Health Sociology

Albaha University
• Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences
Health sociology
• Dr. Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna
Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna 18/27/2019

LECTURE 1
• Concepts of Sociology
• OBJECTIVES
• By the end of this lecture the students should be
able to:
• Understand the concepts of sociology and
related terms.
• Define society

Concepts of sociology
A society is a group of people who share a culture and live more or less together. They
have a set of institutions which provide what they need to meet their physical, social,
and psychological needs and which maintain order and the values of the culture.
Social structures are the more or less stable patterns of people’s interactions and
relationships.
Institutions are the principal social structures that organize, direct, and execute the
essential tasks of living. Societies represent the most comprehensive and complex type
of social structure in today’s world.
Some institutions are: Family, Medical, educational, economic, religious, legal
and political systems

4
Society Is Studied By…
 Using Scientific methods to Study
 Variations in social structures
 Variations in social Institutions
 How they are held together
 How they change
 How they effect the people who interact
in them
 This is what makes up sociology
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5
What Is Sociology?
• Sociology Focuses on:
– How social relationships influence people’s
attitudes and behavior
– How major social institutions affect us
– How we affect other individuals, groups, and
organizations
Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna8/27/2019

6
Sociology: The systematic study of
the relationship between the individual
and society and of the consequences
of different types of relationships.
What Is Sociology?
Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna8/27/2019

The Sociological Perspective
 The sociological perspective helps us to
see general social patterns in the behavior
of particular individuals.
 It allows or forces us to look beyond the
outer appearances of our social world and
discover new levels of reality
 It also encourages us to realize that society
guides our thoughts and deeds — to see
the strange in the familiar
 Sociology also encourages us to see
individuality in social context.

Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna
• The sociological imagination provides the ability to
see our private experiences and personal difficulties
as entwined with the structural arrangements of our
society and the times in which we live.
• Understand social marginality, the state of being
excluded from social activity as an “outsider.”
People at the margins of social life are aware of
social patterns that others rarely think about
• C. Wright Mills described sociological imagination as
“An awareness of the relationship between an
individual and the wider society, and …the ability to
view our society as an outsider might, rather than
relying only on our individual perspective, which is
shaped by our cultural biases”
The Sociological Imagination
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Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna 9
Benefits of the sociological
perspective
• The sociological perspective helps us assess the truth of
“common sense.” The sociological perspective helps us
assess both opportunities and constraints in our lives.
• The sociological perspective empowers us to be active
participants in our society.
• The sociological perspective helps us to live in a diverse
world. It also encourages us to realize that society
guides our thoughts and deeds — to see the strange in
the familiar
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The Origins of Sociology
Three major social changes during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries are important to the development of
sociology.
1. The rise of a factory-based industrial economy.
2. The emergence of great cities in Europe.
3. Political changes, including a rising concern with
individual liberty and rights.
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Founders of Sociology
• Aguste Comte
– System of Positive Polity, or Treatise on Sociology,
Instituting the Religion of Humanity.
• Emile Durkheim
– The Division of Labor in Society
– The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
– Suicide
• Karl Marx
– Das Capital
• Max Weber
– The Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism
– The Sociology of Religion
– The theory of Social and Economic organization

Aguste Comte
Auguste Comte: Lived 1798-1857
Comte saw sociology as the product of a three-stage historical
development:
 The theological stage, in which thought was guided
by religion.
 The metaphysical stage, a transitional phase.
 The scientific stage
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Emile Durkheim
• Lived 1858-1917
• Influential French
sociologist, educator, and
public official
• Studied the ties that bind
society together
• Mechanical solidarity
– Traditional societies
are united by social
similarities
• Organic solidarity
– Modern societies are
united by
interdependence
• Anomie
– Rapid social change
leads to loss of social
norms and produces
many social problems
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Karl Marx
• Lived 1818-1883 German philosopher Writer and social
critic
• Personally involved in social change
• Believed social scientists should help to improve society
• Struggle between owners
and workers
• Capitalist owners will
oppress ordinary people
• Eventually, people
become alienated
• People lose control over
their lives
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Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna
15
Max Weber
• Lived 1864-1920
• German scholar who
studied wide variety of
topics
• Like other peers, he
studied the impact of
industrialization on
peoples’ lives
• Support for value free
studies and objective
research
• Rationalization
– Traditional societies
emphasize emotion and
personal ties
– Modern societies
emphasize calculation,
efficiency, self control
– Personal ties decline and
people become
“disenchanted”
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Marx, Durkheim, and Weber Compared
• How is life treating you?
– Marx’s alienated person
• I really don’t care (because I’m detached from my work
and from other people).
– Durkheim’s anomic person
• I’m distressed by it (because there are no common rules
or norms to guide me).
– Weber’s rational person
• Let me think about it, and I’ll get back to you later
(because I need to make some calculations before I
know how to answer).
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Other Important Founders
2. Harriet Martineau: Feminist and Methodologist
Studied social life in Britain and US, translated
Comte. Studied the impact of inequality
3. Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism
An evolutionary model of society, known for “social
Darwinism” but thought that attempts at social reform
were wrong.
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Lecture 2
• The sociological theories
• Define theory

Sociological Theory
A theory is a statement of how and why specific facts are related. The
goal of sociological theory is to explain social behavior in the real
world.
 Theories are based on theoretical paradigms, sets of
assumptions that guide thinking and research.
Sociologists ask two basic questions:
 What issues should we study?
 How should we connect the facts?
I call this the plotting or outlining of how you want to tell the
story of society.
 In addition to the three perspectives today there are three ways
of using the perspectives to look at social issues.
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• Three general theoretical orientations
or perspectives for the study of society
Sociological Meta Theories
– Structural-Functionalism perspective
– Conflict perspective
– Interactionist perspective
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The Structural-Functionalist
Perspective
• Parts of a social system work together to
maintain a balance
– Functions are actions that have positive
consequences
– Dysfunctions are actions that have negative
consequences
– Manifest functions are intended
– Latent functions are unintended
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Structural Functionalism
● The structural-functional theory is a framework for building
theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts
work together to promote solidarity and stability.
- It asserts that our lives are guided by social structures
(relatively stable patterns of social behavior).
- Each social structure has social functions, or
consequences, for the operation of society as a whole.
- Key figures in the development of this paradigm include
Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Herbert Spencer, and
Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton
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The Conflict Perspective
• Society is held together by who has power
at a moment in time
– Power allows some to dominate others
– Dominance leads to conflict
– Conflict and change are inevitable
– Conflict holds society together as new
alliances are formed and others fail
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Social Conflict
●The social-conflict paradigm is a framework for building theory that
sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and
change.
-Most sociologists who favor the conflict paradigm attempt not
only to understand society but also to reduce social inequality
-Key figures in this tradition include Karl Marx, W. E. B. Du Bois,
and Wright Mills
●This paradigm has developed rapidly in recent years. It has several
weaknesses.
- It ignores social unity based on mutual interdependence and
shared values.
- Because it is explicitly political, it cannot claim scientific
objectivity.
- Like the structural-functional paradigm, it envisions society in
terms of broad abstractions.
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The Symbolic Interaction
Perspective
• Individuals construct the nature of their social
world through social interaction
– Social life is possible only because humans can
communicate through symbols
– All human communications take place through the
perception and interpretation of symbols
– How people define situations is important
– There is a general consensus on how situations are
defined
– We do not respond directly to reality but to the
symbolic meanings we attach to the real world
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Table 1.1 (p. 15)
Comparison of Three Theoretical Perspectives

Sociology’s Four
Realms(domains)
• Basic Science
– Expanding knowledge
• Critical Sociology
– Debate, argument, and controversy
• Applied Research
– Application of knowledge to real-world
problems
• Public Activism
– Working for social change
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• Applied sociology:
use of the discipline
of sociology with the
intent of yielding
practical
applications for
human behavior and
organizations
Practicing Sociology
• Clinical sociology:
dedicated to
facilitating change
by altering social
relationships or
restructuring social
institutions
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Lecture 3
• The process of socialization

Primary Socialization
The Process of Socialization

The socialization process-
• Socialization is the process of learning how to
become human and behave in ways which are
acceptable to the expectations in others. As a
process it begins at birth and continues
throughout our lifespan. We never stop learning
how to behave due to the ever changing nature
of the society in which we live and due to new
situations we made find ourselves in. There are
two main types of socialization.
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Primary socialization-
• Primary socialization occurs between the
individual and those people in their life with
whom they have primary relationships. A primary
relationship can be categorised as one in which
the individual has close, personal, face-to-face
contact. The first primary relationship that the
vast majority of us form is with our parents or
guardians with whom our first primary
socialization will occur. As we develop and age
we form primary relationships with close friends,
and other adults through work, marriage etc

Agents of socialization-
• We call the people responsible for socialisation,
agents of socialisation and by extension we can
talk about agencies of socialisation such as the
family, the education system, the workplace and
so on. In this way the first agency responsible for
primary socialisation is the family and the agents
of socialisation are a child’s parents. Through
primary socialisation a child learns things such as
talking and walking as well as values such as the
difference between right and wrong and how to act
appropriately with others such as adults and
authority figures.

• “Societies work or function because each individual
member of that society plays particular roles and each
role carries a status and norms which are informed by the
values and beliefs of the culture of that society. The
process of learning these roles and the norms and values
appropriate to them from those around us is called
socialisation.”
(Barnard and Burgess (1996) “Sociology Explained”)

Agent 001- Parents?
• The majority of children still grow up in a
family headed by both natural parents.
• The process of primary socialization
carried out by parents might be split into 4
sub-processes…

1. Imitation-
• One way children learn from
their parents is through
IMITATION. They may copy
the way their parents’ talk or
their table-manners for
example.

• As children get older they use
their parents as role-models.

2. Manipulation
• Parents also deploy positive and negative
sanctions, such as praising a child when
they behave in the way the parent wants
them to. For example, giving stickers to a
young child as a reward. Parents use
negative sanctions to discourage
unwanted behaviour.

3. Canalization
• This involves chaneling
the child’s interests into
toys and activities seen
as normal.
• The most obvious
examples are associated
with the acquisition of
gender identity.

4. Verbal appellation
• This is a method of social control which
teaches children to identify the appropriate
behavior through the use of voice
inflection and the use of terms of
endearment.

Diversity-
• The socialization process
may vary according to the
particular type of family
structure.
• An absent father may find it
difficult to act as a role-
model to his children.
• Factors such as social
class an ethnicity are also
likely to effect exactly how
the process takes place.8/27/2019 Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna 42

Lecture 4
The Social Model of Health

Discuss
How can we measure how healthy our
society is?

Measuring Health & Illness
Two indicators are used: Morbidity and
Mortality.
It is impossible to measure morbidity with any
validity or reliability because definitions of
health and illness are so subjective.
Therefore, mortality rates are the most
commonly used to measure health/illness.

The Social Model of Health is an umbrella
term for a range of ideas and strategies about
health and healthcare.
It emerged as a result of criticisms against
the biomedical model.
RECAP:
What were the key criticisms of the
biomedical model? Write down at least
two!

• The biomedical model looks for the causes
of illness within the individual.
• The social model looks for the causes of
illness within society.

McKeown (1976)
• The work of McKeown (and other
medical historians) is one of the
biggest criticisms of biomedicine – and
demonstrates the importance of the social
model.
• The McKeown Thesis states that
medical intervention has been largely
ineffective in curing illness and
disease.

Discuss
• If medical treatment was so irrelevant,
what were the social causes of
improvement?

Social Factors
1. Nutrition
• Improvement in people’s diet – due to
advances in agriculture (e.g. new crops,
increased availability) – from end of
C17th onwards.
• Better nutritional levels increase
resistance to infectious disease (and
reduce death by starvation).

Social Factors
2. Public Hygiene
E.g. Cleaner, piped water and better sewage
disposal.
• This reduces exposure to disease (esp.
water-borne diseases like cholera).
• Improved food hygiene from 1900 also
helped (e.g. Introduction of sterilisation
and bottling).8/27/2019 Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna 51

Social Factors
3. Birth Limitation
• Fall in birth-rate and family size in the
middle-classes from 1870s.
• Limits on population crucial for health of a
society.
• Drop in birth-rate also nearly eliminates
infanticide by reducing unwanted
pregnancy.8/27/2019 Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna 52

Criticisms of McKeown
• Not all diseases respond to an
improvement in the social environment.
• Medicine was the decisive factor in
curing/treating diseases like diphtheria and
polio.

In Pairs...
List five other social or environmental
factors that might influence health.

The Social Model
• Health and illness are not biological facts.
They are relative.

Relative To…
• The society you live in
• Your gender
• Your Social Class
• Your ethnicity
• Your age
In pairs: Identify at least two ways in which
EACH ONE of the above could influence how
healthy/ill you feel (5 mins)

Relative to…
• The society you live in (e.g. obesity)
• Your gender (e.g. men less likely to define
themselves as “ill”)
• Your social class (e.g. working class accept higher
levels of illness)
• Your ethnicity (Punjabis in Bradford suffer from a
‘sinking heart’)
• Your age (e.g. joint pains being accepted as normal)

The Social Model
Nettleton (2006)
• Health and disease are socially patterned.
• Illness is not randomly distributed: There are
clear patterns in terms of class, gender and
ethnicity.
• This suggests it is social and
environmental factors that make
some groups more vulnerable to
disease than others.

The Social Model
• Promotes the view that the definitions and
judgements of lay people are just as valid as
professional assessments.
• Much illness is diagnosed and treated within the
family.
• Illness is a personal experience, not a medical
one.

The Social Model
• McKeown developed his work into a
critique of modern healthcare.
• He argues that we spend too much money
on treating disease and not enough on
prevention and health education.

Criticisms of the Social Model
• Most of the time, illness exists. It’s not
relative or subjective: If you’re ill, you’re ill.
• The social model doesn’t ‘replace’ the
biomedical model: It puts it into
perspective.

Health & Societal Development
• Most diseases can be classified as acute
or chronic diseases
• The most effective and least expensive
means of dealing with chronic disease is
preventive medicine.
• However, modern medicine is organized
around curative medicine.

Classifying Countries
• Three categories according to economic status:
– Developed countries have relatively high gross
national income and have economies made up
of many different industries.
– Developing countries have relatively low gross
national income and their economies are much
simpler.
– Least developed countries are the poorest
countries of the world.8/27/2019 Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna 63

Life Expectancy
• Average number of years individuals born
in a given year can expect to live.
• Infant mortality - Number of deaths of live-
born infants under 1 year of age.

Maternal Mortality Rates
• A measure of deaths that result from
complications associated with pregnancy,
childbirth, and unsafe abortion.
• Maternal mortality is the leading cause of death
and disability for women ages 15–49 in
developing countries.
• The most common causes of maternal death are
hemorrhage, infection, and complications related
to unsafe abortion.

Social Factors in Health
and Illness
• Socioeconomic status
– Those who are lower in income, educational
attainment, and occupational attainment have
substantially higher disease rates and death
rates than their affluent counterparts.
• Gender
– Women appear to be healthier than men,
especially if life expectancy is considered. But
women have more acute, non-life-threatening
illnesses. So reality is complicated on this issue.

Social Factors in Health
and Illness
• Race
–Some of the impact of race on health
has to do with discrimination.
• Lifestyle factors
–Industrialization has improved people’s
lives as well as created health hazards.

Lecture 5
• Medicine and Health Care

█ What does sociology contribute to something as
seemingly biological as health?
█ What is social epidemiology
A Look Ahead
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• Epidemic
– A widespread outbreak of a contagious disease
• Pandemic
– An outbreak of a contagious disease over a very
large area or worldwide
• Disease
– A pathology that disrupts the usual functions of the
body
• Health
– The capacity to satisfy role requirements
DEFINTION OF RELATED TERMS
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Illness and Social Order
• Illness is a threat to social order; if too many
people are sick at one time, it affects our
ability to perform tasks necessary for
continued operation of society
• Sick role: societal expectations about
attitudes and behavior of a person labeled as
ill
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Components of The KSA Health Care
Delivery System
• Do we have a health care or an illness treatment System?
• Hospitals
• Physicians
• The Doctor-Patient Relationship
• Nurses
• Medical Schools
• Public Health systems at various levels
• Nursing Homes
• Pharmaceutical / Drug Companies
• Medical Device makers
• Insurance Companies
8/27/2019

Health Care in the KSA
• Physicians, Nurses, and Patients
– Physicians (mostly male) have controlled
interactions with patients and nurses (mostly
female)
– Increasing numbers of physicians are men ; may
alter doctor–patient relationship
• Alternatives to Traditional Health Care
– Growing interest in holistic medicine
– According to WHO, 80 percent of people who live
in poorest countries use alternative medicine
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Medical Providers
Primary Roles
• Physicians
– Have the authority to
diagnose, prescribe
treatment
– Certify death or
competency
– Prestige results in
many privileges
– Most are specialists
today
• Nurses
– Assist in medical
settings under the
supervision of a
physician
– Have less education
than physician
– Most are women
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Social Epidemiology
• Social epidemiology: study of disease
distribution, impairment, and general health
status across a population
– Contemporary epidemiology concerned with
epidemics, and also nonepidemic diseases,
injuries, drug addiction and alcoholism,
suicide, and mental illness
• Incidence: number of new cases of a specific
disorder that occur within a given population
during a stated period, usually a year
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Social Epidemiology
• Prevalence: total number of cases of a specific
disorder that exist at a given time
• Morbidity rate: incidence of disease in a given
population
• Mortality rate: incidence of death in a given
population
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Social Class
• Studies show people in lower classes have
higher rates of mortality and disability
– Crowded living conditions
– Substandard housing
– Financial strain
– Poor diet
– Stress
– Inability to afford quality health care
8/27/2019

Lecture 6-8
• Beliefs and Values Norms and Culture

Beliefs and Values and Culture
The unseen core of every human group

• Learning Outcome
• Identify and explain the difference between
values and beliefs
• students are able to identify their own
values and beliefs
• Students will be able to identify values and
beliefs of another country or culture

Introduction
 Beliefs, values and norms within an group are a part of
what is commonly referred to as “culture.”
 Norms and beliefs are expressions of values.
 Every group develops distinct beliefs and patterns over
time. Many of these are subconscious or taken for
granted.
 They are demonstrated in the rituals, stories, ceremonies
and other symbolic forms.
List examples of ceremonies that show Saudi culture

Beliefs
 A belief system embodies the myths, values, and
ideologies of the group.
 beliefs are often invisible to those who hold them
 they shape practices, guide how people do things, and,
in turn, determine what skills and capabilities people
develop
 Why would you stand up for an old person
on a bus?

Beliefs What to look for…
• What do buildings look like?
• How are people dressed?
• How much interaction is there?
• Who is talking to whom?
• How does the place “feel”?
• Read news and other documents.
• What values are emphasized?
• Who is held up for praise?
• Are prays, or other ceremonies mentioned?
• What sorts of things are discussed?
• What “face” is being presented to the world?

Review Statements
• When behaviors are in opposition with
values, internal conflicts arise.
• People can maintain their own values and
still show respect for the values of others.
• Respect yourself and others while you act
according to your values.
• The development of children’s values is
greatly influenced by their parents.
• Values are greatly revealed through
personal choice and decisions.

Values
Journal
“There is something within us that gives
meaning to life, something that provides
the basis for ranking our various needs,
wants and goals.”

CONCEPTS OF VALUE
• Qualities, Characteristic or ideas about which we
feel very strongly.
• Value define what is of worth.
• Our values affect our decisions, goals and
behavior.
• A belief that someone or something is
worthwhile.
• Value help guide your actions and judgments.
Believe it or not our values even affect the
purchases we make.

• You have been given a check for
$1000.00 to do whatever you like with it.
What would you do with it?
• Share with the class what you would do with it.
Conclusion:
• What you spend the money on has
everything to do with what you value

Where do you get Values?
Home
Society
School
Friends
TV
Internet
You Tube
My Space
Church
Music
Books
Families
Culture
Employers
The Years you were raised

Your age will influence your values
• Ages 1-7 -- Parents
• Ages 8-13 – Teacher, heroes (sports, rock, TV)
• Ages 14-20 – Friends (choose good ones!)
• Ages 21= Your values are established, but you
may test your values from time to time.

Can you believe?
• By the time you are seven years old you
have already formed values from your
parents.
• Values need to be taught from the very
beginning.

Characteristics of Values
• Values are personal
• Our actions point to what we really value
• Our values give us our perception of the
world
• Inconsistent behavior may indicate and
absence of values
• Values change as experiences change

More Characteristics
• Respect others values
• When faced with adversity, our values
determine our choices
• Our values give us identity
• Values are subject to change!
• When Behaviors are in opposition
with values, internal conflict arises.

Types of Values

Moral Values
• What is right or wrong; codes by which to
live
• What is an example?

Aesthetic Values
• What you feel has beauty in nature and life
• Do we all feel the same way about this?

Material Values
• The things we want to spend our money
on
• How many of you only buy things on sale?

Intrinsic Values
• Things that have value to us in their own
right
• Example: An antique car, a best friend, a
grandpa

Extrinsic Values
• You value something because it helps you
get something you desire
• Example: You are friends with someone
because they are good at a sport and they
can help you get better

Universal Values
• Values that most people agree. Equality,
world peace, respect.
• Does everyone feel this way?
• (i.e.: US: value time – in hurry; Europeans:
value people – take time to talk.)
• Saudi value in ………………………

Group Specific Values
• Each region or groups values are specific
to them.
• Can you think of an example?

Personal Pyramid
VALUES
Long Term Goals
Intermediate Goals
Daily
Tasks

What is culture?
• The shared products of human groups.
• Physical objects make up material
culture.
Ex: cars, books, buildings, clothes,
computers, cooking utensils
– Abstract human creations form a groups non-
material culture.
• Ex: , skills, family patterns, ideas, language,
political ideology, rules, ideas

What is the difference between
society and culture?
• Society consists of people, and culture
consists of material and non-material
products that people make.

Describe Saudi Culture
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
• 4.
• 5.
• 6.
• 7.

Components of Culture
1. Technology
2. Symbols
3. Language
4. Values
5. Norms

Technology
• A society’s culture
not only consists of
physical objects but
also the rules for
using those
objects.
• Using physical
objects requires
skill which is a part
of non-material
culture.

Explain the previous clip
• 1. Using symbolic interactionist
perspective.
• 2. Using functionalist perspective.
• 3. Using conflict perspective.

Symbols
• Symbols are the
basis of human
culture
• All humans use
symbols to
communicate
• A symbol is
anything that
represents
something else.8/27/2019 Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna 109

The sociology of the hand shake
• Types: • Functionalist-
• Symbolic
Interaction
• Conflict
Theory

Language
• One of the
obvious aspects
of any culture is
language.
• When organized
by accepted
rules of
grammar, words
can be used to
express any
idea.8/27/2019 Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna 112

Values
• Shared beliefs
about what is
desirable, right
or wrong,
good or bad.
• In a rite of passage,
some Nigerian girls
spend months
gaining weight and
• learning customs in a
special room. “To be
called a ‘slim
princess’ is an
• abuse,” says a
defender of the
practice.

Norms
• Shared rules of conduct that reinforce
values.
• Some norms are formalized as written
rules.
• Others are taught through socialization at
school and home.

Three types of Norms
1. Folkways- address acceptable behavior but
do not have moral significance.
Ex: Using the wrong fork
2. Mores- address acceptable behavior with great
moral consequence.
Ex: Killing someone.
3. Laws- address unacceptable behavior enforced
by government.

How to break norms…
• – HAVE A ANIMATED CONVERSATION WITH YOURSELF IN PUBLIC
• – LOOK UP ALL THE TIME
• – SAY HELLO TO EVERYONE
• – WHEN PEOPLE ASK YOU HOW YOU ARE DOING, TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR
WHOLE DAY
• – WEAR YOUR CLOTHES BACKWARDS
• – DON’T TAKE YOUR HAT, COAT, & GLOVES OFF, EVEN INSIDE.
• – VIOLATE PEOPLE’S PERSONAL SPACE
• – WHISPER TO WHEN YOU TALK
• – YELL WHEN YOU TALK
• – ASK STRANGERS IF YOU CAN CUT IN LINE. IF THEY ASK WHY YOU NEED TO,
THEN SAY YOU DON’T REALLY FEEL LIKE WAITING FOR VERY LONG.
• – AT YOUR PARENTS HOME ASK FOR PERMISSION TO DO EVERYTHING (GET A
DRINK, USE THE BATHROOM, WATCH TV, ETC)

Cultural Universals
• Features that are common to all human
cultures:
• 1. Arts and leisure
• 2. Basic needs
• 3. Beliefs
• 4. Communication and education
• 5. Family
• 6. Government and economy
• 7. Technology

Cultural Variations
• Just as culture varies from place to place.
There are also variations with in cultures.
• Subculture- a group with its own unique
values, norms, and behaviors with in a
larger culture.
• Counterculture- a group that rejects the
values, norms and behaviors of the larger
society and replaces them with a new set
of cultural paterns.

How does culture change?
• Cultural diffusion- spreading of cultural
ideas.
• Cultural lag- time between changes
• Cultural leveling- the process towards
global culture.

Functionalist Perspective
• Culture enforces society’s central values.
• It encourages harmony and stability.
• Sub cultures diffuse discontent of sub
groups.
• Ethnocentrism encourages group
solidarity.

Conflict Perspective
• Culture reflects and enforces the values of
those who hold power.
• It encourages and maintains social
inequality.
• Subcultures and Countercultures
challenge those in power.
• Ethnocentrism encourages discrimination
against the powerless.

Lecture 9
• Health sociology & social medicine and
scope.

Domains in health Sociology:
Health Sociology study tow main parts:
A/ The relationships between human beings and how these
relations change or vary in different parts of the world and
times. The unit of the study is the small group.
B/ The human behavior. Human behavior is not only
determined by biological and physical environmental factors
but also by social factors. That means every kind of human
behavior has a social component. Sociologists are interested in
the study of the social determinants of human behavior, the
final analysis of the social determinants of human behavior
represent the aim of the sociology as a science.

Scope of sociology
• In the field of knowledge
• In the field of profession

Scope in the field of knowledge
• Society is the web of social institutions and all these
institutions are interrelated and interlinked with each
others.
• The basic and primary objective of Sociologist is to build
up knowledge about the society and social interaction.
• Sociologist are required to gain the know- how about the
social problems and their solutions.
• The specialized fields of sociology which give knowledge
to the students of sociology about different aspects of
human social life

The Specialized fields of
sociology
• Rural Sociology
• Urban Sociology
• Medical Sociology
• Social Psychology
• Economic Sociology
• Sociology of Religion
• Industrial Sociology
• Sociology of Social Problems
• Sociology of Education
• Sociology of the Family

• Teaching
• Research
• Administration
In the field of profession

What is a Social Problem ?
Social problem is a condition that:
– Affect the quality of life of a large number of people
– Affect loved values.
Social problem could be a condition (e.g., poverty) or
a pattern of behaviour (e.g., violence).

Reasons for studding Social
Problems?
• To understand social forces that shape our
lives on personal and societal levels
• To gain new insights into ourselves and
connections between our world and that of
other people, and
• To make more effective decisions about
these concerns

How to measure Social
Health problem:
To measure “social problems we need “a single
quantitative measure of social well-being
resulted in the development of the Index of
Social Health (ISH) The Index focuses on
specific social problems, to determine if there an
improvement or a decline over time.

The Index of Social Health problem
– Rate of Unemployment
– Percentage of children in poverty
– Average weekly earnings
– Levels of child abuse
– Health Insurance Coverage

Common Social health related Problems:
• Poverty and Economic Inequality
• Crime and Violence
• Drugs and Alcohol Abuse
• Racial and Ethnic Relations
• Sexism and Gender Inequality
• Sexual Orientation and Homophobia
• Aging and Ageism
• Unemployment.
• Health and Health Care
• Population, Urbanization, and Environment
• War and Terrorism
• Obesity

Types of Social Problems
1/ Acts and conditions that violate the norms
and values present in society.
2/ Societal-induced conditions that cause
psychic and material suffering for any
segment of the population.

Reducing Social Problems through Social
Change
Social change: alteration, modification, or
transformation of public policy, culture, or
social institutions over time
Efforts can be:
• Short-term, middle-term, or long-term
• Micro-level, mid-range, or macro-level
For most problems, a combination of strategies
is required

Types of Social Movements:
• Reform movements: Seek to change some
aspect of the social structure
• Revolutionary movements: Seek to bring
about a total change in society
• Religious movements: Seek to renovate
people through “inner change”
• Alternative movements: Seek limited change
in some aspects of behavior
• Resistance movements: Seek to prevent or
undo change8/27/2019 Dr.Abdalla Hasballa Elmanna 137

Research on Social Problems
• Ethnography (field studies) - the close observation
of interaction among people in a social group or
organization
»Provides in depth understanding of
the nature of a problem
• Demographic Studies - how social conditions are
distributed in human populations
»How many people are affected
»Characteristics of the people that are
affected

Research (cont.)
• Survey Research – way of gathering information
from a large population
»Sample-representative part from the
population to be studied
»Cross-sectional data – data collected
at one point in time
»Longitudinal data – data collected at
different points in time
»Interviewing or administering a
questionnaire to a sample

Research (cont.)
• Social Experiments – are studies that
are conducted in a controlled setting
• Random assignment of subjects to two
groups
»Experimental group
»Control group
• Test the effect of a treatment on the
experimental group

LECTURE 10/11
• SOCIOLOGY AND GENDER

Topics to be Discussed
• Understanding Gender Concepts
• Differentiating Sex from Gender
• It’s implications on roles and identity
• Gender and Social Construction
• Gender Issues and how it affects men and
women

Nature vs. Culture
• Women are weak and very emotional therefore unfit to
occupy leadership positions.
• Men are natural leaders because they are very rational
beings.
• Women are naturally nurturing which is why they
make good nurses and teachers.
• Men are really “bread winners” as they are good
economic providers
• All women want to be wives and mothers.
• Fathers remain to have the final say.
• Childcare is the mother’s primary responsibility.
• All men are good in sports.

Defining SEX
 This about differences of people based on biological
characteristics, for example:
Physical Characteristics - characteristics that are present only
(exclusively) to men only or women only , for example:
• primary sex characteristics – example male or female genitalia
• secondary sex characteristics – facial and body hair
• Characteristics that are present from birth (genitalia)
• May be used as label or identification – male or female, man or
woman, babae o lalaki

Defining Gender
 Refers to the socially learned
behaviors and expectations
that are associated with the
two sexes.
This is set by culture and
society
Changes through time and
history
Attributes and designations
may change depending on the
place and the culture

Gender Expectations
 One’s biological sex usually establishes a
pattern of gendered expectations , although
biological sex is not always the same as gender
identity. Femininity and masculinity are
cultural concepts and as such have fluctuating
meanings, are learned differently by different
members of culture, and are relative to the
historical and cultural contexts in which they
emerge.

Gender Roles
• Are the
expectations for
behavior and
attitudes that the
culture defines as
appropriate for
men and women.

Gender Identity
•An individual’s specific definition of
self, based on that person’s
understanding of what it means to
be a man or woman.
•Conforming to sanctions and
expectations – gender appropriate
behavior

Gender and Social Control
• The socialization process controls us in
several ways:
– Gives us a definition of ourselves
– Defines the external world and our place
in it
– Provides our definition of others, our
relationships
– Encourages and discourages acquisition
of certain skills by gender

Understanding Gender
•Refers to the complex social,
political, economic, and
psychological relations between men
and women in society
•Gender is part of the social structure.
•Gender speaks of unequal power
relations between men and women

Characteristics of
Gender
• Relational – socially constructed
• Hierarchical – gender relations as
power relations
• Changes over time
• Context specific – varies with ethnicity,
class, culture, religion, etc.
• Institutional - Systemic

Separation of Public from
Private
 Economic, political and
social affairs
 Subject to social norms
and sanctions
 Open to public scrutiny
 Male concern
 Domestic and personal
concerns
 Individual personal
conscience
 Private/ intimate
 Female sphere

Effects of Gender Roles on Men
 Stereotypes men’s roles,
identities and attributes.
 Places on men expectations
and roles not of his own
choice and decision.
 Puts unnecessary burdens
on men.
 Others?

Effects of Gender Roles on
Women
 Violence
 Exclusion
 Discrimination
 Marginalization
 Exploitation
 Others?

The Social Construction of
Gender
• The many different
processes by which
the expectations
associated with
being a boy (man)
and being a girl
(woman) are passed
on through society.

Socialization Across the
Life Course
• Gendering or the
socialization of persons
into a given gender
begins the moment a
child is born
• Four processes involved
in a child’s learning of
gender identity
– Manipulation
– Canalization
– Verbal Appellation
– Activity Exposure –

Institutions of Mass
Socialization
 Institutions of Mass
Socialization – those which
aim to ensure that whole
groups of people consent to fit
into the existing social order –
also play an important role in
promoting he dominant
gender ideology and
inequality.

Our Gendered Institutions
• Gender is systematically structured in social
institutions, it is deeply embedded into our social
structures.
• Gender is created in the family, within our social
relationships, schools, religion, economy, even the
state.
• The total pattern of gender relations – stereotypes,
interpersonal relationships, men and women’s
different placements in social, economic, and political
hierarchies.

Our Companies as Gendered
Institutions
 What are the gender issues and concerns?
 How can they be addressed?
 How do addressing these gender issues and
concerns translate to better business?

Symbolic Interactionist
• Culture is maintained and modified
through everyday social interaction.
• Interaction between subculture groups
help introduce new cultural meaning
systems.

Review Questions
• 1.What is the difference between material and non-
material culture?
• 2. How are folkways and mores different? Give an
example.
• 3. What is subculture?
• 4. What perspective says that culture reflects and
enforces society’s central values?
• 5. Why does cultural lag exist?
• 6. Why does material culture change more rapidly than
non-material culture?
• 7. OPINION: Is cultural leveling a good or bad thing?
Is it good for cultures to become more alike? Give real
life examples.

LECTURE 12
Families in Society
8/27/2019

163
What Is a Family?
• A social unit of some number of people
who are linked intimately
– Related in some way
– Usually living together
– Engaging in sex
– Having responsibility for rearing children
– Functioning as an economic unit

What is a Family
• Definition of the family: shared genetic
heritage, and law, meaning social
recognition and affirmation of the bond
– Boundaries are clear
– Enables tracking of who is related to whom
over time
8/27/2019

165
Types of Families
• Nuclear Family: a social unit composed of a husband, a
wife, and their children
– Family of orientation: family to which one was born
– Family of procreation: a person, spouse, and their children
– Blended family: spouses and their children from former
marriages live as a single nuclear family
– Binuclear family: divorced parents form separate households;
children divide their time with each
• Extended Family
– Composed of two or more generations of kin that functions as
an independent social and economic unit

166
Kinship
• A network of people who are related by
marriage, blood, or social practice or the
state of being related to others culturally
learned, not necessarily determined by
biological ties
– Kinship is a means by which societies can
socialize children and transmit culture from
one generation to the next
– Kinship creates complex social bonds

167
Marriage
• Two individuals involved in a socially
approved relationship
– Intimate, mutual long-term obligations
– Fulfilled customary ceremonial or legal
requirements
– Limits on who can marry
– A legal tie, determined by state
– Who can perform a marriage

168
Types of Marriage
• Monogamy: form of marriage in which one woman and
one man are married only to each other
• Serial monogamy: when a person has several spouses
in his or her lifetime, but only one spouse at a time
• Polygamy: when an individual has several husbands or
wives simultaneously
• Polygyny: marriage of a man to more than one wife at a
time
• Polyandry: marriage of a woman to more than one
husband at the same time

169
Courtship and Mate Selection
• Internet is new meeting place
• More people marrying later
• Endogamy: restriction of mate selection to
people within the same group
• Exogamy: requires mate selection outside
certain groups, usually one’s own family or
certain kin
• What is the difference between dating and
courting?

170
Courtship
• The relationship between two people who are
preparing for marriage to each other
– Endogamy: people marry within their own group
– Exogamy: people marry outside of their own group
– Propinquity: people meet only when they are not
apart
– Ethnicity and race: people tend to marry within their
own groups
– Values: endogamy is reinforced by cultural values

171
Courtship and Mate Selection
• What are criteria for a potential mate?
• Incest taboo: social norm common to virtually
all societies prohibiting sexual relationships
between certain culturally specified relatives
• Homogamy: conscious or unconscious
tendency to select mate with personal
characteristics similar to one’s own

172
Functions of the Family
• What families do for society and for their
members
1. Reproduction
2. Socialization
3. Protection
4. Regulation of sexual behavior
5. Affection and companionship
6. Provision of social status

173
Authority Patterns:
Who Rules?
• Patriarchy: society in which men
dominate in family decision making
• Matriarchy: society in which women
dominate in family decision making
• Egalitarian family: authority pattern in
which spouses are regarded as equals

174
Authority Patterns:
Who Rules?
• Historically, family has legitimized and
perpetuated male dominance
• Social class of parents significantly
influences children’s socialization
– Socioeconomic status of a child’s family will
have marked influence on his or her life
chances as an adult

175
Dimensions of Marriage
and Family
• Residence
– Norms related to where married couples should
reside
• Matrilocal arrangement: kin lives with wife’s mother
• Patrilocal arrangement: kin lives with husband’s mother
• Neolocal arrangement: kin set up independent household
• Bilocal arrangement: each spouse maintains a separate
residence

176
Dimensions of Marriage and Family
• Descent
– The system by which
kinship is traced over
generations
• Patrilineal: kinship is
traced through male
• Matrilineal: kinship is
traced through female
• Bilineal: kinship is
traced through both
sides of the family
• Power
– The system by which
power is assigned
• Patriarchy: male has
most power
• Matriarchy: female has
most power
– Matricentric: females
have some power

177
Alternative Family Forms
• Serial monogamy
– More than one spouse but not at same time
• Single parent
– Mostly result of divorce
• Gay and lesbian
– Legal issues debated
• Cohabitation
– A household without marriage
• Independent living
– Men or women who live alone

178
Marital Dissolution
• Divorce
– Dissolution of legal ties that bind a marriage
– Legal separation
• Couples agree to take up separate residences
• Informal separation: one spouse temporarily moves out
– Desertion
• One spouse leaves the other for a prolonged period of time

179
Explaining Marital Dissolution
• Society
– Nuclear family is subject to many stresses but
has limited resources
– Lower social classes more vulnerable
• Falling out of love
– Passion yields to reality
• Women’s changing roles
– Less economic dependency

180
Domestic Violence
• Amount
– 1/5 of women abused
• Class differences
– Type of violence and reporting patterns
• Stay or leave?
– Retribution and psychological dependence
• Options
– Shelters and legal system
• Global patterns
– National tolerance level
– Stress from rapid social change

181
Functionalism and the Family
The Family Satisfies Common Social Functions
• Socialization
– Family is responsible for primary care and early learning
• Birth; regulates sexual activity
– Choosing mates and perpetuating population
• Economic
– Assigning assets
– Important economic production and consumption unit
• Support and comfort
– Help with problems
• Social placement
– Children inherit status and class of parents

182
Family: Conflict Perspective
• Power relationships
– Men control wealth
– Norms require women to do most domestic
chores
• Perpetuation of social inequality
– Family is a model of patriarchy that dominates
society

183
Family: Symbolic Interactionism
• People construct their own families
– No two families are alike
• Family is source of major roles and identity
– As new roles are learned
– New concepts of reality are created

LECTURE13
• Sociology and Reproductive Health

Introduction to reproductive
Health
• The term “Reproductive Health “is most often associated
with one aspect of women’s lives; motherhood.
Complications associated with various maternal issues
are indeed major contributors to poor reproductive health
among millions of women worldwide. Half of the world’s
2.6 billion women are of 15 – 49 years of age. Without
proper health care services, this group is highly
vulnerable to problems related to sexual intercourse,
pregnancy, contraceptive side effects, etc. Death and
illnesses from reproductive causes are the highest
among poor women everywhere.

Introduction
con………………………....
Women in developing countries and economically
disadvantaged women in the cities of some
industrial
nations suffer the highest rates of complications
from
pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and
reproductive cancers.

Introduction
con………………………....
• Lack of access to comprehensive reproductive
health care is the main reason that so many
women suffer and die. Most illnesses and deaths
from reproductive causes could be prevented or
treated with strategies and technologies well
within the reach of even the poorest countries.
Men also suffer from reproductive health
problems, most notably from STIs. But the
number and scope of risks is far greater for
women for a number of reasons.

Concepts and Definitions
Reproductive health is defined as” A state of
complete physical, mental, and social well being
and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,
in all matters related to the reproductive system
and to its functions and Process. Reproductive
health addresses the human sexuality and
reproductive processes, functions and system at
all stages of life and implies that people are able to
have “a responsible, satisfying and safe sex life
and that they have the capability to reproduce and
the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do
so.”

Men and women have the right to be
informed and have access to safe, effective,
affordable and acceptable methods of their
choice for the regulation of fertility which are
not against the law, and the right of access
to appropriate health care services for safe
pregnancy and childbirth and provide
couples with the best chance of having a
healthy infant.
Concepts
con…………………………..

Concepts
con……………………………….
Men and women have the right to be informed and
have access to safe, effective, affordable and
acceptable methods of their choice for the
regulation of fertility which are not against the law,
and the right of access to appropriate health care
services for safe pregnancy and childbirth and
provide couples with the best chance of having a
healthy infant. Reproductive health is life-long,
beginning even before women and men attain
sexual maturity and continuing beyond a woman's
child-bearing years.

Reproductive health and
Sociology
• Reproductive behavior is shaped by social
relations and institutions at the local level,
such as kinship groups, informal social
networks, local political institutions, and
religious and spiritual advisors and
healers, which are influenced by and the
product of the wider social, political,
economic and historical processes.

Reproductive health and
Sociology
Reproductive health is depends on
behavior that is fixed within specific social
relations and political and cultural contexts.
Creating conditions which support behavior
change is a critical dimension of health and
HIV/AIDS policy and program development.
However, the dominant conceptual
framework for understanding reproductive
behavior is highly individualistic.

Sociology and Reproductive
health• The need for social analysis is to generate
an understanding of the diverse contexts of
reproductive health, the ways in which
needs and priorities are identified, especially
among marginalized groups. social analysis
should be addressed through inter alia
health-service provision) and the social
dynamics of exclusion and vulnerability.

Sociology and Reproductive
health Con
…………………………..• The reproductive health of teenagers deserves a
special attention and must be regarded from the
viewpoint of their future prospects as well as
their social and cultural media. The mentioned
social-and-cultural factors affecting the
teenagers' attitude towards sexuality and
preconditioning their access to information and
services of healthcare have an impact on the
status of their reproductive health and on their
general well-being.

Components of Reproductive
Health
• Quality family planning services
• Promoting safe motherhood: prenatal, safe
delivery and post natal care, including breast
Feeding.
• Prevention and treatment of infertility
• Prevention and management of
complications of unsafe abortion.

Components
con………………………..
• Safe abortion services, where not against the law.
• Treatment of reproductive tract infections, including
sexually transmitted infections;
• Information and counseling on human sexuality,
responsible parenthood and sexual and reproductive
health.
Active discouragement of harmful practices, such
as female genital mutilation and violence related
to sexuality and reproduction.

Gender and Reproductive
Health
• Sex refers to biological and physiological
attributes of that identify a person as male
or female.
• Gender refers to the economic, social and
cultural attributes and opportunities
associated with being male or female in a
particular social setting at a particular point
in time.

Reproductive and gender
con………
• Gender equality means equal treatment of
women and men in laws and policies, and equal
access to resources and services within families,
communities and society at large.
• Gender equity means fairness and justice in the
distribution of benefits and responsibilities
between women and men. It often requires
women-specific programs and policies to end
existing inequalities.

The Social Construction of
Gender
• The people involved, Family members,
peers, teachers and people in educational
and religious institutions are usually the
first to introduce a child to appropriate
codes of gendered behavior. The home or
family for example, school or for peers,
teachers and adults in general.

Health Sociology

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