(Chapter 14) A Sociological Mind

             From this course, I have mainly received a new way of thinking.  Most of the topics throughout the course weren't extremely new to me, and I had experienced most of them at least once throughout my life.  This book really made me think about those common things with a new perspective though, and really see how everything interacts.  For instance, I had been familiar with the concept of the Baby Boom Generation, but until now I hadn't thought of it's long-term effects, rather than a possible spike in the healthcare field and the collapsing of Social Security.  Our sociology textbook talks about those, but still goes even farther.  It connects that being the first generation to grow up with effective birth control caused lower birthrates which in turn caused smaller generations below them.  This is turn leaves many Baby Boomers with fewer children to turn to for help in their old age than previous generations have generally had.  Consequently, they will become more reliant on social services to care for them, and in large numbers.  Also, technological advances must be taken into account when predicting the effects of the aging of this generation, as people are living longer now than ever before.  With this generation getting closer to retirement, and with fewer workers to replace them, businesses are also going to have to find ways of keeping workers longer.  There are so many factors in explaining why social things are happening, what's causing them, and what that means for the future that it can quickly get exhausting. 

           As overwhelming as it can be, I have already noticed a significant effect on how I think about things, which could quite possibly be an employment of the sociological imagination.  Today, while reading in my psychology book about stress, I started reflexively making connections.  It was talking about how hospitals have already started incorporating new research into common practice to help reduce patient stress before and after surgery.  I have experienced the use of these new practices first-hand in some hospitals, and have also been denied of them in others.  I realize that the difference between these hospitals' treatment plans was due to where they were specifically located in the metro area.  The last hospital I was at supposedly has the best high-end equipment, but was located in "a bad part of town," and was typically treating mostly poor ethnic minorities.  These factors were strongly reflected in the care that I received, from how I was treated by staff to how hesitant they were to give me seriously-needed pain medications that were considered typical treatment at other hospitals.  Pain pills were handed out like candy at more "affluent" hospitals (to which I usually denied), but were treated like ecstasy here.  And these hospitals are no more than 15 miles from each other!  Nevertheless, all of the differences made me think about the fact that just because there are better treatment plans being put into practice, a lot of people aren't getting to benefit from them.  There is plenty of research showing significant positive effects of these new approaches to patient stress, but some hospitals still can't incorporate them.  Just by being a certain race, being in a certain social class, living in a certain community, or even being a certain gender all have IMMENSE repercussions on what experiences you may have throughout your life.  Way more than I ever thought before.  It's all very fascinating to me to think about how everything in the world is so intricately interconnected, and I'm sure I will benefit from this new approach.