Answer to Question 1
According to sociologists Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, inequality is not only
inevitable but also necessary for the smooth functioning of society.
The Davis-Moore thesis is summarized as follows: (1) all societies have important
tasks that must be accomplished and certain positions that must be filled; (2) some
positions are more important for the survival of society than others; (3) the most
important positions must be filled by the most qualified people; (4) the positions that
are the most important for society and that require scarce talent, extensive training, or
both must be the most highly rewarded; and (5) the most highly rewarded positions
should be those that are functionally unique (no other position can perform the same
function) and on which other positions rely for expertise, direction, or financing. The
Davis-Moore thesis assumes that social stratification results in meritocracya
hierarchy in which all positions are rewarded based on people's ability and credentials.
From a conflict perspective, people with economic and political power are able to
shape and distribute the rewards, resources, privileges, and opportunities in society for
their own benefit. Conflict theorists do not believe that inequality serves as a
motivating force for people; they argue that powerful individuals and groups use
ideology to maintain their favored positions at the expense of others. According to
conflict theorists, certain stereotypes suggest that wealthy people might be smarter
than others only in the sense of having chosen to be born to wealthy parents from
whom they can inherit assets. Conflict theorists also note that laws and informal social
norms support inequality in the United States. According to conflict theorists, the
reason inequality is growing in the United States partially lies in the concept of surplus
valuethevalueproduc ed,ortheprofit created when the cost of labor is less than
the cost of the goods or services that are produced by the workers. Thus, surplus
value is created by the workers' labor power, which is bought and employed by
members of the capitalist and managerial classes, who work on behalf of the capitalist
class. When profits are made, they are either reinvested in the business or used for
the enrichment of members of the capitalist class, which includes wealthy
shareholders.
Answer to Question 2
In studying health, symbolic interactionists focus on the meanings that social actors giv
their illness or disease and how these affect people's self-concept and relationships
with others. We socially construct health and illness and how both should be
treated. For example, some people explain disease by blaming it on those who are ill. If
we attribute cancer to the acts of a person, we can assume that we will be immune to
that disease if we do not engage in the same behavior. For example, nonsmokers who
learn that a lung cancer victim had a two-pack-a-day habit feel comforted that they are
unlikely to suffer the same fate. Although biological characteristics provide objective
criteria for determining medical conditions such as heart disease, tuberculosis, or
cancer, there is also a subjective component to how illness is defined. This subjective
component is very important when we look at conditions such as childhood
hyperactivity, mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse, cigarette smoking, and overeating,
all of which have been medicalized. The term medicalization refers to the process
whereby nonmedical problems become defined and treated as illnesses or disorders.
Medicalization may occur on three levels: (1) the conceptual level (the use of medical
terminology to define the problem) (2) the institutional level (physicians are supervisors
of treatment and gatekeepers to applying for benefits) and (3) the interactional level
(when physicians treat patients' conditions as medical problems). Labeling habitual
gambling as a disease is an example of the medicalization of deviance. It gives
physicians and other medical professionals greater authority to determine what should
be considered normal and acceptable behavior and to establish the appropriate
mechanisms for controlling deviant behaviors.. Medicalization is a two-way process:
just as conditions can be medicalized, so can they be demedicalized. Demedicalization
refers to the process whereby a problem ceases to be defined as an illness or a
disorder. Examples include the removal of certain behaviors (such as homosexuality)
from the list of mental disorders compiled by the American Psychiatric Association and
the deinstitutionalizat ion of mental health patients.
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