The University of Western Ontario - Department of Sociology
SOCIOLOGY 2246a – 001
Sociology of Health and Illness
FALL 2013
Class time: Mondays 12:30 – 2:30
Wednesdays 12:30 – 1:30
Room SSC 2036
Professor: Kayla Baum
Email: kbaumga2@uwo.ca
Office Hours: Wednesdays 11:00-12:00 Room SSC 5319
Course web site: WebCT
Course Description
This course uses a sociological perspective to explore health and illness and their
relationship with social structure and social processes. In Part One we will address the
conceptual and theoretical issues involved in defining, measuring, and analyzing health
and illness from a sociological perspective. Part Two will examine inequality in health
and illness. In Part Three we look at the relationship between social institutions, such as
work, and health. And in Part Four we discuss the process of medicalization and
examine the social experience of illness, as well as the buffering effect of social
relations.
Course Requirements
You are expected to do the assigned readings, come to class, and participate in class
activities. Class sessions include lectures, films, and discussion designed to help you
understand the day’s topics and readings. Lectures often will cover material that is not
discussed directly in the course readings, but for which you will be responsible.
Conversely, you also are responsible for the material covered in the readings even if the
material is not reviewed in class.
Required readings
Clarke, Juanne. 2012. Health, Illness and Medicine in Canada, 6th ed. Toronto: Oxford.
Course Pack – Available on WebCT
Evaluation
Your final grade will be determined as follows:
Midterm exam (October 21, during class time, in regular classroom) 30%
Final exam (per exam schedule) 40%
4-6 Page Paper (proposal due Nov. 13 in class; final draft due Dec. 5) 30%
Note: The Department of Sociology expects the distribution of final grades in this course
to conform as closely as possible to the following norms for a 2200 level course: 1) The
number of ‘A’s will not exceed the number of ‘B’s. 2) The mean grade for the class will
range between 66 and 70%.
Exams
Format: Exams will consist of multiple-choice questions covering the lectures, films, and
reading assignments. You are responsible for all the material in the assigned chapters
and readings even if this material is not covered in class. The final exam covers the
material covered after the midterm and is not cumulative.
Paper: Each student is required to write one 4 to 6 page paper on a topic related to the
sociology of health, illness or medicine. Students will be expected to demonstrate an
understanding of the course materials, and to use one of the sociological approaches
discussed in the introductory lectures. Possible topics for the paper will be distributed at
the beginning of the second week of classes, and expectations for the paper will be
discussed in later sections. A paper proposal worth 5% of your grade is due on
November 9, at the beginning of the lecture period. More details about the paper will
be discussed during the semester. The final paper is worth 25%. (5% Proposal + 25%
paper = 30% of final course grade).
Missed Exams
You should understand that academic accommodation will not be granted automatically
on request. If, due to medical illness, you cannot write a test or exam, or submit an
assignment by the due date, it is your responsibility to follow the University’s “Policy on
Accommodation for Medical Illness”. This policy can be accessed at:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/medical.pdf Compassionate Grounds:
Serious Illness of a Family Member: Inform your instructor as soon as possible and
submit a medical certificate from the family member's physician to your home faculty’s
Academic Counselling office. In Case of a Death: Inform your instructor as soon as
possible and submit a copy of the newspaper notice, death certificate or documentation
provided by the funeral director to your home faculty’s Academic Counselling office.
Student Conduct
Laptop use:
1) Laptops are to be closed during in-class films. Films are an important part of
understanding the material presented in this class. However, note taking during films is
not necessary. You should be able to answer the exam questions related to the film
material if you watch and understand the main points from the film and from
subsequent class discussion.
2) Students who use laptops in a way that is disruptive to other students will receive one
warning and then I will ask them to refrain from bringing the laptop to future classes.
Scantron Exams: Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams may be subject
to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences
in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
Plagiarism
Students must write their essays, tests, etc in their own words. If you are using someone
else’s idea, then you must cite it, otherwise you run the risk of plagiarizing. Proper
referencing is mandatory, as plagiarism is a serious academic offence that will be
coupled with penalties. All essays will be uploaded to Turnitin.com on the class web site.
These papers will be subject to submission for textual similarity review. All papers
submitted will be included as source documents in the reference database for the
purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of
the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The University of
Western Ontario and Turnitin.com.
Support Services
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental
Health@Western http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of
options about how to obtain help.
Prerequisite(s):
Sociology 1020 or Sociology 1021E or permission of the department.
Antirequisite(s):
Sociology 2245 or the former Health Sciences 245.
Note about Prerequisites and Antirequisites
Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from
your Dean to enroll in it, you will be removed from this course and it will be deleted
from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to
your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the
necessary prerequisites.
Course Outline
This outline is subject to change – Please check Department of Sociology web site
(www.ssc.uwo.ca/sociology/) for class cancellations or changes.
Sept. 9 Introduction to the course
SECTION ONE: THE SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH AND ILLNESS
In this section we discuss defining and measuring health and illness, sociological
perspectives for understanding health in our society, and disease and illness in Canada and
in developing countries.
Sept. 11, 16 Defining and measuring health and illness; sociological perspectives for
thinking about and studying health
Required readings:
Clarke, Chapter 1, “Ways of thinking sociologically about health, illness, and medicine”
Sept. 18, 23 Prevalence and causes of disease and illness in Canada and in developing
nations
Required readings:
Clarke Chapter 2, “Disease and death: Canada in international and historical context”
Wermuth, “Underdevelopment and health” (course pack)
In-class film: excerpts from “Six Billion and Beyond”
SECTION TWO: INEQUALITY IN HEALTH AND ILLNESS
In this section we investigate the relationship between health and society by examining the
social distribution of disease and illness. How is health related to social position?
Sept. 25, 30 Inequality: social class and health and illness
Required readings:
Clarke, Chapter 4, “Social inequity, disease, and death: The social determinants of
health”
Mirowsky and Ross, “Education as learned effectiveness” (course pack)
In-class film: excerpts from “In Sickness and Wealth”
TED talk – Nicholas Christakis “The hidden influence of social networks”
Oct. 2, 7 Inequality: race/ethnicity, gender and health and illness
Required readings:
Kirmayer et al. “Healing traditions: culture, community and mental health promotion”
(course pack)
Shoveller et al. “Not the Swab! Young Men’s Experiences with STI Testing.” (course
pack)
In-class films: excerpts from “Becoming American”, “Bad Sugar”
Oct. 10 Inequality: age and health risks; health across the life course
Required readings:
Novak and Campbell, “Personal health and illness” (course pack)
Hatch, “Conceptualizing and identifying cumulative adversity and protective resources”
(course pack)
In-class film: excerpts from “Surfing for Life” TED Talk- Alanna Shaikh “How I’m preparing
to get Alzheimer’s”
Oct. 17 Catch-up day if necessary, otherwise, no class
Oct. 21 ***EXAM***
SECTION THREE: MATERIAL AND SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS AFFECTING
HEALTH AND ILLNESS
In this section of the course we examine the relationship between health and society by
looking at institutions and social relations that affect health, including work and the
environment.
Oct. 23, 28 Paid and unpaid work and health
Required readings:
Clarke, Chapter 3, pp. 83-93
Tausig, “Social Roles: Worker” (course pack)
Fraser, “Introduction” and “’The Pace Was Insane’: Less Time, More Stress” (course
pack)
In-class films: “Not Just a Paycheck”, TED talk – Carl Honore “In praise of slowness”
Oct. 30 The environment and health
Required readings:
Clarke, Chapter 3, pp. 67 – 82
Brulle and Pellow, “Environmental Justice”
In-class films: excerpts from “E-waste Dumping”, “The Denial Machine”
SECTION FOUR: MEDICALIZATION AND THE ILLNESS EXPERIENCE
This section gives us a basic understanding of the process of medicalization and the
experience of illness and disability.
Nov. 4, 11 Social construction of illness; the experience of chronic illness and disability;
stigma
Required readings:
Clarke, Chapter 7, “The experience of being ill”
Conrad and Barker, “The social construction of illness: Key insights and policy
implications”
(course pack)
In-class film: TED Talk – Aimee Mullins “The opportunity of adversity”
*Nov. 6 Writing guidelines
Nov. 13, 18 The Medical Model; medicalization and labeling of deviant behaviour
Required readings:
Conrad, “Medicalization and Social Control” (course pack)
Conrad and Potter, “From Hyperactive Children to ADHD Adults: Observations on the
Expansion of Medical Categories” (course pack)
In-class film: excerpts from “Refrigerator Mothers”
*Paper proposals due Nov. 13 at the beginning of class.*
Nov. 20, 25 Social psychological explanations for illness; the stress process model; social
support
Required readings:
Clarke, Chapter 6, “Some social-psychological explanations for illness”
Segall and Chappell, “Social support and health” (course pack)
In-class film: excerpts from “In Sickness and in Wealth”
Nov. 27, Dec 2 Wrap up
Dec. 4 Exam Review
Dec. 6 Final Papers due
Social Science
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an
alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make
this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact
Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 661-2111 x 82147
for any specific question regarding an accommodation.