Exam 3 Flashcards
Health
the extent of a person’s physical, mental, and social well-being
Medicine
social institution that seeks to prevent, diagnose, and treat illness and to promote health in its various dimensions
Health care
the provision of medical services to prevent, diagnose, and treat health problems
Sick role
refers to the expectations that must be met in order for someone to be considered legitimately sick and to be exempt from their normal obligations
○ Shouldn’t be perceived as causing own health problem
○ Sick people want to get well
○ Sick people are expected to have their illness confirmed by a physician or other health-care professional and to follow the professional’s instructions in order to become well
National health insurance
ensured payment by the government of all or most costs for health care, drugs, and other health needs
Social epidemiology
the study of how health and illness vary by sociodemographic characteristics, with such variations called health disparities
Health disparities
refers to the variations of health and illness from sociodemographic characteristics
Direct-fee system
patients under 65 are expected to pay for medical costs themselves, aided by private health insurance, usually through one’s employer
Health maintenance organizations (HMOs)
prepaid health plans with designated providers; patients must visit a physician employed by the HMO or included on the approved list of physicians (if not on list, see approved or see without insurance coverage)
Single-payer system
government-funded-systems for police, firefighters, education, public libraries, and even the postal services
Education
the social institution through which a society teaches its members the skills, knowledge, norms, and values they need to learn to become good, productive members of their society
Formal education (schooling)
occurs in schools under teachers, principals, and other specially trained professionals
Informal education
can occur almost anywhere, but for young children it has traditional occurred primarily in the home, with their parents as their instructors
Educational attainment
how far one gets in school
○ Heavily depends on family income and race/ethnicity
Credential society
a society that values education?; this means two things
○ A high school or college degree (or beyond) indicates that a person has acquired the needed knowledge and skills for various jobs
○ A degree at some level is a requirement for most jobs
○ Also means that people with formal education achieve higher incomes
Hidden curriculum
a set of values and beliefs that support the status quo, including the existing social hierarchy
De jure segregation
schools racially segregated by law (In the South before 1954)
○ Communities and states had laws dictating which school
○ Schools either all white or all African American, with whites having better funding
○ Ended in south when civil rights movements won its major victories
De facto segregation
children usually go to schools near their homes, if adjacent neighborhoods are all white or all African American, then the school in those neighborhoods would also follow
School choice
parent and their children, primarily from low-income families in urban areas, receive public funds to attend a school different from their neighborhoods schools
Charter schools
public schools (because public funds pay for students tuition) built and operated by for-profit companies
○ Students normally apply to these
○ Sometimes accepted based on merit and potential, and sometimes accepted by lottery
Bullying
physical & verbal attacks and harassment directed at a victim(s) by one student or a group of students over an extensive period of time
Cyberbullying
the use of internet, cell phones and smartphones, and other digital technologies to bully others
Legacy admissions
makes it easier for certain wealthy students to gain admission
○ Preference given in admissions
○ “affirmative action for the rich”
Economy
the social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services
Primary sector
the part of the economy that takes and uses raw materials directly from the natural environment
Secondary sector
the part of the economy that transforms raw material into finished products and is essentially the manufacturing industry
Tertiary sector
the part of the economy that provides services rather than products
○ Clerical work, health care, teaching, and information technology services
Capitalism
an economic system in which the means of production are privately owned
Socialism
an economic system in which the means of production are collectively owned, usually by the government
Democratic socialism
combination of capitalism and socialism
○ Government owns several important industries, but much property remains in private hands, and political freedom is widespread
○ Government have extensive programs to help the poor and other people in need; high tax rates
Civilian labor force
all non-insitutionalized civilians 16+yr old who work for pay or are looking for work
* Capital flight: since the 1980s, many manufacturing companies moved their plants from US cities to sites in the developing world in Asia and elsewhere
○ The information age has obvious benefits, but there has also been a cost to many workers whom postindustrialization & the globalization of the economy have left behind
Outsourcing
US companies hire workers overseas for customer care, billing services, and other jobs that Americans used to do
○ China, India, and Phillippines primary nations
Corporation
a formal organization that has a legal existence, including the right to sign contracts, that is separate from that of its members
Multinational corporation
a corporation with headquarters in one nation but with factories & other operations in many other nations
Economic inequality
refers to the extent of the economic difference between the rich and the poor
○ When the gap between them is large, say much economic inequality exists
Employee theft
a major type of crime that takes two forms: pilferage and embezzlement
Pilferage
the stealing of goods
Embezzlement
the stealing of money in its various dimensions (cash, electronic transactions, etc.)
Professional fraud
when professionals steal from their patients/clients or from the government
○ Attorneys may bill their clients for work that was never done, and physicians may bill Medicare or private insurance for patients they never saw or for procedures that were never performed
Demography
the study of changes in the size and composition of population
Fertility
the number of live births
Crude birth rate
the number of live births for every 1,000 people in a population in a given year
General fertility rate
the number of live births per 1,000 women aged 15-44
TOtal fertility rate
the number of children an average woman is expected to have in her lifetime (taking into account that some women have more children and some have fewer)
Mortality
the number of deaths
Crude death rate
the number of deaths for every 1,000 people in a population in a given year
○ “crude” because population component consists of the total population and doesn’t take its age distribution into account
○ Higher proportion of older people, higher crude death rate
Migration
the movement of people into and out of specific regions
Natural growth rate
the difference between the crude birth rate and the crude death rate
Demographic transition theory
links population growth to the level of technological development across 3 stages of social evolution and suggests that this growth slows considerably as nations become more industrialized
Stages in demographic
○ 1st stage, coinciding with preindustrial societies, the birth rate and death rate are both high
§ Lack of contraception
§ Disease, poor nutrition, lack of modern medicine, and other problems
§ Rates cancel each other out, little population growth
○ 2nd, coinciding with development of industrial societies, birth rate remains fairly high, owing to the lack of contraception and a continuing belief in value of large families, but death rate drops because of several factors, including increased food production, better sanitation, and improved medicine
§ Population growth dramatically takes off
○ 3rd, the death rate remains low, but birth rate finally drops as families begin to realize that large numbers of children in an industrial economy are more of a burden than an asset
§ Another reason for drop is availability of effective contraception
§ Population growth slow
Pronatalist
policies aimed at encouraging women to have more children
○ Provide generous child-care subsidies, tax incentives, and flexible work schedules designed to make it easier to bear and raise children, and some even provide couples outright cash payments when they have an additional child
Environmental sociology
refers to the sociological study of the environment; the study of the interaction between human behavior and the natural & physical environment
Environmental inequality (environmental injustice)
the fact that low-income people and people of color are disproportionately likely to experience various environmental problems
Environment racism
greater likelihood of people of color to experience these problems
Environmental justice
scholarship on environmental inequality& racism and to public policy efforts & activism aimed at reducing these forms of inequality & racism
