This stimulating book has become a go-to text for understanding the role that social factors play in the experience of health and many diseases. This extensively revised and updated third edition offers the most compelling case yet that stress, poverty, unhealthy lifestyles, and unpleasant living and working conditions can all be directly associated with illness.
The book continues to build on the paradigm shift that has been emerging in twenty-first-century medical sociology, which looks beyond individual explanations for health and disease. As the field has headed toward a fundamentally different orientation, William Cockerham’s work has been at the forefront of these changes, and he here marshals evidence and theory for those seeking a clear and authoritative guide to the realities of the social determinants of health. Of particular note in the latest edition is new material on the relationship between gender and health, implications of the life course for health behavior, the health effects of social capital, and the emergence of COVID-19.
This engaging introduction to social epidemiology will be indispensable reading for all students and scholars of medical sociology, especially those with the courage to confront the possibility that society really does make people sick.
By:
William C. Cockerham (University of Alabama Birmingham)
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 3rd edition
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 22mm
Weight: 567g
ISBN: 9781509540358
ISBN 10: 1509540350
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 27 November 2020
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Replaced By: 9781509567218
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface 1 The Social Causation of Health and Disease Coronavirus Smoking The Biomedical Model Elements of Proof Diabetes HIV/AIDS Social Determinants of Disease: Fundamental Cause Theory Measuring Structural Effects Conclusion Critical Thinking Questions Suggested Further Reading 2 Theorizing about Health and Disease The Rise and Fall of Structural-Functionalism The Fall of Conflict Theory and Repackaging of Marxism The Rise of the Agency-Oriented Paradigm American Medical Sociology British Medical Sociology Conclusion Critical Thinking Questions Suggested Further Reading 3 Health Lifestyles Lifestyle: Health as an Achievement Methodological Individualism in Health Lifestyle Research The Agency–Structure Debate Health Lifestyle Theory Class circumstances Age, gender, and race/ethnicity Collectivities Living conditions Socialization and experience Life choices (agency) Life chances (structure) Choice and chance interplay Dispositions to act (habitus) Completing the model Conclusion Critical Thinking Questions Suggested Further Reading 4 The Power of Class Class and Heart Attack Survival Class Structure and its Components Class schemes Weber: status groups The End of Class? The Social Gradient in Mortality Confirming the Relationship Medical Care as an Intervening Variable? Conclusion Critical Thinking Questions Suggested Further Reading 5 Class and Health: Explaining the Relationship Class, Health, and Medical Care in the United States Class, Health, and Medical Care in the United Kingdom Stress Income Inequality Culture Smoking Obesity Conclusion: Social Causation or Social Selection? Critical Thinking Questions Suggested Further Reading 6 Age Age Stratification Theory Life Course Theory Cohort Effects of Age Conclusion Critical Thinking Questions Suggested Further Reading 7 Gender The Gender Health and Mortality Paradox Gender Differences in Physical and Mental Health Gender Differences in Health Practices LGBT Health Another Look at Smoking Conclusion Critical Thinking Questions Suggested Further Reading 8 Race and Ethnicity Ethnicity Race and Physical Health Hispanics and Immigration Racism as a Fundamental Cause Race and Health in Britain Race and Mental Health Summary Critical Thinking Questions Suggested Further Reading 9 Living Conditions and Neighborhood Disadvantage Unhealthy Places Health and Neighborhood Disadvantage in Britain Physical Health and Neighborhood Disadvantage in the US Mental Health and Neighborhood Disadvantage in the US Conclusion Critical Thinking Questions Suggested Further Reading 10 Health and Social Capital Robert Putnam: Bowling Alone Nan Lin: Social Capital as Structure Pierre Bourdieu: A Social Form of Capital Robert Sampson: Collective Efficacy Research Applications of Social Capital Conclusion Critical Thinking Questions Suggested Further Reading Concluding Remarks The Return of Structure Structure–Agency Interface Policy Implications Conclusion References Name Index Subject Index
William C. Cockerham is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Chair Emeritus at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Research Scholar of Sociology at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.
Reviews for The Social Causes of Health and Disease
The third edition of Cockerham's classic text on the social causes of health and illness is most welcome. Notable features of this masterful and comprehensive contribution are the coverage of theory as well as research, its international reach, and its erudition. This will be an indispensable volume for teachers, students, and practitioners alike. Graham Scambler, University College London and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences As in the previous editions, Cockerham presents us with a powerful understanding of the social determinants of health. This time, he updates his perspective, weaving in novel dynamic dimensions from life course research and important structural elements from social capital. Bernice A. Pescosolido, Indiana University
