3.0

Average Course Rating

Examines three theoretical perspectives that are foundational to sociology, particularly as applied to medical sociology and sociologically informed public health research: 1) Conflict Theory, (aka: critical theory), 2) Social Integration Theory (aka: structure functionalism), 3) Sociology of Meaning (including social construction, medicalization, and symbolic interactions). Uses these perspectives to analyze various aspects of health and illness, the healthcare system, and health policy issues. Analyzes these aims: (1) its assumptions about the social world; (2) how it helps us think differently about social structure and human agency; and (3) the intellectual questions it raises. Examines how each perspective has been or could be applied in the study of health and illness and healthcare systems.