Chapter 1

Question 1

Objectives

Answer 1

• Discuss various definitions of health and wellness
• Differentiate between the medical model and sociological model approaches to health
• Evaluate the quality of online sources

Question 2

Defining Health

Answer 2

• The definition of health is abstract/evolving/individual and influenced by a number of factors
• Health is only one piece of the puzzle.
• Health is subjective: you need to listen to the individual’s story and how they perceive health.

Question 3

Wellness

Answer 3

• Takes more of an individualistic and subjective view
• It is relevant to the lived experience of the individual
• Assumes self-reliance/responsibility and accountability
• Achieving and sustaining “positive health”

Question 4

Medical Model

Answer 4

• Individualize and depoliticize
• 4 assumptions
  o Mind-body dualism. The mind is separate from the body, so you can treat the body without engaging the mind. Matter > Mind.
  o Doctrine of specific etiology. For every disease, there’s a specific cause. Diagnostic tools > patients report. Doctors > everyone else. Medicine = cure.
  o Biological reductionism. The disease is within the body. Focuses on the body when treating illness, ignores social context in which the illness occurs.
  o Body as a machine. Bodies are to be fixed when broken, the only broken part should be treated. Slow recovery blamed on the patient.
  ♣ Medical specialization focuses on smaller parts to the exclusion of the whole.

Question 5

Sociological Perspective

Answer 5

• Health and illness can’t be understood in reference to biology alone: social context is key.
• Illness is socially patterned (appears twice in pp)
• Dealing and accepting illness is a social experience.
• C. Wright Mills: a sociological perspective involves framing problems as public issues rather than personal troubles

Question 6

3 Broad Sociological Perspectives

Answer 6

• structural functionalism
• conflict theory
• social constructionism

Question 7

Structural Functionalism

Answer 7

• Social arrangements exist because they benefit society.
• Each part contributes to the well-being of the whole (functional interdependence)
• Equilibrium: peace, consensus and harmony are the natural states of society
  o A disruption in any area is felt across the whole of society
• Social change is gradual, typically in the direction of greater differentiation and functional integration

Question 8

Talcott Parsons

Answer 8

Devised the sick role

Question 9

Sick Role

Answer 9

• Illness is a form of deviance because it prevents people from fulfilling their social roles
• Social control and regulation of sickness is brought about by the sick role mechanism
  o Societies perception on sickness helps define the sick role
• Both the patient and the physician have certain rights and obligations

Question 10

Patient Expectations in the Sick Role

Answer 10

• Individual must want to get well

- Individual must seek and comply with treatment

Question 11

Patient Privileges in the Sick Role

Answer 11

• Individual is not held responsible for being sick

- Individual is exempted from normal obligations while sick

Question 12

Physician Expectations of the Sick Role

Answer 12

• Physician must be technically competent

- Physician must maintain neutrality

Question 13

Physician Privileges of the Sick Role

Answer 13

• Physician has autonomy and is self-regulating

- Physician is allowed access to the patients body

Question 14

Criticisms of the Sick Role Theory

Answer 14

• Going to see the doctor may be the end process of a complex help-seeking behaviour
• Idealized view of the sick role: assumes there is no conflict between doctor and patient
• Assume that all illness is acute and temporary
• Sick role varies by class, race, gender and occupation

Question 15

Conflict Theory

Answer 15

• Rather than harmony, society is characterized by conflict and exploitation
• Society is comprised of diverse social groups fighting for dominance and resources
• Appearance of consensus is the result of coercion or a false consciousness.
  o Lack of awareness that one is being exploited
• Disease is the result of differential access to power
• Those with the fewest resources are most vulnerable to disease
  o Those who are labeled as ill are denied access to resources and power
• Examples. Feminist theory, political economy

Question 16

Criticism of Conflict Theory

Answer 16

• It is a macro-level theory and doesn’t account for how individuals make meaning and make choices

Question 17

Social Constructionism

Answer 17

• Reality is socially defined: interaction and interpretive practices help shape it
• Social problems are recognized through the activities of individuals or groups making assertions/claims
• Scientific knowledge and biological discourses about the body, health, and illness are produced through subjective, historically determined interests
• Eg, is obesity a disease?

Question 18

Criticisms of Social Constructionism

Answer 18

• Does not fully acknowledge the real impact and experiences of illness
• By denying discovery, medical progress and the prospect of future improvements in health are ignored
• Relativism: if all views are relative, how does one evaluate the merits of social constructionism vs other perspectives