Health Sociology & Well-being Flashcards

The social determinants of health framework primarily argues that health outcomes are most strongly shaped by:

Answer: Social, economic, and environmental conditions in which people live

The social determinants of health framework holds that conditions such as income, education, employment, housing, and social support are the primary drivers of health outcomes across populations.

Talcott Parsons' concept of the 'sick role' specifies that ill individuals are expected to:

Answer: Be exempt from normal duties while seeking competent medical help

Parsons defined the sick role as a temporary, socially sanctioned status in which the ill person is relieved of normal obligations but is expected to seek professional help and work toward recovery.

Michael Marmot's Whitehall studies demonstrated that among British civil servants, mortality rates were:

Answer: Inversely related to occupational grade, with lower grades having higher mortality

The Whitehall studies showed a clear social gradient where lower occupational status was associated with higher mortality, revealing that health differences extend throughout the social hierarchy.

Medicalization, as defined in health sociology, refers to the process by which:

Answer: Non-medical problems are redefined and treated as medical conditions

Medicalization describes the expansion of medical jurisdiction to encompass human experiences and problems—such as grief, hyperactivity, or addiction—that were not previously considered medical in nature.

The concept of 'fundamental causes' of disease, developed by Link and Phelan, emphasizes that socioeconomic status remains a persistent cause of health disparities because:

Answer: Higher-status groups can always access whatever resources protect health, even as those resources change over time

Link and Phelan argued that SES is a fundamental cause because high-status individuals can leverage knowledge, money, and social connections to benefit from whatever risk or protective factors are relevant in any era.

Social capital in the context of health sociology most directly refers to:

Answer: The networks, norms, and trust that facilitate collective action and resource sharing

Social capital—comprising social networks, norms of reciprocity, and trust—facilitates information sharing, collective action, and emotional support, all of which contribute to better health outcomes.

The biopsychosocial model of health, contrasted with the biomedical model, proposes that illness should be understood as:

Answer: An interaction between biological, psychological, and social factors

The biopsychosocial model, introduced by Engel, expands the biomedical approach by recognizing that psychological states and social contexts interact with biological processes to shape health and disease.