits (food, shelter, etc.) minus necessary expenses (work, medical) Examines definition of household to include those not related by marriage, birth, adoption Geographic adjustment (cost of living in different places)
Stratification in the Unites States - Working class
4 year or 2 year degrees More job precarity than upper tiers
The wealthiest 1% of the world's population owns ____ of all household wealth in the whole world
50.1%
Relative poverty:
A measure of poverty based of percentage of the median income in a particular location
What is stratification?
A system that puts categories of people into a hierarchy Societies vary in what categories are used to sort people, and how unequal those categories are GenderIncomeWealthRaceEthnicityNeighborhoodReligion Almost all are socially constructed Sociologists view social class inequality in the US as a structural problem (versus a personal problem)
What is the best way to find our about someone's SES?
EDUCATION - fall back measure to look at people's social class and study socioeconomic stratification in US Income = not great question to ask people about social class
Disability
For people aged 18 to 64 with a disability, the 2018 poverty rate was 25.7%, or 3.8 million people living in poverty.
Recall: The Social Construction of Gender
Gender is collectively defined, that humans use to make distinctions among themselves and to get by in the world. Gender "establishes patterns of expectations for individuals, orders everyday life, [and] is built into the major social organizations of society..." Example: chair Leather chair: more masculine, bigger, more powerful
How is poverty distributed in the US?
Household structure Education Paid work Disability Race Region
Broader scale -- social mobility -- American dream is fading
Idea of kids earning more than their parents is declining Not as many children are earning more $ than their parents Millennials are worst off in this case, opposite trend with prior generations Why? - De-emphasis on work - Expectations raised every year, increased minimum qualifications for jobs - If more and more parents are doing better, its harder to surpass them
Major welfare reform in 1966 under Clinton:
Idea that welfare was disincentivizing work and marriage really was a big way to be a base of ending welfare "end welfare as we know it" - -eliminate programs just giving out cash, time limits of cash assistance
Recall: Marx and Conflict theory
Karl Marx: - Groups with different resources and interests always struggle - Societies are based on social class conflict: capitalists and workers - Capitalists exploit workers by taking more value of their work than what they pay workers in wages Conflict theory: - Society's economic and political structures produce (and reproduce) visions, inequalities and conflicts. - Conflict among competing interests is the basic, animating force of society that leads to change.
Certain structural factors exists that can help or inhibit the exit of poverty:
Lack of childcare Lack of cash floor Lack of healthcare Requirement to work 30 hours/week --> TANIF support
Stratification in the Unites States - Poor
Living in poverty below the official poverty threshold (2019 Boston, fam of 4: $26,5000) Unemployed or underemployed Occupations require less experience
Deceptive distinctions:
Many observed behavior differences between men and women are not about individual gender differences. Not from differences men and women are born with Gender differences arise from the ROLES individuals occupy rather than some innate force
Measuring poverty - poverty declined because we changed the way of measuring it
Official Poverty Measure (OPM) shows poverty staying same Supplemental Poverty Measure shows decline - This shows a convergence of these points to a single data point
Macro sociological trends: Life expectancy
People of higher social class have a longer life expectancy
Responses to poverty in the US:
Poverty level was able to fall to new low with implemented benefits to families despite projected high of poverty during COVID
"$2 a day:" What do families do to survive? Kathy Eden perspective on SNAP:
Selling plasma Selling food stamps for cash despite this being a federal crime Kathy Eden does not think SNAP should be included in poverty calc - - You are restricted to how you spend that money, she thinks that families need actual cash instead - SNAP is helpful up to a certain point, but not paying for other expenses (clothes for kids, etc)
Jordan is graduating from HS. Dad is mechanic, mom is a cashier. Combined income $47,000, working class. Describe examples of what Jordan's future will look like?
Social reproduction: Jordan gets a job comparable to income of his parents, children has same levels of attainment as his parents Upward mobility: going to college and getting a degree - inter Downward mobility: not working, in poverty/poor based on income - inter (compared to parents) Intragenerational mobility: starts out as a cashier at grocery store, works his way up and becomes manager/corporate office
Susan Meyer idea on poverty
Susan Mayer: It's not just about income. Income alone has a big influence on meeting material needs (food, shelter, clothes) Non-monetary factors play a bigger role than previously thought (parent-child interactions and the role of stress) - Access/quality of education - Better accessible/quality healthcare - Access to healthy food choices - Access to public transportation -- makes it harder to work - Childcare
The Growing Wealth Gap in the US
The income and wealth gap bw the most privileged classes and the rest of the pop has been growing for nearly 40 years The top 1% of households in the U.S. earned less than 10% of the total national income in 1980 but now earn over 20%.
Homelessness and housing - trends
The overall homeless population decreased each year from 2010 to 2016, then increased between 2016-2019 Affordable housing is a major issue for people living in poverty Housing can represent a sizable share of income
Race
The poverty rate is approximately 2-3 times higher for African-American, Hispanic, and Native American families than it is for Whites and Asian-American families.
Stratification in the Unites States - Upper class
The top 1% (net worth); income from investments (vs. wages) Prestige and power: what kinds of things to upper members control? - Politics, media
Stratification in the Unites States - Middle class
Varying definitions and operationalizations Bachelor's degree or higher
Weber and Weberian framework:
Weber: - social classes can be distinguished on the basis of common life chances or opportunities in the marketplace Weberian framework: - class is about more than just economics; need to consider status, common identity, common interests
Social class
a group of individuals who share a similar economic position based on income, wealth, education, occupation
EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit):
allows low and moderate income families to use credits to reduce the taxes they owe, potentially increase their tax refund MUST be working to receive these cash benefits
Essentialist arguments:
explain social phenomenon as natural, or using biological determinism -- ie, what you do in the social world is a direct result of who you are in the natural world Distinct attributes -- differences result from these innate differences, innate gender roles
Medicaid and CHIP (Child Heath Insurance Program)
healthcare for needy families
Downward mobility:
moving from a higher social class to a lower social class
Changes in families in the US
- Families are smaller today than in previous generations; multiple generations can live together - 40% of children are born to parents who are not married - 40% of mothers now are primary breadwinners for families - In U.S. "people partner, un-partner, and re-partner faster than people do in other Western nations" - Sociologist Andrew Cherlin
2000 US Presidential Election - implications of voting rights
- George W. Bush ( R) vs. Al Gore (D) - Florida recount - Electoral votes: Bush: 271, Gore: 266 - Uggen and Manza study (2002): Used estimates of voter turnout, voting patterns, and felon disenfranchisement to estimate impact on 2000 election - Assumes 68.9% would vote Democrat; 50% lower turnout non-felony convicted population - Although the outcome of the extraordinarily close 2000 presidential election could have been altered by a large number of factors, it would almost certainly have been reversed had voting rights been extended to any category of disenfranchised felons...If disenfranchised felons in Florida had been permitted to vote, Democrat Gore would certainly have carried the state, and the election."
From "grapevine" families to "beanpole" families
- Grapevine - represents lots of extended family, cousins, shorter --> life expectancy was not as long, fewer generations alive at the same time - Beanpole - more generations alive at the same time, less extended out b/c people are not having as many children, more people living in houses with multiple generations
Authors examine rates of low birth weight in Postville, Iowa before and after a 2008 US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid - Results
- Higher birth weight among babies of US born mothers and immigrant mothers - Spike in low birth weight after the raid in non-Latina white mothers and foreign born Latina mothers - US born Latina mothers experienced higher rates of low birth weights -- somewhat surprising (bc they are US citizens)-- ties into vicarious stress experiences from being embedded in a community where people are directly affected, stereotypes
How does FCT connect to the infant mortality graph?
- If FCT was correct in saying that SES can explain health disparities, we would expect to see pretty similar levels of infant mortality by education -- but we don't
Children of incarcerated (or formerly incarcerated) parents are:
- Less likely to vote - More likely to report discrimination in their day-to-day lives - Report less trust in government - At the neighborhood level: - communities with the most extreme concentrations of people who experience incarceration have lower voter turnout by nearly 8 percentage points, representing a 12 percent decline in neighborhood voter turnout
Stress process model overall idea
- We all experience stress, but experience worse effects based on our social structures/social and personal resources NOT physiological (its not talking about what is happening under your skin in your body) Focus on social structure Emphasis on understanding health disparities
Compared with similar industrialized nations, the United States has greater inequality and higher rates of poverty Why? Factors?
- We pay for healthcare - State-regulated, not on same page - Feudalism in other countries -- grounded in idea of taking care of the poor -- US does not have this kind of legacy of the rick caring for the poor - We have a legacy of racism, capitalism
Reasons for wealth gap today even though redlining is illegal:
- White families have had advantage in generating wealth earlier on (40 year gap) - Neighborhoods are still seen in that way - still carry stigma - Now, value of homes among white families so exceeds the buying capacity of the average African American family - Legacy of redlining Overtime, the value of homes in the suburbs have increased at a rate that has far outpaced the budget of black families
Cultural theories of poverty:
- underclass - perverse incentives
2 rights of sick role:
1. Exempt from normal social roles (without moral judgement) 2. Not responsible for their condition
What defines something as a functional cause?
1. Influence multiple proximal risk factors 2. Influence multiple diseases, multiple health outcomes (Ie education falls under both)
Racial inequality and wealth
10x higher income whites compared to black 8x higher income whites compared to Hispanics Wealth: - White - $1.00 - Black - $0.01 - Hispanic: $0.08
Intersectionality (Kimberlé Crenshaw):
A conceptual framework and effort to address social inequality based on intersecting social constructions (such as race, class, and gender) manifested at both the individual and population levels. Matrix of domination - Patricia Hill Collins The nature and extent of a person's oppression is a function of multiple factors, not just one.
Racism:
A set of beliefs, ideologies, or institutional practices that are based on the idea that one or more racial groups possess different or unequal traits that make them inferior to another group
Is voter turnout an age or generational phenomenon?
Age = same trends in graph, ages would all vote the same Generation = experiences of these generations (18-29 years), this majority preference for democrat could be maintained overtime, or there could be a shift to increasingly more democrats in subsequent generations Shifts in attitudes to societal factors that can map onto politics --> generational
Which former U.S. president said he would "end welfare as we know it"?
Bill Clinton (D)
Economic connectedness: cross-SES friendships
Collected data on friendship ties Found that strong correlation b/w your own socioeconomic status and that of your friends How many friends do you have that are of a different seriocomic status than you? Low if most of your friends are same as you Differences in economic connectedness can explain why racially segregated communities and areas with high poverty rates have lower rates of upward mobility For people living in poverty, having friends w higher SES are critically important -- Occupation ties, norms (ie going to college), health habits Looked at where people's friends come from -- found that higher the SES of the individual, the higher proportion of their friends come from college People of lower SES have higher portion of friends from their neighborhood SES is concentrated by neighborhood Exposure: if you live in a neighborhood where most people are below median income, not a lot of exposure potential to make friends outside of your SES
Contagion theory:
Collective action arises because of people's tendency to conform to the behavior of others Natural disaster, no electricity and power So... People start to loot CVS and other people join inPeople want to conform to the behavior of others -- so they join in
Convergence theory:
Collective action happens when people with similar ideas and tendencies gather in the same place "like minded people come together" People who are already planning on looting the CVS all got there together, intention/motivation is shared among these people and they came together at the same time
Social movements:
Collective action that is purposeful, organized, and institutionalizedOften intended to bring about social, political, economic, or cultural change 4 general types, differ based on who the movement is attempting to change, and how much change is being advocated
Absolute poverty:
Condition where a household's income falls below the necessary level to purchase goods and physically sustain its members (eg food, housing) Not taking into account where people live
Other intersections with demographic divedend
Connection to women having kids later Higher levels of education - postponement of birth Increasing use of contraceptives and birth control to control birth rate Gender plays more of a role than we oftentimes think
Explain this data: CDR 2009: - Sweden: 10 per 1,000 - Panama: 5 per 1,000 Life expectancy: - Sweden: 81 years - Panama: 76 years This is b/c there's more older people In the population in Sweden
Crude death rate (CDR): # deaths/total population * K This is b/c there's more older people In the population in Sweden
Silverstein study: Effect of racism (anticipated racism) on health - SETUP
DV: various health outcomes IV: exposure to racial discrimination - Idea being racial discrimination leads to worse health outcomes (racial disparities in health outcomes) Confounders that people would initially consider: Lack of access to healthcare Diet Physical activity Income gaps Wealth SE Neighborhoods and social class How do we know discrimination if the cause of this? EXPERIMENT Setup: Latino student gives 3 minute speech, student was told if the person listening has racist beliefs (treatment group)
Responses to drug use and addiction
Decriminalization (ie marijuana) Drug courts: expanded access to addiction treatments Safe injection sites (SIS); distribution of and training in Narcan Mortality rate has increased for white non-Hispanics I the United States
Divorce rates in US today: Why?
Divorce rates are at an all time low US - 1970s: emergence of "no-fault" divorce (People were allowed to get divorce without a reason) - Leading cause of divorce = marriage - People are waiting longer to get married, making sure it is with the right person - People's relationships are changing but no actually getting divorce (separated) - Contraception more widely available
Norms, practices, beliefs about sex and sexual orientation change over time:
Early 1800s: Sex between men and women for reproduction, not pleasure ("production economy" - the body was an instrument of work) By late 1900s: Sexual pleasure was considered normal, valued. Kinsey (1948): Proposed sexuality as a continuum, challenging homosexuality as abnormal Foucault (1978): Classifying homosexuality as deviance represents a way for governments to maintain control, assert power Changing over place - different states have made laws to protect LGBTQ people - Growing support for same sex marriage - Our understanding of sex, sexuality, and gender has always been in a state of evolution, and will continue to change.
Affordable Care Act (ACA): Changes
Eliminate mandate that each person in the US have health insurance States can require that Medicaid beneficiaries work or go to school Availability of "skinny plans" for longer periods
How is wealth an intergenerational piece?
Emphasize wealth -- intergenerational piece -- with wealth, you can pass it on from parents to children (providing for the future generation) Primary wealth generating mechanism in US has been home ownership Rates of homeownership relative to blacks or Hispanics is higher
Revolutionary
Entire society, radical change - Change everything about society in the form it exists today Ex: Hippies, BLM
Reformative
Entire society, specific change Women's suffrage movement (societal level change focused on specific issue) Sustainability / environmental efforts
Environmental benefits vs. Environmental burdens
Environmental benefits (ex: outdoor recreational spaces) Environmental burdens (ex: exposure to toxic waste sites) Can also be applied to considerations of the social environment
Explanations of gender differences A women who is a nurse caring for her patients
Essentialism: in her genes to be more maternal/nurse Deceptive: the status of nurse comes with the role of caring for patients, it does not matter the gender of the person, the role is the same
Explanations of gender differences A man playing football who is acting bold and fearless
Essentialism: men are born with these innate characteristics of being bold/fearless/football Deceptive: he is acting bold and fearless as he is carrying his role as a football playerWomen would act the same way -- ROLE defines the behavior
Equality of opportunity:
Everyone should have equal chances in the beginning, but luck or skills brings varying results Why different opportunities exist for social groups
Eviction epidemic in the US
Eviction filing during the pandemic will have lasting negative consequence for renters Eviction filing - somehow eviction gets worked out BUT Can have a negative lasting effect on renter's credit score which could affect life later down the road Housing is a pig piece of the picture in terms of poverty
How does poverty affect stress? Stress process model
Exposure to stress is detrimental to physical, mental health 2 social pathways: 1. Social resources (social networks, social support) -- draw on these social resources to lessen any effects of stress on health, or vice versa (social isolation) 2. Personal resources (self-esteem, sense of control) -- allow you to cope with stress that would negatively affect health, or vice versa - The extent to which someone feels in control of their life - Having the right social or personal resources can dampen/modify the effect on health All of this is significantly shaped by our SOCIAL LOCATION - Race, gender, income, education, family structure, neighborhood disadvantage, neighborhood segregation - These factors are not evenly distributed across the population - We all experience stress, but experience worse effects based on our social structures/social and personal resources
Since the 1990s, rates of child poverty in the U.S. have:
FALLEN
What type of risk factors does FCT focus on?
FCT focuses on addressing proximal risks to eradicate diseases You can continue to address proximal risks all you want, but new ones will keep popping up --> who has access to proximal risk factor treatments is patterned by SES People who have more $, advantaged neighborhoods, better jobs, power/prestige, knowledge put them at ensuring advantage when it comes to health related/medical related knowledge So much emphasis on proximal factors - driven by fact that they are within individual control, comes down to individual decision making (easier to address)
How can the population of a place change? The principal determinants of population change:
FERTILITY: the number of births that occur to an individual or in a population MORTALITY: number and causes of deaths in a population MIGRATION: the movement of people into and out of a certain area Some common factors associated with all three: Age Sex and gender SES Race/ethnicity
What do schools DO for society? Social interactionist theory
Focus on everyday interactions (e.g., how are rules enforced? Student-student interactions, student-teacher interactions) Power of teachers'' expectations
Durkheim view on religion:
Functionalist - religion is a powerful social force.
Social construction of gender:
Gender isn't something we "are." Its something we "do." Gender has real consequences, even if it isn't tied to some fixed biological reality Gender changes over time and place
Responses to poverty in the US - Eden
Giving families cash assistance when they have kids ($250/month), Eden says so much energy is focused on where the next meal is being paid it is very cognitively draining, while a cash floor allows them to think less about immediate needs and less about longer term progress Raises problem of what they are spending this on - want to see money being tied to something beneficial
Trends in inequality:
Global inequality has increased dramatically since the 19th century More recently, between-country inequality has declined Within country inequity has increased
Who is uninsured?
High uninsured rates reported among people of color, small business workers, people with low incomes, and young adults Health insurance access is tied to employment, precarity of low aged work, benefits sometimes only offered if you work a specific number of hours Medical debt leaves people with lingering financial problemsContributes to a number of stressors in everyday life
Positives of 4 day work week
Higher employee retention Less burnout -- more time with family Help economyIncrease health -- social ties, less stress More time for self-care
Is college "the great equalizer"?
Higher parent income = higher percentage of kids in college College is important with respect to upward mobility Once you get to college, regardless of parental rank, smaller difference in how the children do, suggesting college does have benefits when it comes to upward mobility Issue of actually getting to college is harder with regard to inequalities
Hoarding - DSM
Hoarding was added to the DSM-5 in 2013 --> met with some pushback Some people would say this is medicalizing a habit/lifestyle But, some people could say it is relation to compulsion, not elective type of lifestyle
Sexual orientation:
How one identifies their physical and emotional attraction to others Socially constructed - society has created these categories Described using socially constructed labels (gay, lesbian, homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, pansexual, asexual)
Cornucopian theory:
Human ingenuity, technological innovation, and intervention will solve environmental or social issues Will invent things that will allow population to grow
Cultural capital in educational context:
In educational context, we talk about things we don't learn formally in school, but help you succeed and navigate situations beyond Extra knowledge that parents or household members impart on children to help them succeed in school Devote time and resources to give child extra enrichment around things they are focusing on in school Helping student with homework, taking to museum --> help provide overall more enriching experience
Sexual orientation and discrimination
In some states (but not all) employers were significantly less likely to hire a gay job candidate Employers who emphasized the importance of stereotypically male heterosexual traits were most likely to discriminate against openly gay men Would expect people in LGBTQ community to receive fewer callbacks -- this varied by state Differs by location!!
Capitalism - 3 aspects
In the US and the industrialized world, we have capitalist economies - Risk and profit are private: not controlled by the state - Decentralized: no single person or institution control the entire system - Profit-driven: most businesses seek to earn profits
US 2015
Increase in people ages 55-64 --> this represents the baby boomer stage More people in the population born during the baby boomer time Echo-generation, a second boom representing the baby boomer's kids
Agricultural revolution (new farming technologies) - prior to capitalism
Increase in population and value of the land Increase in labor pool Innovation in manufacturing and technology
Age of first birth among mothers in the US (college degree vs no college degree)
Increased - Women without a college degree: lower age of having kids (23.8 years) - Women with a college degree: higher age of having kids (30.3 years) Childbirth can interfere with trajectory of going to college
Concerns of 4 day work week:
Less productivity Making less money / decrease in profit Weaker workplace social tiesIndustry specific -- education, kids learn less knowledge Greater occupational inequality
Redlining and neighborhood health disparities today - Asthma
Looking at areas that were redlined and looking at areas today with higher rates of asthma Higher rates of asthma were found in areas that were redlined More factories in these areas, placement of toxic waste sites, pollutants --> land was cheap so it was easy to put those things there, people in other areas (wealthier) had more political power to fight putting the waste centers near them Time and transportation (needed to fight the placement of factories in wealthy areas, pooer people do not have easy access to time / transportation)
Demographic dividend
Mainly stages 3 and 4 What is it? - The accelerated economic growth that can result from a rapid decline in fertility and death rates and subsequent shift in population age structure. Fewer births --> Greater working-age population relative to dependent-age population More people in labor force & fewer children to support --> Massive increase in economic opportunity ... If... if social, economic, and investments are made in health, education, government, economy
Demographic trends in he US - distribution of race
Majority/minority - no single race is 50%, changing face of America Immigration -- driver of this Interracial marriage
Some responses to gentrification:
Micro-segregation Zoning regulations - preserve single family homes of original residents (cannot knok someone's house to build something new Policies around rent and property tax control - Rent caps - landlords cannot raise their rent above a certain amount
Most US people identify themselves as _____. Why?
Middle class Subjective, you look at people around you and it can be hard to recognize you Inflation - people who are upper-middle or upper perceive themselves to be lower as due to financial hardships
Benefits of education:
More education = higher annual income More education = lower unemployment rate
Gender (in)equality in education
More women going college, getting degrees Big indicators in norms of being men/women
Natural increase:
NI=B-D
Is eliminating implicit bias enough to create a racially equitable society?
No, institutional aspects still present (criminal justice system, education)
Colorblindness: 100:1 ratio
Nothing says that we can lock up black men (race-neutral language), but because of the way the drugs were used across different races, this fueled racial discriminatory practices against black men
Racial/ethnic health inequities
Numerous health disparities by race/ethnicity in the United States (life expectancy, chronic conditions, self-rated health, insurance, causes of death) American Indians and Alaskan Natives: - Life expectancy of 5.5 years less than average of all other races in US - High rates of chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, diabetes, suicide, assault, and other health outcomes Hispanic and LatinX Americans: - Higher rates of diabetes, HIV/AIDS, cervical cancer, chronic kidney diseases
Shifting view on family arrangements
Overtime, types of family arrangements people live in makes no different and people are not seeing non-nuclear families as a bad thing
"How was COVID-19 affected mental health in the United States?"
Period
Upstream and downstream effects
Policy, insurance, access to clean water/water systems = upstream Infection, diagnosis, use of different drugs = downstream
Rational-legal authority
Power is not in a particular person, but in a system or ideology Example: bureaucracy Weber: Bureaucracy as an "iron cage" that "parcels out the soul"
Medicare-for-all? Cons/Not in favor:
Pre-approval - hurdles or inefficiencies with getting procedures approved Increase in taxes to fund universal healthcare Affect pay for MD/RN Extra care increase in cost Longer wait times (b/c more access) Suppress the amount of amount of medical innovation/scientific discovery (consequences for discovery and innovation) Labor market
FCT - Proximal risk factors (hypertension)
Proximal: most closely related to actual condition Unhealthy diet Little physical activity Stress Family history High sodium diet Smoking/drinking Obesity
Power and authority - Milgram Experiment
Put dr. in white lab coat and told subjects to shock other patients even though it was "painful" Takeaway: many people abided by the dr. orders and shocked the patient despite pain inflicted People would not have acted in this way if the source of authority did not seem as legitimate (dr.)
AAPA - American Academy of Physical Associates
Race does not provide accurate representation of human biological variation When we talk about health and health disparities, we look along these classification terms Ex: Rates of hypertension: - Non-Hispanic blacks: highest rate What do these categories actually reflect? If it's nonreflecting biological difference, what influences these disparities - Effects of classification system they are part of - Neighborhoods - Difference in income/wealth - Social networks - Healthcare access - Exposure to pollution/toxins - Mass incarceratio - Reflecting differences in social, political, historical systems that all contribute to these health outcomes w respect to classification system (not biological)
Key demographic measurements
Rates, rates, rates! Fertility rate Mortality rate Migration rate
What can stigmatization of medical conditions lead to?
Recall: Stigma: A negative social label that changes your behavior toward a person and also changes that person's self-concept and social identity - Stigmatization of medical conditions can lead patients to avoid care and have negative effects on well-being. - Stigma is socially constructed - there is nothing inherently stigmatizing about a condition or disease.
Is eliminating implicit bias enough?
Recall: systems, structures, and institutions Camara Phyllis Jones' A Gardner's Tale: 3 levels of racism: 1. Institutionalized 2. Personally-mediatedInternalized 3. Without changing soil (institutionalized forms of racism), flowers cannot bloom
Bureaucracy and drug prescription - Triplicate study
Research question: Why was OxyContin, a prescription painkiller, distributed more in some US states than others since introduced to the market in 1996? Experimental approach: "triplicate states" vs "non-triplicate states" Triplicate - Carbon copies (3 copies of the prescript on - 1 stayed at dr, 1 went to pharmacy, 1 went to state) - Found that states that had non-triplicate prescription process (no 3 copies) has significantly higher drug overdoses compared to states that had the triplicate process - Overall, our estimates imply that non-triplicate states would have had an average of 36% fewer drug overdose deaths and 44% fewer opioid overdose deaths in 1996-2017 if they had been triplicate states."
No Child Left Behind Act (2001)
Response to concerns that schools serving large numbers of low-income children and children of color were failing students Mandating testing in most grades each year Main idea: testing could be a way to hold schools accountable
Period effects:
Result from external factors that affect all age groups alive at a particular time in history (regardless of someone's age) War, famine, pandemic, recession
Cohort effects:
Results from the unique experiences of a group as they move across time Risk of a particular health outcome given year of birth (generation effects) Young people more likely to vote democrat than older people --> genZ and millennials are more likely to vote democrat, and that's not going to change as they get older
Majority of Latinos say their race is White in two-question race and ethnicity format. Why?
Significant percentage to not see themselves as represented in existing racial categories 6% of people change their response to their race/ethnicity
Asian American discrimination - post COVID-19
Since pandemic, Asian Americans have experienced higher levels of discrimination compared to whites COVID-19 related discrimination partially explains the disproportionate mental health impact of the pandemic on Asian Americans When an aspect of identify is being target more broadly, this has a ripple effect on stress/well being
Equality of condition:
Situations need to be altered in order to compensate for inequalities in the relative starting positions Affirmative action, how do policies help or hinder certain groups
Sociology of religion Important: Sociology of religion is not theology. What's the difference?
Sociological questions (some examples): How does religion organize social life? How is religion a resource that mobilizes calls to action? How do people use religion in their lives? Religion as a social phenomenon, a social institution
Sexuality - healthcare
Stigma around STI's --> avoidance of medical care Questions -- blood donation or interactions with healthcare system Birth control --> access Abortions Insurance --> transgender surgeries, hormone therapies (covered or not), STI prevention, IVF (starting a family)
Other ways of categorizing social movements
Strategies/tactics: For example, violent vs. non-violent Focus: Who is targeted? Individuals or groups? A political system? Range: Local? Regional? National? Global? Scope and type of change: Norms? Laws? Innovation? Framing: Diagnostic, motivational; alignment with other movements
US health and health care compared to other higher-income countries (chronic disease burden, dr visits, $ tech, preventative measures, # hospitalizations)
The U.S. has the highest chronic disease burden and obesity rate (2x OECD average). People in U.S. had fewer physician visits. People in U.S. use some expensive technologies, such as MRIs, and specialized procedures, such as hip replacements, more often than peers countries. The U.S. outperforms its peers in terms of preventive measures The U.S. has among the highest number of hospitalizations from preventable causes and the highest rate of avoidable deaths.
What about women with partners who do not plan to have children?
There's a chance they might get pregnant and leave work -- crosses the mind of employers that they could end up in a situation where they do have kids
What is social change? How does it happen?
Transformations in social institutions, political organizations, and cultural forms of society across time Collective action
Transgender health
Transgender persons in the US are more likely than cisgender counterparts to report: Poor physical health Mental health issues (anxiety, depression, substance abuse) Higher rates of HIV Attempt suicide Postpone or avoid medical care Lack health insurance Hide gender identity from health care provider
Triplicate process is a form of... How?
Triplicate process is a form of bureaucracy - Hassle to do this - Idea that state is watching dr.'s habits and how you are prescribing drugs to patients --> led physicians to be more cautious when prescribing Cnxn: Found that pharma knew of this trend and did not market as much in states that employed triplicate process as they thought there would be less investment
"Life at the Top" Article - Class Responses
Upper class - ended up in better health after heart attack; connections: son-in-law was a doctor; wife cooked healthy meals for him to get his health back on track Middle - bump in the road, able to move on; Working - much longer term health complications; surrounded by people who were smoking, so fell into bad habit Better neighborhood - ambulance took each person to a different hospital, engaging in heart-healthy habits / ability to walk Location relative to access to medical care: transportation, job boss was not as accommodating to take time off for doctors appointments Huge factor socially stratified in society: Time --> able to put time into grocery shopping, travel time, time of their social support systems as well, wait times Social connections: who is able to get the type of health care in terms of their social connections
Contested illness
What is labeled as a disease or qualifies as biological is often socially negotiated - medical conditions that are disputed or questions by medical experts; lack apparent medical explanation or medical consensus on causes, treatments Sometimes met with skepticism, or dismissed as psychosomatic -- that is, caused by mental health factors such as stress or anxiety
Zero population growth (also: "replacement level" or "demographic balance" or " population stabilization")
When birth and death rates are equal When births + immigration = deaths + emigration
Disparities in who moves up and down socially. Why?
Within black families, lower rates up upward mobility, higher rates of downward mobility WHY? - Higher rates of disinvestment in neighborhoods that are predominantly black - Higher change for wealth generating mechanisms for white families - For black families, less of a average exposure to the resources we see in more affluent neighborhoods
Race:
a system that humans created to classify groups of people based on shared characteristics -- typically physical characteristics such as skin tone Sociologists typically think of race as a social construct, a concept that humans invented to help understand or justify some dimension of the social world Varies over time and place There is no genetic basis to race -- cannot be on a biological basis
Closed stratification system:
born into your place in the social order, you cannot move Ex: caste
Types of "legitimate" authority:
charismatic, traditional, legal-rational
Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty"
declared in 1964 Conflation between deviance and poverty
Intergenerational mobility:
difference in social class across generations of a family Compare children to their parents Parents and children, comparison point is the parent's social class, not one's own
Intragenerational mobility:
difference in social class occurring within an individual's lifetime (same generation) Winning the lottery, going bankrupt, losing your job, describes difference b/w siblings Between siblings, can happen in different ways over the course of one's lifetime (fluctuates)
Class-system
economically based open stratification system
Family wage structure:
favored married men with children over single men or married men without children reinforced the notion that women should not work a factor that made women see marriage as the only way to have financial security.
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program):
federal program for food-purchasing assistance
Collective effervescence:
feelings of connection with a larger social group Not always religious, can feel this as a sporting event
1980s: focus
focus on reducing class size (Project STAR); short and long term benefits for low-income students and students of color
Education:
high rate of poverty for adults who have not completed high school
Household structure:
households headed by single mothers are much more likely to be poor than in married-couple or single-father families
Embodied:
knowledge or a skill that resides within us Ie: Talking about a subject
Decentralized:
no single person or institution control the entire system
Underclass
notion of deviance is added to culture of poverty thesis
GINI coefficient/GINI index:
one way of measuring and comparing inequality across countries Ranges 0 to 1 (perfect equality to complete inequality) US exhibits greatest inequality than other industrialized economies
Open stratification system:
open to change, class you are born into can change over the course of your life Ex: class-system
Profane:
ordinary, mundane, things of everyday life (not sacred)
Health care systems:
organizations that deliver and fund care Our health care system is embedded within our larger society. Health care systems are influenced by a society's values and ideologies.
Elite-mass dichotomy system
power is held by few leaders
Colorblind racism:
practices that end up reinforcing historical and contemporary inequities, disparate impact, and institutional bias by "ignoring" them in favor of a technically neutral approach - Ideologies claiming not to see race Ex: Policy that says anyone can live in this neighborhood, but pattern of landlords denying tenant applications among certain racial groups Ex: When people say the do not see race in making certain decisions/actions Problematic because you are ignoring the lived reality of people from historically marginalized groups, suggests society has moved beyond issues of racism when it has not
Voter turnout -
primary example of civic engagement Voter turnout has increased since 2014
- FAMILY -
primary initial agent of socialization
Peter Berger: idea on religion
religion as a "sacred canopy" that stretches over society, without which people would not see any meaning in their lives Does not resonate with all people: not all under one umbrella
Service sector:
section of the economy that provides intangible services Much work in the service sector involves emotional labor: "the work we do to evoke or suppress feeling of emotion in the service of doing paid work -- that is, by managing emotion" - Front stage vs back stage - (Hochschild: study of flight attendants) - Jobs that call for "displaying" the right emotion" - Feeing rules"
Demographers:
seek to understand population dynamics -- size, composition, and distribution across space How and why do populations change? How many people inhabit the earth?
Rituals seen at (sporting) events:
set of traditional cheers/songs, order of the rituals , evoke certain experiences characterized by collective effervescence
General types of systems: - Public:
shared public system, often funded through taxes
Gender norms:
social definitions of behavior assigned to particular sex categories
Status-heirarchy system
social prestiege based
Ethical consumerism:
some corporations promise consumers that they make products in an ethical way
Sacred:
something that is religious or holy; things that are "set apart"
TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families):
state-administered financial assistance and related support States could decide how they used this money
Sociologists view social class inequality in the US as a what type of problem?
structural problem (versus a personal problem)
Drift explanation:
the directionality in this relationship is reversed (better health leads to higher SES) - Chronic illness prevents someone from working
Environmental justice:
the fair distribution of benefits and burdens across the entire population Role of political power: People with more power can protest/vote/withhold donations and get what they want for their area
Racialization:
the formation of new racial identities by creating ideological boundaries of difference around groups of people As the political climate changes around things like immigration, this contributed to racialization Race oftentimes becomes a master status -- assigned by society and hard to change
Preindustrial families:
the home as a site for both work and production Farming, lots of kids to help out, extended families often lived together
Exchange mobility:
the idea that if some individuals experience upward mobility, other individuals will experience downward mobility
Meritocracy:
the idea/belief that status and mobility are based on individual attributed, ability, and achievement
"One-drop rule:"
the inclusion in many state laws that declared anyone with any African ancestry at all to be Black
Vigilance:
the preparation for and anticipation of discrimination How often do you - Prepare for possible insults from others, before leaving home - Feel that you always have to be very careful about your appearance - Try to avoid certain situations or places Chronic social stress --> over-activation of the biological stress system
Globalization:
the processes that create and intensify worldwide social exchanges and interdependencies
Selection theory:
the relationship b/w SES and health is spurious, not causal Genetics = confounder
Concentration:
the spatial clustering or density of population groups Ex: Concentrated poverty: 40% or more of households living in poverty
Illness:
the subjective experience of a disease, condition, or set of symptoms The social meaning of the condition
Wealth:
the total amount of money you have - Assets, investments, retirement fund - Wealth looks at patterns across generations
Social inequality
the unequal distribution of social goods, such as money, power, and status
Discrimination:
the unjust treatment of different groups of people; can be "doing" and "not doing" ACTION, acting on prejudice thought
Institutional racism:
the ways that core institutions (e.g., legal, educational) are embedded with racial biases and practices that reproduce racial inequality.
Institutional racism:
the ways that core institutions (e.g., legal, educational) are embedded with racial biases and practices that reproduce racial inequality. - institutionalized racism yields differential access to the resources and opportunities of society by race (Jones 2000) - "There are contemporary, present-day structural factors that are perpetuating initial historical insults." (Jones 2014) - Can be explicit (e.g., Jim Crow laws) - Can be color-blind ("race neutral")
Ability to move between social positions depends on:
their economic ($), cultural, human (knowledge/skills), and social capital (benefits of social relationships)
Other cultures:
third gender; greater fluidity between genders
Paid work:
those with no earnings are substantially more likely to be poor than are those with earnings in the bottom third of the distribution.
Structural mobility:
when societal change enables groups of people to experience upward or downward mobility Attributed to changed in society as a whole - NOT individuals Ex: recessions, industrializations
Upward mobility:
when someone moves from a lower social class to a higher social class
From the Coleman report:
when students of lower social classes went to school with more students of upper social classes, they did better academically
Stereotype:
widely-shared perceptions and about the personal characteristics, tendencies, or abilities of members of a particular group
