YOU NEED TO USE THESE SOURCES, IF YOU WANT TO ADD ANY LATER YOU MAY, BUT YOU MUST USE SOME OR ALL OF THESE:
– Brulle & Pellow (2006) Environmental Justice: Human Health And Environmental Inequalities

– Gee & Payne-Sturges (2004) Environmental Health Disparities: A Framework Integrating Psychosocial and Environmental Concepts

– Don’t Drink the Water: The Crisis in Flint from a Sociological Perspective

About the Sociological Analysis Memo: In the second module of most weeks you will write a 3-page analysis on various social factors in health and illness. This assignment is designed to give you the opportunity to develop a sociological analysis of some aspect of health, illness, or healing. In addition, it allows you to practice creativity and agency in connecting the course material to an issue of your choosing that hopefully interests you. The prompt and directions for each memo will be listed under the corresponding section on D2L. After choosing your focus for the memo and researching the topic, follow the outline provided in the directions to write your memo.

Memo 3 Topic: The Sociological Dimensions of a Disease or Illness

You should begin by selecting one particular disease (e.g., tuberculosis, heart disease, AIDS), chronic health condition (e.g., asthma, Hepatitis), mental illness (anxiety, depression, suicide), or other disabling health condition or problem (e.g., water pollution, asbestos, E-coli contamination, low-birth weight, maternal mortality). Your task is to develop a social epidemiological analysis of your selected disease/health condition using published resources and course materials.

The first part of your paper should describe the disease/health problem in detail, highlighting what medical science knows about it and why this particular disease/health problem should be of concern to medical sociologists and our society. The primary focus of your paper, however, should be on presenting a detailed analysis of the social groups or populations most likely to be affected by your disease/health condition (e.g., by gender, ethnicity, race, social class). In addition to describing the basic social epidemiological variation, you should also discuss the social forces, you believe, are shaping the disease-related patterns you document. Do not expect to find the analysis already drawn within the literature; you may need to synthesize both medical and social scientific research on your topic, connecting back to foundational theories you learned in course readings.

You may limit your study to diseases in the United States, choose a different case of interest, or even choose to compare the social epidemiology across two or more nations or cultures. In sum, your job is to pull together the empirical evidence and develop a coherent and cogent sociological analysis of your chosen disease or illness.

The general outline for your paper should be roughly as follows:

Page 1 – General introduction to your disease/health problem and possibly a specific case (city, state, or country). Describe what medical science knows about it and describe why it is an important health problem.

Page 2 – Describe the social epidemiological profile of the people most likely to suffer from your disease/health problem. Discuss any variations by race, class, gender, etc.

Page 3 – Discuss the social forces relating to this health condition and any prevalent disparities that may be present. In other words, why is this still a problem and what has prevented public health professionals from solving it? What is the likelihood that our society (or the societies you studied, if not the United States) can respond to and ameliorate your issue?

Format: After researching your topic, you will write a memo or “report” on your findings. Written memos are to be at least 3 pages in length (not including references), double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman or Cambria font with 1-inch margins and using a bibliographic formatting of choice (Harvard, APA, ASA, MLA). I expect these to be concise and organized demonstrations of your topic and medical sociological concepts of the module and/or semester so far. Connect back to the course readings and PowerPoints in addition to at least 3 outside sources that focus on your chosen topic.