We argue for a sociology of health, illness, and disease. Under the influence of Talcott
Parsons, the social study of health began as medical sociology and then morphed into …

Untitled Page 1 Page 2 SOCIOLOGY of HEALTH and ILLNESS An Introduction to the Page 3
In memory of my parents, William Stewart White and Margaret Ann White (née Doyle), and for …

Understanding the Sociology of Health continues to offer an easy to read introduction to
sociological theories essential to understanding the current health climate. Up-to-date with …

The biomedical and public health sciences have established a clear warrant for their
existence. A warrant is a broadly shared justification for a research-based discipline (Katz …

This paper describes the origins and development of the sociology of health and illness in
Britain and shows that these were rooted in practical concerns, rather than deriving from …

What is the relationship between sociological theory and medical sociology? How are we to
theorise recent developments in health, medicine and society? And what does this tell us …

The concept of social structure is one of the main building blocks of the social sciences, but it
lacks any precise technical definition within general sociological theory. This paper reviews …

When biomedical knowledge and technology create the capacity for humans to avoid
disease and circumvent early death, sociological factors become more, not less important for …

In this exciting new book, William Cockerham, a leading medical sociologist, assesses the
evidence that social factors have direct causal effects on health and many diseases. He …

Although it is well known that their sex and socio-economic position profoundly influence
people's mental and physical health, their use of health care, and their likely length of life …