Handbook of Medical Sociology

This long-respected reference reflects the latest developments in the field, and surveys current topics in medical sociology-including ecological factors in illness and disease, technology in medical care, and health care in developing countries. Comprised of readings by leading specialists, these selections probe into specific policy issues concerning medical care, mental health, and addictive diseases. Students receive a historical as well as contemporary perspective of the field. Provides students with topics of gender and health, disability, emotions and health, experience of illness, managed care, quality of life, sociology and bioethics, and intersections between medical sociology and other social science health disciplines. NEW - A diverse group of authors - Both institutionally and geographically. Gives students a balance of different perspectives in the field. Coverage of a wide variety of topics-e.g., the history of medical sociology; social epidemiology; aging; and medical technology and education.

Table of Contents:
I. INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY OF MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY.  1. Medical Sociology at the Millennium.  2. The Institutionalization of Medical Sociology in the United States, 1920-1980. II. SOCIAL CONTEXTS OF HEALTH AND ILLNESS.  3. Evaluating the Fundamental Cause Explanation for Social Disparities in Health.  4. Links between Social Status and Health Status.  5. The Importance of Culture on Sociological Theory and Research on Stress and Mental Health: A Missing Link?  6. Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health: An Enduring Sociological Problem.  7. Sociological Explanations of Gender Differences in Mental and Physical Health.  8. Race, Ethnicity, and Health.  9. Political Economy of Health and Aging. 10. Environment and Health. III. HEALTH AND ILLNESS BEHAVIOR AND EXPERIENCE. 11. The Sociology of Health Behavior and Health Lifestyles. 12. On Chronic Illness and Disability. 13. Experiencing Illness in/and Narrative. IV. ORGANIZATION OF HEALTH SERVICES. 14. The Medical Profession and Organizational Change: From Professional Dominance to Countervailing Power. 15. Tides of Change: The Evolution of Managed Care in the United States. 16. Reconfiguring the Sociology of Medical Education: Emerging Topics and Pressing Issues. 17. The Evolving Relationship between Medical Sociology and Health Policy. V. MEDICAL CARE. 18. Changing Patient-Physician Relationships in the Changing Health-Policy Environment. 19. The Growing Acceptance of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 20. Quality of Life in Health, Illness and Medical Care. 21. Technology and Medical Practice. 22. Medicalization, Genetics, and Human Problems. VI. AREAS OF COLLABORATION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY. 23. Social and Psychological Factors, Physiological Processes, and Physical Health. 24. Medical Sociology and Health Psychology. 25. Social Epidemiology and Medical Sociology: Different Approaches to the Same Problem. 26. “Parallel Sisters”: Medical Anthropology and Medical Sociology. 27. The Sociology of Health in Developing Countries. 28. The Sociological Imagination and Bioethics. 29. Confronting the Second Social Contract: The Place of Medical Sociology in Research and Policy for the Twenty-First Century. Index.