Biopsychosocial Model, Society and Culture

Question 1

Biopsychosocial Approach

Answer 1

Illness cannot be understood by only examining biological factors

• illness is determined by a variety of influences, rather than a single cause
• causes and effects of illness can be examined at MULTIPLE levels in the life of an individual: take into account psychological and sociological life of patient rather than just their biological factors

Question 2

Biomedical Approach

Answer 2

The traditional method

- Focuses narrowly on the physical aspects of illness

Question 3

Social Constructionism

Answer 3

Scientific models are representations of reality

• human actors construct or create “reality” rather than discovering a reality that has inherent validity
• beliefs and shared understandings of individuals create social realities
• eg. social creation of shared meanings of health and illness

Question 4

Symbolic interactions

Answer 4

Related to social constructionism in that it allows for social determination of shared realities

• however, only focuses on a smaller scale of interaction btwn individuals and in small groups
• eg. single interaction between a patient and physician or btwn two physicians
• through social interactions, individuals develop shared meanings and labels for various SYMBOLS
• eg. patient thinks certain symptom is a warning sign but physician tells him that it is just harmless -> a symbol has changed its meaning based on a SINGLE SOCIAL INTERACTION

Question 5

Symbols

Answer 5

Terms, concepts, or items that represent specific meanings by accepted convention

Question 6

Functionalism

Answer 6

Society, like an organism, is a system that consists of diff components working together

• work together to maintain equilibrium in the face of envtal demands
• when disruptions occur, interacting systems respond as needed to get back to the previous state (like homeostasis)

Question 7

Conflict Theory

Answer 7

View society in terms of competing groups that act according to their own self-interest, rather than according to the need for societal equilibrium
- opposite of functionalism

Question 8

Culture

Answer 8

All of the beliefs, assumptions, objects, behaviours, and processes that make up a shared way of life

Question 9

Material culture

Answer 9

Objects involved in a certain way of life

• includes products manufactured, tools used, art made, and every object that supports or enriches a lifestyle
• basically the physical stuff

Question 10

Non-material culture

Answer 10

The ELEMENTS of culture that are NOT physical

• eg. religions, superstitions
• basically the conceptual stuff

Question 11

Social Norms

Answer 11

Expectations that govern what behaviour is acceptable w/in a group

Question 12

Social group

Answer 12

Subset of a population that maintains social interactions

- eg. SES group - have a lot of shared experiences so they will feel more connected w/ each other

Question 13

Symbolic culture

Answer 13

Type of non-material culture

• consists of elements of culture that have meaning only in the mind
• based on a shared system of collective BELIEFS in the form of symbols
• eg. handshake = greeting (handshake would have no meaning if we did not create an expectation for it)

Question 14

Society

Answer 14

2 or more individuals living together in a community and/or sharing elements of culture

Question 15

Social institutions

Answer 15

Hierarchical systems that bring order to interpersonal interactions, structure society
eg. gov’t and economy, education, religion, family, health and medicine

Question 16

Demographics

Answer 16

Statistics used to examine nature of a specific population by quantifying subsets of that population
eg. age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, immigration status

Question 17

Demographic Transition

Answer 17

A demographic change that takes place over time

Question 18

Fertility

Answer 18

Production of offspring w/in a population

Question 19

Mortality

Answer 19

Death rate w/in a population, affects population size

Question 20

Migration

Answer 20

Relocation of people from one place to another, affects population size

Question 21

Social movement

Answer 21

Group of people who share an ideology and work together toward a specified set of goals

Question 22

Urbanization

Answer 22

Increase in proportion of people living in specified urban areas

Question 23

Globalization

Answer 23

Increasing amount of interaction and integration on the international scale through exchange of products, services, ideas, and info
- basically the bigger picture of a SOCIAL GROUP b/c it can connect ppl who don’t have face-to-face interactions

Question 24

Spatial Inequality

Answer 24

Unequal access to resources and variable quality of life w/in a population or geographical distribution

Question 25

Global inequalities

Answer 25

Evident in the disparities between regions and nations in aspects such as GNP, natural resources, access to healthcare, and types or amounts of work available

Question 26

Environmental justice

Answer 26

Equal treatment of all people regardless of race, gender, or other social grouping w/ regard to prevention and relief from envtal and health hazards
- the reality is, we don’t have this b/c when there is a fire in rural areas, it takes a much longer amount to extinguish the fire than if the fire happened locally

Question 27

Residential Segregation

Answer 27

Instance of social inequality on the local scale

• separation of demographic group into diff neighbourhoods
  eg. via SES groups, race

Question 28

Upward mobility

Answer 28

Moving up the class system 
- achieved via education, marriage, career, or financial success

Question 29

Downward mobility

Answer 29

Moving lower w/in the class system
- result from unemployment or underemployment, reduced household income due to divorce, lack of education, or health issues

Question 30

Intragenerational mobility

Answer 30

A young person from limited means invents a new technology and becomes wealthy, achieving the “American Dream”

Question 31

Intergenerational mobility

Answer 31

Immigrant families moving to the US may lack formal education, professional skills, or mastery of English
- however, children or grandchildren may become doctors, lawyers, etc through greater access to resources gained over the generations

Question 32

Meritocracy

Answer 32

A soceity in which advancement is based solely the abilities and achievements of the individual

Question 33

Cultural capital

Answer 33

Set of non-monetary social factors that contribute to social mobility

• eg. dress, accent, vernacular, manners, education, cultural knowledge
• influence how a person “fits in” w/ or “sticks out” from a specific social context

Question 34

Social capital

Answer 34

An individual’s social networks and connections that may cover economic and/or personal benefits
- the idea that “who you know” matters!

Question 35

Social reproduction

Answer 35

Transmission of social inequality from one generation to the next

Question 36

Isolation/social exclusion

Answer 36

Impoverished ppl are often excluded from opportunities available to others

Question 37

Absolute poverty

Answer 37

Lack of essential resources such as food, shelter, clothing, and hygiene
- can be life-threatening

Question 38

Relative poverty

Answer 38

Social inequality in which ppl are relatively poor compared to other members of the society in which they live
- affects lifestyle and livelihood

Question 39

Health disparity/ health inequity

Answer 39

Differences in health and healthcare that occur between groups of people

• can occur according to demographic categories: age, race, gender, class, sexual orientation
• can affect prevalence and prognosis of disease