The Sociology of Health and Illness

by Sarah Nettleton

Overview

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 fourth 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 that are central to health policy, such as professional–patient relationships, health inequalities and the changing nature of health care work. A new chapter has been added, on the sociology of mental health; other chapters have been updated with illustrative examples and questions for discussion.

Written for students of the social sciences, this book will also appeal to students taking vocational degrees, such as nursing, medicine and public health, who require a sociological grounding in the area. Thoroughly revised and fully updated, this fourth edition will prove invaluable to anyone looking for a clear and engaging introduction to contemporary debates within the sociology of health and illness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509512744
Publisher:	Polity Press
Publication date:	02/01/2021
Edition description:	4th ed.
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Sarah Nettleton is Professor of Sociology at the University of York.

Table of Contents

Preface to First Edition 

Preface to Second Edition 

Preface to Third Edition

Preface to Fourth Edition



1 Introduction: The Changing Domains of the Sociology of Health and Illness 

2 The Social Construction of Medical Knowledge 

3 Health Practices, Lay Beliefs, Lifestyles and Risk 

4 The Experience of Chronic Illness and Disability 

5 Sociology of Mental Health and Illness

6 The Sociology of the Body

7 The Sociology of Innovative Health Technologies

8 The Sociology of Lay–Professional Interactions 

9 Social Inequalities and Health Status

10 Health Care Professions and Practitioners in Late Modernism

11 Developments in Health Policy: A New Paradigm for Health Care?


Bibliography 
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

‘This engaging and comprehensive textbook is the mainstay of our reading lists. It agilely appeals both to those familiar and unfamiliar with sociology. This third edition is therefore most welcome and the new material ensures contemporary resonance with the changing parameters of health and illness and the analyses required to understand them.’
Sarah Cunningham-Burley, University of Edinburgh

‘This new edition of Sarah Nettleton’s medical sociology textbook has several unique features allowing it to stand apart from its competitors. The chapter on the sociology of the body is simply the best account of this topic available in any textbook and the new chapter on innovative health technologies is an interesting and welcome addition. The book weaves theory, especially social constructionism, and empirical research together to provide a thorough account of medical sociology.’
William C. Cockerham, University of Alabama at Birmingham

‘Revised and updated for a third time, with a new chapter on health technologies, Nettleton’s The Sociology of Health and Illness remains a key textbook in the field for students and seasoned professionals alike.’
Simon Williams, University of Warwick