final- medicalization

Question 1

define medicalization and provide an example and form of social constructionism

Answer 1

• medicalization: meso-level social construction that is turning non-medical social problems into medical ones

Question 2

define the three types of medicalization

Answer 2

• natural processes: medicalization of birth, death, in-between states
• deviance: mental health, homosexuality, pedophilia, “transvestitism”, sick role, alcoholism
• geneticization: understanding disorders of health and behavior in terms of genetic differences (reductionism, determinism, fatalism, essentialism)

Question 3

describe the four types of geneticization

Answer 3

• reductionism: finding the gene for a condition that may/may not have any genetic component (gay gene)
• determinism: gene seen as the primary driver of a certain condition (having a gene that is a death sentence)
• fatalism: if a condition has a genetic component then its development is inevitable and unchangeable
• essentialism: social, cultural, behavioral differences among individuals and groups are explained by genes or chromosomes (“supermale”- extra chromosomes)

Question 4

what is medicalization and deviance?

Answer 4

• the process whereby non-normative or morally condemned appearance (obesity, unattractiveness, shortness), belief (mental disorder, racism), and conduct (drinking, gambling, sexual practices) come under medical jurisdiction. The tendency to see badness – whether immoral, sinful, or criminal – as illness

Question 5

describe the 1997 food and drug modernization act

Answer 5

• marked shift in engines of medicalization- pharmaceutical advertizing
• in 1997 this act made drug advertising legal again after its ban in the 1920s. led to the proliferation of drug advertising

Question 6

define the four forms of utility (cardinal, ordinal, marginal, intrinsic)

Answer 6

• cardinal: assignment of numerical values to represent the level of satisfaction or utility that individuals derive from consuming goods/services
• ordinal: ranks preferences in order of satisfaction
• marginal: additional satisfaction or benefit gained from consuming one more unit of a good or service
• intrinsic: the inherent value or satisfaction that individuals derive from goods/services based on their personal preferences and intrinsic motivations. emphasizes internal satisfaction that is independent of external influences

Question 7

define backfire effect

Answer 7

• people become even more entrenched in their beliefs after being presented with evidence that contradicts them.
• a cognitive bias that can lead to political polarization and the spread of misinformation

Question 8

what are the good and bad applications of RCT

Answer 8

• good: can help predict individual/collective power, can provide insight into how individuals use decision making and their agency
• bad: it makes simplistic assumptions and oversimplifies human behavior, overlooks social context (culture, norms, values), and has limited emphasis on emotions and values