The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Medical Sociology

A comprehensive collection of original essays by leading medical sociologists from around the world, fully updated to reflect contemporary research and global health issues

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Medical Sociology is an authoritative overview of the most recent research, major theoretical approaches, and central issues and debates within the field. Bringing together contributions from an international team of leading scholars, this wide-ranging volume summarizes significant new developments and discusses a broad range of globally-relevant topics. The Companion's twenty-eight chapters contain timely, theoretically-informed coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and emerging diseases, bioethics, healthcare delivery systems, health disparities associated with migration, social class, gender, and race. It also explores mental health, the family, religion, and many other real-world health concerns.

The most up-to-date and comprehensive single-volume reference on the key concepts and contemporary issues in medical sociology, this book:

• Presents thematically-organized essays by authors who are recognized experts in their fields
• Features new chapters reflecting state-of-the-art research and contemporary issues relevant to global health
• Covers vital topics such as current bioethical debates and the global effort to cope with the coronavirus pandemic
• Discusses the important relationship between culture and health in a global context
• Provide fresh perspectives on the sociology of the body, biomedicalization, health lifestyle theory, doctor-patient relations, and social capital and health

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Medical Sociology is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in medical sociology, health studies, and health care, as well as for academics, researchers, and practitioners wanting to keep pace with new developments in the field.

William C. Cockerham is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Chair Emeritus at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA, and Research Scholar of Sociology at the College of William & Mary, USA. He is past President of the Research Committee on Health Sociology of the International Sociological Association, and has held editorial positions on a number of journals, including the American Sociological Review, the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, and Society and Mental Health. His recent books include Sociological Theories of Health and Illness and Social Causes of Health and Disease. 

PART I INTRODUCTION

Medical Sociology and Sociological Theory

Health and Culture

The Sociology of the Body

PART II HEALTH AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES

Health and Social Stratification

Health Status and Gender

Health, Ethnicity, and Race

PART III HEALTH AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

Health and Religion

Health Lifestyles: Bringing Structure Back

Social Capital and Health

Medicalization, Social Control, and the Relief of Suffering

Stress in the Workplace

PART IV HEALTH AND DISEASE

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Chronic Illness

PART V HEALTH CARE DELIVERY

Health Professions and Occupations

Challenges to the Doctor-Patient Relationship

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The American Health Care System

The British Health Care System

The Chinese Health Care System

The Convergence and Divergence of Modern Health Care Systems

Social Policies and Health Inequalities

PART VI NEW DEVELOPMENTS

A Sociological Gaze on Bioethics

Medical Sociology and Genetics

New Developments in Neuroscience and Medical Sociology

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