Last Entry

Goodbye Class,

I just wanted to thank you all for a fantastic semester. This was a great learning experience for me and I hope that I was able to contribute positively to the class. The level of participation and interest in Medical Sociology was unlike anything I've experienced at UNE and you all should be commended for it. Thank you for all your feedback throughout the semester.

Good luck with all your future endeavors.

-Tyler Stratton

Sicko

Hello class,

In class today we enjoyed the film "Sicko." Please discuss your thoughts about the movie and your perception of the Healthcare System. Do you think that a for-profit system can ever work??

-T

question from the study group

Hey guys, yesterday in the study group we had some difficulty identifying groups associated with the creation of "knowledge." We were on the right track, we identified the groups correctly, it was their motivations that we didn't quite get.

So... pharmaceutical companies: SAD, female sexual dysfunction disorder...
social groups: AA - alcoholism
Unions/workers: miners and black lung, etc.

In each case a particular group/organization have created a category of
disease/syndrome for various reasons: money, social justice, rights, etc

hope this clears things up for question 7.

-T

Readings

Hi Class, just to address any confusion as to what you need to make sure you've read...


- Medicine, Media and Popular Culture:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2001/03/drug.html;
http://nymag.com/nymetro/health/features/3122/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/99463.php

- The Social Construction of knowledge:
Freund: Chapter 9;

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0030178


- Social Control and the Medicalization of Deviance
Freund: Chapter 6;

Let me know if you have any questions... GOOD LUCK! Also, as a reminder, this exam is worth 15 points so it'll be a little shorter.

2nd meeting time

From what I heard in class today it sounded like not many people can make it to today's study group. If there are those who had wished to be in today's group that cannot make it I will be meeting again tomorrow at 3:30 in the windward cafe for those who need it.

-Tyler

Last Minute Questions

If anyone has any last minute questions I will be monitoring the blog up until late wednesday night. Please feel free to post any questions and I will answer them as soon as possible.

-Tyler

Practice Questions

1. Define medicalization of society?

2. What is the main premise of social constructionism?

3. In the second half of the twentieth century medicalization has proliferated. What are TWO indicators/trends which evidence this phenomenon?

4. Define demedicalization

5. Define social control

6. Describe how the dominance of the ‘scientific’ paradigm in the West has helped to further medicalization.

7. The capacity to create (medical) knowledge in the West is socially distributed. List three groups who have produced medical ‘knowledge’. Give examples of the ‘knowledge’ each group has created.

8. In what ways have ‘deviance’ and ‘crime’ been medicalized?

9. How is informal social control different from formal social control?

Extended Essays

A. Direct to consumer advertising has increased exponentially in recent years. Consider the (positive and negative) effects of this trend for society.

B. With reference to a specific case-study, describe how pharmaceutical companies have contributed to processes of medicalization.

C. The institution of (bio)medicine has been afforded increasing authority to define categories of deviance/normalcy. Consider why and how this has occurred AND consider the effects of this trend on society.