2. QUESTIONS BASED ON THE SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH BOOK

Question 1

1. What is Sociology a scientific approach of?

Answer 1

• it is a Scientific Approach to understanding people in society

Question 2

2. What do social structures exert on individuals?

Answer 2

• they exert influence over our behaviour

Question 3

3. What do Sociological Perspectives on Health emphasise?

Answer 3

• they emphasise that it is vital to understand the social
• this allows us to understand health and illness to a much better extent

Question 4

3. What do Sociological Perspectives on Health emphasise?

Answer 4

• they emphasise that it is vital to understand the social
• this allows us to understand health and illness to a much better extent

Question 5

4. What does the Sociological Imagination invite us to do?

Answer 5

• they invite us to think beyond our own subjective perceptions

Question 6

5. Why are Sociological theories useful?

Answer 6

• they are useful in moving away from common-sense understandings of society

Question 7

6. What is Sociology concerned with?

Answer 7

• the study of human society
• specifically key issues: such as the change and distribution of power between different social groups
• it looks at the interactions between individuals and groups
• as well as the interaction between groups and other groups

Question 8

7. What is Sociological imagination?

Answer 8

• it is a way of thinking that requires you to adopt a critical and questioning approach to even the most mundane aspects of social life

Question 9

8. What is Sociological knowledge based on?

Answer 9

• it is based on the scientific approach
• this approach is built upon evidence to support theoretical perspectives

Question 10

9. What does the term Society refer to?

Answer 10

• it refers to the structural factors that influence our beliefs and our behaviour
• these factors establish some predictability and regularity in our lives

Question 11

10. What does socialisation into the norms and values of a particular society bring about?

Answer 11

• it enables us to predict and make sense of the behaviours of others and of ourselves

Question 12

11. What does Society provide us with?

Answer 12

• it provides us with cultural resources to live in the social world
• it teaches us patterns of behaviour, responses and ways of behaving
• these teachings exist outside any one individual, and were invented a very long time ago

Question 13

12. What is present with most human encounters within a specific society?

Answer 13

• there are roles to be played out
• responses to be predicted
• cues to be acted upon

Question 14

13. What determines how people act?

Answer 14

• the way we act is not our own personal invention
• it emerges out of the society in which we live
• the ways we act, behave and think are shaped by a number of subtle, direct and indirect processes over our whole lives

Question 15

14. What kind of relationship exists between individuals and the society or structure in which they live?

Answer 15

• a specific and distinct one

Question 16

15. Will each person in the same social class category have identical experiences?

Answer 16

• NO

Question 17

16. What are two things that can be determined based on social class?

Answer 17

• morbidity rate
• mortality rate

Question 18

17. What allows us to justifiably place people in specific groupings?

Answer 18

• the sufficient amount of similarities in patterns of health within the social class

Question 19

18. In which fields of life can these similar experiences be seen in?
    Name 5

Answer 19

• income levels
• availability of local resources
• availability of doctors in their geographical locations
• their physical environment
• patterns of expenditure

Question 20

19. What two terms explain the relationship between society and the individual?

Answer 20

• structure
• agency

Question 21

20. What is the concept of agency?

Answer 21

• this concept determines the way in which we are shaped by society
• and how we can then shape society

Question 22

21. Provide a definition of an agent?

Answer 22

• an agent is an individual engaging with the social structure

Question 23

22. Within biology and medicine, what factors do we look at when examining a person’s state of health?

Answer 23

• we look at the state of the person
• the risk of infection of the person
• an ability to fight the infection
• genetic predispositions

Question 24

23. Within sociology, what factors do we look at when examining a person’s state of health?

Answer 24

• social and environmental factors
• age
• social class
• gender

Question 25

24. How is sociology relevant to the health?

Answer 25

- it helps us understand and explain health - in terms of how health is related to and affected by a person's social structure

Question 26

25. What does a sociological understanding of health consider?

Answer 26

- it considers structural and social factors - rather than just biological explanations of health and disease

Question 27

26. Is the discipline of sociology modern or an older teaching?

Answer 27

- it is fundamentally a modern one - this is because it is always trying to explain, anticipate and alter a rapidly changing world

Question 28

27. Where are the structures and relationships of sociology derived from?

Answer 28

- industrialism

Question 29

28. Who are the four Founding Fathers of Sociology?

Answer 29

- Comte - Durkheim - Weber - Marx

Question 30

29. What us the underlying motivation of sociology?

Answer 30

- to reveal the reality of social relationships

Question 31

30. What kind of explanations are sociological ones?

Answer 31

- rational - empirical

Question 32

31. What is the basis of scientific explanations?

Answer 32

- they are consistent - they can contradict themselves at times - they must accord with evidence - the explanation itself must be changed if evidence disproving it is found

Question 33

32. What is one crucial difference between sociological and scientific explanations?

Answer 33

- the methods employed to uncover evidence are completely different - natural sciences can use an experimental method to find evidence as their subject matter can be simply measured - sociologists cannot use experimental methods as they are testing human society, human behaviour, actions and their meanings, consciousness

Question 34

33. Why is the study of sociology liberating?

Answer 34

- it teaches the appreciation of cultural variety - it allows an insight into the working of social institutions

Question 35

34. What does Social Imagination urge us to do?

Answer 35

- it urges us to think outside of our own experiences - to depart from what is referred to as common-sense explanations

Question 36

35. What are common sense explanations?

Answer 36

- an explanation of phenomena based on limited observations of human behaviour and on our own limited experiences of the social world

Question 37

36. What 3 Fundamental Questions does Sociological Imagination bring about?

Answer 37

1. What is the structure of this particular society? 2. Where does this society stand in human history? 3. What varieties of men and women now prevail in this society and this period?

Question 38

37. What is ensured when these questions are asked and answered?

Answer 38

- there are no assumptions made about what is being studied - that the context, both cultural and historical, is taken into account when considering any explanation of what is observed

Question 39

38. What is a fundamental concern of Sociology?

Answer 39

- the distribution if power in society - and it's consequences

Question 40

39. What is the product of inequality in terms of Health?

Answer 40

- it is literally a matter of life and death - it is a result of social disadvantage

Question 41

40. What is a Theory in common-sense terms?

Answer 41

- it is a set of ideas or propositions used to explain and predict social phenomena - it is derived from a particular perspective or worldview - it only permits certain kinds of explanations - usually rational and scientific ones that do not tolerate explanations that cannot be evidenced - they can sometimes be heavily based on opinion rather than on facts

Question 42

41. What is a paradigm?

Answer 42

- it is a description of the interactions of human beings within any society - paradigms are broad viewpoints or perspectives that permit social scientists to have a wide range of tools to describe society, - they can use this to build hypotheses and theories

Question 43

42. Should sociological explanations share characteristics with scientific explanations?

Answer 43

- yes - they should both be consistent - they must accord with evidence - they must change if evidence can be found to refute them

Question 44

43. What are sociological theories characterised by?

Answer 44

- the need to be consistent - the need to be evidenced

Question 45

44. What is the difference between a sociological and a common-sense theory?

Answer 45

- a sociological theory goes beyond what we can see and measure - this allows us to explain phenomena in which we have no direct experience

Question 46

45. What is the medical model of health about?

Answer 46

- it has a mechanistic (purely physical) view of the body - it has a reliance on biological causation to explain illness

Question 47

46. What does the social model of health provide?

Answer 47

- it provides a holistic approach - it stresses that health and illness can only be explained by analysing the social

Question 48

47. What are the limits to the social model of health?

Answer 48

- it can overemphasise the role of the social - it can forget that health is experienced in the human body

Question 49

48. What do theories of wellbeing attempt to capture?

Answer 49

- they attempt to capture a holistic and rounded account of people's lives - they go beyond the binaries of health and illness

Question 50

49. What do Traditional medicine and Alternative therapies provide?

Answer 50

- they provide other models and ways of thinking about health and well being

Question 51

50. What does the Sociological Imagination urge us to do when it comes to health and well being?

Answer 51

- it urges us to think of health and well being in a radically more different and open minded manner

Question 52

51. What is Biomedicine?

Answer 52

- a principle way of understanding health and illness in a global culture - it is widely accepted by the medical profession and the lay -the lay: non-professional population

Question 53

52. How many defining characteristics are there to the medical model of the explanation of health?

Answer 53

- Five

Question 54

53. Name the 5 defining characteristics to the medical model of the explanation of health?

Answer 54

1. Mind-Body Dualism 2. Mechanical Metaphor 3. Technological Imperative 4. Reductionist Tendency 5. Doctrine of Specific Aetiology

Question 55

54. What does Mind- Body Dualism refer to?

Answer 55

- it refers to an acceptance of the mind and the body as 3 separate entities when it comes to treating the patient - the subject of the medicine is the physical body - the focus is not placed on what may be the "problematic" mind

Question 56

55. What does Mechanical Metaphor refers to?

Answer 56

- it refers to the idea that medicine is said to refer to the body as a machine - the belief that the functioning of the body is determined by biological and scientific laws - knowing how the body functions allows medical practitioners to repair any disfunction

Question 57

56. What does Technological Imperative refer to? Imperative= of vital importance

Answer 57

- the significance attached to medical methods of intervention in treating the body - intervention can be surgical or pharmacological

Question 58

57. In Biomedicine, what is usually overemphasised?

Answer 58

- the curative (able to cure disease) element of biomedicine - this takes away focus from the beneficial contributions of lifestyle changes (dietary or environmental changes)

Question 59

58. What does the Reductionist Theory refer to? Reductionist= analysing and describing a complex phenomenon in terms of its simple or fundamental constituents

Answer 59

- there is a tendency in BioMedicine to reduce all explanations of the physical workings of the body - the medical model of health tends to not acknowledge both the social and psychological factors that influence health

Question 60

59. What does the Doctrine of Specific Aetiology refer to? Doctrine= a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, political party, or other group Aetiology= the cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition Causation= the action of causing something

Answer 60

- the belief that all disease originates from specific and knowable causes

Question 61

60. What is a criticism aimed at the Medical Model of Health?

Answer 61

- that it can do both good and harm

Question 62

61. What is the concept of Iatrogenesis? Iatrogenesis= relating to illness caused by medical examination or treatment

Answer 62

- this refers to any harm caused by a doctor - this means that the patient would not have been harmed had they not experienced medical intervention

Question 63

62. What is 'Clinical' Iatrogenesis?

Answer 63

- the harm caused to a patient through drug therapies, doctors or hospital

Question 64

63. What is 'Cultural' Iatrogenesis?

Answer 64

- a dependence on medicine to cure and to care for people - this causes people to no longer take responsibility for their own health problems and the diagnosis of these - patients no longer seek out alternative explanations or remedies for their health

Question 65

64. What is the result of 'Cultural' Iatrogenesis?

Answer 65

- it leads to a situation called a 'medical nemesis' - this means that the harm caused by medicine is difficult to eliminate EXCEPT by suggesting further medical intervention - this results in even more harm - it becomes a vicious cycle

Question 66

65. How has medicine prolonged the lives of people?

Answer 66

- through radical interventions (such as organ transplants) - through elimination of pain that is caused by minor ailments (such as headaches and period pains) - this is why there is such a reliance and dependency on medicine

Question 67

66. What has been the most beneficial aspect of medicine?

Answer 67

- it has transformed yesterday's killers into today's modern nuisances

Question 68

67. What is the medical model?

Answer 68

- a specific way of thinking about and explaining diseases - it is based on biological factors

Question 69

68. What does the fluid nature of Medical Knowledge result in?

Answer 69

- it results in some elements of the medical model changing importance over time

Question 70

69. What causes the fluidity of medical knowledge and its changes over time?

Answer 70

- this is, in part, due to the socially constructed nature of medical knowledge

Question 71

70. What is Social Constructionism?

Answer 71

- it is an emphasis on the extent to which society is actively and creatively produced by human beings

Question 72

71. What are Social Worlds?

Answer 72

- they are interpretive nets woven by individuals and groups

Question 73

72. What does the term Paradigm refer to?

Answer 73

- it refers to a model or mode of thought - it is a particular way of seeing the world - it sets boundaries to what we see, how we record and measure information - it helps us understand which factors are significant and which are not

Question 74

73. How has Medical Knowledge about Health and Disease become more specialised?

Answer 74

- the focus is first on the whole person - then specific parts of the body are examined - finally, the construction of cells is analysed

Question 75

74. Which is currently more important in medicine: theoretical/learned knowledge or experimental knowledge?

Answer 75

- theoretical/learned knowledge

Question 76

75. What happens when there is a paradigm shift?

Answer 76

- there is a shift in the nature of the relationship between the practitioner and the patient

Question 77

76. What distinguishes diseases from the past from the conditions of today?

Answer 77

- the conditions of today have social causes

Question 78

77. What does it mean when Sociologists say that: "diseases and poor well being are caused by social aspects"?

Answer 78

- it means that various aspects of the societies that we live in are not good for our health or our well being - these aspects include: inequality, racism, sexism, lack of control, lack of purpose and lack of meaning

Question 79

78. Can you name 4 Risk Factors that are biologically proven to negatively affect a person's health?

Answer 79

- poor diet - smoking - lack of exercise - drinking too much

Question 80

79. What fraction of a person's health is determined by these biological risk factors.

Answer 80

- only a third - the other 2 thirds are a result of society in which we live

Question 81

80. What is the main aim of the Social Model of Health?

Answer 81

- it is to place health into a social context - it is to understand health as something that emerges from many different processes and influences that include and go beyond the purely biological

Question 82

81. What does Sociology suggest when it comes to what makes an individual have poor health?

Answer 82

- it is not just the individuals lifestyle choices that lead to them having good or bad health - it also comes down to the society the individual lives in and how this affects them

Question 83

82. How does the society in which we live have an affect on our health?

Answer 83

- various social processes create the context in which we exist - this then provides us with resources - this then decides the opportunities we have - it faces us with challenges that either enable or prevent us from living a healthy, rewarding and fulfilling life

Question 84

83. What can sociologists who follow the social model tend to overemphasise?

Answer 84

- they overemphasise the social to the point where they forget that there are fleshly, biological bodies THAT EXPERIENCE pain, discomfort and illness

Question 85

84. What do many Sociologists suggest we develop with regards to health models?

Answer 85

- they suggest we develop more nuanced models of thinking about health - models that capture the richness and depth of all the multiple processes which shape our health

Question 86

85. What can the Social Model of Health be overly critical of?

Answer 86

- the medical profession

Question 87

86. What are 4 challenges that have led to the Medical Profession losing power over time and being more prone to open Criticism?

Answer 87

1. Patient's knowledge on their diseases 2. Alternative Practitioners 3. Clinical Autonomy 4. Private Pharmaceutical Corporations

Question 88

87. How does a patient's knowledge on their disease negatively affect the Medical Profession?

Answer 88

- patients are generally better informed about their conditions than they were in the past - especially those with chronic illnesses - they can discredit the information the medical practitioner gives them

Question 89

88. How do Alternative Practitioners negatively affect the Medical Profession?

Answer 89

- they raise serious questions about the effectiveness of conventional treatments - they question the potentially damaging long-term effects of conventional treatments

Question 90

89. How does Clinical Autonomy negatively affect the Medical Profession?

Answer 90

- Clinical Autonomy comes from Governments - they seek to regulate medical and other health professions - this can limit the creativity and the free will of the doctor

Question 91

90. How do Private Pharmaceutical corporations negatively affect the Medical Profession?

Answer 91

- they influence and set the health agenda - this can be very biased towards a specific goal

Question 92

91. What is the Hedonic Approach to well being?

Answer 92

- well-being is a result of living a happy and pleasurable life - the aim is to maximise happiness and to dispense negative feelings when they arise - health is a result of living a satisfactory life, with an abundance of positive moods and an absence of negative ones

Question 93

92. Provide a definition foe Hedonic Psychology?

Answer 93

- it is the study of what makes experiences and life pleasant or unpleasant - it is concerned with feelings of pleasure and pain - it is also concerned with boredom, joy, sorrow, satisfaction and dissatisfaction

Question 94

93. What is the Eudaimonic Approach to health?

Answer 94

- this views health as a result of achieving happiness in the long run - it believes happiness in a life-long task - it about reaching out to others and finding meaning in what one does - this may involve the individual to forgo short term pleasure and happiness in pursuit of a long term deeper sense of self

Question 95

94. What is crucially stated by the Eudaimonic approach to well being?

Answer 95

- negative states are not to be avoided - they are to be accepted if they are necessary in gaining a fuller life - life is a project - where deeper moments of self-realisation and self-confirmation are necessary - these are achieved by engaging in meaningful endeavours and activities

Question 96

95. How is well being viewed in the Eudaimonic approach?

Answer 96

- it is viewed as a process - it is something we do together - it recognises that well being and environment are interlinked

Question 97

96. What is "Disneyfication"?

Answer 97

- it is a form of criticism of the Hedonic and Eudaimonic views of health - it claims that these views of health emphasis a false emotional self - where all is wonderful and optimistic - this overlooks and ignores natural negative emotions which do not neatly fit into these views - these emotions are not dealt with and are treated as though they do not exist - this can do more harm than good

Question 98

97. What is Californication?

Answer 98

- it is a form of criticism of the Hedonic and Eudaimonic views of health - is judges the belief that everyone is meant to be happy and balanced all the time - and if you are not, then there is a severe issue with you - which the psychiatrist must deal with at once

Question 99

98. What is it to have a Eurocentric mindset?

Answer 99

- it is to believe that western medicine is the only way of treating others - to believe that western customs are superior to those of traditions and cultures elsewhere

Question 100

99. What view point do both traditional and alternative medicines share?

Answer 100

- they view treatment as a holistic understanding of what it wrong with the patient - they look holistically at what causes poor and good health - how external circumstances affect the health of a person

Question 101

100. How would one describe Traditional Medicine?

Answer 101

- it is typically found in the global south - it draws deeply on experiences, beliefs and the culture of a particular society - it has a very long history - it is the sum total of the knowledge, skill and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences that are indigenous to different cultures - even if these beliefs are explicable or not - these medicines are used in the maintenance of health, as well as the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness

Question 102

101. How would one describe Alternative Medicine?

Answer 102

- it is typically found in the global north - it is popular among people who are dissatisfied with conventional medicine - they often draw on information from other traditional medicines, but they lack the cultural roots in the society in which they are adopted

Question 103

102. What causes variations in the form of Traditional medicines used?

Answer 103

- the traditional medicine tactics used vary by country and region - there is always an emphasis on some sort of holism - as well as a belief in spirits or magic

Question 104

103. What do Traditional healer's look at?

Answer 104

- they look at the cause of a patient's misfortune/illness - they look at it in the context of social, natural and spiritual environments

Question 105

104. Where are the remedies used in Traditional Medicines derived from?

Answer 105

- they are derived from medicinal plants - from herbs - from animal sources

Question 106

105. Can there be a cross-over between alternative and traditional medicines. Provide an example.

Answer 106

- yes there can be - Ayurvedic medicine is a traditional medicine used in India, where it originated - it is a holistic approach that focuses on balancing life forces, exercise and diet - it is also commonly used in Europe and North America - these places lack the roots, heritage and culture to this traditional medicine that they have adopted - therefore, it is seen as alternative medicine

Question 107

106. Why do people choose traditional care?

Answer 107

- it may align with their cultural beliefs - accessing medical doctors may be impossible due to poor infrastructure, lack of roads and lack of transport services - visiting a doctor is very costly - their is a relationship between socio-economic status and orthodox health care usage - a decreased level of income results in a reliance on traditional healers NB: both traditional medicine and orthodox health care can be used by a patient simultaneously

Question 108

107. What did the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Traditional Medicine Strategy of 2014-2023 propose?

Answer 108

- we should harness the potential contribution of traditional medicine to health, wellness and people centred health care - we should promote safe and effective use of traditional medicine by regulating, researching and integrating traditional medicine products, practitioners and practice into appropriate parts of the health care system

Question 109

108. How can Complementary and Alternative Medicine be defined?

Answer 109

- it describes any practices that fall outside the boundaries of conventional medicine - they deal with the unity of the mind, body and spirit - it is a non-conventional medicine that can be used in conjunction with western biomedicine rather than as a radical alternative

Question 110

109. What are the categories that Complementary and Alternative Medicine can be divided into?

Answer 110

- physical - psychological - paranormal - practices that demand high training - do it yourself and at home practices

Question 111

110. How has BioMedicine sought out to emphasise a further distinction between itself and alternative medical practices?

Answer 111

- it has asserted supremacy of science over superstition - it has committed itself to dealing only with scientific methods which are free from social or political bias

Question 112

111. How has BioMedicine positioned itself to be viewed as the "truth"?

Answer 112

- it is based on scientific observation of natural phenomena - it conducts tests and research on these phenomena - this brings about accurate results that can be repeated - this repetition of the result values brings about validity - this allows laws facts to be written and proved about these natural phenomena - alternative medicine cannot produce the same kind of testing

Question 113

112. Can BioMedicine and Alternative Medicines both be accepted and why?

Answer 113

- yes they can - they are equally valid conceptions of the body, health and disease - they just have criteria that the other does not

Question 114

113. List 4 differences between Alternative Medicine and BioMedicine.

Answer 114

1. Alternative Medicine: health is viewed as a balance of opposing forces within the body BioMedicine: health is viewed as an absence of the disease 2. Alternative Medicine: the disease indicates that there is a presence of negative, disruptive forces within the body. symptoms are a product of the body's attempt to get rid of toxic substances BioMedicine: disease is defined in relation to a specific part of the body. diseases are a deviation from the normal functioning of the body 3. Alternative Medicine: 'reading' the body, examining the dietary habits, lifestyles and constitution types help to bring about a diagnosis with regard to the patient's health BioMedicine: a diagnosis is achieved by examining the form and structure of the specific organism and the degree to which the presence of the disease indicates a deviation from normal functioning 4. Alternative Medicine: the therapy is based on an attempt to strengthen vitalising, positive forces within the body BioMedicine: therapy consists of attempts to destroy or suppress disease

Question 115

115. What are some reasons why Contemporary and Alternative medicine are being favoured instead of BioMedicine?

Answer 115

- people are less likely to put their effort into communal goals and activities, such as a communal orientation to health - people are more likely to seek private solutions to their problems - alternative and contemporary medicine fits this trend as the individual seeks out the solution for themselves - people are not fond of the unequal power relationships between the patient and the doctor in BioMedicine - alternative and contemporary medicine brings about a more equal power sharing relationship between practitioners and patients because the practitioners pay attention to the patient's personal circumstances - BioMedicine has medicalised many aspects of human existence in an inhumane way - Seeing the disease as a purely biological entity is not always beneficial. - it does not satisfy the patient's need to understand why they have developed the illness - people are now preferring natural remedies over chemically produced ones

Question 116

116. What are the limits of BioMedicine?

Answer 116

- biomedicine is unable to cure certain diseases - it does not place enough emphasis on the causes of illness - it is preoccupied with relieving symptoms - the side effects of biomedical treatment are potentially harmful - biomedical treatments can be too drastic and too invasive

Question 117

117. What are the benefits of alternative medicine?

Answer 117

- they provide an explanation of the causes of ill health - they put the disease in context of a person's individual lifestyle - they provide a more egalitarian (equal) relationship between the patient and the practitioner - they offer an alternative to high tech medicine - they treat the person as a whole - they encourage individuals to take greater responsibility for their health

Question 118

118. How is Alternative Medicine portrayed in a sense of post modern society?

Answer 118

- it expresses a greater desire for self determination and choice - it challenges the cultural dominance of biomedicine - it reflects a more general trend for maintaining the body through purchase of consumer goods and services