Psych/Soc: Social Institutions, Culture, and Health

Question 1

Polygyny vs polyandry

Answer 1

Polygyny -> husband with many wives
Polyandry -> wife with many husbands

polygamy is defined as marriage between one person and two or more spouses simultaneously and polygyny and polyandry are more specific to men and women

Question 2

Endogamy

Answer 2

Marrying within a particular group

Question 3

Exogamy

Answer 3

requirement to marry outside a particular group (norm to not marry family members)

Question 4

Kinship

Answer 4

cultural group rather than biological one

Ex. extended fam, close family friends that are almost considered fam

Question 5

Bilaterial descent
Patrilineal descent
Matrilineal descent

Answer 5

Bilaterial descent - if kin groups involve men and women relations
Patrilineal descent - if kin groups involve men relations
Matrilineal descent - if kin groups involve women relations

Question 6

Egalitarian family

Answer 6

(Opposed to patriarchal fam)

This is when spouses are treated as equals

Question 7

Cohabitation

Answer 7

When men and women live together but not married and may have children/do things married ppl do

Question 8

*Hidden curriculum

Answer 8

Conflicts with the manifest curriculum (like medical students learning from other doctors that patients are nuisances)

Question 9

*Teacher Expectancy theory

Answer 9

Student tend to match teacher expectations (pos and neg)

Teachers form expectations for students and students will follow them if they seem reasonable

Question 10

Ecclesia

Answer 10

a dominant religious organization that includes most members of society, is recognized as national or official religion and tolerates no other religions, often integrated into politics
Ex. Iran -> Islam is official state religion, Sweden and Lutherism

Question 11

Sect

Answer 11

Religious organization that is distinct from that of the larger society. Sects are often formed by breaking away from larger religious institutions
Ex. US Mormon community and the Amish community

Question 12

Fundamentalism

Answer 12

Strong attachment to traditional religious beliefs (response to modernist societies)

Question 13

Rational-legal authority

Answer 13

The U.S. gov is based on rational-legal authority, legal rules and reg stipulated in a document: Constitution

Question 14

Traditional authority

Charismatic authority

Answer 14

Traditional authority from custom, tradition, or accepted practice
Charismatic authority - they get power by their persuasion

Question 15

Aristarchic governments/Aristarchies

Answer 15

Controlled by a small group of ppl, selected on specific qualifications, with decision-making power; the public is not involved in most political decisions

Question 16

Aristarchies include aristocracies

Answer 16

those ruled by elite citizens, like those with noble birth

Question 17

Aristarchies include meritocracies

Answer 17

Those ruled by the meritorious, like those with a record of meaningful social contributions

Question 18

Autocratic governments

Answer 18

controlled by a single person, or a selective group with absolute decision-making power

Question 19

Autocracies include dictatorships and fascist government

Answer 19

dictatorships - rules by one person

fascist government - ruled by a small group of leaders

Question 20

Monarchic governments

Answer 20

controlled by single person, or a selective group of people, who inherit leadership role like kings and queens

Question 21

Authoritarian governments

Answer 21

unelected leaders; public may have some individual freedoms but have no control over representation. Include totalitarianism (those in which unelected leaders regulate both public and private life through coercive means of control

Question 22

Direct democracies

Answer 22

governments in which there is direct public participation

Question 23

representative democracies

Answer 23

governments in which there is indirect public participation through elections of representatives

Question 24

Oligarchic governments

Answer 24

Less clear as leaders can be elected or unelected; the public might have the power to elect representation, but ppl have little influence in directing decisions and social change
Online: power rests with a small number of people.

Broadly speaking, an oligarchy is a form of government characterized by the rule of a few persons or families. More specifically, the term was used by Greek philosopher Aristotle in contrast to aristocracy, which was another term to describe rule by a privileged few. However, to Aristotle, an aristocracy signified rule by the best members of society, while an oligarchy was characterized by the rule of the few for corrupt and unjust purposes.

Although the term has, generally, fallen out of favor, oligarchy is sometimes used to describe a government or society in which rulers are selected from a small class of elites. These elites exercise power on behalf of their class rather than for the greater good. German-born, Italian sociologist Robert Michels coined the phrase “iron law of oligarchy,” which holds that there is an inevitable tendency of organizations to become less democratic and more oligarchic over time.

Question 25

Republican governments

Answer 25

Consider their countries to be public concerns and are thus democratic in nature, meaning ppl have supreme power
power is held by the people and their elected representatives

Question 26

Federalist government

Answer 26

include a governing representative head that shares power with constituent groups. There is a division b/w the central government or federalist government, and the constituent governments, or the state, provincial, and local governments

Question 27

Parliamentary governments

Answer 27

include both executive and legislative branches that are interconnected; members of the executive branch (ministers) are accountable to members to the legislature.

Question 28

Presidential governments

Answer 28

Us! include organizing branches and a head of state

Question 29

Command/planned economies

Answer 29

economies decisions are based on plan of production and the means of production are often public (state-owned); include socialism and communism

Question 30

Market economies

Answer 30

Economic decision dependent on supply and demand and means of production are often private

Question 31

Mixed economies

Answer 31

Blends element of command economies and market economies with both public and private ownership

Question 32

Traditional economies

Answer 32

consider social customs in economic decisions, common in rural areas and often involves bartering and trading

Question 33

Welfare capitalism

Answer 33

system in which most of the economy is private with the exception of extensive social welfare programs
Ex. most Western Europe bc have capitalism but also universal healthcare is provided by the state

Question 34

State capitalism

Answer 34

System where companies are privately run but work closely with the government in forming laws and regulations.
In the U.S. most businesses are privately owned but the gov runs schools, postal service, and the military.

Question 35

Durkheim contributed to our understanding of the division of labor and differentiated b/w two forms of social solidarity in relation to economic approaches:

Mechanical solidarity
Organic solidarity

Answer 35

Mechanical solidarity:
Allows society to remain integrated bc individuals have common beliefs that lead to each person having the same fundamental experience

Organic solidarity:
Allows society to integrate through a division of labor, which leads to each person having a different personal experience; thus, each movement is distinguishable and separate

Question 36

*Medicalization

Answer 36

Medicalization - process through which human conditions are defined and treated as medical conditions ex. baldness, depression ,etc
The process of medicalization can be driven by new info or discoveries regarding conditions, changing social attitudes or economic consideration, the development of new medications or treatments

The process by which a condition come to be reconceptualized as a disease with a medical diagnosis and a medical treatment
When medicalization results in medical explanations for social problems, the physician can act as the expert on a variety of issues including child development, criminality, drug addiction, and depression

Question 37

Medical model of disease

Answer 37

which emphasizes physical or medical factors as being the cause of all illness, it charcaterizes all illness as having a physiological or pathological basis

Question 38

Social model of disease

Answer 38

Emphasizes the effect one’s social class, employment status, neighborhood, exposure to environmental toxins, diet, and other factors have on a person’s health

Question 39

ultimate cause vs proximate cause of a person’s illness

Answer 39

Ultimate cause = someone working from the medical model of disease may look for ultimate cause

Someone from a social model may look for the proximate cause- something about the patient’s life circumstances

Question 40

*Social epidemiology

Answer 40

Study of social determinants of health and the use of social concepts to explain patterns of health in the population
Can explain healthcare disparities

The field that studies how social organization contributes to the prevalence, incidence and distribution of disease across and within populations
Focus on using social concepts to explain patterns of health and illness in population

Question 41

Food desert

Answer 41

Area where fresh food is difficult to find bc there are no proper grocery stores, making ppl more likely to eat high-calorie foods that have low nutritional value

Question 42

Sick role

Answer 42

Theory that individuals who are ill have certain rights and responsibilities in society (can’t serve customers in restaurant if sick); if an individual cannot fulfill the same duties that a person in good health can, society allows for a certain amount of deviant behavior (if person doesn’t go to work bc sick so not performing responsibility to society)
Responsibilities: seek doctor, don’t have to work

Question 43

Food desert

Answer 43

Area where fresh food is difficult to find bc there are no proper grocery stores, making ppl more likely to eat high-calorie foods that have low nutritional value

Question 44

Iron law of oligarchy

Answer 44

The “iron law of oligarchy” states that all forms of organizaton develop oligarchic tendencies, especially in large groups and complex organizatons, some power will be concentrated, thereby establishing a new ruling class. The few come to rule the many

Question 45

*Ideal Bureaucracy

Answer 45

Weber conflict theorist talked about increasing rationalization of society, leading to bureaucracies which are categorized by:
Hierarchal structure, division of labor, written rules/expectations, officials hired on competence, neutral/impersonality

Question 46

*McDonaldization

Answer 46

McDonaldization refers to principles of the fast-food industry dominating other sectors of society
Similar example - privitized hospitals and patients treated as profit

Question 47

*Institutional Discrimination

Answer 47

When a social structure engages in discriminatory practices against an individual or group (but in practice we crossed out choices against an individual)

Question 48

Availability

Accessibility

Answer 48

Availability - Does this resource even exist in your vicinity?
Accessibility - Do you have sufficient insurance, money, transportation, and/or social support to obtain resource (when available)

Question 49

Social condition

Favorable conditional factors

Answer 49

Social determinants of health
Favorable conditional factors improve overall quality of life (near organic supermarket, safe neighborhood, etc) vs social problems (only fast food restaurants nearby)