Exam 14: Health and Illness

The nature of health can be defined by its social rather than biological context.

Which of the following has NOT been considered a prevalent cause of mental illness at some point in history?

As a result of medicalization, surgery and drugs have become acceptable treatments for obesity.

People of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be scrutinized as problem drinkers or drug addicts. Which theory takes this approach to understanding addiction?

What do sociologists ask you to consider regarding health and illness?

When an epidemic spreads across national borders, across continents, or around the world, it is referred to as a(n) ________________.

Until Congress passed the "Affordable Care Act" in 2010, the United States was the only industrialized nation without some nationalized health care.

The documentary "Unnatural Causes" explores the lives of several Louisville, Kentucky, residents at different socioeconomic status levels and from various racial backgrounds. It found that poorer Louisville residents suffered greater rates of illness and died earlier than wealthier ones. What is this an example of?

Single-industry resource towns built around either excavating raw materials like coal or lumber or transporting them by train tend to spring up suddenly. Many people move there to work for the company, and the rate of change is fast: one day there is a forest, the next, a growing town built around mobile homes in the bush. There are often few if any other things to do besides work. Rates of depression tend to be high. Which theoretical explanation for suicide would explain the higher rates of depression that can lead to suicide in places like this?

Many countries around the world have national policies or guidelines on how to report suicides. These policies range from not using the term "suicide" to describe a death to being careful to use words that do not in any way romanticize the act or show it in a positive light. Policies may also restrict the amount of news coverage of suicides. Which theoretical stance would best explain these types of policies and guidelines?

The American College Health Association (ACHA) conducts large-scale research projects on college student populations with the aim of addressing student health issues and providing support programs and services for them.

Which theoretical explanation for suicide argues that when one person commits suicide, this can set off a cluster of other suicides?

The social meaning of mental illness has changed considerably over time.

When we focus on making a person comfortable at the end of life, we are practicing ______________.

The 2010 entering freshman class at the University of California, Berkeley was invited to give a saliva sample to test for genetic markers. Eventually, the university was forced to shut down the study due to ethical concerns. What might have been a main ethical concern of this study?

A popular television program called The Swan aimed to turn less visually appealing people into more socially acceptable ones by radically changing their appearance through plastic surgery, as well as through clothing, style, and makeup artistry. This is an example of:

Liu, King, and Bearman (2010) find that independent of other factors, children living near other children diagnosed with autism are more likely to also be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This demonstrates that Autism Spectrum Disorder is ___________.

A disease that is epidemic covers a large geographical region, such as a continent or the entire globe.

People of different racial backgrounds tend to die of similar illnesses and at approximately the same age.

The 28.4 percent increase in California's caseload of Autism Spectrum Disorder between 1992 and 2006 is the result of _____________.