SOCY1078.01: Sociology of Health and Illness
Spring 2015
Tuesday/Thursday 12:00 – 1:15 pm
305 Gasson Hall
Professor: Sara Moorman
Office: 404 McGuinn Hall
Office hours: Tuesdays 10:30-11:30; Thursdays 2:00-3:00
E-mail: moormans@bc.edu
Teaching Assistant: Lindsey (Luka) Carfagna
Office: 508a McGuinn Hall
Office hours: Wednesdays 12:30-1:30; Thursdays 10:30-11:30
E-mail: lindsey.carfagna@bc.edu
About the Course
The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and
social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This course will consider
this “whole-person” definition across the human life course using a range of sociological
principles and perspectives. Major topics will include the structure of health care systems in the
United States and globally, doctor-patient interaction, social and cultural influences on health
and disease, and social disparities in the distribution of health and quality health care.
Sociology of Health and Illness as a Core Course
Core courses at Boston College: (a) help students to ask and answer the "perennial questions,”
(b) present culturally diverse material, (c) present an historical view of the subject,
(d) demonstrate the methodology of the discipline, (e) include a significant writing component,
and (f) challenge students to create a personal philosophy of life.
The Sociology of Health and Illness covers these six themes. It addresses perennial questions
including “How should a society care for its sick and disabled members?” and “What does it
mean to be healthy?” The course addresses these questions through a series of readings authored
by experts from a breadth of disciplines. The course explores cultural diversity through two
lenses. One is inequality: Are there systematic patterns in who is unfortunately enough to be sick
and who is privileged enough to be well? The second is difference: Can the same person be
“sick” under one set of cultural norms and “well” under another? The course examines the
history of health, illness, and medicalization, particularly as they concern the development of
health care policy in the United States. The course takes a critical perspective towards data,
requiring that students understand the strengths and weaknesses of the findings deriving from
various research designs. Writing is emphasized in the required coursework. Finally, students are
expected to develop a lifelong philosophy for maintaining their own health and well-being and
enhancing the health and well-being of those with whom they come into contact through
personal relationships or through professional conduct as a health care provider.
SOCY1078 Sociology of Health and Illness
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Required Books
The bookstore has ordered:
Conrad, Peter. 2007. The Medicalization of Society. (ISBN 080188585)
Fadiman, Ann. 1997. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (ISBN 374525641)
Reid, T. R. 2010. The Healing of America. (ISBN 143118213)
Watters, Ethan. 2010. Crazy Like Us. (ISBN 416587095)
These books are also available on 2-hour reserve at O’Neill Library.
If you need support to buy books, please contact the Montserrat Coalition—go to Brock House at
78 College Road, call 617-552-8865, or e-mail Paula Dias at paula.dias@bc.edu.
Canvas
Visit the Canvas page for this course regularly for announcements, grades, course materials, a
copy of the syllabus, etc. I promise you that everything you’ve ever needed (or wanted) to know
about this course is posted, so look before you e-mail. If you e-mail me and don’t get an answer
within 48 hours, it’s because you don’t need me to tell you the answer to your question.
Schedule
Date
Topic
January 13
Introduction
January 15
Health care systems and
reform
Reading
Reid prologue, chapters 1 & 2
January 20
Reid chapters 3 & 4
January 22
Reid chapters 5 & 6
January 27
Reid chapters 7 & 8
January 29
Reid chapters 9 & 10
February 3
Reid chapters 11 & 12
February 5
Reid chapter 13, afterword, appendix
February 10
February 12
Health disparities
Fadiman prologue, chapters 1-4
Fadiman chapters 5-7
SOCY1078 Sociology of Health and Illness
Date
Topic
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Reading
February 17
Fadiman chapters 8-10
February 19
Fadiman chapters 11-13
February 24
Fadiman chapters 14-16
February 26
Fadiman chapters 17-19
March 3
Spring break
***No Class***
March 5
Spring break
***No Class***
March 10
Diagnosis, labeling, and the
sick role
Stigma and Social Identity (on ereserve)
March 12
March 17
Gomer Phenomenon (on e-reserve)
Social construction of health On Being Sane in Insane Places (on ereserve)
and illness
March 19
Watters introduction & chapter 1
March 24
Watters chapter 2
March 26
Watters chapter 3
March 31
Watters chapter 4 & conclusion
April 2
Holy Thursday
***No Class***
April 7
Medicalization
Conrad chapter 2
April 9
Conrad chapter 3
April 14
Conrad chapter 4
April 16
Conrad chapter 5
April 21
Doctor-patient interaction
Managing Emotions in Medical
School (on e-reserve)
SOCY1078 Sociology of Health and Illness
Date
Page 4 of 6
Topic
Reading
April 23
Watching Brian Die (on e-reserve)
April 28
What ‘Patient Centered’ Should Mean
(on e-reserve)
April 30
Behavior in Pubic Places (on ereserve)
Academic Honesty
Your work must be your words and ideas. When writing papers, use quotation marks around
someone else’s exact words and identify whose words they are. If you come across a good idea,
by all means use it in your writing, but be sure to acknowledge whose idea it is. Failure to
comply will result in (a) automatic failure of the assignment, and (b) a report to the Dean and the
Committee on Academic Integrity. For further information, please review the College’s policies
on academic integrity here: http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/stserv/academic/integrity.html
Accommodations
If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this
course, please contact Kathy Duggan, (617) 552-8093, dugganka@bc.edu, at the Connors Family
Learning Center regarding learning disabilities and ADHD, or Paulette Durrett, (617) 552-3470,
paulette.durrett@bc.edu, in the Disability Services Office regarding all other types of disabilities,
including temporary disabilities. Advance notice and appropriate documentation are required for
accommodations.
Assessment
Grading scale
A+
none at Boston College
B+
87 – 89%
C+
77 – 79%
D+
67 – 69%
F
below 60%
A
B
C
D
93 – 100%
83 – 86%
73 – 76%
63 – 66%
ABCD-
90 – 92%
80 – 82%
70 – 72%
60 – 62%
Assignments
Task
Discussions
Reid point/counterpoint
Percentage of grade
25%
25%
Due date
Throughout
February 12
SOCY1078 Sociology of Health and Illness
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Fadiman reflection
25%
February 26
Experience with diagnosis/sick role
25%
March 26
Social history of a disease
25%
April 30
Note that these add up to 125%. That’s because you will pick any three of the four papers to
write.
Discussions: Many of our readings will provoke discussion and debate. That’s hard in a class of
60, so we’ll break into small groups pretty often. Always come to class having done the reading
and considered the thought questions posted on Canvas. You’ll be randomly assigned to a small
group that you’ll keep for the whole semester. When I call for small group discussion, you’ll talk
with your group and with myself and the TA as we circulate around the room. Someone will
keep the “minutes” of your discussion – you’ll rotate this task so that the note-taker isn’t always
the girl with nice handwriting – and you’ll all sign them and turn them in at the end of class.
But professor, I have a game / doctor’s appointment / job interview that day! Your
whereabouts are not my business, and I (and your group members) understand that things come
up. But if you want a good discussion grade, you need to find a way to contribute to your group.
Maybe that means that you contribute more on the days when you are in class. Maybe that means
that you e-mail your thoughts on the reading to me and your group members ahead of time so
that we can include your ideas. Whatever you do, it’s your responsibility to (a) come up with a
creative solution, (b) get your group’s agreement that your solution fulfills your obligation, and
(c) let me know about it.
Paper options: Scores on three writing assignments will determine the rest of your grade. I’ll
provide you with much greater detail on these assignments as they get closer. Here are the
basics:
(1) Reid point/counterpoint. T.R. Reid has strong opinions on how to fix the health care system
in the United States. For this assignment, you’ll find and read some sources that disagree with
him, and then you’ll write a 3-5 page paper taking your own stance on a particular aspect of U.S.
health care policy (e.g., insurance coverage of contraception; rationing health care for older
adults).
(2) Fadiman reflection. I virtually guarantee that in ten years, you’ll still remember reading Ann
Fadiman’s book. It’s a very emotional story that covers a number of ethically and morally
complex issues, and you’ll write 3-5 pages of reflection upon what you’ve read.
(3) Experience with diagnosis/sick role. We’ll address what it means, socially, to have a
diagnosis (a label) for a set of symptoms of illness, and the way people behave – or feel they are
supposed to behave – before and after they have that label. You’ll (a) read the rest of Erving
Goffman’s Stigma, and (b) apply these concepts in a 3-5 page reflection on your own
experiences or the experiences of a friend or loved one. (If you have no personal stories, or don’t
wish to tell a personal story, you can instead analyze someone else’s story. There are dozens
upon dozens of illness narratives published in books, magazines, and online.)
SOCY1078 Sociology of Health and Illness
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(4) Social history of a disease. You’ll select a disease or other health condition and research its
history: Has it always been recognized as a health concern, or has it become medicalized (or demedicalized)? How does society treat people who have the problem? Are there cultural or
historical differences in how the problem has been understood? Then you’ll write a 3-5 page
paper summarizing and analyzing what you’ve found.
Paper Submission
All papers are to be uploaded to Canvas by 11:59 pm Eastern time on the due date. I do not
accept papers in hard copy or via e-mail. Papers submitted after 11:59 pm on the due date are
late and will lose a letter grade a day. That is, a paper submitted on time is worth, at best, an A.
A paper submitted between midnight and 11:59 pm of the day following the due date is worth, at
best, a B.
If you wish to avoid the late penalty, you must make arrangements with me in advance, or you
must provide proof of extenuating circumstances (e.g., doctor’s note, funeral program) or a letter
from your class dean. Do not ask me for personal extensions unless you have a very good reason.
There are very few good reasons. Good reasons do NOT include: “I have four tests that day!” or
“It’s my birthday next weekend!” or “My computer is broken!” Always plan ahead, and keep a
backup.
Extra Credit
Any extra credit opportunities will be made available to the entire class, and will be announced
both in class and on Blackboard.