Religion, Education, and Medicine

Discussion Outline

– Three interconnected institutions that help society meet it’s basic needs

• I. Religion• II. Education• III. Medicine

– Institution?

I. Religion

• What is religion? What is the purpose of religion?

– Why might it be hard for some sociologists to study religion according to Max Weber?

Global View of Religious Behavior

• Religious behavior varies across Societies: complex and difficult to categorize

– 1. Simple supernaturalism

– 2. Animism

– 3. Theism

– 4. Abstract Ideals

Durkheim’s contributions to the study of religion

–The sacred and the profane (secular)–How can something be both sacred and

profane?

Major World Religions

• The largest Religious group in the world is Christians, followed by Muslims

• If the worlds population was represented as an imaginary village of 100 people there would be:– 33 Christians– 21 Muslims– 16 non religious individuals (Agnostic or atheist)– 14 Hindus– 6 Buddhists– 6 Chinese Universalists– 4 Believers in another religion (Judaism, Sikhism, etc)

• Are Americans religious as a whole?

Religion in Contemporary U.S. Life• The Secularization Thesis-The debate

– Overall people have remained religious, but religion has less influence over education and government

– Religiosity-The ways that people demonstrate their religious beliefs

• The Religious Marketplace

– The most common reasons people change religion:• Not believing in teachings• Seeing religious people as hypocritical or judgmental• Losing respect for religious leaders who focus on power and money

State-Church Issues

– The First Amendment

• Religion and Morality

– Issues?

Religion and Theory

• The Functionalist Perspective

– The importance of religion

• The Conflict Perspective

– Marx and Religion• Religion as a weapon• Religion is the “opiate of the people”

II. Education in America

• Thomas Jefferson, an advocate and pioneer of the American educational system, believed that education is important to promoting active citizenship and a democratic self-government. What did he mean?– What is the purpose of education?

Education

• Education system

• The Bureaucratic Structure of Schools

– Characteristics of American Schools

Characteristics of Education in the U.S.

• Education as a Conserving Force– Schools indoctrinate students in the culturally

prescribed ways.

• Mass Education–Many students attend school for the wrong reason.

Characteristics of Education in the U.S.

• Preoccupation with Order and Control

• A Fragmented Education System– Private– Homeschooling– Charter– Vouchers

Characteristics of Education in the U.S.

• Local Control of Education– Financing of schools through local taxes– Intrusion of religious views of the majority

• Sifting and Sorting Function of Schools

Education and Theory

• The Functionalist Perspective?

• Symbolic Interactionism?• Educational Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

Sociological Theories of Education

• Conflict– Educational institution solidifies class positions and allows

the elite to control the masses.– Quality education and educational opportunities are not

equally distributed.– Education provides indoctrination into the capitalist

ideology.

III. Medicine

• Health Care in The United States• Is health care in the U.S. truly: “…unjust, corrupt,

inefficient, irrelevant, too expensive, and too often harming people” As suggested by Stanford physician and other critics (pg 376 of textbook)?

• What are some of the problems related to U.S. health care?– Do you have positive or negative experiences?

Problems in American Health Care

• Inadequate Health Insurance Coverage

• The High Cost of Health Care

• U.S. World Rankings

• Unequal access to health care

• The politics of Health Reform and influence of Private Industry

Inadequate Health Insurance Coverage

• 2010: 50 Million Americans Uninsured– 700,000 bankruptcies a year due to medical bills

– How many bankruptcies occur per year due to med bills in France? Germany? Japan? Britain?

U.S World Rankings

• The U.S. spends 50% more per capita on health care than any other country.

• The U.S. ranks 47th in average life expectancy.• The U.S. ranks last among 23 wealthy countries in

its infant mortality rate.• The U.S. ranks 54th out of 191 countries in terms of

the fairness of its health care system.• The World Health Organization ranked the U.S. 37th

out of 191 countries in Overall Health Care• (From Eitzen and Baca, Social Problems (2012))

Unequal Access to Health Care

• Social Class– The poor are more likely to suffer from certain types of diseases and illnesses,

receive inferior medical service, and less likely to use preventive medicine.• Medicaid helps, yet it is often the working poor and their families who do not qualify

• Race– Life expectancy

– Infant mortality

– Maternal mortality

– Prenatal care

– Low birth weight

– Cancer and other diseases

U.S. Health Care Reform?

• The U.S. is the only country in the industrialized world that does not guarantee health care to its citizens.– Health care is rationed in United States on the ability to

pay– In all other industrialized nations there is a mechanism

for guaranteeing health care to all citizens. Many industrialized nations provide national health care, or Universal health care, which is also known as socialized medicine

Reforming the Health Care System

• In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt proposed a national health insurance plan, and since then, many presidential administrations have sought health care for all citizens– In 2009, the majority (61%) of U.S. adults was in

favor of the government guaranteeing health coverage to all citizens, even if it meant higher taxes.

Application: Canada’s Health Care System

• Federal proposal-The National Health Insurance Act-Expand Medicare to every U.S. resident– Creates a single payer health care system-a tax

financed public insurance program that replaces private insurance companies• National health insurance card for all citizens-covers all

medical services with no co-payments or deductibles and would see doctor of choice.– What are the primary barriers?

• What stands in the way of reform to a broken system?

Barriers to Reform

• The Insurance Industry is in great opposition to reform – Interest groups have spent hundreds of millions on

televisions ads, lobbying, and campaign contributions to combat against reforms.

– (1.5 million recently went to the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee)

– In 2009 there were 3,098 health-sector lobbyists.• Reconstruction of the social problem using

misinformation and the media-Critical Constructionism

Barriers to Reform

• The Politics of Health Reform-Partisan issues– Government should be involved in the health care

system (Democrats).– The marketplace should dictate the health care

system (Republicans).

Reforming the Health Care System

• The Obama Plan– Everyone must have insurance.– Government will subsidize those with low income.– Individuals may keep their current plan.– Private plans will compete for business.– Individuals cannot be denied for a preexisting

medical condition.–Millions uninsured will become insured.

Reforming the Health Care System

• Obamacare is not socialist.

– A public option was not included; health care is a mostly private system.