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.

Paxil Addiction

Study Group??

Hey guys,

Well there's another test coming up. How did everyone feel about the study group last time? Is there any interest in meeting again?

-Tyler

Harvard Professor Drug Representatives

Hey Everyone,

I found the article that Alex referenced in class. Take a look at it, it's rather startling. What do you all think about the prevalence of private interest in formal education??

-T

Medicalization

Hi Guys,

Hope you all had a wonderful vacation. We're getting back into the swing of things and focusing on the Medicalization of Society. Please read the new article "no free lunch".

-T

Study Group??

Hello Everyone,

I'm going to be holding a study group...maybe two if need be. Please leave a comment as to whether you are interested. I was thinking monday around noon, if this doesn't work for anyone then I would be willing to meet sunday.

We will be going over any issues that you may be having from the study guide. We will also go over some helpful approaches to the essay questions. Please come prepared with questions.

Goodluck studying!

-Tyler

Dr. Sapolsky

Here also is Dr. Sapolsky whom Alex mentioned in class.

-T

Health Matters: Stress Management

Hello Class, take a look at this video. It's my favorite from the whole semester!

-Tyler

Practice Questions

Hi Guys, at the bottom of the page you will find some practice questions for the test. Leave any questions or comments that you may have here.

-Tyler

Clean Coal

We have all heard about "clean coal" in the media. Keeping in mind the video we saw in class and our general discussion on the environment as an influencing factor to health, please explore these three websites. What do you agree with?

www.coalcandothat.com

www.TheClean.org

www.thisisreality.org


-Tyler

The China Study

Please read the link on the right side of this page. Reflect on how the information presented could be applied to your own lives.

-T

Obesity Not Unhealthy??

Here's an interesting article on the "obesity myth" ...http://www.thinkmuscle.com/articles/gaesser/obesity.htm#HEALTH%20HAZARDS%20OF%20OBESITY%20EXAGGERATED

here is another...http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2008/08/11/2008-08-11_study_shows_obesity_often_not_linked_to_.html

and yet another...http://media.www.dailygamecock.com/media/storage/paper247/news/2007/10/26/Viewpoints/Size-Zero.Not.Much.Better.Than.Obesity-3058764.shtml

Essay #1

Hi Guys,

I know that you all just got the outline for the first essay. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask here, or to make an appointment to meet with either Alex or myself. Just in case anyone has lost their outline or can't retrieve it from their email, I have posted the full assignment at the bottom of the blog.

Goodluck!

-Tyler

Big Pharma

Here are some shocking videos that illustrates issues regarding pharmaceutical companies, the prevalence of medical socialization and some facts that you may find troubling...

Any Questions??

Hello everyone,

If anyone is having any issues/questions regarding any course material, the blog, the journal or anything else you can think of please leave a comment here.

-Tyler

Vocabulary

Hi guys,

Keep an eye on this part of the blog. I'll be adding important terms and ideas to this throughout the semester. Because it will be continuously updated, it will not appear as a new post at the top of the page, you will have to scroll down to view it.

Biomedical model: (5 assumptions)
1) The mind and the body can be treated separately. *We seek biological explanations for mind abnormalities (depression)

2) The body can be repaired like a machine. *This is a very impersonal approach to the healing process. This does not address the psychological or emotional effects that the disease or injury my illicit.

3) The merits of technological interventions are sometimes overplayed. *The idea that to improve healthcare, we need more technology. This is imbedded in the capitalist consumer attitude that lavish and more expensive procedures and advances are more beneficial.

4) Biomedicine is reductionist in that explanations of disease focus on biological changes to the relative neglect of social and psychological factors. *We tend to focus on the physical presence of the secular disease and deny the social factors that allow that disease to thrive.

5) Germ theory…assumes that every disease is caused by a specific, identifiable agent (disease) *This does not look at diseases not caused by a specific agent. Think of heart disease and it’s relation to stress and diet. (obesity).

Social Constructionism: Knowledge and history are based on a socially created present. The views that we generally accept as truth are skewed by the value margins that our culturally contextual society puts on it.

Discourse: Socially constructed meaning through symbolic communication.

Epistemology: the study of knowledge and justified belief.

Radical Constructionists: don’t suppose the existence of an external reality. We have created a discourse for understanding ourselves not through self-legitimizing truth but by the means through which we may describe ourselves. The techniques that we use and the terminology to describe are socially created.

Realism: presume the existence of an external reality, but argue that there are various competing accounts of that reality. There are innate truths but the process by which we use to describe it creates a cultural socket to which we affix present meaning.

Ideology: an organized system of ideas and beliefs. Ideology circulates as the natural order of things. Ideologies serve the interests of specific social groups at the expense of others.

Ethnocentrism: the belief that one's culture’s way of doing something is the best way.

Whig History: looks at the historical benefits to self-legitimize current action. This trys to establish medicine as a "natural progression."

Hegemony: A prevalent cultural dynamic that seems natural but is actually a social construction

Stratification: A social separation (hierarchy) based on class, gender, race, SES, etc

Social Institutions: Those groups surrounding an individual which illicit action to facilitate the self-propagating interests of an institution. These groups are embeded in and formed as a result of social structure. These can be either formal (school) or informal (family) which governs the

Normative Behavior : The latent rules set forth by dominant institutions that governs the ways in which an individual fulfills their social role.

Culture: A way of life for an entire society. This includes norms of behavior, systems of belief, socialization, dress and food.

Social Epidemiology: The prevalence of morbidity and mortality rates amongst different social groups. It is also a study of the social factors that contribute to differences in health among groups.

Morbidity: the rate of sickness
Mortality: the rate of death

Reformist: Interested in the individual (micro-level) and their interaction with their environment. This can be factors such as pollution, lifestyle, income and nutrition.

Materialist: This is a look at outside (macro-level) influences that shape society such as class relations.

Social Structures

Last class we ended with a discussion of several ideas which are implicit in the notion of social structure. Here is a quick review:

1) Human beings form social relations that are not arbitrary and coincidental but exhibit some regularity and continuity.

* Think of the friends, co-workers or other close personal ties that you may have with others. Think of the social structures that either inhibit or foster these relations. Socio-economic status, race, class, gender, and health are all examples of dynamics which narrow the margins of choice and organize social relations.

2) Social life is not chaotic and formless but is, in fact, differentiated into certain groups, positions, and institutions that are interdependent or functionally interrelated.

*However independent we may view ourselves, we live within, associate with, and rely upon groups of people which provide us with the social, emotional, spiritual and educational resources that we need to survive.

3) Individual choices are shaped and circumscribed by the social environment, because social groups, although constituted by the social activites of individuals, are not a direct result of the wishes and intentions of the individual members. The notion of social structure implies, in other words, that human beings are not completely free and autonomous in their choices and actions but are instead constrained by the social world they inhabit and the social relations they form with one another.

*Social groups influence personal choice. Latent to any social group is the draw of solidarity. All people involved wish to act in a way to insure their own participation. The way we act, dress, consume, relate and make decisions are all a reflection of the influence of the individual's prescribed social group.

Welcome to Medical Sociology

Hello Class,

Welcome to our class blog. I am very excited about this and I greatly encourage you to visit, utilize and contribute to the blog. I will be posting relevant material such as articles, vocabulary, questions, practice exams, etc. The use of this will contribute to your overall class participation.

I understand that some people may shy away from speaking up in class so this is an excellent opportunity to voice an opinion or ask a question. Think of this as an open class discussion and an easy way to increase your grade.

Please leave a comment to this entry so that I know you have been able to create a profile. Best of luck!

-Tyler


Here are some quick instructions to navigating the blog:

1) click on the link to the blog:http://medicalsociology2.blogspot.com/

2) Posts appear in chronological order but they are archived in the sidebar.

3) Read the blog and from the main page, click the Comment link under the post on which you want to comment. On an individual post page, scroll down to the end of the post if necessary.

4) You can choose to sign-in and create a blogger account and profile (you will need a name and email address to do this)… If you choose to do this but are not comfortable with having your real name out there in blogger world, you can create a ‘name’ for yourself. Obviously you will have to let me know what your screen name is…

5) You can also leave posts anonymously, but you will have to identify yourself in the body of your comment so that I know who you are

6) You will need to post at least one comment in response to a blog.

7) The blog is public for now. However, if there are a lot of comments from people not in the class which are not appropriate, I can make the blog private (i.e. only the class will be able to access the blog).

8) If there are any inappropriate class comments I can delete the comment.. and I can also make the blog so that I moderate the comments before they’re posted (I’d much prefer not to do this.. so keep it clean and respectful…)

9) You should check the blog regularly – at least twice week.