Exam II

Question 1

Medical (Biomedical) Model of Illness

Answer 1

The way in which drs conceptualize illness.

1. deviation from normal
2. specific and universal
3. caused by unique biological forces
4. analogous to the breakdown of a machine
5. defined and treated medically through neutral scientific process

Question 2

Sociological (Biopsychosocial) Model of Illness

Answer 2

The perspective that views illness as a subjective label, reflecting personal and social ideas about what is normal as much as scientific reasoning, and recognizes the influence of social context on the etiology and perception of illness

Question 3

Norms

Answer 3

Social expectations for appropriate behavior

Question 4

Moral Status

Answer 4

A status that identifies in society’s eyes whether a person is good or bad, worth or unworthy

Question 5

Deviance

Answer 5

Behavior that violates a particular culture’s norms or expectations for proper behavior and therefore results in negative social sanctions

Question 6

Negative Social Sanctions

Answer 6

Punishments (ridicule/isolation to imprisonment/execution) meted out to those considered deviant by society

Question 7

Positive Social Sanctions

Answer 7

Rewards of any sort, from good grades to public esteem

Question 8

Social Control Agents

Answer 8

Ideas created by a social group, as opposed to something that is objectively or naturally given

Question 9

Etiology

Answer 9

Cause of a disease process

Question 10

Personalistic Theories of Illness

Answer 10

Theories holding that illness occurs when a god, witch, spirit, demon, or other supernatural power deservedly or maliciously lashes out at an individual

Question 11

Naturalistic Theories of Illness

Answer 11

Theories tracing Illness to heat, cold, wind, damp, or other natural events that upset the body’s equilibrium

Question 12

Medicalization

Answer 12

Process through which a condition or behavior becomes defined as a medical problem requiring a medical solution, or through which the definition of an illness is broadened to cover a wider population

Question 13

Demedicalization

Answer 13

Process through which a condition or behavior becomes defined as a natural condition or process rather than an illness

Question 14

Functionalism

Answer 14

View of society as a harmonious while held together by socialization, mutual consent, and mutual interests

Question 15

Sick Role

Answer 15

The set of social expectations in Western society regarding how society should view sick people and how sick people should behave

Question 16

Conflict Perspective

Answer 16

View that society is held together by power and coercion, with dominant groups imposing their will on subordinate groups

Question 17

Chronic Illness

Answer 17

Illness that develops in an individual gradually or is present from birth, and that will probably continue at least for several months and possibly until the person dies

Question 18

Acute Illness

Answer 18

Any illness that strikes suddenly and disappears rapidly (within a month or so)

Question 19

Disability

Answer 19

Restrictions or lack of ability to perform activities resulting from physical limitations or from the interplay between theses limitations, social responses, and the physical or social environment

Question 20

Blaming the Victim

Answer 20

Process through which individuals are blamed for causing the problems from which the suffer

Question 21

Minority Group

Answer 21

Any group that, because of its physical or cultural characteristics, is considered inferior and subjected to differential and unequal treatment

Question 22

Illness Behavior

Answer 22

The process of responding to symptoms and deciding whether to seek diagnosis and treatment

Question 23

Illness as Interruption

Answer 23

Situation in which illness is experienced as only a small and temporary part of one’s life

Question 24

Illness as Intrusion

Answer 24

Situation in which illness demands time, accommodation, and attention, and forces one to live from day to day

Question 25

Illness as Immersion

Answer 25

Situation in which illness becomes so demanding that a person must structure his or her live around it

Question 26

Stigma

Answer 26

Any personal attribute that would be deeply discrediting should it become known

Question 27

Social Causation (Social Stress)

Answer 27

A theory holding that persons of lower socioeconomic status have higher rates of mental illness due to the stresses of lower-class life

Question 28

Social Selection (Social Drift)

Answer 28

A theory holding that lower-class persons have higher rakes of illness because middle-class persons who become ill drift over time into the lower classes

Question 29

Medical Model of Mental Illness

Answer 29

1. objectively measurable conditions define mental illness 2. mental illness stems largely or solely from something within individual psychology or biology 3. mental illness will worsen if left untreated but might improve or disappear if treated promptly by a medical authority 4. treating someone who might be healthy is safer than not treating someone who might be ill

Question 30

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

Answer 30

Manual published by the American Psychiatric Association and used by mental health workers to assign diagnoses to clients. Generally, this manual must be used if mental health workers want to obtain reimbursement for their services from insurance providers

Question 31

Reliability

Answer 31

The likelihood that different people using the same measure will reach the same conclusions

Question 32

Validity

Answer 32

The likelihood that a given measure accurately reflects reality and measures what researchers believe it measures

Question 33

Almshouse

Answer 33

An institution, also know as a poorhouse, in which all public wards, including orphans, criminals, the disabled an the insane, received custodial care

Question 34

Moral Treatment

Answer 34

A 19th century practice aimed at curing persons with mental illness by treating them with kindness and giving them opportunities for both work and play

Question 35

Great Confinement

Answer 35

The shift from the 1830s on, toward confining mentally ill persons in large public institutions instead of in almshouses, small private "madhouses," or at home with relatives

Question 36

Symbolic Interactionism

Answer 36

A theoretical perspective arguing that identity develops as part of on ongoing process of social interaction in which individuals learn to see themselves through the eyes of others, adopt the values of their community, and measure their self-worth against those values

Question 37

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

Answer 37

A situation in which individuals become what they are expected to be

Question 38

Total Institution

Answer 38

An institution in which all aspects of life are controlled by a central authority and in which large numbers of like-situated persons are dealt with en masse

Question 39

Mortification

Answer 39

A process, occurring in total institutions, through which a person's prior self-image is partially or totally destroyed and replaced by a personality suited for life in the institution

Question 40

Master Status

Answer 40

A status viewed by others as so important that it overwhelms all other information about that individual

Question 41

Depersonalization

Answer 41

A sense that a person no longer is, or is not considered, fully human

Question 42

Deinstitutionalize

Answer 42

To remove individuals, such as mentally retarded and mentally ill persons, from large institutions and return them to the community

Question 43

Remedicalization

Answer 43

The process through which mental illness is increasingly regarded by doctors and others as rooted in biology and amenable only to biological treatment

Question 44

Managed Care Organizations (MCOs)

Answer 44

Health insurance providers, such as health maintenance organizations, that operate under the principles of managed care

Question 45

Aligning Actions

Answer 45

Actions (or, more specifically, interpretations of actions) designed to make behavior appear reasonably and normal in a given cultural context

Question 46

Snowballing

Answer 46

A process through which the perceived effect on life of each problematic behavior and emotion increases as the total number of problems increase - thus increasing the likelihood of defining the person experiencing the problems as mentally ill

Question 47

Feeling Work

Answer 47

Efforts made by individuals to avoid being labeled mentally ill by making their emotions match social expectations

Question 48

Accommodation

Answer 48

Technique individuals use to smooth interactions with those they consider potential sources of trouble and to smooth interactions between those problems and others