Ethnicity and race Flashcards
did the human genome sequencing programme determine any genetic differences between races?
NOPE
what can be linked to pre-history of human migration?
phenotypical characteristics including skin colour, body fat distribution, and disease-susceptibility
what is region specific haplogroup diversity?
the sharing of a common ancestor with a defined single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutation.
what is culture?
Culture is a ‘social construct’
Culture is generally defined in social science as those sets of beliefs and ideas that a defined social group draws upon in order to identify and manage the practical problems of their everyday lives.
That is, culture as an array of shared and implicit precepts that serve to regulate understanding and social behaviour.
what is a social construction?
The understanding that everyday knowledge is creatively produced by individuals and is directed towards practical problems.
That is, we to come to know our world through the ideas and beliefs we hold about it - So that it is our shared concepts and categories that become our realities of the world.
‘Social facts’ are therefore created through interactions and mutual interpretations.
what is ethnicity?
Within the contemporary social sciences, the concept of ethnicity is utilised to denote some form of distinctive (that is, from the majority population) set of cultural characteristics.
These characteristics can include common geographical and ancestral origins, language and a range of cultural traditions.
problems with the general understanding of ethnicity?
These ideas about culture will typically include myths about the past, beliefs about ‘the kind of people we are’, and the idea that ‘culture’ defines a group in that it may be constituted by language, dress and custom.
But other perceived group characteristics are often used as ‘proxies’ in order to classify ethnic difference i.e nationality, migrant status, religion, and ‘race’.
define ethnic group
based on an individual conception of social group membership and personal identity.
define ethnic origin
Ethnic origin - an allocated definition based on common ancestry or place of origin.
role of classifying ethnicity in the NHS
In health service provision, the function of ethnic monitoring systems is to enable the NHS to achieve an equitable provision and access to services
5 main categories in the NHS ethnic category coding
White Mixed Asian or Asian British Black or Black British Other ethnic groups
problems with ethnicity coding
This is because ‘ethnicity is essentially a social, not a scientific construction.
The coding approach assumes that ethnic boundaries are fixed and clear - in practice such boundaries are fluid and imprecise.
One reason for this is that cultural boundaries are constructed and maintained by social groups themselves, and these boundaries because they are dynamic they do change over time.
However, an exclusive focus upon the culturally distinctive features of ethnic difference can serve to play down the commonalities of life for minority groups in this country. This can lead to an ignoring of the common experiences of racism and of material deprivation, and their long term impact on health outcomes.
An additional consideration is that the label of ethnic difference is often imposed by the majority groups within a particular society, who themselves construct minorities as the ‘other’ / ‘outsiders’.
define the tendency to reify
to treat an abstract construct as if it had a concrete existence
consequences of reifying ethnicity within social and epidemiological surveys and clinical research
can result in artefactual data outcomes
concerns about the use of race and ethnicity in science
These concerns in relation to the description of research populations as distinct ‘races’ or ethnicities, and in terms of an inadequate justification for the inclusion of these distinct categories in biomedical research.
No genetic backup of any biological differences
