Ideology in My Controversy

For this blog post I will combine the sources that I have found researching the controversy of families not completing the required immunizations prior to enrolling in school.  I will answer specific questions regarding the ideology that is found throughout all of my sources.

mpclemens. "Shift Freedom". 17 November 2009 via flickr Public
 

Who is involved in the controversy?
Groups involved in this controversy included schools, ones that were public, secular private, and religious private.  The children that were exempt from vaccinations based on their religious background were given nonmedical exemptions.  Others that were that did not get their necessary vaccinations were medically exempt from getting them.

Who are some of the major speakers/writers within these groups?
There were no major speakers or writers that belonged to specific groups in the research.  However, government agencies provided most of the data for the sources.

What kind of social/cultural/economic/political power does each group hold?
Of the different religious groups that are included in the research, many do not hold more power over one another.  Although, in one of the sources, Vaccine, schools of the Mennonite and Amish had the highest religious exemption, specifically 61.5% in 2012.  In another source, the American Journal of Public Health, there was a finding that there were high exemption clusters that were associated with higher socioeconomic status characteristics.  Higher exemption rates were associated with higher proportion of Whites, higher percentage of college graduates, higher median household income, and lower percentage of families in poverty at the census tract, zip code, or school district level.

What does each group value?
This question can be answered much more elaborately and can go on for many pages since each religious group has their own shared belief in whether or not children can have the proper vaccinations for their schools.

Is there a power differential between the groups?
Generally speaking the difference in sides for this controversy is the group that supports having their children vaccinated, who are not exempt from them either medically or nonmedically, and the group that does not support having their children vaccinated based on their religious background or their values and beliefs of vaccinations.  There is more power given to the side that does have their children vaccinated due to their being a larger number of people that support this than the other group which does not support vaccinations.

Is there any acknowledged common ground between groups?
Since one group supports having their children being vaccinated and the other group does not, there is no true common ground between the two.  Although, of the groups that do not support vaccination, similar religious groups have similar beliefs in why their children are not being vaccinated.

Is there any unacknowledged common ground?
Given the fact certain states in the U.S. have stricter exemption laws, some groups who are against vaccinations must have their children receive proper vaccinations prior to enrolling in school.  These strict exemption laws reduce the rates of exemptions and also reduce the outbreak risk of diseases.

Do various groups listen to each other?
Groups do not directly respond to claims made by one another.  Although, I have not seen data supported by these sources about that claim, I believe individuals who already share beliefs with one another only respond to the claims they only make about the vaccination laws.