Flashcards

Flashcards will help you get to grips with the key terms introduced in the book/ or in each chapter. Get your friends to test you for a more fun learning experience. 

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Absolute poverty: Having such restricted access to food, shelter and clothing that it is life threatening.

Actant: Within actor-network theory each part of a network is referred to as an actant.  There can be human actants and non-human actants, such as machines or technological devices.

Actor-Network Theory (ANT): The main tenet of this theory is that technology is not passive but plays an active role in shaping networks, realtionships and power between humans and technology.

Ageism: A combination of a set of beliefs originating in biological variation related to the ageing process and the actions of corporate bodies and their agents, and the resulting views of ordinary people.

Agency: See Structure.

Alternative medicine: Any medical practice that falls outside the boundaries of conventional medicine. Some commentators use the term ‘complementary medicine’ to imply that non-conventional medicine can be used in conjunction with western biomedicine rather than as a radical alternative.

Analysis: Making sense of data and deriving conclusions that inform a research question.

Biographical disruption: The destabilisation, questioning and reorganisation of identity after the onset of chronic illness.

Civilised body: A concept developed by Norbert Elias to denote a historical and cultural shift whereby the body is subject to increasing restraints that appear to limit the ‘natural’ body. The development of rules around eating manners is an example of how the body has become ‘civilised’.

Class: A complex stratification of society based on access to and control of power, status and economic resources.

Clinical autonomy: The freedom of clinicians to make decisions on the basis of their professional judgement and specialist knowledge. This definition implies the downgrading of other assessments of the same situation.

Clinical gaze: Belongs to a specific discourse on the body in which the body is perceived as a physical object capable of being observed, measured and treated with little or no reference to the person.

Clinical method: The process that begins with diagnosis and continues with prognosis and subsequent treatment.

Community: A contested concept in sociology that basically refers to a group of people who possess, or create, a common identity.

Community care: The range of policies, procedures and legislation that is concerned with the planning, funding and delivery of services for older people, people with learning and physical difficulties and illness, people with mental health problems, people with HIV/AIDS, drug or alcohol problems and other progressive illnesses, and disabled children.

Dependency theory: This claims that older people’s lives are restricted by poverty and by being unable to access social and cultural resources.

Digital health technologies: Usually associated with web-based and internet applications that seek to improve health and wellbeing.  Given that these technologies are constantly and rapidly developing, what constitutes a digital health technology is not a stable definition.

Discourse: A specific way of thinking about and conceptualising a particular subject. The essence of a discourse is the language used to express thoughts. Science is an example of a discourse that rules out some kinds of explanation (for example spiritual) and only allows for others (for example, rational and evidenced ‘facts’).

Discrimination: Acting in a way that treats people from another race or ethnic group unequally.

Disengagement theory: The theory that older people relinquish their roles in society so as to minimise social disruption as they approach their final years.

Dissemination: Making the results and conclusions of research known to a wider audience.

Embodiment: The experience of living through and with the physical body. Our experiences are essentially embodied. For example, we experience pleasure and pain through the body. Feelings of happiness and sadness are as physical as they are emotional.

Enlightenment, The: A body of thought developed in the eighteenth century, which challenged explanations of the world based on religious or superstitious explanations. Enlightenment thought, by contrast, was based on a commitment to rational, secular and scientific explanations.

Ethics: Guiding principles and considerations concerning the conduct of the researcher in ensuring that no harm is done to the physical and emotional well-being of those who participate in their research.

Ethnicity: The cultural heritage and identity of a group of people.

Ethnoization: Were a partiducler disease or illness is mistakingly associated with one specific ethnic group.

Feminism: A broad concept that explains social structures as fundamentally based on inequalities between women and men. In general, feminist sociologists have challenged the traditional preoccupation of the discipline with the effects of industrialisation and the world of paid work and institutional politics. Such an approach, it is argued, has ignored the significant elements of society such as the family and gender relationships.

Fifth Wave of Public Health:  A speculative set of policies and approaches that are needed to deal with the health problems created by living in the unequal and consumersit societies of  late modernity. 

Functionalism: A theory of human society as a collection of interrelated substructures, the purpose of which is to sustain the overarching structure of society. As such, functionalism provides a ‘consensual’ representation of society based on, first, an agreement to sustain society as it is and, second, shared norms and beliefs.

Gender: The social, cultural and psychological differences between men and women.

Gini coefficient: A standard way of measuring income inequality within a nation state.  Can be measured on a scale of 0 to 1, or 0 to 100.  Basicaly, the lower the score the more equal the country in terms of income.

Hegemonic masculinity: The dominant form of masculinity in society. Currently, this refers to men who are healthy, wealthy, white and powerful and act in a ‘macho’ manner. Very few men live up to this expectation but it exerts a strong influence over both men and women.

Hysteria: A ‘disease’ once thought to be caused by the movement of the womb around the body but later described as a disease of the nervous system. The symptoms of hysteria have been described as weeping, fainting and a general malaise (James 1994).

Iatrogenesis: Harm caused by doctors. In its most literal sense it refers to the harmful consequences of medical intervention. Illich also uses the concept to draw attention to our cultural dependence on medicine and medical practitioners, such that we do not seek alternative explanations or alternative remedies for ill health.

Ideology: A set of beliefs that informs action, or the making of policy by politicians.

Informal care: A combination of service and affection provided on the basis of kinship or friendship. It is mainly unpaid.

Institutional racism: The intentional or unintentional actions of a public or private body that result in people from ethnic minority backgrounds being discriminated against.

Life course: A way of conceptualising the passage of life that better recognises the increasing fluidity and fragmentation of contemporary society, and the interaction of individual agency and social structure.

Life cycle: A concept borrowed from natural science, implying a series of set rigid stages that humans move through in their lives.

Literature review: A systematic analysis of all published material that is of interest or relevant to the research.

Macro: The larger, structural aspects of society. In terms of criminal activities, this might refer to an analysis of the economic circumstances of criminals, and an analysis of law making and law enforcement, as well as of the role of the state in regulating such behaviour.

Market system: A system where maximum efficiency, economy and performance are supposedly achieved by having either individuals or organisations competing against each other for customers or clients. The act of competition is thought to increase responsiveness to customer needs. Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative administration applied this approach to the UK NHS during the 1980s.

Marxism: A theory that explains social phenomena as primarily determined by the economic structure of society. Social change, it argues, is the product of changes in economic relationships. In the context of the modern period the advent of capitalism and industrialisation are seen as producing social divisions based on the ownership or non-ownership of property.

Matriarchy: See Patriarchy.

Medical model of disability: A model that places a strong emphasis on seeing disability as an individual tragedy where, by a quirk of fate, either genetic or accidental, someone becomes disabled and their life is in many ways ruined.

Medical model of health: A specific way of thinking about and explaining disease based on biological factors.

Medicalisation: A concept used to describe a tendency to explain behaviour and experiences in medical terms.

Method: The way in which actual data are gathered.

Micro: The small-scale aspects of human behaviour, for example why individuals embark on criminal activities.

Micropolitics: How individuals or organizations can realise their aims or exert their power in a specific defined context.

Neoliberalism: A disputed term, but seen as both an economic and ethical ideology that stresses the free market and individual responsibility. 

Neo-material perspectives: These offer explanations of class and health inequality that emphasise the unequal distribution of resources such as housing, income and access to education.

Paradigm: A systematic way of thinking.

Passing: Attempts to conceal a potential stigma and prevent its disclosure.

Patriarchy: Male domination in society, expressed both privately and publicly in culture, economics and politics and through physical violence. Matriarchy refers to a society that is female dominated.

Postmodernist theories: These veer away from all-embracing theories that attempt to explain all social phenomena. Instead, the emphasis is on the impossibility of uncovering the ‘truth’ about society. Postmodernism draws our attention to how our knowledge of the social world is constructed, and offers a critical and questioning approach to understanding the world around us. Also see Discourse.

Power: A subject of much debate within sociology. In the context of this discussion, the concept refers to (a) the ability to ensure that a particular point of view prevails in a disputed situation, (b) the capacity to ensure that someone acts in a certain way, and (c) the ability to stifle opposition to a particular perspective.

Prejudice: A negative attitude towards someone from another race or ethnic group.

Private provision or private sector: The situation when individuals are responsible for organising and purchasing their own health and social care. This is achieved by taking out insurance and other policies with private for-profit companies. The extent and level of coverage are decided by what the individual can and wishes to spend. This approach is common in the United States.

Psycho-social perspectives: Explanations of class and health inequality that emphasise the negative emotional experiences of living in an unequal society, particularly feelings of stress, shame and powerlessness.

Public provision or public sector: The situation when health and social care is organised and provided by the state through a network of different services at national and local level. Funding usually comes from taxation or some form of national or social insurance. This approach is common in European countries.

Qualitative research: Mainly interview-based research that seeks to find out the meanings that people attach to their experiences and actions.

Quantitative research: Mainly statistics-based research that is useful for answering research questions that focus on measuring the extent and range of particular phenomena.

Race: A highly contested cocnpet that categorises people by reference to biological differences between people based on skin colour and other physical features.  The genetic differences between so-called races are extremely small and many social scientists prefer no to use the term.

Racialisation: The process by which a group of people are  characterized as being a particular ethnic group, even if they do not see themselves in that way.

Racism: The belief that one race is superior to another.

Relative poverty: Having the minimum requirements of a particular society in relation to other people in that society.

Reproductive technology: A range of medical interventions (pharmaceutical and invasive), the purpose of which is either to promote or to prevent pregnancy.

Research question: The aspect of the social world that is to be investigated.

Secularisation: The acceptance of non-religious explanations of the world.

Sex: The biological differences between men and women.

Sick role: A functionalist theory that outlines the privileges and expectations associated with being legitimately sick in contemporary society.

Social constructionism: A theory that emphasises the extent to which ‘society’ is actively and creatively produced by human beings.

Social model of disability: The argument that prejudicial attitudes, disabling environments and cultural barriers socially create disability.

Social model of health: The view that health is multidimensional with social factors, such as class, gender and ethnicity, influencing and patterning health and illness.

Social policy: How governments organise the meeting of the health and social needs of their population.

Socialisation: The process whereby we become aware of the values and beliefs of society.

Society: A range of external factors that influence our beliefs and behaviours.

Sociological imagination: A concept developed by C. Wright Mills, referring to a specific way of thinking about the world, characterised by a willingness to think beyond our own experiences and to challenge common-sense or obvious explanations of human society and human behaviour.

Sociology: The study of the interaction between groups and individuals in human society.

Stigma: An attribute that ‘discredits’, or prevents, someone’s full acceptance in a particular situation.

Structure: A similar term to ‘society’ in so far as it draws our attention to those factors that help determine our experiences through the establishment of expected ways of behaving. The contrasting concept of agency means that individuals do not simply act out predetermined roles but ‘interpret’ those roles in a way unique to them.

Surveillance: A form of scrutiny and observation that does not necessarily depend directly on the physical proximity of the watcher and the watched. Subtle forms of surveillance are said to characterise modern society, as typified by the tendency of individuals to act in ways that they think they ‘ought’ to.

Symbolic interactionism: A theory of social phenomena from the perspective of its participants. An essential element of this theoretical perspective is the unique nature of the social world as made up of the actions of participants motivated by human consciousness. The meaning of human action cannot, therefore, be observed or assumed, but is ‘interpreted’ by studying the meanings that people attach to their behaviour.

Telemedicine/ telecare: Technologies that allow people to live with greater independence or at a distance from a healthcare provider.

Theory: Within sociology, this refers to attempts to provide systematic and consistent explanations of social phenomena.

Third Age theory: The theory that old age is a ‘golden age’ where enriching and rewarding experiences are available due to freedom from family and work commitments made possible by a consumerist society.

Third Way: A political ideology associated with the British Labour Party that stresses cooperation between private and public provision, by combining the best practices of both.

Traditional Medicine: Approaches to health and healing that are deeply woven into the culture and heritage of a specific society.  Typcially, these approaches do not conform to western or orthodox biomedical undersatdings of health.