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Society and Culture. Social Structures. Macrosociology vs. Microsociology. 2 different analysis of sociology to study societies. Need a place to start or it’ll be overwhelming – individual people, different groups, and communities/cultures/subcultures in a population. Macrosociology – large scale perspective, looking at big phenomena that affect big portion of population. Social structures and institutions, whole civilizations/populations. Looking for patterns and effects the big picture has on lives on small groups. Broad social trends in cities, and statistical data (as long as you’re careful about not making wrong interpretations).  Deals with matters like poverty, war, health care, world economy.  Functionalism comes from macrosociology – looks at society as a whole and how institutions that make up the society adapt to keep society stable and functioning.  Conflict theory is also a macroperspective – the idea society is made of institutions that benefit powerful and create inequalities. Large groups are at odds until conflict is resolved. Microsociology – face to face interactions, families, schools, other social interactions. Interpretive analysis of the society, look at sample of society and how individual interactions would affect larger groups in society. Ex. doctor-patient interactions, or family dynamics.  Symbolic interactionism - social theory that’s a microperspective, focuses on the individual and significance they give to objects, events, symbols, etc. in their lives. Social Institutions. Institutions are essential parts of a society, ex. police stations, hospitals, businesses. Impose structure on how individuals behave. Guide what we do.  They don’t need any one individual, just need many of them, and each individual is very replaceable. Whereas without institution major changes can occur to individual. Imbalance in power.  A form for filling the need.  Sometimes need to be redesigned if they are to be helpful to society, ex. businesses. We think of institutions as a business/corporation, sociologists thinks of social structures, governments, families, hospitals, schools, laws, religion, businesses, etc. All continue without any 1 individual. Social Institutions – Education, Family, Religion. Education, Family, Religion – each of these institutions play a fundamental role in creating and supporting society, and each shape the individual in that society. Education – more than going to school, but there’s a hidden curriculum: we learn how to stand in line, wait our turn, and treat our peers. We internalize social inequalities, when boys and girls are treated differently by their teachers.  Expectation of teachers affects how students learn. Teachers tend to get what they expect.  Teachers put students in categorizations with different expectations, but what if categorization is wrong? Sometimes limiting factor comes from outside the classroom.  Sometimes limiting factor comes from outside classroom. Schools experience educational segregation and stratification, because we fund schools through property taxes, which is why different districts are funded differently. Residential segregation. Family – defined by many forms of kinship, including marriage, blood, or adoption. Small nuclear family is more emphasized.  Different family values go with different social values of family and economy, ex. rural families were production based, so large. Urban families consumption based, so more strained.  Marriage – when people join together. Now, people can experience multiple marriages. Serial monogamous. Why divorce is more common, and creates tension. Some families also contain violence, ex. in child abuse. Also abuses through neglect – children’s basic needs aren’t met. Elder abuse also occurs when family isn’t ready for responsibility of taking care of elders and expense of nursing homes. Spouse abuse also common, and not only physical but also psychological. Women’s shelters don’t always get kids, while social stigma of men not getting abused keeps them quiet. Religion – how religious a person is can range from spiritual/private to being in an institutionalized religion, celebrating certain holidays, etc.  Ecclesia – dominant religious organization that includes most members of society, ex. Lutheranism in Sweden and Islam in Iran.  Churches are established religious bodies in a larger society.  Sects tend to be smaller and are established in protest of established church. They break away from churches. Ex. Mormon/Amish  Cults are more radical, reject values of outside society. Rise when there’s a breakdown of societal belief systems, but usually short-lived because depend on inspirational leader who will only live so long.  Secularization is the weakening of social and political power of religious organizations, as religious involvement declines.  Fundamentalism – reaction to secularization, go back to strict religious beliefs. Create social problems when people become too extreme. Social Institutions – Government, Economy, Health and Medicine. Government – we give government the power and authority to manage the country.  Some governments take into account will of people, like democracy.  Others rule autonomously like dictatorships, no consent of citizens.  Communism – classless, moneyless community where all property is owned by community.  Monarchy – government embodied by single person, king/queen is the figurehead. Economy.  Capitalism – private ownership of production with market economy based on supply and demand  Socialism – motivated by what benefits society as whole, common ownership of production that focuses on human needs and economic demands. Division of labour in government and economy is functionalist – everyone is required to have responsibility in society.  We value certain labours differently. Ex. Garbage men not as valued as athletes. We value jobs that require lots of specialization, rather than jobs essential in our society – creates inequalities because not everyone has access to those valued professions, due to limited education/resources. Healthcare and Medicine – medicine exists to keep people healthy.  Medicalization occurs when human conditions previously considered normal get defined as medical conditions and are subject to studies, diagnosis, and treatment. Ex. mental health type issues, and physical issues like birth. People are over diagnosed. Ex. discovery of HIV.  Sick role – expectation in society that allows you to take a break from responsibilities. But if you don’t get better or return, you’re viewed as deviant.  Delivery of healthcare – massive inequalities in terms of access. We take care of elderly through Medicaid and Medicare, and children through health child insurance. But people in between are left behind – those who populate working force. Affordable Care Act is trying to fix this but too early to tell. Spend a lot of $ on healthcare without desired outcomes, because we invest a lot more in helping people when they are sick instead of preventative medicine.  Illness experience – process of being ill and how people cope with illness. Being ill can change a person’s self-identity. Diagnosis of chronic disease can take over your life where every decision revolves around the disease. Stigmas associated with certain diseases like mental illness and STDs. How people experience disease varies too if they have access to resources like palliative care.  Social epidemiology looks at health disparities through social indicators like race, gender, and income distribution, and how social factors affect a person’s health. Correlation between social advantages/disadvantages and distribution of health + disease.