Sociology of Medicine Final Flashcards
What social effect does segregation have?
Limits social connections- people may become displaced due to gentrification and lose social networks
What economic effect does segregation have?
Segregation reinforces inequality and concentrates poverty.
What effect does segregation have on the physical environment?
-built environments: man-made settings constructed and operated for the purpose of human activity
-examples: dampness, overcrowding, lead, housing insecurity
What effect does segregation have on health behaviors and health outcomes?
-constrains the ability to engage in healthy behaviors (increased marking of tobacco, alcohol, fast food, less ability to exercise)
-leads to a concentration of infectious disease patterns
-constrains access to social networks that facilitate social mobility
-public disinvestment of city services creates harmful conditions
What effect does segregation have on access to care?
-lowers access to care (less access to transportation, long waiting times to be seen, little access to most advanced medical terminology, little time with providers due to provider time constraints, and urban clinics are more likely to be shut down)
What effect does segregation have on social networks?
-Segregation leads to a concentration of infectious disease patterns in the population
-segregation determines access to social network ties and resources that can facilitate social mobility, but networks don’t have equal access to resources
Gentrification
the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.
Place stratification theory
-majority group preferences and discrimination constrain social and spatial mobility of minority group members
-political leaders more likely to disinvest in poor communities of color
-many commercial enterprises avoid this area (why food deserts exist)
Redlining
discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of racial and ethnic minorities
What is environmental racism?
subjection to disproportionate exposure to pollutants, the denial of access to ecological benefits, or both
Rural vs Urban Health
-rural communities have higher rates of morbidity (including chronic illness) and mortality (due to geographic isolation, and less access to healthcare providers)
how does network structure/position affect health?
-an individual’s health may be affected by connectivity to or isolation from others and their network position: (degree, closeness, betweenness, and centrality)
-network bridges: individuals that serve to connect previously unconnected groups (can be positive or negative (spread of disease or knowledge))
How does network size affect health?
-Smaller network sizes = increased isolation (loneliness leads to increased rates of morbidity and mortality)
-Network homophily (“birds of a feather flock together”)
-Network transitivity (“my friend’s friend is also my friend”)
How do social networks influence health?
-Positively or negatively affecting health behaviors
-Facilitating/regulating behaviors, setting norms, physical spread of pathogens or harmful/healthy substances (person-to-person or within group boundaries), spread of misinformation
-Furnishing tangible assistance (money, care, transport)
What social position is best at introducing groups to each other?
Betweenness
What is instrumental support?
Helping with tasks (running errands, helping with transportation, etc)
What is informational support?
Advice (what you would do in that situation)
What is affective support?
-Emotional support
-Those with strong social support care with stress better, and experience more positive health outcomes
-artificially created support networks (support groups) have been shown to benefit mental and physical health (Support groups offer informational, instrumental, and affective support)
What is social capital?
Resources that accrue to individuals through social connections (reciprocity)
-characteristics of social networks from which individuals drae materials (goods, services)
-Bonding (within group) vs bridging (between groups)
Strength of weak ties
-weak ties are more common than strong ties
-brings networks into contact with each other (encourages information sharing between groups) (ex. social media connections)
Neoliberalism and health
-emphasis on a free market, individualism, etc…
-the goal is to reduce public expenditure and increase efficiency
-introduction of market mechanisms as a counterbalance to public sector growth
-other countries have constructed a tighter regulatory framework to constrain free markets
