1. The Core8e Sociology Michael Hughes Carolyn J. Kroehler

2. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. chapter 11 Religion, Education, and Medicine Chapter Outline  Religion  Education  Medicine

3. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion Religion is socially shared and organized ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that concern ultimate meanings about the existence of the supernatural or “beyond”.

4. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion Religion is centered in beliefs and practices related to sacred things. The Sacred is social reality that is set apart and forbidden. The Profane is social reality that is everyday and commonplace. Rituals are social acts prescribed by rules that dictate how human beings should behave in the presence of the sacred.

5. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion Religion Globally –15% of world is nonreligious or atheist –Simple Supernaturalism Mana used to compel the spirits –Animism – belief in spirits or other worldly beings –Monotheism and polytheism All-powerful gods that interact with humans Examples: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, ancient Greek religion, Hinduism –Abstract ideals – moral and spiritual excellence Examples: Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism

6. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion Percent Reporting that Religion is "Very Important" in Their Lives Source: Figure generated by the authors using data from selected countries surveyed in the World Values Survey, 1981–1984, 1990–1993, and 1995– 1997 (Inglehart et al., 2000).

7. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion Types of Religious Organizations Source: Adapted from Roy Wallis, Sectarianism: Analyses of Religious and Non-Religious Sects. New York: Wiley, 1975, p. 41. Reprinted by permission of Peter Owen Ltd.

8. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Max Weber, 1904/1958) Capitalism self-perpetuating if established Capitalism thrived in Protestant countries Calvinist ethos –Protestant ethic “seeks profit rationally and systematically” –Doctrine of predestination –Asceticism (a life of hard work, sobriety, thrift, restraint, and the avoidance of earthly pleasures) is a proof of salvation and faith

9. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion Secularization thesis: Herberg (1955); Chaves (1994) The profane gains ascendancy over the sacred in the course of social evolution.

10. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism Protestant fundamentalism Evangelicalism The “Religious Marketplace” High-cost faiths consistently outperform more mainstream counterparts Islamic fundamentalism

11. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion State-Church Issues First Amendment: separation of church and state Civil Religion –USA is a nation under God with a divine mission –Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence What place does a religiously defined morality have in a pluralistic society? –Example: abortion –USA: only 35% believe elected officials should base their vote on religious beliefs

12. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion Functionalist Perspective on Religion How does religion contribute to society’s survival? Émile Durkheim: The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912/1965) –Totemism in the Arunta aboriginals of Australia –Religion is the symbolization of society –Religion provides creation, reinforcement, and maintenance of social solidarity and control Religion provides meaning and help Religion facilitates social change

13. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Religion Conflict Perspective on Religion Religion is weapon, source of conflict or change Karl Marx: opium of the people –Religion distracts and engenders a false consciousness –Ruling class takes advantage of the distracted worker Religion provides fundamental beliefs and practices which can be used to justify status quo Religion can be an effective force for social change

14. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Education Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or capability that results from experience. Education is formal, systematic training to transmit particular attitudes, knowledge, and skills to society’s members

15. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Education Modern schools are highly standardized A hierarchical, bureaucratic structure –The federal government and Department of Education –The Board of Education or trustees –Administrators –Teachers –Students Globally, US students are academically average Effective schools foster a climate of learning, expectation, and respect

16. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Education SAT Scores by Gender, 1967-2003 Source: Figure generated by the authors using data on 2003 college-bound seniors provided by the College Entrance Examination Board, and available at http://www.collegeboard.com/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2003/html/links.html.

17. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Education Classroom Alternatives Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2003; Princiotta, Bielick, and Chapman, 2006.

18. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Education Higher education not equally accessible for all in US Only 20% of undergraduates are straight out of high school and parent-financed Difficulties seen by minority youth: –Weaker academic preparation –No receiving “critical mass” –Usually first-generation collegians –Higher education is very expensive, and financial aid tends to be biased racially

19. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Education The Functionalist Perspective The school’s role in the survival of society Socialization of the individual into a less “natural” society Social integration of members of non-mainstream groups Screening individuals for select positions Research and development by specialists

20. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Education The Conflict Perspective A school as agent of the current social order Correspondence principle – the school mirrors the workplace Schools defuse minority threats by eliminating ethnic differences and reinforcing values of dominant group School as training within the system of production Credentialism and class inheritance

21. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Education Average Total SAT Scores of College Bound Seniors by Race/Ethnicity, Parents' Education, and Family Income Source: Figure generated by the authors using data on 2003 college-bound seniors provided by the College Entrance Examination Board, and available at: http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr200 3/pdf/2003_TOTALGRP_PRD.pdf.

22. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Education The Financial Value of a Postsecondary Education: Mean Earnings by Education Source: Figure generated by the authors with data from the U.S. Census Bureau (2003).

23. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Education The Interactionist Perspective Communication flows from teacher The hidden curriculum has a profound effect on students and can thwart overt lessons Self-fulfilling prophecies can stop some students from learning and isolate those who do

24. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Medicine Medicine is an institution providing an enduring set of cultural patterns and social relationships responsible for problems of health and disease.

25. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Medicine Health is “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well- being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (World Health Organization) Disease is a condition in which an organism does not function properly because of biological causes.

26. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Medicine The U.S. Health Care Delivery System A disease-cure rather than a health-care system –31% of US population is obese –Individual drug abuse, alcoholism, overweight, and lack of exercise have society-wide effects Hospitals – from charity to for-profit chains Physicians – gradual development of “cultural authority” plus domination of health practitioners The doctor-patient relationship – from arcane priesthood to consumerism and alternate medicine Nurses – from menial laborers to degreed professionals

27. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Medicine USA – no guarantee of basic health care –Only such western industrialized nation –Health care $$ are 16% of US GDP A variety of forces push up costs Financial issues force new structures –Satellite surgical centers –Mobile diagnostic labs –Walk-in clinics Managed care – HMOs and PPOs

28. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Medicine “We have an incredibly dysfunctional health care system.” – President, American Academy of Family Physicians

29. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Medicine Health Insurance Coverage in the United States Source: Figure generated by the authors using 2004 data from DeNavas-Walt, Proctor, and Lee (2005). Note: Percentages do not add to 100 because people may be covered by more than one type of insurance.

30. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Medicine Global Alternatives to Health Care China – no charge to most citizens –$$ from contributions from: employers, government, and communes Great Britain – minimal charges –National Health Service –90% of funding from general taxation Canada Health Act (1971) –Government pays for all medically necessary physician and hospital services –Lower costs due to lower physician, hospital, and administrative costs –Citizens receive better care and more services

31. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Medicine The Functionalist Perspective Health is essential to survival Medicine evolved to: 1)Treat and cure disease 2)Prevent disease through programs 3)Undertake research into health problems 4)Act as an agent of social control by labeling behavior Sick role Illness must be socially controlled

32. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Medicine The Conflict Perspective Unequal access to health care is evidence of inadequacy of functionalist view Socioeconomic status is strongest predictor of illness and death in the USA and world US health care has a dual system –Poor use public sources –Middle- and upper-income use private sources

33. ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Medicine The Interactionist Perspective “Sickness” is a condition to which we attach socially devised meanings –Example: lower back pain in lower class women Meanings change with time and other motivations, including commercial –Selling Sickness (Moynihan and Cassels, 2005) –Medicalization of deviance