Glossary

| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | X | Y | Z |

A

action
purposeful and conscious behaviour
ageing population
a population ages when an increase in the proportion of older people is coupled with a reduction in the proportion of children and persons of working age
ageism
discrimination on the basis of age
agency
the capacity individuals have to shape their social world
agents
individuals who have the capacity to act outside of (structural) constraints
anti-ageist
practice health and social care practice which does not discriminate on the basis of age
asylum seeker
a person who has left their own country, possibly because of war or human rights abuses, and has applied for recognition as a refugee and is awaiting a decision on their application
autobiographical voice
methodological approach which allows participants to tell their own stories
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B

barriers
barriers which prevent disabled people from participating fully within society
bed blocking
a pejorative term for ‘delayed discharge’ which depersonalizes the patient
bourgeoisie
those who own the means of production
bureaucracy
a structure found in large organizations, based on the specialization of tasks, rules and regulations, systems and authority
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C

Care Quality Commission (CQC)
the independent regulatory body for health care
carers
people who, without payment, provide help and support a partner, child, relative, friend or neighbour
child mortality
child death under the age of five
class
the major form of social stratification in modern societies
clinical governance
the process whereby a health care organization works to ensure a high and rising standard of treatment and care for patients and users
cognitive
relating to thinking processes
commodification
when economic value is given to something not previously ascribed any economic value
culture
a shared set of values, perceptions and assumptions based on shared history, language or other learned experiences
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D

delayed discharge
a term for ‘bed blocking’ which recognizes that difficulties with discharge lie with the system and not the individual
demography
the study of populations
deviance
behavior considered unacceptable within a society or culture
discrimination
may occur as the consequence of prejudice which disadvantages certain social groups
division of labour
the allocation of work tasks to groups or individuals according to the nature of the task
domestic violence
includes physical violence as well as psychological, emotional, sexual and economic abuse. It can be perpetrated within intimate relationships as well as by other family members and can include forced marriage, genital mutilation and honour killings
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E

elite
a small group that has power and influence by virtue of its social position
emotional labour
regulation of one’s own and other people’s feelings
emotion work
the regulation, management and care of one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions
enhanced roles
roles that allow nurses to use their expert knowledge to make autonomous decisions
epidemiological
referring to epidemiology, the branch of medicine that studies the causes, distribution, and control of disease in populations
ethnicity
a socially constructed difference used to refer to people who see themselves as having a common ancestry, often linked to a geographical territory, and perhaps sharing a language, religion and other social customs
ethnography
a research approach which involves the direct observation of the activity of members of a group or organization
evidence-based practice
the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients (Sackett et al., 1997)
extended family
a family group consisting of three or more generations of relatives living either within the same household or in close proximity
expanded roles
roles that include activities formerly carried out within other occupations, which expands the range of tasks to be carried out
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F

feminist
relating to the political theory and practice that challenges the oppression of women
fitness (for human habitation)
the legal standards for minimum requirements in housing services and conditions
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G

gatekeeping
this term portrays the key role which general practitioners have traditionally played in managing the access of patients to secondary and other health care services
gender
cultural differences between males and females
globalization
an economic, cultural, technological and political process involving the movement of people, goods, services, cultures, technologies and ideas across international borders
Green Paper
a discussion document issued by government as a first step towards legislation
GP fundholding
introduced in 1990, meant that GP practices were able to hold budgets to purchase care for their patients; it was abolished in 1999
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H

healthism
a personal, cultural and political health movement
holism
an approach which seeks to move away from a biomedical model
homelessness
without appropriate accommodation; this can range from living in undesirable conditions to being roofless
housing policy
government policy on housing provision and control
housing sectors
the forms of housing provision in Britain: social housing, private rented accommodation and owner occupation
hospitalization
period of time as a patient confined to a hospital
hysteria
the term was first coined by Hippocrates and is derived from the Greek word hystera, or uterus. The theory of female hysteria gained popularity in the works of Sigmund Freud in the early twentieth century and then by Jean-Martin Charcot, a French neurologist
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I

iatrogenesis
‘doctor-caused illness’
ideal type
a model of a phenomenon which identifies its essential elements
ideologies
system of ideas underlying social action
illness behavior
actions of people when they feel unwell
informal organization
the relationships, networks and norms of behaviour that people who work together develop outside the formal organizational structure and processes
institutionalization
the long-term incarceration of individuals, whether compulsory, coercive or voluntary, for the purpose of treatment, care and social control
institutional racism
occurs when institutional policies, procedures and practices intentionally or unintentionally give rise to discriminatory outcomes and reproduce disadvantage
internal market
a policy whereby a large public sector organization is broken down into smaller, more independent provider hospitals or community units which compete for contracts from a commissioning or purchasing body
involuntarily deviant
enacting the unwilled transgression of prescribed norms
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J

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K

kin groups
the social relationships and lineage groups bound together through a system of well-defined customs, rights and obligations; kin relationships may either derive from descent or be established through affinity
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L

lay definitions of health
beliefs based on individual experience or folk knowledge, as opposed to ‘official’ or medical definitions of health
legitimacy
is achieved when an individual acknowledges that their lifestyle has changed as a consequence of acquiring a chronic condition and incorporates these changes into social interactions
life-course perspective
a view of a person’s whole life, taken in order to comprehend better their present experiences and beliefs
longitudinal
describes a research study that follows the same group of people over time
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M

majority world
also referred to as the ‘developing world’
masculinity and femininity
the ways in which men and women are expected to behave, think and feel
material
relating to economic factors
means of production
the means by which surpluses are extracted
median
the midpoint; so the median income is the point at which half of all incomes lie above, and half below
medicalization
the process by which aspects of everyday life enter the domain of the medical profession to become medical problems requiring diagnosis, treatment and cure
methodological pluralism
use of more than one method of data collection
modern
describes a kind of society that began in eighteenth-century Europe, in which scientific knowledge, technology, progress and individualism are highly valued
modernization
the imposition of national standards in health care, the encouragement of local managerial and professional initiative, more public involvement in health issues and NHS organizations, improvement in buildings, equipment and IT, more streamlined ways of diagnosing and treating illness, and new ways of working which break down barriers between professions
modern matron
a nurse who is easily identifiable to patients, accountable for a group of wards and in control of the resources necessary to organize the fundamentals of care
moral panic
media inspired overreaction to a certain group or to a type of behavior that is taken as a sign of impending social disorder
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N

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
a body of experts who evaluate the evidence on new and existing treatments, drugs and clinical procedures and determine whether they are worthwhile clinically and economically
National Service Frameworks
were introduced in 1998 in an attempt to improve the quality and consistency of care in a number of priority clinical areas. NSFs typically comprise a set of service standards, implementation guidance and performance measures which are intended to apply nationally
negotiated order
a means of organizing the outcome of interactions between people
normalization
a therapeutic philosophy which emphasizes individual patient choice and the importance of ‘homelike’ environments
nurse leadership programme
a programme of leadership development for nurses at ward and senior level instituted following The NHS Plan
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O

occupational closure
the monopoly of work to maintain power and status over other occupational groups
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P

palliative care
care to meet the needs and expectations of patients (and of their families) who have a progressive life-threatening illness
paradigms
systematic and coherent bodies of knowledge
paternalism/paternalistic
the sexist treatment of women
payment by results
replaced the block contract method of commissioning hospital services by PCTs with an activity-based system with a set of nationally applicable tariffs for different types of procedures. These were initially based on the actual average cost of procedures. PbR is intended therefore to provide incentives to greater efficiency by reducing costs below the tariff; to increase output, as this leads to more revenue; and to improve quality of care as both price competition is eliminated and patient choice mechanisms establish quality as the competitive advantage
performance monitoring
regular checks by superior bodies within the NHS hierarchy on key targets such as financial balance, waiting times and discharge delays
personal medical services pilots
introduced following the 1997 NHS (Primary Care) Act. PMS operates through a local contract negotiated with, typically, a PCT to provide specific services to meet locally identified needs. Providers such as nurses, allied health professionals and community trusts could contract to provide the service
phenomena
states or processes that can be observed
power
the ability to control or influence other people with or without their consent
practice-based commissioning
introduced in 2004. It allows individual but more likely groups of GP practices to commission/ ‘purchase’ a range of services (a range agreed with the PCT) for their practice populations against a notional budget. The intention is that, with financial and provider performance information, practices will seek to lever improved service design in both services commissioned in secondary care and those provided at the practice level. In principle, efficiency savings in the budget will release resources for the development of other services by the practice/consortium (in contrast to GP fundholding, where surpluses could be retained by the practices)
prejudice
the negative feelings of an individual towards a particular social group
primary care trusts
primary care organizations within the NHS. They were first created in 2000 to commission, provide and develop primary care services in a geographical area and were established across the whole of England by April 2002, replacing primary care groups. Following the Darzi review (DH, 2008a), PCTs were encouraged to adopt a different form of name, removing the reference to ‘primary care’ and replacing it with, for example, (Placename) NHS Trust
problematizing
looking beyond the obvious to seek an explanation
professional project
an attempt by an occupation to become a profession, using strategies aimed at enhancing power and status
proletariat
those who sell their labour
Public health
largely preventive health measures targeting populations and environ - mental improvements (in contrast to individual, curative medical approaches)
pull
factors refer to conditions in the destination country which attract movement into that country
nuclear family
the nuclear family comprises merely parents (or a parent) and their dependent child(ren)
push
factors refer to conditions or circumstances that encourage nurses to leave their country
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Q

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R

race
a biological distinction between different groups of people, determined by genetic make-up
racism
an ideology or practice which is predicated on a belief in the existence of a hierarchy of ‘races’, based on inherited biological characteristics, and which promotes the social exclusion of people by virtue of their being members of different racial groups
refugee
a person fleeing from persecution in their country of nationality for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion
reliability
research is reliable if it can be repeated to produce the same results
role
the expected behaviours of holders of particular positions within society
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S

salutogenic
focusing on health as positive and on resources for maintaining health rather than on factors which threaten morbidity and mortality
seminal
research is seminal if it has a determining influence on sociological thought
sex
the biological differences between males and females
sick role
the sanctioning of illness within society
social capital
community spirit, social cohesion, social networks, social trust, shared values and civic participation
social closure
the means by which one social group maintains power and status in society by closing entry to other groups. In occupational closure, control of entry into the occupation and monopoly over an area of work are the means usually adopted
social cohesion
a sense of belonging to wider society
social construction
the way in which social reality is constructed by individuals and groups
social exclusion
the impact of poverty and low income on involvement in mainstream social life
social gerontology
the critical study of ageing
social housing
housing provided by local authorities and housing associations to tenants with special needs usually unable to afford their own homes
socialization
processes by which individuals acquire the roles, norms and cultures of society
social stratification
the division of society into levels that form a hierarchy with the most powerful at the to
p
stigma
social disgrace attached to any condition
structure
organized patterns of social behaviour and the social institutions within society
structured ageing
the social construction of ageing
surveillance
observation of individuals/populations
symbolic and cultural meanings
the way in which concepts and ideas are expressed through culture
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T

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U

universal and generalizable knowledge
knowledge assumed to be common
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V

validity
research is valid if it measures what it has set out to measure
victim blaming
considering people to be individually responsible for their own ill-health
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W

White Paper
a later discussion document in which government proposals are set out and which invites more limited consultation
worried well
individuals who are otherwise physically and mentally healthy but are concerned about their health and well-being
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X

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Y

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Z

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Resources Sociology for Nurses