Religion, Science and Deviance Flashcards
how did the media portray cults?
called them folk devils causing moral panic
what kind of language did the media employ when describing cults?
- conversion
- deprogramming
- brainwashing
- indoctrinated
how did the media advance a “cult menace” frame?
- used one-sided sources -> people who left the cult were interviewed, not the ones who were part of the cult
- superficial coverage - no investigative journalism
- employment of sensationalist stereotypes
- over-reporting of atypical events -> mass suicide, sexual sharing, repeating allows for stronger connections
what was the cult narrative?
- members shows wearing distinctive clothing
- cults located in isolated areas
- members living in communes
- groups’ belief systems portrayed as delusional
- group peculiarities made visible - (belief or practices)
what was Raelians in Quebec and who discussed this topic?
- cult that was doing sexual sharing
Susan Palmer - embedder herself into a cult in Quebec
what were the pros and cons of Palmer embedding herself in the cult?
good: showed the facts of what the cult does and how its different than what the media portrays. sexual sharing is not as exploitive as the media shows, children were given a choice about whether they want to be baptized or not. pushed journalists to do more investigating and to stop being superficial
bad: not all of Palmers work was good, there was a hierarchy to the sexual sharing, older people were told to keep to themselves while the younger people were encouraged to have sex with others
what does the Charter guarantee for right and freedoms?
- guarantees rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to reasonable limits prescribed bylaw as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society
what are the fundamental freedoms?
- freedom of conscience and religion
- freedom of thought, belief, opinion, expression (press and other media of communication)
- freedom of peaceful assembly
- freedom of association
can absolute rights supersede criminal laws?
- no
absolute right cannot supersede criminal laws like for example polygamy is illegal and when taken to court they will not win the case even if presented as a religious belief
are anti-cults older than counter-cult groups? what are anti-cult groups?
no
- anti-cults are newer than counter cults
- act on belief that cults are destructive -> parents of hippie children
what is the counter-cult movement?
- oppose religious freedoms -> members drawn from fundamentalist denominations
- focus on the people who interpret the bible incorrectly
- focused on getting more people to adhere to their faith
- they themselves are deviantized
- less powerful than the anti-cult groups
-> Your religion is wrong and mine is correct
-> Christians
how does religion deviantize others?
- Witch persecution -> women were called witches who do the devils work - Christian led in the 14th century
- Residential school -> Catholic/Protestants deviantized Indigenous beliefs and were converting them to Christianity while assimilating them - Christian-led in the 1800-1900
- Victorian child savers -> social gospel movement, Emily Murphy, their job was to make heaven on Earth, needed to save the children from their poor parents (considered to be sinful even tho only crime was that there were poor)
what is the Bad Apple Theory?
- claims acts of scientific misconduct are rare
- the whole system is safe but only some people mess up
- scientific researcher fudge their data but there are also bad dr, teachers and lawyers
what is scientific misconduct?
- scientific practices deemed unacceptable or inappropriate bc they intentionally manipulate research outcomes
- plagiarism
- data falsification
in what kind of research is scientific misconduct common?
biomedical
what is the iceberg theory?
claims acts of scientific misconduct that are detected are only a small proportion of all instances of misconduct that are actually occurring
- misconduct is inherent and part of sci
- good % of data is falsified
why is there so much scientific misconduct?
- pressure to publish -> further their careers
- publishing bias -> pos results = more likely to be published
- corporatization of sci -> profit motive, researchers are financially compensated by industry, financial ties b/w industry and scientists, industry sponsor maintains control of the research, post-academic sci
what is an example of misconduct in the pharma industry?
- Vioxx
- advil like meds that scientists falsified data for
- studies showed and knew there was a higher chance for heart problems but they hid the data and many died
- now the gov’t mandates that all data be submitted
what is The Olivieri Report?
- pediatric oncologist was asked by APOTEX to participate in a drug trial - the patients developed a concerning rash and wanted to tell colleagues and the company to stop the trial and back out
- when she told the company they did not allow her to tell anyone about the results
- the uni did not back her either as the company promised a new pharmacy to be built s
- the concern was not related to the trial but ethics played a role
how does post-academic science play a role in the corporatization of science?
- uni dispenses money out to the drs to conduct trials
- research is conducted where there is no oversight or scrutiny
- companies run trials in developing countries and people are desperate for money so whether they have the problem or not they sign up to get paid
- healthy subjects start to have problems but they dont disclose it bc they are desperate for money, they go from trial to trial
how is science a social construction?
what is legitimate changes over time
- science presents itself as linear
- Miasma theory -> people get sick from bad air (limited bc not everyone breathing the same air would still get sick)
- Germ theory -> bacteria causes illness
- evolution
- acupuncture
what is an example of pseudo-science?
- Alan Young wrote a controversial book stating that PTSD is a socially constructed mental disorder
- men coming back from the Vietnam war were dealing with PTSD bc they killed innocent civilians -> war was a political-economic war
- the gov’t was afraid of going bankrupt by providing the veterans support with their trauma so the only way they were able to get a diagnosis they had to have flashbacks as one of the symptoms so only some were given help with their trauma
how does science deviantize other?
- amniocentesis -> amnitoic fluid is drawn out to test for potential chromosomal abnormalities
- encouraged to get it if first degree relative or parents dont want child with down syndrome
- Canada does not allow this to see the sex of the baby for abortion purposes
- we moving towards genetic science -> families with children with down are being blamed for using taxpayers money and should have gotten the procedure to fix the problem
what is HGH and what is it used for?
- human growth hormone
- conditions where people are woried their son will be short so they will give them the drug to increase height
- kids are deviantized for being short -> shouldve taken the pill to grow
