Voiceover: Now that we've examined education, family and religion,
lets take a look at the government and economy.
We give the government the power and authority to manage the country.
Some governments take into consideration the will of the people, like democratic
systems where all citizens participate in
government, like law making and choosing officials.
Others rule autonomously like authoritarian systems
which command absolute obedience to authority.
Dictatorships are authoritarian systems where the government is ruled
by an individual without the consent of the citizens.
Other types of political systems include communism, which is a classless,
money less system, where all property is owned by the community.
A monarchy is a government that is embodied by a single person.
There are many facets to the government but the queen or king is the figurehead.
There are also a couple different economic systems in our world.
Capitalism is motivated by profits, and features private ownership of
production, with a market economy based on supply and demand.
Socialism is motivated by what benefits the society as a whole, and
features common ownership of production that
focuses on human needs and economic demand.
The division of labor in our government and economy is
functionalist, meaning everyone is expected
to have a responsibility in society.
It is interesting how we value certain types of labor more than others.
Garbage men, who are essential to society are not well valued and not well paid.
Athletes on the other hand are non-essential
but they are highly valued and well paid.
We value jobs that require lots of specialization and education,
rather than the jobs that are essential to our society.
This creates inequalities because no everyone has access to
those valued professions due to limited education or resources.
We see this disparity throughout society,
including education and healthcare and medicine.
Healthcare and medicine is the final institution we will examine here.
We know medicine exists to keep people healthy.
But it also has other effects on society.
Medicalization for example occurs when human
conditions get defined and treated as
medical conditions, and become a subject
of medical study, diagnosis, and treatment.
This often occurs with mental health type issues, like sadness
and attention, but also can occur with physical issues like birth.
People are becoming over-diagnosed with depression or ADD.
While it is true that these are serious conditions, being sad doesn't
mean you're depressed, and having difficulty
focusing doesn't mean you have ADD.
Birth has become medicalized, as women and
doctors plan C-sections, rather than having natural births.
Another effect of health and medicine is the sick rule.
This is the expectation within society that allows you to take
a break from responsibilities in order to get better when you're sick.
But if you don't get better or don't return to your
place in society, you are viewed as deviant and harmful to society.
And major part of the institution of
health and medicine is the delivery of healthcare.
There are massive inequalities in terms of access.
We take care of the elderly through Medicaid and Medicare and the children
through child health insurance programs, but the people in between get left behind.
These are the people who populate the working force.
And when they get sick it can seriously affect society.
The Affordable Care Act is trying to fix
this gap, but it's still too early to tell.
We spend a lot of money on healthcare, but we
don't get the desired outcomes because people still get sick.
This is because we invest a lot more money in
helping people once they are sick, than in developing preventative medicine.
Almost everyone will be sick at some point in their lives.
The illness experience is the process of being
ill and how people cope with their illness.
Being ill can change a person's self identity.
The diagnosis of a chronic disease can take over
your life where every decision revolves around the disease.
There are stigmas associated with certain diseases, like mental
illnesses or STDs, that can affect how others perceive you.
Even how people experience a disease differs depending on
if they have access to resources, like palliative care.
Social epidemiology looks at health disparities
through social indicators like race, gender, and
income distribution, and it looks at how social factors affect a person's health.
There's a correlation between social advantages or
disadvantages and the distribution of health or disease.
Well, there we have it, a closer look into
the institutions that make up and support our society.
But this is just skimming the surface.
There is so much more depth to every topic here, more facts, more consequences.
Just take a look at your world to see how much
more there is to this institutions that perhaps once seemed simple.