Deck 8: The Sick Role

Question 1

Which is NOT used as a form of sanction?

A) Jails.
B) Prisons.
C) Mental hospitals.
D) Juvenile detention.
E) All of the above are examples of sanctions.

Answer 1

All of the above are examples of sanctions.

Question 2

Which theorist's work was not included as part of Parsons's concept of the sick role?

A) Emile Durkheim.
B) Max Weber.
C) Sigmund Freud.
D) Erving Goffman.
E) All of the above are theorists whose work was included.

Answer 2

Erving Goffman.

Question 3

The sick role is oriented toward which group?

A) Upper class.
B) Upper and middle class.
C) Middle class.
D) Lower class.
E) All of the above.

Answer 3

Middle class.

Question 4

"A state or condition of suffering as the result of a disease or sickness" defines:

A) The sick role.
B) Illness.
C) Disability.
D) Disease.
E) None of the Above.

Question 5

Who was one of the leading proponents of labeling theory?

A) Emile Durkheim.
B) Max Weber.
C) Sigmund Freud.
D) Howard Becker.
E) All of these were proponents.

Question 6

________________ is where the deviants are exempted from some normal obligations by virtue of their deviance, for which they are technically not responsible, but gain few if any privileges.

A) Conditional legitimacy.
B) Unconditional legitimacy.
C) Illegitimacy.
D) Forgiveness.
E) None of the above.

Question 7

As Goffman points out, stigma represents a rupture between an individual's __________ and ___________ social identity that is regarded in some way as failing.

A) Perceived; real.
B) Virtual; actual.
C) Imagined; socially assigned.
D) Pre-illness; post-illness.
E) None of the above.

Question 8

The term ___________ has been characterized as an adverse physical state, consisting of a physiological dysfunction within an individual.

A) The sick role.
B) Illness.
C) Disability.
D) Disease.
E) None of the Above.

Question 9

A pronouncement of deviant behavior involves making a _____________ about what is right and proper behavior according to a social norm.

A) Psycho-social stand.
B) Stigmatized assertion.
C) Lasting proclamation
D) Wide-sweeping statement.
E) Social judgment.

Question 10

Which is NOT a criticism of Parsons's sick-role theory?

A) Behavioral variation.
B) Types of diseases.
C) Behavioral modification.
D) The patient-physician relationship.
E) All of the above are criticisms.

Question 11

People who have various types of physical deformities fall into which category of stigma?

A) Abominations of the body.
B) Blemishes of individual character.
C) Disability of the form and mind.
D) Feeling of lack of control.
E) All of the above.

Question 12

A person may desire to retain the sick role more or less permanently because of what Parsons calls a _______________, which is the exemption from normal obligations and the gaining of other privileges commonly accorded to the sick.

A) Primary reward.
B) Secondary gain.
C) Tertiary exemptions.
D) Primary reaction.
E) None of the above.

Question 13

The traditional identifying criteria for disease do NOT include:

A) The patient's experience of subjective feelings of sickness.
B) The finding by the physician through examination and/or laboratory tests or other indicators that the patient has a disordered function of the body.
C) The patient's symptoms conforming to a recognizable clinical pattern.
D) The patient's significant other's identification of a "sick pattern."
E) All of the above.

Question 14

________________ is where deviants are exempted permanently from normal obligations and are granted additional privileges in view of the hopeless nature of their deviance.

A) Conditional legitimacy.
B) Unconditional legitimacy.
C) Illegitimacy.
D) Forgiveness.
E) None of the above.

Question 15

Processes such as crime and mental illness which disrupt the social order are:

A) Functional.
B) Dysfunctional.
C) Unnecessary.
D) Rare.
E) None of the above.

Question 16

Parsons's concept of the sick role is based on the assumption that:

A) Illness is normal and routine.
B) Being sick is not a deliberate and knowing choice of the sick person.
C) There are different types of illnesses resulting in different reactions.
D) Illness always subsides and is replaced by well-being.
E) None of the above.

Question 17

The functionalist perspective on deviance:

A) Is based on the concept that what is regarded as deviant behavior by one person or social group may not be so regarded by other persons or social groups.
B) Relies on the ideas of what is good and what is bad to define illness, but also incorporates biological components.
C) Stresses societal-level processes, systems, equilibrium, and interrelationships, representing a homeostatic approach to deviance.
D) Purely focuses on health and well-being and disregards other forms of deviance, such as criminality.
E) None of the above.

Question 18

Medicalization is:

A) The process where an individual falls sick, goes to the doctor, and seeks out a cure or guidance.
B) A process where previously non-medical problems are defined and treated as medical problems.
C) A concept which is not health care/medical related, but rather refers to the sociological process of identifying stakeholders in a given situation.
D) Purely about the shift in expectation from birthing at home to delivering at a hospital.
E) None of the above.

Question 19

The physician exercises leverage over the patient through three basic techniques. Which is NOT one?

A) Professional prestige.
B) Situational authority.
C) Situational dependency of the patient.
D) Objective authority.
E) All of the above are techniques used to exercise leverage.

Question 20

_______________ is where the deviants are temporarily exempted from normal obligations and gain some extra privileges, provided that they seek help in order to rid themselves of their deviance.

A) Conditional legitimacy.
B) Unconditional legitimacy.
C) Illegitimacy.
D) Forgiveness.
E) None of the above.

Question 21

Sociologists have typically viewed sickness as a form of deviant behavior.

Question 22

Conformity to prevailing norms is generally punished for lack of ingenuity.

Question 23

Parsons's concept of the sick role seems to typically apply only to _________ diseases.

A) Chronic.
B) Acute.
C) Infectious.
D) Catastrophic.
E) None of the above.

Question 24

Many people in the ______________ may tend to deny the sick role.

A) Upper class.
B) Upper and middle class.
C) Middle class.
D) Lower class.
E) All of the above.

Question 25

__________________ has become the dominant form of health care delivery in the U.S., which makes insurance companies as third-party payers important in both bolstering medicalization through its coverage of particular services and a constraint in placing limitations on those services.

A) Managed care.
B) Fee-for-service.
C) Medicare/Medicaid.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Question 26

Twaddle found that the sick role, as defined by Parsons, was much more applicable to which religious group?

A) Catholics.
B) Muslims.
C) Protestants.
D) Jews.
E) Hindus.

Question 27

Whose views on religious values are utilized by Parsons in describing the role of the physician?

A) Emile Durkheim.
B) Max Weber.
C) Sigmund Freud.
D) Howard Becker.
E) All of the above are theorists whose work was included.

Question 28

The American Psychiatric Association releases a guide to identifying disease called:

A) The Manual to Diagnosing Disease and Illness.
B) The Guide to Illness and Health.
C) Health U.S.
D) The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
E) None of the above.

Question 29

Functionalist theorists conceptualize social systems as composed of various connected parts. They argue that changes, decisions, and definitions made in one part of the system affects the other parts of the system.

Question 30

The patient-physician relationship involves mutuality in the form of behavioral expectations, and the status and power of the parties are ______________.

A) Balanced.
B) Equal.
C) Unequal.
D) Unknown.
E) None of the above.

Question 31

Which ethnic group was more susceptible to pain in the Zborowski study?

A) Italians.
B) British.
C) Americans.
D) Chinese.
E) Mexicans.

Question 32

Parsons insists that sickness is functional because it provides the basis for social control of the ill.

Question 33

A major expectation concerning the sick is that they are able to take care of themselves.

Question 34

Parsons was the first to demonstrate the function of medicine as a form of:

A) Social control.
B) Deviance.
C) Medicalization.
D) Stigmatization.
E) None of the above.

Question 35

Labeling theory does not explain the cause of deviance other than by the reaction of other people to it.

Question 36

The biological view of deviance has been generally accepted by contemporary sociologists.

Question 37

Parson's concept of the sick role applies to chronic illnesses as well as to acute illnesses.

Question 38

Parson's concept of the sick role adequately accounts for variations in the way people perceive illness and illness behavior.

Question 39

Deviant behavior always produces undesirable consequences for society.

Question 40

In medical sociology, a sickness is a social state, signifying an impaired social role for those who are ill.

Question 41

What is stigma? Define Goffman's types of stigma. How does stigma relate to the sick role and illness in general?

Question 42

Parsons's concept of the sick role helps us understand medicine's role in promoting social stability.

Question 43

What are the major criticisms of Parsons' concept of the sick role? Should the concept be abandoned? Explain.

Question 44

Describe Rier's story/experience. Why was this a unique experience? Were any conclusions made?

Question 45

Ideas on the function of moral authority and views on religious values are utilized by Parsons in describing the role of the patient.

Question 46

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the labeling theory view of sickness?

Question 47

Psychoanalytic theories of the structure of personality and the unconscious played little role in Parson's development of his notion of individual motivation.

Question 48

The role of the patient depends on the conception that the patient holds of the his/her role.

Question 49

Deviance in a social system is reduced through the application of social sanctions against the offender.

Question 50

The patient-physician relationship is not intended by society to be therapeutic in nature.

Question 51

The role of the physician is based upon an imbalance of power and technical expertise favorable exclusively to the physician.

Question 52

What are the four basic categories of Parson's sick role? Describe thoroughly.

Question 53

The physician's role is, as Parsons tells us, to return the sick person to his or her normal state of functioning.

Question 54

Some criticisms of Parson's sick role are based upon a misunderstanding of Parsons.