• Unit 5: Social Change and Social Issues

    In your final unit for the course, you will learn about the great social issues surrounding health care, urbanization, and social movements. The sociology of health encompasses social epidemiology, disease, mental health, disability, and medicalization. You will discover that the way we perceive and treat medicine and health care constantly evolves. Furthermore, as you study the sociology of health, you will be challenged to answer questions like: What does health mean to you? How do you feel about legalized drugs? And are too many people on prescription medicines in America?

    Also, in this unit, you will read about population, urbanization, and the environment. You will explore possible reasons for the migration of people from rural areas to urban areas as well as how these shifts in population and urbanization may affect the environment.

    Lastly, you will study different types of social movements. Social movements are typically of a large scale and have great social impact; although, they usually start out as grassroots organizations, relying heavily on word of mouth. Grassroots movements that gain success, however, often become institutionalized and evolve into a more fixed and formal part of the social structure.

    For example, the Second Wave of Feminism, which occurred from the 1960s through the 1980s, started as a grassroots movement to fight against inequalities between the sexes. Men and women who participated in this movement typically did not belong to formal organizations. Instead, they spread the word of their cause through conscious-raising groups in hopes of creating social change. One such group was destined to become the National Organization for Women (NOW). Started by a group of about 28 women in 1966, NOW remains one of the prominent political and social voices for women's rights today with a membership of over 500,000. Indeed, we are still witnessing changes instigated by the Second Wave of Feminism, such as stronger legislation protecting women from discrimination in the workplace and from abuse in the home.

    As you take a closer look at social movements, you will explore the questions: How does collective behavior affect social change? How does social change differ on state, national, and global levels? And how do different theoretical perspectives interpret social movements?

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 16 hours.