Sociology

Sociology Study Guide

in that it is a condition where an individual perceives that he/she is suffering a bodily disorder. A sickness is sociological in nature in that it is a condition where others observe that an individual is suffering a bodily disease. A disease is biological in nature in that is a condition that is objectively diagnosedby a medical practitioner. Epidemiology is the study of the origin, distribution, and transmission of a disease in the population. Discovering how a disease is transmitted helps to identify ways of preventing or eliminating the disease. Diseases can disrupt not only families and relationships, but entire societies. Different types of disease are as follows: • Endemic: A disease that is always present in a population. • Epidemic: A usually uncommon disease that becomes a rapidly wide-spreading outbreak that affects a significant portion of the population. • Pandemic: A disease that has spread worldwide. • Acute: A disease that onsets rapidly and has a short duration. • Chronic: A disease that onsets slowly and has a long duration. Development of Medicine Medicine has evolved from theories of how diseases operate into treatments to effectively combat them. Louis Pasteur’s Germ Theory was a turning point in the development of medicine. It switched the focus from treating the sick to understanding the disease. Pasteur surmised that most diseases are causedby microscopic organisms (germs) that enter the human body. Medicine has grown from that first understanding to the empire that it is today. Now, an increasing number of conditions or problems are being defined as diseases and treated medically. This medicalization of society has four tenets: • The medical institution has grown. (This is obvious) • Life events are considered a medical condition. (Example: pregnancy) • Deviant behavior is considered a medical condition. (Example: alcoholism) • The public accepts the medicalization. Perspectives • Functionalist Perspective: Talcott Parsons, one of the first functionalists to illustrate the social role of sickness, purported that sickness is a type of deviance. The sick are exempt from social responsibilities, however, and society must pick up those roles to function properly. Functionalists relay that the purposes of medicine in a society are: o To maintain health in the society o To treat disease o To conduct research and create treatments o To maintain social order by establishing who is sick and who isn’t

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