Sickness Funds

German insurance programs offered by nonprofit groups to serve a given occupation, geographic location, or employer. Otherwise known as social insurance. single-payer system A health care system in which a single government health insurance organization covers all residents of a nation. social capital The resources available to an individual through his or her social network. Social capital is typically measured by some combination of the number of people with whom one has close personal relationships and the types of resources one can access through those relationships. social class The combination of an individual’s education, income, and occupational status or prestige; some researchers use only one of these indicators to measure social class, but others combine two or more indicators. social construction Ideas created by a social group as opposed to something that is objectively or naturally given. social control Means used by a social group to ensure that individuals conform to social norms and that the existing balance of power among groups is maintained. Social control can be formal (such as execution or commitment to a mental hospital) or informal (such as ridicule or shunning). See also norms. social control agents Individuals or groups of individuals who have the authority to enforce social norms, including parents, teachers, religious leaders, and doctors. See also norms. social drift theory A theory holding that lower-class persons have higher rates of illness because middle-class persons who become ill drift over time into the lower class.