Chapter 11 Religion, Education, and Medicine

Religion  What is Religion?  A Global View: Varieties of Religious Behavior  Religious Organizations  Religion and Secular Change: The Protestant Ethic  Adapting Tradition: Religion in Contemporary Life  Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism  State-Church Issues  The Functionalist Perspective  The Conflict Perspective McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-1a

Education  The Bureaucratic Structure of Schools  The Effectiveness of Schools  Alternatives to Traditional Public Schools  The Availability of Higher Education  The Functionalist Perspective  The Conflict Perspective  The Interactionist Perspective McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-1b

Medicine  The U.S. Health Care Delivery System  Rising Health Care Costs: Is Managed Care the Answer?  Alternatives to U.S. Health Care System: A Global Perspective  The Fundamentalist Perspective  The Conflict Perspective  The Interactionist Perspective McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-1c

Sociological Perspectives on Religion Functionalist Perspective: Religion functions to promote social solidarity and social control and to help people deal with uncertainties and tragedies. Religion also facilitates social change. Conflict Perspective: Religion is the opium of the people; it diverts the oppressed from seeking social change. Religion helps maintain the status quo. However, under some special circumstances, religion can bring about social revolution McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Figure 11.2 SAT Scores of Males and Females, 1967 to McGraw-Hill Source: Figure generated by the authors using data from the College Entrance Examination Board, 1997.

Figure 11.3 Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Averages by Ethnic Groups, 1987 and McGraw-Hill Source: Figure generated by the authors using data from the College Entrance Examination Board, The scores represent the verbal and math portions of the test for various ethnic groups.

Figure 11.4 Classroom Alternatives 11-5 McGraw-Hill Source: Figure adapted from The Washington Post, 1997, with updated data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 1999; Osborne, 1999; Rudner, Traditional public schools are facing a new level of competition.

Figure 11.5 Family Income and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Scores 11-6 McGraw-Hill The figure shows the relationship between scores on the SAT and the family income for college-bound high school seniors, Source: Figure generated by the authors with data from the College Entrance Examination Board, 1997.

Figure 11.6 The Financial Value of a Postsecondary Education: Mean Earnings by Education, McGraw-Hill Average income increase with greater education. Source: Figure generated by the authors with data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 1999.

Sociological Perspectives on Education Functionalist Perspective: Schools perform the following functions: (1) completing socialization; (2) social integration of diverse population; (3) screening and selecting; (4) research and development. Conflict Perspective: Schools serve to reproduce and legitimate the current social order, benefiting some at the expense of others; schools are control devices that Americanize minorities; people earn degrees for the sake of the degree (credentialism). 11-8a McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sociological Perspectives on Education (continued) Interactionist Perspective: Physical arrangement of classrooms and teachers as gatekeepers produces individuals programmed for communication input, not output. Teachers have a middle-class approach, failing to reach students of different races, cultures, and income levels. Teachers who expect students not to learn contribute to school failure. 11-8b McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sociological Perspectives on Medicine Functionalist Perspective: The medical institution performs the following functions: (1) it treats and attempts to cure disease; (2) it tries to prevent disease; (3) it researches health problems; (4) it exerts social control – defines “normal” a “healthy.” Illness can impair social functioning. Conflict Perspective: Some people have better health than others because medical care is not available equally. The institution of medicine is designed to best serve the health needs and interests of those with higher incomes and greater wealth and power. Low socioeconomic status is the strongest predictor of illness and death. 11-9a McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sociological Perspectives on Medicine (continued) Interactionist Perspective: Sickness is a condition to which we attach socially devised meanings. Medicalization of deviance – behaviors once defined as sinful or immoral are now seen as forms of sickness. 11-9b McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.