ANT205 Midterm Flashcards
1
Q
therapeutic emplotment
A
- The process of narrating a patient’s illness journey in a way that aligns with cultural or medical expectations of recovery, often shaping the patient’s experience of treatment.
- Mattingly WK 3 : The manner and method of seeing disease as more than biological phenomenon. Considers socio-cultural and lived perspectives.
2
Q
case fatality ratio
A
- The proportion of people diagnosed with a particular disease who die from that disease. Medical anthropologists may examine how healthcare access, stigma, and other social factors affect this _______.
3
Q
biomedicine
A
- The dominant medical system in Western societies, based on biological science. It emphasizes the diagnosis and treatment of diseases primarily through physical means (like drugs or surgery) and often focuses less on social and cultural factors.
- Brown&Closser WK 1 : _______ is the biological (and often times Western) outlook on disease. _______ sees a body and sickness first, rather than experiences and socio-cultural aspects.
4
Q
metaphor
A
- In medical anthropology, _______ shape how people understand illness and healing. For example, illness might be understood as a “battle” or the body as a “machine” in different cultural contexts.
- Martin WK 2 : _______ are used to compare bodily functions / illnesses to socio-cultural concepts. This can be used to belittle or empower. Ex. Egg Cell as “waiting/ docile” and Sperm Cell as “hero.”
5
Q
empowerment
A
- The process by which individuals or communities gain control over their own health, often through knowledge, resources, and agency, challenging systems of oppression or marginalization.
- Mattingly WK 3 : _______ is bestowed upon various personal narratives, which enable individuals to create their own linear forms of progress or ‘healing.’
6
Q
looping effects
A
- When people change their behavior or self-perception based on being classified in certain ways by medical or social categories (e.g., psychiatric diagnoses).
- Rhodes WK 6 : The structural violence enacted on incarcerated peoples that prevent them from achieving freedom and normalcy.
7
Q
political economy
A
- The study of how political and economic forces influence health and healthcare systems. Medical anthropology focuses on how global inequalities shape health outcomes.
- Joralemon WK 4 : _______ is a way to view an epidemic, wherein political structures and economic systems are considered with the patterns of health and disease.
8
Q
Martin : Medical Metaphors of Women’s Bodies: Menstruation and Menopause
A
Describes the use of metaphors in medicine, and in this case, to discredit women’s bodies during menstruation and menopause. This is a form of everyday and symbolic violence.
Key Terms: Metaphor, Feminist Critiques, Hierarchy, Stereotypes, Failure, Gender Roles
9
Q
moral community
A
- A group bound by shared moral values and norms. In medical anthropology, this may refer to how communities view issues like care, responsibility, and health.
- Rouse WK 3 : _______ are groups of people who share the same moral / ethical beliefs. Ex. Doctors and Nurses share the same moral code in their work.
10
Q
rites of passage
A
- Rituals or ceremonies marking important stages in a person’s life, such as birth, puberty, marriage, or death. In medical anthropology, _______ can include rituals around illness, healing, or death.
- Hunt WK 2 : Liminal States in a _______ is a crucial moment where something ‘changes.’ When cancer patients change into their sick roles, they can change their predetermined narratives.
11
Q
illness v disease
A
- “_______” refers to the personal, subjective experience of symptoms and suffering, while “_______” refers to a biomedical condition diagnosed by a health professional. Medical anthropologists study both the subjective and biological dimensions of health.
12
Q
structural violence
A
- Social structures (like poverty or racism) that harm or disadvantage individuals or groups, often leading to poor health outcomes. Medical anthropology highlights how these forces shape health disparities.
13
Q
Brown & Closser : Ethnomedicine and Healers (CH 16-21)
A
CH16: Describes 2 types of disease causation: Naturalistic (explains illness in terms of impersonal/humoral causes = results from natural forces or imbalances) and Personalistic (explains illness as a result of active intervention by supernatural agents = spirits, witches, shamans)
CH17: Highlights insights that ethnomedicine offers for understanding health and medical systems. Emphasizes patient-centered care, cultural contexts., holistic healing, and syncretic healing.
CH18: Explores the role of belief and social dynamics in healing practices, in relation to shamanism and sorcery. Involves 3 actors: the sorcerer, the patient, and the social group. Uses ritual and symbolism to challenge/support collective belief and social structures.
CH19: Explores how social ideas of medical professionals have been shaped culturally. For example, a white coat wearing doctor is reliable, nurses are typically women, a diagnosis is more believable through testing like an x-ray or MRI, and it also discusses how ritual spaces are seen in the operating rooms.
CH20: Examines how interactions between healthcare providers and patients contribute to the effectiveness of placebo treatments. The placebo effect is not just the result of administering a substance, but a social and psychological phenomenon. Considers the power of patient expectations, clinician-patient interaction, placebo as a complex phenomenon, and the role of meaning.
CH21: Explores the “nocebo effect,” the opposite of placebo, and how psychological mechanisms and neurobiological pathways can affect illness experience and implications of public health. Essentially, it is a call to action for healthcare professionals to consider the impacts of the nocebo effect.
14
Q
critical medical anthropollogy
A
- A subfield that examines how social inequalities, political power, and economic forces shape health outcomes and medical practices. It is concerned with structural determinants of health.
- _______ is the contrast of Biomedicine. In _______, it examines social, cultural, economic factors that affect sickness and susceptibility to sickness.
15
Q
panopticon
A
- A concept referring to surveillance systems in society where people modify their behavior due to the feeling of being constantly watched. It’s used to analyze healthcare settings that monitor and control patients.
- WK 6 Lecture : Based on architecture by Jeremy Bentham. Constant surveillance can cause internalization and compliance.
16
Q
interpretive medical anthropology
A
- A subfield focusing on how individuals and cultures interpret and give meaning to illness, suffering, and healing, emphasizing symbols, language, and narratives.
- WK 4 Lecture: _______ is a framework of Medical Anthropology that focuses on cultural forms of illness. Varying cultural backgrounds analyze and internalize illness is different ways.
17
Q
mortality
A
- The rate of death within a population. Medical anthropology explores how social, cultural, and political factors contribute to patterns of mortality.
- Joralemon WK 4 : how many people died.
18
Q
critical interpretive
A
- A blend of _______ and _______ approaches in medical anthropology, focusing on both the symbolic meanings of illness and the power structures that influence health.
19
Q
shaman
A
- A traditional healer or spiritual leader in many indigenous cultures who is believed to have access to, and influence in, the spiritual world. _______ use rituals, plants, and spiritual journeys to heal both physical and mental ailments.
20
Q
embodiment
A
- Body as the object/subject. ____ is the perspective which is shaped through bodies, culture, worldview, etc.
- WK 3 Rouse: ____ used in the story of Jasperlynn.
21
Q
rumor
A
- Similar to gossip, _______ can shape public perceptions of health events, medical interventions, or disease outbreaks. Medical anthropologists study how rumors affect health behaviors.
- Kroeger WK 4 : _______ are information spread through informal means. In Kroeger’s text, ____ about the AIDS epidemic created social unrest and also spread false information.
22
Q
agency
A
- The capacity of individuals or groups to act independently and make their own choices, even within systems of power and oppression. In medical anthropology, _______ is crucial in understanding how people navigate health systems.
23
Q
explanatory model
A
- he way individuals or cultures explain the cause, symptoms, and treatment of illness. This includes beliefs about why people get sick and how healing occurs.
- WK 2 Lecture : Coined by Arthur Kleinman. Illness always has an _______ that asks the questions: what is the illness? what caused it? why did it start? what does it do? what treatment? etc.
24
Q
Joralemon : Recognizing Biological, Social, and Cultural Interconnections: Evolutionary and Ecological Perspectives on a Cholera Epidemic and Expanding the Vision of Medical anthropology: Critical and Interpretive Views of the Cholera Epidemic
A
Case Study of the Cholera Epidemic in Peru and Brazil. Describes the social, cultural, and economic factors that decide who gets treatment and mitigation.
Key Terms: Epidemic, Theory, Pathogen, Epidemiologist, Morbidity, Mortality, Incidence, Prevalence, Natural Selection, Adaptation, Evolution, Somatic
25
the sick role
- A sociological concept describing the social expectations placed on people who are ill. These _______ include being excused from normal duties but also seeking medical help and trying to recover.
- WK 2 Lecture : Coined by Talcott Parsons. The societal expectations of a _______ person : stay home, rest, get better. This also varied depending on cultural norms.
26
illness narrative
- The stories people tell about their experiences with illness. These _______ help convey meaning, cope with suffering, and communicate personal and cultural perspectives on health.
- Hunt WK 2 : _______ are the personal, social, cultural, and economic experience of a patient and how this impacts their experience of being sick.
27
soteriological
- Related to salvation or deliverance from suffering. In medical contexts, it may refer to how certain medical practices or beliefs are seen as offering salvation from illness or suffering.
- Davenport WK 6: Coined by Byron Good. _______ refers to the spiritual, mythical, or religious contexts of illness.
28
cultural ecology
- The study of how cultural practices and beliefs are adapted to the environment and how they affect health. Medical anthropology uses this to understand how ecological factors influence health practices.
29
gossip
- Informal communication within a community that often reflects social norms and values. In the context of health, _______ can influence how illness and behavior are perceived.
- WK 4 Lecture : _______ is speaking about someone who is not present.
30
strategic suffering
- The ways in which individuals use their suffering to gain sympathy, support, or resources, often in contexts where health and illness are intertwined with power and social struggles.
31
stigma
- The social disapproval or discrimination against individuals based on perceived flaws or conditions, such as illness, disability, or mental health issues. _____ illnesses often lead to social isolation.
- WK 2 Tut : The _____ that surrounds sickness can be broken free from if individuals make use of Illness Narratives.
32
everyday violence
- The normalization of violence, poverty, and marginalization in daily life that contributes to poor health outcomes.
- Mendenhall WK 5 : Normalized _______ that is typically sexual in nature.
33
Joralemon : What’s so Cultural About Disease
There are two kinds of disease related knowledge: biomedicine and healing traditions based on cultural context.
Key Terms: Culture, Social Process, Critical Medical Anthropology, Epidemiology
34
ethnographies
- Detailed qualitative studies and written accounts of cultures and practices, often based on fieldwork. In medical anthropology, _______ explore health beliefs, practices, and institutions within specific societies.
35
social suffering
- The collective and individual pain caused by structural, social, and economic forces. Medical anthropology examines how ____ shapes health and illness experiences.
36
syndemic
- The clustering of two or more diseases in a population, often exacerbated by social and environmental factors. Medical anthropologists focus on the interaction between social conditions and health.
- Mendenhall WK 5 : _______ refers to the overlap of 2+ epidemics. Usually, this means 2 illnesses unique to 1 individual due to vulnerability. Ex. Mexican Immigrants susceptibility to depression and breast cancer.
37
witnessing
- The act of observing or testifying to the suffering of others. In medical anthropology, _______ can be a form of ethical engagement with patients and their suffering.
- Davenport WK 6 : _______ is the act of seeing illness beyond a biomedical perspective. It considers socio-cultural aspects of illness experiences.
38
Harris & Guillemin : Notes on the Medical Underground: Migrant Doctors at the Margins
Text that describes the experience of International Medical Graduates (IMG), who are part of the medical underground as they struggle to gain recognition in medical fields in Australia. Details the places and spaces they occupy as they work towards their goals.
Key Terms: IMG, Healthcare, Medical Underground, Marginalisation, Identity, Place, Periphery, Identity Work
39
experience-near approaches
- Research methods that prioritize understanding individuals' lived experiences and meanings from their own perspectives, rather than imposing external interpretations.
- Brown & Closser WK 1 : The stories people tell about their illness can provide insight onto how they cope with it.
40
the mindful body
- A concept that integrates the body with the mind and emotions, emphasizing how cultural, social, and psychological factors influence physical health.
- WK 4 Lecture : Coined by Scheper & Lock. Covers Individual Body, Social Body, and Body Politic.
41
the medical gaze
- A concept from Michel Foucault referring to the way biomedicine views the body as an object to be studied and treated, often ignoring the subjective experience of the patient.
42
Mattingly : The Concept of Therapeutic Emplotment
Discusses Narratives in a Clinical Setting. How Narratives are able to enhance an illness experience and encourage recovery through story.
Key Terms: Narratives, Story, Physical Therapy, Phenomenology, Recovery
43
Messing : Hospital Trash: Cleaners Speak of Their Role in Disease Prevention
Text that describes the systemic discrimination that hospital cleaners face, regardless of gender. It is stated how they feel invisible and undervalued despite doing incredibly important and necessary work.
Key Terms: Hospital, Cleaners, Disease Prevention, Light/Heavy Work, Invisibility, Marginalized, Social Class, Nonproductive, Sex Discrimination
44
Holmes : Oaxacans Like to Work Bent Over
Case Study of Oaxacan Immigrants that work as Berry Pickers. Describes the Body Politic and how socio-cultural aspects have enabled carrying forms of treatment.
Key Terms: Immigrants, Employment, Slavery, Gray Zones, System of Oppression, Structural Competency, Labor, Hierarchy, Naturalization
45
symbolic violence
- The internalization and acceptance of social inequalities, leading individuals to believe they are responsible for their suffering, often impacting their health and well-being.
- Mendenhall WK 5 : Refers to the implicit inequities such as racism, sexism, classism, etc. that contribute to poor health.
46
prevalence
- The total number of cases (both new and existing) of a disease in a population at a specific time. Medical anthropologists may study how cultural and social factors affect _______ rates.
- Joralemon WK 4 : Proportions of the population that was infected at one time.
47
Kroeger : AIDS Rumors, Imaginary Enemies, and the Body Politic in Indonesia
Case Study of the ‘AIDS Club’ phenomenon that occurred in Indonesia. Rumors enabled this group to violate the body and to spread fear.
Key Terms: Body Politic, The Mindful Body, AIDS, Rumor, Gossip, Conspiracy Theory, Community Skin, Gender Norms, National Stability, Somatization
48
incidence
- The number of new cases of a disease in a specific population over a certain period. It is often used to track the spread of diseases.
- Joralemon WK 4 : How many new cases were registered monthly and yearly.
49
Rhodes : Psychopathy and the Face of Control in Supermax
Describes the experience of Psychopaths in Supermax Prisons and Solitary Confinement. Explains how systemic and structural violence prevents self redemption of incarcerated peoples.
Key Terms: Psychopathy, Supermax, Criminal Thinking, Looping Effects, Checklist, Empathy, Utilitarianism, Power/Knowledge, Discourse, Panopticon
50
culture
- The shared beliefs, practices, values, customs, and social behavior of a particular group or society. In medical anthropology, _______ shapes how people experience and interpret illness, healing, and health care.
- Joralemon WK 1 : _______ is necessary to biomedicine to create a more holistic view. By taking into account _______ differences, personal illness experience can be improved.
51
Rouse : If She’s a Vegetable, We’ll Be Her Garden’: Embodiment, Transcendence, and Citations of Competing Cultural Metaphors in the Case of a Dying Child
Story about Jasperlynn, a child who was ill and was believed to not make it by hospital staff. This is a story of embodiment and empowerment to push to keep Jasperlynn alive.
Key Terms: Embodiment, Structured, Race, Gender, Class, Protonarratives, Bodies, Non-Compliance
52
Hunt : Strategic Suffering in the Illness Narratives of Mexican Cancer Patients
This text uses 2 personal narratives to describe illness experiences. Isabela and Roberto are individuals who were ill, but they were able to change their narratives, especially gender roles, to gain a sense of freedom and control.
Key Terms: Narratives, Illness, Disease, Liminality, Gender Roles, Sexual Politics, Family Obligation, Cultural Norms
53
Joralemon : Anthropological Questions and Methods in the Study of Sickness and Healing
Ethnographic Fieldwork on Shamans in Peru and Organ Transplants in the US. Particularly on how despite them being culturally different, there are similarities in how they are researched and analyzed.
Key Terms: Participant Observation, Fieldwork, Shamanism, Education, Rites of Passage, Symbols
54
gray areas
- Ambiguous zones in healthcare where diagnoses, treatments, or ethics are unclear, and cultural interpretations may differ. Neutrality sides with Oppression.
- Rhodes WK 6
55
healing system
- The set of practices, beliefs, and institutions that a society uses to treat illness and promote health. These can include both traditional and biomedical _______.
56
ethnomedicine
- he study of traditional medical systems and healing practices that are embedded in a specific cultural context, distinct from Western biomedicine.
- Often times, _______ comes from Indigenous or Ethnic practices of medicine that involves non-traditional forms of healing. Ex: Chinese Herbal Medicine.
57
human time v physical time
- _______ refers to socially constructed notions of time (like work schedules), while _______ refers to natural cycles (like aging or circadian rhythms). Both affect health behaviors and outcomes.
- Mattingly WK 3 : _______ is the personal experience and the sequencing or passing events, while _______ is the chronological order of events.
58
Davenport : Witnessing and the Medical Gaze
Differences between Witnessing and Gazing in Clinical Settings. Witnessing is taking social, cultural, and economic conditions into consideration when reviewing a patient and their illness. Promotion of witnessing in homeless clinics and relearning critical medical anthropology over biomedicine.
Key Terms: Witnessing, The Medical Gaze, Objectify, Soteriological, Power Flows, Social Reflexivity, Fixing
59
morbidity
- The rate or presence of illness within a population. Medical anthropologists study the cultural and social determinants of morbidity.
- Joralemon WK 4 : How many people got sick.
60
etiological theory
- The explanation of the cause of a disease or illness. In different cultures, diseases may be attributed to various causes, such as supernatural forces, germs, or imbalances in the body.
61
Mendenhall: Syndemic Suffering: Rethinking Social and Health Problems Among Mexican Immigrant Women
Describes Syndemics, which is when 2+ epidemics occur simultaneously, and especially their effects on Mexican Immigrant Women. These communities are more susceptible due to social struggles.
Key Terms: Syndemic, Clustering of Disease, VIDDA Syndemic, Structural Violence, Symbolic Violence, Everyday Violence, Diabetes, Depression
62
neoliberalism
- A political-economic ideology emphasizing market deregulation, privatization, and individual responsibility. Medical anthropologists examine how _______ policies affect healthcare access and social determinants of health.
63
epidemic
- he widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community or population at a particular time. Medical anthropology examines how cultural, social, and political factors influence the spread and experience of epidemics.
- Joralemon WK 4 : Cholera _______ which demonstrated the interconnection between biological, social, and cultural components of the human experience of disease.
64
conspiracy theory
- Beliefs that explain events as the result of secret, malevolent actions by powerful groups. Medical anthropology explores how _______ can influence trust in medical systems.
- WK 4 Lecture : A story / plot by a group that is working towards a malevolent end. This can manipulate fear and create mistrust towards authority.
65
Brown & Closser : Medical Anthropology an Introduction
Introducing Medical Anthropology as the study of human health problems and healing systems in their broad social and cultural contexts.
Key Terms: Illness, Disease, Ethnomedicine, Biomedicine
66
power relations
- How different social groups (based on race, class, gender, etc.) have unequal access to resources, including healthcare, and how this affects health outcomes.
