SOCIOLOGY IN MEDICINE: LIST OF ISSUES

FOR THE TEST

academic year 2021/22
LECTURES

SOCIOLOGY AS A DISCIPLINE
1. Sociology – definition and key elements: A science about society and laws that
stand behind people’s everyday behaviors and decisions. Sociology studies
patterns of social behaviors.
2. Difference between „social” and „sociological”
3. Sociological perspective – main focus, social man, fundamental questions: What
is human nature? How are people trained to behave in certain ways in certain
situations?...
4. History of sociology – founders and their contribution: August Comte, Emile
Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber.
5. Main sociological theories
a. Functional and structural analysis → Talcott Parsons, Robert K.Merton
b. Theories of social exchange → George Homans, Peter Blau
c. Theories of social conflict → Karl Marx, Lewis Coser, Ralph Dahrendorf
d. Symbolic interactionism → George H. Mead, Erving Goffman
e. Ethnomethodology → Harold Garfinkel
f. Structuralism → Anthony Giddens
6. Divisions of sociology → Macrostructures, Mezzostructures and Microstructures
7. Subdisciplines in sociology → Of medicine, of tourism, of culture, of human
resources, of professions, of organizations, of communication

METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF RESEARCH IN SOCIOLOGY

8. Two approaches to social reality → Qualitative and quantitative
9. Two sources of knowledge → Subjective knowledge (tradition, experience, authority:
based purely on the opinions of the individual, reflecting their values and biases,
their point of view) and Objective knowledge (based on scientific observation: free
of the biases, opinions and values of the researcher, it reflects what is really out
there in the social world).
10. Types of data (primary, secondary, qualitative and quantitative)
11. Methods of reasoning (induction, deduction) and their characteristics: Deduction:
TOP DOWN: theory → Hypothesis → observation → Confirmation/ rejection and
Induction: BOTTOM UP: Observation → Pattern → Tentative hypothesis → Theory
12. Four types of validity in measurement: Conclusion, internal, construct, external
13. Accuracy: Does the measurement tool measure exactly that what it should? and
reliability of measurement: Does the measurement tool measure phenomenon
properly and precisely?
14. Four levels of measurement and their characteristics: Ratio, internal, ordinal and
nominal
15. Steps in scientific procedure – their characteristics, key terms (variable
(dependent, independent)), causal relationship, correlation (positive/negative),
hypothesis, sample (probability: simple random, systematic, stratified, cluster and
non-probability sampling: convenient, judgemental, quota, snowball and their
types), factors effecting choice of research method (4): Nature of the topic,
Practical factors, Theoritical factors and Ethical factors, techniques (division into
high and low standardized, direct and non-direct, observation), questions, costs,
triangulation: Content analysis, Interview and observation, summary: Selection,
elaboration, Interpretation, Publication and Application)

SOCIOLOGY OF THE BODY

16. “Discovery” of the body in sociology: Anthropology and Sociology (of sports)
17. History of sociology of the body (classical sociology: Lack of reflection on the
th th
body, the body in 19 and 20 century: The body becomes the object of interest
for policy, the body becomes the metaphor of the nation’s health and fitness and
ideal of a citizen, plays a crucial role, the body in contemporary sociology: very
important, sociology of the body has been established. Causes: feminism, Ageing,
shift in the social structure)
18. The body concepts:
a. Civilized body – Norbert Elias → the body is the product of socio-historical
circumstances.
b. Individualistic body – Chris Shilling → accepting of feelings coming from the
body as important for an individual, the controlled body
c. Body – mask – Erving Goffman → Personal facade: image and behavior
d. Body subordinated to the power – Michel Foucault → Governing of the living
creatures → Biopower
19. The concept of gender: set of norms related to what in a certain culture/society is
perceived as suitable for girls/women and boys/men – gender identity: feeling of
who we are and how we see and describe ourselves, “discovery” of gender,
learning of gender (socialization, theories of social learning: observation and
imitation, rewarding or punishing of behaviors that are seen as incompatible with
what is perceived as feminine or masculine, theories of cognitive development:
children learn their gender through mental attempts of making an order in their
social worlds)

THE FIELD OF MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY

20. Sociological imagination – definition and its author, factors being taken into
account (4): C.W. Mills, 1959: The individual can understand his own experience
and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period.. he can know his
own chances in life only by becoming aware of all individuals in his
circumstances”. We make a link between personal troubles and public issues. 4
parts: Historical, cultural, structural and critical factors.
21. Relation between individuals and society
22. Medical sociology – definition: Medicine: shift in disease pattern and sociology:
variety of approaches, inspiration: Social medicine by Jules Guerin, Medical
sociology, and Nature and status of medical sociology defined by Robert Straus ,
history
23. Sociology “in”: lay knowledge, the sick role, illness behavior, doctor patient
relationship and “of” medicine: Medical knowledge, organization and institutions –
Robert Straus → Give sociology WITH medicine nowadays
24. Biomedical model and its consequences: Louis Pasteur → the germ theory of disease,
Robert Koch → specific aetiology, mono causal model of disease, mechanical view of the
body as a machine and each disease has a specific cause. Its consequences: Objectification,
Reductionism, Specialization, Biological determinism and victim-blaming approach.
25. Social model of health (comparison to biomedical model) → Social focus → Illnesses are
socially produced, definitions of health and illness can vary between cultures and change
over time and the way a particular society organizes, funds and utilize its health services
26. Social factors influencing health: Smoking, drinking, exercise, weight, substance
misuse, poor housing, deprived neighborhood

FAMILY AND ITS ROLE IN HEALTH AND DISEASE

27. Definition of family → A socially recognized group that forms an emotional
connection and serves as an economic unit of society.
28. Family of orientation: family into which a person is born and family of procreation:
family that is formed through marriage
29. Tasks of the human family: Procreation, socialization, building close relationships,
passing through cultural heritage and building relations with broader community
30. Types of kinship: real and substitutional, ascendant and descendant, direct and
collateral
31. Types of family: extended and nuclear
32. Functions of family: Economic, Educating, Social, Emotional and control
33. Stages of family life: Marriage → procreation → Preschooler → school-age → teenage
→ launching
34. Changes in the family: Patriarchal family —> Family based on partnership.
Decrease in marriages, Increase in divorces, Decision about children, singles with
children
35. New forms of family: Second marriage, childless families, cohabitation…
36. Marriage – definition: A legally recognized social contract between 2 people,
traditionally based on a sexual relationship and implying a permanence of the
union and forms of marriage: monogamy, bigamy and polygamy and endogamy
and exogamy, patriarchal matriarchal or equal and patrilineal and matrilineal,
relations established by marriage: Blood → parents and children and Affinity → a son
in law and a mother in law
37. Family and residence patterns: Patrilocal, matrilocal, bilocal/ambilocal, neolocal
and avunculocal
38. The role of family for the health of members: personal hygiene, sanitation,
psychical hygiene, nutrition,illness behavior the role of family in disease, the
influence of the disease on the family

AGEING AS A SOCIOCULTURAL PROCESS

39. Main demographic measures (ratio of subpopulations, birth rate, life expectancy,
population growth)
40. Current demographic trends worldwide: Population of 0-14 is HIGH in Iraq and LOW
in Japan → it is decreasing worldwide. The population of 65+ is increasing worldwide: it
 is HIGH in Japan and LOW in Iraq.The birth rate is decreasing worldwide. The life
expectancy is increasing worldwide → very high in Japan and low in Sierra Leone.
41. Demographic structures and their characteristics: Expansive/progressive: 40-50-
10 -> High birth rate and low life expectancy, the population is FAST GROWING.
Stationary/stable: 30-50-20 → simple reproduction, the percentages of population
remains constant over time, population contains equal birth rates and death rates; and
Constrictive/Regressive: 20-50-30 → Narrowed population, long life expectancy, low
death rate and low birth rate.
42. Thresholds of senility: Registered, economical, legal, psychological, social,
biological.
43. Second demographic transition and its features: Decrease in fertility in women,
increase in number of non-formal relationships, decrease in mortality rate, longer
living, migration, increase in aspirations of individuals, care of high quality of life
and children.
44. Causes of ageing of population: Decline in mortality, economic growth, medicine
and hygiene, emancipation of women, changes in family structures, lack of
generation replacement.
45. Aspects of old age – biological (geroscience) → Genomic instability, epigemetic,
cellular senescence… , psychological (Erik Erikson) → Trust vs mistrust, intimacy vs
isolation…, social (social roles, ageism) → Changes in family and kinship relations,
social perception of old age: ageism in society. Social roles are non formal (family
roles) and formal (citizen roles, patient roles etc).
46. Needs of silver generation: Activity, support, services, industry, health care
47. Geriatrics → medical specialty focused on care and treatment of older persons and
gerontology → multidisciplinary and is concerned with physical, mental, and social
aspects and implications of ageing.
48. Quality of life, its dimensions and characteristics → Subjective dimension = self
evaluation and Objective dimension = measurement. Dimensions are: medical,
economic, psychological, philosophical and religious.

DEATH AND DYING AS SOCIO-CULTURAL AND SOCIOMEDICAL ISSUE

49. General cultural perspective on death and dying (what is it: the end, the beginning,
the passage, when it happens: medical criteria, psychological death, social death,
is there any afterlife, how do we treat the dead body, how do we grieve: allowed or
not in public in certain cultures)
50. Three types of death: Biological, psychological, social
51. The difference between death → act, formerly and dying → process, nowadays,
added time
52. Former and current approach to death in the life cycle → Former: home and nowadays:
INSTITUTIONALIZATION
53. Institutionalization of death → Begun in the 1950s, dying within institutionalized
settings.
54. Stages of dying/grief (E. Kubler-Ross) → Denial → Anger → Bargaining → Depression
→ acceptance
55. Types of awareness contexts: Restricted, Suspicious, Mutual pretending, Open
56. The SPIKES protocol: S → Setting up, P → Perception, I → Invitation, K →
Knowledge, E → Emotions with Empathy, S → Strategy or summary
57. Death from the perspective of a family – grief reaction: Feelings, thoughts,
physical sensations, behaviors , stages of grief: Contradiction → grief → Acceptance

DISABILITY AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM

58. Causes of disability in developing: Malnutrition, military conflicts and inaccessibility
to health services and developed countries: Genetic-gained disability, chronic
diseases, accidents and ageing
59. Definitions of disability (WHO, ICF, impairment, disease, handicap, descriptive
definitions)
60. Changes in language: Dis abled → Less abled
61. Criteria of disability: Type of disability, time when disability appeared and degree
of disability
62. Medical → The problem is the disabled person and social models of disability → The
problem is the disabling world
63. The spectrum model, the moral model, the tragedy/charity model, the
legitimization model, the economic model, the market model
64. Sociological theories regarding disability – label, stigma, primary and secondary
deviance
65. Social oppression: Education, salary, labor, architecture, sexuality, civil rights,
leisure time and recreation
66. Disability prevention: primary secondary and tertiary
67. Consequences of disability → for the family: negligence or overprotection, for the
community: negative reactions (stereotypes and attitudes) or positive reactions
(social support)

THE MEDICALIZATION OF SOCIETY

68. Definition of the proccess of medicalization → non medical problems are being
defined and treated as medical ones
69. Levels of medicalization: Conceptual, institutional, interactional
70. Context of medicalization: Religion: a bad person → a blaming approach with magical
reaction and Medicine: a sick person → Rational approach with instrumental reaction
71. Models of medicalization and its characteristics with key terms and names of
contributors: Early model: Wootton 1951: It is always easier to build up a clinic
than to pull down slums: Medicalization of social disorders… and New model: end
of 80s and beginning of 90s: Peter Conrad and the degrees of medicalization
72. Pharmaceuticalization → there is a pill for every ill → there is an ill for every pill. It is the
process by which social, behavioral or bodily conditions are treated, or deemed to be in
need of treatment, with medical drugs by doctors or patients. and its dimensions with key
features →
The redefinition and reconstruction of health problems as having a pharmaceutical
solution
The changing forms of governance: globalization and the new role of regulatory
agencies in promotting innovation
Mediation: the framing of health problems in the media and popular culture as having
a pharmaceutical solution
Patients, consumers and the life world: the creation of new social identities and the
mobilization of patient or consumer groups around drugs
 The use of drugs for non-medical purposes and the creation of new consumer
markets
Pharmaceutical futures in the making: drug innovation and the colonisation of health
futures

CULTURE AND MEDICINE

73. Terms: a migrant, an asylum seeker a refugee
74. Definition of culture
75. Material (tangible) and non material (non tangible) culture
76. The concept of cultural iceberg – formal and informal culture
77. Cultural shock – definitione and stages
78. Hofstede`s concept of 6 cultural dimensions and their characteristics
79. Universalistic and evaluative approach, ethnocentrism
80. Traditional and modern medicine
81. Social determinants of health
82. Health disparities
83. Cultural influences on pain

SEMINARS

HEALTH AND ILLNESS AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS

84. Disease, illness, sickness – differences in definitions
85. Sociological approaches to disease and its characteristics: deviation (sick role by
Parsons), stigma (enacted and felt stigma, factors influencing stigma, tackling
stigma, labelling theory, primary and secondary deviance), field of conflict,
dependence, adaptative perspective, socioecological perspective

DOCTOR – PATIENT RELATION

86. 2 typologies of doctor-patient relations
87. Functions and levels of communication
88. Model of communication and types of noise
89. Non-verbal communication – key features
90. Non-verbal signals and their description – kinesics (gestrues – emblems,
illustrators, adaptators; head movements; posture; oculesics and its function;
facial expression (mimics)), haptics, vocalics (its types and functions), proxemics
(4 types of spaces), chronemics (4 types of time), personal presentation,
environment