Media Sociology: Improvement Of Mortality Effect (Essay Sample)

Medical Sociology
Name
Institution Affiliation
Medical Sociology
1 What is the counter-evidence that doctors have little effect on improvement of mortality rates over the past 150 years? What are the reasons for the actual improvement of mortality rates according to Illich?
The saving of life by doctors has been noted although it is a representation of a small element of the entire medical effort. As doctors struggle to save lives, the sum of such saving is too low to have a quantifiable impact on the life expectancy of the whole population according to Aneshensel, Phelan, and Bierman (2012), they have refocused on using their experience to discover preventive and curative measures that have a substantial and quantifiable effect on the life expectancy of the whole population. Hence, doctors have contributed towards the improvement of mortality rates over the past 150 years. According to Illich, there is a decrease in the number of death rates that has been recorded due to the changes in the health status of society. The environment was considered to be the main factor in a state's general health of any population. As a result, the improvements in the housing contributed towards the reduction in the bacteria in the surrounding, the quality nutrition in poor countries would lead to the reduction of the mortality rates where nutrition was the key factor in the establishment of the general health of any population.
2 What is the sick role? Why is it important for the functioning of our social system?
When an individual is considered to be sick, he is assumed to have entered a role of authorized deviance since they are not productive (Parsons, 2012). As a result, this must be watched by others. In this case, being sick is considered to be a role that has rights and obligations by the norms surrounding it. Some of the rights they have are that they are exempted from normal social roles, and they are not assumed to be accountable for their situation. Also, the sick are obliged to try and get well soon and be able to look for a doctor and cooperate. The sick role and its importance in society would be difficult to overestimate since according to the medical experts, there is less we can do towards the improvement of our health. Hence, it is important if the individuals in our social system can understand their colleagues who are sick and fit into their roles for the meantime as they recover back to their initial status (Becker, 2014).
3 Explain the difference between the main and buffering effects of social support as discussed in the Turner and Brown article.
Social support is the relationship of one's bonds to the social integration and the primary group relations. All ideas are vital in the research of the sociological theories. More of the keen interest in the social support has been linked to the effete on the mental health that was associated with the hypothesis that strongly expressed that social support may act as a buffer to the properties of life stress. Hence, his makes it be viewed as mental health significance only in cases of stressful situations. Hence, an individual should not expect main dramatic effects just because life is full of changes and crises (Volti, 2014). Main effects, in this case, are considered to be important in all situations regardless of whether stress is present or not. This is the opposite of buffering effects where this was related to psychological distress independent of the levels of stress. These cases are same with the main effect hypothesis with the significant minority of other researches being reported to have no evidence for stress buffering roles.
4 What evidence in the Kingsly Davis article “Extreme Isolation” contradicts the theory that human beings are a product of our genes and biology?
Davis was able to develop his theories based on a general view of man in the society. This environment in which Anna and Isabelle lived in was harsh. He considered these children to be feral children who survived without the socialization with adults' (Davis, 2014). According to him, most children in society die if they do not receive care hence contradicting the concept of human beings being a product of genes and biology where they were able to survive regardless of the aid of the adults.
5 What possible impact does the behavior described in Table 1 from Rosenhan below have on the identity of mental patients? In...