The Sociology of Health and Illness - Softcover

Nettleton, Sarah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745646018 ISBN 13: 9780745646015

Publisher: Polity, 2013

Synopsis

Sarah Nettleton’s The Sociology of Health and Illness has become a cornerstone text, popular with students and academics alike for its rigorous and accessible overview of the field. Building on these strengths, the third edition integrates fresh insights from the current literature with the core tenets of traditional medical sociology, providing students with a thorough grounding in the sociology of health and illness.

The text covers a diversity of topics and draws on a wide range of analytic approaches, spanning issues such as the social construction of medical knowledge, the analysis of lay health beliefs, concepts of lifestyles and risk, the experience of illness and the sociology of the body. It also explores matters which are central to health policy, such as professional-patient relationships, health inequalities and the changing nature of health care work. Each chapter in the book has been revised and updated, with substantial new material in particular on the sociology of diagnosis, body work, and a whole new chapter on the sociology of health technology.

Written for students of the social sciences who opt to study the field of health and illness in greater depth, this book will also continue to appeal to students taking vocational degrees, such as nursing, who require a sociological grounding in the area. Thoroughly revised and fully updated, the third edition of Sarah Nettleton’s book will prove invaluable to anyone looking for a clear and engaging introduction to contemporary debates within the sociology of health and illness.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"The Sociology of Health and Illness Reader" brings together some of the best examples of recent sociological studies on health, illness and health care. The volume emphasizes the empirical nature of medical sociology and its relationship with the development of sociological theory. It thus presents an array of substantive topics viewed from a range of contemporary theoretical positions.

Reflecting the key areas of medical sociology, the chapters are organized into five sections: 'Bodies', 'Health and Risk', 'Experiencing Illness', 'Social Patterning of Health and Illness' and 'Health Care Work'. Each area is introduced by the editors, who provide an overview of the topic and highlight key developments. Although the chapters cover a wide range of topics, they all deal with issues pertinent to health and illness in the twenty-first century, and draw upon broader sociological debates around notions of risk, reflexivity, flexibility, uncertainty and late modernity. The book includes an extensive introduction that provides the student with an orientation to the field.

About the Author:

Sarah Nettleton is professor of sociology at the University of York, UK.

About this edition

• Publisher: Polity
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0745646018
• ISBN 13: 9780745646015
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 344