Deck 6: The Experience of Disability, Chronic Pain, and Chronic Illness

Question 1

Someone who wins wheelchair marathons to prove he is no different from others despite his disability is

A)passing.
B)engaging in deviance disavowal.
C)challenging stigma.
D)engaging in illness behavior.
E)engaging in sick role behavior.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The idea that disabled persons would experience fewer problems if they had better attitudes is an example of

A)restricting impairments.
B)the sociological model of disability.
C)blaming the victim.
D)institutional isomorphism.
E)functionalism.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The Americans with Disabilities Act

A)applies only to civil service employment.
B)required cities to establish special schools for handicapped children.
C)uses a very broad definition of who has a disability.
D)outlaws discrimination in employment, public services, and public accommodations.
E)has made it easy for individuals who believe they have experienced discrimination to win law suits.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The process of responding to symptoms and deciding whether to seek diagnosis and treatment is referred to as

A)health behavior.
B)illness behavior.
C)immersion.
D)intrusion.
E)the health belief model.

Question 5

About what percentage of Americans has a disability?

A)1 percent
B)12 percent
C)25 percent
D)40 percent
E)65 percent

Question 6

A woman who uses a wheelchair and wears a "Crip Pride" button is engaging in

A)passing.
B)avoiding stigma.
C)disclosing stigma.
D)challenging stigma.
E)stigmatizing.

Question 7

US physicians:

A)are well-trained in pain management.
B)are especially likely to undertreat chronic pain among minorities.
C)are especially likely to prescribe pain medication to women.
D)do not allow drug trafficking laws to influence how they treat chronic pain.
E)are typically unconcerned about the risk of addiction when treating chronic pain.

Question 8

Whether an individual will seek diagnosis once symptoms appear depends on

A)the presence of alternative explanations for the symptoms.
B)the frequency of the symptoms.
C)the visibility of the symptoms.
D)all of the above
E)a and b only

Question 9

Use of alternative therapies

A)decreased during the 1990s.
B)can be considered a form of new social movement.
C)occurs mostly among those who have abandoned mainstream medical care.
D)occurs mostly among those with terminal illnesses.
E)can be considered a form of new socialization.

Question 10

Which of the following statements is true?

A)Chronic pain is an illness in its own right, not just a symptom.
B)Chronically ill persons sometimes attempt in their minds to separate their selves from their bodies.
C)Chronic illness always leads to decreased self-esteem.
D)Prejudice against disabled persons has largely disappeared.
E)Discrimination against disabled persons has largely disappeared.

Question 11

The most common underlying reason for disability among adults between the ages of 18 and 65 is

A)fibromyalgia.
B)contested illnesses.
C)chronic pain.
D)mental illness.
E)AIDS/HIV.

Question 12

Defining disability in terms of impairments

A)suggests that disability is inherent in the individual.
B)reflects a social model of disability.
C)highlights the role of social conditions in creating disability.
D)all of the above
E)a and b only

Question 13

Someone who points out that persons with polio would be far less disabled if sidewalks were constructed with wheelchair users in mind is

A)using a medical model of disability.
B)using a sociological model of disability.
C)blaming the victim.
D)practicing institutional isomorphism.
E)individualizing disability.

Question 14

Chronic pain is more common among which of the following?

A)men
B)women
C)middle-class persons
D)suburbanites
E)white Americans

Question 15

Which of the following illustrates blaming the victim?

A)assuming that social conditions create disabilities
B)assuming that women would not be battered if they did not anger their husbands
C)assuming that social change can end disabilities
D)assuming that disabled people are a minority group
E)assuming that disabled people are courageous

Question 16

Disability is more common among

A)lower income than upper income persons.
B)younger than older persons.
C)whites than African Americans.
D)men than women.
E)lesbians than heterosexual women.

Question 17

Films such as The Nightmare on Elm Street and Peter Pan

A)equate physical deformity with physical illness.
B)reduce prejudice against disabled persons.
C)equate physical deformity with moral deformity.
D)reflect a medical model of disability.
E)reflect a social model of disability.

Question 18

Which of the following statements suggests that disabled persons form a minority group?

A)"Normals" often discriminate against disabled persons.
B)Disabled persons often are considered inferior by others.
C)Disabled persons generally do not feel a sense of community with other disabled persons.
D)all of the above
E)a and b only

Question 19

Alternative therapies

A)are currently used by less than 10 percent of Americans.
B)often reflects the belief that such treatments are inherently safe.
C)offer no placebo effect.
D)are illegal in the United States unless they have been proven effective by scientific research.
E)can be considered a form of new socialization.

Question 20

Over the last few decades, the prevalence of disabilities has

A)increased.
B)decreased.
C)stayed about the same.

Question 21

The health belief model

A)recognizes that sometimes patients can't follow medical advice because they lack transportation to clinics or face other practical barriers.
B)assumes that patients can make reasonable judgments about whether they should follow medical advice.
C)recognizes that medical advice can sometimes be harmful.
D)recognizes that sometimes patients can't afford to buy prescribed medications.
E)assumes noncompliance with medical occurs solely because of patients' attitudes and beliefs.

Question 22

In part, an individual's experience of disability and illness reflects their social identity. What do studies tell us about how women's and men's experiences of disability differ?

Question 23

Which of the following is/are true?

A)Working class people more often than middle-class people accept pain as an expected consequence of hard work.
B)Working class people are more likely than others to seek diagnoses via the Internet.
C)Elderly Americans are less likely than younger Americans to seek medical care.
D)all of the above
E)a and b only

Question 24

How does the social construction of illness-both specific illnesses and illness in general-affect the lives of persons who have chronic illnesses?

Question 25

Health social movements may have a variety of goals, including

A)pressuring insurance companies to cover certain treatments.
B)bringing attention to the health needs of certain marginalized populations.
C)pressuring doctors to recognize contested illnesses.
D)all of the above
E)none of the above

Question 26

Borrow or rent a wheelchair from your university's office for disabled students or from a local department store, grocery store, or shopping mall. Spend about four hours using the chair, and engaging in your normal activities-going to classes, shopping, whatever. Be sure you go places where you will meet strangers. Watch for both verbal and nonverbal responses. Describe your experience, analyzing both your own feelings and the reactions of others to you. Did people avoid you? Look you in the eyes? Try to help? Treat you as a child?

Question 27

Your textbook argues that the Internet has had a large and recent impact on the way that people experience their health and the institution of healthcare. Discuss at least three ways in which the Internet is changing people's health experiences, either positively or negatively.

Question 28

Should people with disabilities be considered a minority group? Why or why not?