15 Population and Urbanization

Demography:The Study of PopuLation

Fertility Mortality Migration Population Composition

PopuLationGrowth in GLobaLContext

The Malthusian Perspective The MarxistPerspective TheNeo-Malthusian Perspective DemographicTransition Theory OtherPerspectives on Population Change

A Brief GLimpse at InternationaL MigrationTheoriesUrbanizationin GLobaLPerspective

Emergence and Evolution of the City PreindustrialCities Industrial CitiesPostindustrial Cities

Perspectiveson Urbanization and theGrowth of Cities

Functionalist Perspectives: EcologicalModels ConflictPerspectives: PoliticalEconomy Models SymbolicInteractionist Perspectives: TheExperience of City Lif e

ProbLems inGLobaLCities Urban ProbLems in the United States

DividedInterests: Cities,Suburbs, andBeyond The ContinuingFiscalCrises of the Cities

PopuLation and Urbanizationin the Future

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averybad thing because we're working veryhard hereandthere'sno support f rom the government.We're only working. We're not committinga sin.

-Rigoberto Morales expressing hisfrustration upon learningthat Congress is doinglittletohelp him become a U.S.citizen af ter hehas spent eight longyears workingin thehot fields of Florida pickingtomatoes and sending mostof his earningstohis f amilyin Mexico (qtd. in Goodnough andSteinhauer, 2006:A35)

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live here infear. We fear Immigration will come, and many people just don't go out.

-AntoniaFuentes,a Mexican farmworkerwho has picked tomatoes for two years andwouldwelcomeeven a guestworkerprogram that wouldpermit her to stayintheUnited Statesf ora setperiod of time (qtd. in Goodnough andSteinhauer,2006: A35)

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want to try our luck [in the UnitedStates]. We can't go back to Michoacan[astate in Mexico] because there is no future there. Mybrotherssaid thereis plentyof work [in theUnited States],and that it looks like they will start giving [work] permits.

-EdithMondragonexplaining why she and her husband paid a smuggler in a failed attemptto getacrossthe Mexican borderinto theUnited States(qtd. in CNN.com, 2006)

•What is the conflict perspective on healthand illness?

Conf lict theory tends to emphasizethepolitical,eco- nomic, and social forces thataffect health and the health caredelivery system. Among these issues are theability of all people to obtain health care;howrace,class,and genderinequalities affect health and healthcare; power relationsbetween doctorsand other health carework ers; thedominance of the medical model of health care;and theroleof profit in the health care system.

•What is the symbolic interactionist perspective on health and illness?

Instudyinghealth,symbolic interactionistsfocuson the fact that themeaning that socialactors givetheir illnessor diseasewillaff ect theirself -conceptand

Key Terms

acute diseases420 chronic diseases420demedicalization 435 disability436 drug 421health 415 healthcare416 their relationships with others. According tosymbolic interactionists,we sociallyconstruct"health" and "illness"and how both should be treated.Symbolic interactionists also examine medicalization-the process wherebynonmedical problemsbecomede- finedand treatedas illnessesor disorders.

•What is the postmodernist perspectiveon health and illness?

Postmodern theorists suchas MichelFoucaultargue that doctors and the medical establishment have gained control over illness and patientsatleast partly because of the physicians' clinical gaze, which replaces all other systems of knowledge.The myth of the wise doctorwas also supported bythe developmentof dis- easeclassificationsystems and new tests. health maintenance organization (HMO)427 holistic medicine 430 infant mortalityrate 417 life expectancy 416 managedcare427 medical-industrial complex 434 medicalization434 medicine 416 sick role 431 socialepidemiology420 socialized medicine428 universal health care system428

Ouestions for CriticaL Thinking

1. Why is it important to explain the social, as wellas the biological, aspects of health and illnessinsocieties? 2. In whatwaysare race, class, and genderinter- twined with physical and mental disorders? 3.Howwould functionalists, conflict theorists,and symbolic interactionistssuggest that healthcare deliverymight be improved in the United States?

The Kendall Companion Website

http:// thomsonedu.com/sociology/kendall

Supplementyour reviewof this chapter bygoing to the companionwebsite to take oneof the tutorial quizzes,use theflash cardsto master keyterms,and check out the manyother study aids you'llfind 4. Based on thischapter,howdoyou think illness and disability will be handled in the UnitedStates in the near future?Arethere thingsthatwe can learn from other nations regarding the deliveryof health care?Whyorwhynot? there. You'll also findspecial f eatures such as GSS Dataand Census2000information thatwill put data and resources atyour fingertipstohelpyouwith that specialprojector helpyou dosomeresearchon your own.

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t'shardto cross. Butit'sharder to seeyour children have littleto eat.

-Raul Gonzalez, who turnedhimself intoU.S. authorities af terhewasrobbed andhis feetstarted bleeding fromwalkingf orfive days to get across the borderinto the United States,statingthe common themeof most immigrants: Wewant a betterlife f or ourselves and our children(qtd. inCNN.com, 2006)

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e want to be legal.Wewant to livewithout hiding, without fear. Wehave tospeak so that our voices arelistened to and we are takeninto account.

-Ruben Arita,a constructionworkerf rom Honduras, explainingwhyhe participated in arallytopushf or legal status f or undocumented workersresiding in the United States(qtd.in Swarns, 2006:Ai)

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mmigrantsare comingtogether in a way that wehave never seen before,and it's goingto keep going....This is a movement.We're sending a strong message thatwe are people ofdignity.Allthat we want is to have a shotat the American dream.

Many undocumentedworkers seek to enter the United States so that they can work andobtain a better quality of life for themselves and their f amilies.However, theaspirations of these workers often run contrary to the mandateof lawenforcement officials to patrol the border and keepout individualswhoseek to enter the country illegally. -Jaime Contreras,who enteredtheUnitedStates illegallyfromEl Salvadorbut is nowa U.S. citizen, discussingwhyhewould liketoseeamajorchange in currentimmigrationandcitizenship laws (qtd.in Swarns,2006: Ai)

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